♥ Happy Valentine's Day, Friends ♥

I woooooooove you. 

{  *wink wink* . You know who you are. . . }

Your Girl,

~Abby ♥

The Dog's Rules of Christmas

(I haven't a clue why there is a red background. Dumb human inventions.)

I did read the Dog Rules for Christmas at the beginning of the month. I guess I should have paid closer attention to Rule #3, if I had I might not have been as shocked and in denial when my humans did this to me today:

First I tried to squeeze my eyes as tightly shut as I could, because as we all know, if you can't see it, it's not there. Also, if I can't see them (the humans),  they can't see me, am I right? 

(well, of course I am. What a silly question, I am always right.)

Then I tried my best to not look cute. Above is my best attempt at my Lets-not-look-cute face. As we have previously discussed, I am so adorable that it's a bit hard for me to stifle it. 

I finally gave in, because unfortunately, the human girl wasn't giving up so I figured my denial stage was only prolonging the torture. 

And thus, in order to spare you some, well. . . issues this holiday season, here furry friends is your list of rules (with my own advice added in):

1. Be especially patient with your humans during this time. They may appear to be more stressed-out than usual and they will appreciate long comforting dog leans. (If they don't, make them appreciate it. Be persistent! Shove your wet nose at them!)

2. They may come home with large bags of things they call gifts. Do not assume that all the gifts are yours. (But just to be sure, stick your nose in all packages. You just never know. Vigilance!)

3. Be tolerant if your humans put decorations on you. They seem to get some special kind of pleasure out of seeing how you look with fake antlers. (Which is silly, really. We look amazing either way. Don't they know by now?)

4. They may bring a large tree into the house and set it up in a prominent place and cover it with lights and decorations. Bizarre as this may seem to you, it is an important ritual for your humans, so there are some things you need to know:

a. Don't pee on the tree (Personally, this has never really tempted me, so . . . good luck resisting the urges, you're on your own.)

b. Don't drink water in the container that holds the tree (I can't reach it anyway.)

c. Mind your tail when you are near the tree (This holds true throughout the year around any greenery in the house. Humans can get a little miffed when you knock over plants and get dirt everywhere.)

d. If there are packages under the tree, even ones that smell interesting or that have your name on them, don't rip them open (. . . Whoops. . . guilty as charged. I guess I should have looked at this list before this year. . .)

e. Don't chew on the cord that runs from the funny-looking hole in the wall to the tree (Come on now, we're intelligent animals.)

5. Your humans may occasionally invite lots of strangers to come visit during this season. These parties can be lots of fun, but they also call for some discretion on your part:
a. Not all strangers appreciate kisses and leans (Kissing? A human? Who do you think I am?!)

b. Don't eat off the buffet table (No comment.)

c. Beg for goodies subtly (This are daily life skill.)

d. Be pleasant, even if unknowing strangers sit on your sofa

e. Don't drink out of glasses that are left within your reach

6. Likewise, your humans may take you visiting. Here your manners will also be important:

a. Observe all the rules in #4 for trees that may be in other people's houses. (4a is particularly important)

b. Respect the territory of other animals that may live in the house 

c. Tolerate children (Use discretion when jumping on humans. Only listen to the humans reprimands when the human you are jumping on is small enough to be toppled over. Otherwise, have at it, it builds character.)

d. Turn on your charm big time

7. A big man with a white beard and a very loud laugh may emerge from your fireplace in the middle of the night.
DON'T BITE HIM!! (That's right--run the other way!)

Merry Christmas pups! Good luck in this crazy season! See you in the New Year.

My Retired Life

Hey there furry friends! (Or hairy, in my case)

I turned seventy-seven in dog years this year!

 I still look pretty dashing. I know this because I have modeling agencies still trying to contact me. Unfortunately, I like to lead a quiet life and turn the majority of them down. 

I am featured on our town newspaper on an ad though; I like to help out every now and then, out of the good of my heart, so I allowed them the picture:

This is my 'thinker' expression ^^^^

 These shots were taken a couple days ago.  The paparazzi was following me-yet again- *sigh*. Ah well. I suppose it's just hard to resist my obvious beauty and adorableness. I've decided not to press charges, as long as said-paparazzi continues to feed me and give me treats-and allow me to sleep on her bed. 

I've been leading a quiet retired life. I gobble my senior chow with vivacity most days. I help do the pre-rinse of the baking bowls every few days, and my most recent part-time job is that of chicken herder. I am a Shepherd after all. Those birds need some guidance sometimes, at least I'm under the impression. My humans disagree, but since when do they know what's best anyway? 

Hope you're all doing well and getting into the human food as best you can, 

Love,

♥Abby

Cold, White Stuff

Good evening my dearest canine friends!
I'm back by popular demand...for the evening anyway.
I was truly touched by the few who said they were glad I posted!
And so I'm here to tell you of my dreary recent days.

Yesterday there were murmurs from the humans about a big weather-related event. Apparently there was going to be lots of that white wet stuff falling from the sky; lots and lots. Just before it came time for me to beg for human food while they ingested the good stuff, the ringing black box sounded and it was that educational place my human sister goes to. They said she wouldn't have to come the next day (or today, for those of us who haven't made that connection).

Well. I may be just a dog, but the way they made it sound, there wasn't just supposed to be tons of the white stuff, there was going to be tons, upon tons, upon tons. But that didn't happen. We got enough to cover my paws when I walk outside, and that was all.
I'm not disappointed. We already had enough to go up to my belly, I can't walk in it any deeper! And as long as there's enough for me to roll around in, I'm satisfied.

My sister took pictures of me and the other dog the other day, and she made some perty collages. Here is I. And here is also the other dog, Sasha.

That directly above is us ruling the human girl's bed. As it should be.

Lately I have been playing ball with the human girl. She hides my ball from the other dog, because that dog is a BALL DESTROYER! So the other dog has been gone for about a week now (but will return soon, I fear) so the girl has been playing with me. Which always goes well until she inevitably throws the ball at me. She claims it's my fault I get in the way; I claim I'm obviously just trying to get in the game and she should be reading my mind, am I right?
Sheesh. Humans.

Otherwise, I've been doing well. I helped myself to a box of 6 mini croissants the other day, and succeeded in getting a mini meal too after many hours of begging.

Stay warm doggies! And beware; humans are not actually very good at predicting weather.

Much love,
Abby

The Annual "I'm Still Alive" Post

Hello blogger pups! Abby here!
I know it's been over a year now since I last posted. I just wanted to check in with y'all and say--I'm still doing great!
My humans tell me I've gotten a little more gray around the edges, but otherwise, there's nothing new to really report with me.
The picture collage above is of me a couple weeks before Christmas. I was snoozin' and the silly human girl had to put flashing box in my face. Yes, she still confuzzles me.
Sasha the annoying dog-who-is-still-considered-a-puppy lives in our house often. I've gotten used to her; she's kinda fun. She certainly steals attention from me, but that's alright, I'm old, I get it.
The humans speak ill of me at times. They say I get senile as I age and that I don't respect rules anymore...rules such as don't eat the batch of cookies on the counter, no going in the basement, don't make yourself at home on the girl's bed, don't go upstairs to eat the tootsie rolls out of the litter box.
Well. They probably do have a point, I do all that stuff...but you know, what's there to live for otherwise?
Alright I admit I don't get tootsie rolls anymore. They bought a baby gate. Come on! I'm 77 in dog years!
Sheesh. They'll be the end of me. But I still love 'em.

Hope you're all doing well puppers. Hopefully I can publish another post next year about how I'm doin'. By then I'll probably need mother goose glasses though.

Love to you all,
~Abby

I'M STILL ALIVE!

Hello, pups!
LONG time no-post!
It's almost been a year!

Don't get too excited; I'm pretty sure I'm not coming back to blogging for good....I just thought I'd drop in to let you know that I'm still living :P!
I've been doing good...I'm turning a little gray around the edges, but I'm still mischevious.
Why, just tonight I stole half a coffee cake off the counter while the humans were out of the house and ate it.
And for good measure, I ate 1/2 a cup of my food that was on the counter.

I have no shame.

________________________________________
In spring I got allergies again, and lost the hair on my ears and it was terrible....but now I get fish oil pills wrapped in salami a lot, and that helps me. My ears are all soft again.

I play with my human brother's dog a lot. Sasha; she stayed with us for 3 weeks in August. She's fun to play with; I only get a little jealous of her sharing half my bed.

I'm all decked out for Halloween; see my color? And my bandanna? That was from the groomers last week. I came back smelling like coconut.

Well...I hope all you doggies are doing ok! I love ya all :).

Tagged!

So...I was tagged...and I didn't even notice(I'm a LITTLE slow, all right?!!!)...and then I was tagged again...and that time I DID notice. So here is my tag.

I was first tagged by Dunja and then Markus.

Now here's the instructions:

1. Open the sixth folder of pictures on your computer
2. Pick the sixth picture in the folder
3. Post it
4. tell about it
5. tag others.
   

Well, I use the same computer as my human sis, and she already did this post, so I couldn't POSSIBLY use the same picture, so I did it kinda back words....I opened the sixth folder from the bottom of the list, and picked the sixth picture from the end in the folder....so this is what I came up with.

It is my sister. On a short little horse.

She rides horses.

She thinks they are cool. And she puts up with all of them. Personally, if I was a human (don't worry...I'm purely dog) I would not ever go near a horse. Because their brains are teeny. Compared to mine, anyway, and they don't deserve my presence.

But that is just my personal opinion.
But admit it-
It's a good opinion.

Anyway, she rode that horse. It's name was Sarina. It reared a few times, but she said it was ok.
When I rear, my humans call it jumping up, and I'm not allowed to do it.

I think it's the same with horses. But that horse up there jumped up ANYWAY.

That proves it.

That horse wasn't supposed to jump, but it did, proving it's brain is smaller then mine, because it should have seen a good smack coming with the crop before it came.

Silly, ignorant pony.

So that is my tag.
I will now tag my love, Ben, and I don't have time to pick out more pups, so if you read this, consider yourself tagged.

Abby, over and up.

Just a Picture-Post