Snow Face

I love the snow...

I love smushing my face in the snow...

I love to push my nose through the snow...

I love playing with my toys in the snow...

Why are you laughing at me Mom?

Is It A Pony Or A Puppy?

Today started out as a really fun day. We woke up to a few inches of new snow and I had a great time playing in the fresh powder!

Here's Grandpa Ollie enjoying the snow. He's not really my grandpa but he'll be 14 in a couple of months so I call him grandpa. He's very protective of me and he tries to keep an eye on me when we're playing in the yard together.

So we were having a good time out in the yard this morning when this gigantic PONY or DINOSAUR (I'm not sure what it was) came over to the fence to say hello. We were barking our heads off so my mom came outside to see what the commotion was about. My mom said "he looks like your blog buddy Waldo!"

Well I've seen Waldo's picture and Waldo is cute. This doggy was scary looking... he even had frozen slobbers hanging off of his lips!

I think the doggy was trying to intimidate Grandpa Ollie. Grandpa Ollie was NOT backing down... Ollie was protecting me!

Look at how big the doggy's head is! It was enormous! Ollie has a fat large head but this doggy made Ollie look like a pipsqueak. (Ollie was giving him the evil eye in this picture.)

Well I wanted to play so I bowed down and yapped at him. I think I startled him because he jumped away from the fence.

The pony giant dog finally got tired of barking at the fence and decided to go home. But not without one final insult. Do you see what he did? He peed on our tree! Ollie and I barked and barked at him until he ran off. The nerve of him... you can't come into someone's yard and pee on their tree! Some doggy's have no manners at all... Humph!

Cool Pup

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom and dad went to Lake Arrowhead last weekend with Wilbur and Einstein's mom and dad. Lake Arrowhead is a fun place to spend the day. There's a nice variety of shops and restaurants and of course the beautiful lake to enjoy!


As my mom was walking around the lake front she noticed this cute dog walking towards her wearing sunglasses. You can't see it in this photo but he's also wearing a jacket that says SEARCH DOG. She took a picture of him and went on her way. (You can click on the photos to view a larger image.)


While she was browsing through some of the village shops she noticed the same dog sitting on a bench with his owner. You can see a portion of his orange and yellow jacket in this photo.

When she approached him he turned and looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. He also stuck his tongue out at her!

"Yeah, I'm cool!"

Mmm Mmm Good!

Last Sunday my mom and dad went with Wilbur and Einstein's mom and dad to a place called Lake Arrowhead. Wilbur and Einey's mom wanted to show my mom this neat place called the "Three Dog Bakery"!

Here's the window display... look at all of the fancy-schmancy doggy stuff! (My mom says that you can click on the picture to view a larger image.)

Get a load of this beautiful cake. Believe it or not it's a DOGGY cake! Wilbur and Einey's mom bought a piece for me and a piece for Ollie.

My mom actually tried to take a picture of me eating the cake but she's too darn slow with that camera of hers. All she got was a shot of me licking the plate clean.

My mom also bought us a box of cookies from the doggy treat store. Mom says they look exactly like Oreo cookies and she was tempted to give one to my dad as a joke. After careful consideration she decided to abandon that idea because my dad wouldn't think it was very funny. (Did I mention that my dad can be a real stick-in-the-mud sometimes?)

Here I am crunching up my delicious cookie.

WARNING: These cookies have the side effect of making your dog look like an Elvis impersonator. "Thank you, thank you very much..."

Lip smacking good! Thanks Mom!

Cougar Crest Trail ~ January 13, 2009

Last week my dad and I hiked up the Cougar Crest Trail.

Here I am looking up the trail. Can you see my blue food and water dishes by the side of the trail? My dad is going to buy me a doggy backpack soon... he says I'm big enough to carry my own kibble now!

We could see our partially frozen lake as we hiked along the trail... isn't it pretty?

Since my fur is black, I'm kind of hard to see when I'm lying in the shadows.

Look at how my enormous eyebrows stand out against my black fur.

Thanks for coming along on this hike with me. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Love, Trooper!

Loofa Toy!

Ever since I saw Cody's humongous loofa toy... I have been begging asking politely for a loofa toy of my own. As you can see in this picture, my loofa toy is too tiny for a big doggy like me!

Not only is my loofa toy tiny but it's broken too! Somehow all of the stuffing got pulled out of it and it doesn't squeak anymore. I have no idea how this happened!

Today when my mom came home from the store she gave me a gigantic loofa toy just like Cody's! Here I am playing with it in the snow. Look at how big it is!

I love my new toy!

Mom, are you STILL taking pictures of me? Sigh...

Thanks Mom!

My Buddy Wilbur

This is my best buddy Wilbur the Basset Hound. Wilbur lives near my house and we love to play together.

The first time I met Wilbur I gave him lots of kisses. Look at how small I was in this picture!

Here I am peeking over the top of Wilbur's back...

Come on Wilbur, play with me!

Wilbur is a real champ when it comes to giving his mom the "please may I have a treat?" face.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if Wilbur is happy or sad. I think he was happy in this picture... what do you think? Happy or sad?

Oh, in case you were wondering... Wilbur's humongous ears are incredibly soft. (I like to bite them!) I hope you enjoyed meeting Wilbur!

Please Mom?

Can I play outside just a little bit longer?

My Cousin Pele

My mom got an email this morning from her brother in Texas. He wanted to tell her about my cousin Pele graduating from Obedience School! Pele is the handsome black lab on the left side of the picture... the cute fluffy pup on the right side of the picture is his girlfriend Rooney. I don't know who the nice lady is... it must be Rooney's mom! My mommy's brother says that Pele will begin Phase 2 of his training at the end of the month. If he can complete Phase 2 then he'll go on to Phase 3. After Phase 3 he can take a state certification test so that he can become a full-fledged service dog! How exciting is that? (I know the pictures are grainy but that's how my mom got them in her email... sorry!)

What's really neat about this story is that Pele was found on the streets of New Orleans by my mom's niece (Shannon). Shannon managed to track down Pele's owner and his owner told Shannon that he didn't want Pele anymore. He asked Shannon if she wanted to keep Pele... if she didn't take Pele then Pele would have to go to the animal shelter. Shannon agreed to take Pele but there was one problem. Shannon is a college student and between classes and work she didn't have much time to spend with Pele. So she did what any college student would do... she called her mom and dad for advice. Shannon's mom and dad agreed to foster Pele until Shannon graduates in May. Pele made the trip from New Orleans to Texas during Spring Break of last year and he immediately made himself at home with Shannon's mom and dad. Here's a picture of Pele with my mom's brother.

We think it's pretty amazing that Pele went from wandering around the streets of New Orleans to starting a new life as a service dog. Congratulations Pele!

Love, Your Cousin Trooper

Snowshoe Adventure ~ January 6, 2009

Yesterday my dad brought home these big ol' clown shoes. He says they're not clown shoes... they're snow shoes. Can you see the spikes on the bottom of the shoes? The spikes make it easier for my dad to walk on the ice and snow. (You can click on the photos to make them bigger.)

Here's my dad practicing his snowshoeing in the backyard. (I think this means we're going to go hiking soon!) I discovered a really fun way to annoy my dad... if I step on the back of his snowshoe it causes him to fall down! I thought it was funny but my dad wasn't laughing. He's such a stick-in-the-mud sometimes.

This morning my dad and I drove out to one of our favorite hiking spots so he could try out his snowshoes. Here I am looking at all of the places I'll get to explore!

Oh boy, we found a stream! Now I can get a drink of water...

Hey dad! The bank of the stream is kind of steep... I don't want to fall in!

I carefully crept down to the stream and got a nice drink of water. Brrrr... the water was cold!

My dad and I stopped for a short rest before heading home. I hope we can go hiking again next week! Love, Trooper