Timing Is Everything

Even though it may seem like I lead a pretty busy life, in reality my schedule stays pretty open. The sun comes up, I go for a walk, eat breakfast, and then take a nap. Later in the afternoon, I go for a walk, eat dinner, and then sleep some more. Needless to say, I could use some excitement and right now my humans are holding me back.

First, they thought I wouldn't notice that I was invited, via email, to be in a local 4th of July parade with Critter Nannies! So rude for them to not tell me since the Critter Nannies people are my friends. They never come visit Stacy and Ryann - they come visit me! We walk, we talk. It's nice.

But, did they bother to even tell me about my own invitation be in a parade? Noooo. So, what choice did I have but to read through the rest of their email and it seems like they are already in another parade! Urgh. That would explain the reappearance of the shiny instruments. Terrific. 5 more of my 15 minutes of fame down the drain.

Then, was it too much to ask for some fun on a beautiful Sunday afternoon? All day long they kept saying we would do something fun after we got our work done. I don't know about them, but my work was done before noon. I slobbered my people with love, I chewed up some toys, the usual stuff.

So, hours and hours later, we finally got in the car to go to one of my favorite places: Bentley's Corner Barkery! I spent the entire car ride deciding which treat I would choose from the display case and then, when we finally arrived, disaster struck.

They were closed.



Thanks a lot, people! You just couldn't wait to clean the kitchen until tonight, could you? Come, on!

I seriously need to learn how to tell time.

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!

Sunday Walk in the Woods

I love comfy-shoe days! These are days when Ryann does not put on pointy-shoes and stays home with me and Stacy. Usually, comfy-shoe days also mean that Stacy does not have to stare at the electric box all day! Yes!

We almost always get to do something special on comfy-shoe days. Yesterday was a comfy-shoe day and all three of us went for a hike! I love hikes - I get to smell and see all sorts of new things! There are, however, a few tips that I would like to pass on in to my canine friends.

1. Always hike with a buddy-preferably a non-grumpy type like Stacy!

2. Always look both ways before crossing the road.

3. Sometimes you need to point out cool stuff to your humans. Their noses are inferior to our own advanced olfactory sensory systems.

4. Be courteous and share the road with less fortunate beings that have no legs and rely on feeble wheels. Don't feel bad for them, however, as those guys can really move.

5. Have fun! It is important to take time to connect with your human and with nature!

Life on the Inside

Have you been wondering where I've been? Things are busy in our house and I've been working just as hard as the humans. The weather finally warmed up again for about two hours and then it got subarctic again. Enough already! Dogs and humans need outside time! I am so tired of it!

While we are inside all I get to do is work, work, work. Here's me - Stacy's right hand dog:

Where would he be without me? Lonely and unproductive, I'm sure. He can pay me in treats and outside fetch sessions...if it ever warms up again that is...

Maintaining My Figure

Finally, finally, finally - Spring is on the way! Sure, we got another four inches of snow yesterday, but I heard birds! We are taking walks again! Ryann stopped wearing a fuzzy hat indoors! My favorite walk of all time was a few days ago when we took a nice, long walk to a new place that had human drinks (hmph). The snow had melted away leaving nice big mud puddles, just for me! While Ryann wanted me to stay away from them, I knew Stacy wanted to play in the mud so I took him through the puddles anyway. It was the most fun-I looked almost exactly like a black Lab when we were done!All this exercise means that I can have special treats every now and then - even doughnuts! Ok, so this isn't a real doughnut but it was a real nice treat. Thanks, Auntie Beth! :-)