CANINE FAMILY

This is my cousin, Bailey. She lives in Ohio with her mom, Fran. I have never met her and we might not hit it off as I tend to be too forward and aggressive. Although, I have heard my two-legged family talking and they say I am getting better. They say I am growing up - whatever that means.
I guess I am having more quiet and calm periods. Yet, I still like to bark at anything that moves on my street and I just can't stop terrorizing the mailman and the UPS guy even though the UPS guy always gives me good cookies. Even when I am having a walk and the UPS truck passes me on the street, the driver will slow down and toss me out a cookie. But I still growl and bark at him. I think he probably expects it.

LIFE OF LEISURE
All right, all right - I am awake. I wasn't sleeping, just resting. After all, it's been raining all day. What am I supposed to do? I think a small nap is quite in order and acceptable.

WHAT TIME IS IT?
Oh no, could somebody please push the reset button. I think it is just a little too early.
I recall what an early riser I was when I first moved to Maine. I would wake my Daddies up at exactly 6:45 each and every morning. I was contend to allow them 15 minutes to get it together, but I wanted to be out and on my walk by 7:00 AM sharp.
Now that I have gotten them into the rhythm, I find that I would like to sleep in a bit. I am embarrassed to say some mornings Thom has to shake me awake and coax me out of bed. It can't be old age - after all, I am only two and a half. I guess it must be these lazy cool mornings.

BOSCO'S BACK IN TOWN
I'm so happy. My buddy, Bosco is back in Maine. He spent the winter in Florida with his mom. I stayed in Maine with my family because I love the cold and the snow.
Last week we went out to Audrey's and I got to play and swim with Bosco and his buddy, Thunder. It's so much fun at Audrey's place. We dogs get to run loose and can go wherever we want. Bosco knows his boundaries and I always stay by his side. Bosco is bigger than me and very strong, so we can play really rough and nobody gets hurt.
We run all over the place, into the woods, down to the beach, and out through the fields. Sometimes my Daddy Thom gets nervous and calls me back. But - Audrey is my heroine (God bless her) - she just tells Thom to leave us along. She is so laid back.
Bosco has the best beach. It's a good run from the house and down many stairs alongside the cliffs. At the bottom of the stairs is the crisp cold water and we just jump right in. Our humans finally catch up and stand and chat while we play. It's all great fun and I cannot wait to go again. I must admit though - when I get back home I am in dire need of a good long nap.

BEACH TIME
How wonderful! The days have been lovely and perfect for romping on the beach. If my staff pick the times appropriately there are no other dogs or people on the beach and I can run free.
I love the smell of the sea air, the feel of the sand between my toes, and the invigorating chill of the water if I decide to go wading and splashing about.
Oh, summertime - summertime. I Love it. Now if only the ferry would start running I could sail over to the Canadian islands for the day. When it gets really hot there is no better way to cool off that to take a ferry ride out on the cold waters.

HANGING OUT AT HOME
It's been a long time sine I have blogged. So, I guess it's time for me to try to catch up.
Winter has gone and Spring, although late, is really here now. In fact the past few days have felt more like summer. Thank goodness the column fans have been hauled out of the attic. Now at least the bedroom is comfortable for sleeping.
Early Spring is called Mud Season here on the island and I spent most of that time indoors. You know - chilling and watching TV, the usual. Aunt Cheri comes over for dinner and drinks often. She spoils me very nicely. I like to snuggle with her on the couch during the cocktail hour. Incidentally cocktail hour is extra snack time for me. Since I don't imbibe I have to do something to participate in the social hour.

SANTA CLAWS CAME TO MY HOUSE
The big day arrived and I did get goodies. And the goodies were all wrapped up in pretty paper that I was allowed to rip, tear and destroy. The good stuff was all inside and yet I still seem to prefer eating the paper. This is something I know I am not allowed to do and the stuff actually has no good taste. I just cannot resist the urge to eat the stuff. I did acquire a million plus points by not opening other peoples' gifts. After all the commotion of the gifts we had company and a really great meal. I do think I ate too much though. I think that's what you are supposed to do because all the humans did the same thing.

STRANGE CHANGES
Last month a few items in the living room started to disappear and my humans dragged this outside thing (I think they call it a tree) into the house. They spent an evening hanging shiny and dangling things on it which I was not allowed to touch or play with. I did sniff them out though. I have vague memories of this same thing happening about a year ago when the white stuff was on the ground. I was a lot younger then, but I think I got goodies out of the deal. Guess I will have to wait and see.

INANIMATE CREATURES
Before Christmas we went out to the tree farm to get my tree and this little fellow accompanied us home. He has eyes and he stares at me. He smells like a tree. I thought he could move, but it was only his decorative ribbon collar blowing in the wind. I confirmed he was not real when I bit off a piece of his belly bark and he gave no reaction. Oh well, I guess as long as he stays outside and doesn't eat my food he can hang around. Of course, I have learned I am not permitted to chew him up. I guess that's because he is defenseless.

TERRITORY INVASION
It was a bit much that I had to tolerate the sea gulls and watch them being fed each morning in my backyard. Also, I got used to the multiple bird feeders around the house. I even learned to ignore the birds and they ignored me. I could actually stand on the deck chair and watch them eat and they didn't become anxious. But - the other day I discovered the squirrels have decided to invade. They are always around the yard picking up left over birdseed and sea gull food. The little buggers have the nerve to come up on my deck looking for more food. One fellow sits at the glass door and stares into the house and into my face. I just don't know how much more of this I can take. I am being overrun by wildlife.