I am the Dog of Cool

Well, it's official. I'm cool. Today my blog is featured as Cool Site of the day on http://dogmark.net/indexint.html - click on "international" and then "cool site of the day" and you'll land up on my very blog! But only today - Sept. 2. Then you can vote my blog as coolest website of the month!

Speaking of voting, Congrats to my Canadian pal Dean-O who won the Petster of the Month, after grand efforts by all the fox terrier folks around the world. Why the effort? Becos first prize was $1000 and it's all going to Fox Terrier Rescue. Bravo!

It's been raining and raining, so the only good thing to come out of it is many playdates with my girlfriend Gracie. Yesterday she came over to my place, and this afternoon I went to hers. Here we are grinning our faces off - boy do I look silly!



Mom spent most of the day in the kitchen. I thought she was making my chicken and boiling my marrow bones - but alas no. It seems she up and invited half the neighborhood to lunch tomorrow, including my nemesis Rex - I mean what is up with that Mom? I spotted big hunks of London Broil, chicken breasts that Mom spent hours making into pretty, colorful kebabs, and lots of salad stuff. I can't go near Mom 'cos she honks of garlic - she made garlic bread and garlic-vinagrette marinade for the beef. And then on the table I spotted this delicious smelling cake - Mom told me it's a Blitz Torte (Grandma in South Africa's speciality) and not to "Dare put your long snoot near it!" Oh but it smells so yummy - it is two layers and has meringue on the top! And tomorrow she's going to sandwich it together with whipped cream!


I think I'll have to sneak downstairs when they are both asleep and have a piece....

Finally, kudos to Minnie, Sharon Osbourne's Pomeranian who had the good judgement to bite Patrick Swayze when he appeared as a guest on Sharon's talk show. Don't get me wrong, I'm not promoting dog biting - I just get a kind of thrill when it's directed at a celebrity has-been like Swayze. I saw him in that Dirty Dancing flick - and frankly, his gyrating grossed me out!

And one last thing, there was a very good new development in New York this week. A judge issued a restraining order on behalf of a dog " using a new state law that offers protection to pets." A 20-year-old man was ordered to stay at least 90 metres away from the five-year-old bichon frise, Bebe, after he was arrested and charged with injury to an animal for allegedly hitting the pup.
Of course if I was the judge, I would have strung up the 20-year-old man and gotten Minnie and all her mates to bit him repeatedly in the groin. But of course, I, Axel G Chocholoza, am way ahead of the times...

AGC

A Tower of Dog Poop

Thanks to my alert friend BigFoot Fletch for bringing this stinky story to my attention.
It seems that those crazy Hollywood types, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have risen to new hights of celebrity ridiculousness. They had a pup a while ago named Suri (well they purported to have one - noone's seen the baby girl) and it seems they came to the brilliant idea of introducing her to the world via "a bronze cast depicting her first solid stool." I looked up stool in the dictionary - and that my friends means - they have turned her POOP into a sculpture.

"The scatological sculpture -- more doodoo than Dada -- is purportedly cast from 19-week old Suri's first bowel movement and will be shown at the Capla Kesting gallery in Brooklyn, New York, before being auctioned off on Ebay for the March of Dimes."



Well, even I, Axel G Chocholoza, master blogger and dog of many words, cannot think of anything appropriate to say about this story.

Give me a minute.

Ok. I"m now ready to comment. I find Suri's poop extremely boring-looking. My poops are far more interesting and colorful, just yesterday I pooped out a log replete with red and blue balloons I had snacked on in the park!

If poop can be art, then I call on all us dogs to unite, gather and poop together in one spot. Can you imagine, we could build a 100 storey sculpture of poop, and then invite some fancy artist to cast the whole thing in bronze. It could be placed alongside the Statue of Liberty which welcomes all human visitors to the United States. Our Dog Poop Sculpure could be the welcoming symbol to dogs the world over. I think it's an awesome idea! The Statue of Liberty and the Tower of Dog Poop - welcoming symbols to all! Just remember, you heard it first here!

In other news...I got an email from Mango and Party to tell me they had nominated my blog as Cool Blog of the Day on Dogmark.net, and they were successful! My blog will be featured as Cool Blog of the Day on Saturday, September 2! Of course I am doing a jig as this is the first award I've received, and frankly, it's about frigging time! Thanks to my Singaporean pals for their efforts! You guys rock!

Wishing all my American friends a great long Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately the weather sucks thanks to that selfish cretin Ernesto!

AGC

Blissful Days

What a fun day I had today! This morning when Dad and I were returning from our walk, we ran into Gracie and Kila and their tired Mom Diane. I didn't feel like going home to be alone all day, so Diane said I could come and play! I was so happy I did a jig. I love Gracie and I love Gracie's house. I try get in there whenever I can! So we played and wrestled and napped a bit and Diane only dragged me home at lunchtime.

When Mom came home today I could tell she'd been shopping at the supermarket. I could tell the bags she was carrying were full of snacks for me! Mom sure does love me. Five minutes after Dad helped unload the car, chicken thighs and beef marrow bones were boiling on the stove, and I just knew it was all for ME!! And I was right! I had yummy chicken for dinner (though mixed with canned carrots that I didn't love) followed by a marrow bone. YUMMY!!



After dinner we hung out with Gracie and Kila again, AND with Elvis, Gia, Sophie and their humans on Gracie's front porch. It's always a fun time. Gracie and I wrestled and then Sophie's Dad Vince brought us all chewies!

Why can't every day be like this one? Ahhh!

AGC

Of Poses, Peppers and Purses

I was pretty mad at Mom for posting that ridiculous picture of my face close up. I look like a silly dog. So this morning, I dragged Mom out to our tiny backyard, and made her take some new, and more flattering photos of me. So I present to you, Axel G Chocholoza, handsome male wire fox terrier, in three poses:

Even if I say so myself, I think I look quite divine in that photo. I think it would be perfect for an oil painting or a quilt. Mom has a pal who makes beautiful quilt paintings of animals...I'd like to be immortalized like that! Ok,Ok, here are the other two shots:

I bet you think our backyard looks like a jungle! But if you look a little closer, you will see wonderful food growing there. Unfortunately, it is not the type of food I care for, I wish Milkbones or Dingos grew on trees! But we have green peppers (which Mom planted and boy is she proud of them, she checks them out every day and says she'd like to mail one to her Dad in South Africa 'cos he LOVES green peppers. Mom bought them at a Church fundraiser down the road and didn't think for a minute peppers would ever grow!) and grapes (the vine actually belongs to my nemisis Rex, but lucky for us they grow over our side of the wall too).

Today I went with Mom and Dad to the old folks home to visit Dad's grandpa. Those wheelchairs freak me out a bit, so I had a bit of a barkfest at first. The old people all love me. One old geezer asked Mom what kind of dog I am. So Mom said, loudly, "He's a wire fox terrier!" So the guy said, "Oh, I lived in Hawaii once, but I never saw one of these Hawaii fox terriers there!" I thought I saw Mom bite her tongue in an effort not to laugh... The highlight of my visit was eating a whole scoop of vanilla ice-cream! Yum!

Finally, I saw this story online, and frankly it pissed me off!
"Imported from the United States, these colourful and stylish "doggie bags" enable devoted dog owners to carry their puppies and little pooches wherever they go. " says the article.

I mean just look at that poor animal - does he look comfortable hanging from his Mom's waist like a cellphone? He looks like he's yelling, "Get me outta this darn thing!"
Imagine bopping up and down while suspended like that? I really hope that pup vomits down his Mom's shorts into her ass crack! That woman should be cited for cruelty to animals!

Thankfully, these are aimed at dogs who are under 12 lbs so don't expect to see any Wires or Smooths in this $100 contraption. Not that fox terrier owners would ever contemplate doing that to their furkids. Fox terrier owners are the smartest people about, trust me. Me thinks we ought to start a grassroots movement to stop companies from turning their pets into fashion statements. A "PuppyPurse" - Geez, what is this world coming to?

AGC

HELLO? ANYONE OUT THERE??

AGC

PS: Photo Credit: Elvis's Mom Priscilla

Pee on a Plane? (With Apologies to Snakes on a Plane)

I was thinking today what a relief it is to not have to have CNN on all day blaring about war and death in the Middle East. I think the humans finally stopped fighting, so CNN moved onto the next story.

Last night however Mom was flipping channels and landed on CNN just in time to see this creepy looking man drinking champagne and eating fried shrimp while on a fancy plane from Thailand to America. I thought Mom was having a seizure because suddenly she started gesturing wildly at the TV and making strange gutteral noises...she muttered something about "Peedophiles" and "throw them to the sharks"...Frankly I didn't know what was going on. I think the man on the plane was the Peedophile and Mom was upset at his royal treatment.

I can see Mom's point. I enjoy peeing too, but when I do it inside I get chastised -I don't get offered treats! And here is this man Karr, a self confessed peedophile, who probably peed all over the plane, and he gets rewarded for it! What am I missing here? I don't think I got the whole story.

Sometimes it is so hard to be a dog.

AGC

Just Call Me Britney!

Oops I did it again. I peed. This time on the carpet upstairs before Mom and Dad got up this morning. Dad stepped in it on his way to do his morning ablutions. I won't tell you what he said...it wasn't becoming.

I blame the shot the vet gave me - it has cortisone in it and I just can't seem to hold my pee pee as long as before. But I'm sure it will wear off...

Anyway, today Mom and I went back to the Art Museum fountain to hang out and swim. I was the only dog in the fountain amongst many little kids who all insisted on petting me. I didn't mind, I'm a nice guy.

Here I am in the water:


And here I am after my swim. Boy do my legs look SKINNY!


Later we hung out with the neighbors - human (Di, Bill, George, Nico, Vince and even my nemesis Rex!) and canine (Grace, Kila, Faith, Sophie...) but then Mom shlepped me inside because she had to make dinner (yum, London broil!) so I had watch my friends from my window perch. Mom says she likes this picture but it shows how much my window needs a cleaning. Get to it Mother!



I think we're going to watch the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm tonight - I like doing a jig to the opening music tune..."doo doo doo, dee-dle-dee dee, deedle de dee, deedle-dee....." and the bald man makes me laugh.

Tomorrow I'm getting stripped! Oh boy.

AGC

Speaking of confessions...

I peed on the couch today!

Heh heh heh

Now I only have half a couch to bounce up and down on as Mom removed the sodden cushion and soaked it in the Miracle stuff. They are not very happy with me. For half the evening they've been trying to work out when and why I did the deed.

I'm keeping my snout shut. I don't want to ruin their fun.
I think I'll go raid Dad's cooler now (he takes it to work every day filled with iced bottles of water), steal a bottle of water, take a swig of the icy coolness and eat the bottle...



AGC

PS George Won the Contest!

Confessions of a Wiry Character

I found messages from my friends Mackie and Fever telling me I've been tagged! I thought maybe it was some new form of long distance online microchipping...but it seems it's some new fun game!

So when someone tags you, you have make embarrassing confessions and tell everyone five weird things you've done/five weird habits of yours. Only five?

So here are my confessions:

1. My bones always taste more delicious if I can eat them sitting on Mom's lap, preferably while she is dressed in clean trousers...so that's how I like to eat them. If she is lying in bed, I also like to drop the bone on her head to get her attention, or if I'm not ready to eat said bone, I will bury it in her back while she sleeps or under Dad's pillow (while he is trying to sleep on it).

2. When I eat my dinner, I walk in circles around my bowl. I take one mouthful, then walk in a circle chewing it, and then go back to my bowl. I think it I may have the beginnings of obsessive compulsive disorder

3. I love to bark. I bark therefore I am. I bark at sounds, I bark at silence. I love the sound of my own voice. As a result, my parents put on my bark collar way too often, sometimes most of the day and night. But that doesn't always stop me. I bark once, get shocked and then run to Mom for cuddles and comfort, and then invariably, she takes off the collar cos she feels so bad for me!

4. When Mom gives me Milkbones in the park, I don't like to eat in front of the other dogs, so I usually bury it in the grass. Mom says it's a very silly thing to do, to bury a bone in a dog park surrounded by hungry dogs with good sniffers! 99% of the time when I go to get my treat it is long gone! I don't understand it...

5. When I go to Gracie to play or she comes to me, I like standing on the couch and dive bombing her! Boy it's fun and it makes up for our size difference!

Boy, that was quite fun, eventhough you now know my secrets!

AGC

PS Happy to report that Tilly is starting to recover and will be going home on Thursday!

PPS George is so close to victory he can smell it. The contest closes tomorrow, so please be sure to VOTE two more times so that we can secure a VICTORY!

Of Parties and Playdates

Today is my Daddy's birthday! He is almost 6 in dog years but he looks like a spring chicken (pre-plucking). Don't tell anyone, but some mornings when the three of us are sleeping in bed, Mom reaches over to pat ME and sometimes, none the wiser, she ends up patting Dad's leg or arm! Dad is very hairy you see, and Mom can't tell us a part! Heh heh. I think Dad likes being stroked, so he never tells her either!

Tonight Mom and Dad tried out a swanky new Japanese restaurant (yeah, left me at home with the bark collar on) called Goji. They told me it was delish, and ever the thoughtful parents, brought home a doggy bag of grilled salmon leftovers for ME. I never ate salmon before, and I scoffed it all down. I know Singapore isn't Japan, but it made me wonder if my wiry Asian pals Mango, Party and Fever get to eat this sort of fare often?

Last night was Dad's family birthday party and he insisted on bringing me along (Dad takes me everywhere he can, and I love him for that!). I had a great time chasing the wild rabbits and squirrels, eating table scraps and birthday cake, and chasing the little kids (who I might add, all adore me).

Oh, I forgot to tell you what I gave Dad for his birthday present - a framed collage of photos of me and him from when I was a wee chap to now. He loved it! I'll have to take a photo of it and post it here next time. This morning Dad and I along with Elvis and Gia the pitbulls and their Mom, went to this cute area of the park I'd never been too - and it had a pond and creek! So Elvis and I splashed right in and swam and swam! Later we took Mom there too and she loved watching me swim around!

Oh, and yesterday, Mom went and got Gracie and brought her over to my house to play! I nearly had a kanipshe (Jewish heartattack) as I was so excited. You know Gracie is my best pal in the world! So here are the photos of us having a wild old time wrestling and looking for treats in the sofa. Mom promised Gracie could come over again as we played so well and didn't cause any mayhem!

On Monday it's back to the vet again for some routine shots (yuck) and to check my itchies. I think I may need more pills cos my paws are still itching something fierce.

Please join me all in saying a special prayer for my special wiry lass in England, Tilly, who has suddenly become quite ill and is recovering at a hospital in Bristol. Tilly if you recall is quite the rat hunter. Get better soon sweetie!

Well, I think I'm going to go put my head down and chill out. I found the perfect pillow to rest my weary head on - my fave stuffed animal - Leo the Lion. G'nite everyone.



AGC

Wonderful Wiry Families

I won't lie. I like being an only child. I wouldn't like to share my toys and bones with a sibling 24/7. But I would like to have a playmate for the long hours that I am alone during the day when Mom and Dad are at work. Someone fun like Gracie! So this got me thinking, are there many multiple wire families out there? We all start off as part of a wiry family, but invariably when we are about 12 weeks old we join our new forever families. But some wires are really lucky, they get to live with other Wires their whole lives and sometimes even other dogs too!

Meet proud parents Daphne and Ares - they just gave birth to a litter of 5 pups - 4 bitches and a dog. They live in Fredericksburg, Virginia with their Mom Kellie, and another wiry bitch Phoebe (Daphne's sister) and an Airdale Zeuss! How lucky can you get? When I saw these beautiful photos of the little wire family, I felt a sudden longing for my own wiry parents Daddy Walter and Mommy Pompi, and siblings...



Scarlet the Wire also recently had a litter of little Wires in Winnipeg, Canada. Just look at these paragons of Wiry Magnificence!



Then far away in Singapore, live another family - Party and Mango (parents) and daughter Fever. They don't actually live together full time, but they see each other very often! All three wires are a hoot and love to dress up and model different outlandish costumes. Pictured below are (left) Fever, Party and Mango.



Then in Washington State live Mom and daughter Alexandra and Miss Amelia. Like many mothers and daughters, they don't get on too well and have to be separated 24/7 - a lot of work for their poor human Dad. In Southern Arizona live Ciara and Simon (below) and somewhere out there, I"m not sure where - live a heap of Wires who like sleeping on the couch!



And then there is the BIG Terrier Family known as the Terrierfirma Trio. That's Libby Longtail, Bamboozle, and Airedale Linus. They also had a Scottie sister, Matilda, but she crossed the Bridge recently. Their Mom Jill writes, "They are a fun trio, and always make us humans smile - except when Bamboozle poops on the floor! (To which he retorts: "Hey! I'm 15 1/2, for pete's sake! My control ain't what it used to be!")

If there are any other multi-wire families, drop me a line and send me a photo! You can never have too many Wires in my unbiased opinion....We bring joy. We bring laughter. We bring mischief. In short, we are quite SPECIAL.

AGC

PS Thanks to everyone for voting for my pal George, he has swept ahead of Biscuit in the contest now thanks to all your votes. But hey, don't stop now - you gotta vote every day for another week!!!

Why Can't Humans Get Along?

I am feeling sad today. I am tired of the way humans treat each other. We dogs may have the occasional fight - but we don't wage wars or seek to destroy eachother. My heart goes out to Duke (pictured below) tonite. Duke lives on a kibbutz in Northern Israel. Today his human Dad David heard the bomb siren wail and instead of running to the bomb shelter, he hopped on his bike to go and fetch Duke so that he too could be safe with his master in the shelter. On the way, a rocket fell out of the sky on to David and he was killed. Now Duke is an orphan again - David had found and rescued him on the kibbutz. Duke stood in silence next to his dad's body until friends dragged him away. I know you will all join me in sending our condolences to Duke and David's human family.



I also want to send best wishes to my pal Terence who had to have surgery yesterday due to a sudden diagnosis of glaucoma. Poor little guy had to have his one eye removed, so now he'll be a dashing pirate dog! Get well soon buddy, we're all pulling for you!

Do me a favor, click here and cast your vote for my pal George who is entered into a photo contest. George is a little behind - so don't delay! I'm not sure if we can vote multiple times, but I'm sure as heck going to try!!

I have to tell you, yesterday evening I had a rollicking good time with my bestest chick Gracie. Despite the 100F heat, our Moms took us to the fountain by the Art Museum. There we met up with many of our other friends, also out to cool off in the water. I swam and swam, Gracie tried to catch me and often did, dragging me out by my collar and dunking me under the water. We played fetch, chase and wet the Moms! It was good clean fun until Gracie pissed in the water! Heh Heh - I like my gals uncouth and uninhibited, but I was a tad grossed out!

Here is a picture of the fountain I found online - but that odd looking lady wasn't in the fountain when I was there yesterday! She would have freaked us out for sure! You see the perimeter around the fountain, I love running around up there and barking at everyone!



It's time to go chow, so until later,

Bye,

AGC

Itchies Progress Report and Utter Verklemptness

Well you'll all be happy to hear that Gracie and I buried the hatchet on Friday (not literally as neither of us could find one to bury) when we met up in the park after a torrential downpour. She did some grovelling, so I forgave her and now we are bestest pals again. Man did we have fun! Noone was around, so we took over the kid's playground and ran up and down the equipment. There are two small slides, a big one and a spiral one. Gracie and I were having such a blast, Gracie got confused and instead of running down the big slide, she went bounding down the spiral one! Boy that was scary - she sort of fell on her head. But it didn't phase her and back we went, both going down the big slide one after the other so that I landed on Gracie when I hit the bottom. We got awfully hot, so we both ran into a big puddle, sat down, wrestled and got full of mud. Ah, what a grand day!

But later my Mom got very upset when she turned on that damn CNN again. This time it wasn't something far away in the Middle East that made her heart lurch, it was a story about a shooting at a Jewish Federation building in Seattle, WA. Some man angry at the Middle East situation decided to take out his feelings with a gun on 5 innocent women who worked there. One was killed and four were badly injured. Mom also works for a Jewish Federation, so this story upset her greatly - she told Dad it could happen at any Jewish institution...I think I better start going with Mom to work - I would be able to sniff a deranged lunatic a mile away.

I've received so many kind emails asking about my itchies and offering all sorts of advice, so I wanted to post some new pics so you can see there is some improvement - granted my front paws aren't completely A-OK, but they are a lot less itchy:

Mom thinks the medicine did the trick. Boy those pills make me sleepy and ravenous...I've been eating like a horse and sleeping like a ........dog! Heh heh. Here I am dozing on my perch:

I have new friends to introduce to you. Meet Sammy, he lives in Blacklick, Ohio with his Mom Jean. Good to meet you Sam my boy! You sure look fluffy dude, and clean! Are you sure you're a wiry guy? Seriously, note everyone the very unusual situation evident in that photo - NO couch cover, Sammy is standing on the actual couch material. WOW!! A wire usually looks more like my bud Cody, pictured right! Heh Heh, Cody digs playing with the hose!



And then there is Daisy, what a sweet little bitch, and Mom of the very famous Canadian Colby featured often on my blog. Daisy has a very high pedigree, and lives with her mom Alexis, I forget where...maybe Canada? Daisy's best pal is Hamish the Sheltie, though she won't tell me if there is a romantic involvement there...



Finally, meet Buster - a fellow wire and a fellow blogger. Check out his blog called very humorously, The Wire Fox Terrorist. He's a funny chap, he is an expert in grilling and seems to enjoy doing beach jigs by the look of his funny photo below. His blog comes with this warning: "Do not be alarmed, I am a wire fox terrier and cannot help myself."



And now for an amazing story...animal related of course...it almost moved me to tears. Happy tears.
In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs but sadly they died shortly after birth. The mommy tiger started to decline in health due to depression, and the vets decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. But there were no tiger cubs to be found anywhere so they decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans that could be found quickly, were a litter of weaner pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. They wondered, would they become cubs or pork chops?

You be the judge. (Warning, the following images may result in strong reactions of verklemptness...)



Ahhhhhhh.

AGC

Gracie's Big Secret

So there I was, surfing the web merrily while Mom and Dad were at work, when I went back to Dogs with Blogs to see if any more Wires had joined (most of my pals have!). And lo and behold, I see listed "Amazing Grace - Anatolian Shephard - Pennsylvania, USA".

Well, I almost fell out of my chair.

Surely, thought I, there cannot be two Anatolians named Grace in PA! So I clicked on the link, and sure enough, there she was - my first love, my neighborhood squeeze Gracie with her very own blog!

Friends, I was shattered. How could the love of my life keep this secret from me? Was she afraid I might think her a copycat (copydog?). Did she intend to bitch about me and thus wish to keep the blog from me? Or, most likely, did she not want to openly compete with my blogging prowess. As we all know, I am king of the dogblogosphere...

I didn't see Gracie today, but when I see her, I may play up my dejection or just openly confront her. Either way it is likely to end up with some passionate make up wrestling.

Deep down I am very pleased Gracie has taken to the blogosphere, now I can read her inner thoughts and she won't be able to be mysterious. I just wish she'd told me damn it.
We've been friends forever - this is a pic of Gracie and Me (with Ohren) when she was smaller than I was:



And now look at her - she is at least double my weight and still growing, growing, growing - but then I like my bitches BIG:



Gracie, if you grovel a bit, I'll find it in my heart to forgive your "deception"...I love you too much to hold even the tiniest grudge.

Yours,
AGC

No respite in sight...

Friends, I am falling apart. First the terrible itchies and now I've been invaded by the big green blob! Yesterday my eye was full of green yucky stuff and this morning, I woke up with more of it and my eye was all crusty. Mom very gently wiped the crusties and took away the green stuff with warm water and cotton wool. But my eye is itchy, my body is itchy and I'm going beserk. The only thing that takes my mind off my troubles are the following:

1. Dingo chews
2. Marrow bones
3. Milk bones or riblet treats
4. My best friend Gracie, the Anatolian Shephard
5. Being around my other canine pals

The problem is I'm home most of the day alone without distractions - I mean Mom and Dad leave me items 1-3, but I only like to eat those sitting on Mom's lap or when they are home with me. So I'm left to deal with the itchies and I can't even bark just for some release, because of Rex the horrid neighbor who coerced Mom and Dad into using a bark collar. They used to slack off and forget about it but Rex wrote to the city to complain, and since then the parents are fanatical about keeping me from barking lest I upset the dear sensitive Rex. I'm a dog god damn it, why can't I bark?

Anyway, I need to stop bitching, it's not becoming of a virile (albeit temporarily unattractive) wiry male. Let's rather talk about bitches rather than bitching! I got an email from a wiry bitch named Ciara - she lives with her family and canine bro Simon in the Mojave desert in southern Nevada. She is almost 2 and boy is she sweet! When I saw the pic she sent I laughed out loud because I just love her expression. I amused myself thinking of what she could be thinking in this pic:

-- I am the beautiful Ciara - don't mess with me Dog!
-- Where is my chicken wing damn it? (Her Dad told me she loves chicken wings above all else)
-- I have you all figured out, don't you doubt it...

She is very talented is Miss Ciara. Her dad Tom says, "She spends her days diving in dad’s spa where she dives for her toys. She can get down about 2 feet max so far, but I’ll not be surprised if she goes deeper. The bottom is just over 3 feet and she can see the toys at that depth." I dive in my doggie pool too Ciara, but when the water comes up to my ankles, I can't say it's very difficult to retrieve my toys! Heh heh.

Shout out to my friend in Troy, NY - Pippin - the poor thing is suffering from the stinkies...or should I say her family is suffering from having to deal with her smelly farts. I am very refined, I don't fart, at least not if I can help it. Pip, I hope the vet puts you right tomorrow - it can't be fun having runny poops and stinkies. I just hope the vet doesn't prescribe a gas mask. Mine prescribed a lampshade - so a gas mask is not that far fetched. These vets can be very creative!

I leave you with this image my friends sent in by Pam -- I believe it gives a whole new meaning to Fox TV:



AGC

A Yummy Diversion

As you all know, I haven't been myself lately. I have some horrible allergies that make me chew and bite myself. I'm on meds now - Hydroxyzine and some lotion, but I'm not sure I am feeling that much better. I laugh in agony to think of my blog entry just a few weeks ago calling myself Mr Handsome. Look at me now, I look hideous!



Mom is trying everything to stop me from chewing myself, so today while she worked on her computer and Dad was out working, she gave me this big yummy bone to chew on. It certainly tastes a lot better than my own leg, and I forgot my itchies for a long while. Mom looked pleased with herself:

My pal Gus in Sante Fe is also into chewing himself - but luckily he doesn't have allergies - he injured his paw. The vet put a PINK bandage on it and though Gus tried his hardest to fight the vet (how can a virile young WFT suffer the indignity of a PINK bandage!), he is now forced to wear it. Poor Gus. I'm just waiting in dread for Mom to pick up on the idea and bandage my red and itchy legs. I swear I will go mad!

While surfing the net today I came across a neat site called Dogs with Blogs. I actually think it was Gus who told me to visit the site and make sure to put my blog on their list. I never dreamed there were so many dog bloggers out there -- it made me feel a little less special - especially to read how some of these canine bloggers have won awards and been noticed by important people. I also want to get noticed. NOTICE ME DAMN IT. Anyway, Gus and I are the only two Wires on the long list of dog bloggers - even if we are at the very end of the list. We encourage the other wiry bloggers out there to add your blogs so we can show that wires are at the forefront of the dogblogosphere!

Good news! I have managed to draw Mom away from watching the war in the Middle East on CNN by finding her delightful wire fox videos online to watch instead!
Friends, if you too are having issues with blaring TV's showing horrid images of misery and destruction - grab your human by the pants leg and get them to their computers!
Check out Nina WFT enjoying her Chicken Game; My Fox Terrier; Mago&Andrea Bocelli (a must see, a cultured Wire!); Homenaje a Pepe (bit long and what is he doing in black undies?) and Maggie can Swim (surprise surprise, what WFT can't?).
I too want to be a video star - I"m going to start working on the parents!

AGC

Linus the Coon Killer

Remember a little while ago I related that my poor friend Jenny the Wire was bitten by an evil raccoon and as a result became paralysed for a few weeks from what is known as Coonhound Paralysis. At the time, I offered a $1 million and a year supply of treats to anyone who could catch that horrid creature! Alas noone claimed the reward. But this week, I heard via the terrier grapevine that one 87 pound Airdale named Linus (right) had caught and killed a coon in his own backyard! Now, unless Linus can prove that this was the same coon who bit Jenny (Good luck old Linus - I believe you live in different states!), I'm afraid he cannot claim the reward, but none the less, I want to offer him hearty congratulations on his amazing hunting feat! Pictured right is Linus with the dead raccoon in his mouth - well a not-so-good artist's impression of a dead coon in his mouth - I'm a blogger, I get a bit of artistic expresssion leeway here!

I bet you are all wondering what happened at the vet yesterday. I ended up going only with Dad 'cos Mom was running late at work. I always enjoy a visit to the vet as it's a good place to meet other dogs and chase a few cats. The vet lady was very nice - she prescribed stronger pills for me and some sort of conditioning lotion which I haven't tried yet becos Mom and Dad need to wear gloves to apply it and they haven't gotten any yet. Explain to me how it's okay to put something on my coat that isn't good to put on human hands. If I lick it it can't be very good for me - indeed the vet said it might make me sick. So we're all a bit confused really. But I hope the pills at least make me feel human again. If you know what I'm saying.

I want to bring an important event to the attention of all friends within driving distance to Lancaster, Pa. This October 14th Angelhalls.org are teaming with "United Against Puppy Mills", to raise awareness of the deplorable conditions puppy mills generate. The event is to be held in Lancaster Central Park, in Lancaster Pennsylvania from 10am-3pm. Go to www.angelhalls.org, Scroll down to United Against Puppy Mills click, open the file and print copies of the flyer and post anywhere dog lovers congregate. Wholesale puppy brokeraging is a National tragedy, Lancaster County PA, has the highest concentration of Puppy Mills in the US. Help us bring awareness to this disgrace. What is hidden should be seen. Post the flyers, send a delegation to the event. I am going to convince Mom and Dad to go - and maybe we can meet up with Sydney, a resident of Lancaster, and Lucy, Skippy and others...

My fellow blogger Snickers turned 4 today, so I wanted to wish her a very happy birthday. The lucky bitch had a party with a special birthday cake and her friends came to visit. Not even my Mom had that much attention on her birthday this week.



It's cooled down a bit today so I'm really looking forward to a long walk and play session with my pals in the park when Mom gets home.

AGC

Get Lucky Today!

Urgh, I'm going to the vet this evening. Mom and Dad are going nuts watching me chew myself senseless. Everytime I try to bite myself or scratch, they try to pry my head or leg away, and it's very frustrating. They keep threatening to put that lampshade thing on me, but it makes me so unhappy they capitulate. As Mom said, imagine if we had big mosquito bites and couldn't scratch, we'd also go barmy.

I look pretty awful, I have red splotches everywhere, my paws are red. Man, I'm miserable. I hope the vet can help me tonight. Dad highly respects this man as he looked after all Dad's pets when he was a young boy. Mom just thinks it's a terrible shlep - it takes about an hour to get there...but as long as he helps me Mom won't mind.

Anyway, it takes my mind off my itchies to talk about something else. I want to introduce you to Lucky a 5 1/2 year old male wire who lost his home because his Mom lost her job and had to move. He is completely house trained, has all of his shots, is on heart worm preventative. He is very sweet and loves to go for walks and plays well with another dog. He will lay at your feet or sleep with you on the sofa. He should not go to a home with another male says his guardian. That's too bad because I was going to ask Mom and Dad if Lucky could come and live with us!

If you can offer Lucky a forever home - please contact Nancy at wyrelee1@hcnews.com

Not much else to report. The heat is god awful, so I haven't been out much, and when we do go out usually later than usual in the evening, I come home and lie on the cold floor and pant for an hour (in between scratches of course). Wouldn't it be grand if some of that white cool stuff would fall from the ground? I liked playing in the snow!

AGC

My Mom is a Young Bitch

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I heard it is not polite to reveal how old a woman is...so I'll just say she's a tad over 5 doggie years! Mom says that sounds much better than putting it in human terms.

I bought Mom a card which Dad signed on my behalf 'cos I'm not so good with a pen. I was hoping for some birthday cake, but Dad seemingly forgot to make one! Shame on him!

It is 101F today so Dad and Mom refuse to take me to the dog park. What a bunch of wussies! I'm going to go stand at the door and look miserable. Maybe they'll get the hint.

AGC

I Wish I Had Earplugs

I need some peace and quiet. Mom has had the television on all weekend, stuck on CNN. She seems quite upset when she watches the idiot box, yet she doesn't take the logical step and switch it off! It seems there is big trouble going on in a place called the Middle East. Mom used to live in Israel and has lots of family and friends there, so she is worried about what CNN calle a "crisis" but what Mom and Dad say are a WAR!

I of course wonder about what happens to the dogs when their owners are forced to flee their homes or hunker down in bomb shelters. I hope unlike most places, dogs are welcome at these shelters. I'm sure bombs are a lot louder than fireworks, so I really feel for my fellow canines in the war zones.

Back in my comfy little world, I wanted to update you on my itching situation. I'm afraid it is not much improved despite a visit to the vet, a cortisone shot and twice daily Benadryl capsules (adult dose). I also got bathed in anti itching shampoo yesterday which smelled just a little better than that Murphy's oil stuff. But none of this is helping me so much, I still itch too often and it's driving me nuts. Dad is going to take me to another vet this week. I hope he can help me.

Boy is it HOT. I love my walks, but walking in what feels like a hot cup of soup, is not such fun. Mom woke up at 7am this morning (very uncharacteristically!) and we went out while it was still dewy and cool. I also enjoyed the benefits of the park smorgusbord thanks to the increase of picnickers who come out when the weather is hot. Mom made the mistake (lucky me) of letting my off lead, so I could run and skip from one meal to the next till my luck ran out and Mom decided enough was enough.

Anyway, I think I'm going to head to the basement - at least it is cool down there and I won't be able to hear the war stuff on tv. And I can scratch and bite myself without Mom and Dad looking at me in dismay.

AGC