Sugar the Golden Retriever's 10th Birthday

It's Sugar's Birthday and he has asked us to help celebrate his decade long life. Since we are such huge fans of birthdays of course, we could not resist. We were asked to post his birthday badge on our blog. Please stop by Sugar's blog and add your birthday greetings.

Next, we decided to put out the crochet birthday candle on our table to honor the event.

He wanted a smiling picture, but he is going to have to settle for a happy Sheltie picture.

Happy Birthday Sugar!!! We hope you have a wonderful day.

Resting Tuesday

Can you believe after leaving us all day that this is what Mom and Dad think today should look like for all of us? Today is our day with Mama and Papa and we plan to make the most of it, once we can get Dad out of bed.

They have more Grandma and Grandpa trips planned for the week, but let's face it Grandma and Grandpa have more energy than Mama and Papa. Our humans need rest between relaxations. So today is resting Tuesday. The weather will determine what tomorrow brings. However, we have a special post prescheduled for tomorrow.

Mom and Dad Went to Rockport and All We Got Was

Nothing. Can you believe it????

Dad has not uploaded our new pictures so you will have to miss your Sheltie fix.

Mom said she tried to find us a treat at the dog botique store, but she has seen better selections at the dollar store. She was so disappointed. She got great deals for so many people, but nothing for us because the stuff was just not worth it. They had nothing we would have liked.

Mom did get a cool Sheltie Pewter key chain. So we know she was thinking about us. She is going to get Dad to take a picture of it later. It is formed in the shape of a Sheltie on one side and has the characteristics of a Sheltie listed on the other. The woman had no trouble selling Mama on the deal.

Mama and Papa are home tomorrow, but have plans with Grandma and Grandpa for Wednesday that depend on the weather. They will owe us big when their vacation is over.

SS Sheltie Scientists Test Human Reactions

The voyage continues. Today we decided to run experiments on reactions. Katy was working on stimulation techniques to determine how subject reacts to different Sheltie stimuli.

Bailey decided to work on toy stimulation. He wanted to see how the subjects react to toys.

Katy learned that subjects Papa and Mama do not like the paw scratch. In fact, carefully study has determined that there is a negative reaction to scratching. Tests using noses and licks have determined that cold noses get the immediate reaction. Gentle licks result in positive reactions like petting, treats, and game playing.

Bailey constantly pushed his way into my experiments, but he was focusing on what toys interested our subjects and when using these toys were most effective. He concluded that squeaking toys are only tolerated at certain tones and levels for a set amount of time.

This post was supposed to have been transmitted yesterday. However, subject Mama was distracted and hit save draft instead of post.

Sleep the Final Frontier

These are the voyages of the SS Sheltie whose only mission is to find entertainment, protect the frontier, enjoy life, and to keep Mama and Papa awake while doing it.

Our latest experiment on sleep deprivation has some rather unexpected and unwelcome results. Subjects Mama and Papa have not been happy with our late night and early morning house explorations during storm situations.

This morning subject Papa actually placed Katy in the crate after she ran wild during a test of her physical agility that required her to leap in the dark on the bed. Her landing was off and subject Papa was not pleased with the outcome.

It appears our voyage here to explore the wild weather phenomena know as thunder has had unexpected side effects that we cannot seem to control. We do notice that while we seem to have no adverse effects from these night and early morning excursions, our subjects do seem to be exhibiting crankiness, a need for more sleep, and less enthusiasm for long walks. There will be more on our research to come later faithful readers. We are looking for a shady spot for a nap.

Doggy Doggy Quite Contrary How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well the flowers and the veggies are doing well.

Mom was so excited to make her first fresh eggplant parm. Dad walked in the house and was thrilled at the smells coming from the kitchen. This is unusual since Dad is the real cook in the family.

The tomatoes are starting to come in and Dad thinks it is funny that Mom thinks they taste like tomato candy.

Dad told us we have been doing a good job with critter control that is why he and Mom have such good stuff to eat. It is nice to be appreciated.

If Dad ever stops flying, we will post some updated pictures.

Hair Explosions

Mom and Dad have been pretty good about keeping up with our hair grooming. Part of the reason for their vigilance is we have been getting attacked with flower missiles and we have to be cleaned up from those unwarranted flower attacks that leave us with sticky flower weapons (Mom calls them seeds) that stick to our fur. It is rather painful having those sticky things removed. It is only because we have such a thick coat that they do not scratch us as they do Dad’s legs.

However, the last two weeks it has been hot and rainy and we have not been patrolling the hostile flower areas as much and therefore have not triggered the automatic hair brushings. Dad has been traveling and then Mom and Dad have been taking trips with Grandma and Grandpa. When Mama caught Katy rubbing the porch rails and me scratching she asked Dad how long it had been since the last brushing. She was very upset to realize it had been two weeks.

That is when Mom went to work and got out the brushes. There was something like a hair explosion when she started with the comb. White hair puffs just took flight. Dad says I have never done anything like this before. It could be I have never hidden from the hair police that long. Mom said it was like watching kids shoot off hair fireworks into the air. The hair was flying everywhere.

Katy of course being a princess did not shoot off fireworks. She tried to turn Mom into a Sheltie. Mom was covered from head to foot in Sheltie hair. Her hair does not explode into the air it drops and clings. No bursts of black and white hair for her, she just left hair covering everything in its path.

We thought we were done Saturday, but Sunday the brushes were back. There were no hair explosions this time, but lots of more of our hair gone. Katy did not have nearly the torture I did and it has been just the same amount of time. She claims it’s her princess qualities that keep her hair controlled.

We have another session scheduled for tonight. Mom says it is one of the duties of having beautiful Sheltie hair.