Merry Christmas!

Merry  Christmas Everybody!

I was bad

I bit the mailman yesterday.  My mom and dad were VERY upset with me...They told me I was a bad dog.

It's really not my fault.  I was just protecting the house.  It's my job!  You understand - don't you?

It's Hanukkah!

It's Hanukkah!  It's a very happy holiday and I love it when my parents light the candles on the menorah.

This year my parents bought me my very own special doggie menorah.  This is a picture of it...

This is a picture of me with my menorah...

Very sad news

My dad told me last night that my neighbor, Merlot, a pug, ran out of his house and was hit by a car.  Dad said he is in doggie heaven and I believe him.  Merlot would bark at me when I passed his house, which is right across the street from mine.  Sometimes when he would get out my mom or dad would chase him and pick him up and bring him home.  I don't know why he wasn't happy in his back yard playing with his sister Heidi, a German shepherd.  I know his mom loved him very much.  I am very sad.

This is a picture of a pug.  It is not Merlot.

Helping with the papers

My parents were working on some sort of big project that involved a lot of papers.  

As you can see from this picture, I was helping them...

By staying under the table I was able to alert my parents when a paper dropped on the floor.  I also kept out of the way.  My parents eventually made a big pile of all the papers.

Then they took all the papers away.

I will have to look for more ways to help my parents.

Camping in the snow

I was trying to avoid writing about it, but everyone wants to know what it was like to camp in the snow.

It was fun!  Canines, except for the real little ones, really like to walk in the snow and so do I.  And when I was finished with my walk I went back into my Airstream where it was nice and warm and cozy.  I hope that my parents had as much fun as I did.

These are some pictures of snow

Halloween!

I barked at ALL the trick or treaters!

I am such a good girl!

I saw my poor neighbor dressed as a spider.  Poor Merlot!  My Mom should have taken a picture of him.

My Mom just doesn't understand...

My Mom just doesn't understand that YES I DO have to sniff every leaf, twig, pole and blade of grass on our walk!

I know that it's slow going for her but the information I get is priceless!

A Saturday trip

I've still been a bit under the weather.  My parents tell me that I am no longer a young puppy and I take longer to heal, but I must say I am getting tired of just laying around - although I do lay around most attractively!

Anyhow, on Saturday my parents took me for a ride to a place with a small beach.  We took a very nice walk around the beach area and then walked out on a pier to look at the water.  It was very windy and the moorings shook a lot.  As we were going back to the car we met a man who said there were no dogs allowed in the park but I could stay because I was so pretty.  My parents said that what he actually said was that since no one was around I could stay, but I prefer to believe otherwise!  It was a very nice day.

This is a picture of me looking at the water while my parents talked with the park man.

More rally stuff

The rally went on for a couple of days. There were a lot of Airsteams there.

Sometimes I couldn't go into the buildings and sometimes I could.  No matter what, I did my best to be friendly and helpful to everyone.

At some point my Dad got a promotion and he told me I was now first dog and his canine adviser.  I got a special badge to wear

Well, I always knew I was special...

Unfortunately, since the rally I have been a bit under the weather.  I sprained something and since I went to the vets and got my shots my neck hurts.  My parents have been very good to me but I have been sleeping alot - even more than usual.  I hope that another day of rest will bring me back to my usual sprightly self.

I'm Jewish!

I'm always excited when my parents remind me that I am Jewish!  I enjoy celebrating the holidays with them because they usually revolve around food...

This holiday is the new year.  Even though we were camping we celebrated it by eating especial foods my Mom made.  Yesterday my brother Josh came up to eat with us on the holiday.  We also ate with my dear friend Trouper's parents Bob and Cathy.

Today we celebrated again with food.  We had a special dinner with our friends Jerry and Bill and Adam and our new friends Tom and Jackie.  This is a picture of us celebrating...

You'll have to figure out who is who by yourself:)

The New York State Rally

I am currently attending the New York State Rally with my parents. 

It is in a very pretty place.  When we first got there, we were the only people there.  My parents took off my leash and let me wander wherever I wanted to...

The next day my dear friend Trouper and his parents Cathy and Bob showed up.  While Trouper relaxed I helped my parents do some inside work in a large building.  I also did some more roaming on my own...

Today a lot of people came and it rained so I stayed in the camper a lot.

Helping my Mom

Another one of my important jobs is to help my Mom select the color nail polish she wears on her toes.

My Mom and Dad and I walk over to the nail salon.  Then Dad picks out a color and I approve it. 

Then my Mom stays and gets her toes painted.  She comes back looking neat.  These are some of my Mom's toes.

I come back very happy because the people who work at the nail salon are always happy to see me.

A rally in New Jersey

Last weekend my parents and I went to an Airstream rally in New Jersey.  It was a long ride.  When we got there it was very hot and humid.  When we left it was cold and rainy.  Weather is a funny thing.

The problem with this rally was that many of the things to do were held inside and I couldn't come.  Since it was raining I couldn't sit outside.  I slept a lot.  Well, sleep is not a bad thing either.

This is a picture taken of me when I was awake...

Reading

Do any of you read catalogs or books or stuff?  I prefer being read to.

But occasionally I find a good catalog and look at the pictures.  Sometimes my parents will buy me something from a catalog.  I try to leave snout marks on the pictures of the things I want.  Sometimes it works.

This is a picture of me looking at a catalog.

My neighborhood

My friends Trixie, Sadie and Sam have asked if I have found a new place to wee wee.  I thought I would show you some of my favorite places in the neighborhood to sniff and wee wee.

I am sure that you can see the variety of places of I have to choose from.  I'm sure that one of them will become my new favorite.

Hurricane

We had a hurricane here last week.  Since I'm a Katrina dog hurricanes are rather traumatic for me.  But my parents gave me extra bully sticks to keep me calm.

Our cousins had to evacuate and they came to stay with us during the hurricane.  It was nice because they petted me a lot.  My brother stayed in the city and he was fine.  He called a lot to make sure that I was OK.

We went outside after the storm.  One small tree had fallen down in the backyard.  This is a picture of me inspecting the fallen tree before my Dad cut it up.

I was sad to see that one of my favorite trees fell down.  I used to enjoy making a wee-wee there.  This is a picture of my tree.

But that was all the bad stuff.  I stayed safe and warm.  My parents took good care of me.

Note to Trixie:  don't be afraid!  Your parents will take good care of you too.

Earthquake!

I'm sure that many of my friends are say to themselves "What did Belle do during the earthquake?"

The reason that I haven't posted about it is that I did absolutely nothing!  Canines are supposed to know these things are coming - right?  Well, I didn't know anything was going to happen and when it finally did and the house shook I just stood stock still and stared at my Mom.

Everything was fine but I'm a little embarrassed about that....

A new friend

This is my new friend Miriam.  She and her mom came all the way from Germany to see me. 

Miriam will be going to school in NY.  I hope that she comes to visit me a lot because she likes to pet me.

My latest trip

My parents and I went on a road trip on Saturday to see some of my camping friends.  They were very happy to see me.

This is me and my Dad and my friend Annette:

 Some of the people stood around a machine and sang.  My mom sang too.  She shouldn't have...

These are some people singing...

After everyone sang and ate and I had my bully stick we went home and I got to sleep in my own bed!

My snack bag

I went to visit some of my canine friends at the pet resort today.

My Mom put my snack in this special bag with my name on it.  Isn't it cool?

Sunday

Yesterday my parents and I went to visit friends of their - Don, Judy, Alysson, Christie and Sara.

First we went into the city and got my brother!  and Alysson!  I got to ride in the back seat of my car with my mom and Alysson.

I spent most of the time with the family in the kitchen.  The conversation and the food were very good.

I also inspected their yard for infestations - they said they had deer, groundhogs, 'possums and skunks.  Although I do like to help people, especially such good friends of my parents, I did not want to stay over at their house.  I preferred to go home.

Then I got to sleep with my brother:)

Photo of me

I call this one "dog sleeping on a rug"

Does this photo make me look fat?

Horrible weather...

If you watch the Weather Channel -my parents do but I try to ignore it - you've heard that New Hyde Park where I live had really bad weather yesterday.

This is what my backyard looked like:

and this is my front yard..

...and there was a whole river going down my street...

...and I was all alone when it happened.  My parents were out.  I was very brave, though.  I just hid on my bed.

It's been strange at my house

I haven't written for a while because it's been very strange at my house.

One day my Dad went out and came home wearing a funny thing on his arm.  He slept a lot on his chair and then he slept on the couch at night.  I didn't know what to do...should I sleep with my Dad or go upstairs and sleep with my Mom in the bedroom?  Some nights I just went up and down.  That made me very tired.

On Sunday night my brother came out - that made things easy...I slept with him.

Tonight I am sleeping in the camper with my Dad.  This is all very odd.

Otherwise everything is the same...

Gander Mountain

If you or your parents need anything in the area of outdoor stuff I recommend Gander Mountain.  It is not at all like the other store that I shall not name that made me stay in a crate.  They welcomed me to the store and I must say they had some wonderful things to sniff.

These are some pictures of me shopping...

I don't know why I'm sideways.  I wasn't sideways in the store.

A bad place

My parents and I went to a bad campground in Enon OH. 

I understand that it was the 4th of July and it is a very important holiday but people kept shooting off horrible sounding fireworks that sounded like gun shots.  I was so scared I did not go out of the camper and when my parents tried to take me out I hid in the bedroom.  I did not come out until the next morning.  My parents petted me a lot but I was still upset.....

I also heard that the bathrooms were not too clean either.

Fireworks and some new friends

It's been busy around here.  Last night there were fireworks.  I hate fireworks and hid in my house.  I would not come out.  My mom sat outside and took pictures of them. 

 

They are kind of pretty but much too noisy.

But - getting back to those new friends I made....their names are Lana and Allen and they live near where we were camping.  They met my Mom on the internet.  They knew I was Belle as soon as they saw me.  They petted me alot - especially Allen.  They love me and I love my new friends.

Napping

I do nap a lot.  Today I had a lovely nap with my father.

Dog show

Today my father woke me up early and gave me a very thorough brushing.

I soon discovered that I was being entered in a dog show at the rally we are attending.  How exciting!  I was being entered in the beautiful dog category and my dear friend Trouper was being entered for the best costume.

My father and I paraded in front of the judges.  I was lovely...

Unfortunately the judges did not select me as a winner.  Oh, well!  Mistakes can be made by anyone.  I am not at all distressed.

However, my dear friend Trouper did win a prize for having the best costume.  I am very happy that he won because he is so small.  This is a picture of  Trouper in his costume with his mom.

Sam

My friend Sam has been sick.  We were afraid he was very sick.  But he isn't!!!  He's going to get better!  His mom has taken wonderful care of him.  I'm very happy!  Be well Sam!

My friend Cathy

We've settled in at this very nice campground and I am generally having a good time.  However, my parents haven't been paying as much attention to me as I would like.  They've gone away for long days and left me.  Fortunately I have my friend Cathy.

This is me and my friend Cathy.  She is the mother of my dear friend Trouper who I have not seen much of lately.  That is probably just as well as you know about me and canines.

Anyhow, Cathy comes and walks me when my parents are gone for a long time.  She sits with me and pets me.  She loves me.  Then she goes back to Trouper.  Sigh!

A temporary new home

My parents and I have been traveling for a few days.  It's given me the opportunity to catch up on my sleep.  You know that I need a good 16 hours to be alert...

Well, today we arrived someplace in Illinois and we're going to stay here for a while.
This is a picture of me working with some gentlemen to decide where exactly we will be staying..

And this is where we will be for the next ten days or so.  I think it's rather nice.

Where have I been?

I know that you've all been wondering why I haven't been posting.  Well, for a while I didn't do much.  Also, for the last few days I've been kind of sluggish - maybe the humidity - maybe age...

But on Wednesday I went on a road trip with my parents.  It was an all day road trip to a pretty place upstate.

First we went to an office where several women were working. They all stopped work and came to pet me.  One woman smelled of canine and she petted me a lot.  They even gave me some water in a paper cup.

Then we went to a place with lots of grass and buildings.  I made another new friend - Gary -

  Gary took me and my parents for a ride in a strange vehicle...

I must say that I didn't like it.  I jumped out.  After I rode on the floor in front.  I prefer to walk.

After that Gary and my parents decided that I could walk around without my leash.  I did enjoy that!  I followed my parents around and went from shady spot to shady spot.

 

Then I made a doody and we went home.