Puppy's First Snow!

I'm a dog.  As you may have noticed, I'm having Alicia catch up on some forgotten posts today.  Today was supposed to be a snow day, but nary a flake has fallen.  I was hoping to get some action shots of me playing in today's snow, but since there is none, we're going to take this post back to a Saturday in January when we did get snow.  Just a little bit, but enough for me to realize that I LOVE SNOW!

Snow is fun to sniff.

Snow is fun to eat!

Snow is fun to play with!

Did I mention that it's fun to sniff and eat? It is.

I spent all walks that day and the next sniffing, snorting, playing, and just having a ball in the snow.  It was awesome.  Snow has easily made its way onto the list of Molly Manute's favorite things.  My revised list looks something like this:

1. Going on car rides
2. Sleeping on my chair
3. Snow (eating, sniffing, playing, etc.)
4. Playing with my dog friends (especially Chili and Ovie, but also whoever is at the dog park)
5. Playing with Mr. Squeaks (original or replacements)
6. Playing in the ivy (I'll have to tell you more about this later)

So I would really like it if there was more snow.  Are you listening to me, weather? Snow!  Please snow!  Lots of snow!

My Evil Twin, Molly Maunute

I'm a dog.  A good dog.  Sure I don't always listen or do what I'm supposed to do, even though I know the rules.  But I'm a good girl.  I hear it all the time.  I'm pretty good at "sit," and have been steadily improving at "stay."  I'm awesome at "down."  I'm working on "rollover." "Paw" still doesn't make any sense to me.  And you're not likely to see me "play dead" anytime soon.

What I lack in following commands, I make up for in my sweet-as-sugar, eager to let-you-love-me disposition.  I can win over even the biggest skeptic in a matter of seconds when I put on my bashful face and wag my entire body.  Folks seem to especially love it when we make eye contact and I immediately sit or lay down - whether I'm in the middle of crossing the street, playing in the grass or strolling on the sidewalk - and wait patiently for them to walk over towards me, banging my tail and putting on my most adorable and innocent pit bull faces.  My cow spots don't hurt either.

When other dogs bark at me, I don't bark back.  I let them get it out of their system while I wait in play stance.  When they growl or snap (as yes, some dogs do when they meet a new dog), I just wait.  I give them every opportunity to love and never - not once ever - have I reacted in a manner that could even possibly be construed as negative.  It's just not my style.  I'm always happy.  Always loving.  I give dogs (and people) as much time as they need to love me.  And I never give up.  I'm still working on getting a neighbor dog, Kona Bean, to love me.  He's one tough cookie.  I'll break him...with LOVE!

From the positive reactions I get, you'd think I was one-of-a-kind.  But I recently learned that I have a twin.  An evil twin!  I learned about Miss Molly Maunute from a magazine we received in the mail.

Cover model Molly!

When Matthew first saw it, he said to Alicia "How did they get a photo of Molly? Did they take one at the vet's office?"  Alicia was giddy, but also confounded.  How did they get that photo of me looking so silly? The puparazzi must have snapped some shots on my last walk.  Then she looked again.  That wasn't me!  And the magazine cover wasn't even advertising me.  It was advertising Molly Maunute!

On closer examination, that's not me!
And my name is spelled wrong!

But these are some nice recommendations...

We discussed it as a family and decided that Molly Maunute must be my evil twin.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Molly Maunute doesn't look evil.  And she isn't.  It's just that, compared to me, Mother Teresa is evil.  That's just what a sweetheart I am.

Meet the New Squeaks, Same as the Old Squeaks

I'm a dog.  I'm a lucky dog. I have lots of great toys.  Toys that I like to chew and chase and chew and catch and chew some more.  My favorite toy is named Mr. Squeaks.  He blue spotted squeaky rubber octopus with tentacles that act like party blowers.  He was a gift from my dogmother Amanda.  Squeaks originally belonged to her dog, Lady, may she rest in peace.

Snuggling with Mr. Squeaks.

 

Anyway, I love Mr. Squeaks.  When Squeaks and I first met, I liked to nose him and carry him around by his tentacles, but his squeak frightened me.  Eventually I got used to his squeaking and came to love it.  I like to play fetch inside the house with Squeaks.  I also like to hold him by some of his tentacles and shake him around, beating my face with his tentacles.  Donna (Matt's mom), thinks this particular move is hysterical.  All of this rough-housing with squeaks has left him in bad shape.  By December, he lost all but two of his tentacles.  By the new year, he was down to zero.  A Squeaks without tentacles is a Squeaks without a squeak.  He is a Squeaks that I cannot toss around by his tentacles.  He is a Squeaks I must tear apart and destroy.

Me and Squeaks playing around.

Giving Squeaks a good shake.

Knowing how much I loved Squeaks, Matt and Alicia tried to find a suitable replacement.  They looked around at all the pet stores and pet aisles within stores searching for a new squeaks.  Nothing fit the bill.  Then, just days before Christmas, Alicia was on Amazon and found these guys.  They looked promising.  A ladybug and octopus were ordered and arrived just before Christmas, and made their way to my stocking.  On Christmas, I opened my presents.  I was immediately unimpressed.  These squeaks were smaller and had weak squeaks.  I rejected them outright.

Impostors known as Lady Squeaks and Squeaks Jr. 

Mr. Squeaks! Look! You've started a family!

Then Matt was doing some more research on Amazon and found him.  Mr. Squeaks! You've come back to me!  I love Mr. Squeaks. I didn't even notice that he magically got his tentacles back.  I treat him just like the original.  I've even pulled off two of his tentacles already!  Matt and Alicia keep stopping me from causing damage.  But I've seen behind the curtain.  I know there's a third Mr. Squeaks hiding in the cabinet, waiting to fill the role when I finally get the rest of those pesky tentacles off.

Three generations of Squeaks.

I can't wait to get my paws on Squeaks #3.

I'm Not Lovin' It

I'm a dog.  I haven't posted in a while because Alicia says she's been too busy with work and "life" to post cute photos and dog thoughts.  I called her bluff this morning by showing her the following radio ad from McDonald's. (Note: The image that runs with the audio was created by a group that tried and succeeded in getting the ad pulled.  I appreciate that they chose such a good looking pit bull to make their case.  A picture of me would've been better, but this one was good.)



Now, I'll give them that they said "petting a stray pit bull," as I do not suggest petting ANY stray dogs*, but why did they have to make it a pit bull?  Hasn't Michael Vick doesn't enough damage to our image?

Anyway, they did apologize, and pull the ad, which is nice.  I just wish they hadn't created the ad in the first place.

*If you come across a stray dog, whatever the breed, you should call animal control and observe the dog's behavior for a while to make sure it isn't sick, injured, etc. before even attempting to get close.