Big Brown Babysitter

Hi Friends! If you are lookin' to find me in the office today, you will be sadly disappointed. You see, this past weekend was not all fun and games for this dawg - I had to werk a second job and now I'm gonna hafta take today off. I helped out my Uncle John by dawg-sittin' his boy Cooper. He's just a young'n - less than a year old. Bein' the five and a half year old that I am, his Dad figgered I am responsible and he'd feel Ok goin' outta town with me in charge. And he was right, but I worked my paws to the bone makin' sure Cooper was safe, and also did my best to keep him entertained so he was not prone to missin' his Dad too much.


The first night was ruff, he could not get hisself settled and whined and pranced all night long. I got little to no sleep with takin' him out to pee (most trips were futile) and hearin' him cry hisself to the little sleep that he got. I knew that I was goin' hafta tire the kid out the next day if'n I was to get any sleep at all the next night.

As you can see, the next day I was so exhausted that I fell asleep

right in the middle of gnawin' on my Whacky Bone.

Sumpthin' was gonna hafta change if'n I was

to get any sleep at all the next night.

First, I took him for a long walk, you can go here to see us as we head towards my woods. I had him attached to the ol' ball & chain, but then I decided that Cooper could go much faster without bein' attached to her.

When we got back to my house, he was hot and tired and thought he was goin' to rest a bit.....

.....but not with Big Brown in charge. It was time for some tennis.

Kids these days! I had to force him outta his comfort zone.

For awhile, I let him think he was winnin'.....

.....but I took it all. Game, set and match. Heh, heh, heh.

After the tennis match, we went inside for some wrestlin' and

joggin' on the indoor track. Click here if'n you wanna see a minute of the action.

I worked hard at gettin' this kid's energy drained outta him and didn't think he had much left. Then his Dad showed up to take him home. I never seen a dawg get so downright giddy to see his PU.

Mebbee I was a little too hard on him?

Well, before you start feelin' too sorry for him, think about what it did to me. Like I said before, I got nuthin' left to give on this Monday.

I hope that you managed to squeeze in some R&R time over the weekend and 

now you got what it takes to wrestle with the upcomin' work week.

Chester ;0=)

Helloooooo Monday.......

.......goodbye PUs!

I hope your Monday is PU free too!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

Chester ;0=)

Monochrome Monday

My Cousin is a Mini Cooper

One evenin' about a month or so ago, my favoritest uncle sent dad a text message with a picture attachment sayin' he had gotten a Mini Cooper. I instantly picked up on the excitement in my PUs voices and I tried to catch a glimpse but could not see what had their furs ruffled. All's I know, the dishes flew into the dishwasher and I was told to get on my bed. My usual token for havin' to stay home is a biscuit and one was hastily tossed into my waitin' mouth as they sped out the door. Seems to me, I coulda rode along but I had already worked my evenin' job of makin' sure no critters were frolickin' about in my woods, so I was OK with takin' a small rest.

As I caught a few Zzzzz's, my dreams were filled with takin' my Uncle's new wheels for a spin.

The PUs returned home an hour or so later, and instantly my nose picked up on a strange scent - one that I did not normally associate with my Uncle John. I sucked every molecule of scent outta their clothes but still I could not figger out why they smelled of canine cologne.

That shoulda been my first clue that I had been knocked outta the top dawg position in my Uncle's eyes. That position had been stolen by another.

Meet my new cousin, Cooper ~ the Mini Australian Shepherd.

Just look at him there in all his puppeh cuteness. Disgustin' to say the least. I really don't see what caught my Uncle's attention.

I tried to be nice - really I did. I even tried to play but when my Big Brown paw just happened to swat him across his puppeh noggin, my leash and collar came out and all of a sudden, I was a prisoner in my own home. I watched from afar as MY toys came out of MY basket.

But then.....excitement began to rise up inside of me

as I watched him gasp for air when Mom's foot came within his snooter range.

Sigh.....

.....he must still be full of puppeh antibodies that make him immune to such nasal atrocities.

Even though Uncle John now calls me the "crazy dawg", it looks like it's gonna be up to me to show this kid the ropes. That may be one decision he may live to regret.

Well, mebbee some of you have an extra day off but for many, another work week now stares us in the face. Either way, I hope the weekend has made you well-rested so that you are also immune to any atrocities that you might find facin' you.

Chester ;0=)

Before and Afterthoughts

With the promise of unseasonably warm weather predicted for this past Saturday, I put my mental telepathy powers to use and tossed the notion into Mom's noggin that a trip to the dawg park was just what this good ol' boy could use. I knew it had taken hold when I heard her say that she was goin' to make a trip to the little out-of-the-way butcher shop that just so happens to be in the same neighborhood as the dawg park. My powers of suggestion might need a little practice; for she did take me to the dawg park, but I had also mentally suggested that I get a snack from the bag of goodies that went into the cooler, which unfortunately did not happen. Oh well, I guess battin' .500 is still nuthin' to sneeze at.

As in most places, when you get a couple warm January days in a row, the frozen tundra turns into a bog of slippery, glorious brown goo called mud. Saturday was no exception as can be seen from the followin' pics.

Yeeee-Hawwwww!

Maxwell showed up a couple minutes later and bein's how we look a whole lotta  alike and both wearin' brown collars to boot, our PUs had trouble knowin' which dawg was which.

Note the little 2 legger's sneakers. They were white when she first got there.

All colors of Labradorks showed up - although the yellow lab was not allowed to stay oncet his PUs saw the condition of the park. I guess they like his yellow labradorkness and wanted to keep him that way.

We quickly collaborated on how we could snap that leash off so he could make a run for it. Alas - they were on to our secret plan and scurried him quickly away.



Didn't they know the drinks were free?

I had to stop for a quick check of my undercarriage ~ just
long enough to make sure my hose wasn't clogged.

My exhaust pipe was good to go also.

Freckles of mud highlight my happy face for the ride home. 

SCREEEEEEEECH!!!

I never gave it a thought to use my mental telepathy powers

to tell her to not stop at the

DOGONNIT!

It's Monday and let this be a lesson to you: when usin' your powers of suggestion this week, make sure not to forget any details.

Chester ;0=)

*For live action video - Click here for Video 1 and here for Video 2.

Holey Moley!!!

Hiya folks! I hope you all had a very nice Thanksgivin' day and if'n you are a Black Friday shopper I hope you scored lotsa great deals. I, my ownself had a dogtor appointment - which wasn't too bad until he decided to squirt that Bordetella juice up my nose as a prevention against kennel cough. I won't go into detail about that other than there were a couple vet techs who had their hands full.

I'll say no more.

I don't know if Mom was feelin' bad for lettin' the dogtor do that to me, or if she was still guilt trippin' over havin' done nuthin' for my birthday. Whatever it was, she stopped at the local pet store and scooped me up a couple new toys. It was high time I had a new football, my other one has been in need of replacement for quite some time. (He now resides at the local dump just in case you are wonderin'.) The other toy is different ~ I never had one that came with pre-made holes.

I kinda like my new Holey Moley....

....bein' all squishy and stuff and easy to carry.

If you should happen to hear Mom hollerin' "Holy Moley" now, it's not 'cuz of sumpthin' I did - it's 'cuz she wants me to retrieve my new toy.

But I guarantee, if somebody tries to do this to my Moley, I'll bite 'em.

Holey Moley ~ it's time for us to get back work again already!!!

Chester ;0=)

Lab Tested

A few weeks ago, me and my PUs were drivin' along when Mom's head snapped to the right as she noticed a big square of fence at a somewhat nearby people park. We've gone there to walk before but we could plainly see that sumpthin' new was in the works. Mom hollered "I think that's gonna be a dawg park!" We had other things to attend to that day and couldn't stop to check it out. But yesterday, Dad and my Uncle John got together to do he-man stuff so I was left alone with Mom. I suggested we go investigate what we had seen earler and so we did.


As soon as we got there and saw the other dawgs playin', I voiced my opinion that there needed to be some Chocolate in the congregation, which was 90% lab brats, 10% other dawgs. We came to find out that the dawg park is not even officially open yet, but that didn't stop us from givin' it a thorough testin'.

Here I am meetin' my new friends, Lila and her brother whose name I did not catch, and Jovi who looked like some sort of Basenji mix. Her PUs didn't know for sure, 'cuz she had been adopted from Better Days animal shelter.

The blondes were teamin' up on me  here....

and I loved every minute of it.

I thought mebbee stickin' my tongue out at Gus would make him

give up his tennis ball, but he was not givin' it to anybody but his Mom.

This is Sarah - Gus's Cattle dawg sister. She is about 9 years old and adopted too. Her Mom of two months said she hadn't been socialized much so this was somewhat new, and stressful to her. She did good and only bared her teeth at me once when I tried to smell her breath. I think she had a good time anyway.

Here comes Jovi again - she's a really good kisser. Not that I would know, but she planted several on Mom which made her laugh so I'm assumin' she must be a pretty good kisser.

Molly came late but it didn't take her long to get into the swing of things.

Mom gave her a good back scratchin' and remarked at how calm she was.

Whatever you're into I guess....

I tried out the dawg only waterin' hole many times

'cuz I didn't wanna run outta pee markin' fluid.

We all finally went our separate ways but I think I can speak for all my new friends,

that the dawg park has been been 

 and approved!!!

So....here it is, Monday again. I hope the work week doesn't test you so badly that you

have trouble puttin' your very own stamp of approval on it.

Chester ;0=)

Don't Blame the Camera.....

.....it's just that this weekend went by so fast ~ it was all a blur.

If you need me, this is where you'll find me today.

 

Chester ;0=)

I Can See Clearly Now.....

......that Mom made a spectacle of me this weekend.

If you're lucky enough to have the day off to celebrate

Columbus findin' the Americas ~ enjoy!

For the rest of us who have to go to work,

see if'n you can't discover a little fun until your ship comes in.

Chester ;0=)

WW4K (Will Work for Kibble)

"The Life of Riley" was a popular American radio situation comedy series from the 1940's. In 1949 it was adapted into a feature film and then it bcame a long runnin' television show in the 1950's. The first season, well-known Jackie Gleason starred in the role of Riley and then William Bendix took over the role for the next six seasons. Bendix's character was (get this!) Chester A. Riley, a blunderin' wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. His frequent exclamation of "What a revoltin' development this is!" became a very popular catch phrase of the era.

This brings me to my point: a revoltin' development also occurred here over the weekend. All was goin' down per our usual weekend ritual, my breakfast consistin' of 2 cups of kibble lightly seasoned with a fish oil tablet and a half a bucket of water, give or take a couple slurps. A trip outside to take care of bizness and check the perimeters for illegals, then back inside to await what sort of entertainment my PUs had in store for me.

I soon realized that I would not be accompanyin' Mom to see my GrandPUs - sumpthin' about them havin' a lot of important papers to be sorted and not needin' me there to help. I pride myself on my ability to sort and shred what I deem to be unnecessary, but - whatever! That meant that I would be with Dad who spends most of his time outside which is just fine by me. I only had to do one more thing before Mom left and that was to remind her that my kibble bag was near empty. I also informed her that if she didn't take care of the situation, I would not be held responsible for my actions.

The day unfolded and I supervised Dad as he took care of the outside chores. To lighten his load and to prevent dullness from settin' in, I took my ball to him occassionally so he was not all work and no play. Much was accomplished by the time that Mom finally rolled in. To my delight, she unloaded a brand spankin' new bag of kibble. Premature drool started to form on my jowls even though I knew I had a few hours before dinner would be served.

Finally the wait was over and Mom asked me if I wanted my supper. DUH! Like why would you even ask? Of course I am always ready to eat. My exterior portrait of patience belied the waves of tumult washin' through my innerds. You see, I have been brainwashed taught that I must wait for the "okay" before divin' in.

Chester's Mom: Okay!

(slurp, crunch, lick, crunch, inhale, lick, slurp..........head tilts with question)

Chester: Excuse me, I do believe you shorted me.

Chester's Mom: I did not short you - this is your portion from here on out.

Chester: Nope, I distinctly counted and I am 43 pieces of kibble short.

Chester's Mom: That was intentional and like I said, this is your portion for each meal starting today.

Chester: You've got some 'splainin' to do and you need to start NOW!!!

Apparently I was already startin' to feel faint from weakness because the words that I was hearin' come outta her mouth were beyond comprehension. She was sayin' that the 2 legger who sells my food told her that the diagram on the food bag that shows the rate of kibble to be dispensed per weight of dog is for workin' dawgs and generally not the rate for your average household pet. My mind cleared for just a second because I know for sure that my job title as head of Homeland Security is clearly that of a workin' dawg.

Chester: So tell me again Mom, why am I still bein' shorted 43 pieces of kibble?

Chester's Mom: You are correct in that you are head of Homeland Security around here and I feel much safer knowing that no groundhogs or squirrels will invade the comforts of our home but....your job is not the same as a dog who is on the go all day long. Your days in bed are gradually starting to soften your shape and I'd like to stop this progression before it becomes a problem.

Chester: Look here woman, I am comfortable in my own skin and am not tryin' to impress anybody with a rock hard body.

Chester's Mom: It's too late, your father and I have already discussed this and we both agree you're on the verge of becoming overweight. You do realize don't you, that if you are overweight, you are not going to be as fast and could affect your groundhog count.

Oh no!!! Dad's been brainwashed too. Now I really got my work cut out for me.

It's Monday and as you can see, I'm gonna do whatever it takes

to earn my kibble this week, as I'm sure you will too.

I hope your benefits are better'n mine.

Chester ;0=)