O Canada

Look where we're going! WOOHOO!! We've been coveting the snow our friends (shoutout to Lola, Sophie, and Dannan!) have enjoyed in the Great White North! (You know our human has a thing for white...) So we've decided to go!!! :) Actually, the human has work-related activities up there, so we'll be staying for SEVEN weeks! That is, if we ever get going... Normally, we'd be happy that the human is blogging for us, but we've got to go--NOW!!

The only downside to the trip will be that we'll miss Jackson. Old Bones will be spared the rough travel, rougher mountains, and cold weather this time around. :( But he'll stay with Uncle Kidlat, being spoiled by the human's parental units.

AND, in a bit of a surprise, we will remain four: Tanner will go with! His military foster home fell through, so looks like we're it! Hope he's got good van legs!

Season's Greetings!

Happy Holidays, everyone! We hope you're all enjoying the season. We're not much for either the spiritual stuff or materialism, but we do like it when everyone seems happy. :) We wouldn't have minded a little snow, though. :) Lack of the white stuff hasn't dampened our spirits any, we made a little holiday video...

Snow or not, our Christmas was definitely less white: foster bro Ricky went to his new home on Christmas Eve! Pretty cool present, huh? We miss the crazy pup (the human does especially) but are so happy for him. We hope to see him often--or at least hear how he's doing--because he now lives with one of the vet tech's at our doctor's office. She kinda had a crush on him from the very beginning, so she was happy to have a second chance when his last adoption didn't work out. We think this one's the real deal. Go Ricky!

We can work it out

The haunting apparition has materialized! And it's not so scary. The process was a little longer than we're used to, but the human wasn't quite sure how friendly spooky Tanner was to us. As Tanner settled in, we got to meet him through a gate (or two!), and we all just got used to being around each other. After doing that for a while, Tanner decided he'd had enough. Silly human wasn't paying attention, and Spooky knocked right through the baby gates. You shoulda seen the human's face: he was brushing his teeth only to turn around and see Tanner and Tuchuck staring at him. Leave it to dogs to take decisive action when humans are being wimps!

We all wanted to check out the new guy. There was a little bit of growling, lots of posturing (mostly by the big boys), but we've managed a civilized detente.


Sometimes, Tanner can be scary, but he's an alright guy. (The human has become very attached to him, in fact. We can only roll our eyes and sigh.)
Ironically--though it's very wonderful--Tanner now has a military foster waiting for him. His human (and the human's wife) have agreed to place Tanner in a temporary situation that will allow them all to be reunited after the serviceman's tour in Iraq. YAY, Tanner! And special thanks to NetPets for providing the foster home and for all they do for our servicemen and women (even if they are endorsed by Donald Rumsfeld)!

Who Dat?

YOW! Spooky, huh? (We ain't talkin DJ...) This apparition has possessed our studio, and it scares us. Only Narra has encountered it, and she says it isn't too friendly.

The "it" is a dark sable German Shepherd Dog from the SPCA named Tanner. His story is more sad than scary actually. His human was deployed to Iraq, but the human's human couldn't handle the dog. Distraught, she surrendered him to the shelter. Our human saw fit to take Tanner in for a while--we just don't know how long that while will be. Tanner needs a home! If you know anyone who might be interested in a 5-year old, neutered male dog who is--we admit it--astoundingly handsome, send them Tanner's way (via the SPCA). You can also watch Tanner's short video here.

By the way, we'd like to send a shout out to our buddies Wally, Ethel, and Oscar for the bullies (and other treats). How nice of them to include even Tanner! Thanks, guys!! And to our special buddy Wally: glad you're feeling better, dude--we've been thinking of you!

We can't stand the rain

Bringing back sweet memories...We don't know what it is, but rain has proven an unfortunate portent for us. Not only has today's rainy weather totally sucked--it's been ugly, and we've had to stay inside too much--but it brought back half the terror we call the "twins." And we're not talkin' Zan and Jayna... That's right (you might've recognized the picture), that smilin' goofball is none other than Ricky of "Rick and Ilsa" fame (actually, not THAT Rick and Ilsa).

We feel kinda sorry for him because his adoptive home couldn't handle both him and his sister. At 11-months old and 70+ and 50+ lbs, respectively, the rambunctious pair is quite a handful--and we know that from experience. Our human and Ricky's adoptive family agreed that it would be best for Ricky to come back and stay with us. Poor kid, we told him to behave, but he just can't control himself sometimes. We'll try to teach him a thing or two this time around. Let's hope the next home will be the right one...

For what it's worth, he seems kinda happy to be back, even without Ilsa. And, of course, our silly human is kinda happy that he's back, too. No comment.

Struck by Lightning

Jackson says, "Hey, little man, WTF?!?! (Where's The Food?!?!)"

Just when we thought the house was a little too quiet, Uncle Kidlat is visiting us for the first time. His name means "lightning"--and it's very appropriate. Although his legs are short (and he's carrying a couple extra pounds), he sure can moveitmoveit. And he never stops! In fact, he's staying with us for a little while so he can learn to mind his Ps and Qs--because we're such good role models! ;) If nothing else, we might tire him out! Because this don't look like no boot camp.

Crouching tiger...
Narra's the one with all the balls!
And our video...

We've seen fire, and we've seen rain

Foster twins Ricky and Ilsa blew in with Hurricane Hanna two months ago. Today, with more rain, they blew away again, to their new, forever home. Narra and the human delivered them to their new family. Narra assures us that the people are very nice and will love the twins and take good care of them. They better because we don't want them to come back! :) (Visits would be okay!)

On the other hand, the house is a little too quiet tonight (as the human has been all day). Jackson thinks not; the quiet is awesome, he says. Don't get used to it, buddy. :)

Skipping the light fandango

White has its privileges... Tuchuck and the twins went to the dog park today! They met up with buddy Oscar and a whole crew of fun friends. It was kind of a last hurrah as Ricky and Ilsa will move on to their forever home next weekend. We're glad they got a chance to meet Oscar and see his apes again--the apes were the ones who made the original call on our terrible twosome! :)

Look, Ma, no monkey bits!

Our tireless and fearless Uncle Kidlat has joined the ranks of the socially responsible. Yes, our little one came home from the vet today, having undergone surgical alteration to soothe the savage beast. Our human visited the convalescent one with a gift inspired by our BFF Wally: a monkey! Kidlat sure enjoyed it, especially the ears!

Dog Parks!

No roadtrip is complete without exploring new dog parks. During our recent drive through the heartland, however, we visited old faves (that seems to have been the theme for this trip). Of course, our human wasn't in the habit of frequenting dog parks back in the day, but we discovered Quann Park a few years ago when we were here. We like it so much we keep coming back. Well, Jackson and Narra had been here before, but it was all new to Tuchuck and Rousseau.

Actually, Jackson didn't really go into the dog park before. So this visit was a true first for him. He had to stay on leash, but he did great. He got to meet a very cute little Corgi (a Pembroke, not a Cardigan like Uncle Kidlat) and a couple other dogs. Rousseau got to go with him, but Rousseau can get a little anxious on leash, and he scared away prospective new friends by barking. We hope he'll get over that!

Tuchuck, on the other hand, always makes new friends wherever he goes!
Even Narra made a new friend this trip! Oooh, someone's got a new (big!) boyfriend! :)
We did visit a dog park in Des Moines, too, before we left: the Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines, to be exact. Although none of us has been to this park before, it was an old favorite of brother Tsamba's (but there was no dog park back then).
As usual, Tuchuck was the life of the party...

We wonder if Narra isn't loosening up? She made a little friend, too!
The big boys didn't get to go into this dog park, but they got to hit the beach!

Our Point

When we left Iowa, our human couldn't resist but take the long way home--through Wisconsin! His sentimental attachments often guide our travels, but that's not always so bad. We spent the night at Governor Dodge State Park and woke to find some pretty amazing fall colors. Ah, our favorite time of the year!

Our main destination was "hometown" Madison--Mad City! We enjoyed a great walk along Lake Mendota, on Picnic Point, just by the university. Our human has enjoyed this walk since he was just a pup, and the campus is his old stomping ground. We like it, too! And not just because of all the attention we get. So many people stopped to admire us--they told the human he has "quite a pack." Ahem, who has whom?! :)

We are (with) Art

Would you be surprised to know that contemporary art thrives in Des Moines, Iowa? At the Des Moines Art Center. Since our roadtrip kinda ended up being about art, we decided to be with art. :) We had a beautiful day to walk around the Art Center and "be one" with the work. Hee.

Are you ready for some name dropping? (Okay, so we don't really know these artists, but now we've rubbed shoulders with them, er, their work.)

Here we are outside the IM Pei wing, posing in front of a Sol Lewitt

Narra serves as a third in Andrew Goldsworthy's "Three Cairns"

And here we enjoy Mary Miss's Greenwood Pond project

And, finally, our fave: Bruce Nauman. Guy's a freak! :)

We are (more) Art

Guess where we are??! Des Moines, Iowa!!! Isn't that exciting? (Okay, who snickered?...) We've come all this way to deliver a painting to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL), the shelter where brother Tsamba was adopted from. And how fitting that the painting should be of Tsamba! This weekend is the grand opening of the ARL's state-of-the-art new facility, a product of a $9.5-million capital campaign.

While the facility itself is hugely impressive, we think that Tsamba's painting adds that special touch.

Van-tics!

We've probably said it before, but we'll say it again: we love our van!!! It's the best toy ever! It takes us to the best places--and it's not too shabby in the comfort department. We have plenty of room to move around and change positions. But we do love being close to each other, too, as you can see. Rousseau has been converted to van living! :)

(BTW, we love to watch our human try to take pictures while he's driving!)

More Buko

We don't think we ever shared this video...

Miss you

We lost our Buko one year ago today. We can't even describe how much we miss him. We love you, Buko.

Scarlet ribbons for her hair

Okay, so she's not wearing her ribbons in this picture--but that's not really her style anyway, right? But, yeah, in the midst of our human's madness, we all (minus the twins) ventured to an AKC Rally and Obedience trial last weekend. Narra did super well, earned a red (not really scarlet) ribbon--second place! Truth be told, the human cost her first place among German Shepherd Dogs and second place all-breed. The judge noted on the scoresheet "incorrect performance." Ugh. The human can be so embarrassing. What's a girl to do? Anyway, with her performance, Narra still earned her Rally Excellent title!

The more fun part, though, was visiting our Uncle Kidlat on the way home! He's gotten a little fat, so we thought we should all just run around for a while and burn those calories!

Art is not an excuse

Surprise! Yes, we know how loathesomely slow--absent, in fact!--the human has been maintaining our blog. (Perhaps positive training has failed us on this front...) He claims he's very busy preparing work for exhibitions. A likely story. Well, as if to appease us, he says we're integral to his work, and he presented this image as evidence. We can only laugh. Apparently, he has created a whole series of work based on these ridiculous "tourist" photos he makes us pose for. Then he talks about a buncha French guys, "epistemologies," whatever. We think he's making it all up. But it is nice to see Buko again.

We've got lots more to share, but we guess this is it for now. The two-legged one says he needs to get back to work...

Terror Twins power--activate!

We wish that the terror twins special power was to disappear, or, at the very least, to teleport themselves somewhere else! We can rest assured, however, that they no longer possess the power to reproduce! That's right, the terrible twosome spent a day at the vet's office and came back minus certain parts. What we want to know is, couldn't the vet have taken more parts?

More importantly, missing parts means Rick and Ilsa can go home now!!! Any takers?!

BTW, we want to apologize to our blogging buddies for not keeping up with everyone in a while. We can squarely blame the human who is hopelessly inadequate at keeping on top of his stuff, much less ours. We're thinking of you guys and will be by soon!

No country for old dogs

HEY! Rousseau protests the title of this post! He's not old! Well, sometimes he moves like he is... Besides, he likes keeping pace with Jacks, who's no spring chicken. :) Anyway, Rousseau went to his first agility trial this past weekend--and he did GREAT! No, he's not magically competing in agility (yet!), he came out to support sister Narra and soak up the atmosphere. He's learning to cope with the activity of many people and dogs coming and going. He was a little anxious at first, but he settled in very nicely and even seemed to enjoy all the festivity after a while. Jackson, too, who can get overly excited in these kinds of situations, enjoyed the beautiful weather and fun. He loved watching all the dogs go by--and was never inappropriate! :) The "old" boys can't wait for the next trial!

"We just want to 'potty' all the time, 'potty' all the time..."

We're "potty" animals!!! At least our best buds Wally, Ethel, and Oscar think so! They extended Narra's birthday by a week! WOOHOO!!! Today, Narra got burpday prezzies! Wally sent her awesome duck treats and... BULLIES!!! And, of course, the coolest birthday card ever--that proclaimed us "potty" animals! With sound effects even (we'll leave that to your imagination). Wally said she didn't have to share, but the human made her. :) Thanks, Wally (Ethel and Oscar, too)!!!

See? That's Narra hiding in her crate while she chows down on her bully. She's pretending she's not sharing...
Wally even gave enough bullies for the terror twins. Turns out another benefit of bullies is that puppies have to eat them in their crates! HAHAHAHAHA! But the white ones got something special, too: FOOD! We hope they'll take it and eat it somewhere else...
Big doofus Ricky--he's still eating his bully.BTW, Rick and Ilsa are available for adoption through Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. Everyone tell your friends--fast!