End of summer update

Hi everyone. Yes, it's that time of year again. Christine and Richie stop hanging out in the backyard all the time, and we migrate indoors. It's not an immediate change - as we did have a great time a while ago at the beach.

We drove to the beach in the convertible, and I was able to turbo-sniff the late summer air all the way there. We set up camp and had a yummy dinner (ok, they did), and then we sat on the grass until the sun went behind the trees, and it got cold, so we left.

When it's cold out, I don't mind getting all cozy with a blanket. Especially in the morning - I'm not a morning doggie to begin with, so when Christine made the bed with me on it, I was happy to stay in there for a while.

Here's another thing that I don't like... when they start packing their luggage up, I sometimes get left behind. So I figured that if I hung out right in the middle of the bags, I couldn't possibly be ignored. Turns out that these bags are for emergencies, and stay packed until there's an earthquake or something. Whew!

As you have probably seen, there's a thing I like to do called, "Cross the bridge", where I get up on the ottoman, then cross over to Christine's lap with my front paws. This time, I didn't make it, but landed with my head between her legs. Another thing I like is to do that, and get head rubs in that position. So here I am - best of both worlds, I guess.

Mischa

I can keep time like a Swiss watch...

One of the things I have been doing for a very long time, is coming up to Richie's office at 2:50 pm every afternoon (at least the ones where he's working upstairs) and I push my way past his door with my tail wagging! It's gotten to the point where he doesn't even need to look at a clock, because when I come through that door, he will know what time it is!

It's my way of telling him that it is time for our afternoon walk. Sometimes it works, and he stops clicking away on that thingy on his desk, and he takes me out right away. Other times, he makes me (or us, as you can see below) wait.

Mischa

Alice Cooper "tears"

Ever notice how some of us Berners have teardrop lines? Kinda like Alice Cooper.

More from Mischa and Toba

It's been hot around here lately, and we've been back down to Point Roberts often. Sometimes it's too hot for us to go out and do the activities that the humans do, so we stay back by the cabin in the shade. One day, Richie decided to brush Toba, and look what happened:

It looks like we have a 3rd Berner with us! One of the activities that those humans do, is go off on "garage sale" hunts, and they come back with all sorts of weird junk.

Rita came back with this crazy item, which apparently is a water fountain - but it works for me as a drinking fountain!

Later in the afternoon, shade gets a little sparse, and so sometimes we end up crammed into what little shade is left.

This last trip, Richie and Christine stopped for hamburgers and fries on the way down. We normally get a few fries if we wait patiently in the back of the Rover... as you can see, Toba was a little more anxious than I was to get her fries!

Here's another example of a mid-afternoon siesta on the lawn in front of the cabin... we have to keep changing spots as the shade from a big tree moves around.

But after these long, hot days, Toba couldn't wait to come home, so as soon as Richie opened the Rover door, she hopped in, and waited for us to load up and leave.

Mischa

That silly Toba...

A little while ago, Toba showed up again - apparently she is here for a month! Anyhow, it didn't take long for her to get re-accustomed to being here, and took up her usual spots in the garden:

This is on the side of the yard, and you can see she's really tucked herself under the bushes over there. If it weren't for her big white blaze, you'd never know she was there!

And then there's this spot at the end of the yard by the garage... as you can see, Toba lies there till it's bedtime. When Richie goes out to get her to come in, she reluctantly rolls out of her den, and proceeds to wriggle around on her back on the cool grass.

When she's not hanging out in the garden, she's never very far from where I am or go. We've been spending a lot of time on the deck and patio, and Toba is content to hang out with me. Everything I do, she does... like this:

Here's we are sharing a morning ritual - getting a few slurps of milk from either Christine or Richie's cereal bowl. There's barely enough room in the bowl for one of us, let alone two!

Mischa

Dog, is it ever hot!

This last week or so, it's been really hot here. I mean, so hot, that I don't like to walk very far. Even in the morning, we go for our walk to Starbucks, but instead of the "circle route" back home, we stay in the shade on Cambie street. I spend almost all day in the basement, sleeping on the cool floor down there, or outside on the concrete patio.

In the afternoons, we don't go out, at least not until later, and when we do, we keep to the tree-lined street so we can stay in the shade. I like that anyways, as that's where all the squirrels hang out. Just the other day, two of them were chasing each other around the tree trunk, only a few feet away from me!

Yesterday however, after the sun went down, I got a bit of energy, and decided it was time for some barky barky keep away. Notice at around 0:06 how I like to "swivel" around on my elbows before taking off:

What fun! But I can't wait for things to cool down a bit... I think Richie would like that too.

Mischa

Family get-togethers

It has been great fun over the last couple of weekends; we went down to Point Roberts first to catch up with the Johnsons. We were up to all of the regular activities that we normally do, like going for a walk to the beach, having big dinner events, and playing this silly beanbag game.

 It seems that I'm getting a bit better at being off-leash at the cabin, as I'm rarely tethered anymore (I've learned my lesson with the yucky water in the ditches). So when there's nothing going on at the Johnson cabin, I'll sometimes wander around the fence over to Rita's and hang out with them (and get treats, of course!).

 We drove down in the little car too, but one thing I've found, is that it doesn't give me nearly as much shade as the Rover does! While I like the turbo-sniffing in the back of this car, I prefer the shady area under the Rover, as I can scootch under it, unlike this car.

 Here's a typical afternoon - Richie sitting the "gravity lounger" eating an ice cream cone, and me, patiently waiting for some remnants.

A few days later, Richie's parents showed up back at home, and we went for a visit with the Chins. There was a whole bunch of humans, most of whom I've smelled before, eating and drinking. After they had a big meal, we all went out to the front lawn while the small humans played. I found one of Chelsea's toys, a squeaky one! I had a great time with it, but let Chelsea have it back when she wanted it.

 I didn't play too hard with Chelsea, as she's getting old and can't get around as fast as me. I was just happy to hang out on the lawn in the middle of all of the action.

Mischa

Mischa vs. the box

I have been waging battle with cardboard boxes for as long as I can remember... ok, since I can only remember what I did 2 minutes ago, let's say I've been playing with boxes since I was a puppy.

Here's an old video of me taking on a vicious cardboard box...


This one was too big for me:

And another one where I won:

Mischa - cardboard warrior

Waiting for Christine

Sometimes, late in the afternoon, after we've gone for our 2nd walk of the day, Richie and I will sit on the bed and wait for Christine to come home.

I listen closely for the sound of Christine's car, and when I hear her coming, I jump down off the bed and watch her.

Notice how my tail goes from side-to-side wagging, to full windmill-style as I hear her coming through the front door!

Mischa

World-wide Berner walk!

This weekend, we hopped in the Rover on a sunny Saturday morning, and drove a long time to a park we had never been to. But once we pulled up, I noticed immediately, that there were a lot of other Berners there! It turns out that this day was "Worldwide Berner Walk Day", and we were meeting other Berners from all around this area!

"Hi, I'm Mischa. Who are you?"

 There were so many Berners there, I didn't know where to start! There were little puppies, and great big ones... this one below is Maximus - at 145 lbs., he sure lives up to his namesake.

 I did a bit of meet and greet, but didn't stray too far from Richie and Christine. But lots of other Berners would just wander right up, and sit on their feet and get pets from them.

When Christine pulled out some water, she got mobbed by a bunch of Berners looking to quench their thirst... they hardly left any for me!

We even ran into my brother there! Here's Samson... again, sitting on Christine's feet, like he's known her for years.

Then we all lined up for a big picture with all of us Berners and our humans. I'm looking all over for Richie, but I can't seem to find him. After this was taken, I ran back and forth, up and down the line, and then finally spotted him across the field, taking pictures!

The Berner Line-up (click to see/scroll)

Apparently there were 75 Berners there that day... what fun!

Mischa

A new Berner addition to the Chin family...

This is Kenya, a 5-yr old male that Richie's brother Chris adopted! They were out visiting a while ago (so long ago, that I can't really remember). They must have loved me so much that they wanted a Berner of their own!

I don't know if I'll ever get to meet him... but look at how much snow they have there!

Mischa

Where are you going?

Whenever someone leaves the house, I am always curious where they go. If I don't get to go with them, I stand by the front window, rest my head on the ledge and watch them leave... like this:

I never worry that they aren't coming back, but I wish they would simply take me along with them. But I can tell when they are preparing to leave with me, and I get quite excited. On the other hand, when I am left alone, and they do come home, I also get just as excited, whether they've been gone for an hour or a day.

Mischa

My cousin's new wheels

I know some of you have seen me with my cart, and I've been known to stop traffic when I'm pulling the groceries home from the Safeway down the street. But what is this?

Apparently Lupin, my cousin, is having trouble with her back legs working properly, and now she has a crazy cart of her own! How the heck is she supposed to carry any groceries with that?

Mischa

Puppy vs. robot vacuum

Richie was looking at some old videos, and came across this clip of me about 7 years ago:


Look at how fearless I was! I showed that vacuum who's who... I made it stop!

Mischa

Editor's note:
Mischa won the battle against this vacuum, and about the next 3 after it. Her fur proved too much for the tiny motor in the Roomba, as well as the Hoover stickvac, and the Hoover upright. Only the Hoover WindTunnel central vacuum system was up to defeating her immense quantities of fur.

Still more snow!

Well since Richie and Christine got home, it's been snowing constantly! We've been going for fun walks in the snow, and I've been rolling in it, running around and eating it up! It seems funny, because only a week ago, it was warm and sunny, and now all of this snow is here.

 Yesterday, Richie took me up to the dog park, and there were lots of doggies running and playing in the snow! I even got into it with a blue heeler that wanted to play with me. I was minding my own business, digging in the snow, but he came up and got me running around - kind of a rare thing these days.

Then today when we woke up, the snow had finally stopped and the sun has come out again. We went back to the dog park, even though the snow was slowly disappearing, there was still plenty left to romp around in. We played more snowball catch, and I did a little bit of "crazy puppy" in the deep stuff near the tennis courts. What fun!

Mischa

My home stay visitor

Richie and Christine had a visitor recently, but instead of just coming for a few hours then leaving, it was Richie and Christine that left! That was fine with me, as Michelle, apparently some relation to Christine, stayed in the house with me while they were away.

She took me on lots of walks, rain or shine - makes no difference to me, of course. We'd also go on walks with other doggies - this one is Teko.

 We'd go on our long walks, then I'd sleep for what seemed like forever - I'm not the young puppy that I used to be anymore! I still slept on Richie and Christine's bed, even though they weren't there. One day, Michelle brought the blanket from the bed downstairs, and when she went out, I chewed it up - I really like the way that soft blanket feels in my mouth, and then before you know it, there was the stuffing coming out. Whoops.

 Then one day, Michelle set up her tent on the patio - well, I know what that's all about, so in I went. It was a lot smaller that the tent that I'm normally used to, but it was cozy regardless.

Then one day I woke up to snow! Michelle gave me a yummy bone, and I took it outside and was happily chewing on it out there in the snowy back yard. Late that evening, Richie and Christine came home, and I was so excited to see them that I cried. Not human crying mind you, just doggie crying - I'm happy to have them home again.

Mischa

Squirrels living with Berners?

Just when you thought you might have seen everything, this comes along. I just don't understand how this Berner is just lying there while a squirrel (that's right, I said a squirrel) tries to bury a nut in his fur!


You'd never see a squirrel so close to me without it being in my mouth! Who has a pet squirrel?

Mischa

Day trip

We had another "long weekend" recently, although I really don't understand what that means. My interpretation is that both Richie AND Christine are around for longer... maybe that's what it means. Anyhow, we got into the Rover the other morning, and we drove to the Starbucks. While we were waiting for Richie to get his coffee, I decided that I wanted to see what it would be like to drive.

Ok, so maybe I can't drive the Rover, but there are dogs that have been taught to drive a Mini Cooper, another one of our transportation units.


So anyways, we drove down to Point Roberts, even though it was cold out. While I don't care if it's cold, usually Christine doesn't like this kind of weather. But I like going there anytime, and when we got there, we went to the beach, as we always do. But this time, there was snow there!

I did what I normally do, and rolled around on my back in it - but it was not soft like snow we've had at home. It was hard and crunchy. I also usually snack on some bites of snow, but this stuff didn't taste good for some reason... kinda like when I go swimming and get the sea water in my mouth.

But when we were down there, we also saw hundreds (can't count, but so they tell me) of birds and ducks. When I got closer, they all took off at the same time! It was really neat to see (apparently). There was also this big eagle that was sitting on the border marker watching us the whole time. What fun!

Mischa

Today is my birthday!

7 years ago today, I was born, along with my twelve littermates! It seems like so long ago - all of us little puppies crawling all over each other... I don't even know if I would remember them if I sniffed them.

They say that for every one of our years, it's like seven human years... that means I'm now as old as Richie! Sometimes, it certainly feels like it, as I really don't have the energy that those young dogs do - even compared to Toba, who is only one year younger than me. I don't mind however, as I get lots of time to sleep and hang around the house.

Happy birthday to all my brothers and sisters!

Mischa