the doghouse

Sorry, long time no blog!

From now on, I’m going to start letting Oakley blog too. I’ve started sharing my toys with her, and dad says I should share my blog, too. What do you think?

Oakley is doing great. She’s gained a lot of weight, and looks like a completely new girl. She’s healthy now! Unfortunately, she also has a bit of a knack for escaping. When we first got her, if she snuck out the door, she would just go back behind the townhouses across the street from ours. Now she’s run down the highway by our house twice, though.. last night when we had some friends over, she got out, and I went with her. Dad, mom, and a couple of the friends chased after us.. I tried to keep Oakley close, but she went too far, so I turned around and waited for dad – I don’t want to get lost! Oakley ran across Highway 13, and dad ran after her, and thought she was in the woods across the street.. she ran back into the middle of the road, though, and started munching on some roadkill – our friend Phil saw her and grabbed her. I’m really happy she didn’t get hurt!! About a week ago, dad was walking Oakley and I, and Oakley jerked on the leash when he wasn’t expecting it.. she got away, and it took mom and dad like a half hour to find her. She actually ended up finding us – I was really happy she came back! In any case, mom and dad say they really need to figure out a way to keep her from running away – it’s scary!
In any case, I’ll try to keep up on blogging more, and get Oakley to start writing!

I’m backdating this post to late May, since that’s when I really should have written it.

I’ve got a new sister!! Her name is Oakley Anne Nikita Carlson. She’s about 6 months old, and is a beautiful Husky mix. She’s got one blue eye, and one hazel-ish eye. I love playing with her, chasing her around, and laying down and wrestling with her. The only bummer is that she takes lots of mom and dad’s time, and she likes to try to take my toys. I know how to deal with that problem, though!

Here’s a picture of my new sister! She’s really skinny right now, but should gain some weight soon with a yummy diet:

Here’s a picture of us playing in our room:

Mom really hates our couch in the background, but I tore it up, and Oakley loves sleeping on it, so dad says we can keep it.

Actually, I blame Nate. He’s been so lazy about helping me post to my blog, even when I try and try to remind him! Sorry it’s been so long.

In any case, it’s been a long week. Last weekend, we went on a nice l-o-n-g walk for the March of Dimes.. I had a blast! I met lots of other dogs, got to snarf lots of dropped food, and go for a swim in the lake because I was so hot. Afterwards, we went over to Nathan and Jen’s house and grilled.. I got lots of free food there, and also got to play on the trampoline – it’s a blast! On Monday, though, Nate’s foot started really hurting, so we haven’t been able to go on any long walks this week.. at most two or three blocks. He has medicine for it hat should help, though, so hopefully we’ll get to go on more soon!

Well, that’s it for now – but please bug Nate to help me post more!

Nate took me out for my walk this morning, and all the grass was white and crunchy! Nate told me it was something called “frost”, and it’s what happens when things start to get cold. I like it – I can jump around and feel the grass crunch underneath me. Of course, I was too excited by the new grass to do my business, so hopefully I’ll be ok today while Tiff and Nate are working.

Nate also told me that we’re supposed to be getting snow on Wednesday.. I kind of remember that from when I was a really little puppy, and am excited for it!

I think I finally understand what Tiff and Nate have been trying to teach me ever since they rescued me — I am supposed to pee and poo *outside*, and not in the house! And upstairs and downstairs are part of my house! WOW! I GET IT! (They are pretty happy.)

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written.. things have been really hectic the last month and a half. Tiff and Nate have both been in and out of town, and I’ve had various puppysitters.. it’s been an interesting time! Since my last post, I’ve become a lot more defensive of the house.. I think it’s because a neighbor’s house was burglarized, and I realized that something weird was going on. I’ve also been able to play in my own yard a lot more since we got grass.. Tiff and Nate got me a stake for the back yard, and a 30 foot chain, so I can run around the yard. Tonight, I was outside playing while Nate cleaned the chairs off, and I saw our neighbor come out to do some grilling. I took off to go say hi, and suddenly my collar broke off! I guess I hit the end of the chain, and I was going so fast that it just broke. I ran around for awhile, until I heard Nate calling me.. then I went back inside.

In any case, just wanted to let you all mow that I’ve been having lots of fun, and am being a good puppy.. I will try to post more often!

Tiff and Nate got kind of mad at me today. When Nate left in the morning, Tiff was still sleeping, so Nate tied me up to the patio door, as they’ve been doing the last couple months. I really don’t mind this during the day, but I was bored, so I decided to chew on my leash, and it broke into two pieces!! I stayed by the door until Tiff woke up and went upstairs, then I followed her and laid down at her feet — and boy, was she surprised! She tied me back up with my other leash when she left, and I left it alone until Nate got home.

When Tiff got home, Nate put some food in my bowl, and then they tied me back up again, because they were taking one of Tiff’s old daycare kids out for ice cream for her birthday. I thought it was really mean of them to tie me up when it was time to eat, so I broke my leash again, ate, and also ate Tiff’s purse and some markers. When they got home, they were *really* mad! I had chewed through both of my leashes, so they didn’t know how to walk me.. I tried to tell them to take me out without my leash on, but they didn’t like that idea. Finally, Nate tied two of the leashes together, and took me out.

Tiff says that I’m going to have to go into my kennel again every day now.. I’m not happy about that. Nate’s going to be out of town all of next week, so I’m going to do my very best to be a good puppy for Tiff.. I don’t want her to get mad at me!

Well, I had my very first Fourth of July today.. it was fun! We went over to a friend’s house, and there were lots and lots of people there, and a couple little dogs who didn’t really want to talk to me very much. Then, a dog my size named Marshall came, and we got to be tied to the same tree, so we played lots, and then laid down together for awhile. I also got to watch Nate and some of the guys play Koob – I really wanted to join in, but they wouldn’t let me.

After it started getting dark, we walked over to the St. Louis Park fireworks show.. there were tons of people there that I got to meet. I didn’t mind the noise of the fireworks too much, but the combination of the fireworks and all the people cheering was kind of overwhelming.. eventually I just laid down by Nate and Tiff, and Nate covered my ears and Tiff petted me – that was much better. After the show, we took a long walk back to the house (we were trying to avoid people, and ended up going a mile or so out of the way).. I was tired afterwards!

I think I’ll like this again next year.. maybe by then I will have learned enough to be off-leash the whole time!

We are *finally* getting some landscaping done by our house – I’m happy! They already have all the rocks and plants in both in front and behind the houses.. all they have left is to put the trees in, and then the sprinkler system, and finally the grass. I’ll be happy when grass comes in – I haven’t gotten to explore the back yard yet, but Nate and Tiff promised me that when we have grass I’ll get to go back there lots.

I was kind of scared of the trees laying on the ground (they just don’t look natural), so I barked at them until Nate let me go up and sniff one.. how weird is that – there’s a tree *on the ground*. Ah well, hopefully it’ll be planted by the time I get to go out and look tonight.

I watched the movie “Eight Below” with Nate and Tiff the other night. Let me tell you – it was great! I got to see lots of puppies, and how they survived on their own. I think I’ve developed a bit of a puppy crush on Maya, she’s a cutie! I also like Buck, because he looks like me – I’ll have to bug Nate to get a screencap of the DVD later so you can compare us. Max is also a good pup – he learns how to be part of the pack, and more. The movie has a couple sad moments, but overall, it’s good. Highly recommended for all dogs that like snow!

I also learned a new trick early Wednesday morning, when I woke Nate up for my 4am walk (he wasn’t very happy with me, since he wasn’t feeling good, but that’s a different story).. I figured out that if my water bowl has a couple inches of water in it, I can stick my nose in, and blow bubbles! I did it by accident the first time, but thought it was cool, so I did it three or four more times. Nate was laughing at me. I don’t think I remember how to do it anymore, though.. he tried to convince me to to do it for Tiff, and I refused.

I’ve set up a new “Destroyed Items” page. I’ll detail most everything that I destroy that Tiff and Nate yell at me about. Enjoy!

It can either be accessed via the direct URL:
http://www.nateandtiff.com/chimo/destroyed-items/

Or by clicking ‘Destroyed Items’ under ‘Pages’ on the right sidebar.

Tonight we had the first major storm of the “summer” season.. and there were frogs all over the place! I had lots of fun chasing the frogs around.. I was kind of bummed that Nate wouldn’t let me eat any of ‘em, though. When we went out while it was pouring rain, I would find frogs every couple feet, and put my nose on them and watch them jump, then try to catch them. I keep ringing my bell to go out more to chase more frogs, but Nate and Tiff won’t let me.. ah well.

Well, long time no update (again), so I figured I should post something! Tiff took Nate on the Minnesota Zephyr for his birthday, so I got to hang out with my friends Erika and Jacqui for a day.. it was lots of fun! We got to play games, and watch movies, and all sorts of good stuff. After that, I had a pretty normal week.. not too much going on. Then, last weekend, Nate’s sister and her husband brought their kids over.. it was fun, although I didn’t get to play with the kids as much as I’d want. On Friday, I decided that Nate’s glasses looked too good to pass up.. so once again, he gets to go glasses shopping. He wasn’t happy at all with me, especially since it means he gets to wear his sunglasses until his new glasses come in. Ah well. I’ve been playing lots with Buck over the last couple weeks – it’s nice to have someone big to play with! Neither of us really like the heat, though.. we both play for awhile, and end up laying down and enjoying the sun.

This weekend, Tiff and Nate went to Rochester for a marriage conference with their church. I got to stay home, and Virginia came over and took care of me. I had lots of fun getting to hang out with new people!

Today, after Nate put me in the bedroom and left for work, I was bored.. so I decided to look and see what were in the drawers in the bedroom. I found these funny little bottles, and when I chewed on them, lots of little pills came out, and I ate lots of them. Tiff came home for lunch, and called Nate right away.. apparently, that was a bad thing. Nate came home, and fed me some nasty-tasting stuff (he says it’s “Hydrogen Peroxide”) that made me throw up all over the place. After that, I feel much better.. but yuck!

I’ll have to be a good boy and not eat any more pills!

Well, on Tuesday, I graduated from puppy school.. yay! I’ve got a certificate of completion that I need to convince Nate to scan and post for me.

In other news, I’ve been very good at annoying Tiff lately.. yesterday, I noticed she was making lunch on the counter, so I distracted by messing with her papers in the living room, and then went into the kitchen while she was cleaning that up and ate her lunch. It was good! Last night, Nate and Tiff decided to order some deep-dish pizza from Davanni’s, and ate it while they were watching Lost.. I thought it looked good, too, so while Tiff was trying to cut the pizza on her lap, I snarfed the two pieces. Nate was mean and took them away from me, though.. since I already had them, you would’ve thought I could’ve ate them. Ah well..

Tiff and Nate are going out of town for the weekend, so they said that one of their friends was going to come stay at the house to take care of me. I’m going to be my best to be a good puppy, but it’s HARD!

This morning, I woke Nate up extra-early (5:30 or so), and he said it was really cold outside, and took me for a short walk. Then, he went back inside, set an alarm on his phone, and went to sleep on the couch. I decided I didn’t appreciate that very much, and chewed up his glasses and cell phone. He woke up, and let me tell you, he was mad at me! He didn’t punish me very much, though, since he didn’t think I’d know what it was for. HA! In any case, he ended up staying home until 10:30 or so, which I was happy about.

Here’s a picture of the nicely chewed stuff:

Sorry – I’ve been falling behind in keeping this blog up to date. Ah well, I’m sure you all don’t mind.

I had my second-to-last puppy class tonight.. next week, I graduate! The teacher noticed that I was responding much better for Nate than Tiff, so Tiff’s going to try to take more care of me (punishment at home when both Nate and Tiff are there, feeding me, etc), and see if I’ll start listening to her more.

I also got to meet a new friend today – his name is Buck, and he lives up the street a bit. He’s got a nice big backyard that his owner says we can play in.. Nate’s kind of worried that I’ll get into the runoff pond, though — I think it’d be fun to go chase the birds, but he thinks I’d stink.

I’ve been enjoying the rain lately, except for the fact that my walks are way shorter. I like the wet, but it doesn’t seem like my people do!

I have been picking up quite a few ticks lately, so Nate’s going to stop by the vet’s tomorrow and pick up some Frontline Plus for me.. hopefully it will help!

Over the weekend, Nate and Tiff took me to the March of Dimes walk. I got to walk 5 miles, sniff lots of people and puppies, and get soaking wet — it was great! Really, besides that, not much has happened in the last couple days. Nate was at a meeting at work late yesterday, and I messed the house up.. I’m not sure if it was because he was late, or because the worker guys were outside working on our neighbor’s driveways. Tiff wasn’t very happy when she got home to find the mess, but she forgave me. I got to go to puppy class again tonight.. I was the only puppy that could do down, stay on a down, and come from the stay. I’m learning really quick!

I switched from my Iams Smart Puppy food to Science Diet Lamb Meal and Rice.. I like it lots better! I’ll actually eat all four cups I get fed before bedtime now – that’s a good thing, since I’m less likely to wake Nate up at night. He doesn’t like it very much when I do that.

Nate keeps forgetting to give me my monthly heartworm pill.. it’s already two days late. I’m not going to remind him, though – I don’t particularly like it.

I know I haven’t posted any pictures in awhile – I’ll try to get some up soon!