Mopey

Lady says I am mopey today. I can't tell her why. I refused the carrot she offered me, even with my favorite- ranch dip. I refused the couscous. I won't eat my dog chow. I did however, get enthusiastic about the treats Lindsey brought me last night!

I don't like the new step stools Lady bought for me. She put them at the end of the bed to help me get up and down. If she helps me, I'll go up, but I do not like down. She may get another step.

I got busted for jumping on the sofa and chairs while Lady and Jerry are out. I left evidence. I knocked off the pillows and couldn't put them back, plus I left what Lady refers to as "wee wee juice." So I leak. I am a male. Problem is, the furniture isn't ours.

I've been busy chasing a fly. I'll eat when I get hungry. I'm holding out for good stuff.

Well, it's time to take Lady out for her afternoon walk. There are tires to mark, and bushes to sniff, so catch you later!

Past My Bedtime!

Lady kept me up way past my bedtime. Two human friends came for dinner and World Cup. I have my place on the sofa to sit with my Lady. She'd jump up, so I'd hop down off the sofa (using my stool of course, so as not to hurt myself). Then, just as quickly she would sit down again. So, I'd use my stool and get back up beside her. Isn't she EVER going to bed? We had already watched one game, and now it was WAY past my bedtime when the second game started. Up and down, up and down, up and down. Enough to wear a little guy out! When they went into overtime, I let her know she needed to go out. So, out we went. Oh my the yelling! While we were out, the other team scored! We could hear our friends from the street. Well, they were a sad bunch after that. I'm Chinese, but my Lady is American, so I guess I am for USA. I have an American flag on my raincoat. Well, maybe it won't go so late tonight. A little dog needs his rest.

Afternoon Walk

This morning, I had to wear my raincoat because it had just stopped raining. I have a tendency to get quite muddy due to being so low to the ground. But the sun came out before time to take Lady out for her afternoon walk. Thought you might like to see some of what I see, or don't see. Street dogs were plentiful in my last two cities in India. In my last neighborhood, we always ran into five or six other house dogs taking their humans for a walk. We've seen one. I get a lot of looks. And the kids walk on the other side of the road. Our lane is very narrow, as are all the lanes. Not much room when a car comes. Lady says I am not "car smart." She has me in a harness for a reason. She has to yank me out of the way. On our lane, there are lots of good smells and stuff to sniff and mark. It takes awhile. We have colorful, fancy gates on our lane. Thought you might like to see some. Ours is ordinary.Sooo many tires to choose from!

Almost all of the homes on our lane have gates.


Treat! Chappatti! Worth jumping for, although i am not supposed to jump up any more on account of my back issues.

Rain Rain Go Away

Even though I was sporting my raincoat, I would have no part of going out in the rain. Lady tried three times, but until it slowed to barely a drizzle, I would not budge from our driveway. What? Don't you think I have enough sense to get in out of the rain? I will hold it, thank you. And I did. Lady said I could poop on the balcony but, no thanks. I just waited. Finally it slowed down for a few minutes and out I went. This morning, it was just drizzling so I agreed to take Lady for a walk, and it is a good thing! Just an hour later (at 8:00 am), the skies opened up again and the sun didn't reappear until after 3:00 pm!

I stayed in with Lady today after our walk. She said she was spending time with God and me. I know what to do. I just lay my head on her tummy and be quiet. It was quite chilly so I kept her warm. Ha! Far cry from our last city!

A Rainy Day

Let's go already!

It's raining, but I am prepared. Lady has to use an umbrella but I can't manage them that well. I wear a coat. Lady says it is mostly to keep me from getting so muddy because I am so low to the ground. I must admit, I didn't want to stay out in the rain too long. I took care of business and headed for the gate. These are the pre-monsoon rains. At least there was no thunder or lightning today!

Life in my New 'Hood

This my balcony. I spend a lot of time out there checking things out. We live up over 6,000 feet in the Himalayas, so it is usually nice outside. The monsoons haven't started yet, but we get some storms in the evenings. They cool things off.
I am playing my favorite game with friend who came to see me. I love tug-o-war, and I am very good.
I was out on my balcony when i heard a lot of music and drums. We went to investigate. It was a pre-wedding ceremony with a band.
We enjoyed the music and dancing. They invited us to dance, too.
I like dancing but it was a bit too loud for my ears! We were invited in for snacks and tea but we declined. Our friends went though, and said it was fun. They have all these traditions that they do before a Hindu wedding.

Company

We have had a houseful! Auntie Carol arrived Monday to come stay with us while she gets better. She had to get out of the heat of her city. Two of Gerry's friends arrived Wednesday morning from the farm where Gerry grew up. Lots of people means lots of food! Gerry's friends are Indian and they eat MEAT! Lady doesn't, you know. They all like me.

Our house has been decorated with lots of white lights! Our landlord's son got married! Lady went to the reception last night. I met a lot of new people. So many humans going up and down our stairwell! I liked watching the bride and groom's car with all the flowers stuck to it. Oh, you should have seen all the beautifully dressed humans! Lady said they were every colorful! She came home really late, but still I took her out for a walk. I had been waiting up far past my bedtime. A little black dog needs his rest. But, Lady needs her exercise, so I took her out.

I got scolded for jumping off the bed today. I am not allowed. It is bad for my back. I forget. We don't have a vet here yet, so Lady says I can't get hurt! It took a lot of time and a lot of injections and vitamins for my back to get better. Lady doesn't want me to hurt myself again. She loves me that way.

More Photos of my Home

Here are some photos taken around our place. What do you think?This is Gerry, who is helping us for a couple of weeks. She worked for the family who lived here before us.

This is my building. I live on the first floor -not the ground floor. See my balcony with the black wrought iron? One is the living room and one is my bedroom.

My New Home

These are photos from inside my new home. The furniture isn't ours and will change in November. But, we get to keep the blue rug! Yippee!This is the guest room.

This is our room.

I love the blue rug in my living room!

This is our dining table.

This is a pooped me after my long journey, on my rug in front of the balcony doors.

More Photos of Trip

Be sure to read the post before this one!

We saw lots of these funny-looking creatures!
We stopped by here so Lady could go in a clean potty. I just waited with Ronald.
The driver kept me company.
These gondolas look interesting!
We saw so many chicken farms! Building after building after building!!!

Made it Safely to Our New Home!

In India, you don't move, you shift. You do not go out of town, you go out of station. We'll we shifted to a hill station today -the Himalayas that is! We left at 3:30 am so this little black dog would get so hot. Lady wanted me to pee before I got in the car, but I was so excited I just wanted to get in the car and go! We had an anything but boring ten hour trip. We made several stops. For starters, we had to sit in the front seat -together- and there was no working safety belt. Lady was not happy about that! We did have AC. The moon was full so it wasn't too dark. When we got to our new state, the driver had to pay tolls and taxes. It took an hour to get through that town! We passed all kinds of wild life, including an abundance of monkeys. The road was really windy, but I don't get motion sick. Lady says I am a good traveler. She brought my new blue Scooby Doo. I chewed his tongue and ear off. She brought my yellow dish, and some chicken sausage. Yum! For breakfast we shared a potato parantha. It's like a stuffed spicy pancake, but greasier. We finally arrived at 2:00 PM. I was so ready to get out and explore. I checked every room. My rug is here, my dishes are here, my blankie is here, my toys are here, and Lady is here. Must be home.

Here are some photos of my trip. I will post photos of my new home tomorrow. Lady is pooped.

Beauty along the way.
Ya never know what you'll see heading down the road!
This is our taxi. We refilled the car and my water dish, and un-filled me.
Taking care of business and checking out the scenery.
Storing the livestock food. We saw lots of these.

My House Looks Bare

Suitcases are out again. I know what that means. We're going somewhere. I am relieved to see my stuff AND lady's stuff getting packed. She even stocked up on my expensive dog food. She packed all my clothes, blankets, towels, mats, and most of my toys. She left my new blue Scooby Doo out for me. She took everything off our walls. She says we're moving to the mountains. Yippee! I was born in the mountains. This lower elevation living is for the birds, who can fly away! I am so hot. I get my exercise by panting. Lady says we're leaving this city at 3:00 am because it will be cooler for me, and hopefully we will avoid heavy traffic in a big city we have to go through. We're hiring a car because it is too hot for little black dogs to travel in cargo on a train, and the airlines that flies there doesn't seem to take little dogs. Anyway, that is too expensive. I have flown enough. I love car travel. I don't get motion sick. Well, so far anyway.

Lady says it will take us all day. We'll be there in the late afternoon. The high temperature there is 28 degrees cooler today than the high here!

Mountains, here I come!

Party Photos

Here are some photos of my party. Be sure to check the previous two posts for more photos and the story!

I ran and ate Peyton's treat first, so he won this game!
My new Scooby.
Who can make me sing by blowing the horn?
Pin the tag on the dog!
We had lots of good food at my party. I couldn't have soda or chocolate but I had everything else! Lady prepared my favorites. Pizza! Yum!

More Party Photos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I had such a fun party! We had lasagna, pizza, green beans, carrot sticks, golden bars, all kinds of nuts, and I had chicken sausage! Every year I play a game with my guests. They choose a treat they think I will like the best and they all line up. Lady holds me back until they are ready. Whichever treat I eat first, that human gets a prize! I try to grab as many of the treats as I can. Peyton won this game. Peyton and Tom challenged me to a drinking contest! They got down on all fours and raced me to see who could lap up their water the fastest. Tom won! He beat me! I was very busy chasing bones when they played the bone toss. I managed to grab quite a few. I won the "hot dog" game. It's played like hot potato only they passed around my new blue Scooby Doo. I intercepted it a few times! Eventually Rachel won. Rachel's daddy won the Pin the Tag on the Dog game. Lady wrote a quiz about me and Auntie Nelly won! She reads my blog so she knew all the answers -well, most anyway. Peyton and Hannah made me the coolest gifts! I have my own treat jar with my picture on it. They made my treats from scratch. Even Lady thinks they're yummy, but I reminded her whose picture is on the jar. They also made me a mat for my dishes, and they decorated towels for me. I had fun opening my gifts.

Lady says I am as fat as a tick! I didn't eat all day saving room for tonight so I could sample everything. My cake was a peanut butter carrot cake.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I had a great day. I hope you enjoy my photos.

Busted Again

Lady has had a bad morning. She got some sad news that made her cry before school. She left for school and I was naughty. I'm a dog, what can I say? I got in the garbage again and spread it all over the dining room. I know how to mash on the pedal and open the can, then I just jump up and tip it over! Lady scolded me. I knew I was busted, so I hid under the dining table. After a minute, all is forgiven, and we had veggie burgers and fries for lunch. She loves me.

Hot

Did I tell you it is hot in this city? As a matter of fact, this is the hottest of the four cities I have lived in. I do better in the higher elevations. I was born at over six thousand feet. My next city will be back in the mountains, according to Lady. Sounds good to me. If you check my archives, you'll see photos from mountains and rice paddies. Even my last city in India was over two thousand feet. This city is HOT. I had to pee, so I asked to go out earlier than usual. I am drinking a lot of water you know. It was SO hot I was worn out after just a small block. I met a cute lhasa apsa though. She was hot and I don't mean temperature. She may be a bit young for me. We tangled our leashes -it was fun. But, I was ready to be carried up the stairs and lie on the cool marble floors. Didn't even wait for my harness to be released!

There was supposed to be an auto rickshaw strike today, but there were autos this morning. The petrol bunks (gas stations) were also on strike. Guess the auto drivers changed their minds. A friend picked Lady up and gave her a ride to language school. But she was able to get an auto rickshaw home.

Normally, I sleep UNDER the covers, but not here! I sleep on top of the sheet! Yep, it is hot! It's 112! How about where you are? Let me hear from you, okay? You can email me, too!

Adoption Day Party is Coming!

Lady and I are planning my annual party. She doesn't know exactly when my birthday is, so we always celebrate on the day she adopted me, May 20. Last year, my party was delayed because I got bit by a big black bully. I had a great party at the M family's home. The kids made me a birthday cake and dog treats. They got the recipes online. You wouldn't believe how many recipes for dogs are available, and lots of party ideas! Lady had brought the decorations from her country. We always have a pin the tag on Me game, but it is in my last city. So, we're preparing new games.

Who comes to my party? My friends. Last year, Millie and Max hosted me. They are wire-haired wienie dogs. But usually, just my human friends come. Why? Well, Lady says I don't play well with the boys, and I won't leave the girls alone.

This year we are celebrating my ninth birthday and our sixth year together. We are having my party next Friday on the 21st so we can also watch American Idol. My human friends Rachel and Ethan and their mom and dad are coming! I love my parties because I get good stuff! Lady prepares a lot of the foods I like so I can sample everything. She found some Blues Clues decorations for me, but we've never scene Blues Clues. She just likes the decorations.

I'll dress up for my party and be the perfect host. I have had lots of parties over the years, for all different occasions. I am very well-behaved and take care of my guests, giving them lots of attention. I can't wait until my party!

It is still super hot here, over 110 degrees. Lady and I both had showers today to cool off. We wait until the sun goes down to walk but it is still hot. I lie on the cool marble floor under the fan!

Doorbells

Lady hates our doorbell. I don't why. Okay, maybe I do. Maybe it is because I get very noisy when the doorbell rings. And it rings everyday. The old lady vegetable wallah (peddler) rings the doorbell and then sits on the step. She practically begs Lady to buy her veggies. Lady has bought from her, but the last potatoes and tomatoes she bought from this old lady went bad really really fast. Lady speaks to her for a bit, then has to close the door. Lady learned how to say "don't want any today," in the local language, but the old lady just keeps trying. Oh, and two other vegetable wallahs and fruit wallahs come by everyday to get lady to buy from them. And they ring the doorbell. And I let her know someone is there. Then there's the garbage collector. I REALLY get loud when he rings the bell, because he doesn't ring just once.

Then, there's the mail carrier. He rings and steps down on the lower step.

Then there are the neighbors who try to turn on the light but hit our doorbell instead.

When Lady says "no bark," I shut up. But I usually get in a few good scares before she does!

No, Lady does not like the doorbell.

By the way, for those of you who have asked, I am feeling much better. I haven't cried in a week. I don't cry when Lady touches my back. I don't cry when she puts me down. I don't cry in the mornings when I stretch. She is quite relieved. It upsets her when I cry. I've got good drugs.

I finished up getting the last of my annual shots today. I'm covered! Lady says we're shifting to another city in a couple of weeks. We'll have to try to find another vet. Oh, boy.

Pin Cushion

That's what I feel like...a pin cushion. Three shots three days in a row. But ya know what? I feel better after the shots. I'm having a hard time being comfortable. I don't really like to stay still for the heating pad, but it's doctor's orders.

We had four carnivores over for dinner last night. Lady made a bunch of vegetarian dishes but she also fried up some chicken franks for us carnivores. I got my own frank PLUS leftovers! I hot pay dirt! The humans were really nice to me and scratched me a lot. Lady says we will see them in our next city. Some other folks are coming to visit me tonight to watch American Idol. I don't really care too much. Lady likes Crystal. Lady and I watched "Underdog" the other night. I liked that.

It's really hot. I like lying on the marble floor.

I scared a guy who came to our door today. So he bolted us in! Then he tried to give Lady his card so she'd use him as an electrician. When she tried to open our steel screened door to get the card she discovered he had bolted it and he opened it. Lady was so mad! He said it was because of me that he had bolted it. She gave him back his card and told him she didn't want to do business with him! If someone bolts us in we're kinda stuck. It's scary. Lady's going to put a lock on the bolt so it can't happen again.