On Food and Fights (but not Food Fights)

So I continue to get myself into some situations that Bridget and Jake are not entirely thrilled about. Yesterday I got into a bit of a scuffle with Crystal, the very large (probably 100- pound) black lab that lives two doors down. She came running out her front door without her leash (Bridget had me leashed & was talking to a neighbor) and got a little too close to me. I barked, and she barked back, and then, before I knew it, she was on top of me! It was crazy! Thankfully the peoples separated us and there was no harm done.

I've also continued to exercise my sweet tooth. It goes along with my (usually) sweet disposition. About a week ago, Jake brought home some sweets for Bridget, including some baklava and a piece of seminola cake from the Greek bakery. In the evening, she sat down and had herself a piece of baklava. She left the cake in the take-out container, with a lid on it, and then left the container (containing the sweet, sweet cake) RIGHT ON THE COFFEE TABLE!! Now, the coffee table is at nose-heighth for me, so I don't know what she expected. She never even noticed until the next afternoon! It was so yummy.

Then, on Monday night, Jake and Bridget went out to something they called "birth class" at a place called "the hospital." I was a bit concerned, because they left a while before my dinner time, but didn't feed me! When they finally arrived home, it was about a half hour after my usual supper time. Bridget went straight to the kitchen to get my supper, when she let out a big yelp! What could she be yelping about? Apparently, she saw this:



That would be a bag of extra food from the vet that they like to use as treats for me. I had been feeling peckish, and worried the peoples wouldn't come home, so I took matters into my own paws, went into the pantry, and opened the bag. Turns out the opening was totally perfect for me to fit my head right in there and crunch away.

I am one awesome dog.

Rumbledog!

Today at the reservoir, I got into a fight. Normally, I'm a lover, not a fighter, but, well....

Bridget and Jake aren't quite sure what's up, but it seems that sometimes I get irritated by other dogs messing around, doing their barking and wrestling. Sometimes I bark at the other bigger (and younger) dogs when they get themselves all riled up. I don't mind the little dogs so much, and I rarely bark at them, but I do seem to get worked up about dogs who are bigger than me.

Today, it was Joey that got me upset. Joey is a young-ish male boxer. He often wrestles and runs around with Sammy, a pretty big and rather young male yellow lab. Today the two of them were barking and doing their usual thing. I started barking at them, as I usually do. But in addition to barking, I sorta ran at them. Jake kept a firm hold on my leash, but I kept pushing, and eventually, Joey got very close to me and, well, we got all tangled up. Joey actually got on top of me. That was bad. We were both barking and growling. It was kinda scary. They said I was yelping, but that doesn't sound like me at all. I'm a tough dog, not a yelper. Once Jake finally got us apart, there was blood on my head, which got Bridget pretty upset. But it turns out, it wasn't my blood! Joey apparently bit his own tongue while trying to put his mouth on my head. I made him bleed his own blood!

Bridget and Jake made a B-line for home right after the incident. I guess they don't think it's cool that I'm so tough. They even washed the blood off my head, which I didn't really like because it was kinda like getting part of a bath. And the blood made me look tough.

The Great Cake Caper

I'm so disappointed that no one managed to take any pictures of my awesome triumph today. We all went to Auntie Paula's for something called a "Baby Shower." I got to see Aunt Paula and Bus and Marlin, which I always love. There was also a whole lot of tempting food around, which always spells trouble. I was in the livingroom, along with about 8 people who were sitting around talking and watching me. I noticed that there was some delicious-looking cake with buttercream frosting sitting there on a platter on the coffee table, or, as I like to call it, the perfect dog-heighth table. I saw my chance and I took it, selecting a piece very carefully from the corner of the platter and wolfing it down, much to the glee of the onlookers, who thought I had been very polite by not touching any other pieces of cake. After eating all the crumbs I could find on the floor (I kind of made a mess there), I was about to try for a second one when Bridget and Jake got wind of what was going on, and stopped any further snacking. That was lame, but, wow, that cake was good! Thanks, Paula, for inviting me to an awesome party with awesome food and lots of nice people who wanted to pet me and shower me with praise for my very good behavior!

BBQ Dog!

I had an awesome weekend -- I got invited to Somerville to Elizabeth and Ian's house for a BBQ! I got to eat bratwurst and almost a whole hot dog! It was awesome. I played with a nice little girl, and was admired by everyone. Later in the evening, we went inside the house. I was minding my own business when out of nowhere this CAT comes at me. She was crazy! I don't know why she was so angry at me. Bridget separated us. I spent quite some time running around the downstairs smelling the cat everywhere, but I didn't see her again. I suspect she went upstairs, but I didn't investigate further.

Anyway, I had an awesome time -- thanks so much for inviting me to your home, Ian and Elizabeth! I hope I can one day meet your cats and that we can be friends.

Other than that, I've been trying to stay out of trouble. That can be hard when there are so many rules. Like the rule about not going upstairs. I don't go upstairs, but boy, I would like to find out what is so precious up there. Is it a cat? When I know Bridget and Jake are upstairs, I sometimes wait for them, and I try to make them feel guilty by looking like this:


I'm really good at waiting patiently. Sometimes, after I see a small critter (like a chipmunk) that runs away, I like to dig for him and make myself into a doggie tunnel-statue. I hope that the critter will come back. Bridget and Jake often catch me doing this, and they laugh a lot about it. Here's what it looks like:

Breaking the Rules

The humans here, they have all these rules. One of their big rules is that I am not allowed in the room called the "kitchen." I think this is very unfair because the humans get to go in there all the time, and that is where my food and treats are. I usually stay in the dining room, and for the most part, I obey the "No Dogs in the Kitchen" rule. But that doesn't mean I can't test things every once in a while. Bridget and Jake seem to think it's pretty funny when I sit in the dining room with just one paw over the line.

Or sometimes, two paws.

See, I know the rules. But sometimes, it's important to test them.

Big News: Doggie Community Activism Pays Off!

You may remember that a while ago, I got in trouble with THE LAW for being in the Reservoir park, which has all these signs about fuzzy creatures like me not being allowed. Ever since then, Bridget and Jake didn't take me inside, and I really missed hanging with my dog friends there, and generally running around in the grass and whatnot. Bridget and Jake had been talking with other local dog walkers, and had signed a petition asking that the park be opened to dogs. About a hundred people signed! They could have gotten a lot more signatures if they let dogs sign, too!

But this week, there was exciting news! Bridget and Jake went to the Centralville Neighborhood Action Group meeting on Monday night, and they announced that the Reservoir Park is open to dogs!!! It's very exciting! And an excellent civics lesson.

This is my favorite place to nap after a hard day of civic action:


I'm about to go spend a few days visiting my girlfriend, Gertie, while Jake and Bridget are away. It should be lots of fun, since Gertie has three kids in her house who will play with me. I'm very excited!!!

Mischief Makers!

I made a great discovery today, and that is that having two dogs at 83 Durant does much more than just double the fun. And as for doggie mischief, well, we can now officially get into much more than twice the doggie doings than we did before. Take this afternoon, for instance. Jake and Bridget went off to do errands for a couple of hours, and while they were gone, one of us (I can't say which one, but it was probably Gertie) got up on the dining room table and snatched a home-baked loaf of bread that Jake had set there to cool. One or both of us then brought the loaf into the living room, where we (probably both of us) munched contentedly, leaving a big crumbly mess (and about half of the loaf, which is how we got caught). It's great having a doggie girlfriend who helps me get into trouble!