Where do you think you're going?

Leaving? What do you mean, leaving? You just got here! I behaved while you were at work, and now you come home, let me outside to do my business -- remind me again why I can't just go inside? It's nice and warm there... -- toss some food in my bowl, drop your European Carryall and grab another bag, and then you're out the door like some traveling salesman! What's up with that?! Honestly, Second Dad, you need to take a moment, slow down, and play with me. I've been home all day, all alone, with only the couch to keep me company, and he's starting to smell. Oh, sure, I can carry the tennis ball around for a while, but it's not nearly as fun as when you chase me around the place.

I'd like to blame it on winter, but I know that's not the case. Silly school. And work. You know, Second Dad, I have this great, foolproof plan for getting out of school and work. You just say that you're "not compatible" with anything they offer you. It worked great for me! Of course, I did have to go all the way through school... maybe on second thought you shouldn't try that. See, the plan was foolproof, is foolproof, it's just that neither one of us is a fool, and so we saw right through it. Good work - glad to see you've got your head on straight. Atta Boy!

Just remember - all sleep and no play makes Hagrid a very persistent furry ball of energy!

"The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more." ~ Jonas Salk

Summer Vacation

The Humans have left me. This time, I fear, for good.

It's been almost two weeks since I last saw them - they brought me over to visit Super Fuzz, but I was suspicious from the start. There was way too much food in the car, and they brought my bed as well. The only glimmer of hope is that they did not bring my crate. No crate usually means that they will return. I'm keeping my toes crossed that that is the case - Super Fuzz has already head-butted the sofa and lost once, and I don't know if I can take much more of it. I was laughing so hard I almost wet the floor. Luckily, they pulled the carpet up some time ago, so cleanup would be a cinch.

But anyways, regardless of my fears, I hope that they return. I miss them. I miss the quiet. It's so very hard to nap around here, even when Super Fuzz and I are on our own. I don't know what that boy eats, but he sure does have a lot of energy. Luckily, I get the sofa all to myself at night. Ha, seniority rules!

How'd that get there?

So when I first came to Minnesota, it was fall. September, I think. Maybe late August? It was a while ago, and it was still nice and warm, I remember that much. Anyways, on my various jaunts around town I began to notice that everyone was marking very high on all of the trees. Could it be that many of the dogs in the midwest were freakishly tall? Needless to say, I was slightly confused. Being a tall dog myself, it wasn't all that difficult to match what I was sniffing, but some of those spots were just uncomfortable, if not downright impossible to hit!
Fall gradually became winter, and I began to realize that there weren't marauding gangs of gangly-legged dogs wandering the streets, harassing passers-by and showing off their stilt-walking prowess. No no no, nothing nearly so elaborate. Instead I discovered that the wonderfulness that is Snow! (see my earlier post) piled up around the bases of the trees, thus adding several inches (or more!) to everyone. Mystery solved!
However, due to the ever-changing nature of Snow, I have found that it gradually loses some of it's fluffiness, and becomes more icy. (Unlike myself, who is always fluffy, and never becomes icy, unless you're mean to me. But I digress.) Which is fine, I like ice. It tastes good. Wets the whistle, and all that. By the way, I can't whistle.... Somebody needs to get on that, pronto!

So, as I said, mystery solved. There are no vicious gangs of freakishly tall dogs wandering around the Twin Cities, so you can sleep easy tonight. But keep an eye out - they might be reading this blog and get ideas. Oh, and one more thing - always pee on the upwind side of the pole. Otherwise it gets messy.

Well, that's all for now. Here is your quote, well said by some guy I've never met.
"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." - Edward Hoagland