Dogs are Our Best Friends

   

     Happy holidays! I hope everyone has had a great winter season so far. I've had a busy season. Last Tuesday I went ice skating. I had so much fun even though I left covered in bruises. As you can infer, I'm not a very good ice skater. I'm glad I can endure pain, especially after that beating.       
    I had an amazing Christmas. I also got the perfect gift. The Lego Arctic Base camp. One of my favorite parts of the set were the huskies. The set had huskies! I enjoyed playing with my family and protecting the Lego huskies from the real ones. I also liked playing King of Tokyo, the monster game where you destroy Tokyo!

     The dogs also received some presents.  Hoover took his present out  from under the tree. It wasn't long before he was ripping the wrapping paper off. In a few minutes, Hoover had a plush red gingerbread man in his jaws. Nikita and Lizzie were also keen to open their gifts. Lizzie accidentally opened Nikita's present and vice verse. They all loved their bones.    
     In my entire life I've only met two dogs I knew personally that have passed away. Now I know three. I would like to pay tribute to Lucy. The director of Northern Lights Sled Dogs had a dog named Lucy. I never knew Lucy very well, but I knew she was a great girl. I did meet her once, she gave me a high five. She had the best high five. She was a big fluffy malamute who was friendly to all. Lucy was a rescue dog. Mum couldn't find the picture she took of Lucy so here is a picture from the Northern Lights Facebook page. Maybe Lucy has met Wiley and Pulaski and they are chasing small animals together. 
      Owen and Haatchi are superstars. Owen was born with a rare disability. Haatchi was a five month old stray when he was hit by a train. Haatchi had to lose his tail and one of his hind legs. To make Owen less lonely, his parents adopted Haatchi, who was about to be euthanized. The two were instant friends. Since their first meeting, Haatchi and Owen have won many dog show awards. They show the true meaning of friendship. 

      The next blog post will not come until 2015! I hope Hoover doesn't give me another shower of kisses New Year's Eve like last year. Happy New Year to everyone!

Clean up in the Living Room

   

    A lot of things happened this week. I turned 12 on December 17. We celebrated my birthday on Wednesday. Hoover and Nikita were excited to join the party. Lizzie wasn't quite as ecstatic, in fact she stayed upstairs and looked down as we partied. She did come downstairs when we had ice cream. 

     The geography bee didn't go too well. I choked. I've decided to never wear a soccer jersey to a spelling bee or geography bee because each time I compete in a school bee, I always choke. This bee I got out on my first two questions. The time I got third place in the geography bee, I don't think I wore a soccer jersey. I learned a lesson from this, you should burn your soccer jerseys or at least never wear them to a major competition. 
     The birthday celebration continued onto Friday. My indoor league soccer team has four players with birthdays in December. So after our game on Friday, we would celebrate the four birthdays. I enjoyed playing in the game, even though we had to play against 14 year olds again. We were beat 6-1. I got bashed against the wall a couple of times. I had one play, I tried to cross the ball in, but the ball actually went in between the keepers legs and I scored. A little after I scored, when I was driving up the field I got bashed into the corner of the wall. I still feel that one today. I had a bit of a handicap during the game. While I was practicing, I blew out my cleat. Sometimes while I was running, my sole was flip flopping. Guess I will have to go shopping soon. I had fun at the party. When the cake was passed out, I didn't eat much. My stomach still hurt from getting slammed against the wall.       

   We decorated our Christmas tree on Saturday. Our tree was looking good, although it was leaning a bit. After we decorated the tree, we all went to do our own things. The greatest enemy to our Christmas tree was not dogs. It was gravity. I heard a big crash and saw the tree had fallen down. Nikita was a bit slow to react to the falling of the tree. Once she had seen the tree had fallen down, she tried to make a hasty retreat and that is when things got worse. In her attempt to get up quickly, the tree had scared the poop out of her. So we had two clean ups. 
       I hope everyone has a happy holidays. The dogs and I are looking forward to having some snow for Christmas. I'll have to see if the dogs have been naughty or nice this year. 

Holiday Madness

    The dogs have been quiet so I've decided to feature other dogs. Before I start off, if you want to show support to any rescues or shelters try donating food, blankets, toys, or money. If your local shelter makes a novelty, you can show support by buying it. We buy calendars from Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue. The cool thing is some of the dogs we fostered are in the calendar. Lizzie might be in the calendar again. If you want a calendar full of northern dogs, you should check this link out: Northern Lights calendar
     Celia is a nice girl eagerly awaiting a home. She is a senior northern breed mix. She is underweight and her tail isn't in the best shape but she has a lot of personality and is so lovable. She takes treats well. Her ears are so adorable. She seems young at heart. I wanted to foster her as my birthday present, but mum and dad don't agree with that idea right now. Even my puppy dog eyes didn't work. My last foster birthday dog, Lumen, came about two weeks before my birthday and was adopted on the eve of my birthday. She couldn't wait a couple more days? But this is CeeCee's story.

    I'll be competing in the Geography Bee again. It's my second time in the school wide bee, I thought I was going to be a one and done. I missed my first question but I came back and narrowly escaped to the final. My after school Spanish class helped me get to the finals. One of my questions was "Buenos Aires is in what South American country?" My Spanish teacher taught me the capitals and countries of South America. When I got my question right I said, "Thank you Spanish class!"
     The dogs better watch themselves, mum got a new phone. She has been playing with the camera on it. That means she has been taking pictures of dogs. They are not safe now, especially with mum's new camera. It's holiday card season. The dogs love snow but not holiday cards. Each year mum tries to get the perfect picture. Our dogs and maybe me have little patience. So, mum doesn't get the greatest pictures. She settles for a picture where everyone is mostly still. In an upcoming post, you may see the holiday card.

Thanksgivng Break and Our Visitor

     Hello all you dog lovers. I'm going to fill you in on my adventures before Thanksgiving. I look forward to eating turkey. Anyway, I went to an ODP practice on Sunday. The conditions were horrible. It was freezing and raining. I was glad we played on turf because if ODP played on real grass, the fields would have been a giant mud puddle. I still had a fun time playing soccer even though I probably got pneumonia. My coach said, "It's one thing when it is cold. It's another thing when it's raining. It's a totally different thing when it is cold and raining."
     I'm on Thanksgiving Break. Because there is no school I stayed home on Monday. I was able to find out what my dogs do during the week when no one is around. Well, I was around but I hid. I mostly left the dogs alone except when I was bored and threw a blanket over Hoover.  He likes attention but not so much that I smother him in a blanket. He enjoyed lounging outside after that. I discovered Lizzie sleeps, Nikita sleeps, and Hoover feigns sleep. I either I have the laziest dogs or my family tires them out. Lizzie was the most active. She is a restless sleeper so she went to lay on the couch, my parents' bedroom, my room, downstairs, the dog bed, and then she went back to the couch. The most I saw Nikita do was glare at me when I threw a toy in the air and it hit her. I interrupted her 23 hours of sleep.   

     On Wednesday a little bundle of energy came to our house. We were puppy sitting for one of mum's coworkers. We were going to puppy sit Basil, the foster lab. Although, mum's coworker said he might be a foster fail. I can imagine why, Basil is such a nice puppy. He was energetic, sweet and submissive. It was a good thing he was submissive because Hoover always ran after him until Hoover became exhausted. Until then, Hoover was barking and slobbering the whole time. He reminded me of a St. Bernard. Basil's back was all wet from Hoover. Basil would roll on

his back occasionally. He didn't really need to because Hoover is all bark and no bite. I actually think he was a little scared of Basil's craziness. Hoover backed away from Basil a few times. Lizzie, at 12, was the only one who could keep up with the puppy. Although Nikita got a few good barks in. She rattled Basil a bit. Basil tried to be friendly towards Hoover. Basil tried lying next to Hoover in his favorite hole. Hoover snarled in protest. Basil quickly backed off, smart dog. I enjoyed having Basil around. It certainly livened things up. It was good for the sled dogs, I realized Hoover needs to exercise more. I hope Basil enjoyed it and didn't feel too ganged up on by the sled dogs.

     Our dogs are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Their favorite part is the feast and especially the turkey. I hope everyone invites their pets to the table, I'm not sure mum agrees with me. Here are 10 reasons you should invite your pets, mostly dogs, to the table. 

Just remember though, some foods aren't good for your pets. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I might not blog for awhile, I could be in a food coma.

Back to Blogging

     It has been a long time since I made a blog post. I have much to write about. Let's begin.

    To start off, we'll converse about Halloween. This year I went as a nerd in a box of Nerds. Someone actually gave me a huge box of Nerds. It was easy getting candy. The weather discouraged many trick-or-treaters. People threw chunks of candy into our bags. I went with two old friends. When we got back to my one friend's house, we went through our loot. My mum left soon after, taking with her all my sense of responsibility. My friends and I stayed up until 6:00 a.m. I woke up at 8:00 a.m. My mum asked me if it was worth it. I felt horrible later in the day. I learned my lesson.

     After Halloween, I got to work on another project. I had pestered my teacher for awhile because I wanted to learn when we would begin current events again. Current events is when we choose a country and tell the class about what is going on there. We do this every nine weeks. I chose Israel. I realize the crisis there dates back to at least the 1940s. To get my point across to the class, I made a stop motion about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I had a fun time making the stop motion, even though it took until the last minute. Maybe I should have had more than a week to do a stop motion. Either way, I got a good grade. I was nervous to present, but I didn't have to talk much when the stop motion does the talking. 
     This past weekend I went down to Evansville for an ODP tournament. My team would be playing up two age groups. In other words, we had to play huge 14 year olds. Some were two heads taller than me. Our first game we didn't do so well. Actually, that is an understatement, we got pummeled. We lost 8-0. It felt like it was 20-0. Our second game was a heart breaker. The ref didn't seem to understand the rules. We lost 2-0. The team  did play much better. On Sunday, the team played its best game. We scored! The game ended one to one. Our team played great. Our coaches said we weren't there to win. It was an opportunity to work on the skills we had been practicing. We may have finished last in our bracket but when you consider they were giant 14 year olds, I guess we did pretty well.
      Mum stayed home with the sled dogs. I don't think they did much but rest up for my return. When I came in the door, I was mobbed by all the dogs. I don't know if they missed me or they liked my soccer musk. 
       I present to you "Ice Dogs." This is a documentary I hope to watch about sled dogs when I have an hour or more of free time.  We didn't get all the snow we hoped for and the dogs have been quiet, so I hope this will make up for all the dog adventures we missed.

   

All Good Things Must End

   About two weeks ago I was able to spend some time with friends and visit a haunted barn. Unfortunately our dogs don't react well to haunted areas, so they didn't go. Hoover would be petrified. Anyway, our group went to a rural area where the Barn of Terror resided. This was one of my friends first haunted house or in this case, barn. On the way there I told him ghost stories. The four of us entered.One friend screamed every time someone jumped out. The barn was pretty frightening. My favorite part was a painting. When you walk past it, the picture drops down and someone's head pops out. Another part is a clown hides behind the porta-potty. When people are chased out of the barn, he jumps out with a chainsaw. It is hilarious to watch, from the sidelines that is.     

    I was finally able to present my Greek project. Although it happened later than I hoped. It was Wednesday night. The next day would host Greek fest, one of the best events of sixth grade. All the sixth graders would present to visiting classes. I barfed on Wednesday night after soccer. So, I missed Greek fest. This was also the only day I could present to everyone. The times my teacher gave to present to the class were only for five minutes. It would be just a short time to talk about what you researched. When I did present I was nervous. I dropped my papers and my tri-fold would not open properly, but when I started the presentation I felt better. 
     I was fortunate to compete in our Olympic games. I did well in our running event. For most of the run another person was in first. I slowly started to gain on the person. At the final stretch I sprinted and won the 400 meter run. As a prize I received Hershey kisses in gold wrapping. I was sick the day prizes were handed out so I got mine a day later and missed out on the medal presentations.  

    On Saturday I played in a soccer tournament. These would be the last three games of my season. The first game we lost 5-1. The game was much closer than you might think. And some of the players on the other team were pushy. One player received a yellow card. The next game we pulled our act together. We came from a 3 point deficit and won 4-3. The next game was just crushing. We had to win to go to the championship. We tied. On one play, we just fell asleep and the other team tied the score up. It was crushing but we played well. 
      Finally, I'll give out a kindness award again. This one goes to a friend of ours. While we were at the tournament she watched our dogs. Without her we would have come home to a mess. Thank you Darra! She had to put up with many Hoover kisses.
     I hope everyone has a good Halloween. On the next blog you will hear how I got a sugar rush.  

       

The One Year Anniversary

    We have some late news, it was official in August but let's just get to it.  It's Lizzie's one year anniversary or was. It feels longer than a year, we have so many memories of Lizzie. Some of them are not so happy. Like the time she destroyed mum's flowers. Or the time she was a scourge to all wildlife in our yard. She murdered a rabbit. She has chased squirrels up trees, yet fortunately the squirrels are more nimble than rabbits. There is one creature out there that can stand up to her, the mighty skunk. He showed up the first night we moved and was greeted by Lizzie and Hoover. When he felt threatened, the skunk let them have it.
     Now that we have covered the bad memories, let's move on to some of the lighthearted  times. Lizzie is really affectionate. If Lizzie wants your attention or appreciates you, she will bump into you with her butt. When we first fostered Lizzie, she was more nervous than happy. As we have had her longer, she started to really like us. One day we found out Lizzie had a passion for walks, as all huskies should. It is fun to watch her explode with excitement when we get the leash. Lizzie loves attention, not as much as Hoover, in the mornings she lets me lay my head on her hip. 
    When we leave the house, she might retreat to my room. She doesn't always eat her biscuit when we leave. She will jump on my bed with her biscuit. She takes it with her so Hoover doesn't get fat eating her biscuit. She'll abandon her biscuit and sometimes we may find a biscuit in my bed. I'm glad we decided to keep Lizzie even though we don't foster anymore.    

Sebastian

   There is a nice old gentleman out in the world. His name is Bucky. Bucky is about nine years old. He has had some trouble with his fur. Bucky's fur was covered in magots and was matted all over his body. It was for the better but Bucky now looks like a lion. He could relate to our foster Sebastian. They both had to have their fur shaved because they were neglected. Bucky likes treats and he takes them very well. It's hard not to adore him. If you want to learn more about this senior, please watch his video and follow the link to see pictures of him with fur. Bucky     

   We have fall break this week. I'm not going anywhere but at least I get to relax. I'll do ordinary things like play with Legos or play with my dogs. I might get to go to my mum's office and geek out with one of her coworkers. Then I can also play some futbol or as the American's call it, soccer.

It's All Greek to Me

    A lot of things happened this week. For one, the dogs had some adventures. First off, Nikita's old hips could not hold her for one moment. She was squating to do her job when her hips gave and she fell down. Luckily, I saw it happened and I was able to get my dad to help her up. She then continued on her way. She seemed a bit embarassed after the incident. When you have an old dog, they can get fairly needy. Nikita for one, sometimes needs help getting up or getting in the car. Then you have to give them their medication, although it is nice to have a dog that is relaxed and quiet. Even though Nikita trips over her own paws, she still enjoys her walks.
     Speaking of walks, the dogs get REALLY excited when we mention the word "walk." Lizzie is the loudest of the three. She starts wooing and will sprint up and down the sidewalk to the fence. Nikita even trots to the fence but can be knocked over pretty easy by the other two. Hoover takes a cue from Lizzie and will try to woo. Then he lumbers down to the gate. With the cooler temperatures, they get even more excited when they hear the magical word.

 

    I have another project to work on at school. This one is about the Greeks. Every sixth grader is a doing a project on anything related to ancient Greece. I've choosen to present about what is true about the Trojan War's stories. I'm looking forward to this project. I'm hoping to make a poster board and a Trojan Horse sculpture (even though the Trojan Horse was most likely a myth).

     In our Greek simulation we have a mock Olympics. I'm looking forward to the running event. It is a short Olympics, we only have four events. The 400 meter run, the discus, shot put, and javelin. Our javelin is a rubber dart, very dangerous. I'm excited to run in the 400 final. I just wish the ancient Greeks had soccer.

     This coming weekend will be full of soccer. I have a game in Columbus on Thursday. I have two more games on Saturday and Sunday, one away and one home. I will have a packed weekend. Although for me, that means a lot of excitement. Hopefully, we can squeeze in a walk for the dogs. If we don't, Lizzie will be one upset Husky.

Home Alone

    Have you ever wondered what your dogs do while you're gone? Sometimes I know what my dogs do. Sometimes I find toys in the living room or bedroom. It is pretty easy to find out what Nikita does. Either she is sleeping, there's not much else really. She does enjoy a dog biscuit when we leave. Over the years she has developed a sense as to when we are leaving the house and follows my parents. She loves her dog biscuits.
    Lizzie is usually very restless. You can often  find Lizzie in any room that is quiet. She usually prefers my bedroom, downstairs or my parent's bedroom. Lizzie is not a big biscuit dog though. We often find them in bedrooms or on a dog bed, if they aren't found by Hoover.
    Hoover is what you call a loyal dog. Hoover usually sleeps by the door waiting for us to come home. We often see him waiting at the door when we come home. He is the alarm system. Sometimes Nikita and Lizzie will join him at the door. It is always a bit of a hazard when Nikita goes to the door because she has been knocked over by the other two. Her old legs can't always support her.
 

   Now that we have gone over our current dogs, I think we should give a couple of our fosters a shout out. Lumen, frankly was the worse. We tried Lumen in a crate at first, that was not a good idea. Lumen destroyed the tray in the crate. Let me remind you, she only weighed about 30 pounds. We thought maybe she didn't like crates, so we tried her out of the crate. That was an even bigger mistake. We assumed Lumen jumped onto the dinner table and consumed lots of candy canes that were in a box on the table. All we found were pieces of wrappers all over the family room. For a day her droppings were multicolored. She also chewed on mum's flip camera. My mum said, "At least she didn't eat the sofa." We went back to the crate. The crate wasn't the best but it kept her contained. She managed to bend a few bars on the crate. My parents were VERY happy when Lumen was adopted, even if it was on my birthday.
     Sebastian slept most of time but everyone has a bad night. When we left one night and then returned Sebastian was in his usual spot, everything seemed fine. Except everything went a little haywire when mum walked into her bedroom. She discovered the sheets were all over the place on the bed but the worse thing was there was diarrhea all over the sheets. At least it wasn't my bed. We wondered if he was trying to cover it up. Even though Sebastian never jumped on furniture, it couldn't have been Nikita. She is unable to jump that high and Hoover hadn't been sick. Sebastian was on medication that affected his stomach. I kind of felt bad for the boy. Despite this mishap, we almost ended up adopting Sebastian.
      Do you know what your pets do when they are home alone?  

Soccer and the Ice Bucket Challenge

     Last weekend was a bit of a slow one apart from my soccer tournament. Other than that, not much else happened. 
     The tournament began on Saturday. However, my team came on Friday. The tournament was in Fort Wayne. That's a three hour drive from where I live. I arrived at Fort Wayne at about nine pm. The IU soccer team was staying in the same hotel! I took a swim and went to bed. Meanwhile at home, Hoover destroyed his toy Bumble. Lizzie mourned the loss of her friend.
      Saturday morning I got up and got ready for my game. We were going to play teams from Ohio and Michigan. On our first game we played a team from Michigan. We had to play catch up because of an unlucky goal. We tied two to two. Our team played great and I had fun.
      The hotel we stayed at also had some soccer players living in it. The Indiana soccer team went to the same hotel as us. It was cool that both Bloomington teams were there. 
      The rest of the day was free time except for mum and her friend who went shopping all over Fort Wayne to get tickets to an IU game that night. Most of the team went to the game. Although most of us played World Cup and watched about five minutes of the game. At least I saw the goal that won the game for IU. 
      The next day we got up early and finished our tournament. The first game of our day was unfortunate because we lost 4-1. But until about the last five minutes of the game, the score was only 2-1. Because we lost we did not play the final at 3:30. Somehow I wanted to play the final but I also didn't want to get home at 9:00. Our next game at 11:00 am was a pretty evenly matched game but we lost 3-2. I think our team still did well though. It was pretty exciting playing teams out of state.  

   I read to the cats at the shelter this weekend. I finally decided to start reading Harry Potter. I don't know why I never read it. I guess I just felt too bias about the Hobbit. Anyway, I took the first book to the cats but a cat at the shelter, named Goose, didn't want me to read. As I sat my book down and looked for a cat toy, Goose rolled on to my book. So I could only watch him lay smuggly on my book. Reading would just have to wait.
     Also this weekend we did the Ice Bucket Challenge. If you don't know what the Ice Bucket Challenge is, it is where you are challenged by someone to dump a bucket with ice and water on your head, and to challenge someone else. The Ice Bucket Challenge is to raise awareness about a disease called ALS. We did some research about ALS before we actually did the challenge. One of things we did was read about Stephen Hawking. You can see his Ice Bucket Challenge here: Stephen Hawking
     On to the challenge. I got the bigger bucket of the two, I wanted it. As I was pouring water on mum's head, I got a bad feeling about mine. When it was my turn, mum started pouring water on my head but she stopped about a third of the way through it. I looked up and I asked is that it? I was wrong! Mum then dumped the rest of the water on my head. Sorry for being a bit of a Captain Obvious, but the water was pretty cold. For once the dogs weren't too excited for us to pet them after having water poured on us. If they so wish to take on the Ice Bucket Challenge, I challenge Michelle and Thomas Burns.
     I hope everyone has a good week. It is the start of football and futbol.

The Tale of a Lost Tail

    This weekend Hoover lost his dignity. It all started on Friday. Mum stripped him of part of his tail. Now there are big chunks outside and in the trash but there is little fur on his tail. The way mum is going at it, Hoover will have a rat tail in a week. In one picture it looks like Hoover's tail exploded shortly after her pecking. I think Hoover has started hiding behind chairs when mum is around. To groom Hoover, mum has now resorted to distracting him by rubbing his belly. While she rubs his belly, she plucks fur off his tail. Poor Hoover falls for it every time. Now mum's attention is on Lizzie. 

     Lizzie is the last dog to start to shed her coat. On her flanks, the fur is falling off in clumps. Yeah, right now, Lizzie's chances of being beauty queen are slim. I'm going to start calling mum Cruella de Vil. She could make a coat off both dogs shed fur. Maybe that's why she's so obsessed...

      Lizzie was tired yesterday. While Hoover went to Bell Trace to entertain people, Lizzie went to Bryan Park. She walked two laps around the park. I ran her a bit until I tripped and fell down. She didn't act her age then but she did Saturday night and Sunday. She slept pretty much the entire day, just like Nikita.

      Today we did some dog sitting for Jet. Jet is a fabulous senior. She is 11 years old and a bloodhound lab mix. Mum and Jet picked me up from school and Jet drooled all over the windows. We're going to have some fun cleaning up. We went back to mum's office and Jet cleaned up what edible snack crumbs were on the floor left by me. It was fun spending some time with Jet.
      I presented on Japan and the Fukushima plant on Friday. I'm not sure Mrs Davis, my teacher, gave grades on the presentations because we were the first to present. I do know I had a great time making my PowerPoint & stop-motion short.

    On Sunday we made a chiton for Greek simulation at school. Hoover likes making crafts even though he laid down on the supplies. While we were folding the sheet, Hoover decided to get in the middle of things by plopping down on it. I'm really enjoying the Greek simulation. I like learning about Greek culture. I got the name Heracles. I'm looking forward to further Greek projects like the Olympics!

The First Week

     From fifth grade to sixth grade. This week I went to my school for the first week of sixth grade. And I've got a project. To me, that's a good sign because I get to work a lot. My project is going to be common because I will redo it every nine weeks. We call the project Current Events. I will collect information about a country and what is happening in that country now. I've chosen Japan to study. I want to talk about radiation and its dangers. I'll be doing a PowerPoint and stop-motion. 
      Along with it being the first week of school, it is also the first week of soccer. I'm excited for this season. I'm really just hoping we win more than one game in regular season. I hope having an extra practice every week will help.

     Hoover got a little too excited for the start of school. Hoover made a big mess of his toys at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like a massacre. There was stuffing all over the floor. He didn't help much when we had to clean up the family room. Hoover was all tuckered out after his party. He had trouble waking up this morning.

     We looked at some old photos this week and found a puppy picture of Nikita when she was stung by a bee. She learned the hard way that bees should be left alone. Her lips swelled up and stuck out. She was so uncomfortable she couldn't put her head down. The vet told my parents to give her Benadryl. To compare, here is a normal picture of Nikita and a picture of what Nikita looked like several hours after being stung. Here are some other dogs who learned the hard way that bees should not be messed with.  http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/dogs-who-learned-the-hard-way-not-to-eat-bees. Let me know if you  have had a furry friend that learned about bees the hard way.

Nikita v.s. the Vet

   Nikita faced her biggest enemy yet, the veterinarian or, the vet. Nikita got in the car with a struggle but this was the least of our problems. On the way there Nikita couldn't find a comfortable way to sit down. We had to take the old car because mum couldn't lift her up in the Element.  We took Nikita into the office and she was pacing too much so I took her outside. So I tried pushing the glass door and Nikita walked into it twice. I finally pulled open the door and we ventured outside. In my defense, I was still recovering from a sleepover.
     We took our turn to see the vet. When we arrived in his office, Nikita started pacing and panting heavily. She paced in circles for most of the visit. When the vet came in, she got herself stuck in a corner. She lay there listening facing the wall. When we got her on her feet, the vet listened to Nikita's heart . He had to close her mouth because she was panting so hard he couldn't hear her heart. Then, Nikita had her nails trimmed. On her first paw, Nikita was silent. On the second, Nikita finally became her usual chatty Kathy when it comes to trimming. The vet called in a tech who held her down. Nikita really dislikes having her nails tampered with. She whined and cried. Despite really bad arthritis, not the best eyesight and some deafness, the vet thought Nikita was doing pretty well for 14 years.
     Nikita was glad to leave the vet although she was grateful when he helped her in the car. Nikita respects the vet in some ways. Or she was just exhausted.

 I had some friends come over this weekend for a sleepover, although there wasn't much sleep. We mostly played downstairs. The dogs were sensible. They stayed upstairs and played with my parents. Hoover even came down and took his ball upstairs. He has some brains. The only other time Hoover came down was to get some tasty popcorn. He knew we were messy. My friends say they know where he gets his name. 
      The dog's are happy about school starting next week. They no longer have to deal with my friends and I. Now they can get all their sleep in without disruptions.

Random Thoughts on Competition and Animal Rescue

  This week I'm going to golf camp in the morning. To get prepared (because I haven't played much golf in a year) we went to the IU driving range. I am not a good golfer. I think I'll stick with soccer. We also went to the putting green and I had a competition with mum. I destroyed mum! I beat her once in about 10 games. I'm really gonna stick with soccer.

     I also learned how competitive my family is when it comes to sports. We got the old foosball table up and we went at it. Mum and I battled it out. We teamed up on Dad and he still beat us. Then we started putting handicaps on Dad, like no goalie. He still beat us 10 to 5. Dad played a lot of foosball in college! I still think I'm sticking with soccer.

     There's one thing I can beat both of them at, soccer! But to give me competition, mum uses many different tactics. One time she fell on me! Dad and I gave her a yellow card. Hoover helps on defense by laying in a lane. So when I'm about to take a shot I have to hold it back for Hoover's sake. I don't want to maim Hoover. 

     I've been to golf camp for a few days. The first day I won a putting competition by luck. I hit my ball half way to the hole and I thought I had lost. But, the next kid in line hit his ball and it hit my ball boosting it to the hole. I won M & M's! The next day was uneventful but on Wednesday golf camp was almost rained out. A big storm hit Bloomington but we continued. Although, all we really did was play dodgeball but it was still exciting. 
     Now, I was going to write about Shasta the sled dog when Howl the bird came along. Dad thinks I watch too much of Hayo Miyazaki's anime. I was at a friend's house today when we discovered an injured bird in his yard. We think a cat got him or her. There was a gash on his side. My friend and his dad got Howl in a box. Mum and I took Howl to WildCare. I hope he's all right. What's your tale of animal heroism? Stay tuned for more stories. 

Dog Speak

    Today's blog will be special. Today I will talk about how our dogs communicate with us. I'll start off with Lizzie because she is the biggest talker. The way Lizzie tells us she wants to be petted is she whines. And when she whines, she whines. She stops as soon as you place a hand on her and she starts whining again as soon as you take your hand off her. 
     Lizzie woo-woos when she hears the word walk. She has learned English! Hoover just follows Lizzie's lead. She has also learned the concept of time. Around 8:00 pm , Lizzie starts woo-wooing again, she knows when dinner time is. We really hear it when we haven't given her dinner on time. Lizzie also will woo-woo when she wants out but barks when she wants in.  Lizzie will bark at Hoover when she wants to play, but Hoover doesn't like her loud voice. 

      Next up is Hoover. He is a pretty quiet dog except when the neighbor's dogs are out. Then he is a big loud mouth. When Hoover wants to come in he knocks on the door like a fine old gentleman. However, when he wants to go out he waits by the door. Sometimes Lizzie has to bark to let us know they both want out. 

      Hoover LOVES attention. If he isn't getting it, he will paw you. His big paw can be dangerous. Everyone in the family has experienced a Hoover paw to the face. Hoover even uses his paw to acknowledge Lizzie and Nikita by patting them on the head.   

    When Hoover wants to play, he throws his toy in the air. Sometimes he will catch it and other times he'll toss it at you. That ball really stings if you get hit in the face. Hoover takes his playing very seriously, as you can see in the picture at the end. 
      And last but certainly not least is Nikita. She is more subtle than Lizzie and Hoover when seeking attention. She will rest her chin on a leg. She is usually sleeping so she doesn't ask for much attention. Nikita will also put her chin on your leg and stare at you if there is no water in the water bowl or she wants a snack.
       When it comes to going outside, we just kind of have to guess. If she gets up, that is a good indication she wants to go outside. When she wants to come in, she gives one very demanding bark. If we don't come to the door right away, she waits a little bit and gives one more demanding bark.

      Nikita also has a history of tattle telling on some of our fosters. In other words, Nikita is a snitch. One time Alue managed to get the pantry door open and pulled out Nikita's dog food. So, Nikita found mum doing laundry and started barking. She lead mum right to Alue. He was busted. She also has a history of ratting out other fosters, like Sebastian.

Alue

 

      This is a just a bit of how our dogs speak to us. How do your dogs speak to you?

Buddy the Stray

     

    To start off this week's post, I'll tell you the tale of Buddy the Tramp. Buddy appeared in our yard one day last week. We think he was a Jack Russell mix.  We know he wasn't a sled dog. Buddy was a stray and he roamed the neighborhood that morning. We tried to get Buddy into our yard but he didn't like leashes so we would have to lure him. I got a biscuit but Buddy went after a rabbit. At that point mum left for work and dad and I stayed to look for him. Buddy returned so I got another dog biscuit. Dad held Hoover because we were afraid Hoover might scare Buddy away by barking. Then I lured Buddy in with the biscuit. Hoover was then friendly. He just dislikes dogs on the other side of his fence. Buddy was friendly and liked being petted. He liked the dogs and the dogs liked him. The animal shelter came and picked Buddy up. He did NOT want to leave our yard. He had made himself quite comfortable.       
    If Buddy's owner doesn't pick him up, he will be up for adoption. It will be a few weeks before we see Buddy again because he has to be neutered and get a microchip as well as be checked for diseases. But I look forward to see him.  Mum already says we can't adopt him, darn!
     It was the Fourth of July recently and we celebrated with a cookout. There were lots of fireworks in the neighborhood and Hoover wasn't a fan.  He stayed inside and hid downstairs for awhile. Then he followed my parents everywhere. Lizzie didn't mind and Nikita couldn't hear. 
     The next day a friend came over and we went to Ellettsville to a cookout with another friend. We ate and had some Nerf wars. Then, we all went to a fireworks show. It was spectacular. I love fireworks. They are so fantastic and bright! I spent the night with my friends. We spent the night playing video games and watching a movie. We stayed up until three. We had french toast and bacon the next morning. It made me think of Bradford Woods. I was happy to go home and take a nap even though I couldn't sleep.

  To make myself feel better about the World Cup, I made my own World Cup Hockey tournament. I'm Argentina and Mum is Germany while dad is Albania. The games have been close, competitive and a little pushy. I have to put the Hockey World Cup on hold for the rest of the week for the Bloomington South soccer camp in the evenings. We will be having a World Cup challenge at camp!