Thursday, March 29, 2007

Mr. Hospitality - that's MOI!

I sure am a happy chap! And I have a lot to be happy about. My parents dote on me, I have some brilliant dog pals, I get two walks/play sessions a day with my parents outdoors and one with my beloved dogwalker every day. I have a box of toys, eat delish Natural Balance food (well since that horrid recall) and I get treats - well not that often anymore, since I am a bit gezunt (as my Yiddishe grandma - if I had one - would tell me - it means healthily overweight I believe - maybe I should ask Koobuss Shiksa Petrowsky as her middle name is Yiddish. By the way, I helped her create her own blog - click on her name to visit).

Do I not look radiantly happy? Yes, I know, I may also need a haircut!



Tonite Mom's friend Lynne popped over with her friend and her friends pup. A 3 month old spaniel named Toby. Being the friendliest dude on the face of the earth, I welcomed the new visitor:



Some of my four-legged pals might just remark, that I am a bit too welcoming! Toby ran straight to my dinner bowl - I had eaten some but not all of my dinner - and helped herself. Generous boy that I am, I just stood by and let him... he ate it all up...hmm, I might regret this later - but like my great ancestor Abraham - I believe in being hospitable!



After he finished my food, all I could do was smile - little Toby looked very happy and satisfied. That made me pleased:



So as I was saying, yeah, I think it's time for a haircut. Spring is here and it's time to get this thick, curly, partly-matted in some areas coat - off! Did I tell you that Dad also grew more hair over the winter -- Mom calls it a goatee - can't say I've ever met a goat...so I can't comment on this new phenomenon. Mom loves it. Dad finds it rather itchy - but he tolerates it to make Mom happy. See, me and Dad are so alike - we aim to please!




Yesterday was my first love Miss Amelia's 9th birthday - so happy birthday darling! Many happy returns of the day! And shout out to Miss Amelia's bro BigFoot Fletch who also shares this special day. Here is Miss Amelia looking most ravishing with her birthday toy:



And good, rather bizarro news -- remember my former toy Mr Balloon man that I ripped to shreds? He is resurrected! Mom came home a few days ago and while she wasn't looking, Mr. Balloon man jumped out and hid in my toy box. I was shocked to find him there - completely whole again, with squeaker in tact. It's a miracle!!! I plan to kill him again though...he's a very obnoxious cretin! Below is proof that he LIVES!



AGC

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

My Mommy went to New York for some conference and I miss her!!!!

AGC

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Is my food making me sick? Let's ask Trader Joes!

UPDATE - 3/21
Mom just called Trader Joes and now understands what is going on. It seems the ingredient in Menu Food pet food that caused the recall is NOT present in the food the company makes for Trader Joes. But to be extra careful, TJ's has still removed the food from their shelves and told Mom not to feed me TJ's food until they have fully tested the food. They will post updates on their website. Phew, that's quite a relief. Until further notice, no more lamb and rice for me. Tonite I get real chicken! yay!

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I'm sure you all heard about the pet food recall issued by Menu Foods who manufacture most of the dog and cat food in the northern hemisphere. Mom got a fright when she saw the news as she started wondering whether my dog food had made me so sick last week, plus I'm still vomiting now and again...

Mom feeds me Trader Joes canned lamb and rice. Mom looked on the can and just saw that it was manufactured by "Trader Joes". That wasn't enough for my Mom, she called her store and asked who really manufactures their food. Their guy Jacob told Mom it was a secret that he couldn't divulge but assured her their food was not involved in the recall as far as he knew. Mom emailed the main email on their website and on Monday got this reply:
"Please be assured that none of Trader Joe's Pet Foods or Pet Treats are involved in the Menu Food recall."

Mom emailed other foxie friends and they urged her to still find out who makes the food! So Mom used an alternate email and name, and emailed them again.
And would you believe, tonite she got another response - a response that MAKES NO SENSE, even to me, a lowly semi-literate dog. A response that made my Mom sick inside:

"Thank you for contacting us with your concerns regarding Trader Joe’s dog food. According to the FDA, Trader Joe’s pet food products are NOT the same pet foods that are currently being recalled by Menu Foods. However, since safety is of the utmost importance to us, as an extra precaution we have voluntarily pulled all canned pet food items manufactured by Menu Foods from our shelves until we can test the products and be 100 percent sure they are safe for your pets. The products voluntarily pulled are: Dog Food Chunky Chicken 22 oz., Dog Food Lamb & Rice 22 oz., Cat Food Turkey & Giblets, Cat Food Premium Fish/Salmon/Rice and Cat Food Premium Chicken/Turkey/Rice.

So let me get this straight. THEIR FOOD IS SAFE, BUT PET FOOD ON THEIR SHELVES MADE BY MENU FOODS HAS BEEN PULLED SUCH AS LAMB AND RICE - which IS A PRODUCT THAT PURPORTS TO BE MADE BY TRADER JOES. In one breath they say their food is not made by Menu Foods, and in the next breath they say they are pulling food in their store made by Menu Foods. Mom will call Trader Joes tomorrow to find out what is going on!

AGC alias Puky

Me and my pals

Today my favorite dogwalker P took me to her house so I could play with her dogs Elvis and Gia and chase her cats! P is also a budding animal photographer so she got us all to sit and stay and took our pictures - check out the cat, it looks like he's about to dive bomb me!

It's a bit warmer today so it was a pleasure being out at the park playing with my friends in the muddy field.

Well, that's all I have to report today -- I'm off to steal something worth chewing!

AGC

Monday, March 19, 2007

Spring is almost here!

Tomorrow is officially spring so I thought I'd help Mom and do some cleaning. I thought I'd start by going through the bathroom trash...



Of course my work is never appreciated...Mom had a titty fit.

We had another ice storm on Friday - it was raining ice, it was very weird! Dad has been on sole dog walking duty since Mom is too scared of walking on the ice since her fall a few weeks ago. Poor Mom, or should I say, poor Dad?

Sorry this is quite dull, not much goes on here in winter - just playing with toys, eating the odd dingo or bone and lots of sleep. Me and Dad tend to fall asleep in front of the TV, together, at night.



Spring it tomorrow! Yippee, enough of this snow and cold!!

AGC

Friday, March 09, 2007

Back to My Old Self

Thanks everyone for the nice messages left on my blog wishing me well. Boy, I was pretty sick for 48 hours. I think I threw up about 15 times over the course of Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. It was awful, Mom and Dad didn't sleep, and by dawn I was so weak I was just dry heaving where I lay, exhausted. Dad took me off to the vet first thing Wednesday and to be honest, I was happy to go, I felt that bad. The vet took xrays of my belly in case I'd swallowed something nasty that was stuck; and took blood from my neck. I didn't even cry. In the end, he couldn't find anything obviously wrong, and thought I must have eaten something bad in the park or something. I got two shots and some pills, and went home and slept for hours. By evening, I felt much better, ate some chicken and slept some more. By Thursday morning I was ready to go back out to play with my pals!

Here is a pic of me and my pal Elvis with Dad in the snow (photo courtesty Elvis's Mom P). Yep, it snowed again this week - actually Dad drove me to the vet in whiteout conditions!


Those Airedale people are at it again - sewing magnificent Airedale themed quilts and giving it away as a fundraiser. Mom will be sending off her entries for sure - she would like nothing more than to win that quilt! Click to
http://www.airedale rescue.net/wota/index.htm
to see the quilt. Please support Airedale rescue!

Speaking of Airedales, I would like to introduce two new cyber pals - TobyWFT and Foster Granny'dale TommiGirl who belong to their Hooman, Rita. What a sweet looking pair. I hope one day to have an Airedale brother or sister too!



Finally, Miss Amelia's daddy Phillip sent me this awesome link - click here and you will see images of the cutest Wire Fox Terrier hand puppet you ever saw. It is about 50 years old. If I had it, I would give puppet shows to all my friends in the park - I would call it
The Adventures of "Axel G Chocholoza - The Greatest Show on Earth!"

AGC

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

A Few of My Favorite Friends

This is my dogwalker extraordinaire P's animal family -- Elvis and Gia are the dogs, they are my good buddies. I like the cats too, but I can't remember their names. I like to chase they all over P's big house.



Elvis likes sleeping with the enemy, tee hee...just look at him and his feline sibling...wish I had a soft kitty to rest my kepi on:



I haven't been feeling well, so sorry this is so short.

AGC

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

A big box arrived yesterday from Petsmart. I recognized the logo instantly and started to hop around the living room! Mom opened the box and out came a very strange looking yellow-tool like thing called a Furminator. It didn't look tasty or chewable. Mom ripped the package open and started to brush my back vigorously. I must admit, it felt really nice - like a massage - but I got scared when I saw my hair starting to pile up on the coffee table! When Mom was done (for now she says), a half hour later, this is what you could see:



In the picture on the left you can see the FURMINATOR - boy, can you believe all that hair, and to look at me after, I still look, well, a MESS!


I definitely need my face stripped - Mom is not brave enough to attempt that.

Anyway, just in case you were wondering if that was the only thing in the Petsmart box...NOPE, leave it to Mom, she found me ANOTHER great rubber toy!! I think it's called a "good buddy" and you get one with horns called a "bad buddy". It's hardier than Mr. Balloon (May his soul rest in peace), bounces like a rugby ball and also has a good squeak. Check it out - and that's me eyeing it in the background:



I want to wish a very happy, slightly belated birthday to my idol Colby Russel who turned 2 yesterday. If it wasn't for handsome Colby, I don't think Mom would have been so quick to get me. She fell in love with Colby's mug when she joined a Wire email list - and decided the time was right to find her a wire of her own. Three months later (it's not so easy to find a wire of my superlative breeding!), I came into their life. Pictured left is the handsome dude Colby and right is a picture of his brother Randy - they both live in Canada I believe. Someday I wish I grow up to look like Colby....Happy 2nd Birthday Guys! Save me a slice Randy!

Poor Dad is sick in bed and moaning and feeling very sorry for himself. He is coughing a lot so Mom grabbed her pillow and headed down to the livingroom couch to make a bed for the night. I am very torn now where to sleep. Dad may need me during the night being sick and all - but truthfully all that thrashing around and sputtering is not conducive to a good night's sleep. I guess to be fair to them, I'll either sleep on the landing where I can keep an eye on them both, or divide my time...

AGC