What a fun day!

I am so exhausted from all the fun I had today! My mom invited my grandparents and my uncle dogs Dexter and Murray over for a sleepover last night! We partied until we dropped... literally! I laid down on the tile after they left and have been sleepy ever since.

This week has been full of adventure. I'm learning that I can reach the table if I jump up and reach high with my paws. So, sometimes my mom leaves her books up there and if I'm really lucky I can get one and chew on it before she catches me. She always says, "Put that down!!!" but I know she really likes it when I take stuff. It makes her laugh.

She also has been trying to switch me to a high quality dog food, since the stuff they fed me at the shelter was full of stuff that isn't too good for me. I wish she would just give me my old food, though! This new healthy food isn't nearly as delicious. I've found that if I refuse it eat it, though, mom gets worried and lets me eat it out of her hand. I'm getting used to the taste of it, now, and it is making my hair feel really soft and look really shiny, but I'm still letting mom think I don't like it. That way, she'll keep feeding me by hand!

Mom took me to the vet again this week. She is so paranoid, but I put up with it. She found a lump on me and sort of freaked out. The nice lady at the vet said it wasn't anything to worry about. The lump is probably just inflamed tissue from when I got my worming shot a couple weeks ago. Sometimes lumps don't show up from shots until a couple weeks later, which is what happened with me. Also, good news! The vet said I don't have a luxating patella because my kneecap feels good. I probably just pop because I strained something in my knee. We are going back to my regular vet on Tuesday for my flu booster shot, so mom is going to ask him what he thinks about my knee, just to be sure. He wasn't in the office last week when mom got worried about the lump on my back.

So, let's get to the good stuff. Last night, I was SO excited that my grandparents and uncles (the uncles are the dogs) came over to play with me! Dexter and Murray are grown adult dogs, so sometimes I think I annoy them with my energy. I can't help it, though! I just love them so much that I have to keep kissing them! They growl a little when I get in their faces. This morning though, I figured out that they won't bite me, because I stayed close to them even though they were growling, and all they did was keep growling! So, I kept licking them and tried to shake hands with their heads. I do that when I like other dogs.

Yesterday, we were going on a walk in my neighborhood, and a big black dog saw us and tried to follow us! I wanted to be friends with her, but my uncles started barking loudly at her, so I figured I better bark loudly too! She followed us all the way home, so mom took my leash and took her back home. I would have liked it if she could have stayed for a little while.

This morning, I woke up, and the dogs were STILL here at my house! My mom was sleeping, but I really wanted to play with my uncles, so I quietly cried until she woke up and let me out of my crate. I then ran straight to the room my uncles and grandparents were in and scratched the door! Mom said I shouldn't do that because it was only 7:45 in the morning. After I went outside, she put me back in my crate and said she wanted to sleep some more because she was still tired! I really didn't want to sleep, though! I wanted to play with my uncles. So, I started barking, and then Uncle Dexter started barking back from across the house. He thought it was fun, but mom made me stop barking and go back to sleep.

Finally, after what seemed like half my lifetime, mom let me see Dexter and Murray! I was so excited and jumped all over them. I don't think they like it when I jump on them. I try to tell them it's ok, though, by licking their faces!

I love to follow them around and see what they are doing. Right now they act like they are still a little scared of me, but I'm really working hard to make them my friends. Little by little, I can tell I am winning them over. I was so happy to see my grandparents too! My granddad lets me chew his fingers, and he says funny things. Grandmom always puts treats in my Kong and snuggles me. I love them!

I hope I get to see my uncles again soon. They sure are nice guys.

-Maddie

I have one of those overprotective moms.

So, let me start by saying I may or may not have walked through and sat on a lawn that he been sprayed with pesticide. My mom totally freaked out about it because she didn't see the sign in the neighbor's yard until I'd already smelled the grass to figure out why it smelled so funny. She made me get out of the yard and walk in the road, which was way less fun. Then, she kept watching me. This all happened on Wednesday. So, on Thursday night in the middle of the night, I woke up and started panting. I was really just upset because I didn't want to be in my crate and because I was very thirsty. I had eaten right before bed and hadn't drank enough water. Mom convinced herself I was having some kind of reaction to the pesticide yard, though, and her and dad didn't get much sleep that night because they were worried about me. I didn't mean to wake them up with my panting, but I was thirsty!

Mom looked up a bunch of information about pesticides online, and she says you should definitely not spray that garbage in your yard! She says it can not only hurt dogs, but it can also hurt kids and even grown adults! All sorts of bad things can happen. Lucky for me, the stuff was dry by the time I walked over it in the neighbor's yard, and no damage was done! It's pretty awful how bad it is for you, though. I'd rather just have grasshoppers and ants. Grasshoppers are fun to chase, anyway.

So, mom got me a new crate that's a lot bigger to help with my anxiety since I am so much bigger now. I like that my water bowl fits in it, and I like that she keeps hiding treats in there. Beyond that, though, I'd rather be sleeping on the couch.

Speaking of the couch, my back knee has started making a popping noise when I jump. It doesn't hurt me at all, and I really don't think it's anything to worry about, but mom said she is going to ask the vet about it when I got to get my second flu shot. She thinks I have patella something another. Basically it means my knee cap isn't situated right. I'm not to upset about it, because even if there is something wrong, mom says I'll get to have treats with glucosamine in them. Uncle Murray eats those because he has hip displasia, and he really likes them. Boy, I sure do like Uncle Murray and Uncle Dexter! They came to play at my house last Saturday. I don't understand why they are so scared of me! Before they left, Dexter was laying on the couch, and I wanted to give him a hug, so I jumped up there and snuggled him. He acted like he was really scared of me, so I licked him. Uncle Murray is getting less and less scared of me, though, which is good because mom says I can play ball with him someday.

Last night something very scary happened. I noticed the fireplace for the first time, so I started barking at it. A lot. And loud. Mom said there isn't anything to worry about.

My mom got me this new food called Natural Balance. It is so delicious! She's mixing it with my Puppy Chow right now, but I wish she would just let me eat only that because it is good. She said it's very healthy, so I should have more energy. I am a growing girl, you know.

I wish mom would stop taking cool stuff away from me. So far, she has taken away socks, underwear, the camera, multiple shoes, the end of the doorstop (which, incidentally, I worked hard to get off), pieces of toys I've bitten off, leaves, sticks, water bottles, and even bugs.

Well, I better go now. Mom and dad are both still really tired from not sleeping the other night. Sometimes they can be a little overprotective, but I love them anyway.

-Maddie