Breed All About It

Much debate has occurred as to what kind of dog I am. My mother looked like a shepherd of some sort but I'm one of the only ones of my brothers and sisters who has any black fur. Then there's the issue of height. I have very short legs. The pictures don't show it well, but I do. My sister, Samantha, has longer legs but my brother, Bently, has really long legs. Some people say I'm built like a corgy but that's not quite right, either. I'm too long.

My aunt Mary came over this weekend to say hello. I like her - she's funny. She said I was made up of spare parts.

Dad says I'm an under dog. I sleep under the bed, I lie under the coffee table, I walk under the chairs... I think his guess is the closest.

Little BigBoy

Dad had his friend Kevin take a picture of him holding me so everybody could see how big I've gotten. But I'm still short.

One Dog or Two?

Me and JD relaxing in the wee hours of the morning as dad gets ready for work. I love my new brother and he loves me.

What's Wrong With These People?

So, I'm trying to get dad to pay attention to me. I'm doing all I can. I'm jumping up and putting my front legs on his leg while he works on that 'puter thingy. I'm wagging my tail. I'm looking as cute as I can.

Suddenly, dad says, "Where's Patches?" So I got down and started to go see if I could find him.

Then I realized I don't know Patches. Who the heck is Patches?

You're not fooling me you silly man.

Everybody's Awake, Now

Last night, dad had just turned off the light when something brushed against me. I don't know if it was JD or that cat thing but I couldn't tell 'cause my eyes hadn't adjusted yet. I got startled and jumped up and just started barking as loud and as fast as I could. Dad jumped out of bed hollering, "What is it!? What is it!?"

When he finally turned on the light, I looked around, then looked at him and thought, "Oh, it's nothing... sorry."

Until next time.

Nothing Up My Sleeve!

I've learned a new trick! My parents are so proud, they hoot and holler every time they catch see me doing it. One time, dad was so happy, he shot me with a squirt gun. Oh, what a happy day that was!!

You see, I know how to get up on the furniture now. Isn't that cool!! And now that I can get on the furniture, I can climb up the back of the sofa and onto the counter where dad leaves the cat food. Oh, it's so yummy! He gives her canned food all the time now. He only gave me canned food when I was sick (and I think he hid medicine in it, too). I haven't gotten much but the leftovers of the canned food but the dry food is soooo gooood.

Well, I've got things to sniff... until next time.

Cardboard, and chewies, and treats! Oh, my!

So there I was, lounging around the living room when I spotted it. A nice, chewlicious looking, cardboard box. I like to chew on cardboard boxes.

The box was just a leetle bit out of my reach but it was in a bag... this was going to be an easy target.

I got the bag down and got the box out and commenced to gnawing on that cardboard. Mmm, mmm, it was GOOD. Well, no sooner did I get through the first layer then I discovered there were all these little plastic chewie things inside... and they were individually wrapped! What more could a puppy ask for?

I chewed through that cardboard even faster and soon had that box right open where I could get at those chewies. I pulled each and every one of them out and set them before me. I stared at them for a while then plucked one out and started chewing. I like plastic, too.

Little did I know that these were magic chewies. As I chewed, I suddenly got this burst of crunchy orange flavor. Wow! There were treats hidden in these chewies. I went after another, then another, then another. One of them gave me two crunchy bursts!

I wanted dad to see what I had discovered so I went to his room where he was working on that computer thingy he has. He had the door closed so I whined at him a little bit and he came out to say hi.

He must have really thought it was cool that I got those chewies out because he rushed in and got mom out of bed and grabbed the phone book. I don't know who he called, exactly, but he told them all about it. He told them I'd gotten into the box, pulled out the packets and eaten four or five of those crunchy, orange treats. (I think he called them Singulair) For some reason, he didn't sound proud. He sounded a little upset.

Oh, well. Didn't slow me down a bit.

Editor's note: Teddy ate 4 or 5 chewable Singulair tablets this morning. I called the vet hospital and they basically said to keep an eye on him and especially watch his breathing. If I notice anything out of the ordinary, I should bring him in... What a way to wake up on a Sunday.

An Update for Molly

Hi!

Dad told me that Molly was pestering for an update so here goes.

I'm getting much better at not going to the bathroom in the house. Dad gets disappointed when I don't make it outside (or don't tell him I need to go out) but he doesn't yell at me. He understands that sometimes I still just can't help it.

Aunt Mary, Molly's mom, says I'm starting to lose that puppy look. I think I agree with her. Even though I can now reach over and drink out of the tall water bowl, I'm still short. Dad thinks I'm going to stay fairly little but he's taken to calling me "Chunk" now and then 'cause I'm so solid and muscular (grrrr!).

One thing I still like to do a lot is chew. I'll chew on anything. Carpet, furniture covers, shoes, boxes, shoe boxes (I love cardboard!), HACs (Human Approved Chewies)... doesn't matter. Chew chew chew chew chew... I like to unstuff my toys now, too, just like my new brother JD.

Ooh, here comes the cat. I've got some sniffing to do.

Until next time...

Me and Dad on the way to the vet.

Dad, Samantha and I had to go back to the vet on Saturday. I really enjoyed the ride over. Me and Sam jumped in the back seat but we could barely see out the windows. I decided to try to go back up front but my body's still too short to bridge the gap. I ended up standing with my back feet on the edge of the seat and my front paws on the center console. That's what I'm doing in the picture. It was great to ride there because I could see lots of stuff and dad talked to me like we were best buds.

When we got there, the doctor said I had gained seven pounds in the last three weeks! I'm getting to be a big boy now.

After we got home, Samantha's new mom came and got her. But JD and I are still together and we're having as much fun as ever!

Until next time...

My Sister Sam

My Sister, Samantha, came for a visit last weekend. It seems she's going to stay with us for a while until her new mommy is ready to take her.

It's been a lot of fun having her around. We play together all the time. Sometimes we fight over our toys but we still like each other.

I'm feeling a lot better and I've been done with my medicine for almost a week now. I'm not coughing anymore but I miss the canned food my dad was feeding us in the morning (I think he was mixing the pills into it). Both me and Sam are doing great. I heard that our brother, Bently, got sick the other day, too, but it doesn't look like Samantha brought it with her.

She wears me out.

It's Probably Nothing Serious

The vet says I'm active and loud... I don't like being confined. I have a bit of a snotty nose so she put me on antibiotics and she's going to send home a couple of pills to help keep me from throwing up if it becomes a problem. Otherwise I'm all up to date on my shots!

Until next time...

I Don't Feel So Good

I'm sitting at the vet's office waiting for the Doctor to come see me. I was supposed to go see the new Doctor tomorrow morning but dad took me in today. I was coughing last night and acting like I had an upset tummy. I didn't feel much like playing or going outside this morning. I just kinda wanted to hang around and sit on a pillow or blankie.

I'll have dad let you know what the Doctor says.

Hi! My Name is Teddy

Hello, my name is Teddy. My story starts out kinda sad but it's all turned out alright so far.

You see, before I ever came into this world, my mom knew some people that took care of her... or, they were supposed to. I don't know what happened, exactly, but I do know my mom ended up at the pound (I hear that can be a scary place). Her people didn't want her anymore and she was about to bring me and my brothers and sisters into the world.

As luck would have it, there was a very nice lady at the pound that day. She offered to take my mom home with her so mom could go ahead and bring us into the world. The people at the pound didn't like that so much. You see, there's already too many of us dogs in this world and the people at the pound have a very sad job. When us dogs start running around by ourselves or our owners don't want us anymore, we end up at the pound. There isn't enough room there so the pound people have to make room... and I don't like to think about how they do that. So, the pound people didn't want to send my mom out with all us puppies inside her so she could bring even more puppies in the world. I was almost never here!

But the nice lady was part of an animal rescue group and convinced them that she would find homes for my mom and all her pups.

It was a good thing she did what she did 'cause not long after here we came... twelve of us! Some of us were short, like me, others were tall. Some had short hair and others had long. It was a big mixed up group. For some reason, three didn't make it and there were nine of us left.

The nice lady had some friends and sent them an email about us. That's how my new mom and dad found out about me. They came to see me last Saturday and I was running around with one of my brothers and one of my sisters... my mom was there, too. The rest of us went to stay with some other rescue people until we could find permanent homes. My new mom and dad wanted to take me home but I still had to learn something before I could go with them. At least, I think I had to learn something. I'm pretty sure I heard someone say I was gonna get tutored first.

I musta learned whatever it was because they came to PetSmart this afternoon and picked me up. I got a new collar, and a new toy, and some new treats, and the nice lady who made sure I was here to be loved by my new mom and dad said goodbye.

I was okay until we got into the car. Mom and dad put me in one of those boxes with the metal doors and I wasn't too happy about it. I was really tired, though, and gave up the fight pretty quick and fell asleep. When I woke up we were almost to my new home where I met my new brother, JD. I was a little scared of him at first and tried to act all tough but we really hit it off and we're starting to understand each other.

Well, I have a fuzzy carrot that needs some chewing on so I'm going to go do that.

Until next time...