Photo Opportunity

Woah - I can't believe it's been eight days since Mom has written about me. She's really been a slacker. Thought you might like to see this photo that Mom took of ME and these cute girls last weekend in the park when the weather was so great. I had just been to the groomer the day before so I deserved the center spot in the photo.

These days, Mom walks so slow because she's either looking through the camera or through some other funny-looking things she puts on her eyes called binoculars. You see, she's preparing herself to go on this long bird trip to the Outer Banks. That's coming up next Saturday. She's going to leave us boys for nine whole days. Dad will probably spoil me rotten and let me get up too early. But I wonder if he'll come home to let me out of my crate at lunch, too. I couldn't stand being shut in there for eight whole hours. Mom thinks he's going to go bezerk having total responsibility for me for all that time. During that trip we won't be able to write at all unless she shows Dad how to do this. Naaah, he'll never learn.

Something's Under the Hot Tub

I have recently become obsessed with the idea that there's a critter living under our hot tub. I can't think of anything else. I was rooted to nearly the same spot yesterday evening hoping for a better smell between the cracks. I can't hear anything and I can't see anything but I sure can smell something. When my folks pick me up my little heart is pounding so hard in my chest - I'm on hyper-alert. When Dad came home from Chicago he aimed the flashlight down there and then this morning he imagined that he saw this "critter" streak out from under our deck. When Mom let me out at lunch I immediately went right back to my spot. She was so thrown off she forgot to take my fence collar off of me before carrying me down the driveway for our walk. Yikes!! You know what they say about terriers being strong-willed and stubborn...

Greenies

Do your Mom and Dad give you Greenies to freshen your breath and clean your teeth? I had a few of them when I was a wee pup and didn't know better, but now we're worried that they won't digest in my gut. Goodness sakes, I barf enough already. There are lots of stories out there but here's one from CNN.

We also had this story in our Saturday paper about how much money owners spend on their pets. But we're totally worth it, right?

Weekend Update

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday morning we worked outside and I got to go for a nice, long walk with Dad. After we came back in, Dad, of course, needed a little nap so I went downstairs with him and Mom got on the computer (typical). I thought I smelled something yummy coming from the direction of the kitchen (my sense of smell is way more acute than my sight or hearing) and so I very, very quietly snuck up the steps and found a nice chunk of Muenster cheese laying on the counter. Mom didn't realize I was even upstairs until she came out to the kitchen to put the cheese away and found an empty bag laying on the counter! They always comment on how I eat food so much slower than old Kanzi girl but this time I had it all wolfed down by the time she found me.

After our rest and relaxation time we got ready to drive to Dubuque. That windey hiway 20 makes me sick on a good day and this time I had undigested Muenster to barf up - what a mess. Then, we get into Barb's house and Sam, their golden, decides to show me she's the alpha lady and curls up her lip and gives me a low growl. She did this about three times until I went away and curled up on the carpet. Barfing always wipes me out anyway. I wish I could have played with their cat, but I had to stay on the leash all the time.

They did some shopping and ate at Bishops while I rested in the car. It rained on us all the way home and so we had a late night. I actually was so exhausted that I let them sleep until 7:20 on Sunday morning. Man, did they appreciate that. I woke up to white-caps on the bird bath - brrrrr. Dad still took me for a walk before church and Mom took me for one in the park in the afternoon so it ended pretty good.

Since Mom and Dad have been planting, dividing and digging in the gardens, they leave me perfect digging opportunities. I had to have a quick bath before they left for work this morning - "I'm a sight", as Opie Taylor used to say.

Butchy and Snickers sure have some awesome photos on their blog. They have a beautiful place to explore with ponds, birds and frogs. Check it out!

Tragedy

Yikes - Dad practically cut off my foot on Wednesday night. Well, I may be exaggerating just a little. He decided to be bold and try to trim my toe nails all by himself. This was really pretty silly, since we all know we have problems getting me to keep still when he holds me and Mom does the trimming. Anyway, Mom came home from the store on Wednesday evening, and there I was looking quite forlorn and locked up in my crate. Since this is highly unusual, Mom mistakenly assumed I'd been naughty. Dad sheepishly admitted he'd cut my toenail "a little bit short" and there had been blood involved. Well, it's actually cut half off but since it wasn't bleeding any more I was totally ready for my evening walk. The vet says we can put some neosporin on it a couple of times a day but if it's not bothering me (and it isn't) then everything's cool. Dad felt pretty awful about hurting me, though, and was sure we would need to make an emergency visit to Dr. Heitzman.

BTW, Jennie, Terence and Diva - we live in Freeport, IL, just west of Rockford and would be so excited and puppy-pleased to have you all come and visit us here for a playdate. If you truly want to set it up, email us at the address listed in our profile. P.S. - maybe we could get Roxie to join us, too. The more wires the merrier.

Tub on the Deck

Wow, we're just so busy working outside these days we don't have much time to write. Last weekend I was shocked to find out that underneath this thing that I've been standing on (to see into the dining room), there's a big tub of water. My folks are into coming out here in the evening and taking a nice, hot soak and looking up at the stars and the moon. Meanwhile, I prowl around the outside and keep a watch for coyotes and cats. Sometimes I relax enough to curl up on one of their towels.

Weekend Update

The weekend started out with bad storms in Iowa. Our family that live in Iowa City called us from their basement on Thursday evening. They had taken both kids down there and they didn't even wake up. Thankfully, they were all ok but there was lots of damage from a tornado in the downtown area. This is one of the pictures they took.

We had lots of company over the weekend and with the little kids around it always means I get to clean up after them. Unfortunately, I found some Easter chocolates before it even got into their hands and we think it gave me some "bad dog" symptoms. I was extra grouchy and hyper and needed a couple of "time-outs" in my crate. Mom finally figured out the cause when I barfed up a bunch of tin foil wrappers in my crate.

Yesterday it rained the entire day so we didn't get out for any exercise at all. The house is back to normal, now, with just the three of us.

More Good Dog Stuff

Last night Mom was tired so we went to bed early to read. We just started, "Marley and Me, Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" by John Grogan. That title got our interest right away. What a hoot! This book is on the bestseller list and since there were too many holds on it at our library we decided to take advantage of free shipping and make another order from Amazon. John's description of Marley in the car sounds a little bit like me. Marley drools profusely, like I do, and our folks have to keep a towel in the car to wipe off the slobber that projects onto the dashboard. So far, he doesn't seem like a bad dog at all - just an active one.

Dad and I took a spectacular walk right at sunset. We headed to the west to get a better view and when we turned back we were met by an equally beautiful rainbow that seemed like it was put there just for us. Dad believes it was a sign from God since he had had to talk to his mother about hospice earlier in the evening. Interesting, our devotion from Tuesday morning was called, "The Glorious Sunset."

Weekend Update

This was my role the entire weekend. I diligently kept watch so the squirrels didn't clean out the newly-filled bird feeders. I want all the seed dropped on the ground for myself! Mmm... tasty. Since Dave from Pet Stop came on Friday and made some new "corrections" to the invisibile fence, I stayed in the yard. Dad spent many hours putting up a barrier at the base of the deck. This morning while I was out I found the opening through the steps and managed to worm my way through and get nice and dirty. Dad's trying to figure out how to take care of that problem, now.

Indecent Proposal

Wow, I received the most enticing email today from a diva of a wire. Seems she fell in love with me by reading about me and drooling over my pictures on this blog. She proposed that we get together to "make some babies." Amazingly, she lives less than 25 miles from me! I was sooooo very sorry to turn down this offer but proposed that we set up a "play date" instead. You see, I would sorely disappoint her and her folks by not producing what they need. I just look like a hunk of a pup in my pictures but I'm sort of an in-between gender, I guess. Plus, she might change her mind after seeing this picture of one of my newer unpleasant habits - getting a nice, cold drink from the loo.

Slurpy licks to my diva from Illinois. Sighhh.....

Another Break-Through

When Mom came home from Wal-Mart tonight Dad had some pretty sad news to report about my behavior. I must admit that I had another fence break-through when a cat came prowling along my fence line earlier this evening. I took off at the speed of light and the next thing we knew I was on the neighbor's deck trying to dislodge "That Darn Cat". That cat was purr-fectly naughty to run away from me since all I wanted to do was play with that darn cat and instead got a purr-fectly horrible shock in my neck. "Holy Crap"! It has been two weeks since my last break-through and when I ignored the two neighbor cockers this morning, Mom thought I was probably trained. A cocker was standing right at one of the flags and as I started to tentatively advance on it I heard the beep so I quickly retreated. Tonight, I was moving too darn fast to even send a signal to my "wire-brain" to STOP.

Faith - An Amazing Dog

We just heard about this incredible dog that was born with only her back legs. Her family taught her first to hop on them and now she walks everywhere just like my folks do. I was amazed when we sat and watched this video together. You will be too.

Sleep-Over

Last weekend was a totally new experience for me. I had a "sleep-over" at the groomers! Since I had to get groomed (I was too scruffy) the folks decided I should stay over as they were going to Chicago and I never get to travel there with them. I knew something was up when my bag was packed with Iam's, two leashes, harness and toys. They came back and picked me up on Saturday and I wasn't really that anxious to leave. I had a terrierific time! Those girls like me there and boy, do I look good again. But, when they came to pick me up they had Paige in the car so, needless to say, they didn't give me the attention I deserved after our separation. Here I am looking pretty forlorn after she and Dad went downstairs to play with the toys and shut me out! What's up with that? Paige was kinda' bossy and made darn sure I didn't run off with any of "her toys". I thought they were ALL mine.

Squirrels Fear Me

Now that I get to go outside by myself alot, the squirrels scurry away in fear. It's not fair they can climb a tree and I can't but I can get them up there and block their escape. I'm pretty darn good at that. I'm guarding the bird feeders in this picture.

Another out-of-crate disaster happened tonight. Every couple of weeks Mom gives me a test to see if I can behave on my own. I always disappoint them. I just had to try some of that Easter candy and it was inside a beautifully decorated paper mache egg. Now the egg is in the wastebasket along with another bunny that Aunt Betty made. Mom was super mad at me and yelled and everything while I stood there obliviously wagging my tail. I just don't get it.

Mom is starting to take away some of those little white flags. She tries to hide them from me but I know what's going on. Our neighbor, Craig, brought me a new ball to play with but I wouldn't cross through the invisible fence to get it - he had to come in and play with me. Wow, I have a new friend.

Weekend Update

Hey, they have the Weekend Update segment on SNL, don't they? We went to Iowa City again last weekend so I thought you might want to see a picture from our trip. This is Kelby picking me up. Mom and Dad think I'm probably up to 19 pounds, now, so it's a little hard for him to hoist me up very high but I don't mind at all. The kids and I had a great time playing and even though they let me out, by accident, a couple of times, I didn't take off this time. I'm really doing better in the car and don't get sick until we've been on the road for a long, long time.

Have you all heard the news story about dogs being able to diagnose cancer kind of like a doctor? This was in our local newspaper a while back. It seems that a dog's sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times better than a human's. That's just another way that us dogs show our love, isn't it? There are all kinds of different companion dogs. Me, I just sleep on the cushions and wait for them to play with me.

Another New Toy

New toys serve more than one purpose. First and foremost, they are fun to play with - especially when they're new. The trouble is, I have an incredibly strong bite and can ruin almost all of them. The second reason my folks appreciate new toys is because I'm able to go off and entertain myself for a while. This is the new one that just arrived from Sit Stay. I'm a little confused about its purpose - and its SIZE. It's nearly as long as I am and the squeakers are so imbedded under the tough material I can barely make them work. It does make a good tug-of-war toy, though, so it works for us. Notice how Mom photoshopped out my evil "pet eye".

Meeting the Neighbors

We had encounters with several neighbors yesterday. First, we finally saw Roxie again. She's on her way today to stay at Nana and Papa's while her folks are off to Ireland for two weeks. You know what it means to vacation with retirees?! Lots of long walks. They told us yesterday that Roxie just loves boat-riding with the wind in her hair and all the fun. Here's a picture of her from a couple summers ago when she was on her Aunt Maria and Uncle Jim's boat. They made her wear a harness as they were afraid she might jump. She did miss the jump to the pier and they had to haul her out by the harness. Dad's barber takes their two Westies to our lake and one of them couldn't remember how to do the dog paddle so she started to sink. Van had to jump in the lake to save her! It all sounds pretty darn exciting and we Wires love excitement.

After Roxie, we visited with a neighbor lady down the street who has had her eye on me. Seems they lost their old friend a while ago and think a WFT might be the right one for them. I behave so good while we stand and talk that I lure them into thinking a WFT is easy. Au contraire!

Business Trips

Now that I'm eight months old I have a new privilege. Last Friday Dad came home in the middle of the morning and took me on a business trip with him. This meant riding in the car, which I don't really like very much, and hanging out with Dad which I LOVE. We had to drive south to look at one of his properties. After our business was over (and I barfed), we spent a little time in the park by the river. It was a great day.

Then, on Saturday we drove to the lake to get our stickers for the summer. I've never been there before but they tell me I'm supposed to go boating with them this summer. We walked out onto the shaky docks, saw eight huge deer and then drove through the windy roads. I barfed and then we checked out the campground. Looks like great times are in store for the summer. Can't wait for all the kids to come and join us.

Garbage Man

Like I said earlier, Mom likes to call me "Garbage Man." They sort of gave in and Dad installed a child-proof lock on the garbage side of the cupboard. Mom is always muttering, "I never had child-proof locks on any cupboards when my children were little ... " Anyway, seems it's not "terrier-proof". I was left out of the crate for about 20 minutes while they were both gone last night and somehow managed to strain the garbage through a three inch opening of the cupboard door. After all, there were chicken remnants in there that smelled so enticing. Dad told Mom he hit me but you know he didn't do that. He was actually pretty calmed down by the time Mom got home.

Even though I'm allowed to roam in my backyard domain more freely now, I find the area under the deck the most appealing. Mom keeps begging Dad to get the barrier put up around the base but he says we have to wait for better weather. I am thrilled to dig around in the dirt and get my paws, toenails and beard filthy. I'm hunting for varmints but so far just the smell of the cat is enough to lure me down under.

What's So Bad About Chocolate?

I need to tell you about one of my weekend adventures that just happened an hour ago. We had a bunch of people over at our house and Mom made some yummy treats. Evidently, these were not dog treats and the guests did not come to see me so I was shut in my crate in the library for most of the evening. When I'd finally had enough of that I started whining to be let out and Mom did. I knew everybody wanted to pet me so I made the rounds and even jumped on the lap of an older gentleman. He seemed surprised - but happy, of course. Next, I investigated the table of goodies and quickly helped myself to a "Magic Bar". This delightful dessert of chocolate chips, coconut and nuts went down pretty easy so I snagged another one before the plate was put up high on the counter.

Paige and her mom were here this afternoon for a little while. Since we haven't posted a picture of this granddaughter we thought we'd better show you how cute she is. She will be two next month and here she is wearing her St Patty's day beads and drinking her green "juice". She brought us those green cookies but they weren't dog treats either.