Vick Dog Blog

Come and Meet Us!

2012-01-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, Jonny Justice, Teddles, and me, Uba, will be hanging out at AnnaBee's in Pacifica on Saturday, January 21st. We will be signing books and answering all your important questions. My good friend Sydney will be hanging out with us too.

Come and say hi, we can't wait to meet you!

Hugs,

Uba

Getting Strong and Bored

2012-01-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

I have been working very hard on getting my strength back after my surgery. First I got to run around and play in the back yard and we started going for nice long walks. After a while Star came to stay with us. We played and went on walks and had a ton of fun together. I thought she would be a great foster sister, but then she went home with her new family.

Then I got really bored, and I spent a lot of time staring at my mom and talking to her about how I wanted my treadmill back and a foster sister.

I had to keep asking, but eventually she got the idea and bought my treadmill back. I am so happy that I can run and run and make myself handsome and buff again.

Then, this weekend, it got even better and a new foster sister came to stay. We are still deciding on her name, but I can tell you she is a superhero and it is going to be a whole lot of fun teaching her about the world.

Lesson number one for the new foster girl - keep your eyeballs out of my pictures!

Hugs,

Uba

A Pig in the Poles

2011-12-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

She hoped that I could be a therapy dog because I’m little, sweet, cute, and I know lots of tricks. But, that hasn’t happened because I’m still just a little too afraid of the world. Maybe it will happen someday for me, but in the meantime, I take agility classes for fun and entertainment. Unfortunately, I don’t bend through the weave poles like a border collie because I’m shaped like a pig. And I wouldn’t miss the weave pole entry on the first try if my teammate would just queue me correctly. Jeez, lady.
Here I am in my very first agility trial being sort of fast despite my pig-like physique. She seemed happy about the ribbons I won, but I didn’t really care. I’m a dog and I do it because it’s fun to run.

Dog-sized Christmas Tree

2011-11-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

Today my family is getting out this stuff they call Christmas decorations and I'm helping. There's even a little tree just my size in the room where I sleep!

It's kind of exciting, but this decorating thing can make a girl tired!
-Grace

Bouncy Uba is BACK!

2011-11-17T19:33:00.001-08:00

I thought it would never happen, but the doctor says I'm all better. My naughty knee has gone away for good. I still have to be nice to my new knee for a few more weeks, but I'm allowed to jump up on my mom's big bed and lie in the sun again.

I can run and play in the back yard, and go for walks and best of all go to training classes. We went for a walk in one of my favorite places to celebrate my new knee. I sniffed and sniffed everything and looked at the fat squirrels and it made me smile to be back out in the world.

I got really tired and had to lie down and pant for a long time when we got home. I kept on smiling because my new knee makes me very happy.

Thank you Dr. Sams and all the nice people at the Sams Clinic for taking such good care of me and helping me get my bounce back.

hugs,

Uba

Floppy Uba

2011-10-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Since my surgery I have learned that there is a new kind of Uba. Its called floppy Uba.

I think floppy Uba has something to do with this little bright pink treat that she says is helping my knee heal. Every morning on my breakfast there is one of the special pink treats.

Then, after breakfast my mom makes a little meat ball with a special treat tucked in the middle. She puts it in the fridge and my friends who come in the middle of the day to help me walk around the back yard on leash and check on the squirrel give it to me.

After I eat the pink treats I feel all floppy. My body is all heavy and I just want to rest in the sun. She says this is good for me because it lets my new knee get ready for all the fun I have planned. If my mom is home, she helps my floppy body get up on the bench in the sun so I can snuggle with Lulu. Lulu is always kind of floppy and I guess thats why her knees aren't naughty.

I sometimes even get floppy while I'm working on the blog, which is why its taken a little while for me to get this post ready.

My new knee feels really good when I try it out on my walks and when I do the things I'm not supposed to do because its been a long time since I had a pink treat. My mom says I have two more weeks until we go to see the doctor. Once the doctor has looked at my knee again I should be able to start having fun. Although being floppy Uba is ok, I can't wait to be bouncy and fun Uba again.

floppy hugs,

Uba

I'm a Canine Good Citizen!

2011-10-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, it's me, Grace. You might remember that a couple of years ago I earned my Canine Good Citizen award with my foster dad. Well, my mom said to me about a month ago, "Hey Grace, I know you already know this stuff, but what do you say you and I take the Canine Good Citizen test again?" So I told her I would do it again, just for her if it would make her feel good.

So we practiced all these things like sitting, staying, coming, not pulling on the leash, and passing by dogs nicely without staring at them. I didn't mind it at all, because she gave me lots of treats for doing it.

This past weekend I went with my family to this place with a ton of dogs. They called it a "dog show", but there was no TV there. Anyway, I had to wait for a long time and finally, I heard them call my me and my mom's names and we went into this fenced area. There was a lady with a blue shirt and she told my mom to have me do all these things. She kept saying "nice" after I did them.

After about 10 minutes of doing what she asked me to do, my mom looked very happy and gave me a delicious beef tendon and told me we had passed the Canine Good Citizen test. It was a great day.

Road Trip!

2011-10-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we piled in the car with my bff Abbie the Golden Retriever, and headed south to San Luis Obispo for my first Nose Work competition. Nose Work is a dog sport and my job is to do what dogs are especially good at, using my nose. I train like K9 police detection dogs who search for drugs, but unlike police dogs, I search for the scent of birch oil on a q-tip, all for fun and sport.

We arrived in Cayucos, a few minutes outside of San Luis Obispo and took off to the beach for a quick swim. My bff Abbie dove into the ocean, so I followed. Apparently my brick-like physique is suited for sinking, not swimming. I’m sure glad she didn’t take off my leash. I shook the water out of my ears and decided it was much warmer and safer to watch the action from the sandy beach.

Back at the hotel, we crammed ourselves into the dog bath. I’m not fond of baths, but it felt good to get the sand out from between my toes.

Next day, I nailed three of four elements of the Nose Work trial. My interior, exterior, and vehicle searches were some of the fastest of the day. But I goofed on the container search so no title for me. Oop… maybe next time. I cheered for all my dog friends who were also trialing and I got lots of pets from their people. A couple of people who learned of my beginnings were surprised to see that I’m a content and friendly guy. I’m glad I met them and I’m glad to change minds.

We packed up and headed for home the next morning, stopping at two California missions to stretch our legs while our people read plaques screwed to walls (how strange is that!).

Back home, I hopped up on my chair and went to sleep. I have the life of a lucky dog.

Two Weeks With My New Knee

2011-09-26T17:14:00.001-07:00

It has been almost two weeks since my surgery and it has been boring. I have destroyed two and a half beds and let myself out of my crate one time before she put carabiners on the door. Also, I have destroyed one hard plastic cone,

one nice soft cone that was borrowed and now my mom has to find a new one to replace it,

one horrible blue donut thing from my last post, one pair of pants,

and one stuffy. The stuffy was my reward for not destroying anything on Friday.

I have not removed any of my sutures though. I'm sure everyone will be proud of me for that.

Today my mom stayed home with me to talk on the phone, make faces at paper and stare at the computer all day. I got to go outside and spend some time helping her talk on the phone while staring at paper. It was nice and sunny so I nibbled on some grass,

checked on some of the plants,

and looked for my squirrel friend (without running over and looking up his tree).

Ubas are meant for bouncing and running and having fun. There is nothing fun about all this sitting around in crates. I feel a whole lot better, my knee isn't acting so naughty and I keep telling her I'm healed, but she doesn't believe me. She says I have WEEKS more to go before I can jump and twirl and leap and play with my flirt pole. I only had a tibial crest transposition, a wedge recession sulcoplasty and lateral fascial imbrication. Can someone please tell her that my knee is all better now?

hugs,

Uba

Why?

2011-09-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

What did I do to deserve this?

I thought my leg was getting fixed. I didn't know it would get so broken first.

I can't even sit on the couch without a leash and my mom making sure I don't move around.

The only good thing about today is this nice card that came from Winnie.

Ow. Sigh. This is not what I had in mind.

Uba

My Naughty Knee

2011-09-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

For a while now I have been having behavior problems with my right knee. Sometimes I tell my right knee that it is time to jump down the back stairs and chase the squirrel up his tree, and my knee says “nooooooo, I will not participate in that craziness. I am a boring and old knee and I do not want to have fun with my owner, the fabulous Uba”. This makes me pretty annoyed, but I go about my important work of bouncing and running and chasing and having fun and just carry my naughty knee along with me. I even dragged that naughty knee along when I got into the kitchen sink the other day to look for my red rubber ball.

When it is time to relax my naughty knee punishes me for not agreeing with it, and I have to rest it on a soft pillow so it stops yelling at me.

My mom took me and my naughty knee to my regular doctor and then to another special doctor so they could take pictures of it and tell it that it is a naughty knee. After a lot of people talking and looking at me walking and more talking about how my naughty knee is bad, the people have decided that I am going to get a new knee. I am really happy about this. I will have a new knee that will say “woo hoo! Lets chase things and jump and run and have fun!” and I won’t have to carry it around with me and then get yelled at by it later and rest it on a soft pillow.
My mom says it will take a long time for me to heal, just like it did when Lolo and Daisy got their new knees. I will have to wear a donut thing around my neck and I will have an itchy zipper and maybe I’ll even have to wear pants like Audie. I will also have to walk slowly on the boring slow and noisy treadmill instead of running on my most beloved TREADMILL!! I won’t be able to go to nose work class or to circus class and I will have to sit around in my crate and be bored. But then, after a really long time, once the doctors look at my leg again and take more pictures, I will be bionic, just like Lolo and Audie and Daisy.

Boring Treadmill from Letti de Little on Vimeo.

I have been practicing on the boring treadmill so I know what to do when I have to use it while I’m “on drugs”. I don’t know how I could forget how to walk, but she says it might be hard for me to figure out after surgery because of the drugs, so I have to be all bored on the boring treadmill almost every day. My surgery is next Wednesday, but I am not nervous. I get to have all the fun I want now because she says it doesn’t matter if I hurt my naughty knee more. I’ll deal with the drugs and the boredom next week.

hugs,

Uba

Summer Gardening

2011-08-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! The garden at my house hasn't been making very many fruits and vegetables lately, so I am trying to help it a little bit.
I hope you are having a great summer.
Grace

My Summer So Far

2011-07-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

This summer has been a whole lot of fun so far. I've been going to nosework class and learning circus tricks. When I'm not at school we go for walks at my favorite park and sniff things and look at the squirrels there.

I get to play with my spring pole outside now its not raining all the time.

I've spent a little time doing famous dog stuff and hanging out with friends.

I look at the squirrel in the tree in the back yard every day and I've taught him how to bark just like me.

The only sad part of this summer was saying so long to Winnie when she went to her forever family. I love Winnie, but I'm really glad she found her family.

I wonder who my next foster sister will be? I can't wait to find out.

I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as I'm enjoying mine.

hugs,

Uba

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

From Grace!

A New Friend

2011-06-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

So this weekend, I made a new freind. Her name is Cuda, and she is a very special dog.

She lives all the way on the other side of our big country. She came here with her people to be in a dog show. She also works hard to show people that you need to be responsible.

My dad said she took 3rd place in her dog show, but I think he is kidding me .....

I can tell she is a winner !!!!

- Jonny

My Social Life

2011-06-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have been busy this month! I took my mom to Pit Ed a couple of weeks ago to show her the ropes and I got to see some of my special old Bad Rap friends.

I had a "dog sitter" experience this month, too. This man and lady called Aunt and Uncle came and stayed at my house while my family went away for a couple of days. At first I wasn't sure I was going to have fun with them, but once I saw that they had my magical purple leash I figured they must be great. Here I am wrestling with Uncle.

This is my friend Gordon. He belongs to a lady called Grandma. He's 15 years old and can't play much anymore so we lick each other's faces and sniff stuff on short walks. I really like him.

This is my neighbor, Cooper. Even though he is only 9 months old, he is giant. I kind of like him. He has good manners. I think he has potential. Here we are having some down time, but Cooper told me his dad's command for this is "chillax".

So, that's my report on my social life lately!
Grace

Happy Today

2011-06-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Walks in the park make me happy.

Everyone should do one thing, everyday, that makes them happy too.

Did you get your happy today ?

- Jonny

The Cone Zone

2011-05-30T18:39:00.001-07:00

I had to go to the vet last week because of a bump on my leg. She worries about bumps and lumps so first she hauled my housemate Aldo to the vet to get poked and prodded. Then the next day, Aldo left the house without even getting breakfast and came back later that night as a big cone head. I thought it was pretty funny to grab Aldo’s cone and drag him around the house. That game didn’t get to last so long, since she apparently didn’t think it was all that funny. Then the next thing I knew, I’d joined the Cone Zone too. My bump was a Mast Cell tumor. It’s gone now, but the Cone is still stuck on my head and Aldo’s too. I don’t know how many more days I will be tormented with this plastic salad bowl on my head, but I’ll keep ramming her in the shins with mine until she takes it off for good.

Mailbox

2011-05-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Some dogs bark at the mail carrier and I admit, if I’m in the house and I hear the mailbox outside slam shut, I sometimes bark too. Today, we saw a mailbox just like ours, but it was upside down sideways. And how amazing it was! Who would have thought that the mail carrier would come up with such a creative idea, all for the convenience of dogs and their people. And here I thought they only walked up and down the street slamming mailbox doors!

Life At My New Home

2011-05-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, it's me, Grace. I thought I'd take a break from relaxing and let you know how it's going since I came to live with my new family.

One of my favorite things to do is go on long walks on these things called Nature Trails. There are so many great smells on those things.

I've also been doing a lot of cuddling. My family tells me they are letting me "settle in".

But they still make me follow rules and don't let me forget all of the good manners I learned from being a BAD RAP foster dog. Here I am doing "down" while my mom cooks dinner. I love food.....

Well, that's it for now!
Grace

My Gym

2011-04-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, for my adopt-a-day, my mom bought me a back yard and a gym. There is a house that came with my great back yard and gym, and its nice for naps and dinner, but its not nearly as good as my yard and gym.

The yard has nice green grass and its flat, which is really good for chasing tennis balls and squirrels. It is also great for playing with my flirt pole, which is one of my favorite things to do. Here is a video of me playing flirt pole with my foster sister, Winnie.

My gym is everything a dog would ever want. I have my treadmill and a spring pole set up. The spring pole is so great because I can tug and tug and it never gets tired, unlike my mom.

After we got the gym set up the very nice people at Grand Carpet Mill sent a brand new belt for my mill and a new harness. My new harness fits really well and my mom says we can start learning about weight pulling with it. The new belt is way better than the old one that was all worn out and had a hole in it. With my new gear in my new gym I can run and run and tug and tug until I am finally tired.

I am such a lucky dog! I have a great place to work out even when its raining outside so I don't annoy my mom and Lulu by bouncing too much.

I think its making me look buff and handsome too. What do you think?

Hugs,

Uba

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-04-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

My people think that I turned about 6 today. All I care about is being able to wear these cool things on my head!!

Angus, Mindy Lou, and Scooby didn't seem as thrilled about them as I was, but they were good sports for me!

I got myself a birthday stick, and I liked it!

Happy St Patrick's Day !!

2011-03-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to wear something green today.

- Jonny " Leprechaun " Justice

New Things

2011-02-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

The other day, I went to a park where there were lots of big dogs and crazy things with wheels on them. I heard someone say they were draft carts. Hmmmm, what's a draft cart ? Well, it didn't take long to find out.

First, I got to put on this really cool harness, and drag a big block of wood around some grass. It's cool to drag stuff. I liked it, well, until we went to the parking lot. It was kinda scary at first, that big wood block was making weird noises behind me. Then I got a cookie and forgot all about the wood block. Cookies make everything better.

Next, they said I could try a real cart, so I jumped at the chance.

It was fun, scary, and really cool all at the same time. I can't wait to do it again.

Big Thanks to the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Northern California for letting me try draft carting, and special thanks to Jim for taking time to give us awesome lessons. We had great fun.

You big dogs sure make it look easy.

-Jonny

Making Art

2011-01-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

I have been working really hard recently developing a new talent. We got some art with pictures of my friends Jonny, Grace and Hector, so I was inspired to try making art too. My first few attempts got me in trouble. Apparently its not OK to make art out of the cats' litter box. Recently I think I have fine tuned my skills and selected more appropriate media.

This one I call "The New Floor". It is mud on soft wood.

I call this one "I Love My Mom". I created it using teeth on a found object.

If I keep working maybe my art will be on display at the next Tuff Love exhibit!

hugs,

Uba

A Happy New Year from Zippy!

2011-01-07T22:40:00.000-08:00

Today my foster mom was watching TV when she heard that Vick was being considered as an MVP for the NFL. Boy, did this make my momma's blood boil but she took a deep breath as she looked at me and smiled. I'm not sure what that all means but I know that I am happy now, much more than I ever thought I could be. I have these kids who run circles around me but I give them a run for their money too. You should see the oldest one when she feeds me, she's 11. Sometimes I get so excited I run out of my crate and bounce up and down while she is trying to feed me. A few times I've accidentally bumped the bowl and boom, there goes all my food on the floor just how I like to eat it :). Want to hear something funny? The 2 year-old has started to take a very persistent stand in wanting to help feed me too and boy is he determined. Yep, food goes flying everywhere whenever he is involved too. Cracks me up because he reminds me of me! The 11 year old likes to pick me up when I have selective hearing especially during these cold, foggy days. Some days I make her go outside and down the stairs with me, I mean if I have to be miserable out in the cold I shouldn't have to be alone right? It's funny because sometimes I catch my foster mom secretly smiling when the oldest girl gets frustrated with me, the kid tries to use her firm voice but I do have a hard time taking her serious until about the 4th or 5th time. Mom laughs because she says that she enjoys watching this interaction, she says that how I act is how the kid acts, except of course I don't talk back but I can be pretty good with my selective hearing. Although when mom talks in her firm voice I know she means business so I don't even try it with her. I mean I like to have my fun but a dog has to draw the line at times. All in all life is pretty good and I am looking forward to 2011, this has got to be my year people :).

I got a yard!!

2010-12-07T22:43:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody! My family and I had to do something called move from the condo we were renting because of something else called foreclosure. But guess what? I now have a yard and I love it!! This yard is nothing like the scary one I was chained too, at that mean guys place. No this one is lots of fun and my mom tells me I can be the "King of my jungle". Whatever that means.

Thats me waiting for one of those pesky squirrels to throw another walnut at our shack. At first the loud thunk would scare me, but now I am braver and like to try and find the walnuts.

Oh and that's Doja my sister, she has a stinky butt. Hee-Hee! Shh, but don't tell her I said that.

Oops, sorry Doja! I guess even when your a King of the jungle, you sister will ALWAYS be the bossy, queen. Jeez!

OK, gotta run.

~Love Frodo~

I am Thankful

2010-11-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

I got a new foster sister for the holidays! Her name is Winnie and she is super cool. We have a whole lot of fun playing together.

How lucky am I to have such a pretty friend?

hugs,

Uba

Wowee!!

2010-11-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

I just found out about this awesome piece that an artist named Christine Head did of me. I feel so special and loved! My foster dad says that it captures my sparkly eyes and slight smirk perfectly. I am wiggly but I was a little bit embarrassed to be known for my snoring (even if it is true). :P But I guess if no one else minds it why should I? :) Thank you, Christine! I love it!

You can check out this sketch and a bunch of Christine's other work here--including a cool piece of one of my best buddies, Jonny:
http://www.mysketches.com/index.html

And the Winner is......

2010-10-27T18:27:00.001-07:00

BIG THANKS to all the imaginative folks that commented. It really was great fun.

In all honesty, this was hard ! There were way too many great comments, so I had to ask for help from other blog writers. The consensus of the authors was that this comment, as it was said to me, "shows a total lack of good judgement in the name of fun." Winner !

I can't list them all but here are a few of our favorites :

" It's so embarrassing when he picks me up by the handle."

"Timmy's in trouble!! " ( think Lassie )

" RUN.....I HEAR BANJOS!! " ( poor taste..but funny )

"You know...This is only happening because you're holding that dog treat..."

" Next on "Pitwatch!" Johnny saves Pamela from a giant catfish "

" I need a word with my stylist.... "

Thanks again for playing along. You guys are the best !

- the guy who types stuff for the dog.

Caption This........

2010-10-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

What could Jonny be thinking?

As we close out the season of warm weather fun, I thought all you folks in internet-land might like to have one last a bit of summer fun with Jonny.

Have fun, be creative, but mostly, try and think like Jonny.
Next week , we will fill in the bubble with the best caption.

Thanks for reading our blog -
- the guy who types stuff for the dog.

Football

2010-09-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

I learned how to play a new game this week. Its called football, and it is FUN.

Click on the picture to see me playing my new favorite game!

I'm supposed to be learning something when I play this game, but I don't really know what that is. All I know is I want to play this game a lot, even if I have to let go of the ball sometimes.

hugs,

Uba

Sunday,Sunday,Sunday...paper

2010-08-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Look at that, they put me in the paper. Wonder why ?? Maybe it's so I will finally pick it up on the way into the house ? Yeah, like that will work.

Maybe I will have to have dad read it to me. What, I have to wait till this Sunday ? Darn it. Oh' well. I can nap until then.

Have a good weekend everybody !

-Jonny

Summer Friends

2010-07-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

One summer day, mum and I went to da barn to see some puppies. At first, dey were jumping all over me and saying "Uncle Frodo come play with us!" I had to remind dem of there manner's because you know, dose whittle guys are still learning. After, we were all just running around and having fun! Oh and even cousin Elliot and momma Eva were having a good time too. I guess da whittle one's arn't so bad after all, even if dey like to tug on my ears. "Ouch!" Well, I hope everyone is having as much fun dis summer as I am!

~Love Frodo~

Uba's Guide to Opening a Crate

2010-06-12T17:14:00.001-07:00

Step 1: Locate and lift the latch handle.

Step 2: Carefully slide the latch to the right.

Step 3: Use paw to pull the door open.

Step 4: Do not let the people see you open the crate. There are several reasons for this:

They will take the yummy bone that you so skillfully "borrowed" away from you and they will give it back to your sister.
When they come home and find you out of your crate they will stop saying "How did you get out? I thought I latched it all the way!" and they will start putting carabiners on the crate door. I haven't figured out how to open a carabiner yet, but I am working on it.
They will do mean things, like put your favorite toy inside the crate and tell you to open the crate and get it. Then they will point the camera at you to make a movie. I am refusing to comply with this ridiculous demand.

With practice you will be able to open crates quickly and without making any suspicious noises. Good luck!

Professor Uba

What I did on my Summer Vacation

2010-06-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, it's me, Grace. Last week I got to hang out with my old friends Lily and Jonny Justice.

We rode in the truck for a while and ended up where there are lots of trees and flowers.

Really.Big.Trees.

There was a there creek too. Iv'e never been swiming before. I wonder if I will like it ?

I'm not too sure how to swim , so I just walked in for a while. Not so bad on a hot day.

It was nice to lay in the sun afterwards.

Then I got up and sniffed a TON of stuff with Jonny. We sniffed for hours.

Then I smelled it. YES !!!! BBQ !!!

Jonny fell asleep in the dirt after we ate. Boys, sheeh.

Ok, well maybe sleeping in the dirt isn't so bad.

And that is what I did on my Summer vacation.

P.B. & J.

2010-05-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

YAY !!!

-Jonny

I Am Thriving

2010-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

I overhead her reading last week that PETA claims we former Michael Vick dogs are all dead, or if not dead, then homeless. Did PETA make this assumption just because I haven’t posted here in awhile? Well, here I am. I’m alive, happy, and busy. I’ve got more hobbies than most kids.

And I’m not homeless either. My life is full and my adoptive family adores me. I live in the house with them, I eat well, I go on lots of outings, I know all of my neighbors, I practice my stuff (I’m a performance dog in training), I play hard, and I get my much deserved beauty rest. This month marks the one year anniversary that my orthopedic surgeon gave me the go-ahead to start agility classes. I’m now quite competent on the teeter, I can make crazy entries into the poles, I jump with the grace of a pig-shaped gazelle, and I get happily sucked into agility tunnels.

When I’m not doing all that, I’m vacationing with my family and my buddy Aldo on the coast. I’m thriving and I’m happy. PETA, I’m most definitely not dead.

p.s. oh PETA, you are right about one thing though. I don’t get handouts from under the dinner table. I wish I did.

I'm a pamperd Pit!

2010-04-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

Or at least dats what my mum calls me! I've pretty much forgotten how scary my life used to be when me and some of my friends lived at dat "mean guys" place. Now, I get to go for walks, play with my sister and brother, and even go on play-dates with other furry-friends. But bestest of all, I get to sleep under da covers with my mum! Oh yeah, and dats when she calls me her "snuggle-bunny"! Geeze, I always tawght I was just a plain ol' Pit Bull. Who knew I would become all those other tings?! A wee friend came to stay with me for a wittle bit, so I tried calling her "my snuggle bunny". Nope, Nope, snuggle-bunny she was not! She always chased after me and tried to bite my butt! So I named her "Dehlila da Piraña".

But I do hope dat some day, she gets to be a pampered pit just like me! Even if she can be annoying.

~Love Frodo~

I Got a Jungle

2010-04-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

I love my back yard, its nice and quiet and I can sit in the sun and sniff around to see what critters have passed through while I'm inside. Its also a great place to run around. When I start running around inside, my people say "Uba! Let's go OUTSIDE!" Then I run outside and run around the yard as fast as I can and they watch me and laugh.

Unfortunately, it has been raining a lot recently, which means that going outside and spending time in my yard hasn't been very nice. All the rain did something amazing, though. It made the yard into a jungle! Now I am the king of my very own jungle.

I guess the rain isn't so bad if it makes jungles.

Hugs,

Uba

I can Speak !

2010-03-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

So, please, don't call me "silent bob" anymore.

-Jonny

My Favorite Thing

2010-03-08T07:08:00.001-08:00

Here is a little video of me running on my most beloved TREADMILL! It is so exciting when my people say "Uba, do you want to go on your treadmill?" Then I jump down the stairs to the treadmill as fast as I can and my people put my working harness on me and I get to RUN! I really really love running on my treadmill.

When we made this video we cut out a lot of the fun part because my mom says 20 minutes of me running might not be all that interesting to people watching. I think the running part is the best!

See how happy I am at the end?

happy running,

Uba

Edited in response to questions:

Uba is running on the dog powered Grand Carpet Mill. Not all dogs are as enthusiastic as Uba about the treadmill concept. Jonny, for example, thinks its pretty boring. It can take some dogs, even those with a ton of energy, a bit of time to get used to the idea of using a treadmill, so please do your research on training, be sure to use a good working harness, and be prepared to always monitor your dogs' treadmill use for safety.

- Letti (the annoying voice in the background)

Mirror Mirror...

2010-02-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

Me and my person go to this big store sometimes where they have lawn mowers and toilets and big pieces of wood and garbage cans and rugs and light bulbs and so many cool things. It's full of so much stuff to sniff and I love it there. Sometimes when I go inside the people who work there all yell my name, "Jhumpa", and my tail wags sooo fast.

But what was so great the other day was that I saw someone sitting on a shelf who looked just like me! I stopped and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. I couldn't believe my eyes. Sort of like the first time I looked in the thing called a mirror and saw myself. Like magic!

Here is me and my mirror friend:

Here's another:

And one more:

I was so happy to find my mirror friend. I can't wait to visit him next time I go to the store with the lawn mowers and wood and toilets...And my mirror friend!!!

Love, Jhumpa Jones

Read to Me

2010-02-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

Do you read ???

A lot of people I meet like to read.

I don't read too much myself, but I sure like when people read to me.

Oh' and I like to look at the pictures too, even upside down.

So if you like to read too, or just want to say "Hi" come by and visit. We hang out at the Brisbane Library. But be careful, you could catch what my dad says is a reading bug. I hope I don't get it.

-Jonny

My New Roomie

2010-02-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I moved into a new foster home. When I got there, I was greeted by my new roomie Gulliver. At first, I was like, "Yikes! This guy is almost twice as big as me!" He would follow me around and sniff me and try to play. But, being new and all, I was a little bit shy. I still get shy sometimes but my tail is wagging non-stop and I'm slowly getting used to playing with such a big guy. Sometimes, my new foster parents think that I'm the bigger dog. My bark can make me sound pretty big and I even snore louder than Gulliver! I found out that this Gulliver guy isn't so bad after all. He even shares his bed and toys with me! One time, I sat on his face while he was lying down, and he didn't even care! I guess he knows who the queen is around this joint. Sharing a bed with someone like Gulliver is nice on cold winter nights. Good thing my snoring doesn't wake him up!

Will you be my Valentine?

2010-02-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

Some Pit Bulls may be red,

and some can be blue.

But one ting for sure,

dis wittle bullie loves you!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

~Love Frodo~

Two On, Two Off

2010-02-12T12:52:00.001-08:00

A bit short of a year ago, I started an agility foundation class. One of the first things we learned was a 2o2o. That means I plant two feet on the equipment and two feet off when I reach the end of the equipment. It’s a safety thing she says so I don’t go leaping off the agility contact equipment and go hurting myself. Here I am all those months ago learning a 2o2o on a beginner’s practice board . But, let me find her camera and then check back in a few days. I’ll show you the end result on a “real” agility teeter. I’ve learned a lot in the past few months, I’m having fun in my new life, and my new bionic knees are hanging in there just fine!

Deeee-licious!

2010-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

I had a turkey neck for dinner last night. Turkey necks are my number one favorite dinner ever. My mom holds them for me so I can chew them up well and really savor the yumminess.

My favorite dinner is healthy as well as delicious. My vet says that because I eat turkey necks regularly my teeth are clean and white.

Lulu always finishes her turkey neck faster than me, so she watches me really closely in case I can't finish it. Keep on dreaming, Lulu!

hugs,

Uba

Usually I'm a Good Boy

2010-01-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

But sometimes I like to be naughty. When I'm naughty I enjoy things like putting my paws on the kitchen counter to see the food, or jumping on and off my people's bed while my mom is making it, or not paying attention in class, or pulling things from outside my crate in to my crate.

Unfortunately, my people can tell when I'm thinking about being naughty because my ears get all crazy. They call it "naughty ear".

See how the right one goes up and over? That's naughty ear.

When my ears are naughty I sometimes get to do fun things, like go on my treadmill!

Other times I have to go in my house until my ears calm down.

It's not as fun as the treadmill.

Remember though, usually, I'm a good boy.

hugs,

Uba

Paws for a Hero

2009-12-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

I learned a new word and it's called "Hero". I learned it cause I read a book called Demo: The Story of a Junkyard Dog.

Demo is so cool in the story and saves the day so he's a hero for the people in the book. I learned that being a hero is cool cause it means that the things you do make people's hearts smile, so they must be good things. Then I learned that the Demo in the book is a real-live dog and that made the story even better and made Demo even more of a hero. This is a drawing of Demo - Isn't he the cutest???:

One day my person talked to Demo's person, Jon, and Jon had a really awesome idea. He asked if I would put my paw on some ink and then put it on a Demo book as part of a contest. Jon also asked my siblings Jonny Justice, Uba and Hector to put their paws on the books, and told us that Demo would put his paw on too for the contest.

I LOVED this idea cause I thought it would be so much fun to put my paw on the ink and I could be really silly when I was doing it and then maybe someone might really like to see my paw on the book. So me and my person put my paw on the ink and then on the book!!!!

Here's the link to a video of me putting my paw on the book. If you click on the link you will see how it was so awesome and how I was laughing and how my tail was wagging and I hope you laugh and your tail wags, too. The end is my favorite part cause I did a good job...you'll see.

http://www.youtube.com/user/pitbullpiggygirl

So now you gotta check out Demo's book and look at the contest where you can win one of these cool books with the paws: http://www.demo-dog.com/childrens-book-XmasPage.html

Me and Demo and Jonny and Uba and Hector hope you love the book and the contest. And I hope you think Demo is a hero like I do cause we all need a hero who makes our heart smile.

Happy Hero and Merry Holidays.

Love, Jhumpa Jones

Happy Merry Day

2009-12-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Today my people woke me up from my morning nap.

They put this red thing on my head and took pictures of me.

It was kind of annoying, but it made my people smile, so I tried not to be too grumpy.

Happy new toys day!

hugs,

Uba

My Dude

2009-12-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Back when I first was taken from dat "mean guys" yard and kept in a cell for like, forever! I was so scared being all alone. I couldn't see my sister or my cousins but heard dem barking. Den one day a pack of humans came and were staring at me. I wanted to bark, "Why are you guys starring at me? Don't you know dats rude?!" Den dey tried to make me do tings I didn't want to do! Den dis human dey called Tim, brought me outside and talked softly, while holding me in his arms. I wanted to lick him and tank him, for his kindness but was too scared to do so. When he left dat day, I tought "Oh no where's my dude going?! " Guess what?! My dude didn't forget about me! Turns out, he sent people from his pack to spring a bunch of us from dat scary holding place. Well, a lot has happened since dat first day I met dat human with the kind eyes. I now have a forever home, I'm learning dat its OK to explore scary tings and have met other nice humans too. But, its "My Dude" who will always hold, dat special place, in my wittle bully heart. ~Love Frodo~

Yikes ! What is that ?!?!

2009-11-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

Make sure you check under your dog bed before laying down. Scary things are everywhere.

Be safe.

Jonny-

'Ears Lookin' at ME!

2009-11-09T17:04:00.000-08:00

Every single day I go for a walk with my person and one of my brothers. Sometimes I go with my Labrabrother, Pyewackett, and sometimes I go with my super-cool Pibblebrother, Piggly Wiggly. It's so cool to go for a walk with my brothers.

Today I was walkin with my Labrabrother and here's a movie of me. My person was laughing at my shadow...But I don't really know why. I was just looking around at everything and sometimes when I look at stuff my ears make funny shapes.

I don't try to make funny shapes with my ears, you know. It's just that when I'm thinking real hard or when I hear something new or if I see a squirrel or something my ears move all around like they want to know what's going on, too.

Lots of people have told me that my ears are one of the things that make me so special and that they make lots of people happy.

I like walking with my brothers. And I like being special and making people happy.

Love,
Jhumpa Jones

Someone smaller than me came to stay

2009-11-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Usually, I am the smallest dog at our house.

I am smaller than Lulu, smaller than Sydney, smaller than SweetPea and smaller than Lolo. Sometimes, I get tired of being the smallest and the people calling me little. I have a really big personality and tons of energy, which I think means I'm not so little.

I got a break from being the smallest this month when Daisy May came to be a foster sister. She is even smaller than me!

It was really nice to have someone around who could look up to me. Daisy is super sweet and polite and friendly and was a very nice guest. She gave me a big kiss to thank me for being a friend and showing her around the big city.

It was a pleasure having you here, Miss Daisy May!

hugs, Uba

My BFF

2009-10-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have lots of friends, see. But there is one person who is super special to me and her name is Annie Lee. Annie is 7 years old and I am only 4 years old so she is like my cool big sister. Here's a picture of her and me.

I met Annie last weekend when she and her mommy Sharon and her daddy Ralphie invited me and my person and all of my brothers and sisters Piggy, Pyewackett, Cricket and Little Toby to visit them at their house. Can you believe it? These totally cool people invited five dogs and one person to their house!! I think they should get a prize like a bully stick or a cookie with frosting or something for being so nice to me and my family!!!!!!
I know a lot of big people but Annie's house was the first small person's house I ever visited (my person calls the small people kids but all I know is that they are small like me and not big like some people who scare me sometimes). Annie knew how much I like cheese and she gave me some and then I never ever wanted to leave her side.

I wanted to climb in her lap so I did and she giggled and I wagged my tail real fast and everyone, even the big people, laughed and giggled. I didn't mean to be funny, I just wanted to be near my new friend.

Then we took a picture of me and Annie and my person. This was such a great and fun day. Annie is my BFF and I am so lucy to have a BFF. After all, how many pibbles like me have a BFF like Annie?

I love you, Annie!!!!!

Life is So Good

2009-10-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

My yard is full of cool stuff. I have squirrels, chipmunks, and bunnies. Lots of birds, too. I am really good friends with all of them and love to share my grass with everyone. Sometimes bugs crawl on me and it tickles. My person thinks it's funny that I have so many friends in the yard.

This is a picture of me laying in the sun in my yard. My person grabbed her camera and snapped my picture cause she said I was smiling.

All I know is that I'm a really happy girl :)

Monday Movie

2009-10-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today, I was hanging out in the garage with my foster dad, when he pointed that little silver box at me again.

What a girl has to do to get a cookie around here is embarrassing. Sheesh.

-Grace

A little "happy".

2009-09-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone! (Turn on speakers)

Love,

Frodo

Helping a Friend

2009-09-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

One day, a few months ago, my people brought the most beautiful dog I have ever seen home to be my friend. Her name is Lolo and my people said she would stay with us for a while as a foster sister. At first she wasn't allowed to play with us and we could only talk through the gate. She had something wrong with her legs that meant she wasn't allowed to do fun stuff for a while.

Eventually I was allowed to play with her. We started off only playing for a few minutes at a time, because my people wanted to make sure we didn't get too excited. Lolo is the best playmate ever!

Having Lolo as a foster sister meant I had to be a teacher sometimes. I helped her learn about being patient while we wait to go for walks.

I helped her learn to chew on chew toys instead of chewing on things you get in trouble for chewing on.

I helped her learn to relax and be calm sometimes.

I went to pit bull class with her so she could learn how to be an ambassador for pit bulls and so she could say hello to some very nice people who wanted to be her forever family.

One day, Lolo went home with the nice people. I was sad, so I napped in her girly pink bed for a while and then looked out of the window to see if she was coming back. My people say I did a really great job helping her learn how to be a good girl, and now she has her own family where she can get all the love she wants, without me pushing her out of the way. Although I miss Lolo, I am happy I was able to help her find her perfect forever family.

I'm dreaming of seeing you soon, Lolo!

Hugs,

Uba

Jonny Justice Goes to Work

2009-08-29T18:06:00.001-07:00

Summer

2009-08-24T20:53:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a dog just has to stop, sniff the good smells and enjoy the sun...

Ok, thats enough - LETS GO!!!!

hugs,

Uba

A Bath for A Good Cause

2009-08-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've been lucky. All of you have shown so much compassion for me and my former roomates. So when she suggested I give back a little, I jumped at the chance. Don't get me wrong, I'm right there with my buddy Ernie. Baths are the worst. But for the Western States Police Canine Association I decided to get wet. A couple of dog loving guys here own 34 pet stores in the Greater Bay Area and they held a fund raiser to help WSPCA buy vests to protect their police canines. The deal was, for one day last month, if I climbed into the bath, the money she paid for me to get wet all went to WSPCA. How could I say no to helping dogs needing protective vests when so many people helped me when I really needed it. So, I got wet. It wasn't pretty, but I gave back a little. And here's the proof.

My New Friend

2009-08-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!
I made a new friend! His name is Winston, and he's really fun. Sometimes I used to get excited about stuff when I was on my leash, and it was hard to meet new people when I was being excited. My Man and Lady called me a Big Goofball, but now I learned when you are calm and quiet, humans bring tasty treats, and you can meet all kinds of people.
So, Winston goes to school with me and we met really slowly so I could remember to stay calm. First, we went on walks together somewhere new, and then later we got to play in Winston's yard. We ran and jumped and ran some more.

He's soooo cool, but then he did something I haven't figured out yet.

He jumped in a BIG COLD BATH! AAAACK. He tried to get me to come in, but I don't like baths. Not at all. So I watched from the outside.
We get to play again next weekend, which is just fine with me.
Love,
Ernie

Vick reinstated.....hmmmm......

2009-07-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've met Vick........Not impressed.

The End.

Hey M-Guy, let's go for a walk.

-H

Did you Hear ??

2009-07-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Did you hear the BIG NEWS ?

-Jonny

Party Boy

2009-07-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went with my people to a big party where all my friends were waiting to say hello to me. They kept saying things about fireworks, but I know the party was for us dogs. First I went on a little walk with Frodo. We saw some tall skinny creatures called deer.

When we got back from our walk I explored this huge field. My people said it was OK to go as far as I wanted and really inspect the whole place.

After I looked at everything and sniffed a lot, I ran around really fast to celebrate being a free dog.

My people tell me that other dogs like me who come from scary places will be able to spend time in this big wide open place and learn about being dogs. I think that sounds like a really good idea.

hugs,

Uba

Naughty and Sweet

2009-07-15T15:37:00.001-07:00

Somebody asked her the other day to summarize my personality. She couldn’t come up with anything and I sat there and rolled my eyes. Let me summarize. I’m naughty. That’s it. Just naughty. And sweet.

Can you believe it's been a year!

2009-07-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm back. I've been getting to know my forever family.
I'm enjoying my big backyard with lots of balls and tuggies.

Best of all my new home came with a built in playmate, my sister Izzi.
She's still trying to convince me that water is fun.

True love.
Napping together after a play.

I love Spa day!

I'm OFFICIAL!

2009-07-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody,

Today is an awesome day. It's the weekend, it's sunny, and my Man and Lady took me out to sniff things. But even better than all that stuff....it's my first full day of being ADOPTED! Yesterday my Man and Lady said they had great news. They got my Final Paperwork. But it doesn't feel like work, it feels like Whooooppieeee!!! So here is me after they put away the contract-signing pens.

When we got home, I got some really nice treats, and last night my whole family snuggled on the bed. Hope you all get to snuggle with your favorite people too.
Love,

Ernie

K9 Karnival and "Pit Bull Pomeranians"

2009-07-05T15:15:00.001-07:00

M-Gal took me to the Rochesterfest K9 Karnival last weekend. I had sooooooo much fun, and was my typical charming self of course. They had Daschund races, but I was much more content sitting at the Chesney's Choices homemade treat table demonstrating how yummy her treats are. I also made sure the booth always looked spotless by cleaning up all the crumbs left by the other dogs that were messier eaters. I'm such a good little worker dog. I guess the word is getting out about me cuz people heard and knew that I was there before I even met them.
In between my duties at the treat table, M-Gal let me make the rounds to meet new people and make some new doggie friends. There were 2 little foofy pomeranians that we came across. Their person said that the one might snark at me, but I'm the Hector Man! All the ladies love me! Well......all but this little pomeranian I guess. I just couldn't get her to like me. What's the deal with that?!? She kept trying to tell me off, but I just stood there wondering what the big deal was, and what it was in this perfect package that she was finding fault in. Their person said that they were Pit Bulls in little fluffy bodies. M-Gal said - "Well my dog IS a Pit Bull, and he's not acting like that." Ha Ha....good one M-Gal!
H

Nursemaid for a day.

2009-07-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

One morning mom got up very early and took my new sister to have something done called "being spayed". I don't know what dat is but when my sister came back, she was verrry sleepy and wouldn't play with me.

So, to make her feel better I started cleaning her. Sister likes when I do dat.

All of a sudden she woke up and started cleaning me!

"Hey, wait! Sis, I'm da one taking care of you remember?! Now be still, so I can clean you!"

OK, what's wrong with dis picture?! Your not..... (Whats dat big word?), CO-WOPPERATING!

Geez! Being a nursemaid is hard work!

"Sigh" Sister's! You can't live with dem and their too much fun to live without!

~Love Frodo~

A Major Holiday

2009-06-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today is a very important holiday for dogs. I initially thought it might be some Hallmark holiday, and that I’d get a card. Since I have no use for cards, I didn’t care all that much. That is, until the leash came out and we headed…..to work!

It is “Take Your Dog to Work Day” and that’s exactly what happened. They took me to the Winery and I met all the people who work in the cellar, I got to climb on ladders and even sit on a barrel. Instead of getting some card, I got a great adventure. All in all, a fun major holiday!

It Must Be Monday

2009-06-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jonny-

I Rehabbed and Passed Something Else

2009-06-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well we all know I didn't need any rehabbing, but I did my first official therapy dog visit in a rehab unit of the Mayo Clinic to help their rehab experience be a good one. It was fun! I got to inspect a lot of new places, and a bunch of people made a big circle around me just to give me scratches. Sounds like I'm going to get to go back there, and I really like going places more now that it's not real cold any more. They even said Clara could bring my buddy Angus along since he's a Therapy dog, too! I hope he does, but we'll see though, cuz I'm pretty sure I like him more than he likes me.

It was cold last weekend though, and M-guy insisted that we had to go out and spend part of the day outside. I think he was a little off his rocker that day to be honest. He didn't even care that I was pulling all over the place on the leash! Besides being cold, it was so windy it was raining sideways sometimes. Seriously.....all I had to do was walk around and meet some more people. Couldn't we have done that inside? Some of them had cool things like a bucket that made cool noises and one had a big stick so they could test my temperament. My temperament passed.

Road Trip to see the Duckies

2009-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend Jonny Justice and I went on a road trip.
We went to a beautiful place that smells really good.

The next day, after breakfast and a short hike, we went to the River Ranch Lodge for the Truckee Duckee Derby. We picked out a good spot where we could see the race.

Jonny and I were the Pets of Honor and a whole lot of people and dogs came to see us.

After the little rubber duckies had their race, we met the big granddaddy duckee. He was really big and yellow.

Then we went on stage and all the people clapped their hands and smiled. I'm not sure why, we didn't do any of our amazing tricks or anything. Then we autographed two of the magazines with our cousin Sweet Jasmine on the cover. My paw print is the one at the top, and Jonny's is underneath. Sorry, I got some ink on your face, Jasmine!

We met so many people who were so nice and we worked really hard to say hello to as many people as possible. My people said we both did a really good job. We were very very tired after it was all over.

Thank you to all the nice people who invited us on our trip, Bill Jensen, The Humane Society of Truckee/Tahoe and all the really nice people who work there, and Alvina and her nice lady German Shepherd at the Holiday House Hotel where we stayed.

Summer School

2009-06-08T17:52:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!
I got to go to a FUN school where we ran around in the grass and did all kinds of different stuff in front of cones and signs. My Lady says it's called Rally and it was Really Cool. My friends Uba and Audie came too, and a new girl I didn't know before called Ms. Kitty. Boy she was PRETTY! I hope we get to hang out again.

Here's me waiting my turn to start:

Then we went really fast around some cones. I LIKE weaving!!

But my FAVORITE was the loves & scratchies I got when I finished. I could barely stand still long enough to have my picture taken.

Hope you all get to enjoy the sunshine, too!

Love,

Ernie

Oops, I threw a temper tantrum

2009-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I should be thrilled. I got to go to a food (that’s food for people, not me) and music festival on Sunday. They got hungry and decided to go to a restaurant that allowed me to sit outside at a table. But I got bored. True, they gave me some treats for being a good dog and settling under the table, but there came a time when I decided enough was enough. I wanted to go do something else.

She snapped this photo just moments before I threw a temper tantrum. I had a melt down. I threw myself on the ground and spun around and tried to get myself out of my harness and collar. It didn’t work. She’s much bigger than me and quietly took my wiggling self and harness and sat me up again. At the time it seemed the world should revolve around my cute face, but it didn’t work out that way. I woke up yesterday with a more positive outlook on my life though. I suppose they could have left me at home with the other dogs. I hope they let me try again. I promise, I’ll behave.

Barbeque

2009-05-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I learned a new people sound.

It's called Barbeque ! I really like the smell that word means.

Seems that Jonny likes that smell too.

Maybe it's just me, but do you think he likes it a bit too much ?

Grace-

I'm Just So Very Busy

2009-05-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am a busy little dog. Yes, both kinds of busy. I investigate everything and that includes grabbing and running with the abandoned shoes that I find in her closet and hunting for squirrels in the backyard when I think she’s not noticing. But, I’m busy in another way too. She’s signed me up for agility classes and rally classes. Two nights each week, we go to class and the other days we practice so much stuff that my head begins to spin. This is a lot of work for me considering I didn’t know what a leash was all that long ago, I wanted to stand on the kitchen table all the time, and tried to swallow everything I saw. Things I nearly swallowed included pieces of paper, washcloths and bottle caps and bait (small delicious dead fish heads) left on the waterfront, but I was foiled every time. That's mostly behind me and now, I tug politely on my tug toy, down when she asks for a down, walk backwards (why she wants this I’ll never know), balance on a puffy round ball, and run into my crate whenever I hear the word crate. I’m so much better behaved she said, but I do find time to squeeze in the shoe stealing stuff even though I’m told this isn’t part of my new training plan. You see, this is all part of being very busy little dog.

Iggy's tips for the day: Breathe thru what scares you & take time for belly rubs

2009-04-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be aware of an invention called television and on television they show shows...

I have seen TV. We have one at our house. But here's a secret you may not know...people don't really live in that box on the wall. huh...well, I learn something new every day! literally...

One day back in February I learned that people from TV come with lots and lots of equipment. The people seemed nice, the equipment seemed, well, a little scary. I wasn't too sure about what was going on. But everything worked out OK.

That's another thing I have learned...when I am unsure about things...if I just keep breathing, I can get through it and I am just fine, in fact I am better because I get a little more brave with each new experience.

As we head into warmer weather, I just wanted to share a video of me Enjoying a sunny day!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-04-08T20:20:00.001-07:00

So I guess M-guy and M-gal said that I just had my Estimated Birthday on Tuesday! They said it was estimated because they don't really know when I was born. I could tell them, but I don't like to think about those days, so I'm gonna start fresh and have my Estimated Birthday be my Real Birthday from now on.

M-guy seemed a little preoccupied and busy with other stuff, but that's okay because he gave me extra treats and told me he'd make it up to me this weekend with a fun late birthday outing. Also, since it was my birthday and he couldn't take me anywhere special, he let me sleep in bed with him and M-gal! That rocked!! M-guy kept waking up sometimes because he didn't have sheets covering him the whole way. For some reason he wasn't able to move them, so since I was already up there on the sheets next to him, I made sure to curl up real close to him and not move to try and keep him warm, since the sheets obviously weren't doing the trick. If he were smart, he would totally keep me up in bed to do this more often. M-gal made me special home baked doggie treats shaped like bones too! M-guy slipped me an extra one while the other dogs weren't looking. Mmmmmm......yum..............

This is Getting Difficult

2009-04-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we started going to a new school in a different place where there are NO pit bulls. Wow, it's weird not to see other pit bulls at school! The class is for something called Rally-O. If I am good I can get more letters after my name, to go after the "CGC".

We started out doing normal class stuff like walking at heel, sitting, waiting, doing downs and walking around cones. After a while the lady in charge put up all these little pieces of paper and we had to read them to figure out the next command. My favorite is this one that says "fast", I am an expert at fast!

Then it started to get hard.

This sign is really tough. My mom and I got kind of mixed up with it, but the nice lady helped us figure it out and by the end of the class we got it almost completely right on the practice course. We practice in the evenings before dinner, which I like a lot. I love getting treats for being smart and then I get to be all wild and crazy and run around.

The lady in charge says I am a really great dog (duh!). She likes it when I get really happy and excited and bounce and crash into my mom's legs when we heel. This new class is really fun because I have to think a lot, and reading the signs is making me smarter. I also really like that since we've been taking rally classes my mom and I understand each other better. I've always listened to her, but now I can see that there are more things she's telling me, like which direction we're going to go. If I watch carefully I know what we're doing next before she even says anything! I'm going to keep studying hard, I want to know about more of the signs so we have more fun stuff to practice.

This is a good sit and look - more treats, please!

hugs,
Uba

2009-04-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!

Springtime is sure niiiice, just like my friend Audie said. Now that it's warm, I like to hang out with my Man and Lady in the back yard. They're working on a part called The Roses, and my Lady got real unhappy because she said we have a go-for there. And the go-for is doing something funny to her plants! Uh oh! I didn't know what go-for was until I took a big sniff of a nice hole by her flowers. Then I remembered--- that guy! Well I sure went looking for him so he wouldn't eat any more plants. I looked all over in The Roses, I looked in the bulbs, I looked on the hill (three times!), in the grass, and by the deck. I'm not sure my Lady liked my looking. She said I made an awful lot of holes. But here's me when I was done digging, and nobody scolded me because they said I looked Too Happy. Yup. It's nice to be Too Happy in the sun!

Love,

Ernie

The Napa Valley in Spring

2009-03-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a short drive to the Napa Valley. She wanted me to have the chance to walk in the vineyards and to see bud break. I didn’t really care about all that, but the air smelled sweet so I closed my eyes and I drank it all in.

I Passed Again!

2009-03-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

So a little while ago, M-Guy and M-Gal took me out one night. We came to a place called a nursing home and he told me that I had to be a good boy so I could pass my Therapy Dog test. What's with all these tests that I have to pass? Isn't it obvious by now that I'm a good boy? Sheeeesh! I guess all dogs have to pass this one though if they want to go visit people in nursing homes and hospitals. That sounds like it would lead to some fun adventures and more places for me to check out, so I guess I'm down with that.

It was a lot like that Doggie Good Something-or-other test, or whatever it was called. M-Guy and these other folks threw me some curve balls on this one though. There were treats I had to walk past without eating, a bunch of ladies yelling, screaming and acting crazy, and the kitchen was at the end of the hall with people pushing carts in and out banging pots and pans together. To top it off, one time we had to walk the other way down the hall while the crazy ladies ran past us, all rowdy like, with a corgi riding in a chair with wheels! The only thing I want to know is how did the corgi get that gig? I want that job next time! It looked a lot more fun than having to walk nicely next to M-Guy through the whole thing.

Anyway, I passed another test again, so I can become a Therapy Dog now. Everybody there kept saying how good I was, and how handsome I am. DUH! What else did they expect from the Handsome Hector? That place was pretty fun, so hopefully I get to go back soon to visit the folks staying there. Hey M-Guy! I didn't help you and M-Gal out around the house that much before this test like I did last time, but don't worry.....I made up for it. I cleared off M-Gal's night stand, and cleaned the kitchen counters for ya. No need to thank me! Just an FYI.

H - Oh....and by the way, I made the Rochester paper again also! Check it out

I got a brother!

2009-03-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure how they knew, but the people here got me just what I have been wishing for…a new dog! And it wasn't even my birthday! I love him. His name is Benny. We are best buddies.

I know I said before that I take time to warm up to new things, but I knew I liked Benny from the moment I saw him. They crated him across the room from me and I whined on and off for two days until they moved him right next to me...hey those tiny, little people who visit are right...whinning does work!

When he first got here they were calling him "compassion case" and now they are calling him "foster dog"...I don't know what any of those words mean, but it must be sorta like "big dork" or somethin' if Benny is one. Anyway, we have the best time together and his busted pelvis doesn't slow him down at all...(don't worry it's an old injury and it doesn't hurt him anymore) just makes him walk a little funny.

I also wanted to tell all my buddies who have gotten their CGC...CONGRATULATIONS! I am so proud of you guys...

Uba the Lady's Man

2009-03-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have been busy recently collecting lots of girl friends.

My first love will always be Lulu. She is a great big sister and she's taught me all about how to be a normal dog. Lulu is the very best and she is really patient and kind to me even when I get the zoomies and crash into her. She's a good pillow, too.

I've made some new lady friends lately and it has been lots of fun. First Sidney came to stay with us. She is tall and beautiful and I know she thinks I'm really great even if she told me I'm annoying. I hope she comes back to stay again soon.

Next we got a new neighbor.
Her name is SweetPea and she is really sweet and calm. I am teaching her to be wild and crazy and to play like a maniac. She's learning but she needs more lessons. Woo Hoo! I'm the best teacher!

Then Lolo came to stay. I LOVE Lolo, she is just like me! She loves to play and be fun. One day she went to the vet and they did some crazy things to fix her ouchy legs, including shaving her butt. Now I can't play with her for WEEKS. She says she is all better, but my people say she needs more time to heal. I'm trying to be patient, but I can't wait to play with her again. I hope when she goes to her forever home I can still play with her lots.

I've also been spending more time with my sister, Zippy. Everyone says we are too cute together. We are almost identical twins and we understand each other and see things the same way. She is pretty cool for a sister.

Its really great having all these pretty girls in my life! I am one lucky dog.

hugs,

Uba

Friday Funnies

2009-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

CGC for me....too.

2009-03-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody..It's me Grace. Yesterday my foster dad woke me up early like usual and took me for my walk, but then we got into the car, and left for doggie school. Wait, don't Jonny and me get to play after walking ??? That was kind of weird. It wasn't like a normal day at school too, it was way eariler.

When we got there , I went to a table with my foster dad, where he scratched a stick on a paper, and then we waited around. Ok, this is weird. Where are the treats, where are all orange thingys we walk around ? Hmmm. Then I heard our names being called. We wend over to a nice lady who took our paper and scratched it with a stick some more. Then she shook my foster dad's hand, brushed me, looked in my ears, at my teeth, and shook all my paws. Ok. This is good and all, but don't I get a cookie ? So we walked around a little bit, did some fancy turns, met another dog, had to sit, lay down and sit again before wearing a really long, and I mean really long, leash. Then I sat still while foster dad walked back and forth, then called me to him. Then my foster dad left me with this nice lady, and went away. I guess he had to go potty. He came back, and the nice lady scratched the paper some more.

Then...OMG...a huge party !!!! My foster dad was so happy, I got a huge helping of cookies, a toy, and lots of people saying nice things to me. They all said I just didn't pass, I breezed through the test. Wait..what test ??? You mean we just took a test and I passed. Does this mean I get steak tonight like Jonny and Hector did ? WOOOO HOOOOO. I love tests.

So now I am a CGC. Foster dad says it stands for Cute, Good, and Cuddly.

Hey, that's just like me.

Grace-

A CItizen of Canine Goodness

2009-02-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

I am a Canine Good Citizen. Just check out my collar...

I have learned a real lot over the last year when I've lived in this old house with my person and my pack. The people who brought me here to this place said I was real scared when I got here and that mostly I crawled on my belly and didn't want to look at people too much. But I don't really remember that cause now I love to be a good girl and make people laugh and sometimes jhump (that's how I spell it but my person says it's supposed to be spelled "jump") on them to see if they have a cookie for me. Me and my person have been doing this thing called school every week since I came here and sometimes at school I sit and stay and sometimes I fly over jhumps and sometimes I weave in these poles and I am always really good around other dogs like me cause I really like dogs and cats, too.

But last week my person said we had an important test and so I got real serious (that is SO hard for me cause my person says silly is my middle name). Anyway we met this nice lady, Bev, who petted me and touched my ears and my feet and brushed me and stuff and then I sat and stayed and walked with my person and stuff, and all of a sudden I was this thing called a Canine Good Citizen. Ha!

All my teachers, Catherine and Glenn and Nancy are all so cool and have helped me so much. And the lady who gave the special test, Bev, is so cool, too and I really liked her. And all the people who are so nice to me are so awesome and make me feel so happy and remind me that this is a real good life.

I love being a good citizen but now I'm real tired (see my picture with my brother, Pig).

Thank you, everyone.

Going to Brave School

2009-02-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

"Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a. Going to Brave School, going to Brave School. Chug-a-chug-a-chug".

Dats what my mum sings to me when we're going to my CGC class. Hi everybody I've been away learning dat the world is not such a scary place. One of my favorite places is Brave School, where I get to see all my friends and dat makes me so happy! I specially like it when my best-bud Uba is there. Since going to Brave School I'm not such a scarrdy-cat er I mean, scarrdy-dog anymore. I don't even care if dat nice lady there comes by me wit dat noisy metal thing wit da wheels on it. Nope, nope not me! So if you want to learn how to be a braver pooch, just drag your human out da bed bright and early and have dem take you to Brave School. And maybe on the way home, they will let you sit in the front seat and hang your head out da window like your da bravest dog in town. Hugs, Frodo

Being a Good Boy

2009-02-18T15:14:00.001-08:00

Hey Everybody!

Here I am looking out my sliding glass door. That might seem pretty ordinary, but I didn't used to get to do this on my own because SQUIRRELS are REALLY EXCITING!

There's a tree right outside my door, and those rascals come wave their tails and tease me, and then I get in trouble for shouting at them to CLEAR OFF! WOO! But my Lady says I am a big handsome boy now and that big boys don't shout at squirrels. Even when they really, really want to. Plus, big boys get more cookies! So I'm trying extra hard, and most of the time now I can watch them quietly and just think loud thoughts in my head.

Love,

Ernie

behind the scenes

2009-02-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

Hi Everybody-

Im sure you have seen when a few of us got to be in a famous sports magazine a while back. It was a lot of fun meeting all the magazine folks and getting my picture taken. Picture time means lots of cookies come my way. The people always hold cookies next to a camera so I will look at it. Then I get one. Heh, little do they know, I got them all figured out. I only look for a second or two, then turn away. I get way more cookies doing that. Mmmmm, cookies.

Anyway, my dad thought I should share this " behind the scenes " photo of my bud Cal and me working it for the camera. He said it was too cute not to share. Phooey, cute is for girls. We don't do cute. What we do is look cool. Yeah...Cool.

My dad also said I shoud thank everyone who helped, and for once, I think he might be right. So, BIG THANKS to, Jim and Deanne for the great story and pictures they put in thier magazine. Also big thanks to Cal for taking pictures with me, even though you didn't get any cookies. And I can't forget Brian, Asha, and Debbie down at Peninsula Humane for helping me score this great job. You guys are more than cool.

Life is good,

Jonny-

Introducing Mr. Barker

2009-02-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

My whole name is Iggy Piggy Barker,
but you can call me Iggy.

As an explanation of why I haven't introduced myself until now, I will just tell you that I like to take new things sorta slow...like the other day I got a new bed in my crate, and I decided that I shouldn't touch it for at least 24 hours...no sense in rushing into things if you ask me. This is me 14 months ago...

and this is me now...

Every morning I wake up really early, just before the sun and I peek one eye open to see if I am still in my cozy bed in my new life and when I see that I am, I am so happy that I get up and do a little dance in my crate...it makes the people here think I need to go outside and pee. I don't have to pee, I am just glad that California isn't a dream.

Week Six and Steep Next Steps

2009-02-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

Thursday was my six week surgery checkup. The surgeon said my x-rays look great and my knees are most definitely on the mend. If you’ve been following my little story, at my 3 week blog I complained of being picked up, put down, and picked up yet again because I just wanted to have some fun and RUN. I heard the surgeon say the next step in my rehab is lots of steps, as in lots of stairs. My first thought was boy, oh boy, freedom at last! It started this morning, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs. It’s not what I thought it’d be. This is hard work. I look up at her, but she won’t pick me up by my handle. She ignores my big round pleading eyes and I have to do it on my own. Those stairs are so steep and my legs are so tired. I wish I’d never complained about feeling like a purse. Now will you puleez pick me up!

My New Years Workout

2009-01-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

Since the New Year, my people have been helping me workout more. They have been letting me run on my treadmill almost everyday. I LOVE running on my treadmill, it is so much fun!

I got this cool new harness called a back pack to help me work out while the tiny human was here. My people say I am a real working dog when I wear it. When I am more used to wearing it and I don't bump in to things so much, I can carry stuff around for us all, like water and treats. That will be really cool. I like to work and be a good boy. Here I am getting ready to go for a walk in my back pack. I was wondering what was taking so long - lets go!

I have been helping my dad on his bicycle, too. When we go to his races I run next to him after his race to show him that I am a good athlete too. I can run so fast I'm sure he has a hard time keeping up with me. Here we are resting after our workout.My people say a tired Uba is a good Uba, so I hope all my working out makes me a good dog because I do get tired.

hugs,

Uba

A Very Important Day

2009-01-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody!

I got long snuggles with my lady this morning while she watched TV. It was great- just like a whole extra Saturday! I even got a cookie! She said it was a Very Important Day because of something called Politics. I don't know much about Politics, but she said the man on the TV was our new President, which is like a pack leader. She said he talked about freedom and respect for everybody no matter who you are or what you believe. That sounds just like what pit bulls need, too. Sometimes people make faces at my man and lady or say mean things about us, and they haven't even met us! But this year things seem different. Lots of new friends are finding forever homes, and more people are getting a chance to learn new things about all of us. Maybe they'll keep letting us be ourselves and not judge us just because of where we came from. I sure hope so.

Well, after all that hard TV-watching I was ready for my nap, and today I'm just glad I'm free to be me in the sun.

Love,

Ernie

2009-01-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

It's the Jhumpa Cam! Say "Cheese"!

You are never gonna believe this! Back when we had the real tree in our house and all the pretty lights everywhere, I got a whole bunch of new toys and fun games and lots of treats from my person and my Gramma and Grampa and my Uncle Glenn and my cousin, Kapowie. See, Powie is my favorite friend in the whole wide world - he's a dog, like me, but he's really big and so silly and fun and he makes me want to jump and play a lot. He's so cool.

Anyhow, Uncle Glenn and Powie gave me this awesome present when we had the real tree in the house called a camera. I know my person has one of those but it looks real different from the one I got. Well, my camera snaps on the fancy necklace I wear every day and it clicks pictures of the stuff I'm looking at. Like this:

That's in my dining room and I'm sitting up on top of a big snuggle box (my person calls it a 'kennel' or sometimes a 'crate') so I can see out the window. I learned that cool trick to jump on top from one of my cats, Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion and now I can jump up high just like him. Sometimes we sit up there together in the sun and I love it.

So then I wore my camera on my walk with my big brother, Pig, and got this funny picture of him walking. I like to walk back behind Piggy next to my person and my person says I heel real good. I don't know what that means but I really like to be by her so it works out great. Anyway, we all had to wear our warm coats today cause it was colder than ZERO degrees. Brrrrr. I still liked it anyway cause I got to see a lot of stuff with my camera.

Well, I'm real tired from my big Saturday so that's all for now. Stay tuned for more adventures from the Jhumpa Cam!!!

There's a Tiny Human in my Sunny Spot!

2009-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

Last week my people cleaned up the room where Lulu and I nap in the sun and they closed the door and wouldn't let us in there. It was kind of annoying but they said someone called godson was coming to visit so we couldn't spend time in that room for a little while. Eventually a nice lady showed up with a tiny human. I've seen these tiny humans out on walks and at class, but never in my house before. I was kind of nervous. Maybe the tiny human would make everything change! He definitely seemed pretty scary.

The next day my dad said it was time for me to meet godson.
He let me and Lulu go into the room with our sunny spot and asked me to sit nicely and say hello to Khari, which is another name for godson, apparently.
hmmm... this tiny human may not be so bad. I gave him a cautious sniff, and a good lick to see.He didn't really like the lick, but he didn't seem too bad to me, so we enjoyed the sunny spot and talked about being small
This human puppy gets a lot of attention, and he still does scary things sometimes, but I am getting used to him. I hope I get to lick him again soon.
hugs,
Uba