Appeal From Mother

I, Axel G Chocholoza, 3 years, 33lbs - am generously and without malice turning my blog over to my Mom tonight as she has a special appeal. Never mind that she is abandoning me for a week....grrrrrrrrrr.

Hi Everyone!
Dani here. Thank you Axel for allowing me a few lines on your precious blog. Now go away and stop breathing down my toes...

So, today I spontaneously decided to fly to London on Sunday as my Mom, aunt, uncle and cousins are there for a week and after seeing photos of all of them together, decided to join them! I am very excited.
My appeal tonight goes out to any wire reader living in London! Whenever I travel, I always like to visit a wire - so if any of you are out there and don't live too far from Stanmore - please email me at editordan2002 at yahoo. I always get wire withdrawl when I travel, so I would love to meet a British wire!

Thanks, and now back to Axel.

I am too pissed off that you are leaving me for a week. I have nothing to say.

AGC

Dragon Slayer Extraordinaire

Not 24 hours after my birthday, did I, Axel G Chocholoza, slay my parental birthday gift, the mighty purple dragon with scaly back and scary unfurling tail and tongue! I was very pleased with myself as you can see! Note the huge hole in the dragon's side! And also notice, that even though a toy is NOT a bone, nor messy, I know to eat/kill anything ON A TOWEL! Mom is very impressed that I figured that out myself!

The party continued today folks, with a box arriving from Switzerland! It came from one of my favorite Airedales Faya, who is very clever indeed as she blogs in both English and French! We love reading her blog because not only is it fascinating to learn about life in a neutral country, but we also learn some French! Faya sent me a wonderful postcard with her face on it, a bag of beef rawhide bones, a cute bandana with cows on it, a bouncy purple ball and this wonderful, colourful toy that has a ball on a rope that you can hide in an attached pouch! It's all terribly exciting!
[By the way, Mom insisted I photoshop her out of these photos, she was muttering something about "God I have a hideous nose!" - not wanting to hear her drone on, I just did as I was told!]

I played with the Hide-A-Ball for some time, and then insisted on a bone. I promptly ran upstairs and hid it behind Dad's pillow to retrieve later. My theory has always been that a bone that is hidden for a while always tastes far better post hiding! Sort of like a marinade! Thank you dear Faya - you are a very kind and generous friend!

Unfortunately, my wish for Mom's event did not come true. It poured and poured buckets of rain for 4 of the 5 hours of the event. Poor Mom came home looking like a very tired, irate, soggy fishfinger! She seemed to take out some of her angst on me and Dad. Geez Mom, you didn't really expect us to attend your event in the pouring rain, did you? We support you wholeheartedly but we aren't bonkers! We had a glorious day indoors, on the couch, watching TV!

AGC

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TO ME

Today, May 17th, is my third birthday! Hurrah for me, and thank you to all of you who emailed or left me messages. Thanks Faya for mailing me a gift, I love late birthday gifts, it makes the celebration last longer!

Well, I've come a long way - I sure was cute at 3 months old, the day Mom and Dad took me home. Just look at me at left - even though I've changed a lot and become a substantial chap, I think you can still see its me. My coloring was slightly different and my tail was straight...hmm, never did figure out what happened to my tail....

Anyway, I've had a fantastic birthday - been spoilt rotten. I've had three long walks - 2 with Dad, one with Mom; 2 car rides - ok, it was only to the Toyota dealer to get Dad's car inspected...but I still hung my head out the window and barked at everyone to inform them it was my birthday! I have also been showered with snacks and love and many gifts!

First up, Mom and Dad gave me a squeaky, scary looking dragon whose tongue and tail unfurl when you squeeze it; a pack of fresh beef bones (unfortunately they won't give me one today cos I've exhausted my snack quota); a pack of "decadent" Dingoes (they are new and have cheese on one end!) and a pack of not-so-decadent 100 calorie peanut butter dog snacks. They are putrid. Sorry Mom. Good try.

Then the mailman arrived and TWO packages were for me!! One was from my beloved Miss Amelia in Washington State...she sent me two stuffy/squeak toys and a bag of six big dingoes! A girl after my own heart!

The other package was from Amelia's brother, Bigfoot Fletch and his sister Maxie who live in California. They sent me a hilarious Loofa surfer toy with red hair like Mom, and a bag of these little but very yummy treats. Mom loved them (no she didn't eat them!) because they are so little and being the snack fiend that I am...she is glad to have little snacks so I don't become too substantial, if you know what I mean...

I was napping when Mom produced Fletch's gift, so forgive me for looking so blase in the first photo....

So as you can tell...SPOILT!

Around midday, Mom took me on my birthday walk to what we like to call, The Enchanted Forest. Only readers in the UK will understand the reference to Mom's favorite author as a child, the now contravercial Enid Blyton. She wrote about enchanted forests, magic wishing chairs, faeries, wolves and all sorts of stuff. Mom read all her books...

But we digress...the forest is not really a forest, it's just a lovely area of our park that is covered in trees and stuff.

I love to sniff the grass and ground in these parts ...at some point I went tearing into the undergrowth after a scent...and ended up having a good old birthday roll in something stinky. Mom just sighed and said, "Ok Axie Pax, it's your birthday, you can roll in poop if you must!" So I did, and came out stinky with a black neck. What fun!

Upon exiting the forest, I ran into a sheltie...she was sweet, but frankly at my age, I'm pretty aloof and disinterested in most dogs...I mean there are just so many butts you can sniff before it all becomes dreadfully tedious!

So as you can see everyone, splendid birthday! Thanks Mom and Dad, thanks Grandma and Grandpa in South Africa for the lovely birthday email. Seems Dad's parents forgot. Ahem!!!

As its my birthday, can I ask you to pray for two wishes please?

1. No rain on Mom's parade and festival tomorrow please! (Besides, I also plan to attend with Dad)
2. Full recovery for Auntie Lynne's cat Lucas who has heart issues and diabetes. I wrote to my pal Joe the Cat for advice as to how to make a sick cat eat...and got a heartwarming and very informative response. Read it here. Besides Blanche the Bitchy Cat next door, I really do like cats (and proud to say it in public!)

Sorry, one more...

3. No more itchies. Two plus weeks post cortisone shot and I am still feeling great, no return of the itchies, and as you can see, I am in pollen areas with lots of grass! I am sooo happy. Hope it lasts and lasts!

Love you all. Thanks for making my day and life so special!

AGC

Mother's Day Pillow Dance

Today is Mother's Day.

So in honor of my dear, wee Mom, I did a special extended Pillow Dance this morning while she was waking up. I am not quite sure she realized the dance was in honor of her being a super Mom or not - actually, she got a tad irritated. I'm not sure why, I can't think of a nicer way to wake up than with a vibrating bed and a wire fox terrier panting in your ear.

Go figure.

Hope all the Mom's are having a swell day!

AGC

PS Mom says I need to act my age now that I am almost 3. I will be three on May 17. Hint hint. All gifts in the form of edible snacks are welcome :-)

IT IS OFFICIAL: NO DOGS FOR LAPORTE!

I dedicate this blog post to the Honorable Judge Sirois who today rendered final judgement against Marc-Andre Laporte, convicted animal abuser of 97 dogs, mostly wire fox terriers.

I had wanted our friend and Laporte survivor Bingo to give us his report - but he is out celebrating and I was too impatient to share the good news!

Judge Sirois sentenced Laporte to 200 hours of community service (the maximum by law is 240), plus a fine of $2000. He will serve THREE years of probation during which he is NOT ALLOWED to own a dog. The best news is that the so-called Red Collar Dogs (the 18 wires Laporte still owned and wanted returned so he could breed them again) are safe. The Judge severed Laporte's ownership rights and said he would send him to jail if he contacted any of the foster families. To see the video in English that reports on the case's outcome - click to:
http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/video_popup?news_id=21840

There you will see my friend Bingo (I'm almost sure that is him in the black coat - also pictured top left) and I think there is a glimpse of Honeybee too. And our dear friend and savior, Elizabeth Pierce is interviewed too.

Oh Happy Happy Days my friends! Though we would have liked to see Laporte banned from dog ownership for life or sentenced to hard jail time or the electric chair - the Judge handed down the most severe sentence he was able according to the Montreal law. It is indeed more than we could have ever hoped for.

Thank you to everyone for signing the petition and supporting out cause against Laporte. It's been a 3-year struggle, but we were victorious in the end, for the just always triumph my friends, and evil gets what it deserves.

AGC

Substantial Wires Club

I am proud to announce that I have been accepted as a member of the Substantial Wires Club started by founding member Jackson from the UK. To be a member of this coveted club, you have to be over 26.5lbs. I am 32lbs and 19" tall at the shoulder. I do not believe I am overweight, I am just, well, substantial! I am proud to be a big guy, and have a heart to equal my stature!

Good news to report. My itchies have vanished! POOF! One day I was red, hot to the touch, and itching like crazy, and the next day, one shot of cortisone later, I am cured. Please God we hope it lasts as cortisone is not very good for me! I am so much happier you wouldn't believe. The weather is warm again after a few cooler days - and our street is littered with pink blossoms all over the pavement and street - it is messier than snow, but thankfully it isn't slippery. Can you see the pink carpet in the photo at right? It looks really pretty at a distance, but up close it is kind of smelly and the petals get into everything - car, house and oh yeah, paws!

The best thing about spring is the arrival of Mr. Softie The Ice Cream Man. Everytime I hear the musical van, I rush to the door and start to bark to alert dad to his arrival. Dad loves ice-cream almost as much as I do! If he is putering in his basement, he can't hear Mr Softie, so I go crazy to tell him to hurry up, grab his $1.25 and get the hell outside to buy an ice cream. Then from the moment Dad steps in the door holding his cone, I pester him until I get some. Dad, unlike Mom, is not a sucker for my cute behaviour, he ignores me and always leaves me the very last bite of his cone. I tell you, waiting for him to eat the whole thing is pure torture!! Below you can see me pestering Dad in stages - first I sit next to him and tap him with my paw. Then I jump up behind him and breathe in his ear, and finally I jump in front of him and bounce up and down until I get my way!!

A reminder that Tuesday is the final hearing in the Laporte case - let's hope the judge has done all his work and will deliver justice for the wirey survivors of Blainville House of Horrors. Another report will be in from Bingo as soon as the verdict is delivered...so watch this space...

AGC