Ditto the Beagle

My Dad’s nana passed away this past weekend. I never met her but everything I have heard is that she was a great woman who will be missed. There are some real nice articles online about her life.

I just found out that one of my old California friends died over the weekend. Sugar was a real nice dog that I met a couple of times when Mom and Dad visited her parents. She had a good life and her Dad wrote up a nice tribute to her here.

Today I decided to assert myself a little more and pee on the small humans play area. I didn’t tell anyone so Mom put her down to play and she got soaked. I thought it was real entertaining, but Mom was not amused. The small humans clothes were soaked and she had to get a bath.

It’s important the humans know I’m in charge.

A shout out to my distant relative Uno, the first and only beagle champion for the largest dog show in the world! Nice job, Uno!

Much has been in the news lately about the pet food recall. I’d like to take a minute to send out a dedication to all the cats and dogs who have become sick because of the contaminated food. My dad says the pet food industry is one of the least regulated industries in the country and most people don’t even realize what they are feeding to their pets. Companies likes Iams claim to be high quality but then the truth comes out that they don’t even control the ingredients that go into their foods.

Paying $20 a month for a bag of high quality food like Wellness or Newman’s Own seems like a small price to pay to ensure high quality food. While the major brands may be cheaper, is it really worth risking your pets life?

Since the weather has turned cold I have discovered a delicious new treat. Poopsicles! You can pretty much figure out what they are and I love them! Mom and Dad are constantly yelling at me to leave them alone and trying to pick them up before I get to them, but there are some that are buried deep in the snow that only I can get to. Do any of my friends out there find them as delicious as I do?

Next week I heard Mom and Dad saying that I have to go to the bad place to have my teeth cleaned! It seems my bad breath is because my back teeth are very dirty. I don’t like the way it sounds at all.

Finally, a special bark to my good friend Minnie Perl in San Francisco. She came from the same place I did but is 10 years older than me. She has been sick lately and isn’t doing very well. I will be sending some treats her way to lift her spirits.

I try to avoid getting into politics because I generally don’t understand why people just can’t either get along, or leave each other alone. You know, I hate people as much as anyone, but when I’m in my house I mind my own business. That seems to be impossible for humans to understand.

In the past couple of weeks there has been great suffering in the Middle East. Both for humans and animals. The animals are easy to forget and once again, as I did with the tsunami, I am asking people to consider making a donation to the International Relief Fund of the Humane Society. They are assisting organizations in Israel and Lebanon to help protect and care for abandoned animals.

Oh, and one final comment. I encourage all readers of this blog to boycott any film with Mel Gibson. I have decided he is one of the dumbest, most ignorant humans I’ve ever heard about.

My friends Bagel and Max recently convinced their parents to let them have free roam of the house while they are away. I guess Mom and Dad thought maybe I was old enough too, because when Paul dropped me off from daycare last night, he put me in the main part of the house and closed the kitchen door so I couldn’t get in there.

After some initial confusion and concern that it was some sort of trap, I decided I was really on my own and that it was time to do some damage. Mom and Dad thought they had secured everything, but they aren’t very smart, and I am a genius. I found a Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon low enough for me to jump up and pull down. They are my favorite so I shredded it to pieces and left pieces in the living room and dining room. Then I found some real neat labels that were for the wedding. They were made of some weird material that I didn’t really enjoy shredding, so I just moved them all to the living room and left them there.

After that I was pretty tired so I took a nap on the couch, and next thing I knew Mom and Dad were home. I don’t think they were too mad at me, since I didn’t do any serious damage…

They had some new cookies at the Cove yesterday. I got to eat two of them. I love them, as I love all food. But, sadly, they gave me a real bad bellyache. I kept dad up all night because I kept having to go out to the bathroom. He should be thankful I didn’t go in the house. But I’m smarter than that. I didn’t even eat my breakfast this morning!

But I feel better now. I have been sunning myself on the deck at the Cove and I got to eat my breakfast finally, a little late.

I’m back from vacation and wanted to wish all my friends a Happy New Year! I had a great time at the Cove while Mom and Dad were away. I got to stay at the house with Paul and Michelle and the kids every night. On Christmas I woke up extra early and went down to the tree and started to tear open the presents, even though they weren’t mine. I didn’t think anyone would mind. I also got to play with my good pal Marty’s new bed. He wanted to use it, but I explained to him that I was the guest in the house.

I came home yesterday. There has been some real, real bad weather. It was the worst weather I’ve ever seen and Dad kept waking up in the middle of the night because the alarm kept making noise. It sure was scary, especially when Dad made me go outside to go to the bathroom. I could barely stand up it was so windy. Crazy!

See you all in 2006!