Hi everyone!  Sorry it’s been so long since my last update.  I got busy helping my woman with her aromatherapy stuff.  Thanks to me, she’s now a Certified Animal Aromatherapy Practitioner.  I also had to help her update her website to make it look more professional.

Even though I was busy with that, I still had to make the time to take my man out for his morning walks, play with friends, kill basketballs I found, bark at cats and dragons, work on my bed platform for the back seat of the truck, go swimming, go to my rehab vet, and make sure no one stole the neighborhood!

My vet came to my house last month to stick me with needles, look in my mouth, and put my pee in a jar (humans are gross!)  My woman said they were there to look at a lump in my mouth and behind my shoulder, steal my blood for something called a “heartworm test,” and do a “urinalysis.”  She said she thought my eyes looked a little cloudier than they did last year.  No one knows what the lump behind my shoulder is and she isn’t sure what the lump in my mouth is but my pee was good and the vet said no heartworm.

Last week, I saw my rehab vet, who mistook me for a pincushion, and she said my eyes were cloudier than last month so Monday my woman called my eye doctor.  They can’t get me in before my regular May appointment and said I had to start using my eye drops twice a day.  If something happens before my appointment, she can send me to one of the specialty clinics in our area that has eye doctors.  I don’t think she’s too worried because I still see fine for my age.  Oh, my rehab appointment went good and my people only have to do “sideways walking” with me which is weird but I have never minded it.

I get to go swimming this weekend and I’m getting ready for my 12th birfday!

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My people got really happy a couple of nights ago.  My Woman was so happy, she was swearing... which sounds really weird to tell you she was happy but swearing!

My Woman was on her tiny thing she uses to take pictures of me, play games, and do something called "text" when it happened.

I was pretty much asleep so I wasn't really listening when she told my Man.

It had something to do with a news story about the state filing to shut down 2 rescues. 
She said the state's Department of Justice said the owners were running for-profit "rescues" with non-profit status from the IRS, failing to report millions of dollars in income, using rescue money for personal use, operating without a required kennel license, not keeping the required records, misrepresenting themselves as licensed animal behavior experts or veterinarians, lying about the health of dogs they adopted out, repossessing dogs for alleged contract breeches, and more.

My people said something about me possibly getting the justice I deserve for the way I was treated and the lack of medical care that would have killed me.

My Man had a bunch of time off for Barkmas this year so we got to do lots of stuff.  He was off on the 18th and didn't go back until the 2nd. 

I got to play Santa Chance at my rehab vet, my vet, my friend's training place where I get get kibble in the morning (never call them treats because I will shun you for life), and the vet clinic where the vet techs carry treats for me in case we meet in the parking lot before they open.  I also took stuff to neighbors and dog friends.

We got the bed and nightstands moved from my room into my Woman's old room.  We got the stuff that needed to be moved from upstairs put into my room.  We got the stuff from my Woman's room moved upstairs.  This was all done by his 1st day of vacation.  
I like having my Man's stuff in my room.  He has tables for his trains and I have a bed under one of the tables.  That makes 2 comfy beds in my Boy-and-Boo cave!!  I use them both too.

We also started on my bed for the back seat of the truck.  There's no seat back there so I can't ride in the truck.  It will be like my Jeep bed and my Man says there's plenty of places to attach it too!

The neighborhood was a little sad though this Barkmas.  My neighbor Buddy lost his Woman the day my Man's vacation started :-( 

Just before Barkmas, our old outdoor lights started to dim so my Man went to several Ace Hardwares and found enough lights to replace them.  After they did that, they found out the problem was caused by 1 strand of lights that was corroding.  So, we have lights that wrap around the beam, run around the outside of my window, and run between the posts like before but we also have lights that wrap around the top rail and the stair railings.  I can see really good outside on my porch with the porch lights off now!

Barkmas was a good one.  My people realized on Barkmas day that Whole Foods made a mistake with our prime rib order.  It was way bigger than they ordered.  It wouldn't fit in our roasting pan!  So, they hacked off what wouldn't fit, which was several pounds, and I got to eat the boneless prime rib meat as part of my raw meals :-)  It was nummy!  I got to eat cooked roast in place of my normal raw meal that night.  My people almost lost fingers it was so good.
I got a bunch of toys from neighbors, Santa brought me some treats, and my people got me a tetherball made out of playground ball material and 3 stuffed animals.  
When I found out Santa had made it into the house yet again without me noticing, I had to run around to all the rooms where I have buried my treats to make sure that fat bastard didn't steal anything.

I got 2 new soccer balls over Barkmas break.  One was at the school and the other was at my house.

Up next time: New Year's, Fence Emergency, Man's Birfday, SONIC

​A few Barkmas pictures.

Pictures from my trip to Montana are now up!  You can find them under "Trips."  I hope you enjoy them.

​I hope everyone had a good Turkey Day!  I did.  My woman was sick but she still managed to make a feast for us.  She slept most of Turkey Day so it was up to me and my boy to make the turkey, gravy, and veggies.  

My woman's birfday was earlier this month.  I helped decorate, make her a cheesecake, and make her dinner.

My people started on the platform for my back door last weekend.  They got all the wood for the frame cut and all but the end boards of the composite wood top.  It’s going to be huge!

Today we got sod for my peeing spot because my people removed all the bad grass from the area in June but never had a chance to plant anything or get sod.  We got 90 sq. ft. of it!!!

I also went to the rehab vet today for my monthly check-up.  I had a slip yesterday when my Mail Lady came to deliver a package so I needed a lot of work and had 7 acupuncture needles.  My woman has homework to do on me, exercises and massage.

I haven’t done much of anything new.  Walks, playing, car rides, seeing friends, doing jobs around the house, swimming, and rehab vet.

It took a lot of hard work but I finally got my people to finish my front porch! 
My woman bought me a gate that can be stretched to block off the top of my stairs and swing out of the way when I don't want to use it and 2 big mats for me to lay on.  One mat goes in front of my dog door and the other goes between my laying platform and the stairs.
We still have to put the stuff on the bottom of the porch that keeps cats, raccoons, possums, coyotes, and skunks out but my people put up plastic mesh so that can wait until the weather cooperates.

My people are going to build me another platform for in front of the back door.  That way, I don't have to step down as far and it will keep me off the hard concrete because I like to lay there.  I really like the one on my porch.  I bet my woman will get me a huge mat for that one too!

I've been finding balls on my walks but they haven't been good enough to bring home.

It's gotten cold enough here that I don't ask to play in my pool after my man gets home.  I did get to play one afternoon while we were working on the porch. 

I know it's officially fall because it's getting cool and rainy, my woman opened the skylight shades and changed the temperatures on the thermostat so the furnace will come on but not the air conditioner, and a man came by to mess with the furnace to make sure it works OK. 

My woman and I also cleaned 20 pounds of dog hair, dirt, and lost treats out of my woman's car this week before the rain hit.  My woman says there's only about 40 pounds of dog hair left in the car now!

Since I last "saw" you, a lot has happened.

I'm still swimming every other week at the pool though I had to go to a different pool a couple weeks ago because my pool was closed.  They had a dock diving competition that weekend because they are next to the airport and the airport was having an airshow.  My people said I wouldn't like to be out there during the airshow anyway because it is loud and they have things like fireworks.

I'm still seeing my rehab vet every month.  I'm not having any big issues though last time she turned me into a pincushion!  And I kept trying to tell everyone there was a pool across the hall and one room up but no one would listen.

I've been having a lot of luck finding balls out on walks.  I've been finding playground balls, basketballs, baseballs, and tennis balls.  I also found out tether balls are fun... until they hit you in the back of the head.  My man told me I couldn't kill it so I wasn't happy about that!

I was playing in my pool almost every night but now it is too dark by the time my man gets home.  

I've been doing a lot of stuff around the house.

• I helped spread a truckload of dirt in my digging spots.  I was really helpful too.  My people would put the dirt in a spot and I would dig to help out but then they would put the dirt back so I would have to dig again.  But then they would put the dirt back and I would have to do it all again.  It was exhausting.
• I helped put the post sleeves on my porch, pour concrete, build stairs for my porch, put stair railings on, and put a 16-foot long 4x4 post on top of the tall posts.
• I helped my woman patch a leaky gutter and a leaky down spout, helped my man and woman clean the gutters, and helped my man clean the roof.
• I helped my woman finish her Level 4 coursework for her animal aromatherapy training.
• And I've been helping my man rake leaves in the morning a couple of times a week.

I also got some bad news.  The place I stay in Montana that is on the cattle ranch is being sold.  I'm pretty bummed about it.

I'm back up with internet access!

The 4th here was crazy and not fun for animals or most people.  The dog next door had fireworks hitting her house on the 2nd!  We also had hot weather which means lots of people started fires with their fireworks.

This week is supposed to get really hot again.  Blech!  I've been helping my woman water the grass to try to keep it from bursting into flames!

I've been doing lots of fun stuff.  Playing in water, swimming, going on walks, and sniffing all kinds of good sniffs.