Oh Deer!

I've had some new friends come to visit lately. Mom and Dad won't let me go play with them, but they look really neat! I like to watch them out the windows.

Mom and Dad call them deer. They like to come in to my yard and hang out. They take naps and and eat from the blackberry bushes out there. Sometimes, Mom and Dad go out and make sure they aren't doing anything they shouldn't be doing (like leaving sick babies out there - it's happened before).

And let me tell you about the presents they leave! Every morning, when I go out to go potty, I look for the presents they leave me. I sniff out their smell tracks all around the yard and, sometimes, I hit the jackpot and find their treats! They look like these things people eat called raisins. But, Mom gets really upset when I eat them. So, I guess they are different. Whatever. I think they are tasty little morsels! Yum! Even if Mom thinks it is SO gross that they leave me presents!

I do have to wonder about the blackberry bushes though. Those things hurt when you step in them! Since I know that they hurt, I run real fast and jump real high when going over them! But, these deer settle down for a nap right in the middle. They must have thicker skin than I do!

Oh dear how I love my new friends!

Love and Licks,
Poppy

Blue Angels

OK, this is totally out of order, but like they say, better late than never! A while back, Mom and Dad were talking about seeing these huge fast jets in the city. But, driving in to San Francisco when the Blue Angels are in town is a nightmare! Since we had places to be in the evening, we decided to go into Sausalito and find some lunch and wait for the jets.

We walked all over down town and visited some shops. It was cold and damp out, but we had a great day! When it was getting close to show time, we found a place to sit on the water and watch the show from across the bay.


Dad got some Starbucks to help him keep warm. But that ground was cold on my back side! Yeesh! Talk about chills! So, I decided to sit where the people sit. Hanging out on the bench was a little better, but I was looking for more comfort.



Ahh! A Mom-lap. That's much much better! Thanks for keeping me warm Mom! As payment, I will keep you warm in return. Now let's watch the show!


Across the bay, we could see them do all sorts of formations and flying in groups. They went all around the Golden Gate bridge - up and over all around! It was super hard to get a good picture because they fly SO fast!


The big jets flew right over us! They were super super loud! It was crazy! After the show it was time to go home. Lots to do, so the relaxing is done! One last picture for the road!


Love and Licks,
Poppy

Ring Around the Nosey

I LOVE my tug ring! It is SO much fun to tug! I love to pull pull pull people as far as I can get them. When the toy comes out, I sit and wait wait wait for someone to give me the OK to tug. I get ready. Get set. TUG!! SO much fun! I pull and tug and do all I can to get it away from whoever has it. I've been known to pull so hard people scoot across the floor. Then, the dreaded words come. "That's Enough!" and all the fun stops. It is a sad moment in my day. A real low point. I love to tug so much and it breaks my heart every time I have to stop. Mom and Dad are supposed to put my ring up when we are not playing tug. Sometimes they forget though and leave it out.

That's when I try to convince them to tug with me.

I pick it up and start to wave my feet around. The more I move, the more attention I get.

I fling it back and forth a little and try to get them to realize that I REALLY want to tug!

When that doesn't work, I give them this look, hoping that it will convince them to tug. I hope it will work! Who can say no to this face?!?



Oh. Mom and Dad can. It just gets me another "That's Enough" and gets my dear ring taken away. So sad. I may have to figure out something new next time. Or maybe I'll just go pout.

Love and Licks,
Poppy

Almost the end of the Ho Ho Ho!

OK, I have to tell you that, despite a few slip ups, I am such a good good girl! Those who knew me in my previous home would be shocked at me yesterday! Mom, Dad and I went for a long walk down this place called Christmas Tree Lane. I'm not sure why they call it Christmas Tree Lane - there weren't a whole lot of Christmas trees there! There were lots and lots of lights! Lighted houses and trees - lots and lots of lights!


The other kids got to hang out with Mickey, Minnie and Donald. There was too much mud and I wasn't tall enough to go be in the picture. So sad!


There was even this giant furry guy! Mom tried to tell me what he is called, but couldn't say it right. If she can't say it, how the heck am I supposed to spell it!?!? I'm a dog, after all!


After we took our walk to look at the lights, the kids and their parents (Mom's friends from high school) came over to have some dessert (Mom's creations are NOT pictured in this blog. Any pictures on this page are my Papa's handy work. Mom wanted me to be sure to tell you all that!) The kids got to run around the house and look at all of Grammy and Papa's Christmas decorations. Pretty much every corner of their house sings, dances or makes noise of some sort. I was SO SO good! I ran with the kids and played tug with the kids. I was totally on my best behavior! Mom hovered, thinking that I might get a little out of hand (those kids were REALLY trying to wind me up - and they are really good at trying! It worked!) I had so much fun and I was super super good.

Mom said I had my moments yesterday. I tested my limits at times, but I can tell you I did NOT do this:

Papa's frosting did that to the cake, not me! Mom's cake stood up and was so pretty! But, no one offered me any! I did sneak some of the powdered sugar off the floor from when Mom was making marshmallows. That may have been a little bad, but I didn't do a whole lot of other stuff that I wanted to do! Nor did I lock Brian in the pantry!


I may have blocked him from getting out, but it wasn't me who put him in there!

Now that Christmas is done, I'm getting ready to head back home. But before I leave, I need a few more minutes with Lester's new bone.


That's better!
Love and Licks,
Poppy

Meeting the Rebellious One

New friends are so much fun! One night, after going to work with Mom all day, we drove down to Dad's office. It was so cool! Mom had never been to Dad's office before! So much fun! Mom and Dad got in one car and headed off to another place. There were tons of people in the downtown area - some holiday thing going on. We took a walk and went to a place called a bar. I don't spend a lot of time in bars cause they are noisy and crowded. It was so strange! There were other dogs there!

They were wearing mostly orange, which is not normal for my friends. We are a green and leather bunch. Mom said that it was a Holiday Shindig for The Hearing Dog Program. That explained a lot - not only were they wearing orange, they weren't all retrievers! There was a Manchester Terrier, a French Bulldog and a few other types of dogs.

After a while, something exciting happened. Another lab walked in! Mom and Dad got excited that he was there. When they finally said his name, I figured it out! We were going to see Rebel! Rebel is a dog that Mom and Dad raised a while ago. He helped out with their wedding plans. He decided not to be a guide dog. He thought that Hearing Dog was much more his style of living.

He graduated back in May, though he's lived with Meredith for a long time. He is a fun guy! He's the only other yellow lab that Dad has had. Rebel and I hung out while the people chatted and enjoyed some wine to help raise money for the HDP.

Rebel and I posed with our Dad. They caught Rebel with his big smile, Dad with rosy-wine cheeks and me with dork-ear. Seriously, you couldn't have caught me at a better moment?!?

They tried to get us to pose for a picture together, but looking at the same thing at the same time was hard! There was so much going on!


There was a CCI puppy there too! She is super cute! We had fun being a pile of labradors. We all had a lot of fun visiting (and were still the best behaved dogs there - even when we were playing, we were the best. I know I shouldn't brag, but I'm just sayin')

After one last snuggle with Rebel (he make a great pillow), it was time to say good-bye and head home. I loved visiting with Rebel and hope we get to see him again soon!



Love and Licks,
Poppy

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,
Thank you for listening to all my blog friends and ignoring the letter from my Mom. I have been a really good girl since the cookie incident. I have been careful to follow directions and do everything I have been asked. Thank you for changing my name back to Poppy. That makes me happy! And thanks for the Furminator! I am glad that people will no longer call me either T.D.D or Pigpen. I'm not sure why they called me Pigpen, but it seemed to have something to do with the tufts of fur that were like a halo around my body.

I haven't touched the tree or any of the ornaments! (Even though I do believe that the tree should be willing to share its water with me. It seems to me that tree water would be really tasty!)


I have spent some time with Uncle Nutcracker. I'm not sure who or what he is, but Mom and Dad seem to enjoy him. They are strange.


I even tried on one of your hats! Truthfully, I am not too fond of it! I'm not sure how you wear that hat all the time! I was very careful when I took it off though.


I am being a good girl visiting my Grandparents. And I haven't even knocked over Brian once! Even I am amazed by that! He's 4 and doesn't move out of the way very fast. Sometimes, when I have a full butt-tuck on, I just can't stop in time.

So Thanks for bringing me presents! I will try to continue to be a good girl (and I definately won't eat any more cookies off the counter!)

Love and Licks,
Poppy

Sister Sister

OK, back to updating! This is the post I intended on publishing yesterday. But, while pictures were downloading, I decided I needed a little snack of some cookie dough. Bad move on my part! Yikes!

A while back, Mom, Dad and I went to a Fun Day in Sacramento. It was a great day! A bunch of my puppy buddies came (including Cabana!) My Auntie Sue, Uncle No Rules and Brian were there too! It was WAY fun! But, the best part of the day was when I got to see my long lost sister! Portola was there! It had been a really long time since we had been together! First, I sort of said hello (I'm in the green head collar. Portola is in the black one.) Then, I did what I always do - I showed her my belly! I do believe that my belly is my best feature. Therefor, I show it to anyone and everyone I can! It has freckles and is super cute!





We did finally sit up for a good picture. Aren't we cute?!? We don't look much alike. My ears are way cuter! Portola's raiser knows our Dogma. Carlotta was raised in the same house that Portola lives in now. Such a small world!

My new name - Santa's not comin' :(

Mom changed my name tonight. I wish that I could turn back time and do things over. I don't think it was really MY fault. How could I resist?? Mom was working on the Christmas cookies tonight. One batch was in the oven and another was on the counter. When Mom went out to check on the laundry, I decided to do some quality assurance. Someone needs to make sure they taste ok, right? Dad's gotta go to work in the middle of the night, so he's sleeping. That leaves me, right?? Just trying to help! I jumped up on the counter and tasted one. OH MY GOSH!! It was SO good that I tried another. And another and anotherandanother...

I think I got down 9 before the moment when my world changed.

I heard the door close, but things happened so fast, I just couldn't stop it! Mom walked in and saw my feet on the counter. Then she saw me hoovering up one last cookie. She said my name (or bellowed. Whatever.) and I froze. Uh oh. I knew it wasn't going to be good. I knew I was gonna get in trouble. I knew there was a chance that my life was over. I saw my entire puppy-hood flash before my eyes. I even saw my first raiser. I felt it. Mom grabbed my collar. I was SO stunned that I got caught that I hadn't even jumped down yet - either that, or Mom was so mad she was lightening fast!

I've worked on food refusal training.

I've done puppy push ups.

I've done long down stays.

I've done long sit stays.

I've ignored hairy cookie dough on the floor.

I've ignored hairy cookie dough placed on my foot.

I am now scared spitless of cookie dough.

Mom has changed my name to That Damn Dog. I liked Poppy better.

I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.

Mom emailed Santa and told him I was bad. I think my stocking will be empty this year. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't do that again. Do you think that Santa is like Judge Judy? Will he have some pity on me if I show remorse? (Cause I'm showing lots of it!) I am so sorry that I was bad! I will not do it again.

I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.

Can you please email Santa and let him know that I will never do that again?? Maybe if Santa's inbox is flooded with emails saying I am a good girl, he won't leave me a lump of coal. Or a nylabone that I can't chew.

Thanks for the help.

Love and Licks,
That Damn Dog

PS Could you ask Santa to at least give me my name back? I am much more Poppy-ish.

I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.
I will never counter surf again.