Puppy Will

Jib here.

Mom loves babies.

She loved me when I was a baby.

She loves Will who is a baby.

She loves me now.

And I am grown up.

She says she will love Will when he is grown up.

But Mom, I thought I was the baby!

Little Explorers

Jib here.

Mom took me to a school. It is a school for human puppies. Puppy Charlotte and her Mom went, too.

Mom says that the older Grand Girls have sucked Charlotte into the sisterborg of tulle and poof.

I say that Charlotte loves to dress up.

So Charlotte dressed up.

Charlotte hugged Mom.

Mom kissed Charlotte.

And I kissed Mom.

Dragonflies!

Sailor here.

I was having a nap. It was a good nap. It was a long nap.

But dragonflies woke me up. They were very loud. They were very noisy. The roared and shouted.

Mom says they weren't dragonflies. They were Obamaflies. Up in the air. Keeping our President safe.

They were loud anyway.

And now I am awake. Wide awake.

Is it time for supper yet?

Will Work for Cheese

Jib here.

Mom took me to the park today. Aunt Judy and Tavish were there, too. Mom and Aunt Judy set up a ring. They put up jumps. They warmed us up.

It was my turn first. I heeled, but kept looking around, not at Mom. Mom didn't have cookies in her pocket.

I went around the high jump to get my dumbbell. So Mom made me right. And I was right.

I jumped over the broad jump. I dropped when Mom said, "Jibby, Come! Jibby, Drop!" Mom told me how wonderful I was.

But I didn't heel very well.

So Mom showed me CHEESE.

I was perfect.

Thanks, Mom.

Staples!

Sailor here.

Mom is very sad.

She gave me a bath. That didn't make her sad.

She brushed me. That didn't make her sad.

She found mats. Mats in my ruff. That made her a little bit sad.

She says my collar rubs and makes mats. So, she cut the mats out. Out of my ruff.

And by mistake, she cut ME. On my skin.

That made her very, very sad.

She took me to Dr. Karen. Dr. Karen stapled me. She gave me two staples. She also cut my toenails. She cut, er, uh, all my toenails.

But Mom is still very, very sad. She in unhappy that she cut me.

She thinks she's a bad dog Mom. But she's still the best!

The Two Owl Rule

Jib here.

I went to work today. I saw my kids! I kissed my kids. I love my kids!

Mom told them all about owls. When two owls go walking, the first one does the talking. I was one of the owls!

I was the owl letter "a." I wore a sign. Mom said the sign had the owl letter "a" on it. Mom was the owl letter "e." She wore a sign, too.

We went walking. We walked in my kids' classroom. Mom went first. I walked behind her.

Mom said I was a silent owl. That meant I couldn't bark. I couldn't whine. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't even yawn. I had to be quiet. Silent.

Mom got to do the talking. That fits. She talks all the time.

She said, "Eeeeeeeee, eeeeeeeee, eeeeeeee." She sounded like a mouse, not an owl.

I had to be silent. So I was quiet.

We were two owls named "e" and "a." We went walking. Together.

I told Sailor and Zoe about it when I got home. Sailor asked if I got any cookies. Zoe asked if I hooted. She said owls hoot, they don't "eeeeeeee."

So Mom confuzled me again.

I hope she doesn't confuzle my kids. I don't know how to explain the two owls thing. Without a lot of growling and barking and yipping.

And hooting.

Smoking is Bad For All of Us

Sailor here.

Mom put her dinner in the wall.

She walked away and did something with string and paper.

She forgot her supper in the wall.

We had smoke.

We had lots of smoke.

Mom ran around like Zoe.

She opened the windows.

She turned on the helicopter in the ceiling.

She turned on the stove fan.

Then the house made a loud, loud noise. It hurt my ears. It hurt Jib's ears. It didn't hurt Zoe's ears because Zoe can't hear.

Mom flapped a dish towel at the ceiling where the house was shouting. The shouting stopped.

My ears still made a sound even though the house stopped yelling.

And now my house smells like smoke.

Lots of smoke.

I Am a Gardener

Jib here.

Mom grabbed her wallet and got into the dog car. I stood in the window. I barked: "Hey, Mom, you forgot the dogs! "

Then she left in the dog car. She left the dogs. All of us. Behind!

But she came back. She brought me flowers and squash and tomatoes and impatience. She said she was going to plant them. All of them.

Zoe sniffed and sniffed and Mom shooed her away. She said that Zoe likes to dig and the only one who was going to dig today was Mom.

She lost her patience with Zoe.

Sailor kissed Mom and kissed Mom, and Mom shooed him away. She said she couldn't see where she was planting because Sailor's long nose got in the way. And her face got all wet.

She lost her patience with Sailor, too.

I knocked Mom over by mistake. Mom tried to shoo me away. I didn't shoo. And Mom didn't lose her patience with me. So, I knocked her over on purpose. I like to hear Mom laugh.

Then Mom and I planted flowers and squash and tomatoes and impatience. Mom dug and I booped her in her arm. Mom planted a flower and I booped her on the shoulder. Collie noses are good for booping.

And Mom kept keeping her patience and didn't lose it. She said she planted it. In a pot. A pot of patience. Or impatience. I can't remember which.

When she dug, I leaned against Mom and kept her from falling over again. I was a great helper and a great gardener.

I think this calls for something...yummy.

Rehash, Rehearse, Whatever

Jib here.

Mom and I are (what's the word, Mom?)...oh! Yeah!

We are rehashing.

What? Oh.

We are REHURSHING. What?

Oh.

Rehearsing! (Mom helped me with the spelling.)

We are rehearsing for my kids. My kids at school.

We are going to play a lesson.

I am going to be silent. That means quiet. That means I can't talk. Or whine. Or arf. Or say "Rrrrrrrrr."

I can't do anything that has to do with sound. Or noise.

Mom is going to to the talking.

But we are both going to do the walking.

I get to wear a sign over my Kids jacket. Mom gets to wear a sign, too.

She will be the noisy owl.

I will be the silent owl.

But she says she will not hoot.

How can she be an owl if she doesn't hoot?

Mama Jay is Back

Sailor here.

I lay down outside to rest my feet. The breeze was blowing. The air smelled like summer. The birds were singing.

And one bird was yelling. It was the Mama Jay that raised two babies last year. The two jays are grown up and live in my back yard. They yell at each other all the time. They scream at each other and at other jays in the neighborhood.

Mom calls them Cain and Abel.

And now the brother jays' Mama is making a new nest. She yells at the boys to keep away. She yells at me to stay away, too.

I decided to ignore Mama Jay. I decided to take a nap. I shut my ears to Mama Jay's yelling. I closed my ears to Jib's barking. I went to sleep.

And then OW!

Mama Jay woke me up. She woke me up rudely. SHE PULLED SOME HAIR OUT OF MY KILTS!! For her nest! MY hair!

Mom came outside when I yipped to see what was wrong. She saw Mama Jay fly off with a huge hank of my hair in her beak.

Mom petted me and tried not to laugh. She pointed to the Zoe fur on the lawn. She pointed to the Jib fur on the bricks. She says that this time of year, all the bird nests are made from dog hair.

I think I will finish my nap inside.

Icky head

Sailor here.

Mom had a headache last night. I told her she did. I pushed her. I herded her. I tried to make her lie down. Even Jib helped me.

But Mom didn't believe me.

She said she felt fine. Just fine.

But when it was sleep time, I heard her in the night. I heard her throw up.

She tried to be quiet. As quiet as a mouse. A mouse with a headache. But I heard her. She was upstairs where I couldn't herd her.

She doesn't hork once or twice like Jib and me. She horks for a long time.

I wrung my paws. I whined. I wanted to go upstairs, but I just couldn't make my feet climb. I whined some more.

Then Jib came downstairs and told me she was better. She took medicine. And she held a cold wash cloth to her face.

He said she began to smell more like happy Mom and less like sick Mom.

I smelled her this morning and Jib was right. She smelled normal.

Well, as normal as she ever is around here.