Winter Olympics!

The long wait for something called the "2010 Winter Olympics" is finally over! I don't quite know what all the fuss is about, but it has something to do with stuff on the TV, as we are either watching it, or Christine and Richie leave us alone for what seems like hours at a time. What was fun however, is that our cousin Max came to stay with us for two weeks! He's a lot of fun to have around, even if he does kinda get under-foot when we are going for walks.

Speaking of walks, one day we went out to the street (showing our Canadian colours) and there was a huge crowd of people - apparently we were waiting for something called the "olympic torch" to go by. All I know is that we got lots of attention, and people were taking pictures of us.

Here we all are, out for a walk near the curling venue for the olympics, posing infront of the venue monument. It's funny, because the big grassy field that we normally run around on is fenced in, and we're not allowed to go in there - who knows why.

When we got around the far side of the field, we ran into these policemen - one was even a dog handler! They were supposed to be guarding the venue from terrorists, but since there were none there, we went over and got some attention from them.

There you have it - that was our Olympic experience. Go Canada!

Mischa

The start of a new decade

What? I'm sleeping here.

"I've fallen and now I can't get up!"

Ok, not really. Just another one of my favourite spots to sleep - probably #5 on my list. Besides the spot under the bed, the tile in the bathroom, the kitchen floor, and the living room, it's one of the best places to catch some shut-eye. Richie just thought it looked funny.

A week or so ago, the man came to the door with a heavenly-smelling delivery. Something called pizza apparently - well I love pretty much everything to do with pizza... the cheese, meat, and even the bread crusts! This time, we got to snack on the melted cheese scraps that were stuck to the cardboard boxes - yum!

It's been really warm here - where is the white stuff we had last year? No matter, as we've been spending a lot of time with Christine these days. Not sure why, as it's only usually Richie who stays home with us on "weekdays". Now it seems the opposite is happening - he's never here, and Christine is always home. Anyhow, we finally got the stuffing out of the dinosaur I got for Christmas, as you can see above. It was a warm sunny day, and Paisley and I enjoyed gutting and shredding out on the front lawn.

Look at me! I too can stand on my hind legs and check out what is happening on the computer!

Mischa

Christmas 2009

So "Christmas" came around again - it appears to be a recurring event each year when it gets cold and rainy. This year, both Paisley and I got more stuffed toys to play with... Paisley got a beaver, as you can see below.

I got a blue (looks dark grey to me) dinosaur, and we spent the morning playing with them while Christine and Richie opened their presents. Later that afternoon, we went out to see the other Johnsons, and they opened even more presents. We were really well behaved, and we got lots of love and attention - especially from Jaeda.

Here you can see us playing with Christine amongst all of our new stuffed toys and smokey bones - surprisingly, we did not immediately gut and shred our toys like we did last year.

But best of all, we have been spending lots of time hanging around the house, with both Richie AND Christine home all the time. While it would have been better with some snow, it has been a pretty good Christmas this year.

Mischa

Christmas season visitors!

It has been lots of fun here at Berner Haus recently. A little while ago, my cousin Max arrived, and he's been staying with us for lots of sleeps. We have been playing really hard, as Max and I really get along well. Even Paisley, who normally doesn't like to play with other doggies, was getting into it. But most of the time, we sleep or lie around the house - like you see here.

Then one evening, Richie's sister showed up with her mini-humans and our other cousins Lupin and Humphrey! It was pure doggie chaos, as there must have been 400+ lbs. of dogs running around the house, skidding around on the hardwood floors. Humphrey has gotten bigger since we saw him last, but he still hasn't caught up to Paisley, the reigning heavy-weight champion. Despite his largess, he's pretty low-key, and he seems to have taken a liking to me... but who hasn't?

Mischa

Our house-sitters

A little while ago, Richie and Christine left us for a quite a number of sleeps, but that was quite alright, as we had new humans staying at our house to take care of us. Karen was the full-sized human, and Lily, was the little one. We were on our best behaviour for them - well, as much as we could be. I chewed up some cuddly toys that I think made Lily unhappy... sorry Lily - I really can't help myself.

They took us for walks every day, even in the pouring rain! I thought I would test them, and not only did I get them to give me treats so that I would get in the Rover, but I had them giving me treats to get out of the Rover!

As you can see, I think Lily really liked us. We had a really good time with them, and we hardly missed Richie and Christine at all. When they finally did come home, we got really excited! They had apparently been to our home country of Switzerland, and brought back a stuffed Berner for Lily... I tried to grab it, but I wasn't allowed to have it.

Thanks for taking care of us Karen and Lily!

Mischa

A sunny fall weekend...

So this is apparently supposed to be "fall" - the nights are cooler, and I think we're normally supposed to have a lot more rain by now, but it was pretty sunny this weekend. We went for some long walks (a little longer than Richie probably likes), and did some hanging around in the backyard.

Christine likes to go out with her book and read on the bench at the back of the yard. I thought I'd try to get a bite of Christine's ice cream cone, so I hopped up on the bench and waited patiently. We both got a little bite of the cone at the end!

Here's a funny picture of Paisley - she'd crawled up on Christine's lap (again)! I think she thinks that she is a little doggie, not a 100 lb. Berner!

Mischa

Summer is still here!

It would seem that everyone is getting uptight about summer coming to an end, but it still looks and feels like summer to me! It was another beautiful day today, and so we got to go down to "Spanish Banks" again... there were lots of doggies there wading in the ocean.

I immediately went in and got my paws wet, but Paisley would only come in up to her ankles. So I went back up to the shore to get her, and the both of us walked into the water together. It was pretty cute, or at least it looked that way to the humans standing on shore.

Here's a shot showing how beautiful it is with the views of the city in the background... not that I was noticing, as I was busy digging in the sand in front of Christine. This is the only place I'm still allowed to dig without getting in trouble - except for that one spot in the garden behind the big bush where Christine won't notice!

Mischa