In Arizona and Totally Confused!

So the next thing we know, Mum has us backed into the car with our cousin, Benny, a dachsund. We picked up Benny in the morning and then we were off down the road to parts unknown. Mum spent a lot of time saying "Stay Back!" when we tried to get into the front seat. Our Uncle Anthony was co-pilot and made sure there was plenty of Red Bull to drink. It was raining in Oregon and Mum said we even had horizontal rain at times with snowflakes. The first night we made Bakersfield, California because we drove until 8:00pm. Mum seemed a bit tired and Uncle Anthony was just happy to get out of the car and move again! BOL!

The next day we set off again. Mum and Uncle Anthony were really tired because Cousin Benny and I barked our fool heads off most of the night at any little noise we heard. Coop seemed a bit tired as well and he tucked into Benny's bed and slept most of the day. We made lots of potty spots and water. Mum said we needed to drink more water than usual because of the change in temperature.

By 6:30pm we were pulling into Happy Trails where Mum and Dad have our house and we jumped all over Dad. It was a great time and we were really happy to be home, although totally confused as to where exactly we were. I tried to stay awake and play but before long I had fallen asleep on the couch with my walking vest on.

The next day, Dad and Mum took Cooper and me to the Dog Park in Surprise, Arizona. It was sooo much fun! We ran around and chased tennis balls while Mum talked to new friends, some of whom live at Happy Trails.

When we need to go outside, Mummy takes us outside and down the lane to the dog run that Happy Trails has and we sniff the tumbleweeds and leave messages. The cactus are kind of confusing, so sharp and so un-pee'd upon! Cooper is a lot of braver and barges right into the cactus but I choose to skirt the issue.

Christmas was great! Cooper waited for Santa but fell asleep before he came. Mum took us to the Dog Park again and we played with 5 West Highland Terriers who were great fun. There were three pugs, a greyhound and a bunch of other dogs too.

We will be leaving the day after tomorrow to return to Oregon which will be sad because we have to say good-bye to Dad but we will see him again soon. Mum and Uncle Anthony will try and be home by Friday so Mummy has a couple of days to get things organized before she goes back to work.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year!

Going on a Road Trip

In just a few days Mum and Cooper and I will be driving down to Arizona to spend Christmas with Dad and to learn all about the desert. Coop and I have never been out of Oregon so this will be a big driving adventure with Mum. We have to get the car ready with our toy basket, our traveling water bowl, our dog food, treats, a bed and bones to chew on. Mum says we will stop at almost every rest stop for a short walk to stretch all our legs (there are ten legs between the three of us) and have a pee-pee break.

There is a bad weather coming so we are going to leave a day early so we can get to the Siskyou Pass before the storm arrives. Once we are through the Pass, it is smooth sailing down to Arizona. We may get to stop in and see Uncle Alex in Bishop, California if he has not already left on a business trip. We sure hope so.

Tomorrow is my third birthday but Mum says we won’t celebrate until we are with Dad. I think this is a good idea. I am sure Dad will have lots of presents for me. I need to email and let him know that he does not have to wrap them, just make sure there are lots of squeaker toys to rip up.

Cooper and I have been sleeping on the bed every night with Mum. It is really nice but I am not sure we get to do that in Arizona. Mum says she is bringing beds for us because we have to sleep on the floor. Well, we will have a lot of exploring to do so I guess maybe we can sleep in our own beds.

Christmas Cards - A Time for Indoor Snow!

So Mum was being so boring tonight sitting at the kitchen table doing the family Christmas cards. I sat under her chair with my head on her foot but didn't get much attention from her. She seemed driven to get them done - she is a terrible procrastinator (not!). I kept telling her we could do it tomorrow or even next week. But she kept saying "shush!" because she was listening to The Golden Compass on her iPod. I hate it when the pawrents multi-task like that!

Eventually Mum realized it was incredibly quiet in the house...in fact, too quiet for that matter. She got up very quietly and looked down the hallway and Cooper had taken a roll of toilet paper out of the bathroom and was destroying it in the hallway. It was great! Just like snow inside the house. Mum started laughing and laughing until she cried! That was all the encouragement I needed and I took off like a rocket and grabbed the roll and brought it into the living room for a fight to the death. It was no contest and I had the toilet roll on the ropes and down for the count in no time.

Cooper meanwhile did some clean-up work in the hallway and then made his way into the living room to find the remnants of what was once the roll of toilet paper. I find once the battle is over I have no further need to the remains. Cooper, on the other hand, enjoys actually eating the enemy and leaving very little trace of the former evil alien once known as "TP". So Coop tossed a bunch of the toilet paper around and then sat and had a short snack of what was left.

The Christmas cards? Oh, Mum never did get those done! Aroooo! BOL!

One dead toilet roll 12-11-2007

Cousin Lou, A Big Cat

Mum went and visited our Uncle Andy and met his cat Lou. Uncle Andy works for the Oregon Zoo which makes him our favorite uncle. They have all sorts of wonderful poop at the Zoo and Uncle Andy has access to it all! Cooper keeps hoping that Uncle Andy will send us a kangaroo but I told Coop that packaging a roo to send is almost an impossibility. But I am pretty sure they have a lot of fish there and probably some small rodents. Anyway, Uncle Andy doesn’t actually work with all the animals but more on the Zoo Lights which is a HUGE display at Christmas and other times of the year. Uncle Andy does all the programming and design with the help of volunteers. Uncle Andy says his volunteers are great.

Anyway, Uncle Andy works out of a HUGE warehouse in NW Portland where they keep all the forms and lights. And he saw this man practically stomp this cat, Lou, to death. Fortunately Lou got away and hid in the warehouse and Uncle Andy has been taking care of him ever since. Lou eats two cans of wet fud every day and he has a lot of fur. He also has a lot of mats in his fur but in the spring Uncle Andy is going to get Lou a haircut and get rid of those mats. Right now it is too cold to do that and Lou doesn’t seem to be bothered with his mats.

We think Uncle Andy has a heart of gold to take in Lou. After all, who takes in a 14 year old stray cat that looks like a bad rug? So if we don’t get a roo for Christmas, at least we know Lou got what he wanted for the holiday, a new home where he is loved.

Check out Uncle Andy's Zoo Lights!

Cooper On-Line

I was watching Mum and Dozer play ball and Mummy thought I struck a rather regal pose and got the camera out. Normally I am not a camera hound but I have to agree, I do look pretty good! Dozer was a bit miffed but he got ball time so who cares?

Softest Paws in the West

Mum took this picture of Coop's paws this afternoon. He fell asleep in front of the electric fire and was making z's so she got a quick snap. Cooper does not like posing for the camera like moi; he must have had a bad experience somewhere along the line with a flash attachment. But Mummy loves his paws and the soft fur he cultivates there. Naturally as a Corgi, and a working dog, I can't be messing with groomers and having my hair done like the Coop does. But I guess it does look pretty soft.

Christmas is Coming, Send Us Chukars!

We just found out that Pat Wray (below) is an author on how to hunt and kill chukars. We aren't sure what chukars are per se, but if they have feathers and wings, they sound tasty. So we decided we would put a link to his book here on our blog and perhaps Mr. Wray will send us some of those chukars. No need to de-feather as such, we can handle that here at home. Of course Mum will be slightly peeved if she comes in from work and the house is full of feathers, but a present is a present and we will have eaten the evidence before she rolls in.

And speaking of Christmastide, Mum finally got around to getting a Christmas card organized! Both Coop and I have been posing all over the place and Mum was not catching the hint at all! Finally I got the calendar down for Coop to chew on and Mum caught the hint. She went to Shutterfly (the photoshop of choice for Dogster groupies) and ordered a bizillion cards with my picture on it! How cool is that? Cooper doesn't really care because Mum also created a collage poster of us and he got to star in that. Check out our card below. Mum did a pretty good job if I say so myself.