Saturday, December 19, 2009

Wishing you Merry Christmas


It's almost Christmas!  We had an ice storm this past week.  Just walking on the deck was treacherous.  The grass crunched when Caesar and I walked and gosh, we couldn't even get up the side of the bank without extra effort. All the trees were covered with ice that looked like something good to eat but wasn't.
   Today, the sun came out and everything is melted and now it's mud!  My favorite thing!
   Except that mom insists we get more baths, not something I like at all.  Caesar doesn't seem to mind but then he has smaller feet, no problem with chronic ear infections and less fur. I'll tell you about those infections and the routine my mom goes through with me twice a week.  Yuk!  But not today.  Today is happy time and I won't even mind getting a shower. I still dry faster than Caesar does.
   So I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from Caesar and me.  His brother Simon and his mom are coming to visit for New Years.  She always brings hoofs!  My favorite thing!  I have to be careful not to drop one in the toilet bowl (which is a great place to hide stuff from Caesar) because once it clogged up the plumbing and my dad had to take apart the whooooole thing and he wasn't very happy.  But hoofs just taste so great and they keep our teeth clean.I'm hoping my mom will put a  hoof in my Christmas stocking.
    My "sister" Katy sent a package from Florida with both our names on it.  Some of the paper ink is smeared now that I've tried to pick it up and shake it the way dog's do, but giving it a good mouthing.  Can't tell what it actually is but it's soft.  OK, soft things are my favorite things too!
   I hope you find both soft and hard chewies in your Christmas stocking and that next year you'll be a nice warm place whether the sun comes out or the world is covered with ice.  Woof!  Woof!  Bo

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Ceasar's Brother, Simon, comes to visit

This is Simon, Cece's brother. He's got a swell sleeping bag but it's in pink! That's a girl's color. No wonder people keep calling my pal Caesar, "she" when he's a "he." Anyway, Simon and his mom spent Thanksgiving with us. It was cool. We went for walks beside the river and I treed a porcupine! But I didn't try to bite him this time. I kept my distance until he found a tree. Whew! Was my mom worried. But I came when she called me. There were gophers to dig up in the field and they're almost as interesting as porcupines.
We're getting the house ready for Christmas! My mom is always bringing new snacks home for me this time of year. I love the all natural ones with peanut butter flavor. I mean, is there anything better than a peanut butter snack? Well, maybe gophers.
Have a good week all of you! More photos later. Woof, Woof! Bo

Friday, November 20, 2009

Fishing with my Dad


Last week my dad's daughter and her husband came to visit from Florida. We had one grand sunshine day for them and so we went fishing. Matt fished too so Rex, the yellow lab, hung out with the rest of us. You can hardly see me, a brownish/white blur beside Rex. That's Caesar making his way to mom. I learned his color is Blenheim. Looks red and white to me but what do I know?
First we got fishing licenses for our Florida guests. We had to go to Condon to check on my ears anyway. Dad dropped mom and I off at the vet and he headed with his kids to get the license. Well, we finished first (I still have to take these steriods and hey, am I bulking up! I'm also full of gas which hasn't won me any points at home). So my mom and I walked toward the down town. We watched our car drive up the street and my mom stepped off the curb into the street to wave them down and they drove right by us!!!!! Boy was mom mad. So we turned around and followed them, with her still waving hoping they'd look in the review mirror. They didn't.
They went to the vet who said we'd already left so he knew he'd driven right by us. I mean, it's one thing not to see mom but how could he have missed me! Later at the Country Gifts and Flower store dad made a purchase he gave to mom later. I guess that's how people do it. We dogs can just sniff our way into apologies.
Anyway, we got the licenses and went fishing the next two days. Well, Cici shouldn't go fishing because he came back matted with burdocks. Really bad. I tried to pull some of them out with my teeth but no luck. Dad and mom had to cut them out so now his soft little ears look like a bad cut and a bad perm too. I got most of mine out by myself. They don't stick much to my fur except around my mouth. Yowsers! Those can hurt! But mom gets them out.
Worst of all, only dad got a single bite. It's supposed to be the best steelhead run of a decade but we haven't been able to interest them. Still, the family had a good time and mom took some photos. It's the best time of the year to be fishing because the rattlesnakes are in their dens sleeping.
Think that's where I'll go now, to sleep so I'm rested up for Thanksgiving leftovers. No turkey skin though. Mom says I'm gassy enough without that!
Woof! Woof! Bo

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

relatives, becoming top dog, rescuing your pals, Veterans Day




We are getting along great. Ceasar now knows who is top dog which always makes life easier, doesn't it? No more grousing about who eats first, who begs better, who should get the middle of the bed. It took a little training but all is going well.


My parents have had visitors of late. My uncle Craig and Aunt Barb flew out from Minnesota. That was cool. Barb plucked my ears (not so cool) but it's helped with my chronic infections. I'm still on medication...bummer...but doing better. I'm not supposed to have baths while I'm healing so that's a good thing. Who wants to smell pretty when you're a ranch dog! Here I am with the relatives.




I added a shot of Ceasar too. He's really a pretty cool guy. The other day Charley and Toby had him almost backed up against the rose bushes and I could see my mom wasn't close enough to protect him so I bounded in between them and ran parallel along the roses showing Ceasar where he could be safe, beside me with the rat terriors on the other side. Isn't it great when you can do something nice for someone else? Rescuing others seems like a pretty neat occupation. I should have been a firetruck dog. On the other hand, looking after pals wherever you are seems like a good thing to do and a good thing to remember on this Veterans Day. That's what life is all about.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving...in case I don't get back to the computer before that!
Woof! Woof! Bo



Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The New Addition


So here I am looking chagrined. It's part of the reason I haven't posted for a time. My parents have brought a new little being into the tribe and along with my parents vacationing (without me so I couldn't post!) they then returned with this.
His name is Ceasar but they call him CiCi and he's so fragile looking my dad keeps referring to him as her. He has been...altered, but so have I and that doesn't change my gender, does it? Certainly not.
He's a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, ten months old now. He's actually been a pretty good addition. He likes to be petted and cuddled and get underfoot whereas I don't mind being petted, but I prefer action. Let's chase a gopher! My favorite thing! Let's jump in the river! My favorite thing! Let's look for pheasants! My favorite thing. And now when I'm off with my dad, my mom's got a pal; and when I'm off walking with her (my favorite thing!) then my dad's got someone to warm his belly for him.
However, tomorrow his belly gets cut into to remove something called a gull's bladder. Why a gull's bladder would be inside of him I'll never know. Imagine how it got there!
I'm doing the sleepover with my buddies Rex and Charlie and Toby and my mom is taking Cici with her.
I'm a little miffed about that. I loved the hospital (My favorite thing!) and did really well at St. Charles the last time my dad had surgery. They let pets come to visit and to spend the day. At the guest check in, there are crackers! (My favorite thing!) My mom said she had to agree to buy the hospital if I messed anything up but I didn't. Nurses straddled me checking on the tubes that ran into my dad; I drank from this funny shaped plastic bowl and I never barked not once.
But this time my mom hopes it'll be a short stay and they'll be home in a couple of days. So I'll get to run through the alfalfa fields (my favorite thing!) and not be cooped up in a hospital room or make the long three hour drive to the hospital either. Plus, when we travel, I have to be on a leash ALL THE TIME!!! I think my mom's worried that if I got off the leash, I might not listen to her and come back when I'm called. This could happen, especially if I sniffed something really interesting (my favorite thing!). I tell myself she's only looking after me which is what a mom is supposed to do.
One more good thing about Cici's arrival: he likes to sleep under my mom's feet while she works at the computer. I never really fit under there. I always slept in the hall so that if my dad left the bedroom (he has to rest a lot) or my mom left her office, (she's in there a lot!) they had to step over me. That way I never missed any action. My mom's happy with a buddy while she works and that makes me happy too. (My favorite thing!)
I hope you're having a happy week doing your favorite things. Your buddy, Bo.
Woof! Woof!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

the Ranger and me


Phyllis Nash sent my mom a photograph of me at the Fort Clatsop National Memorial where Lewis and Clark spent the winter with their dog Seaman in 1805-06. We visited in May when my mom spoke as part of a series called "In her footsteps." The ranger who is holding me is Sally Freeman. She's a chief ranger sort of person and I got to go on the tour of the Corp of Discovery digs because she took me! That's her mom off to the side. She sent the photograph. And that's my dad behind the car and my mom, bent over scratching my face. I love to have my face scratched, right between my eyes.

My parents are home now. Yesterday they took me to the vet. I didn't really want to go but I'd met up with this baby porcupine while they were gone and Matt spent long hours pulling those quills but he couldn't get them all. A whole bunch were stuck in the roof of my mouth. Wroof! Wroof! is not easy to do when your mouth is full of quills.

My mom bought me soft dog food in a can! Wow. I could get used to that stuff but I won't. It'll put on weight. I'm down to 74 pounds now that's she's hidden the milk bones. I had a good thing going for awhile. But now I can't even chew one. I couldn't go out to help with the irrigating this morning for fear I'd get into another porcupine. So I howled in the yard and my mom took pity on me and leashed me up and we went for a walk. I couldn't pull her into the river though; she didn't want to take a swim and wouldn't let me either.

Oh, well. Tonight I get a bath because we're going to Medford and Bend for book signings and I get to go along but only if I have a shower. So if you're in Medford, OR on Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 at Evangel books or you're at the High Desert Museum in Bend from 2:00 to 4:00, look for my mom and dad and me! Wroof! Wroof!

Friday, June 19, 2009

my traveling pants..I mean parents

My parents are in Minnesota. I'm here on the ranch chasing chipmunks and playing with Tobey, Rex and Chuck (whose mom calls him Charley, such a girlee name :) I know my mom's spending time at bookstores and signing people's books that aren't chewed by me personally. But she's also hanging out with Gertie, her brother's German Shepherd and Josa, a mix of Boston Terrior and blue heeler and Harry, a Drahther short hair mix. Josa has a bad foot because one of the horses stepped on her. Her parent has taught her how to play "dead or Viking" and she rolls right over dead because she's a Green Bay Packer fan. So am I and so are my parents!

Well my mom says she was on TV Showcase Minnesota and the interviewer tried to say her newest book was a steamy romance. She doesn't write steamy romance novels so she set him straight. She was also on national Public radio which is a big deal at our house. When we're driving to events, it's always on even though I'd prefer a little doggie jazz music now and then. Not likely!

So I hope they miss me. I miss them. I'm well taken care of but mom lets me up on the bed, the couch, and doesn't growl when I counter cruise. I'll probably lose weight while they're gone. They'll be home Monday! Hurrah and Wroof! Wroof! Bo

Thursday, June 4, 2009

My First Post - Bodacious Bo Sets the Record Straight


First of all, that's me, Bodacious Bo named for a rodeo bull that was never ridden to the buzzer. I'm a wirehaired pointing Griffon or Griff for short. I have one great life, honest! the picture is a little fuzzy because my people took the shot through the window so don't worry about trying to clear it on your computer.
I included it because I need to set the record straight. Yes a photograph exists of me carrying my feline friend Diego around with his head in my mouth, his body and black and white tail hanging limp. That photo surfaced following a visit by some of my people's friends. Fortunately, it hasn't been added to Facebook. I carried Diego that way even in the veterinarian's office.
And here's the thing: Diego loved being transported that way! He'd sass right up to me, roll over and bare his neck so I could pick him up. The house of my people sits high against a ridge and it's a long way up there so I'd carry him. We were great pals.
I sure miss Diego.
My people don't know what happened to him but living where we do, eleven miles from a paved road and surrounded by thousands of acres with the nearest neighbor seven miles away, Diego might have gone traveling or met up with a coyote. I don't leave the compound at night but Diego often did.
Enter PB, short for Purr Ball. He's the tabby resting on my back. PB is Diego's full brother just from another litter. When he made his first trip to the vet, he purred the entire time through all his shots and he still purrs whenever our people pick him up or he's just wandering around seeking chipmunks or mice.
I wanted to let people know that PB and I get along great too. He doesn't ask me to carry him the way Diego did. Instead, he likes to climb on my back when I'm sleeping or gazing at the river and just rest. We're a great team. You have to get along out here so far from people and their pets.
My people have busy lives. The Mom is a writer. You can find her at www.jkbooks.com and my Dad is a rancher and a retired builder. They travel a lot and then additional people come into my life, my people brother, his wife and his daughter, sometimes. Best of all, they bring their three dogs: Rex (a golden lab); Toby (a mix of Jack Russell and Chihuaha, but my best pal. He's not very big but he's got a huge heart); and Chuck (a mix between a Chihuaha and rat terrior). Sometimes I get to do overnights at their house, too. I really don't like my people to travel so much without me but when they go on an airplane, I don't go. At least I have pals around when they do.
I'll be posting now and then hoping you'll stop by as I let you know about my people, my life and my friends here at the end of Starvation Lane. Hope you'll tell me about your people and friends too. Wroof! Wroof! Bo