Dear Auggie and Toby, 

How glad we were for the day when the children left home and took all their messes with them.  And then we replaced our human children with dogs.  So now instead of children’s toys all over the house we have doggie toys.

At least with kids’ toys, they usually remained in once piece.  The doggie toys are eventually shredded and the white stuffing is strewn from one end of the house to the other!  Then of course there are the constant loud growling tug-of-war games.

Human children can at least be taught to pick up their toys (not that they will), but just try training your pups to do the same.  Auggie and Toby failed that part of pet training miserably! 

Best wishes from Mom and Dad

Another Crazy Dog Story here:  My Dog is a Crazy Psycho Killer

by Keikei

I'm not talking the hot dog in a bun smothered in mustard, ketchup, pickle relish and topped off with loads of onions, although, now that I think about it, that sounds kinda good. You can leave all that crap off the dog though. I prefer mine plain. OK, I got sidetracked with the thought of food. I'm talking hot dog as in, it's too dang hot outside for those of us who have to wear our winter coats year round.

Do us a favor, when summer rolls around and the temperatures are hot enough to bake cookies inside your car, leave us at home. We love our humans, but being trapped inside a car while you're shopping isn't really a fun place to be in a winter coat. Not even with the windows cracked for some measly hot air that never really gets into the car. Every year, a fellow canine dies from overheating in his owner's car. Even when the temperature outside is only in the 50's and 60's, that's still too hot for us and it doesn't take long to get too hot in a car.

I heard my boss say one time, she wished the people who left their dogs in their cars would stop and think how it would feel to them waiting in a hot car with their winter clothes on. Maybe if more humans tried it, they'd understand and give us dogs a break and let us stay at home.

Of course we miss you when you're not home, but please, we're more comfortable where we have plenty of water and a cool place where we aren't at risk for heatstroke. Besides, then you don't have to worry about us roasting in the car while you talk to an old high school classmate you ran into in the air conditioned store. You know who I'm barking about. The “friend” you never really liked in the first place, but you spend an hour rehashing the good times in school. You know, the fun times the popular kids had. Oh, you weren't one of the popular kids. Sorry I brought it up then. BOL Anyway, at least if we're home waiting, you know there will be lots of happy smiles, and excited wagging tails when you get back home and most importantly, you know we are safe.

Now, back to those hot dogs on the grill. I'll take a dozen or two, plain, thank you very much.    

About the Author

My name is Keikei and I'm a Borador. That's half border collie/half lab for those of you who aren't into dog breeds. I was 8 weeks old (just a kid) when I came to live with my two legged and four legged family. The boss rescued me when the family that had me first decided they didn't like me anymore because I had accidents on the floor. They were going to dump me. Whatever that means. My mom in my new home taught me what to do and gave me time to grow. Since I've been here, I've learned all kinds of cool things and learned that not all humans are alike. Sometimes we dogs get lucky and find the perfect family.

by Buddy the Courageous

My family loves taking me for walks on the trails by our house and I love it too. No matter how many times it happens, those silly people get all excited every time we see another animal besides dogs and squirrels..ok so they get a little excited over those too. Today we saw a fox.

My big human sister Amber thought she should venture down to the creek. I usually go down there too but I kinda knew something she didn't. Of course, she didn't understand me. I hope she learns dog speak soon.

Anyway, she starts going down the hill and sees something moving in the bushes across the creek. She totally does the wrong thing and starts running toward Mom. Then, my other human siblings follow suit. I love running so I figured I would go ahead and run too.

But then Mom reminded us what we were supposed to do and we all felt silly. We had only run a few feet anyway so if that calm little fox had been aggressive -- or worse, a coyote -- we all might have been lunch.

Silly humans!