The Graduate

During the last few weeks, I have been studying hard to pass my first class at the Family Dog Center. School there is loads of fun. I see lots of other dogs and people and everyone seems to like me, even if Stacy and Ryann think I am a bit too talkative in class.

Nevertheless, I graduated! Here's Stacy and I right after I received my diploma. I'm thrilled with my scholarly accomplishments, but I am not sure why Stacy looks so surprised. I always get a lot of attention in class. Probably because I'm never shy about sharing my wisdom with the young pups in my class. Don't hide your light under a bushel, I say.

But what next? In this economy, finding employment as a new grad will be tough. I may have to do a lot of searching to find just the right job for me.


Still - I think I have options. I could be a....

Synchronized Swimmer


Landscape Architect
(I am really good at lawn mowing and fertilizing.)

Home Furnishings Quality Control Officer
(I have a natural aptitude for this.)

And those are just a few of my choices! Good thing I have some time before I need to make a decision. I heard that Grandpa Murphy used to say, "Stay in school as long as you can because you'll have the rest of your life to work." Sounds like a good plan. Besides - I'm happy with my current role in our household:

Man's Best Friend

Park It, Doggie

Stacy and Ryann are stressed out. I've been noticing the signs for sometime now. I have had more time on my paws than usual and when they are home they are seldom very far from their computers.

Enough already! They needed to do some serious de-stressing so I convinced them that we needed to take an outing to somewhere new. Sure, we go shopping. We go to the coffee shop. We've even been to the forest preserve, but there I need to stick close to them so they don't get lost.

So, I finally convinced them to go to a park just for stressed out canine caretakers! Let me just say, I think it did them some good. Here's why:

1. They can walk wherever they want, even without me minding them.

2. They can save money because I love to find abandoned tennis balls all throughout the park!


3. They don't need to worry about me getting too hot, because I can take a dip while they relax along the water.

All in all, we had a wonderful time this weekend visiting two different local dog parks! We all are more relaxed now, even me.

Clete 101

Let's face it, I'm no dog of mystery. I love fetch, food and sleep. Which is why I was surprised when my good friend Rose invited me to her house for a sleepover and Stacy and Ryann thought she would need need an advanced degree in Canine Caretaking to spend the weekend with little ole me.

First, they packed up nearly all of my belongings: crate, bed, food, toys, treats, food dish, fancy papers, vet phone number more food, etc. For a quick second, I thought maybe I was moving out!

Next, they created a list of the words and what they think they mean. Boy are they confused. I picked a few of my favorite examples.

What They Say / What I Hear

NO. / You can never have fun.

Sit. / Put your butt on the ground and you'll get food.

Leave it! / Don't eat that!

Come / I'm lonely, Clete. Come play with me!

Be right back! / Enjoy the couch.

Go Potty! / Explore the yard.

That was how my weekend began! Even with this misinformation, Rose was a wonderful hostess! It is clear she loves fetch as much as I do because she couldn't play it enough. A few times I even acted like I was tired to see if she would stop.

She spent a lot of time working in her garden when I was visiting, and I helped, too! She had a lot of water puddles everywhere in her yard and I ran through them over and over to get the water mixed in real good with the dirt around it.

She even made me get up really early to go out and play more fetch the next day, but I put my paw down. No fetch before 6:00 a.m., maam. (Sometimes you have to show tough love.)

Later on, I indulged her love of fetch for a few more hours and continued mixing up the garden until Stacy and Ryann came to get me. They seemed really happy to see me. But not happy enough to let me sit in the front seat of the car, apparantly. Honestly, what's a dog have to do to get some love?

I really enjoyed me weekend at Rosie's. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go visit again sometime. Her big backyard needs a dog like me to tend to it properly!