mlcaliber's Journal

Health clinics are fun!
Today I got to go to this totally awesome thing called a health clinic. I had been to one before where they checked my eyes and it wasn't really fun at all. In fact, it was the opposite of fun. So I wasn't overly excited to go to this one, other than getting a ride in the car which is always fun! Okay, so car rides aren't always fun, either. This one was about two and a half hours long and it was chilly and rainy. I slept most of the way. Finally we ended up in Verona, WI, which I guess must be a suburb of Madison. After such a long ride, what did I see when I got out of the car? It had to be six or seven Chinooks!

They were all running and playing off their leashes in a fenced dog park. I couldn't wait to get in. We went through the first gate, and the second. Why two gates?! My anticipation was boiling over. I met a few dogs while I was still on my leash and then I was suddenly free. There were so many dogs, and people, and areas of the park to explore, I didn't know what to do with myself at first. I ran around and quickly met everyone.

I made a good friend named Zoe, who lives in Wisconsin. We had a lot of fun playing together. I didn't even try to put my moves on her right away. I played it cool and tried to win her over with my charm first. Eventually I lost my cool and got fresh and I don't think she liked it. My daddy pulled me away and tried to get me to go play with someone else. Well, okay, there were a lot of fine ladies there. Beggars can't be choosers! Unfortunately, he pulled me off of every one of them. Better luck next time, I guess. It was still lots of fun just playing with everyone, and it was tiring too.

After an hour or so of playtime in the dog park we loaded into our cars and headed to an animal hospital in Madison. I guess this was the "health" part of the health clinic. I was the first one to go in with the doctor. I sometimes get nervous in new places but for some reason this place wasn't really that scary. The doctor and nurse were very nice, but the nurse put this muzzle thing on me, bleh! Daddy picked me up and put me on the table. I liked that much better than at my vet where I step onto it and then it wobbles its way all the way up to the top. Now that thing is scary! They flipped me over on my back. I thought that was kind of weird and struggled for a bit, but it wasn't so bad. Daddy held my head, the nurse held my two front legs, and the doctor held my back legs in the right position as he snapped a picture of my hips. Then they let me sit back up and the room went dark for a while. This certainly is a strange vet's office.

Not long after the lights came back on, the doctor put up the picture of my hips. He said they were very good and healthy. Good news! We said some quick goodbyes, daddy paid the bill, and we started off on our long trip back. I passed out on the back seat almost as soon as I got in the car. We had to get back to pick up daddy's car at the shop before they closed at 6:00 and go to day two of beginner's conformation handling class at 6:45. Fortunately, the ride home wasn't bad and we made it home in time for both. Everyone thought I was such a good dog in class tonight. They couldn't even believe I was the same dog as last week. I did well with stacking and gaiting, but I kept trying to lay down. I was tired! When we got home I had several good naps in all my favorite nap spots.

I guess health clinics can be fun, after all.

Spring Fling, Day 3
Today was perhaps the most fun I've ever had. We met up at the building again and there were only a few of us there, myself and my new pal Tanabe. Our people let us run around and play off-leash for a bit. As much fun as some of the activities had been, I had been longing for that kind of play time all weekend. The next part wasn't quite as much fun. We got our blood drawn for a health study and the inside of our cheeks swabbed for DNA verification. We didn't like it at the time, but it was a small price to pay for the fun that was to be had that day, which we were about to find out.

We met up at a really great park. The weather was chilly and there was a light snow falling, with small, hard flakes. There were a bunch of Chinooks and people milling about and people were fiddling with crazy contraptions. It didn't take very long at all to finally realize what was going on. Four veteran Chinnoks were outfitted with harnesses and hooked to a wheeled rig. Some people climbed aboard, released the brakes, and there they went! It was like sledding on wheels. I could not wait until it was my turn.

Eventually they hooked up two of the veterans as lead dogs and me and Tanabe, the novices that we were, got to be the wheel dogs. At first we had some problems getting tangled with each other, but once we straightened out we encountered a new problem. We were a lot faster than the two out in front! We knew we were finally doing what we were born to do, but we weren't satisfied as wheel dogs. We made our way back to the base camp and let some others have a go. Then they hooked us up as the lead dogs with some veterans behind us. For safety's sake, our Daddies still held our leashes and ran beside us to try and prevent more tangles. We may have been novices, but our instincts took over and we drove that rig well, if I do say so myself. For the drive back, they took off our leashes and we pulled like pros. Okay, we still pulled like novices, but like novices that one day soon surely will be pros! We were definitely in our element. Later, Daddy hooked my up by myself to a scooter and we went out for a ride. That was fun, too, but I missed my pals. There's something satisfying about working on a team and I can't wait to do it again.

Another long car ride and the weekend had officially come to a close. Even after sleeping in the car, I was pretty pooped when we got home. I will miss my new friends and hope to see them again soon. And I can't wait until the next opportunity to pull. We'll have to get us some of those contraptions. Maybe I can get my pal Sequoia to team up with me. Or maybe I'll get a new brother one of these days. Hint, hint.

Spring Fling, Day 2
Oh what a day. I did have to spend some time in my crate now and then, but it was worth the wait. There were Chinooks everywhere! A fair amount of children, too, and plenty of big people. Sadly, I didn't really get to play with the other Chinooks. But there were a bunch of fun activities.

The first activity we did was conformation practice, followed by a fun match. While I was in my crate, Mommy and Daddy were learning the basics. Then Daddy brought me in the ring for some practice, including some one-on-one time with the judge giving pointers. We learned a lot, but I was just raring to go. I wanted to play with all those other dogs and I had so much excitement and energy I just I wanted to run and pull. None of this trotting stuff. Everyone said I was a crazy boy and definitely a sled dog. In the actual match I won a first place ribbon! Okay, so I was the only purebred male intact puppy under one year old, and I won the class by default, but still! That was the only ribbon I won, but the judge said I had a lot of potential if I could just calm down. Meh, calming down is for sissies! It was kinda fun, though. Maybe we'll work on it and maybe I'll calm down just enough to trot around the ring for the judge. It'll be like my poker face, and then I'll go back to being the manly man I really am.

The second activity was more my style. We got to jump, climb, and wriggle our way through various agility equipment like a-frames, tunnels, and tires. I've never had any formal training in agility, but I've played on some of this equipment in my obedience classes and I've also been to a playground or two. This activity was a lot of fun.

The third activity was my calling. They outfitted me with a harness hooked on a rope that was attached to a big tire. Then they dropped the leash and let me run. I barely thought twice about dragging the big tire behind me. It wasn't that heavy, and they were letting me run free and pull instead of walking close with a loose leash. The big tire looming in my rear view was a small price to pay for that kind of freedom. I got to run the length of the ring 4 or 5 times. It was so much fun. I could have done that forever, though admittedly I did get a little winded towards the end there.

The last activity was interesting. They call it Rally-O. It was obedience, but it felt more like doing tricks. We had to do commands as fast as we could and move on to the next thing. It reminded me of the obedience races we did in school, but it was a larger course with more variety. It was fun, but I really wanted to go back and pull some more.

We went back to the hotel for a while and took some short naps. Mommy and Daddy went to a dinner banquet and I napped some more in the car. I was a ball of energy all day, but I didn't realize how much it took out of me until I had a comfy spot to lay in. After dinner we went back to the hotel and it wasn't long before we decided to stop fighting it and just turned in for the night.

Spring Fling, Day 1
After a half a day in the car we got to the hotel. Amanda from Channahon Chinooks must have just gotten there as well. We met them in the field next to the parking lot and I got to see Jade and Nikki again. Then we went to the hotel room for a bit.

The entrance was kinda scary because it was poorly lit, had a strange echo, and ugly carpet and wallpaper. My people coaxed me in and opened a door to a long hallway with a bunch of doors. I don't know why, but I really wanted to run as fast as I could down this hallway. It just seemed like it would be fun. But I was still on a leash and our door wasn't too far down. Darn. Our room was pretty neat. It had a big window to look outside and I had a bed all to myself. I was very comfy in my new home away from home.

My people put me in the car when they went to their pizza party. I guess they were afraid I'd bark and cry and disturb the other hotel guests. Silly people, I just curled up for a nap anyway. They came out to check on me when a big thunderstorm came through, but I was happily dreaming about chasing kittens and bunnies and the storm wasn't bothering me. Just the same, Mommy took me back to the hotel room while Daddy went back to the pizza party. Then the power went out. Whoops! Daddy came back and eventually the power came back on, but we were pretty much ready for bed. The sooner we got to sleep, the sooner the fun would begin!

This year so far
I know I haven't kept up with this journal very well, but I'm not sure how many newsworthy things have happened over the last four months.

I did graduate Puppy Continuing and even went on to Intermediate Obedience, which I finished, but did not graduate from. My people decided not to keep enrolling me in Intermediate Obedience and instead to take what we've all learned and continue to practice it on our own until we're all ready to try Intermediate again, and hopefully pass on to Advanced. We may also try some other (more fun) types of training besides obedience, such as Rally-O or Agility.

I've been playing a lot with my friend Sequoia and her new brother, Titan. He's a Husky, probably about three or four years old, that Sequoia and her people rescued. He's a big boy and would probably be a ton of fun to play with, but he doesn't much like to play. He just barks at me and Sequoia when we wrassle. I got to stay with them for a whole weekend once. Made me wish I had a brother of my own to come home to. Hint, hint.

As the season changes from winter to spring I am definitely missing the snow, but I am loving the rain and the nice weather, too. I think I've determined that I really do like all types of weather. But when the weather changes, it's the most exciting because it's something new that I may not have seen in a while.

Speaking of something new, we're about to leave on a weekend trip to Ohio for the Chinook Midwest Spring Fling, sponsored by the Chinook Club of America. We'll get to meet all sorts of other Chinooks and their people, and do all sorts of activities. It's going to be so much fun.

Puppy's First Christmas
Christmas was a very exciting time of year.

The weekend before Christmas, we celebrated with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Phil and Aunt Dee and Uncle Dave (Daddy's side of the family) here in the Chicago area. There was all sorts of good smells and Grandpa and I worked out a deal where he'd sneak me some scraps and I'd pretend like I was just licking the carpet or chewing on my ankle. I don't think anyone caught on. In addition to all the good smells there were all sorts of fun toys, like wrapping paper, ribbons, scotch tape, and boxes! Sure, there were bones and biscuits and stuff, but come on... wrapping paper and boxes! I was in puppy heaven.

Just when I thought the excitement was over, I realized it was only beginning. Early the next week we left on a long car ride, and after what seemed like all day we finally arrived at my other Grandma Judy's house! As if Grandma weren't enough of a surprise for me, she presented me with several toys, and gave me a tour of her sweet fenced in back yard. It probably wasn't a lot bigger than my own yard, but there were so many new smells to smell and interesting things to explore. Grandma is quite the green thumb!

I had plenty of fun at Grandma's but we all left for another car ride. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of getting a hold of a kleenex before we left. I got sick in the car, which wasn't too much fun for any of us. But once we got over that, it was a fun trip. I got to meet several different friends of the family and got to stay with Grandma Judy and Uncle Jason and Aunt Becky (Mommy's side of the family). I even got to go to a few different parks and I went down a twisty slide! I didn't exactly know that's what I was getting into when I did it, but it was fun.

Eventually we went back to Gradma's house for a bit and then went on another car ride to Uncle Mike and Aunt Joyce's to celebrate New Year's. They have this tiny little Chihuahua that sounds ferocious, but once I realized it didn't have the bite to match the bark, I think I scared it when I tried to say hi with my big front paws. We had a good time, but I was getting exhausted from all the excitement and poor Daddy got the flu.

In the morning we left on another day-long trip and then we were finally back home. I will certainly miss all the family and friends and houses and yards and parks, but it does feel good to be home.

All I want for Christmas is...
I lost my first baby tooth today. I was playing tug with one of my toys and then it started to get bloody. It was one of my lower canine teeth (aren't they all canine teeth?!). I don't know why that one decided to go first. I guess I was playing tug a little too hard. My people gave me my chilly bone to help make it feel better. One down, 27 to go!

Sledding
My people attended an informational meeting about dog sledding this morning, along with my friend Sequoia's mom Cori. Unfortunately I didn't get to attend so this journal entry is secondhand information. The meeting was hosted by Carol & Kep Preble of Lodgepole Siberians in Marengo, Illinois. There were a few other novices (read: barely knew dogs could pull sleds) at the meeting, as well as a few people with some experience under their boots.

Kep answered some questions by way of demonstration as he showed everyone how to bridle a sled. He let them each try their hand at "fidding" which is the act of opening strands of rope and splicing them. He then showed everyone how to properly outfit a sled, including a sled bag, snow hooks, and emergency line. Then he answered some questions about obedience and giving sledding commands. He also explained a technique for getting a large team of dogs hooked up when you're all alone with no one to help keep them under control.

The snow was melting fast but there was enough for a few people to take their teams out for one or two runs. Carol & Kep have about a one and a half mile trail around their property that each team took a turn going out on. A few had some trouble in some grassy spots and one had a heck of a time keeping his team from running out onto the street, but overall they were successful runs.

Our people got several chances to chat throughout the meeting. One of the people there lives in a small apartment on the North side of Chicago with his four Siberian Huskies. This all but convinced my people that another Chinook puppy was not out of the question. Maybe I'll get a little brother next year! He said he even takes his dogs for sledding in the park near his apartment. Amazingly enough, one of the other people lives right in Cori and Sequoia's neighborhood. He told us of the only place in our county where we could go sledding, and Cori took down his info to keep in touch with him. As it turns out, Carol & Kep used to have a Chinook back in the 80's. They said it was pretty neurotic and skittish and never really caught on to the idea of sledding, but they miss it a lot. They have two copies of an old Chinook book written by Eva Seeley that they say there are only 50 of. My people said it was really neat to look at.

Sequoia and I are excited that our people are investigating dog sledding. We can't wait to try it out, even if it's just us and some sort of cheap makeshift rig, we just want to go out and have some fun.

If there's anything better than water, it has to be frozen water
I've had my first few encounters with something they call snow. Now I've played with and eaten ice cubes before, but this snow stuff was even better. Just like ice cubes it was very cold and felt good on my aching teeth, and when it melted in my mouth it became water. But unlike ice cubes, the snow was everywhere, and I could scoop it up even easier than sand! Oh what a treat.

I did a lot of running, jumping, digging, and eating in the snow. My people threw snowballs at me, which I caught, and proceeded to eat. They made a huge snowball which I ran around, clawed at, and tried to eat part of. The huge snowball had some sticks on either side, right at my height, which I promptly snagged. We took a slippery walk down the block and then went back inside to warm up.

Snow might possibly be my favorite thing in the world. I hope this stuff sticks around for a while.

The dog fair was a success
Today we went to the Badger Kennel Club's Sixteenth Annual Wisconsin Dog Fair near Madison, Wisconsin. Yay, another state to check off my list! We had a great time at the fair. It was a long day and we'll sleep well tonight, but it was a ton of fun.

When we got to the fair I got to meet another year and a half old Chinook named Dakota and his people, Scott and Tracy. They were all very nice and Dakota and I had a good time playing together before the fair started. We got set up in our booth and kept trying to play with each other and hunt for goodies. Scott and Tracy spoiled me with all sorts of good snacks (editor's note: a different brand of kibble than his normal diet). Then our people gave us bones to chew on. We kept trading them back and forth. Variety is the spice of life!

Our people thought we looked like little piggies chewing on bones all the time so they distracted us and put them away. By that point the fair was getting into full swing and we started to get plenty of visitors. Sometimes I would catch people's eye because I'm a puppy, and they'd ask how big we get, at which point Dakota stepped up to show off. Sometimes Dakota would catch people's eye because he was a lot bigger than me, but then they'd see me and just have to pet the puppy. We both made a good team and each of us melted a lot of hearts. We got all sorts of attention and the occasional snack, and we dished out plenty of kisses.

There were so many people and other types of dogs at the fair that I think I've probably hit my school's goal of meeting 100 dogs and 200 people by the time I'm six months old, and I'm only four months old! I think I should get some sort of a prize or something. Preferably edible. I'll have to bring that up at the next class.

An eventful evening
Tonight was my very first Puppy Continuing class. But on the way to class we made an extra special stop. I got to meet a grown up Chinook!

His name is Halas and he's actually only about a year and a half old so he's still a puppy, but he's more grown up than me. He's got different parents but he came from the same breeder. We're probably cousins or something. Of course there's so few Chinooks, most of us almost have to be cousins. We had a great time playing with each other for about a half hour. I got good and tired just in time for class. I can't wait to play with him again.

Class was also very exciting. We didn't really learn anything new. They told us it was new, but we had already learned "Down Stay" in Puppy Kindergarten. Maybe our class was so smart that we went ahead, I don't know. The exciting part was all my classmates. Only one, the golden Luna, was there from my kindergarten class. The other *seven* were brand new friends. They are all different shapes and sizes, most of which are about my size this time. There's another golden, a lab, an australian shepherd, a german shepherd, a rott, a boxer, and one smaller dog I'm not sure of the breed. Yes, there were nine puupies. Much different from the four or five that were in kindergarten, especially since they are my size and I got to play with all of them instead of one or two. We also had a much, much bigger room to run it. We had a blast.

I can't wait for next week's class. I also can't wait for the dog fair this weekend in Madison, WI. We're going to be in a booth to represent the Chinook breed, among the more than 150 breeds that will be represented at the fair. I'll get to meet a ton of people that are interested in dogs and try to convince them that they don't want just any dog, they want the "All American Dog"! I'm sure I'll also get to meet a ton of other types of dogs during potty and exercise breaks. I'll definitely get to meet another grown up Chinook, Dakota, whose family invited us to share the booth with them.

First grade, here I come!
So I haven't posted about school since week 2. I guess I didn't want to divulge all the secrets of the training professionals at Narnia. Yeah, that's it.

In any event, it's been six weeks, and I've graduated Puppy Kindergarten! Tonight's class was a ton of fun because we had extra playtime and we got to experiment with all sorts of cool stuff. There were a variety of obstacles to jump over, climb on, and crawl through. If Agility training and competition is anything like this, where do I sign up?!

It's kind of sad that this was the last class. I am going to miss all of my pals (both canine and human) as well as my teacher, Joy. Hopefully some of them will be in the Puppy Continuing class which starts next Wednesday night at 8:00. But I also look forward to making some new friends, too.

Week 2 of school
School was a blast this week. There were two new puppies that weren't there last week. One is the one that never showed up last week and another was a yellow lab that was making up a class. I can't remember either of their names because class was too exciting! Luna wasn't there this week for some reason. Oh yeah, and I am still the youngest and still the biggest, though the yellow lab was almost my size. The uncontested champion for another week.

During playtime the lab played with Molly and I while the other newcomer played with Dinah. They are both small and both a bit shy of other dogs so they made a good pair. The three of us were tearing it up chasing each other around. Molly and I like to play together. I get a little too rough sometimes, but she keeps coming back for more. The poor lab felt a little left out and kept trying to get us to play but he ran too slow for us. He'll be back with his own crowd next week, anyway.

We went over the homework and demonstrated some of it in front of the class. We went around the room and each puppy had to do a "Sit," "Down," and "Stand" all in a row. It was a breeze for me and Joy was very happy with my progress. Everyone seemed to do pretty well with it. We also had to show the teacher that we knew our names. My daddy had to lure me a bit with a treat to grab my attention, but it was good enough I guess. I'll get it down one of these days.

This week we learned how to lay on our sides (codeword: "Settle") so that our people can rub our bellies and inspect us for anything strange. We also lined up on one side of the room with one of our people on the other side. Mommy was at a dinner for work so someone else had to hold me on the other side of the room across from daddy. They taught us how to go across the room to our people when they called for us (codeword: "Come"). Finally, we took one of last week's lessons a step further. Last week we learned not to take a treat from our people's hands (codeword: "Off") until they actually gave it to us and said we could have it (codeword: "Take it"). This week we learned not to take a treat off the floor until our people picked it up and handed it to us. I did a good job. I even pretended like I didn't care about that liver treat at all and turned my back and started walking away. Acting!

Finally, we learned one more thing, but we didn't have time to practice it. Joy used me as an example to show the class what to do for homework. She taught us how to walk right at our people's side with a loose leash. That one's a piece of cake, but it is a little boring. I didn't mind the seemingly endless stream of liver treats as we walked together, but I think it will take me a while to get used to doing it when treats aren't involved. There's so much of the world to explore, and my people walk in such boring straight lines.

That's it for this week. Can't wait until the next class.

Battle damage
I made a few new friends today, an australian shepherd / lab mix named Jake, and his people John and Christy. Jake wasn't so interested in me at first, but he warmed up quick. We did some play fighting and then our people took us on a nice walk.

After walking around for a while we went to Jake's house. We chased each other around the house and played a little tug of war. Then I found Jake's bone. It was chicken flavored, just like one of my bones. He wasn't too happy that I was chewing on it so they took it away from me and daddy went to the car and came back with my chicken flavored bone. Jake snatched it up almost as soon as daddy put it down. So I went ahead and chomped away on his.

Daddy took me for a quick walk to go potty and we went to the car to get my toy monkey. This was the first step that led to what I like to refer to as, "The Incident." We went back inside and I played with my money for a bit, but I was more interested in Jake and his people and sniffing around their house. Meanwhile, Jake grabbed my monkey and proudly started trotting away with it. I went to grab for it and before I knew it I wasn't a very happy puppy anymore.

Jake is a lot bigger than me at about 70 pounds or so, but he is a friendly dog and we got along very well. One thing I was about to realize, though, was that he was very possessive. Even of other people's things. If he had it, it was his, and that's the way it stayed unless his people took it from him and told him different. In the flash of an eye he had snapped at me and put a small puncture in both the top and bottom of my snout. It hurt and boy did I let everyone know it. I cried and cried and backed up into the corner under daddy. More than the pain, though, because it really wasn't that bad, it just plain freaked me out. I wasn't expecting it and it was so fast that I got scared and confused. But daddy calmed me down, and mommy and uncle Chris were all there calming me, too. Jake's people helped administer some first aid and I was practically as good as new.

Jake came back out from where he had gotten reprimanded and we both layed down, tired from the days activities and recent commotion. I wasn't afraid of Jake when he came back into the room and he didn't seem to be mad at me for getting him in trouble. He and I are still friends. Neither of us holds any hard feelings regarding The Incident. It was a learning experience for everyone. Our people said that we can keep playing together, but we won't have any toys or bones to fight over in the future. That sounds just fine to me.

Puppy Kindergarten
I just got back from my first class of puppy kindergarten at Narnia in Naperville. It was a lot of fun. There are four other puppies in my class. There are two different beagles, Dinah and Molly. There's also a golden retriever, Luna. There's supposed to be someone else but they never showed. I am the youngest in the class, but I'm also the biggest. Wait till they see me after six more weeks!

Tonight we learned how to be nice and not bite when taking treats (codeword: "Nice"), how not to take treats until they are given to us (codeword: "Off"), how not to bite when our people surprise us by unexpectedly grabbing our collars (codeword: "Gotcha"), and how to sit (codeword: "Sit"). Our people also learned to stand up and ignore us if we jump on them (and to only pet us if we have "four on the floor") and also to yelp (codeword: "Ouch!") when we bite them in order to let us know that it hurts. We were supposed to learn some other stuff but we ran out of time. It's all in the homework so my people will make sure we practice it.

They told me I was a good boy and the gave me food when I did what they said. But early on the teacher, Joy, used me as an example and she gave me freeze dried liver treats! From that point on I begrudgingly did their bidding and took their praise, but I scoffed at the plain kibble they tried to give me. And I hopped on Joy looking for more liver whenever she came by. She gave some liver to my people to bait me with the rest of the night. Mission success.

I knew what they wanted me to do, but there were other doggies and people that I was more interested in. I performed their little tricks a few times to appease them and then tried my best to go schmooze. Unfortunately, that stinkin' leash kept me from getting very far. Lucky for me, we got to have a play time halfway through class! One of the puppies, Dinah, was a little shy with other puppies so they sectioned off one side of the room and let the other three of us chase each other around for a bit. Dinah looked like she wanted to join in, so they put all of us on our leashes and let her come in off her leash to check us out. She started making her way toward Luna, hopping forward then hopping back, inching her way closer and closer. Eventually she got all the way to her and they touched noses, then she went running around in circles like a maniac. At that point playtime was over and we went on for some more of our lessons and before we knew it, homework was distributed and class was over for the night.

Can't wait until next week!

What a day
Wow, what a day I had today. After the usual waking up and going potty and playing and eating breakfast we got in the car. Now I don't mind a good car ride, especially with the windows down, but where were they taking me? I'd rather not have gone back to the doctor just yet. That's not where we went at all.

We went to the beach! Well, okay, it wasn't really a real beach. It's called Centennial Beach but it's actually just a big public pool with a big sand pit. It was still cool. There were so many doggies of different shapes, sizes, colors, smells, and sounds and they were everywhere! They have closed the pool for the end of the season and just for fun decided to let doggies bring their owners for a Doggie Dip.

We went to the shallow part of the pool and I started running in, but as it got deeper I ran right back out. They didn't tell me it got deeper! My daddy picked me up and carried me to a deeper part where my paws couldn't touch so I could try some actual swimming. I could do it, but I wasn't sure I wanted to. It was cold and wet and full of doggies and people. I swam straight for the side and daddy lifted me out. We also tried the sand. It was like one giant snack bar! Daddy took me away real quick. He says I'm not supposed to eat sand. Party pooper.

Finally, we ended up running and playing in the grass alongside the pool. We met a ton of doggies and people. Everyone wanted to pet me and some even picked me up. I must have heard daddy explain what a Chinook was about a few gazillion times. I'm still not quite sure what he's talking about, but the other people seemed interested. My friend Sequoia brought her people Cori and Tim. Sequoia tried to play with me a few times, but she's kind of a bully. Just wait until I get a little bigger. I'll show her a thing or two. We met a golden retriever puppy that was more my size. I had a lot of fun chasing her and giving her kisses.

Finally, it was time to leave. I didn't really want to. We stopped several times on the way out to meet another doggie or some other people. I slept in the car the whole way home. When we got home we went potty and ate some lunch and then me and mommy and daddy all fell asleep. This would have been a great day, but there was more!

After our naps we went out for a walk. We went a lot farther than we have before and eventually daddy picked me up to carry me. Then he switched with mommy. Where were we going?! We ended up at the park that mommy drove me to the other day, but something was going on this time. It was a neighborhood picnic. There were people playing baseball and basketball, there were kids on the swingset, and there were people and doggies standing around talking and listening to the live music.

I met a tiny little dog they said was a Shih-Tzu. Finally, a doggie that was smaller than me! They say she has always been a bully, but we had a great time playing together. We rolled around and I gave kisses and we were play biting. We must have played for like an hour, a half hour at least! As it turns out, her people live with her at the end of our street. We're going to have to visit some time. We were about to go home when a few tiny people (my people said they are called kids) came sat down and started petting me. Before I knew it, several kids came in from all directions and they were all petting me. One of them even picked me up and I got to sit in her lap while they petted. I was in heaven.

Finally we went back home and I had some dinner. My mommy put the rest of my dinner along with a bit of peanut butter in my kong toy and they put me in my crate. I think they probably went somewhere but I was too busy concentrating on the yummy goodness. When they got home we played for a while and then we all passed out for the night.

What a day.

Last night was a little scary. There were so many new sights and sounds and smells that I was unsure of. I had a hard time sleeping and my people had a hard time, too. I'll get used to things.

Today was a fun day of playing with mommy and napping. In the afternoon we went for a car ride and met daddy at my new doctor's office. It was a cold and scary place, but I tried to be a big boy for the doctor. He said everything checked out okay. Then we went to visit daddy's work and a bunch of daddy's co-workers quickly succumbed to my puppy cuteness.

Then we went home and had another party! I was pretty tired from the other day's activities, but as soon as a car pulled up with another puppy in it I was ready to go. She's about a four-month old Husky named Sequoia and she brought her people Cori and Tim, too. She looked different than me and was a little bigger but she seemed to be on the same wavelength. We played for quite a long time. She's bigger and heavier and has a bigger mouth just full of teeth, but I got a few jabs in. Her mommy Cori gave us some Pup Corn and it was yummy. I met all sorts of other people, too. I took a really long nap and it's bedtime now and I'm still tired! We'll see how long that lasts tonight.

Home sweet home
After a shorter car ride than the last one we've finally made it home. The car ride wasn't bad. It was a little boring, but I slept the whole way so it didn't bother me too much. We stopped a couple of times to go potty, play, and eat and drink. I met a few big doggies at one of the pet exercise areas. They were ginormous! I just stood there in awe. Daddy made a boo-boo and missed the highway he was supposed to be on so we took the skyway instead. The traffic was a little bad for a bit but then it went away and I got to see Chicago for the first time. That Sears tower is supposed to be pretty tall, but it didn't look so big to me. That doggie at the rest stop was a lot bigger.

I don't know what to think of home yet. I stayed in my bed at first until I could get the nerve to take a walk around the place. It's different, but it's cozy. I got to play with a whole bunch of new toys. I even played brought a tennis ball back to my people that they had let get away from them. But as soon as I brought it back they let it get away again so I figured I'd let them chase it themselves if they were going to be that careless.

Oh yeah, I also met my adopted uncle Chris. He intimidated me at first but I warmed up to him real quick. I think I'll keep him, too. I didn't see much of these cats they told me about. My people claimed the cats were sneaking around me while I slept, but I think they were just trying to pull my leg. What is a cat, anyway? Oh well, I'm pooped. Time for bed. Tomorrow I get to go to meet my new doctor and later we get to have another party!

On the road again
After a relaxing morning of eating, playing, and plenty of napping, it's finally time to head home. I will miss my new friends but I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch more. Open road here I come!

Restful night
My people and I had a good night's sleep. I only had to get up for a potty break a few times and I didn't cry once because they slept right next to me instead of 6 feet away. My potty breaks were very efficient, too. I knew we had to get back to bed so I walked out, did my business, and then picked up my adopted daddy's leash and guided him back in to put him to bed. I didn't even bother with any of the oh so tempting pebbles. I'll be sure to get to those first thing today.

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