Awesome Animal Videos: Dog Fight!

I'm a dog.  And I know what you're thinking.  Why would I post a video of a dog fight?  But this isn't a dog fight.   Not *that* kind of dog fight anyway.  It's more of a verbal altercation/discussion between two huskies.  One who wants to play, and one who doesn't.



I can totally empathize with the dog who wants to play.  I always want to play.

Of course, I reserve all of my barking for important things, like when I need to alert Alicia that my toy has somehow gotten under the furniture and I can't reach it.  Or when I need to talk to my toys and give them important messages.  Or when I really need to go out and no one is paying attention to my totally obvious cues of wandering around the house and asking Alicia and Matt to pet me (it looks the same as "pet me," but it's totally not; it's "let me out!").

When Puppies Attack!

I'm a dog.  In the mornings (at least while Alicia is on summer vacation) I like to get together with one of my pit bull friends and have a good romp.  Chili is three years old, so sometimes I have to really jump on his head and climb on him to get him to want to play as much as I do.  We bite each others faces and paws, jump on each other and knock each other down, chase each other and just generally have a really great time.  Alicia brought a camera along today to photograph some of the fun!

Chili wants to sit and rest. I want to play!

Yay! I win! Playtime!

Trying to lure Chili in by rolling around...

It didn't work. I just got very sandy.

Good thing I found this random children's Ugg boot to chew on!

What you don't see in the photos is where I break away from playing to hunt for cat poop to eat.  The sand of the volleyball court makes for a veritable litter pan!  So much poop!

The Evil at the End of My Butt

I'm a dog.  I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I've recently made an alarming discovery.  There's something at the end of my butt.  It's long and white and waggy.  And I think it's following me!



So, hide yo' kids...hide yo' wife, cause it's chasin' every puppy in here.

Dog vs. Dog: Bulldogs Beat the Heat

I'm a dog. I usually love to spend as much time as possible outside.  Going for walks.  Eating grass.  Getting told how adorable I am by strangers and friends alike. Playing with other dogs.

But lately, it's been a bit hot.  Too hot for Matt and Alicia to take me on long walks.  Too hot for other dogs to want to play.  I'd happily walk forever and play forever, of course, but other have different ideas.  Like these two bulldogs featured on Best Week Ever.  Each has their own way to try to beat the heat.

Which one do you think is smarter?  I like the first one, but would never lay on frozen water myself.  I appreciate the efforts of the second one, but again, I just can't get behind the idea of laying in water.  Water is for drinking! And Matt and Alicia would never let me bring a pool inside.

This Is Why We Don't Have Nice Things...

I'm a dog.  I like to chew things to make my world a better place.  I am a very adept chewer. I use my paws and teeth to do such things as...

1. ...open the cat door to escape the kitchen:

The secret here is that the latch to the cat door
is spring loaded.  Grab it in your mouth and pull
 to the side while pushing against the door. Et viola!

2. ...open the zipper on the throw pillow:

I'd like to point out that though I did pull apart some of the trim,
that was an accident.  I was trying to open the zipper.  And I did.
It's just that I had to grip with my paws and teeth, and sometimes,
that makes things fall apart. Oops.

3. ...tear my new toy to shreds in under 24 hours:

Chewing happily yesterday evening...

Tearing away the pink felt earlier this morning...

Shredding the tennis ball into little bite size pieces as this posts...

In my defense, I don't typically go out and seek human possessions to destroy.  I chewed the golf umbrellas a few weeks ago because they were left out.  I took the takeout menus off the fridge and tore them to shreds because they were hanging on the bottom half of the fridge, which just wasn't smart.  I chewed up the bag of supplies from Hunger Games camp because Matthew took it and put it right on the kitchen counter (even though NOTHING belonged in the kitchen, which I knew, and is why I rooted around in it and chewed some stuff up!).  And until Alicia stops putting the dishtowel on the front of the oven, I am going to make it my business to grab it and run into the living room with it every chance I get!

Yup.  I even grabbed it while she was typing this post for me.

So, in conclusion, THIS is why we don't have nice things:

One tennis ball down.  One to go.

My Favorite Things

I'm a dog.  A while back I posted about a few of my least favorite things.  I focused specifically on my strong dislike for all things car and crate related.  What a difference a month can make.  Now, not only do I love my crate so much that I'll stop in for naps throughout the day, but I also LOVE the car.  Why?  Because it takes me to all. sorts. of. fun. places!  Just today it took me to PetSmart.  But I'll talk about that later.

Right now I'm going to tell you about my Top 5 Favorite Things (in no particular order):

1. Car Rides
I love the car so much that if we walk by it, I stop by the rear door on the passenger side, just to let Alicia know I'd be happy to take a ride.  I've also started trying to run out in the road at passing cars, hoping they'll let me hop in.  Alicia does not like this new development.

2. My Crate
It's got my bed.  I love my bed.  Therefore, I love my crate. Enough said.

As Alicia would say: Snuggle-dy, Buggle-dy, Ruggle-dy.

3. Playing with my Dogfriends
There are two dogs (Chili, a pit bull and Buffy, a lab/something mix) that I play with regularly.  We have a lot of fun together because both of them are into my style of play: face and ear biting with jumping on one another and/or paw slapping.

(Man, I wish Alicia had a picture to put here!)

4. Playing Chase the Ball
You'll note that I didn't call this fetch.  That's because I don't fetch.  You throw the ball, I run to it, pounce, and capture it with my paws/mouth.  Then I trot off with it, ignoring any whistles, claps, commands of "Molly, come!" or any other indications that I should return it to Matt or Alicia.

Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm a puppy, man!

5. Morning and Evening Snuggles
Every morning and every night Matt or Alicia (sometimes both!) take a few minutes to snuggle with me.  I'm not allowed on the furniture, so they come down to the floor and call me over.  I snuggle right up in their laps and get pets and scratches and belly rubs and am told about what a good girl I am.

The snuggle tradition started my first night at home!

I'm a lucky dog!

Even More New Friends (and a Gender Debate)!

I'm a dog.  I can't believe how many people love me and want to be friends with me!  Last night, two of Alicia's co-worker friends came by the house.  I was a little upset that they didn't invite me to trivia with them, so I got back at them by nibbling their toes and licking their feet.  Something tells me they'll remember to invite me next time.

Contrary to my first impression, Erin and Kelley aren't twins.
They just dress alike and have red hair. Works for me!

One thing we don't have a picture of, however, was me showing them my "fit through the cat door" trick.  Alicia told them the story and they looked at the cat door and said "No way! She can't possibly fit through that!"  So of course, they had to see.  Erin put me in the kitchen (luring me in with fresh water - gets me every time) and then opened the cat door.  Heck if I didn't squirm through that door in seconds flat.  Kelley was shouting "You're not a cat!" and Erin was laughing.  I think that means they were impressed with my skills.

Erin questioned why, if I was a girl dog, I had a blue collar.  Alicia told her that, believe it or not, they will sell blue collars to people who own girl dogs.  Who knew?  Girl dogs aren't restricted to red, pink and purple.  It's the 21st century.  Dogs can wear any collar they want!  Erin isn't the first one to be puzzled by the blue collar though, it's actually a common source of confusion.  People come up to me, see the blue collar and assume I'm a boy, saying things like "He's such a cute dog!" "He's a puppy!" etc.  Then they either ask my name or I flip over onto my back to request a belly rub and their reaction is something akin to "Wha???? Oh, it's a girl."  It's funny, because boy dogs never seem to have a problem figuring out that I'm a girl.  They come over, sniff and then try to mount me.  I know I'm cute, but boys, please.  Some manners!  Take me out for a dog biscuit first.  

Anyway, all of this gender-bending had me thinking about a cool story Alicia read and told me about, called The Story of X and that got me thinking about the "Real-life Baby X" and how people are getting so bent out of shape about not knowing whether someone else's child is a boy or a girl.  And I know this is a light, fluffy blog where people come to look at cute pictures and read funny stories, but I'm going to get a little deep right now.  What does it matter whether I'm a boy or a girl?  Aren't I cute and playful and sometimes well-behaved no matter whether I'm a boy or girl?  Aren't my ears just as soft? My spots just as cow-looking? I think so.

And all that reminds me that today a man said I was so good looking that I was "movie star dog" good looking.  He complimented my markings and my brown ear and otherwise stark white coat.  Alicia thanked him and gave a little laugh (because people are always randomly coming up to her and saying what a looker I am) and he said "No, I'm serious. That's a good-looking dog."  I'm a dog.

More New Friends!

I'm a dog.  Meeting new friends is my favorite thing to do.  I try to meet new friends every day.  Over the weekend I had the opportunity to make MORE new friends.  These particular friends are folks that Alicia met years ago in college at TCNJ (back when I was but a glimmer in the glimmer of the glimmer of some dog's eye).  Several of Alicia's freshman floormates live in the DC area, so it was a great chance to get the gang together.

Chris and his wife Leslie are planning a big move to Beijing in August and just had to come see everyone.  Or at least that's the reason everyone was publicly stating.  I know it's because Chris had read my blog and wanted to make sure he got the opportunity to give me pets and scratches and in turn receive face licks and snuggles, before he ventured to China.  And so I made sure to give him lots of love.

Crazy-eyed from all the love!

They just can't get enough of me!

On my way to a face lick with Fun Uncle Chris!

Kisses (and nibbles) with Bonny!

Ben finds my rubber chicken and more fun ensues!

A great time was had by all!  The only things that could have made it better are if Melissa and Ted didn't have to leave for vacation and thus could've come over (as I think Jackson and I would've become fast friends) and if Matt had allowed Alicia to buy one of the special dog biscuits at Carlyle Grill, where the humans went for brunch.  I mean, come on, Matt.  It was $1, and it would have been a nice treat. Cheapo!

Still, I love meeting new friends.  Do you want to be my friend? If you do, you should come over too!

*Well, almost everyone.  Regrettably, Stephanie couldn't make it, because she had a wedding in NJ.

Oops!...I Did it Again

I'm a dog. Remember how I last posted about my escape from the kitchen?  Well, after Matt and Alicia upped the pressure on the gates I could no longer push my way through.  Luckily, I've figured out how to open the cat door and squeeze myself through...
 

My dramatic reenactment of the escape.

And it was a good thing I got through, because on the other side of the gate there was a canvas bag full of plastic baggies that I could tell needed to be dealt with.  They hadn't learned their lesson from when I chewed up their box and threw them all around the room.  So I had to do it. Again.

You mess with me, you end up like these bags.

All of this destruction makes a puppy tired.

All in a day's work, I guess!

Seriously, Don't Fence Me In

I'm a dog.  A couple of weeks ago, Matt and Alicia bought some pretty tall dog gates to keep me in the kitchen. I'm happy to report that though it took me a few weeks, I've escaped their evil clutches.

While Alicia was away during the day leading her Hunger Games camp (ask her more about this) and Matt went into the District for work, I was trapped in the kitchen.  I wasn't yet ready to escape, but I used this time to plot and plan.  It was after camp that Alicia made her fatal mistake: coming home to shower before going out to Target.

It was during this quick trip home that I was able to analyze the gates from both sides and finalize my plan.  Here's what Alicia saw when she arrived home...

I greeted her at the door.
This clued her in that something was amiss.

She quickly noticed I'd pushed out the bottom
of the pressurized gate from the doorway.

She then turned her attention to the living room.

I'd attacked the box of plastic bags they use to pick up my poop.
The shredded box lay around the room.  Bags strewn every which
way. I also took (but didn't chew) a pillow off the chair.

I also chewed the sticky papers off the lint roller and nibbled
on the plastic handle/holder. Note one of the many piles of
plastic baggies and shredded cardboard box.

Finally, I removed Alicia's backpack from the chair and also
took my little travel backpack (holds my orange ball, extra
baggies, house keys, etc. when I go for walks) off its hook.

And that's all she wrote.  I left the furniture alone.  I didn't bother eating the magazines on the coffee table.  The handwoven basket, woven placemats and remote controls were left in their places undisturbed.  This wasn't about destroying Matt and Alicia's things.  This was about escape...and exacting revenge on the box of poop baggies, which have always had it out for me.

Mission: Accomplished*.

*Matt has since extra-tightened the pressure on the gates, and I haven't been able to escape a second time. Yet.

Climb Every Mountain

I'm a dog.  I climbed a mountain.  It's true.  In preparation for taking her campers hiking, Alicia and I did a test-hike at Sugarloaf Mountain, a free mountain owned and operated by a non-profit organization, in Dickerson, MD.  It was about an hour away from home, and I knew I'd need every ounce of energy I could muster, so I slept the whole car ride there while Alicia drove.

Once we arrived I anxiously jumped out of the car and was ready to go!  We parked about halfway up the mountain and started hiking the White Trail.  One thing that was great about the hike was that we were some of the only people hiking the mountain.  I tend to get distracted very easily, so this was perfect for me.  With no one to get me off track I just focused on making my way up, down and around the mountain.

Taking in the scenery.

Looking for options other than climbing
over the fallen tree.

No other options. Gotta climb!

After hiking for about an hour, we detoured off the white trail and took the blue trail up to a parking area for a snack.  While we were up there, we found this cool area where they'd constructed an overlook and decided to see what we could see.

I see...trees.

You can't tell, but the other side of this wall is a straight
20 ft. drop to semi-jagged rocks. I'm a daredevil!

After this we walked down to the bottom of the mountain and then...all the way back up to the tippy tippy top!  To get to the peak, we took the Orange Trail, which is an incredibly steep 1/4 mile hike.  Alicia was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, but I powered through and made it to the top.

We made it!

I'm the Queen of the World!

A celebratory earstyle I tried out.

I think it makes me look regal.

On our way back down to the car we came across our first group of people.  It was a camp group!  Full of kids!  Who wanted to pet me!  If I thought the feeling of accomplishment from hiking was good, getting pet and scratched and adored by 12 children at the same time was unbelievable!  And then they thanked Alicia for the privilege of petting me.  Not too shabby.

But then things took a turn for the worst.  Just as we were nearing the end of the trail, the wind picked up and it started to rain.  A total downpour.  Now, I have no problem with thunder or lightning.  But rain...I hate rain.  I loathe rain.  I despise rain.  It makes you get wet.  I do not like wet unless I'm drinking.  So I pulled Alicia along and we ran to the car.  She opened the back door and was futzing with my carrier door while I was getting soaked, so I just hopped right in the car and laid down in the foot well.

It's nice and dry here.  I'm not leaving.

Alicia spent a minute or so trying to coax me out of the well and into the carrier, but there was no way I was going out in this rain.  No sir.  I had big plans to curl up and sleep while I dried off.

Taking my well-deserved nap.

And that's exactly what I did.

Good hike!  Let's do it again sometime when it isn't raining.

Kids! Cousins! Cousins Who Are Kids!

I'm a dog.  As you know, I love people.  In fact, I haven't yet found a single one that I don't like.  (Sure, there was that weird guy who said he'd karate chop me if I chewed on him, but since I didn't even give him the slightest of nibbles, he kept his hands to himself.)  What I have found is that I enjoy a particular type of human above others.  Kids!

They love to pet me.  Their faces, especially the little ones, are right on the same level as mine. They giggle when I lick their faces. I like that.  I even tone down some of my nibbling and jumping when it comes to meeting kids.  Yup, I like 'em that much.

Over the past two weekends I've had the opportunity to meet a bunch of my kid cousins.  They all love me.  Especially the littlest of the cousins.

Last weekend, while I was at Maw and Paw's, I met Kevin and Laurie and their kids, Ava, Connor and Shaun.  Connor and I got along really well, and he even fed me dinner and took me for a walk.

Clowning around with Ava.

Hanging with my main man Connor.

Shaun, thinking my food bowl is a
musical instrument. Silly baby!

Then this weekend, Patrick and Eileen stopped by our house with Niko, Alex and Makayla on their way home from vacation.

She's looking at the television, but
those Makayla claps are for me!

Getting a belly rub from Alex.

Laying like a good girl with Niko.

I love my cousins! And more importantly, my cousins love me! I hope I get to see them all again soon.

Celebrating My Independence

I'm a dog.  I've been meaning to post since Wednesday, but Alicia has been too busy to type up my thoughts, so this post about my first BBQ is a bit delayed.  Apologies for Alicia's rudeness.

Last Saturday I got to go to my first barbecue!  We're talking burgers (with cheese!) on the grill, hot dogs galore, a kiddie pool (presumably for drinking mass quantities of water) and lots of people to pet and love me. I was pumped.  Little did I know that the food and kiddie pool were not for me at all.  In fact, whenever I showed even the slightest indication of interest, Alicia usually directed me elsewhere. Lame.

The good news is, I did get to feast...on deer poop!  It's this new thing I discovered.  It kind of looks like my kibble in shape, size and color, but it is so much better*.  And lucky for me, Kate and Chris (our hosts) had a backyard full of it, and they didn't even know it.  See, it can tend to lie camouflaged in the grass.  But I'm a super-searcher and found piles of it.  Alicia tells me that other dogs like to roll around in it.  I have a sparkly white coat and that would show immediately, so I prefer to just eat it.  Delicious.

But the barbecue wasn't all deer poop.  There were plenty of new friends to meet and impress with my cuteness.  So I did just that.  Here are a few of my new friends.

Rachel, Claire and Vinnie, centered around me, naturally!

When she wasn't looking, I snuck up on
Rachel's lap through the chair arm.

All of this attention was great, but there was still more fun to be had!

I played some Bocce ball...

Took a few "laps" in the pool. Refreshing!

And finally, found a comfy chair and called in bedtime!
Note: I was quickly removed from said chair and told "No"
after the obligatory cute photo was taken.  Unfair.

I had a great time! I definitely want to go to another barbecue soon. Thanks Katie and Chris!

*For some odd reason, Alicia did not document this white photos.  She was too busy saying "No!" and trying to open my mouth to get the deer poop out.  Priorities.