BETTY GETS A HOME

First and Most important is this
BETTY Found a Home.
It is a wonderful home and we hope and pray that it works out for Betty. They came by Sunday and met Betty and everybody fell in love with everybody. The littlest member of the family was, in my opinion, just about the cutest little girl ever. Well except for Callie and our newest family member Adelaide….

Her name is Chloe and Betty was so gentle and loving with Chloe. Even better than I am with children. It is like Betty has a Mothers instinct with small children and she and Chloe became instant friends.

So everyone keep good thoughts in your hearts for Betty and her new family as well as all of her puppies and their new homes.

Now for the, Bad? News………(I say it that way because I am not sure if it is bad news or just crazy days for Bert news)

SHE’S BAACCKK!!!!Yep, Vickie had warned me that it would be a possibility, but days have gone by and no Vegas. I was just getting comfortable with the idea that she might not have wanted to come back here. Just feeling sure that I would be able to lie down safely in my bed and not be mounted like a pony or face slammed by this slobbering barrel of power and enthusiasm.

But Friday morning bright and early, who comes to the gate but VEGAS……”LET ME IN” she bellowed. My heart sunk at first, then I was a little excited cause she does play a lot, and then it sunk in again when I saw the long tendril of slobber hanging from her big ole jowls as she came through the gate.

I could tell right then and there that I was in for a rough rough day. Now I can't make you understand what I go through but I can show you. Check out the videos below.

I Was still a little tired from Buddies visit the day before. He gives me a run for my money too but at least he doesn’t drool all over my beautiful silky coat like Vegas does.

He has a droopy face kind of like mine and big long ears but he is low on saliva. He isn’t as fast as me, I figure that is because he has short little squatty legs and a long thick body.

We played for a long time Thursday and I was feeling pretty content to just be able to lay around on Friday, that is until I saw IT.

Don’t get me wrong, I find Vegas to be an interesting looking type of gal. Yes, she is a little on the stalky side but in her own curious way, if you look hard enough, she could be considered reletaivley nice looking. I mean you would really have to look hard though.....But of course, looks arent everything.....or so Vickie keeps telling meAustin and Cory came by Saturday to see if I wanted to go for a hike with them. I am always happy to do stuff with the Kelly's. Do of course I figured, Yeh, I wanna go for a hike, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to go for a hike. It was a beautiful day Saturday. The sun was out, it was about 30 degrees and I figured most of the trails would be packed down now so yeh, I wanted to go for a hike.

What I didn’t notice, until it was too late, was the two pair of snow shoes they had in the back of their car. Well, even if I had noticed them, I wouldn’t have known what they were for cause Vickie and I had never used them before.

OH MY GOSH…Do you know what it means when a guy has snow shoes? It means, you’re walking along this really nice packed trail up in the mountains, just enjoying the heck out of the day, and then the human brain of a guy goes…..”Hey look over there, there is an area of untouched snow going up the mountain side. I need to go there, I need to be the first to be there…..I must put on these snowshoes and trek my way through the four foot deep snow to the top of the hill.” That’s what the human guy brain thinks….and that is just what we did.

Up and down and in and out of trees, mountains, deep deep snow and the cold ice covered creek. It was cold and hard and WONDERFUL……wonderful wonderful wonderful……Austin and Cory…..You Rock…….

I was so trashed when I got home, that it took all I had to lift my head and eat my dinner and you know what???? I’d do it all over again tomorrow if you asked me.

Wowy Zowy, my life is GGGRRREEEAAATTTTTTT

This is a very interesting family that I have been lucky enough to join. Of course they are all dog lovers to some degree but some of them have gone over the fence and into a whole other realm….

Vickie’s Sister Bonnie not only loves dogs to but she also loves her iguana Jimmy and her goats Jasmine and Jasper.

Yesterday she comes driving up to the house on her way to the vets with Jasper happily sitting in the back seat like he was a member of the family. Which he is, it is just that he is a goat.

I never figured a goat would get treated so fine, but there you have it…….

KC and Scrappy have become fast friends and Scrappy is really going to miss KC when he goes back home. I can give or take KC. I mean, he is cute and all, but he is just a little too foofoo for me.

So it is off to bed for me. The house seems a little empty without Betty here, but Vickie says it is a good thing for Betty so I'll send a little prayer upstairs for her happiness. Nite all

Love

Bert

Allred, Betty, Bert, Cheerleaders and Mrs. Andersons Class

Becky and Bonnie came over to visit the other day. Poor Betty is missing her little baby Shilo who found a new home last week. But she was feeling a lot better after their visit. Becky just sat and cuddled and petted sweet Betty for about an hour. I know it must be hard for Betty to loose all those little babies, but hopefully we will get her into a new home soon where she feels like she belongs to.

It was Vickies birthday last week and her neice and family sent this really cool birthday present. Now everyone knows that Vickie is soooo not a cook, but I think it is time she tried reaching out and trying new things. Like baking dog bone doggy cookies. I have several ideas of things that would make a tasty doggy cookie and now that we have the bone shaped baking pan, well, it would just be wrong for her not to TRY to make use of it.

Oh Elizabeth, Brian, Callie and Scott, this is going to be more like a Birthday present to me…..I am so excited to try her first, second and third attempt at cooking. I sure hope she has figured out how to work the oven…..

Vickie got in a cleaning mood last week and was cleaning the back storage room which is the room that Allred the new kitty had taken up residency in. We don’t see much of the old guy accept for morning when it is time for breakfast.

He can make a lot of noise when he wants something like his morning supply of meaty goodies. He makes more of a racket than KC does. Meow MEOW MMEEOOWW.

Anyways, Vickie goes in to rearrange and clean Allreds room for him. She sweeps and mops the floor and stairs, she gets rid of stuff that she should have removed a year ago, then she starts stacking the closet with things like games and boots and luggage from the trip she never got to take.

About an hour later she came out with a big satisfied grin on her face telling me about “a job well done”.

The next two days fly by….of course that was Friday and Saturday of last week and if you read the blog before this you know that those were amazing days for me. I guess we were so busy having fun that we didn’t notice that Allred had not asked for his breakfast for two days in a row.

When we finally thought about it we all just decided that Allred had gotten out my doggy door and went back to where ever he came from. Vickie was a little concerned but not so much as she was too upset. I, on the other hand was quite pleased with the idea that Allred had moved on…….He didn’t much like me….

But by Sunday morning, with a huge storm making its way to Ogden, Vickie started to wonder if Allred was truly ok. She looked all over the neighborhood. Calling his name and asking her friends if they had seen him. No luck….

Then Sunday night, Vickie just jumped up out of bed and dashed into Allreds room. I thought she was crazy. I figured we had an intruder or maybe she was walking in her sleep……AGAIN…..

It was such a surprising move that everyone else in the house got up and started following her into the room. She was calling Allred…..”Allred, kitty kitty” “Come on Allred, where are you? Kitty Kitty Kitty”

For some reason, only known to Vickie, she went straight to the closet, calling Allred over and over. When she opened the closet door, she stopped. It was a pretty intense moment as we all stood there with her Listening. Listening to nothing. “Kitty Kitty Kitty” she called. Still nothing.

“Come on Allred, Kitty Kitty Kitty” Stillness…Quiet…..

Then from the far back of the closet we hear this tiny little muffled “meow”

Vickie started throwing stuff out of the closet, Shoes, Boots, boxes, and finally her big purple luggage case for the trip she never got to take……

“Meow, Meow” the suppressed hush of a tiny little voice, weakly called out.

Something was inside the big purple bag…..We all stood looking down at the bag as Vickie unzipped the possible tomb of Allred.

Boy what a great surprise for us all as it opened up and Allred jumped out. He headed straight to Vickie, gave her a sweet little thank you meow (I guess he didn’t realize that Vickie was the one who locked him in there in the first place) rubbed his neck up against my leg, then headed upstairs to the bathroom facilities and a big bowl of water.

Morel of the story is…..cats just never go away on their own……dang it, I guess he really is here to stay….

We did another demo at a school again this week. It was at West Point Junior High. We got there a little early so we were all just standing around out in the halls. Annie and Muppet came along again and it was killing me that we couldn’t play. We were all three firmly leashed to our buddies, Vickie, De and Azure.

Now I am not used to being too confined, as Vickie has always kind of let me loose to greet the children as I choose, but she got some burr up her side and decided that I was going to be more controlled from now on. Not my choice, I can tell you.

So we were standing out there in the hall and I was looking all around wishin I could check this place out. You see it was a great big open room with kids coming and going to an from classrooms and the gym. Vickie said there was a basketball game going on in the big room she called a gym and that I was not NOT NOT to go over there.

But you see there were these really cute girls laughing and having fun at the big rooms door. They were all dressed in the same clothes and they were soooooo looking my way. I did my best to keep their attention by stretching to the end of my hand leash. I did the “Bow” and the “Hand shake” in their direction and I could tell that they just wanted to come and pet me and love on me.

Then suddenly, I guess they decided they were going to take a chance, and started walking towards us. They were lookin at me and I knew, just knew that if Vickie would let me go, I could win their hearts with a simple swaggering stroll and a quick face lick to each one.

I don’t know what made her do it, but Vickie did let me go….I mean, she just dropped that hand leash and said “Ok Bert, go ahead and say hi to the Cheerleaders”

Well I excitedly jumped up from my sitting position and headed straight thru the crowd of kids and up to MY CHEERLEADERS. Now I am not sure what a Cheerleader is, all I know is that they were there for me…..all for me.

We spent a few minutes visiting and getting acquainted as well as posing for pictures for Vickie, then the girls had to leave and go cheer. They were so fun…..I want more cheerleaders…..

It was time now to go to the room where we were going to do our demonstration. Now I know that it is important for Vickie to speak to everyone. She is a teacher of sorts on how to stay safe in the wilderness but OH MY GOODNESS, after the 100th time, her whole talking thing can get a little boring.

She was all about making me sit down at her feet while she talked instead of the usual, letting me wander around. This was supposed to be for my good….helping me be more controlled….a better dog….yahda yahda yahda.

I WAS SO BORED…BORING….How long is this going to go on.

Oh My Heck…..STOP VICKIE STOP

PLEASE STOP….I need to get up……I need to stretch PLEASE someone shut her up…..

Finally it was over…..Something that I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen.
And when she was finally FINALLY through, it was my turn again. I love this part.

One of the students gets to hide and I get to find them. This was a bit tough for me this time, but I came through with flying colors. See, they hid this girl inside a closed cupboard.

When I started to look for her (after I smelled and slobbered all over her sock) I went right to the side of the room where I smelled her but I just couldn’t find her. I walked up and down the row of cupboards, stood up and smelled in the sinks and back down again, smelling along the floor.

I could smell her, I just couldn’t find her. Finally I came to the cupboard that smelled the strongest of her and I just scratched on the door with my paw. Vickie opened the door immediately and out popped my lost girl. It was great. Everyone clapped for me and then I got to play with a new toy that they gave to me.

Vickie was very proud of how I worked….So was I. I could feel that I was doing a really good job.

After we were all done, Vickie De and Azure took us outside to play. Poor Muppet was immediately attacked by this big white bear.....ha ha it is really Annie...but Muppet was always getting run over, rolled over and tripped up by Annie and me as we ran and played.

But he never complained and he always came back for more. He is a real good sport.

All in all, it was a pretty fun day and I wanna thank all the kids at West Point Junior High who made us feel so welcome. I love kids.......I really love em........

Love

Bert

Good News, Great Day, Happy Dog

Well, it has finally happened and Vickie says it is because of all of you guys who read my blog. Yep, Sweet Shilo had found a Forever Home. Uh huh, some special friends passed the word along to a really nice family that Shilo needed a wonderful home and “BOOM” she got one.

She has a big brother, I didn’t’ get to meet him, but I saw him thru the fence and he seemed, well, pretty darned ok. He is a little older than me and is a very handsome boxer. He told me that he would take over for me and make sure that Shilo was well taken care of.

It was kind of hard to let her go, but Vickie said that she would be much happier with a family that was all her own. So I said good bye and off they drove. I wonder if I will ever see her again.

Vickie also invited a friend of hers from years ago to come and meet Tristy and Betty. She has a little grandson, (I love grandsons) that they were trying to find the perfect companion for.

Well I met him and he was quite a fun little boy. He had the most delicious laugh and he talked to me and kissed me and played with me for an hour.

Tristy showed him how patient she was and Betty let him grab her head and pull her to him and hug her. Vickie was helping her friend so that they would know what kind of dog they should be looking for.

However, Vickie said that Tristy was too old and well, Betty is a pit bull…..and even though she is the sweetest pit bull in the world, Vickie wasn’t comfortable with Betty living with small children.

Betty was pretty sad about that, but I think she got over it pretty fast when she realized that now that Shilo was gone, she got to come into the house.

Here I thought I was gonna get the lazy boy back. It quickly became clear to me that Betty was going to take up residency in it. Man, it is good that I am a gentleman….

And that brings me to another thing I want to discuss. I am not exactly sure what happened but over the last few weeks, I have found that I have become so calm and relaxed with the world around me. Sometimes I find myself just lying in the snow gazing up at the sky or watching the little birdies fly by. What is this?

I mean, how come all of a sudden I am what Vickie calls, “An Adult”.

I heard her telling my friend Kathy that she thinks that I have “matured” in the last few weeks. Is that was this serene tranquil feeling is. I am so content with my life, so at ease… It is almost spiritual….(OK that is Vickies word, not mine)

Truth is, I don’t think I have matured, I just think that between my two families and all the activities I have been able to enjoy, I am just plain tired.

For example, Thursday of last week, I spent up in the mountains with a hundred kids at my disposal as well as getting to play all day with Annie and Muppet.

Friday I got a new friend who came to spend the day. Her name is Vegas. Oh my, she is a fireball. And what a pile of slobber. I mean, that girl looses more liquid from her mouth than a stream during a flood. I was so wet. And she just kept going and going like that ever ready bunny I see on TV.

I would try to lay down on my bed and think “Oh she will for sure get the idea that it is time to take a break” but does she??? Oh No. she just jumps on my back and starts slobbering down my face again. (Check out the video below and you will see just what I had to put up with all day)

By the time she went home, I was so greatful for the relief…. I moved Scrappy aside and curled up (stretched out) and slept for hours..

And Guess what? SHE IS COMING BACK… I don’t’ know if I am happy or AFRAID…..

Saturday, Cory (the daddy from my other family) took me hiking up along the skyline trail. Oh my, the snow was really deep and we covered a lot of ground. I was really pooped when we finally made it back to the trail.

But a few hours later, my boys came and took me for another trip to the park where we played and ran and frolicked in the snow.

Tristy and Betty got to go too and Tristy spent all her time making snow angels and bouncing around. She was soooo happy.

And that is just THREE Days of my life...... So if you look at it that way, You can't call me an "Adult" just yet.....but you can call me VERY VERY TIRED......Lets hold off from this growing up thing for a little bit longer. OK?

So my parting picture for the week is this sweet friend named Trooper who spent the weekend with us. Now that is a calm relaxed grown up dog......

Love Ya

Bert

PS Sorry the videos are so dark but you get the idea....

Snow, Kids, more snow, Shilo What a DAY

Pool little Shilo. Now is that a sad face or what. I feel really bad for her. You see, for me, today was an incredibly fun day......It started early when my friends Annie and Muppet came to the house and we all piled into the van and headed up the mountain.

But Shilo, who thought she was going with us, was instead, dropped off at the veterinarian to be SPAYED. Oh yah, I remember the same trip that I made a year ago.....There you go getting all excited that you get to go for a ride, and what does Vickie do, but drag you into the doctors.

And from there on, let me tell you....well it isn't pretty. So after my big, fun, exciting day, I get home and there is poor sweet Shilo lying in the lazyboy moaning and groaning. I mean, she is already a moaner and groaner. She is a real talker, but this time I think I felt a little "Whoe is me" stuff going on.

Vickie put her kennel coat over Shilo cause she was shivering, basicly putting on quite a show for sympathy.

I don't remember for sure, but I think I handled it a lot better. You know, tough guy kinda acting.

Poor poor sweet Shilo......She is still looking for a home so if everyone would help pass the word around, I could get my lazy boy chair back......

Vickie is up to Chapter 22 on the story about "Little Boy Lost" if any of you are bored and want something more to read.
http://searchdogstories.blogspot.com/

Now back to the important stuff......MY THURSDAY


Well when Annie and Muppet showed up there was still some question as to wether we should try and make it up the mountain to the Environmental Center or not. It isn't that the roads were so bad down here, but Vickie had heard that it was kinda scary up in the Huntsville Liberty area.

With a prayer and a check of the tires and stuff on the van, it was decided we would try it. I am so glad we did. It was beautiful....slow going and very very snowy and slippery but in the end it was WAY worth it.
We finally, after a long slow drive, made it to the lower parking lot of the Center. We even beat the school bus and all the children. That van, well it does pretty darn good in the deep snow. I think we like it...

Anyway at the lower parking lot Vickie, De and Azure got all their gear together and up the hill we started.

I know it is hard to tell on this picture but De belongs to Annie. She is the white golden-doodle in the picture above. She is "like,one of my girlfriends" and she is going to come along with us a lot more times now cause she is going to be a special kind of therapy dog and getting to be around all the children is good for her.

Now the little guy in the picture above (the one that annie is chewing on) well thats my friend Muppet and he lives with Azure. Muppet is going to be a special therapy dog too.

Azure, De and Vickie did their best to stay out of our way when we went up to the center, cause us dogs were running up the trail pretty darn fast. We were playing with each other as we ran and there was a couple of times we almost took De down when we plowed into the back of her legs. Now that would have been cool, because then she would have had her face down at our level and we could all have kissed her and jumped on her and made her play with us......

I found this really cool dead log on the way up and I asked Vickie to take a picture of me by it.

Then I would try and run and mounce thru the deep snow until I was so tired I could hardlyl keep going. This was great snow and it was really deep, but it was kind of painful too. See it would stick to my coat and as I played more and more in it, the part that stuck to my coat would build up like snow balls. They just got bigger and bigger. Some were the size of a baseball, Vickie said.

After a while, it started hurting. There got to be so many of them on my hind end that I couldn't even walk straight. Azure said I looked like she looked after she had rode a horse for a long time.

Bow-legged, Vickie said...."My dog is bow-legged" Then they all three laughed, but I didn't think it was so funny. I was so covered with them darn snowballs that I couldn't even go to the bathroom. This was getting serious.

Luckily about the time that I was thinking I was gonna have to lay down and die from the pain, we made it to the Center. When we went in, the warm room started melting the snowballs off me and with the help of Vickie, I was able to chew most of them off and the rest just turned into water.

And then THE KIDS started coming. I know you know how much I love kids so instead of talking a bunch more, I am just going to show you pictures of all the kids and me. I promised them that I would have Vickie put their pictures on my blog so you may not be as interested from here on, unless you are a student at West Weber Elementary.

Thanks to all of my friends for posing with me and helping make this a really great day........

After all the fun with the kids, me, Muppet and Annie headed back down the mountain and by the time we got to the van, we were all pretty tired. I was fast asleep in minutes and even Azure was nodding off as we traveled. Muppet fell asleep while lying on my back, well actially he fell asleep in a sitting position and Annie slept on the floor.

And to end the day Austin came and took me for a walk and to play at the park.

IS this the life or what.

Man it is cool being me........

Tonight I just want to send my love to everyone who reads this, cause I am so loved and I want everyone else to feel as loved as I feel.

Good night to all.....I think I'll just pass out now......

Love

Bert