How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I'm a dog.  I love summer.  The best part of summer is that the pool is open and all the little kids love the pool, so when I walk by, they stick their fingers through the fence and exclaim things such as "dog!" and "cow!" and "puppies...puppies...puppies!"  It makes me feel good inside to know that they're excited to see me.  And then I lick their hands and faces to show my appreciation.  Another great part about summer is that Alicia is around during the day and we go out on lots of walks, and I also get to go out on car trips to places like PetSmart!  As usual, Alicia made sure to take tons of photos to document our fun times together.  Here's a small sampling...

Keeping cool by lounging in the tall grass.

Chewing on a random mini tennis ball found on a walk.

Playing hide and seek

On the way to PetSmart! I love car rides!

Taking a water break on our way to the dog park.

Lounging by the pool, waiting for little kids to lick.

Making silly faces for the camera

Happy, panty puppy!

Practicing my skills on the balance beam.

Hide and seek in the ivy

You found me!

Enjoying the beautiful  end-of-summer weather

Oops. I ate Alicia's book when she went to trivia.
I told her not to go, and she didn't listen.
Then this happened.

Kisses with Matthew

Hey lady! Get in the car and let's go!

And that's pretty much my summer!  One thing you might notice is that I'm not wearing my leg brace in any of those photos.  That's because my leg healed and I got back the pep in my step, so we stopped using the brace for August and September.  It was great!  I say was because, well, just stay tuned.

Gimme the Keys...

I'm a dog.

I'll drive!

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.

1, 2, 3, 4, Let's Have a Puppy War!

I'm a dog.  And at 8 months old, I'm also still a puppy (though on my way to official doggyhood quite soon!).  One of my favorite websites to visit when I'm bored is puppywar.com.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a site where dog owners can upload pics of their pups and have their dog compete in a head-to-head cuteness competition with other dogs who have had their pictures uploaded.  It's a great time waster.

The only bad thing about the site is that I'm not on it.  Alicia has tried numerous times to upload my photo, but every time she visits the site there's a notice about how uploads are temporarily disabled while "changes to the system" are being made.  Sounds like a bunch of dog poop to me!  How can this site accurately claim to tell people who the cutest dog is if my picture isn't up? It makes no sense.

I mean, seriously!

Take, for example, this photo Alicia snapped of me just before I left with Gerri for my week's playcation:

Even though it's pixelated, poorly lit, taken from too far away and I was clearly not prepared to have my picture take, I still think this photo could have me winning a minimum of 50% of the puppy wars I'd enter into.

Can you imagine how well I'd do with one of my "professional" pics?

Not even my best pro pic.  I mean, seriously! Look at the cuteness!

That I have been thwarted from having my photo posted on puppywar.com is a travesty, a sham and a mockery.  It's a travashamockery!

P.S. Can you believe how much I've grown since my "puppy" pics?  I'm getting to be such a big girl!

The Puparazzi Just Won't Leave Me Alone

I'm a dog.  I'm an adorable dog.  I'm an adorable, energetic dog.  I'm an adorable, energetic dog that everybody wants to pet and play with.  They can't help themselves. I don't blame them.

So of course, I've been here all of two days when a local photog is begging me to come to her studio and do a shoot.  Alicia thought it was a great idea.  I had toys to play with and walks to take.  My time is precious.  She tried coaxing me into the studio, but I was having none of it.  Then she picked me up and plopped me down inside.  I had no choice.  So, I figured I might as well give 'em what they want.

Here's a preview of some of the shots that Sine, photographer to the stars (aka dogs and children), was able to snap of me...

Serious:

Shy:

Happy-Go-Lucky:

What do you think?  I think Sine did a great job capturing just how attractive I am (if I do say so myself) and also getting at my different personality traits.  The camera doesn't lie.