Shane's family is all coming in this weekend, and boy do I have a big show planned for them. I can't give away my secrets yet, but let's just say I've been rehearsing quite a bit for a little talent show. Showtime is halftime of the early games on Sunday, so I've been practicing hard. Basically, how it works is that I practice until Shane runs out of treats, then I go get a drink of water and lay down. Magically, sometimes more treats appear, and then I'm ready to practice again!

For Sunday I'm preparing a few of my favorite tricks. There are four behavioral tricks I've learned (including one where I get to pee!), three normal navigational stunts, three tricks that I do just for cute-ness, and one more cute one that I'm working on that I hope to have ready by the time the family is here. We're hoping to have a TV crew onsite broadcasting for Ajax TV so stay tuned next week to see a re-air if you miss the live show.

Hi Everyone!

First of all, everyone should know that I edited my spin the dog video down so it's easier to watch. Also, I created a couple new videos which I will be releasing to you over time. Here is the first - a movie of me playing with Roger, our cleaning robot.

Enjoy!

I'm very tired today. Yesterday was quite a day of activity for me. Holidays are great because I usually get spoiled by getting to go play extra when Shane and Cassandra don't go to work. Thanks to Christopher Columbus taking credit for discovering America (see I know history too), I had the day to play with the people.

It started off a little slow. We all slept in until about 10:30 after I ate my breakfast at 6 AM. When I got up, I felt like playing a little, so I spun in circles in the bedroom, and since there was a nice stack of clean clothes laying there to be put away, I did my part by picking up a bunch of the clothes and throwing them as well as I could towards where I thought they were supposed to be put away. Of course, I was sprinting at full speed while spinning around in circles when I did all of that, so I guess they all ended up being randomly strewn, but at least I tried to help. Oh, and if you're reading this Shane and Cassandra, don't worry -- that saliva I covered your clothes in shouldn't be a problem. A dog's mouth is cleaner than your silverware or something. I always forget if that rule applies before or after I lick my butt, though... Anyway, I'm sure you're fine.

Since Shane's car needed to be cleaned anyway, we went to the dog park for one last car ride before I get ousted for a few days since it's clean. This second time was more fun than the first. I was more comfortable being around all of the dogs. Yes, I started out looking like a special needs kid by completely avoiding every other dog, sniffing every inch of the fence, and chewing on bushes, but soon I found some dogs to play with. Here's the thing about the dog park though... There are big dogs and little dogs. I like the little ones better since I usually walk with the little ones at night, so naturally, I chose to play with the littler ones. Seems like every time they run and I chase them, they go WAY too slow and I end up using the little terriers and poodles as a treadmill as they spin beneath me. I wonder why they get so intimidated and run under the chairs. Well, to prove my point that I was ready to play, I found a little white terrier, got in my play stance and barked somewhere between 100 and 40,000 times at her while wagging my tail. She got scared and ran away. I did eventually follow a few bigger dogs around, but they play rougher, and since I'm kind of a sissy, I usually just like to stay out of the way of them.

Finally, last night for my long walk, we got to go to PetsMart again! Shane let me pick out some new treats since we are almost out of the last ones. I made it very clear that I liked a couple of types of beef treats by trying to open the packages right there in the store. Later that night, I got to try them, and they were so yummy that I really focused when Shane showed me new things I could do to get those treats. I learned "up" when I am supposed to be done laying down, and "shake" when I'm supposed to put my paw out. I don't know why that one is such a big deal, though. I already knew I could do that to get them to pet me. I'll do that anytime if I get a treat too!

Lastly, here is a video of me at home the other day with Cassandra while Shane was at work. I decided I needed to chase my tail, but there had to be a better way to get it done without having to actually get up... Take a look:

This is what I think of your effing fall catalog! 

Here's my new collar! It's much thicker and more comfortable than my temporary blue collar. Plus, it makes me very pretty!!!

Sorry I don't have any photos of me wearing the collar yet, but I'll get them soon. Which brings me to my next point. I've started thinking that the holidays are coming up soon, and that I've never had a family to buy things for me before, so I'd like to formally announce my first ever gift wish-list.

• ANY beef kind of treat. I LOVE beef!
• New pretty martingale collars that I can show off. Hey, I don't want to always wear the same thing! (They have to be martingale style, though, because my head is so skinny)
• Jackets and/or coats for when it's rainy or cold.
• Small fluffy toys. Grandpatti (Shane's grandmother) gave me a small stuffed buffalo a couple weeks ago that is definitely my favorite toy now. I play with it every night. Saturday, I threw it from one wall of the living room all the way down the stairs in the entryway!
  
  
  I also just got this new coat!:
  
  
  
  

That's all for now. More later.

Obviously Shane and Cassandra are my best friends, but I thought I should mention a few more of my friends for everybody else who doesn't get to see me much.

 Angela is my mid-day friend. She comes to keep me company for a little while when Shane and Cassandra go out to work. She is very nice to me, and she's very dependable. It seems like she is always available to show up when Shane and Cassandra need to leave me alone for a while. When Shane and Cassandra needed to leave town for a funeral on short notice, I got to stay at Angela's house and I really got pampered! She gives me homemade doggie cookies, and even lets me meet some other dogs she is taking care of too, so I can make more friends. I always get really excited when I hear her coming in around noon! If you are a dog that needs some company, or a person who has a dog that would like another person friend to play with, you should definitely give her a call. Her webpage is www.leashlove.net.

My other friends are my neighbor dog friends. The nice thing about where I live now is that people around the neighborhood with dogs usually walk their dogs around 7:00 pm, so we all get to walk and sniff and play with each other. At first when I started seeing different kinds of dogs I was a little nervous, but now when I see any of them, I get soo excited. I wag my tail and do my "trot" so whoever is walking me knows I want to get there faster. Here's a video of my friend Brutus:

I see him all the time. Some of my other friends I meet out on walks (and I can't remember everybody's name right now) are Sammy, Rose, Jack, and Happy. Yay for friends!

By the way, I've never met Maggie, but she's Shane's sister's dog -- she is one of the luckiest dogs I know: Read this.

Well, right now, it's really only laying down and going into my crate.

Last night I learned how to lay down. Well, technically, I knew how to lay down, I just didn't know that people liked it when I did that. Before last night, I was pretty good at sprinting into my crate whenever I heard or smelled any treat. I thought that's just how dogs earned treats. As it turns out, laying down will sometimes get you a treat too. Since I haven't quite figured out the word association part of laying down, last night I just alternated between running to my crate and running to the middle of the living room to lay down until I got a treat.

I imagine I looked pretty funny. I felt weird.