Today is apparently "Christmas Eve", although it certainly doesn't seem like evening to me. It is bright and sunny, so Richie took me for a walk to Starbucks in my jingle bells, and then over to to Douglas Park. Everyone loves to see me, and I return their affection by sitting on their feet!
Anyhow, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
In the morning, Richie got up to make his morning coffee, and I thought I would see what the big deal about sleeping in bed is all about. Let me tell you - this rocks! Not only is it nice and soft, but it also smells like my humans! I still like sleeping on the cool floor however, but this is a pretty nice alternative!
Inevitably, Christine comes home near the end of the day, and I greet her like I haven't seen her for days! I'm not sure where she goes all day, but I'm just glad to have her back home.
After, we all went up to the field at Queen Elizabeth park, and we ran and ran! Richie and Christine made a snowman, while I chased Idaho around with a snowball in her mouth. I used my now-famous linebacker tackle technique, and I took out the silly snowman in one tackle!
Now I am really tired - I think I'll take the rest of the day off.
If you look at us berners from the front while we are sitting, you might notice the Swiss cross that the white fur on our chest forms. Richie thought he would prove the point with his sweater with the same cross!
When we get there, Richie looks up dog breeds trying to figure out what kind of dog he is. I'm happy to have some company, but he seems to be a little freaked out as he's shaking and stuff. Christine gave him some of my food, and he wolfed down as much food as I eat, and he's not even half my size! Anyhow, we think he's a Weimaraner-cross with maybe a Ridgeback because of his silver fur colour. Christine found a tattoo in his ear, so Richie called the animal hospital to see how that could be used to find his owner. Turns out someone else tried to catch him as well, but he was too skittish and ran off. I guess I have too much allure for him! Anyhow, they suggested that we call Vancouver Animal Control and report him, and they would try to find his family. A few minutes after leaving a message, they called back saying that there's a family that has been looking for a "Thai Ridgeback" all day. So here we are, hanging out together while we wait for the animal control girl to come get him so that he can be re-united with his family.
So today we took a ride out to Langley again - it was a beautiful day! But for some reason, Richie wasn't feeling well, as we had a party at our house last night. We had to stop and get some pills for him at the drugstore. I think he felt like I did a week ago - except I think he knows what caused him to feel that way - I still have no idea what happened. Anyhow, he closed his eyes for a long time... we both slept for a while in the car. We finally arrived at Christine's parents house - we went there to get this thing:
This is a "PONG table" - something about as old as Christine, but Richie was playing with this kind of thing as a kid. They spent a lot of time trying to get it through the doorway into the basement kitchen - it looks really heavy. Anyhow, you plug it into the wall, and they sit beside it and stare into the middle of the table. It looks boring, but they seem to get very excited by it. It makes some weird beeping noises, and I like to bark when they are playing with it. Silly humans.
In the morning, Christine went off and came back with this thing - believe me, I am not the life of the party with this lampshade on. I'm unable to take it off, and I also can't get to my backside anymore. What have I done to deserve this?
Anyhow, Richie finally showed up, but I was feeling too groggy to give him my normal welcome reception. All I wanted to do was lie down... it took us about 10 minutes to walk the 30 metres or so back to the house. The second I got in the house, I laid down on the floor. When Christine got home, I cried and we went into the living area. All I could do was lie there and whimper or sleep.
Anyhow, life has been pretty good here. There has been no lack of dogs to play with, and there's all sorts of stuff that I've been able to get into. Take today, for example. While Richie was upstairs working this morning, I decided to poke around in the laundry/mud room. See, Richie thought he had out-smarted me, and put "child-proof" safety catches on all the cupboards so that I can't get into them. But I managed to push open the bi-fold doors to the furnace area, and found a bag full of plastic grocery bags. Then Mischa took over and started shredding them into tiny pieces! What fun!
I don't want to be a snitch, but that Mercedes is quite the troublemaker. I mean, I know I dig holes and shred plastic bags, but Mercedes - she'll jump right over the gate to the mud room and go looking for trouble. Then, she'll jump right back over the gate and come outside with me! She also tried digging her way over to bunny's yard, but didn't get very far. She's also been jumping up on Christine and Richie, which they don't like at all. Richie used the squirt gun on her, but I don't think she gets it yet. She'll learn eventually - we all do.
Hi - Mercedes here again. Last night, I got put in the "mud room" when it was bed-time; there's a cool door where us dogs can get in and out easily. Mischa and I were raising hell all night, as every time I heard something strange, I would bark at it. Then Mischa, not one to bark, would start barking too! It got the point that around 3:00 am, Christine came down and put the security block over our doggie door. But I was too smart for her, and managed to push it up so that we could get outside and start barking again!
Today it has been raining pretty much all day. So aside from a walk with Christine in the morning, we've been hanging out inside, watching TV and having naps. Christine decided to bake cookies, and so Mischa and I parked out under the counter hoping something yummy would fall within our reach!
Hi, my name is Mercedes, and I am about 2 years old. Yesterday, I got picked up by Richie and Christine. I also met Mischa, their 9-month old berner! Another doggie was also in the back of the Rover - a retriever named Lewis.
"What are you doing Lewis?"
After the long drive back to their place, we all went into the backyard to play! A fourth doggie, another retriever named Idaho, came over and we had a big welcome party. We ran around in the backyard all afternoon, playing ball, sniffing and wrestling. That Mischa is a handful - she's the biggest of us all, and she never backs down with anyone. Lewis gets fixated on the damned ball, and doesn't really play - but I guess he is 11 years old, after all. Richie stayed outside with us all the while, and kept warm by the firepit. I'm trying to get Richie and Christine to adopt me, so I didn't play too much, and would stay close to his side. It's hard for him to get away when I'm sitting on his feet!
After a hard day of playing, we were noticeably pooped out. I already like this place - I get to come inside whenever I want - Mischa likes to sit out on the deck by herself sometimes, whereas I'd rather be inside with these new humans.Mercedes
Anyhow, you might remember that when I first met Lupin, that I was only about 9 weeks old, but I was chasing her around like a big dog. Well here we are again, and now I am the same age as she was at the time of our first encounter. And who is the big dog now? Woof! That's right... me! She's got dainty little ankles - not like me... mine are built for haulin'!
But that doesn't mean that I'm too big to be cuddled... as you can plainly see, I'm still a Daddy's girl at heart.
So it would seem that everyone is getting bummed out about the end of summer. I don't know what their problem is. See, we Berners love the cold. I myself like to spend the first part of my sleep outside in the yard. After I get nice and cold, I move inside into my safe room. But as you can see above, I love to sit on the cool grass and take in the world (ok, my block).
Today we went to the dog show again, and I not only got to see Zhivago again, but my sister Kahlua was there too! I can't keep track of the ribbons I won this time, but I don't think I did as well as yesterday, because I didn't get a "point" (I got one yesterday however).
This is where I get a treat for simply standing there... how easy is that! That's Jaeda up front, and Kahlua behind me being handled by Dave.
After we trot around the ring, we stand again, and this other human comes around and checks out my teeth and stuff. Kinda weird, but I won best puppy of the breed again! So we stuck around until the other working dogs got their showing, and then I competed against the best puppies.
Today, we went to my first dog show, and I got a chance to see my step-brother, Zhivago (same dad, different mom). He is huge! He apparently only weighs about 95 lbs., but he seems soooo much bigger than me. Here he is standing with Christine, while I get a last-minute grooming from Joanne.
I was a natural in the ring, of course... I didn't try to run to Richie and Christine, and I stayed focused on Joanne (shown above taking me on a stroll for the judge). I have to admit, I don't really understand the whole show concept, but here was the results:
We are going to the show again tomorrow - let's see if the competition heats up!
The next day, when we drove back home, it was clear sailing, as I didn't hear Richie swearing about the traffic at all! I was able to sleep most of the time anyways, and when I wasn't, I kept myself occupied playing with the pillows.
Contrary to popular belief, Berners do indeed swim - as I am so adeptly demonstrating above. Now I haven't quite mastered dock jumping like Lewis has, but I float really well, and my big webbed paws give me great mobility in the water.
Sometimes however, it's more fun to have someone else do the work - Tasha took us for a paddle around the lake one sunny afternoon.
Here I am, standing by the edge of Crater Lake, where Richie, Christine and I went to stay for three sleeps. My pal Lewis was up there too, along with Al and Tasha, and my two countrymen, Sami and Sylvie.
That crazy Lewis would chase after the chipmunks at every opportunity. Here we see him searching in the wood pile for one of those crazy critters. But while he had his nose buried deep in the pile, it ran out and went under the deck!
Not wanting to miss out on the action, I tried to find the chipmunk too - but I couldn't fit under the deck to chase him any further! More yurt pics to follow!
Here I am, wearing my new, traditional Swiss dog collar. Here is the history of my beautiful new collar:
On the weekends, Richie is usually the first one up, and I greet him either in my safe room, or outside on the patio. I sometimes come into the kitchen and have a bit of breakfast, but I usually head straight for the bedroom door, and wait for Christine to get up; if I stick my nose under the door, I can tell she is still in there. Crazy humans... only one sleep per day - I sleep dozens of times during the day - get up!
Anyhow, it was great to have everyone outside hanging out with me - as you can see, I am always in the centre of the action. There was also a lot of popcorn being eaten, and I was able to snag a few kernels from a few of the unsuspecting newcomers.
I like to sit on the deck, and look over into the neighbour's yard and see what the bunny is up to. Sometimes, when Richie or Christine is in the yard, I peer over the edge to see what they are up to. For some reason, this makes them laugh! Something to do with my droopy jowls and the thick fur I have on my face.
Here I am, in the training ring for an upcoming show in September that Cathy is going to enter me into. Apparently, I am a little "willful", but seem to be doing ok as a show puppy! I do have trouble with some of the drills, as I normally 'sit' when presented with a treat, and now they want me to 'stand' instead. I hope these humans make up their minds! They also want to look at my teeth for some reason - I didn't like it, so I would wiggle my muzzle out of their hands. Since then, Christine and Richie have been giving me treats for the command 'teeth'... man, this is the easiest trick ever - I just stand there, and they gently pry my lips apart, and I get a treat! I can do this show stuff.
So a new puppy appeared on the block recently - a "golden doodle" or something like that. Her name is Maisy, and although she's only 13 weeks old, she is a firecracker! She plays with me like I used to play with Idaho, when I was a little puppy.
The other evening, we went down to the doggy beach at Spanish Banks. This is where I come with my group of pals with Ruff Stuff, my dog walking group. Now that I am old enough to play with the big dogs, I get to go on field trips during the day while Richie is at work. My best friend, Idaho has been going with them for a while now, so we get to play together here as well. I am still not into swimming yet, although I have done it. I have to really get in the play mood to go in above my belly, as shown above. I just like tearing around in the sand - as shown in the brief video below:
But the truth be known, most of what I do is sleep. Sleep in my safe room, sleep outside on the concrete, sleep on the tile in bathroom, sleep on the marble in the foyer, or as shown above, sleep on the kitchen floor. I know Richie is upstairs in his office working, but it is so much nicer knowing that I have company, even though I'm just sleeping the day away.
What a beautiful morning at the yurt!
Hmmm... I wonder what would happen if I went in for a drink? I'm not sure about going in the water, at least beyond my belly, as shown below.
But I am happy to go for another spin around the lake in Richie's boat...
you would think that it is too hot for me to be in the sun that long, but with the bottom of the boat being so cool, I get great naps while we are out on the lake!
As for Richie and Christine, they couldn't go into the yurt for a nap, as it was too hot during the day, so they hooked up a sheet for some shelter from the sun. Even still, it was 30 C in the shade. It was easy for me to find shade in the trees by the lake.
Richie even cooked dinner over the open fire - cowboy-style! They had some tasty stuff - bbq ribs and pan-fried potatoes... I know this, because when Richie wasn't looking, I licked the spoon!
After dinner, we went for a sunset cruise around the lake...
Smooch!
Here I am, probably checking out the loons on the lake, or looking for that elusive beaver!
