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