Party in New Orleans! (by: Gerrit)

My puppy raiser and her SGF went to a place called New Orleans last week. I got to stay with Skipper's puppy raiser while she was gone... where I had a super good time! But, after all the stories she told me about New Orleans, I can't understand why they didn't take me! That place sounds like it was one big party... and you all know that I LOVE to PARTY!

She said that New Orleans is a super dog friendly place. There was dog stuff ALL over the place. There was doggie art...

And, doggie stuff in the windows...

And, even cool fire hydrants!...

But, the coolest story my puppy raiser told was how one day they were walking around the French Quarter and they kept seeing dogs EVERYWHERE! Big dogs, small dogs, round dogs, and itty bitty dogs! As the day went on, the number of dogs kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally they asked someone what was up with all the dogs. They found out that there was going to be Mardi Gras parade that afternoon called Barkus... and, it was a parade of DOGS!!!

My puppy raiser took tons of photos of all the dogs in the parade. She said that not only were beads thrown out to people watching the parade... but, doggie treats were thrown to all of the dogs watching the parade! Can you imagine? Doggie treats being thrown all over the place?!! Wow!!!

The parade had funny stuff...

And, it had political stuff...

But the best part, other than the treats being thrown EVERYWHERE, was that it had TONS of dogs...

There was even an Elvis dog that drooled almost as much as my buddy Nick!...

Lucky and Carlo said they were sorta glad they didn't go to New Orleans cause they wouldn't have wanted to wear all of those dorky costumes. But, heck, I would have worn ANY costume if it meant going to a dog party! My puppy raiser said that she sorta wished she had brought me along on their trip cause New Orleans would have been the PERFECT place to work on my dog distraction. Errr... you think?! Heck yeah, she should have brought me along! I would have partied ALL night with all of those dogs! To make it up to me, she put some beads on me and took some photos of me. I was all up for it at first... but, then as I was laying there with all of these beads on me, I didn't quite see how it was the same thing as going to a dog parade with treats flying EVERYWHERE!

Fur-Low Days and Shriners (by: Carlo)

Because of the bad economy, Friday was a fur-low day at my pal's work [side note by pal: Ummm, Carlo that is actually spelled furlough]. My pal had to work that day, but she gets to take her fur-low... I mean furlog... furlogh... heck, I'm just going to write fur-low cause it's easier and more fun! She gets to take her fur-low day on another day.

The one thing that worried me about fur-low days is that my pal is going to have a pay cut. Lucky, Gerrit, and I were all worried that would mean we wouldn't get as much food or treats. But, my pal assured us that we were her highest priorities and that we will never have to worry about not getting enough food and treats. Hmmmm... I wonder if that means we can get MORE!

I actually think I'm going to like fur-low days because every day my pal isn't working, means more time with ME! I'm hoping that on her fur-low days we can spend time going on hospital visits. My pal had an orientation at Shriners Hospital for Children last week and she came back so excited. She rambled on and on about the history of Shriners. It all was pretty interesting... at least if you're a person... I fell asleep half way through her rambling. But, from what I did hear... Shriners Hospital has something called a Masonic heritage... it was founded by Master Masons in the Freemasonry Fraternity. You're probably thinking what I was thinking... huh?

From what my pal explained, there were a bunch of these guys way back in 1870 that started a fraternity based on fun and fellowship. I like fun! They gave the fraternity an Arabian theme cause one of the guys went to a party given by an Arabian diplomat and thought it would be a neat theme.... that's why the official hat of the Shriners is a red fez with a black tassel. I asked my pal if I would have to wear a fez when we volunteered, but she laughed and said no.

After hearing about the fez, I drifted off for a bit, and when I woke back up my pal, was still rambling. She sure knows how to ramble! She was rambling about how the first Shriners Hospital was built in 1922... and there are now 22 hospitals, and about 400,000 Shriners (people in the fraternity)! The hospitals provide car for orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. All children up to 18 years old are eligible for treatment and there is never a charge to the patient or family for any medical care or services!!! The fraternity people who wear the fezs donate money to keep the hospitals running! The hospitals also rely on donations from anyone generous enough to donate. Wow, that's pretty dang cool!

Sometime soon I'm going to get to go with my pal to Shriners Hospital to have my badge photo taken and then we can start officially doing hospital visits there. I can't wait! I will get to spend time with children... and I won't even have to wear a fez! Fur-low days will give us more time to do hospital visits at Shriners! Besides the pay cut (which I don't have to worry about cause I'm still going to get food and treats), I LOVE fur-low days!

Walking in Tahoe (by: Lucky)

When you are an old and wise dog like me, you begin to realize that there is so much in life to sniff and enjoy. Why run... when you can walk?

Gerrit probably ran enough for the three of us dogs while we were in Tahoe this last weekend. Crazy pup. It may have taken me 13 years, but I'm finally realizing that when you run fast, you don't get the chance to smell the roses... among the MANY other things that are good to sniff. So, while in Tahoe, I walked. And, walked. It was amazing all the things I discovered. I found sticks. Pine cones. And, of course, all those yummy stinky things I won't list because people just don't understand why us dogs would ever wanna sniff those things.

What's another benefit of walking? When you walk, instead of run full steam ahead... you don't put others in danger. Gerrit failed to mention that when each of those photos of him running were taken... he was running... no, make that sprinting, right towards my pal (aka Gerrit's puppy raiser). That pup has got a great recall, but he can be a little overzealous. At first, I thought that my pal was old and wise like me. As much as her eye was glued to that camera, every time Gerrit came running, she leaped to the side before Gerrit reached her. But, then something happened to make me think she might be old... but, not necessarily wise. Even though she has been around a LONG time, she failed to use that wisdom that comes with old age. She waited just a few seconds too long. She knew better. But, she wanted to get the shot...

Yeah, that's the shot she got... right before Gerrit leaped into her lap at breakneck speed. My pal was more worried about the camera than her own personal well-being, so when she realized it was too late to leap, she moved the camera high in the air at the last second (which is how she got the above shot)... and the next instance she was flat on her back from being pummeled over by a crazy puppy.

What's the lesson in all this? Always listen to the wise old dog. Walk instead of run. And, when you see a crazy puppy running towards you, forget the shot and leap outta the way. Finally, I've gotta learn how to use a camera so that I don't miss classic shots, like my pal getting pummeled over by a crazy puppy!

Running in Tahoe (by: Gerrit)

This weekend my puppy raiser's SGF (special guy friend) surprised ALL of us with a trip to Tahoe!!!

We packed up the car Friday after work. And, between two people, three dogs, and all of our doggie travel paraphernalia (dog beds, food, treats, leashes, treats, toys, treats, treats, treats, etc.), it was one FULL car. It was dark by the time we got there, so we didn't get to see much of anything... all we got to do was sniff every inch of our condo. We got to also go outside of our condo just to go potty (aka "hurry"). That was actually kinda scary because we heard monster-like howling nearby. My puppy raiser said they were coyotes! When I found that they were coyotes and not monsters, I asked my puppy raiser if we could go play with them, but she said, "NO!".

The next morning, we woke up bright and early (well, we dogs did... it took some doing to get the people up). I don't know why they would wanna sleep in when there was so much exploring to do! After we finally got them up, we all went on a walk to the lake... and get this... there was white cold stuff all over the ground!!! It was sort of like sand... but cold... and quite yummy! My puppy raiser told me it was called snow. I LOVE snow! It made me wanna run. So, I ran...

Later that day, we went out to this area that is a bird sanctuary. It's covered in water during the summer... but, in the winter there is no water and dogs are allowed there. It was so cool there! It made me wanna run some more. So, I ran...

And, I ran some more...

Here I am running toward Carlo... just before I pounced on him!

To be honest, I never really stopped running the whole time we were in Tahoe! There was something about being in the mountain, and all the smells, and the snow. I think I could have run forever! It was the best time EVER!