Staying Cool

The heat has been unbearable lately with temperatures climbing into the 100's. Walks now take place after dark and backyard time is a quick trip to take care of business and then everyone runs back into the air conditioning. In an attempt to bring some of the fun back into our outdoor time we decided to go out and get the pups a kiddie pool (or should I say puppy pool?). While I was super excited about our new addition to the outdoor decor some of us took some serious convincing.

Here I am trying to get Dottie to see that I am not dragging her to a watery grave

After some treats and encouragement she started feeling a bit more comfortable

 Here she is with Alven enjoying themselves

Alven did not need any kind of convincing

A throw rug or a sleepy puppy?

The other day Rosie and Maria came over to spend the day. We did a lot of playing, treat eating and playing some more. After a while the pups decided it was time for a little siesta. They all picked a doggy bed and curled up for a nap. Maria decided she was going to lie down  in the middle od the room and look like a very luxurious throw rug. She also decided that sleeping right on top of her sisters leash was perfection. Either way she seemed to have a good time which is all that matters.

TGIF

Looking forward to 5:00 PM today. Friday's at five is one of my favorite times. The whole weekend is in front of you with endless possibility. Good times. Until then I have my pups and my plant to keep me company while I get my work done.

Wagon's aren't for everyone

We had a great weekend as a family celebrating Doggy Father's Day. We relaxed and hung out around the house and on Saturday we also went to one of our favorite spots, Merrifield Garden Center. It's a great place to walk around in and they also allow doggies. One of our favorite parts are the Radio Flyer wagon's that you can use to collect the plants you want to buy and take them to the cashier and out to your car. I am a great lover of wagon's so of course I wanted to get a picture of my pups in one. Trying to get them all in there, and posing, proved to be a bit more than we could handle so I settled for individual shots. They did not all share in my enthusiasm. Here is a clear example of how not everyone was on board with the wagon idea.

Alven: Oh yea! I make this wagon look good.

Flash: I choose death...

 

Dottie is not featured in this photo collage because we could not get her to sit long enough to get a picture. She is convinced that she is part of the Merrifield customer experience team and that it is her duty to say hello to every single shopper at least twice. It also doesn't help when most people want to stop and say hello to her too. Being a wagon model was apparently not in the job description though.

Phil

Hello humans and canines. My name is Robo Doxie and I have come from a plant far, far, away to learn about your dog civilization. I hope to be able to assimilate and go undetected amongst your kind. I have taken an earth dog name, "Phil," so that I can more easily blend into a human family. I spent a long time carefully selecting the family that I would join and I finally chose this one. My reasoning is quite simple. They seemed strange to begin with, so my presence would not cause alarm. I had but to approach their dwelling and act pathetic and they immediately accepted me into their clan.

Now that I have achieved my first objective and joined a family I will study them carefully so that I can learn as much as possible about these strange creatures. How do they live? What do they eat? Why are they not made out of metal? The humans leave for long intervals of time to a place they call "work," so I am able to observe the dogs without interruption.

The blond one and the red headed one chase each other constantly, but I can't seem to figure out what the point of it is. They seem to get much enjoyment out of this running around, but it never seems to end in a clear winner. He chases her, she chases him, he chases her again. And it can end as suddenly as it began if either one is distracted by an insect, or some grass chewing.

 I tried to get a closer look at them to see if this behavior might be caused by some kind of brain damage. I approached the red-headed one first. He goes by the name, "Alven." I touched his nose with my organic life-form sensor and could not detect any kind of abnormality, though he did seem to pose a large amount of something humans call, "sexyness."

After my examination of Alven I decided that I might have been too obvious in my scientific studies, as I seemed to arouse the suspicion of the older one. He is called "Flash," and while he mostly keeps to himself I can tell it would not be wise to get on his bad side. The tables were then turned when he decided to examine me.

 I remained calm and allowed him to look me over. It would not be in my best interest to be found out so soon. From now on I will be more careful with my observations. Thankfully, I passed the test and was allowed to rejoin the rest of the dogs. I will keep you updated as to what else I am able to uncover.

Hanging out with friends

It has been a while since we posted something, because Mom decided she was taking a break to spend time with Grandma. You see, last week Grandma came to visit us so Mom spent the whole time just hanging out with her. So rude. Thankfully she made it up to us by taking us on a doggy play date with our new bestest friend, Tessa (the same friend from the Reston Pet Fiesta post a little while ago).

We woke up early and headed off with Mom to Burke Lake Park where we met up with our Friend Tessa, and her mom. We had so much fun. We went for a six mile hike, we did a little swimming, a lot of treat eating and then Tessa invited us for ICE CREAM!!! It was truly amazing. Tessa is just a super good time and we always have fun when we get together. She is a great pup and we are glad to be able to include her in our circle of friends. Here are some pictures from our weekend adventure!

Here we are posing for a picture after taking a little swim in the lake.

This is me and Tessa. As you can see she has very beautiful coloring.

It reminds me of another good looking dog I know...

(HINT! It's me!)

After our long hike Tessa buys us all some ice cream.

Dottie and I had to share which is a bummer, but it was tasty.

Tessa also enjoyed her treat.

We can't wait to meet up with her again!

Flashback!

Remembering Dad and I at Lake Eola Park in Orlando, FL. We liked to go there and enjoy a pleasant afternoon stroll.

Dad would gaze out over the lake and I would gaze out at the swans...