Cousin Homer

Well, Christmas activities are in full swing here at MomMom and PopPop's house. MomMom spent the entire day making cookies. They smelled so yummy. Unfortunately, I didn't get to taste test any. I'm on a strict "no human food" diet since I ate a whole bunch of turkey yesterday. The results of all the turkey eating was not pleasant this morning and I'll just leave it at that. I have no regrets though and the burning feeling has since gone away.

Anyway, I spent the evening with my cousin, Homer, a few nights ago. Here we are hanging out.

Winter Camp Hiatus

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. There haven't been any exciting adventures to report. Right now, I'm hangin' at MomMom and PopPop's house for Winter Camp. I'm helping them get ready for the big Christmas holiday. Though, I wish I was more involved in the taste testing of goodies being prepared. PopPop is good at giving me some kind of meat which I really love him for.

Enjoy these pictures from past winters.

What Makes a Dog?

I don't remember my biological parents. My current mom and dad adopted me when I was three years old. I don't want to remember the years previous to that and my memories of my biological parents have since faded. But, I've always wondered what kind of breed they were. When I'm out walking my humans, other people will often stop and ask what kind of dog I am. Mom and Dad always respond that they are not sure but that I'm probably German Shepherd mixed with lab. Other humans have offered more possibilities including blue heeler, australian cattle dog, akita, and wolf.

Well, last night, someone told my Dad to look up Dutch Shepherd (Thanks Porter, my brother from another mother, and Kyle S). It's a rare breed and not often seen in the US because it's not recognized by the AKC. Here's a good despcription of the Dutch Shepherd. Do you think it fits me?

The Dutch Shepherd is a highly capable shepherd dog that excels in areas of agility, obedience, guarding, herding, field training, and companionship. They are extraordinarily competent, and they approach their work with great enthusiasm. They have strong territorial instincts and will ward off unwanted visitors at lightning speed. They are very affectionate, cheerful, and playful, and they love to spend time with their family. They are a highly intelligent breed, and they are very easy to be around. They are calm, even-tempered, and loyal. This breed generally gets along quite well with other dogs and animals. They are easy to train and learn new commands quickly. They are active, alert to their surroundings, and they make fine watch dogs. They are low maintenance and can withstand harsh weather conditions and fatigue.

Here are some pictures of Dutch shepherds from the web. What do you think? Is this me?

College Bound

I visited my second college campus last week. It was a beautiful fall day and I asked Mom and Dad to take me some place different for my afternoon walk. We ended up at University of Richmond campus. Only about a 5 min drive from our house. What a great campus. They have a lovely lake to go swimming in. It was a little chilly for me but I saw a golden retriever jumping in and getting the ball that his owner kept tossing into the lake. His coat must be thicker than mine because he didn't mind the cold water at all. Anyway, we just walked around and took a few pictures.

MomMom and the ladies at the library will enjoy these next few pictures. The library at UofR is very pretty. I wonder if they have any books about dogs in there?

Milestones

Mom, Dad and I travled to Philly this past weekend so that we could attend a wonderful event. The 90th Birthday bash for Mom's grandmother, Babci. She's a wonderful lady. She has three sons, 7 grandchilren, and 5 great-grandchildren. She still lives in her own home, has a boyfriend, a cute little canary and up until a year ago, still went out dancing once a week. I hope I have her kind of energy when I'm 90 (I thinkt that's like 15 in dog years). Anyway, here are some photos of the great event.

Babci and her three sons.

Babci and Bob

Babci and Mom's grandmother, Grandmom.

Grandpop, Babci and Grandmom.

You might be wondering where I was during all these festivities. Well, let's just say that I love kielbasa and I ate a lot of it. This was the result.

New Game

We visited MomMom and PopPop this past weekend in the Philly area. A big tree in their backyard dropped it's leaves all over the backyard. It made this beautiful carpet of red, gold, orange and yellow. So pretty. We didn't get to see colors like this in Michigan. When summer was over (in early September), leaves would suddenly turn brown one day and then be on the ground the next. I much prefer the pretty colors of the trees on the east coast. Best of all, I discovered a new game! Leaf catching! The rules are simple. Have your human toss a bunch of leaves in the air and then jump up and try to catch as many as you can.

Another new game. Tug o' war with Mom on a swing.

Happy Halloween? Bah-humbug!

I really don't like Halloween. A couple years ago, a three foot tall Darth Vader appeared on our door step. He scared the bleep out of me so I barked at him. I guess I scared him back because he yelped, threw his arms up in the air and little bits of wrapped candy came flying out of his plastic bucket and rained down all over my head.

Well, I didn't get too scared last night. Mom and Dad played it smart and kept the storm door closed so that the little witches, monsters and Strawberry Shortcakes couldn't get to me. That barrier kept us safe so I didn't feel the need to bark but the goblins were still able to get their candy.


Here are some pictures of me playing with our glowing pumpkin. I decided to go diving in to retrieve the glowing light.

Got it

I'm on the Web!

I sent a letter to the shelter that rescued me. Please visit:
http://www.hshv.org/happytails.htm

Great Adventure

Mom's brother, Alex, and his wife, Cheryl, are visiting us this week. All five of us began our trip at Mom-mom and Pop-pop's house. You can see that we were very excited to start our adventure.

On the first afternoon of their visit, Mom took me, Alex and Cheryl to the big park in Richmond. Byrd Park. We had a good time walking the paths and viewing the sites. I really liked the little lakes. I wanted to go swimming but Mom wouldn't let me.

Here I am leading the way. Mom always jokes that I'm an "alpha" dog. I have no idea what that means. All I know is that I feel like I should be the guy in front.

Me and Mom at a water fountain. Once again, I tried to jump in for a short swim. As my friends in Barclay Park know, I have a thing for swimming in water fountains.

Alex read this sign and told me that I was not allowed to dig in the park or we would get in trouble. It's too bad; my super sensitive nose told me that there was lots of interesting stuff under the ground. Oh well. I try not to question the humans' silly rules.

Me, Alex and Cheryl in front of the bell tower at Byrd Park.
Me, Mom and Cheryl on the base of the bell tower.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we went on a really big adventure. Early in the morning, Alex, Cheryl, Mom and I jumped into Alex's big truck and drove for an hour to a place called Colonial Williamsburg. What a great day. It was sunny and cool. We walked throughout this historic site and visited some old buildings and learned about the history of the town and how people lived back in the 1700s. I didn't hear much about how dogs played a role in daily life back in those days but the people dressed in period costumes were very happy to see me. I even got a few treats from them. We had a really fun day and I would love to go back there.

Me and Mom on some old door steps.

Me and Cheryl and a colonial lady.

I like sitting on boxes.

Me, Alex and Cheryl in front of the old capitol building.

Me and Cheryl behind the governor's palace.

We have strong ties to Philadelphia so we're super excited that our Phillies baseball team is in the world series. To celebrate our team, we dressed up this statue and took some pics. I even gave him a little kiss.