Birthday!

It seemed normal at first.  I was excited and playing with mom and dad.  I was carrying one of my plastic bottles (those make the most wonderful crunchy-noise when I bite down on them) when mom suddenly put something in her mouth and started to blow.  To my surprise, a big blue ball grew right there in front of her face!  Then dad did the same with a green ball!  I jumped up to try and get it, but he turned away and kept on blowing.  It kept getting bigger!

Next mom brought in a small cone-shaped thing and tried to put on me.  I was leery of wearing another cone (I wore one once when I came back from visiting the vet) but this one was smaller and went onto my head, not around my neck.

I have to admit I felt a little silly, wearing that cone.  Mom tied it around my neck with a ribbon and looked satisfied.  I tried to look dignified, but how can you when you feel like a cone-head?

Then they hung those green and blue balls on the wall … the ones that they blew up earlier … and had me sit and stay.

I didn’t want to sit.  Or stay.  I wanted to jump up and play with one of the balls.  The green one was easily within my reach.

But I was a good dog.  Good dog.  I sat and stayed.

And mom and dad said, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAILEY!!”

So that’s what all the fuss was about!  I get it!  I’m a year old today.  I’m getting to be a Big Dog!

But even big dogs have their limit.  And I was quickly reaching mine.  This cone on my head had to come off.  I was able to do just that and grabbed it by the ribbon.  Maybe I could play with this cone thing?  Or, at least, chew it up until it is a soggy mess.

After that, mom and dad had some ice cream, and mom gave me some!  It was good.  But I thought that birthdays were to be celebrated with cake and ice cream?!  Where was my cake?  I want to be able to have my cake and eat it, too!

And I still want to play with those two new balls.  Mom says that she will give me one later today.  Oh boy … I can’t wait to play with it.  It’ll be a blast!

Belly Rubs

I can’t believe that I have never blogged about belly rubs.  Belly rubs are wonderful.  Belly rubs are bliss.  Belly rubs are divine.

And what can be better than combining a belly rub with two of my other favorite things … lying on the lawn and playing with the littlest gentle human?

Ahhh, this is wonderful! 

I can’t think of a better way to spend a warm summer afternoon, can you?  Well, of course, there are other things, like running, and playing fetch, and running, and playing tug, and running and playing frisbee, and running, and …

But can’t forget to take time for belly rubs.  Slow down.  Relax.

I hope all of you gentle humans can take some time to slow down and relax today.  Even if belly rubs aren’t your thing.

 

Working Dogs

All right, gentle humans, it is time to correct a decades-old injustice.  There is a practice in which many of you have engaged called “Take Your Daughter (and now Sons, too) To Work Day”.  Be honest, now, how many of you have been part of this?  Let’s see a show of hands … bark, bark, just as I thought.

But how many of you have ever thought of bringing your DOG to work?  Huh? 

Bark.  I didn’t think so.  See, nobody ever thinks of bringing a dog to work.  It would be good for us.  It would be good for YOU.

Yes, good for you.  You may be interested in a recent article posted on CNN.com where it tells about a study which showed that people who bring their dog to work actually have less stress by the end of the day! Read the full article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/business/office-dogs-stress/index.html?hpt=hp_c3#

The article says that a clever human named Randolph Barker (love that name.  “Barker” … get it??) monitored the stress levels of employees and found that those who didn’t bring their dogs to work reported drastically higher levels of stress by the end of the working day.

Well, I could have told him that!  After all, who can get mad when there is a dog looking at you with love in his eyes and a tail wagging a mile a minute?  Who can get upset while watching a clever pup run around the yard, chasing soap bubbles?  Who can feel any stress when there is a pup resting his head on your lap?

So it is obvious that dogs can reduce your stress levels at work (and elsewhere, I might add).  And, there are other advantages to having canines in the workplace.  As Barker himself said, dogs may be better participants in an office meeting because “They don’t judge us, and when no one else will listen to you, your dog will listen to you.”

So there you have it.  Having dogs at work can reduce your stress levels, making you happier and therefore more productive.

So, dad, when are you bringing me to work?  Bark?  Think we could qualify for the carpool lane?  Can I drive?  Bark?  Bark?!  Can I?

When Pets Leave

Dear gentle humans:  Do remember when I posted about playing with my new ball?  The one that rolled all by itself?  The one that had a little furry inside it and smelled funny?

Well, maybe you don’t remember, or perhaps you weren’t reading my blog way back then.  For you here is the link to that post:  https://baileysdailyblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/balls-are-for-playing-with/

I recently saw that ball again, but this time something was different.  It didn’t roll away, and it didn’t smell funny.  Most importantly, there was no little furry inside it.

I walked all around it, sniffing it, watching it, waiting for it to move, but without the little furry there was no way to make it go.

It just sat there.  Empty.

Then I knew that the little furry must have gone away.  That realization made me feel sad.  It was the first time that I experienced a pet going away, but I know that it happens.  All the time.  And every time, it is sad.

Some of my dad’s friends have had their pets go away recently.  Riley left his family in early July, and then Schnookie left her humans a few days later.  It was sad to hear about this.  We pups are very loving, and we care for our humans, and it is wonderful when you care and love us in return.  We pets and you humans have a special relationship that is terrific while it lasts, but unfortunately it can’t last forever.

The human Shakespeare was very wise when he said, “Parting is such sweet sorrow, …“  I’m sure that he must have been talking about pets when he wrote those words.  When a pet leaves it is indeed very, very sad.  But it is a sweet sadness, because there are so many wonderful memories of fun times and loving licks that were shared.

These are deep thoughts for a clever puppy.  Deep, and sad-making.  I don’t like to be sad.  I like to be happy, and excited, jumping up and down and running all around.  But every once in a while it is good to slow down for these profound reflections.

But now, that thinking time is over.  Now is time for running, and chewing on toys, and making my humans happy.  If you have pets then I hope that they are making you happy, too.  For that is what we pets do, and do very well.

 

 

Walk Softly? Not Me!

Nobody better get in my way today.  Not nobody.  Not no how.

Today I mean business.  Today everyone will do things my way.  Today it’s the dog’s day.

Today I have a big stick.

Yes siree dog, today it’s the pup’s way, or the highway.  With this big stick I’ll show ’em who’s boss.  If anyone tries to cross me, I’ll show ’em my stick.  If someone doesn’t do what I want them to do, I’ll just wave my stick at them.

A pup with a big stick is a pup to be reckoned with.  A pup who deserves respect. And — maybe — some extra puppy treats.

Now … if only I can figure out how to pick this darn thing up!

 

 

Puppyfication

Melanie, the littlest gentle human that I know, has a word for her interactions with me.  She calls it, “getting puppyfied.”

I guess that’s a good word for it.  Yesterday, mom and dad were gone all afternoon, leaving me alone in the house with those two purry-things.  But when they got home I heard mom ask dad, “Are you prepared to get puppyfied?”

Dad replied, “Sure, bring him on” and there I was, greeting them at the door, jumping and licking and wiggling and — well, being as excited as a puppy can be!

He was puppyfied.

And then, when I saw Colleen, I had to greet her, too.  And you can see from this photo that when I jumped up on her, I am almost as tall as she is!

Her first words were, “Puppy breath …”  Well, of course, what would you expect?  I am a puppy, and a clever one at that.  I’m not a frog, or it would have been froggy breath.  It wasn’t horse breath, or lizard breath, or (shudder) purry-thing breath.

No, I am a puppy.  And I have wonderful, delicious, aromatic puppy breath.

After a while I settled down and played with some of my toys.  But the puppyfication wasn’t over.  Dad sat down and so I decided to sit in his lap.  With my toy fish.

I was glad to see them after being alone all afternoon.  Can you blame me for being so excited when they got home?  I was a happy dog, just lying in his lap, with my fish, and wondering …

…wondering what fish breath smells like?

Pups and Purries

I just love this description of the difference between us clever pups and those purry-things:

We pups are always so eager, so enthusiastic, so happy.  We play, and we run, and we love to let you gentle humans be part of it.  For example, here I am when I was playing with soap bubbles.  It was a lot of fun, and I could have chased those bubbles all day long.

But purry-things don’t seem to understand the joy in chasing soap bubbles.  Or sticks.  Or much of anything.  Oh sure, sometimes they will chase a string around the house, but after they catch it, they just sit there.  They don’t really get exciting about the game.

Not like us clever puppies.

One time I tried to explain this all to one of the purry-things that lives inside with us.  I tried to tell him how much fun it would be to run around and jump up and roll over and just have fun.

He just looked at me and hissed.  He didn’t want to listen to anything I said.  He just wanted me to leave him alone so he could sleep.

That’s okay with me if he didn’t want to play.  At least dad was there to play out in yard with me.  And that’s what we did.  Shall we go play tug-on-dad’s-arm? Yeah, yeah!

 

Ten on Tuesday

One of my gentle humans, Nikki (who often comes to visit with me on Thursdays) has a blog of her own, just like me.  She is clever, too, I guess. Just like me.   She writes about different things; one weekly theme is a list every Tuesday; she calls it her Ten on Tuesday. (http://bookwyrmknits.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/ten-on-tuesday/)

Since today is Tuesday, I thought that I’d come up with my own list.  Here is a list of ten things that make me happy:

1:   Running.  I love to run.

2:   Chasing stuff.  Like sticks.  Or balls.  Or frisbees.  Or purry-things.

3:   Going for car rides.  Usually that means I am going to a park to run.  I love to run.

4:  Unless I am going in the car to visit the vet. Oh, I like the vet … she is nice.  She was especially nice when I was very sick and had to stay in her office for a few days.  But sometimes they poke me with sharp needles.  Not so nice  😦

4 (repeating #4 because I don’t know if the previous #4 really belongs on a list of things that make me happy):  Dog treats.  I love ’em. Nom nom nom.

5:  Lying on the grass in the sun.  Listening to the birds chirp.  A gentle breeze.   Ahhh…

6:  Getting up after lying on the grass and running.  I love to run.

7:  Greeting my gentle humans.  I get all excited when I hear them come home.  I whine, and bark, and jump up-and-down. “Welcome home! Now let’s go play!!”

8:  Running.  Running in circles.  Running here, running there. I love to run.

9:  Running.  I love to run.  (Oh, am I repeating myself?”)

10:  Lying on dad’s lap after a full day of running.  He will brush my coat and I will roll onto my back and he’ll rub my tummy.  Bliss.  If I were a purry-thing, I’d purr.

11:  But I’m not a purry-thing.  That makes me happy.  I’m different than purry things.  More on that next time.

Oops, I guess I got carried away.  Ten turned into eleven.  Oh well.  It just shows that lots of things make me happy.  I am a very happy, clever pup.  Now, I need to finish this post and go outside.  To run.  I love running.