New Breed?

Today we saw a new breed at the dog park. Look who's swimming with the pups! They don't let dogs swim at the people beach, so should this little guy be allowed to swim at ours? Eewwww. I hope they have some kind of hazmat-type shower at their house! This is definitely not a kid-friendly swimming pond. (But at least he appeared to be having lots of fun with the doggies!)

Pathetic Pups

We recently had a trip to the vet - both of us, plus Felix - to get our annual shots. No fun, no fun at all. Of course, we were fine seconds after the sting was over, but we kept our pathetic look for as long as possible to get the extra special attention. Just show a bandaged leg to Mama and she melts - extra snuggles for us! Humans are such suckers.

Oliver the Pogo Beagle

I've had a hard time finding time to blog ever since Mama took a full-time job. (Go figure.) I've been too busy taking care of my new little brother, Oliver. Here's just a small sample of his crazy antics. Mama was standing outside the door which drove him nuts. (He gets jumpy whenever she comes home, but maybe not quite to this extent.

A New Year, A New Look

Happy New Year, everybody! With the new year, we thought we'd start a new look for our blog as well. Since it appears that Oliver is a permanent fixture in our family, I figured I'd give him top billing in the blog title, and maybe he'll even get to post occasionally. I also added a couple new features to the blog, including "The Daily Puppy" because, well, who doesn't love puppies?! I also added a Guest Book at the bottom of the page, so please scroll down and sign in. We're always amazed to meet the fur friends (and people) that visit our blog from so many different corners of the world. So sign the guest book, post your comments and make yourself known!

Nose to the Ground - Always

I know, I know. These pictures are obviously not very recent, seeing as our great State of Minnesota is covered in snow and ice and we have been having sub-zero temperatures. These photos were from a dog park trip just short of two months ago. None of the pictures turned out very good, however, Mama found it kind of funny that EVERY photo shows me with my nose to the ground. She always gives me grief about that.

Oliver's sniffer is not nearly as "developed" as mine. He's more interested in playing.

In Memory of Percival Platypus, our Murdered Friend

In light of the recent murder of our friend, Percival Platypus, I am posting this old photo to show that at one time he was a beloved friend. In Mama's attempt to find acceptable items for Oliver to chew, she purchased a wonderful goody-bag of delicious treats that would not contribute to my girth. Shown below is the sole photo of Percival, the purple platypus, who was - for two brief but happy months - Oliver's best friend. He squeaked when you pressed his belly, he made curious crinkling noises when you touched his feet (or flappers, if you will). He flew through the air with the greatest of ease. He replaced the boring old ball as Oliver's favorite fetch toy. He was Oliver's constant companion, especially on the non-daycare days when Oliver would spend time in his kennel.

Nobody knows what poor Percival did to set off Oliver, but....
one day - best friend; next day - torn to pieces in what can only be described as a horrifying crime scene. Poor Percival. He was such a loyal companion. Now he is only another entry on the list of items Oliver has destroyed.

Hey, little brother. If you're lonely now, you have only yourself to blame.

Long Time, No Blog - Time to Catch Up!

Whoa, I've been so busy with my new little brother Oliver that I have forgotten to blog. Plus, my mama started a full-time job right around the time of my last blog (purely coincidental - I'm sure we're still her highest priority). Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately...

Oliver's favorite flavor is brown leather. He has eaten every pair of brown leather sandals Mama owns. The first to go were her favorite Naturalizers which she wore daily all summer long. She replaced them with another pair and he ate those, too. Yum. Then a third pair, and finally she gave up on trying to find the perfect brown sandal since it was close to the end of the season anyway. Since it was still nice out (early fall), Mama just switched to her less favorite light tan sandals - they were delicious as well. During those last few days of good weather, she finally resorted to a pair of brown sandals she hated - they were pretty ugly and never very comfortable, but the sandal budget had been completely blown out of the water by that time of year. He found that even the ugly, uncomfortable brown shoes made a perfect dessert.

Don't get me wrong, Oliver wasn't allowed free run of the home 24/7. At that time, he was being kenneled at night and followed like a hawk during the day. It's just that, given even a second of opportunity, he would quietly sneak to the door, grab the shoe of his choice (ALWAYS Mama's - he doesn't care for the Daddy, Girl or Boy flavors) and create instant destruction. Can't trust the little bugger for even a second. Keeps my standing as "the good dog" pretty solid. Also, the teens didn't quite get the meaning of "watching like a hawk" and instead they would just send pic messages by phone to Mama during work showing the latest shoe-victim. One day he even ate a phone - completely out of character since there was no brown leather on it. The phone did, however, have a black leather case (another yummy flavor), but he chewed up all the interesting metal parts and the screen as well. That's when we discovered tables and countertops (in addition to shoe racks) are not safe places to keep items.


Shortly after Mama started working full-time the teens went back to school so Oliver, being a source of property destruction and potential financial ruin, was kenneled during the day. Turns out that doesn't work so well for Oliver either. Evidently we were blessed to rescue a dog with separation anxiety. Luckily for Oliver, Mama loves unconditionally and she began to take him to doggie daycare. Turns out, Oliver LOVES it! I've tried it a few times and it exhausts me (I'm at the ripe old age of 5), but he can run and wrestle all day and still have plenty of energy left over to torture me when he gets home. However, it tires him out enough that he is much better behaved at the end of the day.

Oliver thrived in daycare and Felix and I had our much-needed quiet time back. Life was good. He goes to Woof Dah doggie daycare and has a blast all day long. They have webcams so you can check on the puppers if you like, and the staff there has been wonderful with him. They'll throw a birthday party for your dog, and even provide the guests! They had a costume contest for the dogs on Halloween - here's a pic of Oliver in his bumblebee costume. (He didn't win. I would have never tolerated the costume the way he did. He was a trooper.)




I notice in these costume photos, that he is cleverly concealing the spot on the sofa cushion where he chewed a corner off. Pretty smart by blocking the view of his destruction with his cuteness.

Anyway, all that being said, Oliver is a pretty great little brother and I love him a lot. I've gained quite a bit more gray fur since he joined our little family, but he also keeps me young and reminds me of how fun it is to be a dog. I'm also teaching him about the joy of a good, quiet nap. He's beginning to catch on.

OK, I guess having a brother is kind of cool.

So, it turns out that having a brother is not so bad. It's actually kind of fun. He's keeping me young. We especially love to play bitey-face. Oliver originally initiated the game, but now sometimes I like to get him started too. The best thing is that we usually don't bark when we play, so we don't get in trouble with the neighbors!



When we've both had enough rough-housing, we like to nap. We usually sleep "near" each other, as opposed to "with" each other, but every once in a while, Mom catches us doing this:



And we have a lot of fun on road trips, sometimes even sharing the same seat:





But the only bad thing is that Oliver pretty much freaks out whenever we get left alone. Our "people" started out putting him in his kennel when they all had to leave the house, but he freaked out pretty bad and they thought they would see if he did better having free run of the house with me. The result is that he scratched a big section of rug-yarn out of the living room rug and now it has a bald spot. (Mom didn't take a picture with the giant ball of rug-yarn all piled up. She just clipped it all off and this is the result.) I'm pretty sure this kind of behavior will continue to secure my place in the home as FAVORITE.

Oliver's First Trip to the Dog Park

Yesterday was real nice outside so my Mom and Dad took Oliver and me to the dog park. It was Oliver's first time going off-leash and he was a little hesitant at first, but he warmed right up. The Humane Society caretaker told us that Oliver had acted skittish in a play session with larger dogs, but we all thought he did OK at the park for the first time. Of course, he picked largest dog there to play with (a gentle but big Rottweiler). In this video taken on the beach, he barks at the Rottie then quickly runs away. Then he does another "run-by" barking. He was upset that the ball was in the water and the other dog wasn't fetching it, so he went in the lake (for the first time ever, we think) to get it for him. Like me, he only goes in the lake up to his chest, never getting out to where his feet can't touch the bottom.



We ignored each other for the majority of our off-leash time so I could sniff in peace and he could meet other puppers. He engaged almost every dog in a game of "chase the little guy" and I was glad that he worked off more energy than me. When it was time to go, he stuck pretty close by me and Mom & Dad when we're walking on the path. Whew! I was worried I might have to round him up in the woods or something.



I hope Mom & Dad don't remember how difficult it was to get me to follow them when they first got me. (Oh well, I didn't have the habit of piddling in the house like Oliver does now and then - I'm pretty sure that will firmly secure my place as FAVORITE.)

I guess I have a brother now.

Well, little Oliver is STILL here in my house... and he has a crate next to my mom's bed... and chewies... and blankets... and lots of love and affection from MY family... and Mom got an extension for the leash so we have to walk together... so it appears he's here to stay. I guess I have a brother.

The good news is that he does NOT get to sleep in my bed (with Mom & Dad). He has to sleep in his crate. He also doesn't get to be on the FURniture yet - that's still solely my territory. He has to earn that privilege (by not eating the sofa or peeing in the the house or any other such nastiness for awhile).

Oh, and I hope he stops humping me soon. I turn around and put him in his place, and we end up playing for a good long time over it all, but all this activity is making me a very tired beagle.