As an official One Year Old, my opinion of “Life” is getting better and better. Daily swims in the lake, lots of dogs coming to visit me, and occasionally a human. (Vickie is pretty cautious about letting humans come into my domain here at the country club. She says I need to learn how to greet a little better before I can have total access to the two legged variety.) Well except for the kids I get to play with at the park and after demonstrations.

Like today, (Friday) I was doing a demonstration all by myself cause Tucker and Murphy were out of town. I had a bunch of kids from ages 1 to 13 at my disposal and I took total advantage of it.

Before the kids arrived, Vickie played ball with me for a while, she said it was so that I would tire out a little before the kids got here. I can live with that……Fun Fun Fun.

When the kids came, I entertained them as only I can. Believe it or not (Vickie’s mom). I sat when I was told to and I didn’t jump or knock down anyone. No not one soul. Well except for Vickie.

After the demonstration all the kids wanted to pet me so I let them do that. You know, what ever makes you happy. Then while Vickie was talking to some of them, I went over and rolled in a really juicy dead slimy moldy fish. After I enjoyed that for a moment I resumed my position next to the children.

I couldn’t believe it when all of the kids who had only moments ago been clamoring to be close to me and pet on and love me, where now running in all directions holding their noses. It wasn’t until Vickie had thrown my ball in the lake two times before any of them would come back.

Of course then, everyone wanted to throw the ball for me and before all the kids were through, I was totally exhausted.

I came home and slept for an hour. Vickie even took a break and sat with me while I napped at one time.

Yesterday she went up to sourdough with out me. At first I was very upset but then she told me that it was just a quick trip and that I wouldn’t have been able to play much. She showed me pictures of our fancy new (really old, but new to us) little house we get to stay in when we go up to the mountains from now on. I like it. I have my own bed and so does Jamie.

Scott and Bruce brought their big truck up and pulled it all the way up the steep mountainside, then with some help from John they leveled it out and “voila” HOME SWEET HOME…. I can’t wait to go spend the night. I just hope Vickie can pull herself away from the country club a few times this year to go.

Thank goodness she has Judy who will work for her when we go.

Anyway, she tells me that they got all done setting up the trailer and it was getting late so they took a quick tour of sourdough then started down. That is when Vickie remembered she hadn’t locked the door, so she headed back up to fix that.

All the time she was there, they had only seen some deer. beautiful deer but no sign of a moose. While Scott, Bruce and John headed out, Vickie went back to lock up and much to her excitement she came across “The Twins” They were born last year in June. A brother and sister.

Vickie say’s that their mom brought them by her place at least once or twice a week through the summer, but later in the fall, they hadn’t come by at all. Vickie was worried that they had gotten hurt or sick or maybe even taken to Colorado. That’s what they are doing with all our moose you know…..taking them to Colorado and in exchange for us giving them our beautiful majestic moose, we get turkey’s. That’s right TURKEY’.

What a fair exchange that is….even I have to wonder in the wisdom of that decision…..

Anyway, she was so excited. It was getting late so she didn’t get really good pictures, but she did get a few. I could even see the antlers growing on the boy. Do you know that I am as old as those moose. I might even be a month or two older. I’m like their older cousin…… cooooool.

We have two new members to the family. Distant family, but family. First there is Elizabetsh frog. She and Brian, Callie and Scott all live in New Hampshire and the frog has been staying at Grandmas house for a few years. Now he has come to stay with us until Elizabeths mom and dad (Vickies sister and brother in law) go up to visit them in a few weeks. In the mean time, I am having a contest with the frog to see who is the most green.......

Now Froggy is always green and I have to wait until Vickie mows the lawn, but lucky for me, the lawn was mowed again today......wahoo, look at the competition now Mr. Froggy.

And surprise of surpises. the woman who is responsible for my living with Vickie..."Aunt Gwila" finally got a friend too. Her name is Pepsi and you will be seeing a lot more of her in the future. Right now she is too small and too young to hang with me (according to Vickie) but someday soon......and I can't wait to meet her.

Vickie took some more videos for you if you want to look. There is a really neat one of me….I am playing with my hanging tire. You know, the other day I was playing with it and I had it in my mouth pulling and stretching it as far as I could, then I fell asleep. Yep, I fell asleep hanging on to that old tire. Vickie thought it was pretty funny. She said I looked like a statue.

And then there is a video that I like to call “A visit to the watering hole” It is like, if you were in Africa and you came across this watering hole with lots of wild animals coming in and out for a drink. If you look careful you can even watch Cleo pee in the pool….Now who pee’s in a pool? I mean if your going to pee in a pool, don’t do it while the camera is rolling.

Another grand week for me. Vickie was pretty busy most of the week and we didn’t get to go to the park until Friday but we did get to go to Bear Lake. I remember that from last summer and so when I saw it, I could barely contain myself.

Last summer we went to train for water and it was my first time at this beautiful place. The water is cold and fresh and I spent my whole day in it, so when I saw it as we drove over the top of the mountain and looked down, I was delighted. (I like the word delighted. Don’t you? It is such a great word, just saying it gives me a tingle in my belly. Not the bad tingle that I get after I have eaten a rock, but a good tingle, like when I see Vickie reach for my ball thrower)

Anyway, I was all excited, planning my day in the water but when we pulled to a stop I could tell that this was not a “play in the water” day. It was another one of those demonstrations. I should have known it was an “Official Day” cause we were riding with Murhpy and Paulette. She has a nice car and Vickie gets nervous about me getting it all muddy and wet.

So here we come, walking up past this big yellow bus, when all of a sudden I see kids come running towards me from everywhere. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to talk Vickie in to letting me go play in the water, but there was no question that she would let me have all these kids to play with.

Wahoo……Off me and Murphy went, running and jumping and showing off how fast we were. All the kids were having fun too. It was great. Paulette threw the ball for a bit, then kids got to play hide and seek with me.

After Murphy and I got a little tired from all the running and playing, Vickie and Paulette sat with the kids and taught them how to use a compass. They were all walking around in circles like a bunch of confused birds. It was kind of funny.

Then they all had lunch and after that, Vickie and Paulette taught them how to stay safe if they ever get lost. I got to show them how cool I was again when one of the kids ran off and hid behind a tree. It was a no brainer for me to find him, but they thought I was the smartest, fastest dog in the world when I took off to find him.

Later we all piled back in the car and Paulette drove back home. I slept most of the way and I must have been more tired than I thought because I slept all day Friday too, well almost all of Friday.

We had yet another demonstration at Fort Bueneventura. You know, the ones I told you about last week. It was ok though. While Vickie was talking, Paulette threw me a ball to chew on. I had it almost chewed up before Vickie saw what I was doing and took it away. Man she is a worry wart.

After the demo Vickie and I went home, picked up Tristy and Jamie and went to another park. It was really cool because the irrigation water was running and it was like playing in a grassy lake. Tristy and Jamie were running and playing like puppies. Check out one of the two videos below....

That Tristy is doing really well these days. She has a cheerful smile and a glint in her eyes. I think she is happy living with us. I hope so, but I hope Vickie doesnt' bring anymore dogs to live with us. The house is way to small.......

Today (Saturday) we just spent hanging around the house. I didn’t mind cause I am still tired. Vickie worked hard in the kennels with the guests; scooping, getting fresh water and making them feel at home. I wanted to go out and play with them too but Vickie won’t let me anymore. She says “Bert if I have told you once, I have told you a hundred times….Don’t eat the rocks” but I thought she was joking.

Well as you know, I got sick last week and I didn’t feel better until after I pooped out a big old rock that I had eaten one day while I was out playing with the other dogs. So now I am banned from the big play area. That really stinks……But I guess she makes up for it with all the fun activities we do in the mountains and at the lakes.

It is probably a good idea anyway. I mean, I know I am not supposed to eat them but they are just so darn tasty. Eating rocks to me is like eating chocolate to Vickie. Only difference is that no body can keep Vickie out of the candy section of the store, like she keeps me out of the rock section of Canine Country Club.

Well, nighty night everyone. (I heard one of Vickie’s friends say that)

Love
Bert
Oh yah, here is a fun video Vickie took today when she was working. She says she has the best job in the world. I think she is right. How cool would it be to spend your day with four legged bundles of love like us. The best video with the dogs playing in the water would not download so we settled for this one.

Sure has been a heck of a week for me, I gotta say. I haven’t stopped for a minute and I guess it all caught up to me Today because I am SOOOOOOOoooooooo Sick……I feel really crumby. My stomach hurts and I think I have a headache. Not really sure what that is but if it is something painful then I am feeling it.

Me, Murphy and Tucker have been doing lots and lots of demonstrations for the schools over at Fort Bueneventura. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but even the coolest things can get a little too much for a boy like me.

I love the kids though, so I am not going to tell Vickie that I get tired of doing it sometimes for fear she stops taking me along. I have been doing my best to be really good during the talking part, but I do have a hard time waiting for my turn to show off. When they are ready for me and the kids try and hide, I get to go looking for them and they have not been able to fool me yet, because, “You guessed it”

I AM THE BEST SEARCH DOG IN THE WORLD………..

Wednesday morning we went to the dog park. Tristy and Jamie came along and Jamie and I ran and chased the ball for an hour. Tristy found a friend and followed her around all the time. Tristy really wants a family of her own, with kids who will lay on her and pet her and just spend time with her.

Wednesday night is my Canine Good Citizen class and I am pretty sure I am the teachers pet….(haha) It is kind of neat to be able to go to the store with Vickie. I just wish she would acknowledge some of my choices for purchase. Every time I pick out a toy or some tasty food, she just takes it away and puts it back on the shelf.

I behave so good in class you would think I would deserve to pick out a toy. I really have my eye on this piggy toy that stands at the end of the isle by the training center. I grab one every time we walk by the stand. I figure a few more grabs and Vickie will get the idea…..

This week Vickie stayed after class and watched as Tonia fed some baby birds that had been rescued. I was amazed at the little things. All they did was stretch their necks for food and tweet, tweet tweet.

Tonia says that there was a place in Ogden called the Ogden Nature Center that used to help out little creatures who had been abandoned by their parents. They would take them in and nurse them back to health. There were baby deers, ducks, little birds and even owls and eagles.

However, Ogden city has decided that they weren’t making any money off the rescue and so they have closed it down. Now who will help the little babies?

There are a few wonderful people like Tonia who try to help as much as possible, but there are so many little homeless ones. People like Tonia are trying to build a place where they can take care of the babies and are trying to get a non-profit rating but in the mean time, they are needing help.

I told Vickie that I would like to help, so instead of buying me treats and fun things, I want her to use the money to help out the critters. In fact, I think I will even go without my piggy dreams and ask Vickie to give them the money for that to help

Friday was my birthday. Vickie said that “Friday is all about me”. She took me to the dog park in the morning. I met lots of fun dogs there. KC and Vickies mom came, but I am not allowed around KC’s mom because on Wednesday I knocked her down. Now Vickie makes me play on the other side of the park. KC chases bubbles and Scrappy picked up a girlfriend. I love the park.

Then around 3 John came over and we all piled in the truck and headed up the mountain. I was pretty tired by then, but still open to a fun time. We got to that place that Vickie and I went to last week where I had to ride on the big red monster machine. I had a bad feeling about what was to come. Sure enough, this time Vickie put me on the back of the green machine and we headed up the mountain.

It wasn’t as bad as riding on the red one. I had a lot more room and Vickie had set up a different kind of box for me to sit in. It seemed a bit more comfortable. Once we made it up to the top of the mountain, which by the way was a llllllooooonnnnggg, really long trip, Vickie and I got out and hiked down a trail to a place where there was this spring and a big pond.

John met us down there and we all played “throw the rock into the water” for Bert…… It was great fun. The more I played in the spring the muddier the water got and pretty soon, it was just right………Man I love Mud.

After a while of playing, Vickie and I hiked back up the trail to the big green machine and headed up to the main road to meet up with John. It was really pretty up there as the spring flowers were just peaking out of the dirt. John and Vickie stopped a lot to take pictures.

John really gets into it…..He wants just the right angle so he is crawling around in the dirt trying to get the right shot. I guess that’s why I like him so much. He likes the mud just like me. By the time we were done, I was completely exhausted….Really done in….TIRED……. I slept all the way home, came in the house, had a little dinner then slept through the rest of the night. What a great birthday….Who could ask for more. I would have been quite content to just lay around all day Saturday, I mean, I had had such a busy week. I deserved a quiet time, but oh no, that is not what Vickie had in mind.

First thing Saturday morning she piles me in the truck again and off we go to the mountains. This time I was pretty excited because my friend Erin came along with us. When we got up to Snow Basin, Ranger, Tucker and Murphy were waiting AND Lacy. Lacy was there too. Lacy is beautiful and all of us guys have a crush on her. WE don’t see here near enough cause she lives in Rock Springs Wyoming. That is such a long ways away. But her friend Joyce always drives down to play with us and we all love her so much for all the time she drives so we can play together. The fun started right away and I got to go look for Joyce. She hid really good, but not good enough. After 20 minutes of searching I came across her track and TA-DAH Finished. Found. Its all over cause I AM THE BEST….well you know the rest.

After the hide and seek games we did some obedience. Vickie had all us dogs doing a sit-stay and our handlers (our humans) left us sitting by ourselves. Then the weirdest think happened. Vickie had Jen and Erin run past us screaming and acting all spazzy. They were testing us to see if we would get spooked and break our sit-stays’ but truth is, all of us dogs were just laughing our heads off at Erin and Jen cause they were so silly. But a bad thing happened while Jen was running. Her shoelace came undone and she tripped over it and fell.

I

t was a pretty bad fall and she was pretty banged up. But she just laughed as everyone got their first aid kits and started bandaging her up. She has bandages on her elbows, her hands and her shoulder. She didn’t cry at all. Jen is the bravest person I know. We were all having so much fun and working so hard, that I didn’t notice that I was starting to feel a little sick to my stomach. Pretty soon, I was vomiting little bits of fluid and feeling pretty low. I could tell Vickie was getting a little worried but we kept working. We were about finished with some obedience drills (That I did wonderfully on by the way) when my tummy started kicking at my sides, I started gagging and then suddenly I started throwing up again only this time, I think everything in my stomach came out. I mean every bit of fluid, food, grass, everything. You should have seen the looks I got from everyone especially Vickie. “that’s it” she said, “We are out of here” and she took me to the truck, helped me in and home we came. Since we got home she has been watching me like a hawk. She even came running over when I pooped. Now what can be so interesting about my poop? Oh yea, maybe it was the big rock that came out. I guess that could be of interest. She was a little upset with me that I am still eating rocks. But I gotta say, I feel a lot better now. I ate my dinner, drank lots of water and now I am going to bed. I am glad tomorrow is Sunday….I’m done…..I need a day of rest. Night all Love Bert

just for the fun of it

WE mowed the lawn again. Thank goodness Vickie has me to make sure the grass is cut to the right length. It is important that she cut it just right. You know. Roll worthy......

I think green is a very good color for me, Don't You?

After we mowed, we planted flowers, well Vickie planted flowers. She said that I had to wait outside the dirt area where she was planting because she was afraid that if I rolled in the dirt I would rub off all the green.

Or maybe she was afraid I would smash her flowers......

Scrappy and I got to play "Bert Bounce" again. Scrappy pretends he is irritated but I know he loves it.

Bert

Lilacs, Wistiria and Beavers

To be quite honest, I am not sure if this was a great Friday or a very scary Friday. It all started out pretty good. I got to meet with my pal Tucker at the Fort and play with 100 or so kids.

Paulette couldn’t bring Murphy because he has been really sick. But she came anyway and she and Ken taught the kids about wilderness safety while Vickie and I looked on. Vickie does it too but this time she just sat back and enjoyed while Ken taught the kids how to make a tin foil shoe print.

That helps the searchers know what your shoe pattern looks like should you ever get lost.

Then Paulette taught the kids how to meet a dog they don’t know. Now you and I know that I am so friendly you would never have to worry, but sometimes there are dogs who are scared, or angry at life and they could hurt you if you pushed them.

She taught that you shouldn’t stare at a dog by staring at this girl. It made her so uncomfortable, but all the other kids laughed cause she was so freaked out. Paulette is pretty funny sometimes.

After that Tucker showed them how the search dogs work a problem, then I got to finally get off my lead and show how I do a search. I wowed them with my skill.

After that I got to show them how I can swim. Then I got out of the water and shook all over the kids. It was great. They ran screaming and laughing. Gosh I am so much fun.

Then came the bad part of the day, or maybe it was a good part. I am still trying to decide. You see it is my birthday next Friday. May the 15th I will turn one year old. Vickie says she never thought I would live to see my first birthday but it looks like I just might do it.

I mean there is, she say’s, one more week and I could still do something dumb like find a rock to eat and block my tummy again. But what she doesn’t’ get is that I understand that now and I wouldn’t eat one on purpose, though sometimes if I have something in my mouth and I am excited, I still swallow that something. That must be what she is afraid of.

Anyway, Vickie wants to take me up to the top of Sourdough and show me around for my birthday. She said we could spend the whole day together, hiking and riding. I don’t know yet, what hiking or riding is about so Friday she took me to the mountains to introduce me to both.

Now I know what riding means and I am pretty sure that it will take some time for me to learn to appreciate it. We got to this really fun place, stopped the truck and got out. I was busy exploring while Vickie was doing stuff to this big red machine. After a while she called me over and lifted me up and sat me on the machine.

Well that wasn’t so bad, I figured I could do this. But then she pushed a button and the earth started shaking and my butt started vibrating. A loud noise was coming from beneath me but I held my ground cause Vickie was sitting right in front of me and she didn’t seem worried.

The noise and the shaking kept going but I was still ok. Nervous, but ok. Then to my surprise and dislike, we started moving. Well that was it for me. I was out of there. I tried to jump off the machine and get to safety but that darn Vickie had my leash on and had it tightly in her hand over her shoulder.

The machine kept going over the dirt and we slowly moved forward. I finally maneuvered my way out of Vickie’s hold and jumped off the thing. This is definitely not what I had planned for a trip to the mountains.

It took some time and a lot of smooth talking by Vickie before I found myself settled in to the “Ride” as she called it. I wasn’t happy about it but I truly do trust Vickie and she was pretty insistent that I stay on the back of this big red machine.

We went up the mountain very slowly for a couple of miles and just when I was beginning to think this might work out, we turned off the main trail and went up a smaller more bumpy one.

We only went a little ways and then Vickie stopped the machine, told me to stay while she got off, then she lifted me to the ground. Oh precious mother earth, lovely solid matter under my feet. Heaven…..

Now comes the part I really liked. We just started heading up into the trees and brush. She called this “Hiking” I have never been hiking before. Not truly hiking. This was wonderful. I could go where ever I wanted in any direction. I ran through the sage brush, played in the pines and then to my great delight…….WATER……everywhere….water.

There were lovely little springs coming up all over the place and a little stream full to the brim with rushing water and OH MY GOSH, BEAVER PONDS. I never, in my life, ever seen anything as cool as a BEAVER POND. I dove in head first, it was deep and I was able to swim around and around.
Vickie was hollering for me to get out. She was saying something about Beavers being dangerous and I better hope I don’t meet one. It was so great that I chose for the first time today to ignore her frantic calls to me. I figured I would face her wrath after my dip in the pond. It would surly be worth it.

After a bit of screaming she started coming toward the pond with the most panicked look on her face so I decided I better get out. I thought I was in for a good old fashioned “Chewing Out” but I was surprised when all she did was hug me and hurry me away from the pond.

For the rest of the hike she only let me get near the springs and creek. I feel kind of bad that I worried her so much and I still don’t understand why she was so upset but I’ll just have to settle on swimming in everything I see but Beaver Ponds.

Back on the trail again I was thrilled when I found this delectable little brown pile of goodies waiting for me. I was half through with the deligtful little treat when Vickie stopped me, yet again. Man she is wound up tight. She needs to relax more, settle in and enjoy nature at its best and these little morels were one of natures best offerings of the day.

So except for the Beaver Pond, I had a great time hiking and feasting on the little brown tidbits, but all good things must end.

We got back to the big red machine about two hours later. I was pretty tired so I think I was a little happy that I could ride all the way back to the truck, but that doesn’t mean I liked it.

If it means that I can go back up in the mountains for my birthday, well I guess I’ll have to just learn to accept the big red machine and its rumbling climb upwards.

I usually never relax when Vickie is driving, but today I was so tired that I actually curled up in a ball and went to sleep on the way home. I woke up as we drove in to the driveway to the smell of lilacs blossoms from the neighborhood. I know I am just a dog but I really do think I like spring. I mean, I have lived through summer which is ok but too hot, fall which was really nice with all the falling leaves to play in and winter with the white stuff.

But spring seems to be the prettiest. I love the big fields of yellow flowers (Vickie says they are weeds called dandelions) but I like them, and the baby cows and the baby ducks and geese at the park.

Vickie was all excited about a vine she has growing in the front yard called wisteria. She came in all happy the other day to grab her camera and get a picture of it. She was telling her mom how fun it was that after ten years of no flowers, it finally blossomed. Ten years, can you imagine that? It was like a little miracle to her.

Well I guess I’ll go in and wash the Beaver Pond smell off me (of course it was muddy and I am feeling pretty good about myself but Vickie says I stink) and then I am going to sleep for 24 hours because that is what dogs get to do after an exciting day.

Love
Bert

a whole lot of fun

Did you know I am a lap dog. Yep, when ever I am nervous or confused, I am so glad that I have Vickies lap to jump up into. We were doing this demonstration this week and I still get a little shy when there are people around. Thank goodness Vickie has a big lap for me.....

Well there is nothing like going to the park. Vickie has been really good about taking me almost every weekday. Lots of times we go to the South Ogden Park and meet with Vickies mom and KC and sometimes Murphy and Paulette meet us.

The first of the week was Abby and Tristy's day to come with us. Tristy is doing so good. She is running and playing now with me and the other dogs and has lost 25 pounds. Now I am not sure what that means, but Vickie says it is really good.

Abby runs up through the trees and checks out all the smells. She is so happy to be able to come, she actually jumps in the truck now and Vickie doesnt have to carry her and force her in. I get to play ball and run till I could just drop from joy. It is sooo great.

I just started my "Canine Good Citizen" course. I was so excited to see my favorite trainer in the whole world again. Tonia has helped Vickie learn how to be a better human in our relationship and I can't thank Tonia enough. Vickie is starting to understand me better now and I think it is all because of Tonia. Tonia Tonia Tonia......I LOVE HER.....plus she has the best treats ever......

There were a lot of fun new friends for me to meet in this class and Vickie was able to take a picture of two of them for you. Oh yea and Tucker is in the class too. How fun is that.

Anyway the big guy is Giovani......I was a little shocked when I first saw him, I mean his head is bigger than two of my heads put together. And oh does he slobber. His people bring along their own towels to class just to catch all the slobbery goo that comes from his mouth. He is pretty cool.

Then there is Chyanne. She is older but wow she is a knock out isn't she. She doesnt have much to do with the rest of us, but I got to walk behind her a few times and she just sways across the floor like an angel. It is almost like her paws don't touch the ground, her walk is so smooth. If I were only older, or she were younger, but Vickie says the spring and winter romances rarely work out.....

Back again to the park we go, meeting KC and Vickies mom. I don't understand this KC thing. I was watching him jumping in the air and running through the grass biting at the air like a crazy thing. When I got closer I could see that there were these beautiful bubbles flying with the breeze and that was what KC was chasing. I tried to get into the game, but it just didn't make sense to me, plus every time I snapped at one of the bubbles, they would dissappear but not without leaving a funny taste in my mouth. I guess I'll go back to chasing the real deal....

These are pictures of Belle and Izzy No No. Yep thats her name. Izzy No No. She is the white one. I wan't sure if they were dogs or not cause they look so darned different, but whether they is or whether they ain't they were still fun.

Just for the fun of it, here are a few Canine Country Club videos you might like to watch and a short one of Tristy exercising. It may not seem like much but it really is momentous.

Love

Bert