The dog days of summer...

Now that Richie and Christine have finished their backyard landscaping, and the grass has grown back on the lawn, they are spending more time with us in the yard.

Here we are hanging out with Christine in the new little patio area at the back of the yard - I really like sitting under the bench, whereas Paisley is a little bit too big to slide under. She prefers to sit on their feet anyways.

While Richie has been busy with a large project in the garage (I haven't quite figured out what it is, but apparently we will find out on the July long weekend), Christine has been able to do some quality lounging on the patio. It must have been hot for her, as she has a towel on her head!

Mischa

More fun in the backyard

We had a nice weekend with Richie working in the backyard again. It seems he found yet another stash of cedar panels from the original kitchen demolition (long before I was born!). Anyhow, apparently, it was Christine's idea to use it for some end tables for the new bench at the back of the yard. So Richie started thinking and was busy cutting and sawing the wood until he made the tables. I try to get him to play while he's working, and will stand nearby and bark and bark, until he chases me away.

Here he is putting the finishing touches on the tables. At this point, it got kinda hot, and Paisley and I decided to get out of the mid-day sun, and have taken to the little nook in the garden wall that Richie made recently. It's nice 'cause we get to lie on the cool, damp ground, with a little bit of shade from one of Christine's bushes.

As you can also see, the grass is finally starting to grow... well, at least where I haven't been digging. The other day, I got sprayed in the face with the hose - I think it had something to do with the hole I dug in the garden, but I am not really sure. I dug another hole in the yard last night, and now it is already filled up, but it also smells like poo!?! I don't really understand what is going on, but I might just have to give up digging.

Mischa

Here's Humphrey!

Richie's sister came over on the weekend with Lupin and our new cousin Humphrey!

Here we are greeting our new 5-month-old cousin... as you can see, he's already pretty big for his age. He's surprisingly calm for a puppy - I was a lot crazier when I was his age. He actually has a whole different disposition than us Berners... apparently as a flock guardian, he is supposed to patrol the perimeter to make sure the sheep are safe from the wolves. So when he was here, he would walk around the fence and check things out, rather than attack us (like I would do). Funny huh?

Anyhow, he's really cute - not as cute as I was when I was a puppy, mind you. But nonetheless, he's still welcome here anytime.

Mischa

More funny pictures

Here's some pictures Richie took over the past few weeks that are kinda funny.

Look how far I can get the peanut butter container onto my snout so that I can get that last bit of scrumptious stuff from the bottom of the container!

Here's the famous "froggy" pose while I wait for Christine to get up on the weekend.

Paisley finally got her whole body up onto Christine's lap the other day - a 100 lb. lap doggie!

This is our typical pose by the front window as we watch Christine drive off every morning. Check out the size of Paisley's butt! BOL

Mischa

Our new cousin

Richie's sister Deb is getting a new puppy named Humphrey!

He's a 4-month old Great Pyrenees/Maremma Sheepdog cross apparently... these dogs are actually a little bit bigger than us Berners, but not by much. So Humphrey will likely end up being even bigger than Paisley! No matter, as he's still smaller than me, and I'll show him what's what.

The Great Pyrenees, similar to us Berners, are from the Pyrenean Mountain range after which they were named. While they were used for pulling artillery and other stuff during the war (whatever that was), their primary duty was to guard the sheep. Similarly, the Maremma Sheepdog is named after the Maremma section of Tuscany, but actually originated from central Italy. These dogs weren't herders, but rather protectors of the sheep. Crazy, as I would spend my whole day chasing them.

Anyhow, I can't wait to meet my new cousin Humphrey!

Mischa

The welcome home happy dance

When Christine or Richie comes home, I get so excited that I do a little dance against the back door:

Mischa

Paisley gave us a scare...

Sometime last week, Paisley barfed up her dinner out on the patio. Then in the morning, she decided she didn't want to eat her breakfast. This was really strange, as she normally eats her bowl of food in about 1/2 the time it takes me to mow through mine. But it was obvious something was wrong. She didn't want to play with me either, as all she wanted to do was lie on what was left of the snow in the backyard, or the cool, damp dirt in the garden.

This really concerned Christine and Richie, and so he took Paisley over to the vet that day. He poked and prodded her, and figured that she ate something bad that might have been rotting under the snow since December. Anyhow, whatever it was gave her a bad belly, and so Paisley didn't want to eat at all! So for days, Richie and Christine would pry Paisley's jaws open and put stuff down her throat - you could tell that she didn't like it, but she would still let them. There's no way I would let that happen, as I would run away at the first sign of those little white things!

Paisley sporting her new pink "wrist-band" where she was given the IV

But Paisley still didn't want to eat, and it made me not want to eat. But I would eventually break down and eat a half bowl now and then. She on the other hand, was getting really weak, and had trouble getting up and going down stairs. After 4 sleeps, she had to go back to the vet again. This time they took those special pictures of her insides and the found out that her stomach was still very upset. Don't ask me how they know that, they just did. They also stuck a tube in her front leg, and gave her "intravenous fluids" because Paisley hadn't been drinking as much water. So she came home with this bandage on her leg, and a new set of pills that would calm her stomach down.

Christine trying to hand-feed Paisley one evening

This time, after about a day of taking these new pills, Paisley started to feel better! She even started eating a few treats. Another day later, and we found out that her blood tests showed a "high white blood cell count", which apparently means she did indeed have some sort of bacteria in her stomach. She went back to the vet one last time, as they were going to put a camera on a long tube and see what was going on in her tummy. But since she was starting to feel better, they decided not to do the camera thingy. They put one of those things in her leg again (the other one this time) to top up her fluids, and she came home happy and hungry!

Paisley with her two pink wrist-bands - feeling much better now!

You can tell that Paisley is getting back to normal - she's eating lots of food, is happy to go out for a walk, and play with me in the backyard. We don't quite know what happened, but she sure did give us a scare! We are thrilled to have our old Paisley back again.

Mischa