god of the nose

Our living room has a very strange theme. It is part African safari and part Tiki village. Up until now, Linda has not liked to put boxes of tissues out because it does not match the decor. Finally, we can not have a tissue dispenser that fits with our decorations. The Tiki Tissue Big Maoi is hand carved from Easter Island rocks by local tribes. (Well, maybe it's just made from a plastic mold, but that sure sounded more authentic.) The box of tissues fits right inside the Tiki head. When you need one, just pull it out of his nose. Ingenious. I wish I would have thought of it myself. Maybe I can make one of a cat who dispenses the tissues out from under the tail area.

Gotta Love It

Linda went to an Ice Cream Social tonight. She did not have any, but she did eat a few of the toppings. There was a 6' table just loaded with every kind of topping under the sun. Candies, brownies, crumbled cookies, berries, nuts, coconut, caramel, sprinkles... so many she can't remember them all. They did not have anything but normal ice cream flavors. It would have been fun if they had some of the more unusual flavors. I found some interesting flavors. How about: Caviar; Candied Bacon; Fish; Octopus; Charcoal; Salad (packed with chunks of real veggies); Curried Carrot; Sweet Corn; Sweet Potato. I love corn, so I would vote for the Sweet Corn flavor. Of course Candied Bacon would be right up there too.

Say NO to Freak Shows!!

I am not happy that Cesar Milan, My Dog Whisper has a 5 legged pooch on who lives at a Freak Show. What! The dog is a Devil Dog, but still. I am very upset. How could Cesar promote keeping dogs at freak shows! Bad Call Cesar. Did I mention I'm not happy about it? The dog is displayed in this cage on the street and people walk by looking at him, taking photos and poking at him. He bites at people and is really cranky. I'm really not happy about this show. NOT ONE BIT! Cesar said he did not know he was going to a freak show to help a dog, but I'm not buying it one second. Sure, the owners look like they love him, but what a life for the poor dog. Cesar, I'm disappointed in you. (Cesar did say the it is the humans who are the freaks, not the dog... so at least that is something.)

Gotta be a huge litter box!

We have had a deer in our yard, cats, lots of chipmunks and other dogs. We have never had a tiger in our yard though. The residents in a Las Vegas neighborhood called the police to report a full grown tiger wandering around their yards. Imagine if you were minding your own business just walking your dog when a big beast tiger comes up behind you. The tiger was totally tame and not hurting anyone. Police came to investigate and found out that a Las Vegas magic act had lost the tiger during a show. Maybe when they put the sheet over it and said "One, Two, Three.... Disappear Tiger!" it actually worked. Only when they said "One, Two, Three... Tiger your Back!" it did not work. The tiger went peacefully back to her owner. Yikes, I'd hate to have to scoop that litter box.

Pomahua

This is the new puppy Tierney wants to bring into our family. It is the chubby white one in the middle. I would like a friend, but I don't think we can get it right now. First, Linda can't afford to shell out the big bucks for another puppy right now. Once you buy the puppy you have to do shots, check-ups, $300 for the surgery to "fix" it. (Why did I need that, what was broken?) It is really cute and we are related. The pup is a Chihuahua and a Pom mix. I'm Chihuahua and Yorkie mix. Honestly, I miss Snickers so much that I can't imagine another dog in my life.

What? I Can't Hear You

I have a pig's ear. I know that sounds gross.. in a way, I guess it is. I can't believe that Linda even bought it for me. She hates meaty things and a pigs ear is particularly meaty. I've been an extra good girl today while she taught classes, had lunch with a friend and then cleaned the whole house. Plus we could not walk because it was raining buckets. For my treat, I got to chew on the pig's ear for a little while. When she leaves tonight to go to meet her friends, she will take it back again. I can only chew it under close supervision in case I choke. She'll say "drop it" when it is time to take it away. I'm not allowed to growl or fuss, I just have to let it go. Sometimes I make believe I did not hear her so I can keep chewing. I just hope the pig whose ear I'm chewing does not come looking for it.

Best Friends

Welcome home Dawn. We love you very much.

The Sun Did Come Out......

Just like I said yesterday, today is a new day. No seizures at all. I've been perky, spunky, full of energy and HUNGRY: I ate all my dry food and my Little Cesar. I took 3 longish walks. I pulled the whiskers off my toy dog, ate a small piece of cheese Linda dropped by accident and took a nap in the sun. I'm so happy that I feel better. There is nothing Linda can see that brings on the bad attacks I have. We thought it was excitement, hot weather or being anxious. I've had them in all three of those situations, but I've also woken up from a sound sleep at night and had them. I really hope I don't have to take the dangerous medicine. I'll just believe that yesterday is the last and final seizure. But the best part of my day... I found out that Tierney's mole did not have any cancer in it. Yipee! This is not Tierney's mole.

What Would Jesus Eat?

There are some theories that Jesus was a vegetarian I don't follow all that nonsense, but I know he probably ate healthy, with no processed, fried foods or Twinkies. That's why this story is fishy. A man was cooking a burger for dinner yesterday. He took the burger off the pan and put it on his plate. When we walked past the dirty pan a few minutes later, he said that an image of Jesus was perfectly outlined in the grease. I did a little more research on this. Look at the other photo. For just $29.99, you can order 2 of your very own Jesus pans. I think he used this pan and just wants to sell the image on ebay for a lot of money. People have already sold a grilled cheese sandwich and a fried potato with Jesus images. Honestly, do you think if Jesus wanted to show himself on earth, would it be in fried food grease? Although who am I to tell Jesus where to appear? Ooops, sorry.

Homecoming

Australia: I would hate to be separated from my family for even 1 day. Imagine if it was 9 years? That's what happened to Muffy. She disappeared from her backyard 9 years ago. The family finally gave up hope of her ever coming home. A few weeks ago, their phone rang. Muffy had been found 1,200 miles! She was sick and living on a scrap of cardboard, but very much alive. The Australian version of Preventing Cruelty to Animals rescued her and took her to a vet. Sure enough, Muffy was micro-chipped. The family was contacted and the story has a very happy ending. As soon as Muffy gets a little better, she will be able to be be reunited with her family. Yeah. That makes me so happy.

Best (Worst) Idea Ever

Linda has been wanting to get another BIG dog to protect us from burglars. Now, with this new invention that will go on sale in Japan, we might not need to get a dog. The new anti-burglar door mat acts just like human flypaper. Put the mat right inside your front door. If a thief comes in, he'll stick to the paper and won't be able to steel your stuff. If he's smart, he could just take his shoes off and continue to steal your stuff. It would be fun to buy anyway to play tricks on your friends.

Now this is beauty

The two girls, not the rotting dear head! Tierney used to work at a store in our local mall. The store sold expensive popular clothes with 2 initials on the logo. Only "attractive" people seemed to work there. All the retail clerks looked a lot like the huge posters hanging in the store and posing in the catalog. Also, I think the biggest size they sell is a 12. I don't know if they purposely did not hire beautiful or overweight people or if only attractive, slim people applied to work there. Now, another store in our mall called American Appeal (I mean Apparel) has a new policy. Stores that are not doing so well with sales have to send in a group associate photo. If there are unattractive people, they are getting the axe because it tarnishes the "AA aesthetic." Even though I am just a dog, it makes me mad that people are fired because of looks. I feel like going in the store and peeing on their floor. UPDATE: Tier googled this story and found a photo of the company's CEO. She said he is ugly and looks like a homeless man! Maybe he should get fired for not being "AA aesthetic."

Dear Tierney,

You know I love you very much. I want you to be around a long time to walk me, cuddle me and "Chi-Chi-Chi" me when you get home at night. That is why I am so happy you are not going to the tanning place anymore. Now, cancer experts have classified tanning beds into the top cancer risk category. Twenty new studies all agree that the risk of skin cancer jumps 75% when people start using tanning beds before the age of 30. If you ever feel tempted to return to the bed place, remember how much I love you and need you in my life. Love, Chi Chi Chalupa
p.s. I love your Snow White skin and raven hair!!

Think About This the Next Time You Eat Sashimi

For some reason which I don't understand, a woman was trying to stay 20 feet underwater in a freezing cold arctic pool full of Beluga Whales. The story I read does not really explain why you would want to do that. Maybe she was the girlfriend of the guy who went over the 180 foot waterfall in the kayak. Anyway, the girl decided she was freezing to death and tried to kick her way to the surface. She found that her legs were paralyzed by crippling cramps and she could not move them. She started choking and sinking lower. Whale to the rescue.....the 20-year old girl felt an incredible force beneath her. Soon, she broke the surface thanks to one of the whales who used his nose to guide her to the surface. Way to go Willie!!

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.....

Today has not been a good day. Linda stopped home between classes to take me for a walk this morning. She noticed I was not as excited as normal when my leash came out, but she figured it was because I just woke up. She knew something was wrong when she got a few houses down and I started staggering and falling. I had another horrible seizure. This time it was long and very frightening. She carried me home and laid me down on her bed. I was shaking so bad and my neck was bent at such an angle that all she could do was pray. Then, I went into shock and just laid there with my eyes all glazed over. I slowly started to come back around and was able to recognize Linda. I gave her little kisses to let her know I was a little better. She stayed with me as long as she could, but had to leave and teach another class. When she got home again at 1:15, I showed her I was OK by wagging my tail in my bed, but I still did not come to the top of the stairs and greet her like normal. I'm going to nap on her until she has to leave again for the next class. I wish she could stay home with me, but I know she needs to work in order to buy my Little Cesar Dog Food. Tomorrow, I'm sure will be fine and we can go back to our normal walks and play time.

Free Dunham. Not.

Maybe he should have stayed in captivity. Poor Dunham. He is (I mean was) a bottlenose dolphin. He was found last year swimming in the Atlantic starving to death and suffering with pneumonia and severe gastritis. After 7 long months of rehab at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, he was finally born-free back into the ocean. Oh No! Just a few hours after his release he was attacked by killer sharks. Fish people were monitoring him with a radio transmitter at the time of the attack. They rescued him from the sharks but his injuries were to bad and he was put out of his misery. I don't know what happens to dolphins when they die. Maybe they go to Red Lobster.

Crazy Man

I've never been in a kayak. In fact, I've never even been swimming. The closest I get to the water is when Linda gives me a bath with the hose wand in the kitchen sink. The red circle on the photo is a man in a kayak. He on-purpose went over this waterfall in Eastern Washington falling 186 feet at 100 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. The 22-year old guy set the world record kayak descents. He hit the water and disappeared. A few seconds later he popped up with a broken paddle and sprained wrist.

And I Thought the Green M & M's Were Potent

Not all of my posts are random and silly. Sometimes, I like to alert my readers to important issues like the tapeworm invasion. This post is equally important and amazing too. There is an important medical study from the University of Rochester Medical Center that shows that blue M & M's can help reduce spinal injuries. The dye in the candies (the same die in blue Gatorade) was injected in mice suffering spinal cord injuries. (Maybe they got caught in a mouse trap and hurt their backs.) The rats were able to walk again with only a little limp after being injected with the dye. I'm sure the mice would have preferred just to eat the M & M's instead of getting a big needle. There was a side effect. The mice turned blue. You can read all the mumbo-jumbo for yourself in the study published in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." I could not find a good photo of a blue mouse so this will have to do.

"I'm Going Home and Eating Worms"

Sushi and sashimi eaters beware! An article in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases reported something almost impossible to believe. There are an increased incidents of tape worms living inside humans who eat raw fish sushi and sashimi. Here is the frighting part... some of the tapeworms grow up to 40 feet in length... inside your body. Yikes! Forty feet of tape worm wrapped inside my body would make me as fat as Chip! A man is currently suing a sushi restaurant in Chicago for his very own 9 foot tape worm he got from eating sushi. [ScientificAmerican.com, 6-11-09] The Tapeworm Diet was all the rage at one time. It advertised "Eat all the food you want, let your new parasitic friend do the work and most importantly, enjoy your fabulous new figure!" The side effects of diarrhea, meningitis and dementia were all overlooked if you could slip into that size 4 dress.

Can Zombies Climb Stairs?

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I don't know if that is true, but this photo might seal the deal. The vacant look in Chip Cats eyes sends chills down my spine. She looks like a zombie cat waiting to eat my brains. I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

Um... Linda, Wanna Save Me Now??

I've been whining that I never get to go anywhere, so Linda took me to Taylor's soccer game tonight. We got there a little early so we walked around the entire field. That was super fun. Then, Linda stuck my tie-out stake into the ground and I was able to walk about 20 feet around her chair. That was pretty good. Then lots of people started coming. That was OK. But then... the LITTLE HUMANS WITH POKING FINGERS came. That was bad. For some reason every kid I ever met has to poke me in the face. Of course I was super gentle and just tried to do my doga deep breathing to keep calm.

SFC iso SMC for Love and Good Times

"Chalupa is a 3-year old Chorkie female who loves cuddling, long walks and watching Cesar Milan. I am petite and have long hair. Looking for a boyfriend, any breed, between 5-10 pounds. Must like the dog park, sharing bones and squeaky toys."

Hurray! Canines now have their own dating sites. We can upload photos, chat online and make connections with other dogs in our area. A new site called Puppy Love has 6,500 canines currently looking for love. I'm so excited to meet some new friends and possibly make a love connection. As soon as I get to the groomer and get my hair styled, I'm going to sign-up and post my profile.

Even the Hockey Team are Devils

Linda grew up in a town right next to where this attack occurred. An aggressive Northern New Jersey trespasser had to be subdued by police with pepper spray. Alex Scott was out in his yard when he was suddenly attacked. He rushed to his truck in his garage, climbed inside and locked the door. He called the police from his cell phone. Police quickly arrived at the scene. When they entered the garage, the perpetrator attacked the policeman. The first policeman slipped and was about to be seriously hurt by the invader, when his partner pulled out his mace and sprayed the vicious antagonizer in the face. The GROUNDHOG was netted and euthanized. Living in Jersey can be dangerous!

Good Shepherds

Everybody Welcome is the name of a new book written by the Church of England in the UK. The book said that it is not only the wheelchair visitors and blind/deaf visitors who deserve extra attention. Only 1 in 10 visitors actually come back to church after their first visit. This new book is to help the congregation make everyone feel welcome. Included in the "special needs" worshipers are breast-feeding moms. I can understand that. Linda's church has a special room with dim lighting and comfy couches and rockers for breast feeding moms. Of course, people who in AA should never be offered real wine at communion, a grape juice alternative should be available. Next, bald men and obese people are also considered special. The hot lights near the stage might burn a bald head. If you are fat, you might not fit into the chair. Both of these problems could cause a person not to come back to your church. Next on the list, short people. If someone tall is standing in front of you, the shortie won't be able to see the praise and worship lyrics. That happens a lot at Linda's church. When Linda -5'10"; Tierney and Sarah- 5'11" and Taylor- 6'5" all stand side by side singing, the entire back of the church can't see the lyrics. Speaking of praise and worship, there are people who don't like loud music. They should not be burdened with listening to people singing loud. The last one on the list is puzzling. The church considers the readers of tabloid newspapers as having special needs. I can't begin to understand that one. No where in the book do they talk about welcoming women with "purse puppies" to church. I ride around all the time in my purse and Linda has never been able to take me to church. I demand equal rights for Dalmatians, Shepherds and especially Chihuahuas!!

Puppy Love

This was the best trip to the dog park yet! Even though I am always the littlest dog, I have the biggest personality. All the other dogs love me best and all the humans make such a big fuss over how adorable I am. I'm getting to know the regulars quite well. Today, Linda made friends with a guy who had 3 dogs. Two of his dogs, Cody and Lady were my buds. Lady would not stop sitting on Linda's lap. And everywhere she walked, Lady just came along and leaned against her legs. The Yorkie and I had a love connection going on. He was bossy at first, but I used my feminine wiles to bring him around. I needed a bath when we got home. I roll around in the dirt and with my long hair, I get quite stinky.

Big Love

I love this photo of Taylor and Sarah. It was last fall during Linda's birthday party. They were snuggling on the couch with Big Pink, the 15 foot stuffed snake she got as a present.

Smells a Little Fishy to Me

We are watching a really fun shark movie, Malibu Shark Attack. It is on Sci-Fi channel (home of the best movies ever). An earthquake hits the coast and these prehistoric sharks get stirred up. Then, a tsunami hits.... havoc ensues with lots of people getting chewed up by the sharks. Of course the movie isn't true. EXCEPT: The people in Malibu were put on alert this past Thursday. A helicopter pilot filmed a 12 foot great white shark was swimming 500 feet from Surf Rider Beach. The pilot reported it to the lifeguards who alerted the swimmers. Great timing for the Sci-Fi channel to promote their world premier movie, huh? Think they might have paid the helicopter pilot to tell a "white" lie?

Kind of a Dorkie Idea

A man in the town of Dorking is building a new house. Starting next weekend, he is asking for help and donations of material to build his temporary dream house. The two-story house will have a beautiful stairway, wonderful bathroom with shower and flushing toilet and full electrical lights. Sounds normal, right? Not so fast, the man is building his house entirely out of Lego bricks. More then 3 million bricks have already been collected but he is looking for more donations if people have Lego's they are not using. Even the shower will be made entirely from Lego's. The man also needs people to help him build his Lego home. If you are near Dorking, stop in and put all those years of playing with Lego's to good use. I wonder if he will go to this Lego church?

Except ours is not grass....

We will be heading out to the dog park as soon as it cools down a little bit. I get overheated so easily and Linda is afraid I'll have one of my seizures if we go while it is 90 degrees. She just got home from work. Poor girl is limping and her knees hurt so we can't take a walk. It's OK, I love the dog park and she can sit on the bench and talk to the other humans while I run and play. There is a dog park in a nearby town that has puppy swimming, woods and an obstacle course to run through. There is a monthly membership fee, plus it is a little too far for us to drive daily. The one we go to is just a fenced in lot, kind of a ghetto dog park. I have fun anyway. UPDATE: There were only 3 other dogs at the park, but they were super friendly and gentle. I played an hour before I climbed into my "carry" to tell Linda I was ready to go home.

Oh Yeah, He's Serious..

Art is different things to different people. There is an art gallery that contains piles of dirt on the floor, arranged in different designs. There all sorts of weird sculptures made of butter , paperclips, trash bags... you name it, someone has made art out of it. The Gallery of Modern Art in Scotland is inviting visitors to deface the Holy Bible in the name of art. People are encouraged to write down their name if they feel like they are excluded, jot down their thoughts or add what they think is missing. So far, most people are writing %$#@ kind of words and being nasty. Linda writes in her Bible a lot, but NEVER writes *%$# kind of words. I'm not sure those people should be spitting in the face of the Author. Paybacks can be hell.

Don't stick your nose where it does not belong!

Michael Jackson's nose is missing. While he was at the morgue, someone stole the nose right off his face. Well, it was his nose, but it was made of rubber. His regular nose got messed up during all his plastic surgeries. He used a stick-on nose when he went out in public. First, people are making diamonds from his hair, what are we going to see now? Special pencils with erasers made out of MJ's rubber nose ? I'm not being sarcastic either. This whole trend of making money off MJ's body parts is just too creepy for words. Now this nose soap holder is the bomb-diga-ddie. Linda wants one for her shower.

Porkie?

I overheard Linda and Tierney talking about a friend of Tier's who's dogs had puppies. I'm not sure what a Pomeranian is, but I know what a Yorkie is. When they have babies together, maybe they are called Porkies! Ha-Ha... Anyway, Tierney wants to bring one home to be my buddy. This is not one of the puppies for sale. They are sending us photos, but this is what the breed looks like. I admit, she is kind of cute. Linda says she wants a big dog for protection, not another lap pooch.

That had to hurt

Taylor and his peeps scored some great tickets to a soccer game tonight. The 5 guys are heading to Baltimore to watch 2 of the biggest names in soccer battle it out on the field. Chelsea and Milan are pitted against each other in a game that will for sure be sold out. The guys are tailgating before the game in the stadium parking lot. We are going to watch the game on ESPN tonight. Taylor has caught more than one foul balls at Major League Baseball games. I wonder if you can catch a foul soccer ball? Yikes, I bet you would be trampled by the crowd trying to get to the ball.

Rock With You

Hmmm... Humans are very weird. (Except Linda, she is perfectly normal and sane.) A singer named Michael Jackson died last month. Back in 1984, while filming a Pepsi TV ad, his hair caught on fire. The man who helped extinguished the flames with his suit coat, saved some of Jackson's hair. I guess all these years he has had the hair and coat in his closet. He has now sold it to a company who makes jewelry. The company is using MJ's hair to make laboratory diamonds. A small number of his most loyal fans can buy a piece of diamond jewelry and wear MJ's DNA forever more. You can Rock with MJ too if you have tons of money.

Lily Update

Lily, the puppy I blogged about last week, is doing fine after her surgery. Remember, Lily was the 5-legged puppy that was going to spend her life as a freak-show attraction. A man rescued her, playing the owner $4,000 for the cute little mutt. The vet was able to remove Lily's extra leg with absolutely no complications. Lily is recovering and is living with a family who loves her very much. The dumb man from the Freak Show is still suing the original puppy owner for not selling Lily to him after he was promised the dog. What in the world is he going to do with a 4 legged dog in a freak show? He is probably just suing for publicity. Make sure you never go to his horrible show in Coney Island.

I Want One!

Aye Carumba!! More than 100 Chihuahuas and Chihuahuas mixes (that's me!) were rescued from a house today in Dearborn. Neighbors called authorities because of a bad smell coming from the house. The smell was so horrible that rescue workers had to wear haz-mat suits with breathing thingies attached to enter the house. The world's greatest dogs were taken to the animal shelter where they are being cared for and treated. There already is a line outside the shelter to adopt the most adorable dogs in the world. The man who lived with the sweetest dogs alive was taken to the hospital and is being observed. The house is so bad that it will have to be demolished. Since Chihuahuas and Chorkies are THE. CUTEST. DOGS. EVER, they will all be adopted in no time at all. If the animal shelter wasn't so far away, we would get in line too!

Visitors

Taylor and Sarah surprised us tonight and stopped over to visit. Taylor has always frightened me. He is big and makes scary sounds. At least he can't touch me anymore. He is so allergic to my fur that his eyes swell up and his arms get all itchy even if he pets me. Linda was really happy to see them. We all looked through old photos and told stories about when he was little. We even reminisced about good ole' Snickers boy and what a great watch dog he was. It's hard to believe that Taylor will be 21 this year. Right now Linda and I are sitting in his old room watching the teeny-tiny TV that he had when he was little. His very first stuffed animal "Blue Bear" is on the bed right next to us. Linda can't wait until they have a baby. It's probably going to be a few years yet, so we have to be patient.

A Side: Bunny Hop

What song was on the B side of the 1952 hit "The Bunny Hop?" I'm sure this Swedish man might know. He has collected hundreds and thousands of dollars from social insurance benefits because he was bound in a wheelchair and can't walk. The 33-year old man has been collecting money for years, even though doctor's were unable to find any reason he could not walk. Police were in his home investigating something else and saw a photo of the man dancing with a life size bunny. The Giant Bunny and the man were really cutting a rug. Come to find out, the bunny is the mascot for a local amusement park. The wheel chair guy has been faking it big time. Now he'll be able to do the "Hokey Pokey" in jail with the other inmates.

Earthdoga

I've been thinking a lot about fitness lately. I'm upping the number of my walks and even going farther then usual. Now, I found two more things I can do to add to my exercise routine. I love to dig, burrow and hide under blankets and pillows. The American Kennel Club offers classes in Earthdog. Little dogs like me who love to burrow and search for small rodents actually get to run and crawl through an underground course. There are no real chipmunks, but it is scented with the critters to make our burrowing more fun and exciting. Now, Linda hides my tiny toys and I hunt them down. When I find them, I grab it by the back of their neck and kill them dead. The second activity is called Doga... you guessed it: Yoga with your dogs. Both Linda and I would do class together. Downward Dog, Upward Dog, stretches, and massage are all to relax and improve our range of motion. (I'm guessing I'm the one who gets all the massaging since it would be kind of hard for me to rub Linda.)

Walk! Feed Me! Pet Me!

Finally, Linda will know exactly what I want. Sometimes I bark for a treat and she takes me for a walk. I'm not complaining, but it would be nice to get exactly what I want the first time. People in Japan have made a new gadget that translates doggie barks into human words. I wear a little collar and when I bark, the human words come over a speaker. It will only be sold in Japan right now, but as soon as it comes to my home town, we are buying it for sure. "Bark..Bark...Bark" means I want to go to the dog park. "BARK BARK BARK" means the cat is eating my food.

Adios Gidget

Gidget, the famous Taco Bell Chihuahua, died Tuesday at the ripe old age of 15. She made so many people laugh with her funny personality and antics. Her human said Gidget was content sleeping 23 hours and 15 minutes a day. (I love to sleep too!) She also loved to lay in the sun. (Me too!) Gidget also started in a movie and did other commercials. I wonder if Taco Bell is looking for another mascot. After all, I am 1/2 chihuahua and I'm named after a Taco Bell speciality... the Chalupa. I am so sending my resume and portfolio of glamor shots. Hey Gidget, say hi to Snickers for me when you see him in dog heaven.

On the Wings of an Angel

Exactly one month ago my friend Buddy passed on to dog heaven. I only met him a few times, but he was so gentle and kind to me. I think he wanted to carry me around like his "baby" toy that he had. I would have loved that since I missed my Snickers Dad doing that kind of stuff with me. Buddy's aunt drew a picture for Jay (Buddy's human) of his house with the angel Buddy looking over them. Every since Snickers became an angel, we have had nothing but a peaceful feeling in our house. It's like he is still here, but with no pain and agony in his joints. I believe they are both in a better place just running, jumping and tumbling around like pups!

Bad Hair Day For Sure!

My cardiovascular system is really improving. We have been doing 3 walks a day and today, I did not get carried once! Plus, I did not have one "snort" that happens when my trachea gets squeezed during exertion. One day, I would love to be able to go the entire wooded trail with Linda. It would take us an hour, but it is a beautiful walk. I've done it with the carry pack before, but never on my own 4 feet the entire walk. I'm in training to make the whole trail before the cold weather sets in. I bet I've lost at least 1/2 a pound with all this exercise. My nice Dr. Vet lady is going to be so pleased when she weighs me during my next visit. Here I am during one of my "fat" weigh ins. Boy, I got in trouble for being 5 pounds! Since then, I was down to 4.25 pounds. If I weigh in under 4, I'll be almost my ideal weight.

PB Sniffer

Remy is a life saving dog. He is trained to smell even the most minuscule dust of a peanut. There are many children who could die from severe peanut allergies. He lives with 9-year old Billy and goes everywhere with him. If Remy smells even a trace of peanuts on a table or in a car, he alerts Billy by barking. The trained dogs are expensive, but no amount of money is worth the possible deadly outcome of coming into contact with peanuts when you are allergic. The black lab goes to restaurants, school, hotels and amusement parks with Billy. Other dogs are now trained to sniff out epilepsy and cancer. I wish I could help people that way. I can sniff out cat food from the other side of our house. If I'm sleeping in Linda's big bed and she feeds Chip in the kitchen, I come running. Obviously, this baby is not allergic to peanut butter.

Just some extra protein

No wonder kids hate vegetables! I happen to love peas, corn, and potatoes. I don't like carrots, tomatoes or peppers. Now after this, I'm never going to try green beans. A mom from Texas was whipping up some frozen green beans she cooked for her kids. As she was stirring in the butter, she found 3/4 of a frog in her beans. It's little tongue was even sticking out. Imagine if she did not see it and served it up on her kids plate? She would have blamed the kid for planting in on his plate instead of the frozen veggie company. Once, Linda had ordered a plate of nachos from a restaurant near our house. It came with a mound of lettuce on top. She pushed it around a bit and there was an entire 3 inch long cockroach broiled right on top of the cheese. No joke! She called the parent company of the establishment and they sent her a $50 gift certificate as a "keep quite about this" prize.

Dogs & Newborns= Caution!

I don't know if this is really the dogs fault. A horrible situation, to be sure... but the dog was probably just watching out for the baby. I've never heard of this breed, Native American Indian Dog, but it looks a lot like a wolf to me. The dogs owners newborn baby, just a couple of days old, was put down for a nap inside his crib. A little later, the dad looked outside and saw the baby in the mouth of their pet dog Dakota! He raced outside, but the dog ran off into the woods holding the baby in it's mouth. It took the dad 10 full minutes to catch the dog and save his baby. The baby is in critical condition in the hospital, I just pray it lives. The dog was taking by animal control officers and is in jail. I hope the dog can be sent to live on a farm somewhere else. He did not try to kill the baby, just carry it around. (p.s. photo is not Dakota.)

Taylor's the one with the ball

The girls went to watch Taylor play soccer tonight. He started a new league with his friends. So far they have 3 full teams. I should have gone with them since the weather was coolish and there weren't a lot of spectators to make me nervous. After the game, they ate dinner at a new place that had wonderful stir-fry tofu. Tier and Linda are always going to watch Taylor play one sport or another. Football, basketball, baseball and now soccer too? He's always one of the best players out on the field or court. Imagine if I did those dog agility courses? It would be so funny to watch me run through the tunnel, jump through the hoop and leap across the water. I wonder if Taylor would come to watch me?