Hi to my Friends!

I have a new friend! Mary's with me in cyberspace! Mom says she's someone who can talk to me, and hear me back. I sure hope so, cuz mom doesn't always get what I'm trying to tell her.

And Bliss said she came to read my blog too! Wonderful Bliss - we saw her again yesterday morning, and true to her name she scratched my back and my belly. Thank you Bliss!

Mom's tired, so I can't share any more tonite. Happy dreams friends!

More pictures of me!

Mom said people wanted to see more pictures of me, so we looked through some albums and I like these the best. Hope you do too, because I'm no longer fond of cameras, and it's pretty darn hard to catch me unaware and snap a photo!

Picnic!

After a crazy day of watching mom and her friends haul things out of the basement, we all went to relax in the yard, visit, and eat. YUM! Except that these people didn't share much! Of course, I'm not that fond of chips and salsa, or of whatever vegetables they were eating, but I KNOW they had some cheese up there, cuz I could smell it, and I didn't get ANY of that!

HOWEVER, after they stuffed themselves with some great smelling meat, they finally wised up and shared bits of burger with me. Oh, that was good, but even better was when they finished their dessert - that cold, creamy, wonderful stuff (Note from mom: frozen custard - a Milwaukee staple) AND LET ME LICK ALL THE BOWLS! I heard mom say that lots of dogs can't handle dairy, but it's never bothered me, and this stuff was the best of the best! Oh man, I LOVE picnics!

From Chaos to Bliss

Quite a crowd at the park Saturday morning! Pups from six inches to four feet tall were there. And just guess who was chasing whom! It got too hectic for me. Any time I found a good spot to roll in, at least two or three dogs would come running over to check it out, and away would go my chance to really roll and thrash around. The sun also got pretty hot. Even though I'm almost done shedding, my coat stays thick all year round and I get hot. So much for the chaos.

When I finally got mom to leave the field for some shade, and our own yard, we ran into some neighbors just arriving at the park. Zoe and I don't get along all that well, so I just lay in the shade while she fussed. Well, maybe I fussed a little too, but then I really did lay down! My mom and her mom started talking. And kept talking. Zoe's dad finally took her for a walk. And that's when the bliss started. Zoe's human sister came and sat by me, and started scratching my head, right around the ears where it feels soooo good. Then she got into the whole-body-scratch, and oh my, I was in HEAVEN. Talk mom, talk. We're doing just fine here! And they did. What a great way to spend a morning!

It Begins

June 23, 2009. That's the day. Or the night. Mom sent the book to her first choice of literary agencies, 3 Seas in Madison, WI. Now we wait. I figured that meant snooze, but mom says no. Now we officially notify all of our friends that we're in the market. I think that means she'll be at the computer a lot, which is no fun for me. She's talking about New York book launch parties with something called a Charm City Cake. I heard her say that some of the cake has to be canine-compatible, so I'm happy!

Keep your fingers crossed friends!

Water SHOCK

Ohmigosh. You will not beLIEVE what happened to me yesterday.

Mom took me on a long car ride, and by the time we stopped I was ready to get out and walk around. I did, and we walked up to a house, in the front door, through the house, out the back door, onto the patio, and I kept walking when all of a sudden I was over my head in water! HELP! I bobbed up to the top pretty fast, especially since someone helped me. And my paws just started moving like they knew what to do, so I let them carry me right to where there were steps that I could use to get back to land. AAACK! WHAT was THAT?!?

Turns out it's what people call an in-ground swimming pool - but there was no warning or anything! All the other times I've seen water I could just walk into it and lay down to cool off, but not this time! Noooooooooo. I stepped and sank! A little while later I had to try it again, and sure enough, the same thing happened! After that I let mom carry me in to cool off, then let me go so I could swim (that's what my paws were doing) to the steps. Now THAT was dandy! And there were quite a few people there who admired me, and one very handsome chocolate lab gentleman, so it turned into quite a good afternoon, but the beginning was enough to turn my fur white! Watch out for water my friends - you just never know how deep it is!

Walk Bonus!

Okay fellow pups, if you want to get as much outside time as possible, look for stuff in yards. I don't know what it is, but this morning we walked and all sorts of yards were filled with stuff. That's good because my mom stops to look at the stuff, talk to the people, and I get to sniff amazing smells! Some of the stuff has been places where it collected all sorts of wierd smells. And I get to wander around the yard if there aren't too many people there. Usually there are though, especially today, but that was okay because some of them really liked me! I got great back scratches from this wonderful boy who actually got out of his stroller to meet me, and scratched up and down my back with both hands. THANK YOU!!!!

[Note from mom: This is the annual Enderis Park Neighborhood Rummage Sale - a great reason to troll the area for bargains.]

Life is good

Ha! I FINALLY got mom to get up when I wanted her to, and it was BEFORE her alarm went off! The trick was to live up to my name and work my thunderpaws on the side of her bed! Hey, it worked, didn't it? And it meant that we got go to the park in the morning, AND got there in time to see some of my buddy pups. Okay, so I don't really play with them, but the point is to BE there when they are. There was one over-excited dog that I tried to teach how to be cool, but he just didn't get it. I pranced off with my head high and tail straight up in the air looking quite the thing, but I have a feeling he didn't appreciate it at all. Pity. I was quite stunning.

Hi to my Blog Friends!

I'm sooo sorry! I forgot to say hi to Penn and Linda and Shana! Thanks so much for signing up as my friends!!!

And hi to my friends from the Wisconsin Humane Society! Mom said she stopped there tonite and dropped off my card so they could visit me and see how I'm doing. They loved hearing that one of their very own pups has a blog, and mom promised to do a book signing there (WITH ME of course) as soon as it's published. She better get an agent soon and get this book out there!

More friends!

Ohmigosh, I met the coolest people last night! We took our walk in the other direction, and as we went by the baseball field the game ended and people came running over. They came running to ME, Moxie T.! I was very gracious and let them all scratch my head and my back while mom answered questions about me. She talked about The Book again, but I heard her also mention my blog. YES. VISIT ME! I like online attention just as much as attention in person!

And I did talk to mom about the embarrassing book. She explained that many, many people need help understanding a puppy's point of view when it comes to learning where to poop. She said that it's also important to have fun when you're learning, and the way to have fun was to think of me. Okay, so I'm glad she thinks I'm fun, but I told her it's still kind of embarrassing. She promised that the other Moxie books (Moxie Says and Trit Trot Moxie so far) will show my real personality and intelligence. We'll see.

The Book!

Well. Mom finally told me what the book is about, and I am so not impressed. Can you believe it? She actually wrote about poop! Worse yet, it's supposedly about me as a puppy, before I knew what do to and where to do it. How humiliating! Have you ever been embarrassed by your mom? Do tell me, as this is going to be tough to work through for me. Harumph.

Full dog body massage

I LOVE my mom. She took me to the most wonderful place today. There was a lot of noise, and lots of people and dogs wearing black leather, with bright orange symbols, whatever that means. [Note from 'mom' - we attended Hal's Harley Davidson's Dog Fest.] Anyway, there were lots of great dogs and people who thought I was just gorgeous! There were free treats too! But the BEST part was when mom talked to some people who had a pool just like mine at home. They let me go in the pool, got me all wet so I was finally cooled off, and what was even better - they gave me a full body massage! Oh sure, there was soap involved, so technically I suppose it was a bath, but let me tell you, when you're shedding it is absolutely heavenly to have not one, not two, but THREE people scrubbing away at all of the itchy spots! Oh my - what bliss! And when it was over, mom gave me one of her primo towel hugs (smart mom - she had my big towel in the car). Mom's towel hugs are the best in the world, especially cuz I don't end up completely dry. That means I get to keep the cool of the water!

Hi to all the great dogs and people I met - hope you visit me here in cyberspace soon! Say hi if you do!

Friday Night

What a terrific walk tonight! Three wonderful kids scratched and petted me while I rolled in the grass in the park. Then, on our way home, we rounded a corner and a whole chorus of kids called my name and came to meet me! ME! MOXIE T! Best of all, mom took off my leash, so I could stroll around the kids and the one dog that was in the yard. He was totally into his ball, so didn't bother me at all. Mom was talking with the other grown-ups, so I snuck around the corner of a house into their backyard. HA! The motor mop in the next yard went nuts barking, which set off the big dog in one of the houses, and made the grown ups come running. I ran back to the front just as the motor mop got out of his backyard and we circled each other barking up a storm! WHEEEE, that was fun. I got bored with it before the little one did though.

Mom gave out business cards with my blog address. I sure hope they read this and know how much fun I had with them!

Tomorrow mom say's we're going to some big dog event at a Harley Davidson dealership. Thank goodness I heard her say we're not entering the costume contest! I look great as Princess Leia, but it's really hard to walk in, and they usually want you to strut your stuff in contests like that. I'll let you know in my next posting. Till then, enjoy!

Doggy Day Care RULES!!!

My mom sings this song once in a while "Sometimes you gotta go where everybody knows your name..." and today I got it! It's doggy day care! (Mom says it's really Central Bark, but I couldn't say.) I always know it's doggy day care day because mom puts on my yellow collar instead of my harness. (And she cheats and hits the snooze alarm a few more times so we don't go for a walk.)

ANYWAY ... we walk in, and no matter how many other dogs or people are around, more than one person calls out "Hi Moxie!" They LOVE me there! So much that I don't have to go into a crate to 'calm down' before I go out to the playground. Sue (the alpha of doggy day care) always says I get to go to the playground right away!

So I had a great day while mom went to work. And get this - mom even took me for a walk tonite! She usually poops out on doggy day care day, but I guess she really wanted to be out and about. We went all the way to the park, where people were playing basketball, softball, and the BEST part was the two boys who wanted to meet me! Mom gave them treats to give me, so I did a few tricks for them. Mostly they wanted to ask questions about me and pet me. Works for me! I do love the attention I get at the park.

*sigh* I sure wish more of my real life friends would sign up here on my blog. It's no fun barking if no one pays any attention.

Freedom of the Porch!

HA! Mom forgot to close the porch door before she left for work this morning! Ooooooh my, what a GREAT DAY it was! In and out and bark and snooze and all my favorite ways to spend the day. Way to go Mom! And you should have seen the look on her face when she pulled up to the curb after work, heard me bark, and looked up and saw me OUT ON THE PORCH. Somewhere I heard the term for that - aha - PRICELESS.

My friend, Sibinka!

All right! Sibinka came today! She's comes when mom's not home, and though she works like crazy she talks to me the whole while she's here! She must have done something different though, cuz when mom came home and went to open the porch door, she couldn't! I was busy chewing the new toughie treat she brought me, so didn't pay much attention. She was really struggling though! All of a sudden she gasped. It looked like she was fiddling with the door knob, and suddenly the door opened! "She locked the d*!# door!" mom yelled. "It's never been locked before!" Then she burst out laughing and said something about "At least now I know it works." and kept on laughing.

Did I tell you my mom can be a little wierd at times?

OH! I almost forgot! Mom told me there's a Follower on my blog! It's a penguin image, so she thought it was her friend who collects them, but no, she tells me his name is Bill. Hi Bill!!

Whew!

Thank goodness the party's over! Mom had all sorts of people come, and did I get to do my job and guard her? No! I was relegated to the bedroom the WHOLE TIME! Let me tell you, I lived up to my Thunderpaws name though. If I wasn't barking I was bam-bam-bamming at the door. Really, how rude!

But when everybody left we went for a good long walk - and it was GREAT! The sun was shining, the smells were rich and fresh after last night's rain, and there were at least a few people out and about to admire me.

Now, I'm justly tuckered out and *YAWN* ready for bed.

Happy dreams friends-I-haven't-met-yet......

Introducing ... ME!

FINALLY, mom created a blog for me. I'm a foxy female who loves to be admired - but don't get too close. The Chow in me doesn't appreciate close contact all the time. Kids are okay, especially as someone has to teach them that dogs are great to have around, and I'm just the pup to do it. I don't jump up and scare the dickens out of them. I don't slobber all over their faces. I sit quietly and let them come up and pat or stroke me, as befits one of my breeding.

Today started out fine, although the walk to the park was much faster than usual. Turns out mom thought the temperature would be as warm today as it was yesterday. HA! I had to trot just so SHE could move fast and get warm. *sigh* lots of missed smells there. But the park was fun. There were a couple of handsome gents, and some slightly interesting other females. I got in a couple of good rolls before we headed home for breakfast.

Now mom says she has to do chores, so this is it for my first message. Let me know what you'd like to know about me and I'll see when I can get mom to post the info. In the meantime, hope your waggin' beats your whinin'.