Sedentary Sunday

Hi all. We have not been posting like we should, but you haven't missed much. We really haven't been doing much besides hanging around.  Franklin keeps the backyard safe, which is a full  time job for him. I'm trying to get ahead of the curve with my napping. Doing pretty well there. Sarge is still doing well and  Alpha Mom says he farted quite a bit today. She was worried because she felt he wasn't doing that enough. But everything seems to be in working order right now.

Blog Mom is still having trouble staying awake long enough to attend to our blogging duties. She says this is because the nest - never really empty - is more full of people who need feeding more of the time and by the time she works, shops and cooks she doesn't have much left in her. I think I'm going to have to change her name to Not Blogging Mom. But we do check on everyone as much as we can and we wanted to check in and say that we still love EVERYBODY in Blogville.  We miss you when we're not able to get out here. We are hoping that nothing at all comes up tonight so we can at least catch up with you all. Here's me, having a nap interrupted:

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

I hope no one ever takes this pup to Madame Tussauds.



He'd be so very frustrated.

In Doggy Fails closer to home, it seems Franklin needs a girlfriend:

Shouldn't someone tell him he's been neutered? Come to think of it, I think I mentioned it to him when he tried this with me once. Once. Never again.

Hey, We're Still Here!

Oh, hi! It's great to see you!

Forty-eight hours and counting and things are still working. We shouldn't count our packets before they're sent, though. Let's just say we're happy to be here now. It's the weekend, too. Good thing because we need to tighten up the ship around here.

Do you see that pile of toys behind me, Lola? Those toys used to be in a basket as recently as yesterday. Somehow, all of a sudden that basket somehow became chewed up. Now, I know I, Lola, didn't do it. Who do you supposed the culprit might be?

Find the Pei, indoor version

Things are not quite right in the kitchen, either. Look what I saw on the counter:

In case you see this, Mango, I had NOTHING to do with this. Even Franklin is innocent this time.

Sunday Pupdates

First of all, paws down to our internet connection which started giving trouble again before we could even catch up. Right now it mostly works from 7 am to 7 pm, approximately. That is not when there are humans available to help with  blogging and visiting, unfortunately. Someone's coming tomorrow.  If that doesn't work out we might have to switch to Verizon, which we don't really want to do, or so I'm told. But we might. So there's that.

Next, the good news. My meds came from Canada! Just as promised and at a pawfectly reasonable price. Not only am I being helped by this, as well as lots of other Shar Pei, but also our friend CoCo is now going to get her meds from Canada, too. She was sick a while back. And then she got better. But she needs very expensive medications to keep her well and healthy. Much more expensive than mine, even at the new prices. So, when we told her Mom about the Canada option she looked into it and can get CoCo's medications at a much more manageable price, leaving more green papers for the humans to have things like groceries and such. I mean, they've got to keep up their strength to take proper care of us, right? In case anydoggy's interested, we got ours from Pharmacy Rx World. There are lots of others, but now that we got our stuff, just as promised, we thought we should share that link.

What with all these connection problems we haven't posted much about our day to day doings lately. Well, there haven't been so many of those anyway once we thought about it. It was a pretty quiet winter from our point of view. Now it's almost Spring, so maybe things will get more exciting. One thing we did do over the winter was watch Franklin's nose get crusty. I thought you might enjoy some photos of old crusty so there they are:

Franklin with original nose

Together with the red eyes, he's turning out to be a real looker

It seems to be something called nasodigital hyperkeratosis and does not appear to have a cure. I must say it doesn't seem to bother him or interfere with his self esteem any, though. 


My second Gotcha Day is in  just a couple of weeks. I'm making gift lists for the humans and I hope they're planning something nice. I also hope that our connection is more reliable then than it is now.


Once again, we apologize for our spotty visiting lately. Sometimes we lose our connection right in the middle of our rounds, or sometime before we even get started, but I have been assured that we will get this fixed eventually, for sure.

You Are NOT Going to Believe This

With this week going the way it has, I don't know which way is up...or down.

 

 Monday: Cable guy came to see me. He was very nice and I sniffed that he had a labradawg at home. I helped him out a great deal, I think. He said it was the splitter and switched it and the internets were working but Blog Mom had to run out to work. By the time she got home it wasn't working anymore. Alpha Mom was on hold for 87 hours an entire hour trying to get through to the repair line Monday night - without success I might add.

Tuesday: BlogMom got through to the repair line from work. Made an appointment for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: Different cable guy came. He asked if I was safe! Can you imagine?? I mean, how do I know HE was "safe"? I take that leap of faith is how. Seems he could do the same. I was somewhat offended but I tried to be gracious anyway.  We decided he might not want to be introduced to Franklin at all. That was OK. Franklin is loving the snow so much we can hardly get him to come inside. Anyhoo, this non-dog loving cable guy said we needed a new modem and  no, there was no way this problem could be something outside (because the tee vee is working, I guess). So, he gave us a nice new modem and this time it worked until into the evening when the snow started in earnest.

Thursday:  There was the aftermath of our weekly snowstorm to deal with. Blog Mom hurt her back trying to shovel. The internets were out a lot of the time. The humans are really starting to get cranky about all the snow. Have you noticed that with your humans?

As of now, as long as it's above freezing, or there's a strong sun the modem works. Once it gets really cold out there, it goes on strike. As I mentioned before, most of the time it's working is not when Blog Mom can be online, due to work, shopping, and all the errands humans seem to have to do.  We have to call the cable company again, of course, and try to get them to see the light. Alpha Mom's landline phone is also out when the modem is, so the whole thing is just not good.

What we're trying to do it get on as often as possible and read as many blogs as we can, just to keep up. We figure for now, if we don't comment too much, we can read more, but we do like to post updates now and then so you know why we aren't here.

Oh, and while we're doing pupdates, Franklin most likely has hyperkeratosis on his nose. It's common with lots of breeds and not a threat to anything but his good looks, but it might mean he had distemper before we got him. His original family never got his eyes done and didn't get him snipped. Maybe they didn't get him his shots either. He seems very healthy now, though.

I'm going to post this before we lose connectivity. We'll get this straightened out but it might take another few days or a week, we guess. Miss you all tons and tons.

Is This Thing On?

We're back. Did you know we were gone?  We couldn't get on the internet for 87 2 whole days! We need to visit EVERYBUDDY, but we wanted to put down what's been doing around here before we forget or before the modem goes poof again.

Not a brand new picture, but we just want you to know it's us. 

THE VET: I, Lola, went back to the VET on Thursday. I really, really didn't want to go. I just had a hunch and I was right. They took my temperature! And for nothing. I did not have a fever. Then they took about 87 a few vials of my BLOOD. They took a good look at it, I suppose, and reported that I have wonderful blood. Not a thing wrong with it at all. I was charming to everyone there, despite the indignities they visited upon me. I gave out lickies and wagged and did everything they asked. Then I went home and sulked  and refused to eat for a couple of days.

The long and short of it all is that I'm fine and there seem to be no after effects of my outbreak of Swollen Hock Syndrome. The VET said it was still a teeny bit swollen, but I am feeling much better.

FRANKLIN: Franklin is fine, but he gave us a bit of a scare this week. Blog Mom had come in the door after being gone for like 5 whole minutes. When humans are coming or going Franklin likes to get in touch with his inner Cracker Dog. He sometimes tries to prevent departures by throwing himself in front of the door and making horrific noises. No one really pays him any mind. All arrivals are greeted with his Happy Dance. This time, after executing a decent brisé he started to scream. There's really no other word for it. Then he kind of limped over to Daddy for comfort and told him all about it. Unfortunately he left out a lot of detail. After telling Daddy his troubles he went to his Special Place, which is under the chair in the living room. Once he recovered no one was able to figure out which paw or leg was the problem. It all happened too fast. Whatever it was, the limp went away quickly and and there's been no recurrence, leaving everyone to wonder if his patella had luxated or if he's got some other problem or if he just messed up his landing. Time and the VET will tell, but he's just his normal self now.

All of that reminds me. I had intended to do a little post in honor of his living here for exactly six months last Friday. Not a Gotcha Day, but I do think the first six months is a milestone. Alas, that never happened because of ----->

OUR NOT SO GOOD FRIDAY:  After work on Friday Alpha Mom went out to dinner to celebrate a human friend's Gotcha Day. Blog Mom was at home, finding that our cable modem wasn't working. She could not figure out why. None of the usual remedies worked. The teevee was working, so cable wasn't out. She gave up after a while and figured that if it wasn't working in the morning (it wasn't!) she'd just have to spend about 87 hours on the phone with the cable company and then she started to read a book and fell asleep until she got a call from Alpha Mom. Alpha Mom was in a car accident! She didn't get hurt, but that's surprising, looking at her car. The back is more smushed in than a Pug's face. The other person skidded on some ice and crashed into the back of her car. Everyone was in  a tizzy, let me tell you.

Of course, Saturday morning was devoted to getting things straightened out. An appointment had to be made with the insurance adjuster, Alpha Mom's errands had to be combined with Blog Mom's, weekend plans had to be changed - all that sort of thing. Sometime during all that the modem started working again, so that, at least, was good.

All of that brings us to now, more or less. We have to try to see what's been going on in Blogville while we were totally MIA.  We did see that Hero is starting to feel like his old self, which was wonderful to see, but we know there are probably AT LEAST 87 other things that we've missed. We hope that everybuddy's doing OK and having a great weekend.

Dear Friends

We have to talk to you. We have been away from Blogville too much lately, but it might not get that much better before the holidays are over. We know we're not the only ones in this fix, but we'd still like to list our excuses reason for being absent so much. We wouldn't feel so badly about not posting new posts, but we've been so behind in visiting, too. That's where we start to feel like putting our tails right between our legs, because we just love every one of you. You know that, right?

1. Being a rather ecumenical family our holiday season is long this year. In fact, we hope our next post will be about Alpha Mom's Second Annual Latkepolooza, which we enjoyed immensely. But that's the thing. Chanukah started on the first of the month, just a few days after Thanksgiving and then there are two Gotcha Days coming right up (Blog Mom's and Daddy's) and of course the whole month is Christmas when you count all the getting ready for it. So that's the main thing.
2. Daddy has a higher than average number of medical things going on this month, too. Blog Mom goes with him. He hasn't been feeling great the last few weeks and that keeps Blog Mom just a lot busier than when he's OK.
3. Now Blog Mom has a Mysterious Ailment. Hopefully a little antibiotic will take care of it, but she's all swollen up around her eyes and the whole area. Actually, she's starting to look a bit like a Shar Pei, but you know - it's not nearly as cute on her as it is on us. Anyway, she's not feeling so great and has not been able to keep up helping me visit everyone as well as we'd like.

We just don't want anyone's feeling to be hurt and we certainly don't want you to forget us, or think that we forgot you. That's really all we want to say. We hope everybuddy's holiday season is coming along just great so far.

Weekend Report

We had a fairly quiet weekend, but it was rather nice except that I did go for a bath without Franklin and it was terrible. I did not like being left. I never did, but I like it even less now that there's another doggy in the pack. I tend to feel that I should not have to leave the house without him unless it happens to be for a walk with Alpha Mom which is OK. But there was some good news too. My leaves are back!

Exactly where I left them. Isn't it freaky?

Actually, my humans were expecting someone to come and take them away this weekend, but they never showed up. I swear I had nothing to do with it. Really. You believe me, right?

The weather was quite nice so we did some lounging around in the back taking in the sun.

Mr. Squirrel did WHAT? Are you serious? And what did Mrs. Squirrel say?

Well, I lounged. Franklin doesn't have much lounge in him when he's outside in cooler weather. He ran around and checked everything out in the yard and returned to tell me all the gossip. Then he'd be off again, in case anything new had happened in the last 30 seconds.

Our foster bass player and his nice young female friend let us take them for walkies today.  Blog Mom warned them that we were not exactly perfect on the leash. There were no serious injuries. Oh, the nice young lady did take one little fall when I pulled just when Franklin kind of ran under her. She was OK, really. Oh and they made the mistake of taking Franklin out with just a regular collar. He backed out of  it twice. He didn't run away or anything, though and they got it right back on him. We had a wonderful time. I'm sure they're looking forward to doing it again just as much as we are, don't you think?

Franklin and I, Lola, Go to Get Groomed

You might have noticed we haven't posted so many pictures lately. It's only partly not because of Blog Mom's laziness.It's really that we have not been doing much different. Mostly that's because of Blog Mom's injured leg and foot, which is only now starting to get close to all better. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but if you're going to take the two of us anywhere you need to be in good form and it's something both the Moms prefer to do together.

We are hoping for a noseventure, but I think we really know where we're headed.

Lately, our big weekend excitement is when we go to the groomer and that's not really a good kind of excitement in my view. I have to admit that it is a bit better when Franklin comes. I do not like being left off somewhere with no pack members. Especially somewhere that I have to spend some time in a crate. It's too much like being surrendered to Animal Control. Yes, the groomer ladies are lovely people, so were the folks at Animal Control, as were the wonderful people at the rescue where I wound up. It's still not something I care to revisit, if you know what I mean.

Baily, the Golden Receptionist - on a break as you can see.

 I am much better behaved at the groomer than Franklin is. It pains me to report that he tends to get over-excited and even a little defensive. Franklin has an unfortunate tendency to sound vicious from time to time. I can assure you that he's not - vicious, that is. However, it's not hard to understand how he could make that impression and exercising caution around a worried dog is always a good idea. Even so, after going a couple of times he's starting to think of the whole thing as a fun outing.  He's somewhat easy to please when it comes to funsies.

Ready to go home. And there better be treats waiting.

 I have heard some disturbing talk about my needing to go more often and Franklin needing to go less often. Something about having different types of coats. I wonder if that means I'm going to be on my own again or if he could come along just for moral support. I wonder if they'd buy that?

Naps Have Been the High Point

There are quiet weekends and there are quiet weekends. This one is going too far. Yesterday everyone was out a little more than absolutely necessary in my opinion. Today everyone's home except for Alpha Mom who is at a horse clinic. But nothing interesting is going on anyway. Daddy's back is hurting and he's just lying there looking pained. Blog Mom is just doing some cleaning as other projects have been halted until Daddy's back improves. Franklin and I are napping. I hope everyone knows that I'll be wide awake tonight at about - oh, 3 AM or so...

Our First Fight

I have to tell you, it's been a difficult evening around here. I've had to yell at Franklin from time to time. His reaction is usually perfectly satisfactory, in that he either stops doing whatever it is I don't want him to do, or if, for instance, a chewy is in dispute, he might run and hide under the chair with it. Either way, I'm the undisputed boss of him and it's all good. Tonight he yelled right back. What's more, there seems to be an idea that I bear some responsibililty for the incident in question. That's an unaccustomed and unwelcome feeling, let me tell you.  Now in general, I love Franklin. Having a little brother is overall a wonderful thing. But he does cramp my preferred dining style, which I believe is at the root of the whole thing.

I've mentioned that I'm a picky eater. Also a moody eater. And, some of the time I prefer to dine at a fashionably late hour. I usually eat with Blog Mom and Daddy. Alpha Mom is not often home at dinner time and doesn't cook at home much either. BF (before Franklin) Blog Mom or Daddy would put down whatever they hoped I'd decide to eat and then I would eat, or I'd tell them to leave it there and I'd get back to it when the mood struck me. I'd have dinner any time between 6 and 11 PM, strictly according to my own appetite and mood. Since the acquisition of a little brother, it's a whole different story. Dinner is served and if it's not eaten it's picked up, because otherwise Franklin will, of course, eat it. I have to admit I'd do the same in his place if I was in an eating sort of mood. If I've refused to eat all evening, I do get another shot when Alpha Mom and I head upstairs at night. Most usually I eat then, but not always. For the last couple of days I have not been in an eating mood at all. So, I suppose by dinner time tonight I was a little hungrier than usual.

 Saturday is hamburger night. I get some burger. Franklin does not because it hasn't agreed with him. He gets dog food. Usually, when I do dine at the same time as Franklin, either he finishes his food first or at about the same time as me, Lola. Tonight I went at dinner with a little extra  gusto or something because I was finished way before Franklin, and I guess that hunger strike I had been on came back to haunt me, because I was still hungry. And Franklin was still eating. So I decided I wanted his food. And he wouldn't let me have it! So, I got a little sharp with him. And he got quite sharp right back. That had never happened before. Not only that, Blog Mom told me I should stop. She said, "No, Lola.". I'm not used to that kind of language from her, either. The whole ugly episode has left us a bit on edge, I think. Oh, I did stop when Blog Mom told me to, and eventually  I did get some more food. She waited a while. Said she didn't want me to think that bad behavior was being rewarded. Bad behavior? Moi?

The rest of the evening passed pretty peacefully, but I think the whole thing was just a bit traumatic for all of us. I hope that we can all put it completely behind us now. Tomorrow we're getting baths at the groomer and I have found I much prefer to have Franklin along. It's always nice to be with pack and partial pack is better than none.

Fashion Statements and Birthday Boys

DRESS TO EXPRESS

I assume we all know that it's Fashion Week in NYC. No, I didn't attend any of the shows. All my invitations must have been lost in the mail, plus we were busy with other things. Anyway, the more interesting New York Fashion Week was in August. That was Pet Fashion Week. Uh...we didn't go to that either, but it looks like a lot more fun than the human version, doesn't it? Still, those NY celebrepets have nothing on our own fashionistas, like Lorenza, for instance. But then  she's got her own pawsonal designer and seamstress right at home. Ha! Beat that, Paris Hilton's chihuahua!

We Pei are better off keeping it simple, however. A Pei in a dress just wouldn't look the same as a doxie or a yorkie. My wardrobe generally consists of a collar and sometimes a bandana. Harness and leash come into the equation if we're going out, of course. The same formula works just as well for Franklin. With this very limited palette with which to work, we needed to give careful thought to our Fall 2010 looks.  What did we want to say with our collars this year? Well, we decided that what I wanted to say was that I'm a girl. There's sometimes a little confusion on that front. I think it's the very short ears. So, we decided to think pink.

No one's going to ask "What's HIS name now?", am I right?

See the little bitty bones? It's those little details that are so impawtent.

 Now Franklin has a different issue to deal with. There's the little problem of his looking a tad demonic. You don't see it in the photos that Blog Mom has taken so much. She likes to take photos that flatter him and she sees him as totally adorable. You know how Moms are. But when viewed straight on his face can be just a little startling and the red rims around his eyes aren't getting any less red after two months. This together with the fact that we're bred to look a little stern so some people are afraid of us to begin with means that we had to give some thought to Franklin's image when planning his wardrobe. So...Woofstock for Franklin. It really does reflect his attitude much better than his rather deep bark does.

Peace, love and Puperoni, dudes!

Also, it serves to remind one that it's much more likely that a red eyed individual is peacefully stoned than possessed by a demon.

Stay away from the brown cheese, pawple!

BIRTHDAY BOYS

I mostly gave up doing posts for furiends' special days because it was just impawsible to keep up with all the birthdays and Gotcha Days. But this past week has been remarkable for the number of important days our furiends are celebrating. It started with Hero's birthday on the 6th. He turned 4. Oh, to be 4 again! What a wonderful age!  And then there's Pip's very special day on September 11th. And then it turns out that today is Bolo's birthday and also Buddy's! All's I can say is that September has given us some great doggies and I'm so glad to know all of them and if you haven't said Happy Birthday to them, well, it's never too late.

The Great Rearrangement Continues

Hi. Remember me, Lola? The forecast here is for continued slow blogging until either the end of time or until Blog Mom runs out of projects she can do, or make Daddy do, in the house whichever comes first.  See that photo above? I don't even look like that anymore. I have my new fall collar and not a single decent photo of it yet. It's pink with silver bones on it, by the way. Maybe you'll get to see it sometime, if we get our priorities straight.

Of course some of these home improvements do show the right attitude. See that bed that Franklin's on? That's my ratty old bed that had been retired but was recalled to duty when Franklin moved in.  That's history. Blog Mom came home from one of her expeditions with a new one, but we don't have a picture of it, do we? Actually, we're not sure we like it all that much. It's a little too fluffy for our taste. We prefer something in a flatter bed, but we're starting to use it. And at least she was thinking of the dogs while she was out that time.  She claims it all has a lot to do with us. She says that the house was never properly set up to accomodate a Pei centered family and now that there are two of us, it's more Pei centered than ever. Whatever.

Blog Mom has really got the bit in her teeth now. It all started, as far as I can tell, with her deciding that she just had to do something about where the cats eat, which was largely on the kitchen table. Because of the Pei, of course. It's actually the only dining table they currently have as the dining room has been pressed into service for other things, so it was pretty inconvenient to have the cats on the kitchen table entirely aside from the impression that makes on any normal people who might sneak into the house.  Anyhoo, there's an old hutch in the kitchen and she thought of clearing it off and giving it to the cats for their dining area. One thing leads to another. When you empty a space you have to put the things that were there other places. And if you're going to move the microwave you might as well get a new one, etc, etc.  Long, long story short - the kitchen had to be totally reorganized. And while we were at it, wasn't it about time we got a new kitchen table? Apparently it was.

Simone got it right away. It took Happy a little longer to remember where to look for his food and he still has to be put there sometimes. They both seem very pleased by the change, I have to admit. Happy sleeps there a lot during the day and both of them seem to enjoy having a dining/napping space that is exclusively theirs. But they did stay away the day the new table came. That was just too much change and commotion for them and they hid out in the bedroom until they were overcome with hunger. By then the table was in place and they could see it wasn't really dangerous at all.

Blog Mom almost satisfied with the kitchen for now, except for a few finishing touches she has in mind. It needs a new floor as does the front hall, but that's going to have to wait until there's a budget for it, and DIY is pretty much out of the question. It's for the best, believe me. However, this aggression did not stop at the kitchen door. She's begun the living room and one idea leads to another. Somehow we've gone to making a place for the kitties to eat to researching the pros and cons of gel burning fireplaces. After the living room she's already got a to-do list for the hall bathroom. And she's thinking up things she wants to do next Spring, too! We did get some new area rugs for the living room. There was a going out of business sale right on the way to the supermarket it seems. I like the rugs and am doing my best to infuse them with a nice, homey essence of Pei.

 I have to admit that despite the fact that some humans were not giving us undivided attention and there was all this upheaval going on, Franklin and I had a very nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend. The weather was beautiful and there were plenty of people around to let us in and out and out and in and see to our every need and most of our wants, too. We napped in the sun and played in the shade had treats and Franklin barked at the neighbors some and all in all, from a doggy point of view it was pretty nice even though Alpha Mom went to the Hampton Classic and didn't take us. She says she's taking us next year for sure. I hope you all had a great one.

We're Driving Everyone Crazy

Finally it's not so hot out. But it's raining. It rained yesterday and today and it's supposed to rain for the next couple of days, too. This is great news for what grass we have left, but we are not water dogs - at all - and we can't go out and do this:

Please pardon our blur.

Sorry for the horrible photo quality. Blog Mom's camera is not adequate for capturing our supersonic Pei play. Now that Franklin and I are all bonded and on the same page we have gotten used to being able to do zoomies and play Pei tag in the yard when it gets cool enough after dinner. Faced with two days of (very much needed) rain, we're getting a little antsy. I think that everyone should be able to understand that. Yet, you'd think that zoomies in the living room was disturbing the peace or something, the way everyone seems kind of testy about it. Thing is, we don't really care that much. They'll get over it.

Speak, Franklin!

Hi everyone! My big sister Lola says that it was one month ago today, August 10th that my unfortunate incarceration ended and I joined the family. She also says I should write this post (almost) all by myself to thank  you all for your very nice and kind welcome to me and also for being so supportive through my name changes. I do thank you really a lot. You are all  so nice and friendly and I'm real happy to meet you all. I did want to say that, but I really didn't know what else to write about. My Big Sis said that I should talk about my Gotcha Day from my point of view, so I will. I pretty much always do what she tells me. More or less.

I'm going to let you write on my blog. Please don't embarrass me.

  It was a dark and stormy day when the lady came to meet me. I'd been on the inside for over three months for the crime of having a family that was moving and couldn't keep me. OK, I know that other dogs have it a lot worse than I ever did. I don't want to be a whiner, but it still wasn't a very cool experience, you know? I do have to admit that the warden and the matrons were pretty chill peeps. They looked out for us and everything and we got time in the exercise yard  every day. Also my family couldn't provide some important medical care  that I needed and I did get that while I was on the inside. I was going out of my mind, spending so much time in that little cell, though. And that's why I could have blown the whole deal.

A month ago today I was just hanging out in my cell when one of the matrons came and told me I had company. It was the first visitor I'd had and I didn't have any idea that this was like an important interview or anything. I was just excited to be out of the cell and to meet a new person because I really like people a lot. Matron brought me into this room  where this lady was waiting and I went all crack dog.  I ran around the room - stopping to say hi to the lady every so often - like I had a firecracker up my butt. And I lifted my leg and marked everything  that wasn't moving about every 5 seconds. I'm sooo embarrassed thinking about it now. After a few minutes of this the lady left and I went back to my cell and I figured that was that. But it wasn't.

An hour or so later the same matron put a leash on me and took me outside in the pouring rain. This was getting to be a pretty strange day. Now I'm a Shar Pei and I don't usually like to go out in the rain at all, but I didn't even care. That's how desperate a dog can get for a change of pace when he's incarcerated. We were out in front of the jailhouse and that same lady got out of a car, but she wasn't alone this time. There was another lady and a beautiful lady Shar Pei with her. I was so excited to meet this Shar Pei. I don't know if she was all that thrilled. I mean, it was raining a lot. We spent some time getting to know each other. Well, really I was mostly telling her how pleased I was to meet her and she was mostly trying to stay as dry as she could, but it was still a big thrill for me. After a while I got taken back inside again and I was planning on a nap and maybe dreaming of that lady Pei, but I didn't go back to my cell. Instead, one of the ladies came inside and spent some time with the warden and then she took me outside and we got into the car. The car with the beautiful Pei.  Wowser! I did not see that coming.

I finally figured out that this was something important. This could mean I was getting what I wanted most in the world - a new pack with a pawsome big sister. It seemed too good to be true, but I didn't want to make any more mistakes. I sat real nice in the back seat of the car and just looked out the window, all casual, like this happened all the time. We got to a house and went inside and I made a point of not even looking like I was thinking of lifting a leg. And I never have. Not once. I understand "house". That room in the jail just wasn't part of a house to me.  I haven't had a really bad day since. I have two Moms, a Dad a human brother and a bass player. What more could a dog want?

I love our big back yard, but I love my Big Sis more than anything.

 My wonderful big sister Lola started teaching me things right away. The very  first life lesson she taught me was never, ever try to mount your sister, even if you're not blood relatives. Hoo boy, I never made that mistake again. She also taught me how to play and also that we play when she says we do and it's not such a great idea to try to insist when she's not feeling like it. She feels like it a lot more now than when I first got there. I guess 'cause I learned how to do it right.

Big Sis introduced me to our pawsome neighbor, Sambuca

 She's still working on me and she can be pretty strict about some things, but I don't mind that. She's so much older  wiser and more experienced than I am that I don't mind at all that she's the boss of me. Actually, everyone's the boss of me, almost. That's not so bad, though. Everyone's kind and they love me so it just makes me feel safe and taken care of.

Another thing that Lola taught me is about dog beds. I didn't know that dogs could have beds or that we needed them. Turns out they're pretty great. I have more to talk about, but it's time for me to be in my bed right now. Maybe if I didn't embarrass her too much, Lola will let me do this again some time.

Night night everybuddy.

Quiet Times for me, Lola and Franklin, too

"So what's Lola been up to lately?", you may (or may not) wonder. Not much. Between Blog Mom's injury which wasn't supposed to heal for weeks and weeks (and she just managed to set it back a week or so) and the heat, after the big excitement of Franklin's arrival I've been doing a lot of nothing much. There was a VET visit for shots and some horrid, painful ear cleaning. Alpha Mom finally made him stop. Now I have medication, but I got  a shot for it, too and it made my meaty mouth shrink up a bit. It'll come back,  I'm pretty sure. Franklin didn't need shots, but he got checked out,  and his ears were assaulted as well. It should come as no surprise that I was very good and he wasn't.

We often see eye to eye on things

But when we don't, he knows looks up to whom in this team

We're still working on him and getting to know all about him. I pretty much have him under my paw, but the humans feel he needs further training from where they sit so that he'll mature into a  the really good dog he almost is. He's not going to be as good as me, Lola, I'm fairly certain. But good enough. It's too bad they can't learn from me. He's not only my little brother. He's now pretty much available to me as a minion, should I ever require one. He might still be growing, which is a teensy bit alarming. He seems a little taller. He's filling out and his collar had to be loosened by one hole. He still looks like he was built out of spare Pei parts, though.

Yesterday was the first day that we got some relief from the heat and could enjoy the backyard a little instead of just doing what we had to and going right in.

Where's my min...I mean my little brother?

Franklin here, reporting for whatever you should want, Big Sis!

That's been life around here. Franklin's going to get microchipped on Thursday night. He's going to PetSmart for that, so I really, really hope I get to go, too. And I sure hope the temperatures stay down for a while for everybuddy who's been sweltering all summer.

My Little Brother's Absolutely Final (we think) New Name

I have a couple of apologies to make. Of course none of this is my doing, but it's the innocent who suffer, is it not? Firstly, we were hardly online last night so I know I missed some of my furiends' posts. I will try to catch up today. That couldn't really be helped and does happen sometimes, but I still feel badly about it.

The second thing is where I'm more than just a little embarrassed. After all the encouraging comments you left about my little brother's new name (Brookstr) they changed it again. They said it just wasn't sticking to him. I'm not sure what that means, but you have to remember that even though there are four four-leggers here my humans didn't name any of them, until my brother. They are way out of  practice in coming up with names for anyone at all. (That was my attempt to be the loyal dog that I am and to make excuses for them.) Blog Mom saw something on the TeeVee last night and had an "inspiration". And everyone liked it. Even my little brother is showing early signs that he'll answer to it. So, without further ado, my little brother will henceforth be named Franklin. (You better be sure this time, Mom. I'm telling all my furiends - again.)

So, what was the inspiration, you might ask? Was it something on the History Channel about Benjamin Franklin who was so impawtent he's on some of our best green papers? No. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected president about 100 times? No. My human brother was home and was catching up on episodes of True Blood that he'd missed, and there's a new vampire this season named Franklin. Now Blog Mom says that it's not that she's naming my little brother after a vampire who is kind of crazy even for the undead. It's just that the name sounded right. However, she does see a resemblance.

Not a vampire

Vampire

I don't really see it myself, except that in the show Franklin's eyes are kind of red rimmed a lot and my poor brother basically had his lower eyelids removed in a very drastic surgery for his Entropion and will probably always look like he's very, very hung over.

All of this was almost a moot point as we thought we lost him last night. Someone - I'm not naming any names (Daddy) wasn't careful when opening the front door and he shot right out. These humans are not used to having a doggy who does that. Not since they had labradogs, they said, and that was many years ago. So all hell broke loose. Everyone was running around looking for him. It was very dark and no one could see him. They were all yelling at each other to get flashlight and a leash. No one thought of putting me on a leash and letting me find him, which I would have, right away. Anyhoo, all of a sudden they saw him down the block, under a street light just ambling around. He didn't try to run away when they got to him. He seemed quite pleased that everyone had come out to join him on his evening ramble. All of this only took a few minutes but everyone got some more gray hair because of it. Now they have to learn how to train him not to do that,  and they have to train Daddy to always be extra careful in the meantime.

Brooklyn - One Week In

Me and my shadow

It has been one week since my new little brother, Brooklyn, joined the family. I've been working with him and we're making good progress. He's responding well to my instruction. What helps a lot is that we're both Shar Pei. While we're not the same person, we do speak the same language. When I "Woof!" he knows exactly what I'm telling him most of the time.

What is up with the nose, dude?

Nothing demonstrates the importance of clear communication better than the trouble the kitties have had with him. I thought Simone had made herself clear to him, but she hasn't been able to in any permanent way. He just doesn't get that they really, really, really don't want to play with him. That's because he doesn't speak kitty. Still and all, you'd think he'd pick up on "Yowl!", "Hisssss!", or at least a claws out swipe. Every cloud has a silver lining, though. I really think that Simone and Happy are starting to bond a little at last.

You keep a look out. I have your back. Way, way back.

The moose is definitely Brooklyn's go-to stuffie for now. 

Don't be alarmed by the choke collar. That wasn't for training. From the human point of view he hardly needs any basic training. It was on there for a couple of days so that he could be walked safely. Due to Blog Mom's injuring her leg and her already damaged foot we haven't been able to go out and get Brooklyn a proper starter wardrobe. He's still wearing his collar from the shelter, which was a little big for him and not safe for walking on the street. Any extras of mine would be too big too, not to mention too girly. He's already filled that collar out so the chain is off. Once we get all Moms functional we'll all go out and get him his own leash and a properly sized collar and harness.

As I mentioned in a previous post, he needed to take Dog Bed 101 and we were already making good progress. I think we can agree that he's  passed that course with flying colors.

Synchronized Sleeping

I had to teach him not to bug me too much. That course is still in progress but he's doing much better. It doesn't hurt that now that he's gotten used to not having to spend his time in a crate he isn't as hysterical to be active every minute. We Pei can do zoomies with the best of them, but we are not generally hyper doggies and can even enjoy vegging out at a pretty young age. He's getting there.

The best thing of all is something we didn't catch on the flashy beast. We have achieved successful play! Somehow or other Daddy helped explain what to do to Brooklyn. Daddy's still not sure how, but it looked to me like he was demonstrating a little. So, on Thursday we had an abbreviated but successful play session during my lively period. My liveliest periods of the day are when I come out of my antihistamine induced languor. It's been a ruff summer, pawple. Yesterday we had a more extended play session which was a little rambunctious for the living room,  perhaps, but it's way too hot to play outside as far as I'm concerned.

The biggest adjustment for me is dinner time. I've gotten used to taking a leisurely approach to dining. When dinner is served I decide if it meets with my approval. If it does, I still might only eat half of it and come back later for a bit here and there as the evening goes on. It keeps the humans on their toes and they're pathetically grateful on the rare occasion when I decide to just eat dinner right up. You can't really do that in a two doggy household. Luckily, I'm experienced in living in a pack that includes other dogs, and I've been a mother as well. So, I'm learning all over again to eat with an eye to the competition. That's not to say that it's not going to be a huge problem for someone when they serve me something I'm bored with. I'm also used to being a picky eater and Brooklyn certainly seems to have the potential to be the same.

Brooklyn! Don't be so eager. Make them beg you to eat it.

 As far as Brooklyn's temperament and general personality are concerned - he's very sweet. He's a bit of a big baby and the name "Brooklyn" is just ridiculous for him. If you're named Brooklyn you should be either kind of tough or very cool in a hipster kind of way. Brooklyn is neither. We considered changing it, but he seems to know it and family policy is not to mess with adopted pets' heads too much. He's not a fearful dog, but he scares a lot easier than I do. He's clingy, too. His biggest problem is who to follow when we don't all stay in the same room. He naps with one eye open so he knows if anyone tries to get away. No one really minds, though, because he's clingy in a sweet, cute way, according to the humans. He doesn't lick, though. No licky kissies, which is kind of a shame because it's an area where we Pei excel. Maybe he was trained not to. Some humans don't like doggy kisses, which I think is totally ridiculous and my humans all agree.

One worrying thing is that he has no prey instinct whatever, as far as I can see. Do you know what I saw when I looked out the upstairs window this morning? Two squirrels on the ground within  ten feet of our back door and a variety of birds all kind of hopping around and my little brother, just drifting around as though there was nothing happening that required his attention. It looked like a forest scene out of Snow White if you overlook the parched, brown grass.What is up with that? When I go out and run after a squirrel Brooklyn runs after ME!  We'll have to work on this when the weather is cooler. If he's going to be here, he's going to help me double-team those tree rats.

Let's Go Mets

I'm starting out the holiday weekend by helping the humans root for the Mets. Daddy and I like to watch the games. Well, I might sleep through some of the very long ones, but then, so does Daddy, sometimes.

Tonight my human brother is here. He's having a night off. His friend is here, too and Daddy and the Moms and we're all watching baseball. That's a pretty pawfect evening and a great start to the weekend. Plus our team is winning, at least so far. Probably because of the support they're getting from me, Lola.

Doggy Day Afternoon Fur Real Part II

I believe we left off during our water break. After some nice long drinkies I felt the need to regroup in the semi-shade on the coolish concrete. Chi felt just fine, but was willing enough to hang around while I got a second wind.

At one point in the festivities they had a breed parade and one dog of every discernable breed they could round up represented. CoCo and I were asked to represent our respective breeds. In my case, I was the only Pei on the grounds, but there were a number of Danes, so it was a bit of an honor for Cocoa. We lined up to take our turn.

There's CoCo. Great Dane represent! I was number 11. Cocoa went earlier so I was waiting on line after she did her bit.

I passed the time making conversation with even more new friends. This was just the best day ever. Did I mention that?

My star turn came out a little blurry. Sorry about that, and blame Blog Mom, as usual. She's also my personal photographer.

So here I was, just getting some shade. Shade is nice when it's 3,000 degrees out and humid. A nice lady who was working at the event decided I was overheated. Well, define "over", I guess. I was heated, but the Moms are pretty aware of a Shar Pei's needs in weather like this and were already talking about it being time to head home. In the meantime I was hydrated and in the shade, right? We just pant a lot, lady.  But the lady was worried and pretty much insisted that we take advantage of a thing they had set up just for dogs who looked like they were about to have heat stroke. So I had to do this:

Soooo unfair. I'd already had a bath that day and now they put me in a pool with ice cubes and act like they're doing me a favor. Shar Pei don't do water, people! I stayed in  for all of about 5 seconds and that was more than enough, thank you.

Around then we did head home where I had to start a napathon that lasted well into today, with food and potty breaks, of course. I did not make the horse show and neither did Blog Mom who didn't do her foot any favors at the doggy event. Alpha Mom went, of course, since Sarge was in it and he did very, very well. It would have been nice to see, but I think we made the right choice. Alpha Mom says there will absolutely be lots more horsie shows with Sarge this summer and this was the only doggiecentric event that we're aware of for some time. Horse shows are wonderful fun, and there are usually quite a few dogs in attendance, but let us face facts. Horse show are about the horsies. This was about us. The doggies. It was kind of special in that way. We are talking about my going back to school to get my degree and to be able to have a more rounded canine social life. I think it's not a bad idea and I'll probably do it.