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.