Video Premiere

Mom and Dad have a very antiquated video camera - it's not digital or anything. Tonite they were fooling around and managed to capture me on tape! The camera is so big and scary-looking that it freaked me out...and naturally, when I'm spooked, I ...bark!

As if I need added encouragement to bark with all the neighbor stuff going on. For the record, this barking episode lasted under a minute, well within the barking ordinance laws for Philadelphia! You never know who could be reading this (award winning) blog!



Click on my gorgeous mug above to start the movie.
(It is quite a large file, so depending on your connection, it may take some time to download)

AGC

MAYDAY!

Life continues to decline. Yesterday Mom and Dad went to a bat mitzvah for most of the day and they put me in my crate. When they came home they found me cowering in the corner, shaking and shivering, and all my bedding and the crate tray pushed out the crate. It is hard for me, Axel G Chocholoza, to admit all this to you. I know you all think I'm a very dapper, brave terrier, but being confined in my crate terrifies me. I am used to having the run of my house, not being shut up in a cage. I was not trying to con Mom and Dad, I am truly petrified of being alone in my crate. Below is a picture taken just after I was released from my crate after 6 hours. I managed to push the board and mattress out in my distress...



Anyway, it is too upsetting to talk about it. One nice thing to happen last week was I had a really good haircut. Melissa just graduated grooming school and needed to test her stripping skills. We thought she did a pretty good job! In picture one I am posing; picture two, Dad and I are eating snacks in bed!



Also, today Mom and I went to visit some friends of hers, Evey and Larry. They had an awesome yard which I played in and lots of interesting things to sniff, including 3 cats. Mom has some weird notion that I may be spending a week at their house when her and dad go to Jamaica - ha, that's what she thinks! I ain't missing out on Jamaica. After all, with all this crating and neighbor stress, I truly need a vacation!

AGC

What the Heck is Going On?

Life ain't so great of late. I don't know what has gotten into Mom and Dad, but suddenly they think they are boss. Who are they kidding!

They have embarked on this new nonsense of putting me in my house when they leave for work. Reportedly, this is because of the complaining neighbor again. He shall remain nameless - I don't want to risk a lawsuit now that my blog is award-winning and read the world over - oh what the hell, let's make up a dark, evil name to represent him...I'll throw it out to you, to give me some ideas...let me know!

So anyway, I like my house, but I don't like being forced into my house with the door closed. Yesterday Dad put me in there and I went rather beserk. They thought they were clever by leaving me a tiny waterbowl, dad's smelly socks ("oh your scent will comfort him," said my Mom. Comfort my ass Mom, they honk!!), treats and chews. They also read somewhere to cover the crate with a blanket to make it more like a den. What idiots. This is the 21st Century people, I am no longer a wolf like my ancestors. I dig sleeping in beds, not in cages disguised as dens! So anyway, while they abandoned me, I tore up Dad's socks, I overturned the water dish (not my wisest move in retrospect, since I ended up having to lie on a soggy mattress), scattered my chews and pulled the crate cover through the crate bars and tried to rip that up. My intent was simple - show those fools I was UNHAPPY.

But then this morning, Mom shoved me in there again. She then went to her bedroom to get a wooly hat (it's gone cold) and would you know it, genius that I am, I managed to bust out of the crate and went running and diving onto Mom and Dad's bed! Oh what pandemonium. Mom was shocked. And boy did I then make it tough for her to catch me and put me back in there. But fool that I am - I fell for the fetch yummy turkey treat thrown into crate trick. This time Mom made sure she had the door latched properly, and I was stuck. I howled. I cried. I barked. My Mother was stoic. And she left.

I heard her tell Dad later that she fretted all day about me being in the crate all day. Bloody right she should fret. But the joke of it is, when she came home from work, two hours early worried about me...I wasn't in my crate! Gracie's Mom had come over at 10:30am to rescue me and take me to play at her house with Gracie, Kila and the new kitty Mojo. Oh I can shit myself laughing picturing Mom worrying about me ripping up the crate when all along I was happily playing at Gracie's house! heh heh, it cracks me up.

Mom was not as amused. But I know she was happy for me.

On the way to our evening walk, we ran right into Nameless Neighbor and he started lecturing Mom about crating me and being consistent. Mom asked for him to tell her when he will be working and not home during the day so I don't have to stay in my house, but he refused saying, "consider me home every day from 9-5pm."
If I wasn't a peace loving canine, I would bite his ass. Then again, maybe not. It probably smells worse than Dad's socks.

AGC

Officially Awesome!

I received official notification of my victory! I now hold the "Awesome Blog of the Month" award under my belt. I did a grand jig of joy!

Here is my official award:


Thanks again to everyone who voted, and special hugs to Butchy & Snickers, and Buster who were very worthy competitors.

AGC

Awaiting Official Word

No official word yet on the results of the Awesome Blog Award being offered by Dogs With Blogs Website! However, thanks to my many fans and foxie friends, I am way ahead in the vote and I do believe the contest has closed! But I'm holding off on my victory jig until I receive official word!

Until then, I'm just hanging out, you know, ripping pillows apart and chewing Mom's old sandals...



By the way, today this big envelope arrived in the mail and Mom hollered to Dad, "our Jamaican honeymoon tix are here!" I had never heard of Jamaica, so I googled it and man, it sure looks sweet! Beaches, sunsets and lots of humans with long wiry hair like mine. I had no idea we were going on vacation!! Now if I could just reach Mom's cabinet, I could find out when we're going! I see Jamaica is in the middle of the sea, so I assume we're driving until we hit the sea and then Dad will row us there? Maybe I can swim part of the way! Anyway, stay tuned...

AGC

Elvis and Me

Elvis's Mom Priscilla took this really spooky photo of me and Elvis - most appropriate a week from Halloween. Elvis is my best male pal - we play together every day, and most of the time he busts my ass. It is not unusual for him to toss me about and send me hurling across the park! But I love him and enjoy the rough play.

Mom on the other hand, is really scared when ever she is near Elvis and he is running off leash with the rest of our posse. She is afraid he might crash into her at full speed - that would probably send my little Mom flying all the way to Washington DC! He once ran into Gracie's Mom by accident, and she landed flat on her side with the wind knocked out of her, some sore ribs and head! And Gracie's Mom is a lot bigger than my wee Mom. So if you ever see all of us running in the park, look out for my Mom, she'll be the little woman hugging a tree or a bench and looking around anxiously! Heh heh!

AGC

One Lucky Dog

I tell you, I enjoy the good life!

I get to lie snuggled in the down comforter and enjoy the sun as it comes streaming through the windows...



I get to eat really humungous marrow bones...well, not every day...but they sure last a long time.

And, I get to enjoy some alone time...in my house, when I feel like it. I quite like my crate these days...



And as if this isn't enough, yours truly is in the lead for the Awesome Blog Award on www.dogswithblogs.com.au! If you are a fan and want to vote, please go to http://www.dogswithblogs.com.au/bonezone/ - click on the register button on the top of the page. Register by filling out a username, password, & email address and select
the human option. That is it! The site will then send you an email, you click on the link in that email, then scroll down to the Awesome Blog Award section - click on October Poll and vote for AXEL! I know it sounds complex, but really it is not! Thank you for your efforts!

You know, when I think how fortunate I really am, I think about all those foxies, who don't have what I have. And I want to help them!

This is the story of one WFT needing our help:

Bess was picked up as a stray and taken to the Garland, Texas city animal shelter. She has large mammary tumors and a very bad cataract in one eye. Her other eye is cloudy also. The vet estimates her age as 10+ years. The ladies who work in the shelter took a special shine to Bess (who had no name at that point) and were determined to get help for her. Thanks to an organization called DFW Cares, Bess was picked up and taken to be boarded at Noah's Ark Vet Clinic in Carrollton Texas. Thanks to Cheryl Collins and Jeanne Rhinehart, a wonderful adopter was found who will get Bess the treatment she needs and give her a wonderful home.
We expect Bess' surgery to excise the tumors and spay her will cost approximately $700. The vet who saw her in Texas thinks her prognosis is excellent once the tumors are excised. She may need treatment for her cataracts at some point but one thing at a time!

Any contributions toward her care would be deeply appreciated. If you can help, please go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr

AGC

Bear Neccesities

It's taken me a good few days to recover from the excitement of the dog show! But now I am having a bit of an identity crisis. I think I may have some bear genetics in my heritage (but I don't want to imagine my great grandmother Wire humping a grizzly way back when...) because ever since the temperatures dropped, I have become extremely sleepy. I can't keep my eyes open after about 6pm...Mom says it is because I spend my days playing and romping with Gracie, but I have my doubts, we sleep a lot during the day too! Mom and Dad had a frank discussion about my possible slide into hibernation. Mom was rather happy at the prospect as she didn't think hibernating dogs would bark. Dad on the other hand was rather distressed - he enjoys having me, well, wired!

Dad is a strange one. He is like a bear himself - hairy and huggable. Just this morning, when the temps dropped to the low 40's, we found ourselves in bed together, snuggling beneath the blankets and snoozing our heads off.



By the way, the blog you are reading has been nominated for TWO awards. The Cool Site of the Month on www.dogmark.net; and Awesome Blog of the Month on Dogs with Blogs. If you have nothing better to do, please vote for me as Cool Site of the Month by clicking here - click on "international"and then Vote for Site of the Month. I still haven't figured out how to vote for the Awesome Blog Award - which I find embarassing for a dog of my intellect and technological capabilities. I have emailed my pal Opy for instructions and I will let you, my fans, know how to vote shortly. Congrats to my pals Bussie and Butchy & Snickers who also garnered a vote in the latter contest.

I'm feeling tired again...catch you later, after my snoozel.

AGC

The Greatest Show on Earth

Boy, I'm pooped. Today Mom, Dad and Mom's pal Lynne (who is crazy about me) shlepped me to Blue Bell for the All Terrier Show. I've never seen so many dogs in my life! It was quite the experience!

So let me tell you all about it...
The weather was glorious and hot after days of rain and cold:

We headed for Ring 15 where the Wire Fox Terriers were parading about the ring:

I have to be honest with you, when I saw all these dogs which purported to be Wires like me, I had my doubts. I don't look anything like them. I couldn't figure out why they were in the ring and I was on the sidelines. We all know, I am not only King of the Blogs, but pretty darn handsome too. Here are some of those "Wiry imposters"...



You can imagine my relief when some REAL Wires and their humans showed up! I made many new friends! This is me with Dad and Smitty (left) , who is a real handsome, and well-stripped dude. And on the right is Me again with Paddington - poor little guy has no eyes, but he's a very special fellow.



Here is Smitty again with an Airdale pup (left) and with his Mom Joanne (right).



Then this is Ricky who belongs to Leslie and Ed - he's 8 years old. And here we all are, in a tangle of leads - in the background are Lucy and Abby in Eagles gear:



And here we all are in a row with our humans - it was quite a feat to get us all to cooperate!
(L to R: WFT Abby and Mom, WFT Lucy and Mom, WFT Ricky with Dad Ed, Barb (WFT Skippy in absentia), Mom and Me, Joanne and Smitty)



Mom was very excited to meet her online Smoothy friend Claudia - who's two Smooth Foxies, Brody and Brillee were competing. Today Miss Brilee took Best of Opposite, shown exclusively by Claudia and Mr. Brody got the second AOM (Award of Merit). Kudos all round. Here are two pics of Claudia in the ring with little Brillee - who my Mom took quite a shine to!


And here is Mom with Claudia and Brillee (picture courtesy of Kathy). She is pretty darn cute (Claudia is not bad either, heh heh) - I think I quite like those smooth bitches...never really been with one, might be a nice change... Dad says it's like dating a feminist human with hairy legs vs. a bitch who shaves!



It got pretty tiring out there in the sun watching all these dogs strut around the ring... I kind of passed out for a while...I dreamt I took best in show...



The only downer of the day was running into my breeder Bob. He took one look at me and asked Mom and Dad what they'd done to make me so fat! He kept harping on how overweight I am and now I think Mom said something about a DIET!!! I am just a healthy wire - I don't want to look like those skinny model WFTs in the ring. Hasn't Bob heard that the trend is away from anorexic looking models - both human, and I have to think Wire too! Get with it man!

I loved meeting many of Mom's Wiry friends. Barb, Mom of Skippy, even brought me a Halloween gift - thank you Barb! And Lucy's Mom Kathy was very impressed with my good behaviour, and it was good to see Melissa (Mom of Mackie) and Steve again too! And we met Dot, Mom of Crystal and Glory who belongs to Pat. Pictured left is Mom, Me and Kathy. Pictured right are (back) Melissa and Dot, (front) Mom and Kathy. Check me out making myself comfy across two laps.



We were also thrilled and honored to meet Elizabeth Pierce - the very special lady who did so very much to help the abused Wire Foxes from Blainville, Montreal. Here she is with Mom and Kathy.



Well it was one fine day all in all, and especially special meeting so many fans of this blog! When I got home around 5pm (after a stop at McDonalds, where I am happy to report I got to eat fries despite the dire pronouncements on my figure), I happily hopped onto my perch and had a wrestle with dad. A perfect end to a perfect day!



AGC

Excitement in the House

Apologies for not writing for a few days. It seems whenever I slack off, Mom gets an email from grandma in South Africa asking if everything is okay! We're fine Grandma, just busy! The main excuse I have for less frequent posting is that I now spend most of my days with Gracie thanks to the generosity of Gracie's Mom who is the bestest lady in the world apart from Mom. I help keep Gracie out of trouble so her Mom can get some work done, and at the same time it distracts me from barking! So we have a good thing going...it's just not going to last long alas, 'cos Gracie's family are moving to another state...but I can't bear to even think about it!

Guess what? there is a mouse in our house! I can smell it under the skirting boards in the kitchen, but I can't find the darn thing! Whenever Mom or Dad hear the mouse, they holler for me to come and catch it, but so far I have failed. It's hurting my reputation as a terrier!

On Sunday we are all going the All Terrier Show at Montgomery. "Unentered" dogs like me are not really allowed to go, but Mom and Dad are taking me anyway because there are many wiry friends (both dog and human) who want to meet the dog behind the blog! Mom is positively beside herself with excitement and if I have to hear about the "75 Wires" who will be competing one more time, I think I may vomit. Why Mother would be interested in seeing anyone besides me, is beyond me. I may have a crooked tail, but I am more handsome than any show dog!

By the way, Smitty (a wiry pal I will be meeting on Sunday) asked me if there would be any poodles at the event - I assured him there would not, and he was much relieved. It seems well-coiffed poodles give him the willies! Which reminds me, can you believe that some man in the park had the temerity to ask Mom if I was a "long nosed poodle"! I nearly took a crap on his ankle in pure revenge, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling a bowel movement at that exact moment. Darn it.

Expect to see an extra long edition of my blog on Sunday evening full of photos from the Terrier Show - you won't want to miss it!
I'm going to rest now - Mom and Dad just returned from dinner at a steakhouse and Mom generously brought home three quarters of her steak and many fries for ME! It was rather delicious, but I do prefer McDonald's fries if you really want to know.

AGC