A new holiday...Boxer Day!

Happy Holidays y'all - Dawson here! What a great time of year. Lots of cheese snacks, lots of snow adventures - nothing better. Did you celebrate all the holidays? We did. Boxing Day isn't really a holiday here but it is in Canada. Get this! Cordy thought it was Boxer Day. First she was all excited that we might have lots of Boxers on our Adventures (we love to play with Boxers). Then she was pretty upset that Boxers had their own day but German Shorthairs (us), Jack Russells and all the other dogs didn't have a day. Tamara says Cordy is really smart but sometimes I just don't know...... Have a safe New Years Eve. If you are afraid of fireworks, tell your people so they won't leave you alone. I love fireworks - sounds like gunshots like pheasant season.

humanisms

So...how did you all enjoy the snow and cold? It's been a 2-dog night at our house. Tamara lets Dawson and I sleep on the bed and under the covers on these cold nights so she doesn't have to crank up the heat. Did you know that '3 Dog Night' means its so cold you need three dogs in your igloo or sleeping bag to stay warm? You know ever since the dogsled adventure, I've been thinking about the things humans say. Dog Park. Do you park your dog there? NO. Parkway. Back east these are nice tree lined roads. No parking involved. Seahawk. We had to sit in front of the tv for HOURS last night and I saw no sea and not a single bird. I have made a big list of these humanisms which I will publish at a later date. One thing that humans get right is 'Cheese Snack' - you betcha!!!

FYI all you dogs. A 'dogsled' is a regular sled PULLED by dogs. How hilarious is that! The dogs are Huskies and they really get into this 'sport'. They said it was more fun than hunting birds could ever be and more fun than cheese snacks. Whatever. We had a tailwagging GREAT time riding ON the sled. And I am just relieved, you know. I was having some disturbing thoughts about a dogsled being a sled made out of dogs. I'm glad I was wrong about that one.

Adventure and more Adventure

Cordelia Brown here. Yesterday Dawson and EVERYONE went on a Super Adventure and LEFT me home all day!!! Someone came and let me out at lunch. Big deal. They all went hiking up near McClellan Butte off the John Wayne Trail. Thats a great place for all you dogs to go hiking with your people! Apparently everyone had a really, really good time even though they got good and wet and cold. Dawson, Chance and Dutch.. they all went. Even Dutch's person, Kim, got to go. Dozer got sent home early because he picked a big fight with Chance. He's grounded. Tamara doesn't tolerate real fights. Not a bit. Anyway, I bet they had lots of snacks . Poor me...no one should be home alone. Especially not me. It's not like I did anything wrong and got grounded or anything. Tamara says next week the Doddering Old Dogs are going on a snow trip where we don't have to hike. We can just play in the snow. And we are going to ride on a dog sled. You don't think they made a sled out of dogs, do you? Maybe it's a sled designed for dogs to ride on? Or maybe its a sled designed by dogs. I'm confused. I'll let you know.

Waiting..its what dogs do.

Well...October was pretty busy. Cordelia, Tamara and I (OK, mostly Tamara) have added two new groups during the week and we have a Super Adventure scheduled almost every Saturday til after Christmas. We're even going Dog Sledding one day! (We are riding not pulling, of course) Tamara says we have a waiting list for some groups. I don't get what is new about that. Dogs seem ALWAYS to be waiting. We get up - we wait for you to get up. We wait ALL DAY to eat. We sit in the car forever and wait while you sit in traffic pretending it isn't your fault we aren't already at the park. We wait for you to get home. Waiting list, hah! A dogs life is one giant waiting list. (But, I tell you. It's still a pretty great life. Most everything seems worth waiting for... Especially Adventures!)

This is Cordelia Brown. Dawson has badly sprained her wrist at the dog park. So, I am totally in charge of the canine duties for now. Let's catch up....First, some IMPORTANT NEWS. RAISINS AND GRAPES ARE TOXIC TO DOGS. NOT an urban myth. Check it out at the Animal Poison Control Center. Type raisins in the search box and read the facts. This is not tail waggin' news. I like raisins and grapes. 'Course I really like chocolate and onions and we all know those are bad. Next thing you know they'll find something wrong with the beef.... HAPPIER NEWS: We have a NEW ALL TERRIER GROUP. They meet twice a week for a morning Adventure. Terriers are sooooo busy!!!! Every cell in their body seems to vibrate. There is still room for two more terriers in this group so if you are a terrier, contact us. My old dog group went to the snow last week. We had a blast! We made lots of yellow snow, we tracked some critters, and then Tamara threw us snowballs. That is is EXACTLY my cup of beef broth, I tell you. On the way home we cranked up the heat and turned on the heated dogbeds. Heaven. (I shared my bed with my friend Puglet. He isn't very big so it was okay.)

Join us at Marymoor

Dawson here. Saturday, October 8th, is a SODA work day at the dogpark at Marymoor. We'll be there helping to spread wood chips. If you hurry and go to the dog park BEFORE this Saturday, you can play on the big mountains of wood chips before they get spread out. (Don't get on Cordy's mountain unless you want to play King of the Mountain and get your tail whupped.) Get your people to take you. Or,call us and we'll take you. We have two dog park trips this week just to play on Wood Chip Mountains. The terriers LOVE them. It makes you bark out loud to watch them try and dig through. We're going to the snow on Friday; but that Super Adventure is fully booked. But we'll have more!

Fall is Good

This is perfect weather for dogs!! I assume people must like it too? We've been busy seeing all the clients again and going on Adventures in the mountains to see the leaves. We also added a new Midday Potty Break group everyday at Redmond Ridge. I like it there. The person at the QFC at Redmond Ridge gives me cheese samples. I like cheese samples. Samples must be another word for snacks. BTW- The dogs (and cats I suppose) from Katrina still need help. You can see how to help at www.aspca.org They have lots of info. Later, Dawson.

Dawson and Tamara are home from Katrina

Cordelia Brown here. Dawson and Tamara are home from the mess in New Orleans. I am home from my stay at the V-E-T. D and T are going to be napping all day 'cause they are very tired. It's good to have them home except all their gear smells just AWFUL -like a mix of sewer treatment plant and jet fuel. I like most stinky things but that bag is too much... BTW - I am bored. I'm considering wrapping a 'Rescue Me' note around a milkbone and dropping it from the balcony so someone will come play with me today while Dawson and Tamara are napping. Tomorrow is Monday and we all go back to work. Yay. But today I am bored.

We're in New Orleans and it smells pretty bad

Greetings from New Orleans. Tamara and I are working hard. Everyone here is very dedicated and VERY busy. I am, according to everyone, exceeding expectations and learning new things everyday. However, the humans and, especially, the animals are all very very sad and upset and that makes it very hard. Plus the smells are TERRIBLE and that makes it hard for me to sniff out people so they can be saved. My eyes and nose are running all the time and I have to worry about water moccasins (these are NOT shoes to play with but SNAKES!) I wear boots and other stuff and Tamara gives me a bath every night. We are sleeping on the floor of a big retail store (with lots of other people and a few dogs). I found a HUGE shelf full of tennis balls. They SELL tennis balls. Why would they do that? You can find them for free at the dog park. You have to chew through plastic containers to get these. I chewed through several! So anyway, Cross your fingers for us. We'll be safely home soon. Please try to help all the people and their pets who can't go home for a long time. Love, Dawson

Search and Rescue in New Orleans

Cordelia Brown speaking. Dawson and Tamara have gone to Lousiana for a week to assist in Search and Rescue. I hope they help lots of people AND their dogs. I'll be staying here with my favorite human - my vet. I LOVE my vet. Love, love, love him. Love the Love, love the snacks, but hate the thermometer. Seems like they could use the ear thermometer like they do on people, don't you think? Even though Tamara isn't here right now, you can still contact us and we'll get back to you pretty quickly. Use the email, OK?

I'm Dawson!

Dawson here. I'm the one with the spots up there in the box that says rates. See me? Today we actually went to the Dog Park at Marymoor! I love the Dog Park. I can even spell park P-A-R-K. We don't go very often lately because Tamara says we get enough workout on our Adventures and Tamara says the we can't swim there anymore because the water is fenced off for the Salmon and Tamara says...well, Tamara always seems to have a lot to say. But today at the dog park we ran into several clients - including Cordy's sweet young thing who is named Dutch. That was fun --except clients always behave so strangely when they are with their people. They're always showing off and making a big deal out of seeing me and Cordy. (Which of course we secretly like a lot!). Next week we have 3 - count 'em - 3 Super Adventures. It's a record. We are going to Steven's Pass to hike and swim, and to the real beach with the ocean and everything, and up to some lake we have to hike up, up, up to get to and then the water is really really clear for swimming and drinking. After Super Adventures, we have a picnic supper which means we get to see what the Clients eat..hmmm very interesting. I'm hungry NOW. I need a cheese snack....