GUESS WHERE I AM GOING!!!!

Public Service Announcement: READ TO YOUR HUMANS!!!

Dear Hounds,

I cannot tell you stress to you enough of the importance of reading to your humans. There are SO MANY benefits that come from a simple daily read.  Once you establish a pattern, you will find your human's imagination soar and their intelligence rise significantly.

You need not start off reading War and Peace to them, a simple poem, illustrated book, or small news article will suffice until your human gains the understanding of larger, more complex issues.  In fact, before you know it, your human may gain the intelligence enough to read on their own or even write a blog.

So please, READ TO YOUR HUMAN and often!

A human mind is a terrible thing to waste!

Love, Abbie

Midnight Sonnet for my Human.

(Howled to the tune of Memory, from the musical CATS)

Daylight

I make dew on the weed flowers

And arose and I'm swaying

Noses smelling the day

Like the scents

I yearn to turn my face to the dawn

I am waiting for the day . . .

Midnight

There's my sound from the pavement

Has my human lost her memory?

She is grinding her teeth

In the lamplight

The humans stomps at her feet

And the hound begins to moan

Memory

All alone in the moonlight

I can howl really loudly

I was beautiful then

Human remembers the time of silence

Let the memory live again

Every critter

Seems to howl a loud warning

And the poodle mutters

And the doghouse is cluttered

And soon it will be morning

Daylight

I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of my loud howls

And I musn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory too

And a new day will begin

Burnt out earplugs of human

The cold sound of my snoring

The moon is gone, I'm lazy

Another day is dawning

Touch me

It's so easy to leave me

All alone cause I'm snoring

In my days in the sun

If you touch me

You'll understand what crankiness is

Look

A new day has begun

Guest Blogger: My Human! Dogs: Blessed are the Peacemakers

Abbie has generously allowed me to guest blog tonight. Thanks Abbie! Now please get off my lap so I can type!

Dogs: Blessed are the Peacemakers

(Inspired by Dogingham and her Black Bean Burger at Rojo's on Highland)

In 1989, I moved to Highland Avenue in Birmingham. I was 19 years old and ready to take on the world.  I moved into a small apartment complex located off Hanover Circle.  I had no fear of living by myself although my mother certainly did her best to instill some fear in me with random statistics of the dangers of living in an Urban area. She failed miserably. Those were incredible years of my life.

I worked fulltime for a marketing firm while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. For a non-degreed, non-trained 19 year old, my job paid the rent, utilities (most months) and gave me enough money to purchase ramen noodles and the occasional beer (or Boones Farm), sold to me by a very unattentive clerk at the Western Supermarket.  I guess I looked two years older or she was simply tired to ask for ID.

The apartment complex was filled with every kind of person I had never been exposed too.  My neighbor, Mr. Mendelstien, was an elderly, Jewish widower. As I was moving my coffee table (made from a old barrel) and my sofa, compliments of the thrift store, into my apartment, he asked me if I was going to play that rock music.  I smiled. He almost passed out when he saw the contents of my aquarium contained a small garden snake.

My neighbor upstairs was a medical student who worked part time at a research lab. His job was to take fecal samples from different cats at the lab and test them for contents. He was a brillant guy who had a crappy job. (pun intended)  I wonder where he is today and can only hope and imagine that his job is much more fulfilling.

All and all, the residents in that small complex were black and white, straight and gay, American nationalists or visiting foreigners.  We came from all backgrounds, places, and experiences.  We were different in religious or philosophical thought, cultural influences, etc.   Like snowflakes, no two humans are alike, but the one thing that united us together: OUR DOGS!

We ALL had a dog (or two, or three).

When you have a dog and you live in a small Urban area, you are forced to walk beyond the front door, into a world of grassy areas, sidewalks, and cultural differences.

I had a small poodle that I had inherited from my beloved Grandfather. Bebe was a round, yappy ball of white fluff. She was spoiled. Her world had been completely turned upside down when my Grandfather died.  My world had been completely turned upside down when I decided to leave suburban East side to live on my own.  We had a lot in common. We knew this was our chance to start a new life.

My favorite time of the year was (and still is) April through September.   The days were longer and the afternoon walks were perfect ways to end the day with Bebe.  It was through these walks that I met my neighbors.  When I would walk Bebe along Highland Avenue, life just seemed right.  I would smile at other dog owners and they would smile at me. Truly peace does begin with a smile.

I learned that Bebe was not picky about who she would approach, be it a Lab, Greyhound, Corgi, or Heinz 57.  She seemed to like them all.  I found that her genuine friendly attitude was something I could simply not avoid.  She opened up my heart and mind, one simple yap or butt smelling at a time. No, I didn't practice her greeting method, a wave with my hand usually produced the same results.  Rhodes Park was a haven for friendship building.  Once our routine was established, Bebe realized that she could freely run with the big dogs, while I laughed with my new friends.

We can learn a lot from dogs. I learned that if I stepped out beyond my front door, my dog would lead my heart and help me build relationships that formed a lasting foundation of how I see people. 

There is no difference in ourselves or each other that should prevent us from accepting each other and being friends.

Dogs: Blessed are the Peacemakers

Now, if Abbie will allow me to guest blog again, I have some awesome stories to share in the future.

The world needs happy.

The world needs happy.  My human told me that tonight.  We were sitting around, she adoring me, as usual, when the news came on. She watched it, I watched her and she looked at me and said, "The world needs happy."  I guess my human was hit with a moment of clarity.

I wagged my tail.  She looked at me and said, "That a girl, be happy."  I translated that to be, "Abbie, I will get you a treat."  She didn't.

But I still wagged my tail.  It is instinctive.  I don't know why I wag my tail.  I just do. 

Sometimes I do it when I am laying in the sun, doing nothing.
Sometimes I do it when I see a stranger.
Sometimes I do it just because...

I have no reason.

People, you really need to be more like me and my hounds.  Just wag your tail sometimes.

It doesn't hurt.

Try it.
Oh, you know you want too.
Because...
The World Needs Happy.

I demand an endorsement fee...

Once again my human is pimpin' me out to the public. Don't say I blame her, heck I know cute when I see it and bacon...errrr  I mean I am cute.

Check out her latest pimpin' project.

http://birminghammomonline.net/2010/02/happy-feet-carpet-a-fight-to-the-finish/

I think you hounds need to hear my side of the story.



First of all,  this is MY HOUSE... MY HOUSE.  I say who can come in and who can clean up after ME!!!  This huge Ninja thingie came in MY HOUSE and literally SUCKED!!!!  I mean really SUCKED up my pet hair, my food spills, and my...ummmmm...proclivities.

It was terrible. I mean, I'm a hound dog and I could not even track MY OWN scent! It smelled like fruit in here. It was too clean. I thought I was at some other hounds house... or even a *gasp* cat's house. It was not like MY house!!! When I was "allowed" to come back in the house, the human actually placed towels in front of the back door. WHAT? HUMAN, you NEVER had a problem with me coming in from the backyard with muddy paws before. Ridiculous.

Oh, and here is the biggie... I GET the blame for the geratric animals.  Ummm, excuse me...but Princess Geritol, who SHEDS worse than I do has the geratric bladder-NOT ME. I don't care if you never see it, I'm just sayin' that she is the OLD one, not me.

Oh, and then there is Phyllis Diller, I mean, Phoebe the Beady Eyed One! She is not so innocent. I guarantee that she sheds and pees when you are not looking. I can't prove it but I will ONE DAY, then you will see that I am the innocent one here, I am not the criminal,  I'M THE VICTIM!

So, human, bring in your Happy Feet Magician and his fancy Ninja 7 Million, I don't care. I have plans of mine own. I need some happy paws.

In the meanwhile, take these goofy shoes off of Beady Eyes, she looks stupid.

This ain't right!!

Every once and a while, something strange happens among our canine friends. It is a serious problem and we hounds MUST GET THE WORD out. 

I'm not talking about the peeing in the floor issue.
I'm not talking about the snatch, grab and run food issue.
I'm not even talking about the gaseous incidents the humans blame on us.

I'm talking about the Canine/Feline issue.

Hounds beware, the feline MUST not be trusted.  Be it Chihuahua, Lab, Poodle or Heinz 57, YOU ARE NOT SAFE!!! The feline will seduce you with ways in which you never realized what happened to you until it is too late.

Remember Obie? The Tim Tebow of the dog world. Good looking, debonair, and classy...well, it happened to him

So remember, Hounds don't let Hounds become friends with felines.
It's not normal!

Oh, and never, never, never trust a