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

Toba is here for the holidays!

Richie went away again (seems like he is doing that more often, these days), and while he was gone, Toba showed up! It was as if she never left, and made herself at home right away - as you can see from the photo below.

A couple of sleeps after Richie got home, it snowed! We Berners just love the snow, so he took us up to QE Park for a long romp!

We had lots of fun rolling around in the fresh white stuff, snuffling it up, and trying to catch the snowballs that Richie would throw towards us.


These days, I've not been much of a runner, but when Toba decided it was time for some wind sprints, it was game on! I'm still way faster than she is, even if I am turning 7 this year.

Now that Richie is back, we've resumed our daily walks to Starbucks - but with the Christmas season upon us, we've been wearing our jingle bells, much to the delight of the other humans we meet.

Here's the annual family photo - with of course, our visitor Toba sharing the season with us. On Christmas day, we received some new toys in our stockings:

I got a squeaky, chewy thing, and

Toba got a chicken leg! Ok, not a real chicken leg mind you, but fun to chew on nonetheless!

Here's a funny one of Toba - she likes to roll around on her back (doesn't everyone?), but when she does, she digs her head into the ground too. As you can see, it sometimes makes her blaze all dirty!

Finally, we went back to the University Endowment Lands... we hadn't been there in a while, but there was lots of fresh water for us to drink. Toba ran so hard that day, that later she could barely walk and get up the stairs on her own!

Mischa

Under the knife - again

I went to the place called "the vet" again recently. I am always happy to go there, as I can jump up on my back legs, and get a cookie from the jar on the counter there. However, when we went to the back room, I didn't want to go any further, and hit the brakes. Unfortunately, my claws don't get any grip on the floor there, and I got dragged back there. Then I had a big sleep.

When I woke up, I was really groggy, and I cried a lot. Then later, Richie came to get me, and I cried even more. We walked home, and I was really unsteady - good thing I have four (who can count, really) legs. I couldn't really stand up without leaning against something, and so I went back to sleep. When I woke up this time, I had that damned lampshade on again! But it doesn't really bother me, other than I keep bumping it into things like the doorways and chairs. Something on my leg is itchy, but I can't really get a good look at it with this thing on. Anyhow, after a while, my leg stopped bugging me, and I've stopped wearing that silly thing.

Mischa

Editor's Note: Mischa had a 5 cm lipoma on her right rear leg. The vet decided he wanted to remove it, as it was right at the knee joint, and was concerned that it might create issues for her later.

Autumn is when all the leaves fall

Around the same time as squirrel hunting season, the big trees on the neighbourhood streets lose all their leaves, and the humans spend hours piling them up on their lawn. These piles collect all sorts of good smells, and when we go for our daily walks, I love rummaging through the leaves!

 Here's a good one with Christine and I posing in a huge pile of leaves that one of the neighbours was raking... he thought it was funny that I wanted to play in his pile.

We also went up to Kamloops again recently, and we went to that place near the river where there was HUGE amounts of sand! I ran around and played, but it wasn't as much fun as the time I was here with Paisley.

Mischa