Tails from the backyard

The past few days were very active here because Jake was visiting. He’s pretty fun to have around in spite of his ridiculously big pointy ears. Did you know, when he was a puppy his ears were bigger than his whole head!

When he visits, one of the first things I do is remind him who is Queen of the Castle. This weekend we only had one knock down drag out over the tennis ball. Wags had to yank us apart.

Wags also paid a lot more attention to Jake than to me these past few days. This is because Jake is not as well mannered as me. He has a habit of running out the back door and barking like a maniac at Tango, the neighbor’s new dog. (It was even worse with the neighbor’s old dog, but that dog just vanished one day….)

Wags doesn’t like all the noise when dogs bark at each other for no good reason (at least from her perspective)…. Something about disturbing the peace. So, she invented a game for Jake. She would open the back door, they would run out together, she would tell him to be quiet, and if he was, he would get a treat. If he barked, they would go back inside right away. This back and forth, in and out, seemed to go on for a long time. But, Jake loves treats so it wasn’t very long before he was running outside, being quiet and not paying any attention to Tango at all. He’s not 100% yet, but good progress was made. Wags seemed very proud of herself and of Jake.


In the meanwhile, it was my job to watch and look beautiful. I have included a photo of me just so you can enjoy looking at me!

Queen Phoebe

Doggie Fun or Torment?

Credit goes to my sister and Andrew Sullivan for bringing this to my attention.

Phoebe would probably love such a contraption for what it does but she would be afraid of it in the first place...

Winter is fun, even in spring...

Woof! Humans are strange creatures. Phoebe, too. They complain and complain about winter – at least here in Chicago. I can’t figure out what’s wrong with winter. It’s the best time of the year for many dogs like me (although I can’t speak for my small and hairless doggie friends or Princess Phoebe). Why, you ask?

Let me tell you the top 10 reasons why I love winter and snow (and, yes, I like to stay up and watch Letterman with Debs – where else did you think I learned to think like this? By the way, I was thinking of submitting Debs to Letterman for some stupid human tricks. She does this really funny thing of picking up my poop, no matter where I put it!)

Jake's Top 10 Reasons for Loving that Cool Season - Winter:

1. It’s usually cold enough that when I run after the ball, even for more than an hour, my tongue isn’t hanging out like it does in summer.
2. I can stretch out in the snow and really cool my hot spots.
3. My feet stay nice and clean in winter snow – the minute the big melt arrives, Debs doesn’t stop until mid-summer with this annoying towel routine at the door.
4. There is an endless supply of white balls that Debs can make with her tennis ball thrower.
5. I can stick my nose into the snow to find my tennis ball and amaze everyone that I found it in 2 feet of snow. I’m so proud!
6. We can go into the deep north woods and know we are the first creatures to explore the path.
7. When we’re out at the dog park and I get thirsty, I can make and eat my own snow cones.
8. I can leave creative yellow drawings in the snow for others to read later. I just haven’t mastered the alphabet yet, but all my doggie friends know exactly what I’m saying and they can read it for a longer period of time.
9. I can store the bones Debs gives me in the snow and defrost them later. Refrigeration for dogs!
10. I can forget where I put some of my rawhide strips and then have a wonderful surprise finding them in the spring! So wet and chewy!

By the way, it may be spring, but it sure doesn’t look like it here. It snowed and snowed today. In any event, I thought you’d like to see some good Chicago snow and me. Click on my movie and I’ll show you how simple it is for me to make Debs happy. Just a little hustle when she asks me to come. She is so easy to please. Humans can be so simple.

See you soon! Woof! Woof!