The Dog Days of Summer... Oh, How I Miss Thee!

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One Sandy Puppy

I adore being at the beach! Every time my peeps start packing their bags, I pray they are taking me to Westport and not leaving me at the kennel. My favorite thing to do is play fetch out in the surf. I often whine and whimper, so that someone will feel sorry for me and take me outside. As long as the weather is decent, it usually works.

Besides chasing tennis balls into the waves, I also love "digging to China" in the sand. I'm not sure how far China is, but I'm pretty sure I can get there.

The last time I was at the beach, my friend Tiger came to visit me. It was a lot of fun to run and chase each other in the sand. He's pretty fun for a small dog. I think he's used to bigger dogs like me, cause he has two sisters, a lab and a german shepherd.

Walkin' the Dog

This is me going for a walk with my people. It's one of my favorite things to do.

I'm Helping Mom Sweep!

I'm such a good dog! I love to help mom sweep outside. I think she'd rather I swept the deck, but I find there's more dirt out in the yard.

The only downside to playing with a broom is that its easy for mom to get it back from me. I try really hard to pick it up in my mouth and run with it, but because it's so long, mom can usually catch up to the other end of the broom and steal it back. Although I have to admit that my mom is pretty clever. She has since bought a second broom, so that when I'm in the sweeping mood, she can grab the spare. She also stores all the brooms on top of the shed. I just can't reach it up there.

You know, I really ought to ask for a raise in my allowance with all this hard work I do keeping the outside so neat & tidy. More kibble, please?

Lani's New Love - The BBQ!

Whenever Dad brings out the BBQ, I am on Cloud 9! I will race out the back door and immediately scrounge for any morsels left over from last time's dinner. They are not the freshest, but still harbor that nice, smokey flavor.

Next, I stake out a spot right next to my new love and wait patiently for it to heat up and for Dad to return with whatever delicious meat he's grilling that night. My favorite is steak, but chicken and fish will do fine. Quite often I'm in the way and I'm forced to move to a spot further away from my beloved. This makes me sad. Every second that I am away, makes me long for him even more.

However, all is well again after dinner, because then it's time to get all the juicy goodness off of all the grill parts. I just love summertime!

Camping with my Peeps!

I love to go camping with my people! I call the trailer the human crate. Like my doggie crate at home, the human crate is a bit cramped and I have to fight for space. Although I'd rather be sleeping on mom and dad's side, I'm fairly content sharing the bed on the other side of the camper with Colin. My favorite part of camping is that I get a walk every time I have to go to the bathroom. Sometimes I even fake it so I can go for a spin, sniffing out the local scene.

Blankets!!

I love blankets! I especially love it when Colin tries to hide me under one. I'm pretty no one can tell I'm underneath!

At least until I poke my head out and say, "Here I am! I was just trying to fool ya!"

I also like lying on blankets. This is my doggie blanket on the downstairs couch. It's my second favorite. My first favorite is the one on mom & dad's bed!

Lani Loves Westport

My people recently took me to the beach at Westport. I love it there! I get walks quite a few times a day, some even on the beach off-leash. Dad will often bring my favorite toy, the "chuck-it", and fling tennis balls way out into the ocean for me to dive in and fetch. I love to get wet in the cold, rushing waves. Although sometimes I get tired and leave the ball in the water for Dad to retrieve. I don't see what the big deal is, but most times he's annoyed by that.

Other activites I do besides playing with my special toys is hanging out on the deck barking at all the other dogs that are staying at the complex. There is another flabby labby whose family owns a condo downstairs in building five. One night awhile back I saw a deer in the grassy dunes and scared everybody with my barking. I was just trying to say hello, but everyone had a tizzy trying to figure out what I had seen.

Another fun thing I get to do at the condo is camp in my Eddie Bauer dog tent. It's my private little oasis that I like to retreat to when I want a break in all the action.

Me and "My" Friend Charlie

Here is a picture of me with "my" friend Charlie. I call him my friend, but technically he is Colin's friend. Colin usually puts Charlie on his bed and then I like to steal him and claim him as my own. I think I like him so much because he reminds me of me when I was a puppy. Plus, he's soft and cuddly, and I get a lot of attention when my people see me with him. Mom and Dad usually comment on how cute we are, but Colin mostly gets impatient and tells me that Charlie is his and put him back on the bed. He's kind of a killjoy, if you ask me...

Rocky Racoon

Despite the excitment of snow fall that morning, it was still rather quiet around the Woodward house. Mom was doing chores, dad was on the computer, Colin was playing Halo, and I was just lying on the floor getting some good beauty sleep. Before I knew it, my people started to congregate around the dining room window. What are they looking at? There's never anything exciting to see out that window, it all happens out front. Or at least that's where the neighbor cat likes to occasionally saunter by so that I get my fur in a bunch and bark like mad. I better go check it out!

I arrive at said window and I stop dead in my tracks... that's no cat! That's a racoon! What's it doing there in the middle of the day and why isn't it getting spooked by me or mom who is curiously taking pictures of it. Things are not right with the world. It even came closer to look inside the house to see if we had any food or something. Yea, like I'm gonna share my kibble!

How cute am I?

Here are some pix of me during my teenage angst years!

Boy do I look adolescent and defiant!

Puppy Love

This is me when I was a puppy. I had just come home to live with my peeps. I think it's funny that my momma is holding me, because now she can barely scoot me over while I'm napping on the couch. I growed good. Here's some pictures of me doing fun puppy stuff.

My Buddy Colin

Here's a picture of me with my bestest buddy and brother, Colin. He is awesome! He feeds me and gives me fresh water when Mom asks him to. He likes to play chase the soccer ball out in the backyard when it's nice weather and when it's not, he'll throw my stuffed squirrel around the house for me to fetch. My favorite is when I get to ride in the back of the car when we take Colin to school, especially when Mom later takes me to doggy school. I think he would love to have me sleep with him too, but I find his bed is too small and doesn't quite accomodate the way I like to sleep.

I've realized that Mom & Dad's bed is much more cozy for sprawling out, although they are bigger and they often make me move into the middle, which I don't particularly like. I usually, with reluctance, move where they want me and wait patiently until they fall asleep when I can then snuggle right up against one or the other. They also tell me I snore, but I don't believe them. I also love when Colin has a friend spend the night. Last time Luke came over, I squeezed my way into their sleeping fort and caused quite a stir!