First The Weight Loss....

 Then the makeover!  I got to go to the Groomer this morning with Chloe!  It was so nice to have a ride in the car, and then get pampered!  I'll admit it, I needed a bath and a trim as much as Chloe.  You probably can't tell so much from my before 

and after photos, though.   Aunt Pat thinks I smell and look better.   I do look much happier and I have a gleam in my eye. 

The difference  in Chloe is more obvious.  Here's Chloe before








and after:

I got a bandanna with green frogs in pink circles while Chloe got larger pink ribbons. It almost looks like she's got two ribbons on each ear! I guess that's what being cute will get you.

Anyway, she looks and smells her best. Just in time, too. Chloe was pretty wired when she got home, so Aunt Pat took her for a longer walk. She hasn't limped or held her leg up like it hurt in several days, and, Chloe refused to come in the house when we got home. So Aunt Pat took her around the neighborhood. Wouldn't you know, she met more neighbors and another dog! Chloe was well behaved while the humans talked. She and the other dog had a nice sniff, and the other dog's people said how cute Chloe looked. They sounded like very nice people and hopefully I'll get to meet them if they take their dog for a walk.  There's another new dog in the neighborhood we saw the other day.  We have new neighbors around the corner, and they have a poodle.  Chloe's part poodle so we can see some resemblance, only this dog is smaller.  Now that I feel more presentable, we'll have to drag Aunt Pat over, err, say hello when we see him or her walking. 

What Do They Think I Am?

A sled dog?  I know this area can look like the Great White North, but our walks aren't the Iditarod....no matter how much I pull on the leash.  What's wrong with a girl wanting a good sniff of something, or a nice roll on a freshly cut lawn?   The Rehab Vet wanted me to wear this whenever we go for walks so I don't pull so much.  She's concerned that the pressure may be causing some compression on my airway, which causes me to sound a little raspy at times.  So, I humored them and wore it...until yesterday.  I scared Aunt Pat, though. 

I'd had enough, so I sat down on the neighbor's lawn and wouldn't get up.  She was afraid I had done something to my back or my hind legs because we finally spent most of our time in the family room over the weekend.  I did a lot more stairs, and moved around a lot more than I have recently.  But, I had my forelegs splayed out in front of me to let Aunt Pat know I wasn't going anywhere unless she took that thing off.  She didn't get the message.  We didn't walk with it today, but Aunt Pat said that we'd be using it tomorrow when we go back to the Rehab Vet.  We'll see what happens.










Chloe is just fine.  We went to our regular Vet last week for a routine check up and to have blood drawn for heartworm.  He looked at her paw and told Daddy and Aunt Pat to keep giving Chloe buffered aspirin and to have her take it easy for the next couple of weeks.  Chloe doesn't like the take it easy part.  She's been a spaz, running up and down the stairs, whining, jumping, etc. So, Aunt Pat took her for a little longer walk yesterday just to see how she'd do.  It wasn't a long distance, but Chloe enjoyed it without any ill effects.  Aunt Pat will still take it slow, but still it won't be fast enough for Chloe.  I just hope she really doesn't hurt herself with all this running around like a crazy dog.       

The Nerve of Some People!!

Chloe had quite the story to tell yesterday after her walk.  She and Aunt Pat were minding their own business, sniffing to see who'd been around.  Actually, Chloe was doing all the sniffing, not Aunt Pat.  After all, our noses are much more sensitive than a human nose, and so is our hearing.  Chloe heard the comments before Aunt Pat did.  There were two older guys leaning against a trailer carrying lawn mowing equipment.  They took one look at Chloe and started right in.  "Look at the cute girl, she's even got blue bows in her hair."  Good Lord.  The only thing they didn't do was wolf whistle.  And here I thought construction workers were the only ones who did that sort of thing.

Aunt Pat wasn't upset.  Chloe took it in stride.  I think she was flattered-she generally loves to hear people say how cute she looks.  But usually the speaker is a female, not some grizzled-looking older guys.  Aunt Pat  thought it was funny.  I don't.  I think it's more like sexual harassment.   I wonder what they would have said if I'd been there.  I probably would have growled at them to let them know their sexist rhetoric wasn't appreciated.  It is the twenty-first century, you know.










Girls don't have to be all cutesy, shy and retiring anymore.  Girls/women can do anything they want and be anything they want...dogs included! 
  








But, I think Aunt Pat was a little more upset than she let on.  Today, she left Chloe home for both walks.  Aunt Pat says it's because Chloe seems to be favoring her right foreleg and my Rehab Vet said she needed to rest.  It doesn't seem to bother her.  Chloe's been doing her other usual activities, like chasing birds; running to greet the neighbors at the fence; eating well; climbing onto the table and the sofa.    Unfortunately our regular Vet wasn't open today, but Daddy called my other Vet's office  who told him to keep her quiet and to give her some buffered aspirin.   I think she just landed on it wrong when she jumped off the table.  If she's still limping Monday, Daddy will call our regular Vet.

Everything's Early This Year!

The weather's been unseasonably warm, and all of the flowers, and trees are blooming early.

Chloe and I have enjoyed watching the magnolia blossom in the front yard. It's nice to smell the blossoms that have fallen off, even though they don't taste very good. Plus, now that people are mowing their lawns, we have more grass to sample! The people at the corner have a very tasty yard, plus they're nice to leave some clippings in a pile just for us. Aunt Pat says they leave the grass like that because it's easier to pick up, but I know it's really for us. We're staying outside longer, too. Chloe loves to lay in the sun, and she's been appreciating the flowers in the garden. I've been sniffing around the strawberry plant, but so far, no strawberries yet. I don't think it'll be too long, though. Aunt Pat saw some blossoms, so I don't think it'll be too long before I start eating...err, picking them.

A Toast!

A piece of toast, actually.

No, we didn't find this in the garbage and drag it out, although we wanted to afterwards. But, Chloe found this in, of all places, the middle of one of the evergreens on the side of the yard.

We were outside, sniffing around after our afternoon walk, when Aunt Pat noticed Chloe standing on her hind legs with most of her upper body in the shrub. Aunt Pat thought Chloe was sniffing after a bird, since she saw one fly out of the bush shortly before Chloe started to jump up.

But then, Aunt Pat saw Chloe drop down from the shrub, but she was chewing something. She was afraid Chloe might have caught something, like a bird, so she went over to investigate. Of course I got up from my chewing to help. Sure enough, Chloe had something in her mouth she didn't want Aunt Pat or I to see. She didn't obey Aunt Pat's "drop it" command, so Aunt Pat took it from her. Aunt Pat was very relieved to see that it was a piece of toast. One of the larger birds must have stashed it there or dropped it there after getting it from one of the neighbor's garbage. I know people will feed bread to birds and ducks, but they usually break it up and don't toast it first!

I tried to eat, err see it, but Aunt Pat held it out of my reach until she put it in the kitchen garbage. I tried to get into the garbage can to retrieve it...I am a retriever you know. but neither Chloe or I could get it. That didn't stop Chloe, though. Later that night, after Daddy got home from work, he had something to eat.

She's always begging at the table. I think she thought Daddy would feel sorry for her and share his dinner, but no such luck. So, she did what she did outside, she got up and went for it. Too bad all she found was a newspaper. Oh well, maybe next time.

From My Lips...

to the Easter Bunny's ears! Before I start, I know we all want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter and Passover. We hope everyone had a good time and got lots of yummy treats. Anyway, yesterday, I said that I hoped the Easter Bunny would leave us something if we made sure he got through our yard safely. Now, I don't want to infer that we would have chased or hurt him if he hadn't. We're not operating a protection racket here. Nope, we just hoped that if we did him a favor, he'd leave us a treat. Well, he did!

Aunt Pat found a couple of new toys the Easter Bunny left for us. She gave each of us a toy, but that wasn't good enough for Chloe. Each time I picked up a toy or sniffed it, Chloe dropped the toy she was playing with and had to get mine. I didn't growl or snap at Chloe. I knew if I gave Aunt Pat my disappointed look:

She would make it up to me. She did. I had a lovely head and tummy rub, and lots of nice things said to me. It was a nice day, after all.

No Foolin!

April Fool's Day came and went without any real fooling. Sure, Google changed its name to Topeka, but we knew it was a prank. Google always does something for April Fool's Day, and the name had changed only on the main page, not the mail or the map pages. Aunt Pat, Chloe and I were disappointed because we didn't see any really funny pranks online. So, I thought I'd try to prank Aunt Pat and Chloe. I played it cool, at first, walking around the yard, sniffing here and there. I did a potty just to make it look good. Once I knew Aunt Pat was busy doing some yard clean up, I made my move.
.
Can you see me? I snuck around the back of some of the shrubs on one side of the yard, and flopped down underneath just the right sized evergreen. As you can see, Chloe walked right past me! She noticed me a minute later, but she didn't bark or anything. I promised her an extra biskee if she played along. She did.

I stayed very quiet for a few minutes, until I heard the snapping of Aunt Pat's camera. I pretended to ignore her, but then gave her my best grin.

I saw her smile, so I know she wasn't upset at being pranked.

It's been so nice the past couple of days, we've been outside a bit more. The flowers are starting to come up, and Chloe and I are still helping chew, err, pick up the sticks laying around the yard.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and we all hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! We also hope that everyone who celebrates, has had a happy Passover as well. You can bet that Chloe and I will be keeping an eye, and an ear open for the Easter Bunny. We'll make sure he gets through safely...and hope he leaves us something.