My First Birthday Photos

Uhum! Okay its been a long time since my website and Blog has been updated, but being a puppy is a bigtime occupation for both me and my 'people'

On Monday, July 21, 2008 I will be ONE YEAR OLD! Forget the puppy food any my childless ways (okay never mind about the last point).

To see my photo shoot to mark this suspicious occasion (or do I mean stupendous?, auspicious?, whatever!) bookmark and visit my photo album at:

www.picasaweb.google.com/alan.zingale

(I don't have my own Google account yet and Alan has to do most of my typing anyway...my slippers are just too big for the keyboard and I hate to mess up my nails).

As they say in the dog world...I'll smell you later, check your pee-mail, and it's ruff-woof world out there!

BB

New Pix of the Pixie!

Hello People! It's me...Buster B.

These are pix of me that Alan took of me at Pepper Beach Park. There's no Pepper at the park, and they don't let dog's on the beach (which is fine with me). It's just a fun place for me to hang with my peeps (people friends).

Tomorrow I'm going to the vet (wasn't veteran's day last week?). I'm going to meet Dr. Burger for the first time. Sound's like a nice man...I mean, how can a person with Burger for a last name be anything else but yummy.

If I am good and I behave, I've been promised a visit to TGIF in Melbourne (a patio table, plz!)

Here is a pix of me chasing a leaf. These leaves are REAL sneaky.

TTYL...BB

BAILEY! BAILEY! BAILEY!

Hi there! Sorry I havent writen lately, but I've been a very busy puppy. The big news is that Alan's Aunt Ann has arrived for the winter season with her new puppy Bailey (read: My NEW playmate and classmate!)

I haven't figured out my new digital camera, but Alan promises to upload a pic of Bailey (or better yet Bailey and me) on the blog soon.

Alan did an AWFUL thing and left me for some stupid biz trip to New York City and Las Vegas...and NO, I didn't even get a STUPID T-SHIRT as a souvenir!

Michael has been my 'caretaker' therefore for over a week, and I think I pooped him out. We have been playing games, going to class, and just overall having a great time...but I missed Alan and I was happy the kid finally came home...abeit with a case of Jet Lag. But that's another story. But granted Alan has been doing more sleeping than I have the last two days!

Bailey is named so because his coat is somewhat the color of Bailey's Irish Creme...whatever that is! Ann says he is a mutt but Bailey told me he is a Maltipoo. (I tend to believe Bailey on this one).

Bailey is a bit bigger and older than I am, but we have lots of fun (ok...I think I have more fun with Bailey than he has with me, but we ARE GREAT PALS). And I've only known Bailey a few days. (I sort of am attracted to everyone...but that's another story!).

Weather has been nice but a bit chilly late at night and early morning. Last night I got to cuddle in bed outside my crate with the big dogs. WOOF!

I hope to learn my digital camera soon. Until then, its up to Alan to feed the pix to my blog!

luv and woofs! BB (Buster Benjamin)

Musings while in lock up...

First, let me say this...I like my crate. It is not a prison as some would like to describe it. It's a nice place to chill out for a little while, and a fave for sleeping in.

But sometimes, I want to make an impression on this two dudes I'm living with. Something like, 'aren't I so cute you have to get me out of here?' That's the mood I was in when Alan took this photo of me in my crate with my yellow bear. This was not a 'posed' shot. (At least Alan didn't pose it). I get to play with some of my fave toys when I'm in my crate, and this day I just felt like showing off yellow bear...Isn't he (and me) sooo cute? I thought the grated door adds a nice effect, don't you? Alan often times just leaves the door open so he can reach in and give me a pat on my head or let me sniff his hand so he let's me know he's never too far away in the middle of the night.

Oh, by the way, here's a pix of me and Michael battling over a piece of paper. (He won). Seems that Michael helps Alan with his expense reports (whatever that is) and I was just trying to help (sort of).

I kant reed to well but I thought I made out somthin like Mariot on this piece of paper.

So, I have to apologize for not writin mor often, but the life of a puppy is full of lots of work...wake up, pee, poop, eat, play, sleep, pee, poop, play, sleep....you get the idea. I'm starting to learn my way around the neighborhood too, as Michael and Alan take me to diffrent parks to pee in, I mean, play in.

Here's a pix of me in a park, you don't expect me to remember which one, do you? I'm only 15 weeks old, for goodness sake!

I don't think Alan zoomed in enough, but I think I'm chasing a leaf...a BIG leaf!

Michael thinks I might like learning agility courses when I'm older. I saw some of the equipment last Saturday at my first day of group kindergarten. I met a nice daschund named Mike (not Michael, like my owner...but similar, you know). Most of the other dogs were bigger than Mike and me, but after I got used to seeing so many dogs, I introduced myself to the more frendilier ones. I had the most fun running through the fabric tunnel. It got LONGER and LONGER each time. (I think Cissy had somethin to do with it). Cissy is my teacher. She comes to my house once a week or so to play with me and teach this dog some new tricks (for treats)...but that's another story called Halloween which we skipped this year caus I was too young to go trick or treating. So I showed off all the stuff Cissy had already showed me at home to the other older dogs. Sit, down, come, you know...the basics. Everyone seemed to be very impressed that I already new my name...come on' that's so BASIC!

Well, I'm gettin tired of typing...my paws have trubl reaching some of the keys...I'll sign off for now...

Luv, BB

Sleeping with the Angel

Yes, the 'angel' is the one on the right! Michael snapped this shot of me and the little angel this morning. That's us on the loveseat in the living room this morning. Early morning!

Seems BB didn't want to come out of his crate when Michael was following his normal 'routine' at 2:30 am. Seems BB does his business when Michael does his. (Not exactly at the same time and not exactly at the same place, thank goodness!) But not this morning.

Buster wanted to stay in his crate. That got Michael a tad worried. So I woke up and it got me worried too. Why wouldn't the wee little one come out of his crate at 2:30 am? Michael was convinced that BB has some business I used to call 'visiting Mrs. Murphy' when I was little. A few minutes of coaxing and the little guy stretched his legs out of his crate and walked out. Michael was right about needing to do 'something' but by that time, everyone (except Michael) wanted to go back to sleep. BB and I never made it out of the living room, and when I got up this morning, Michael greeted me with these two 'splendid' photos of BB and I cutting the zzzz's. I've heard of a lap dog, but a neck dog?

Alan, asleep with the 'angel'

The gathering storm

This morning I awoke to an eerie silence. For the first time since Sunday evening the wind wasn't rattling the storm shutters. I could hardly wait for sunrise, not so much to roll back the shutters and gaze once again upon the still-roiled Atlantic, but to get Crazed Puppy to the park to burn off some energy.

A high pressure area stalled to our north and Tropical Storm Noel to our south have been funneling 30-40 mph winds across our barrier island all week, and it has not been to Buster's liking. On Sunday afternoon with the winds just starting, I took Buster to his potty lawn outside the condo building and his little ears started doing the Flying Nun. When I tried to lead him to the car for our afternoon walk in the park, he just sat his little doggy butt down and refused to budge. The unmistakable message: No park. Back inside. Now.

OK, we'd had our morning walk, so a little tug of war, some indoor chase-the-ball and some solo shake-the-chew-monkey burned off enough energy. By late evening, though, I'd had to close the shutters on the west balcony as well as the windward east balcony.

The west balcony is where we've installed the grass-sod Pet-a-Potty for those times when an elevator ride and a walk across the parking lot are just not, well, feasible. With the eddying wind blowing rain horizontally onto the balcony, it didn't seem fit for poop nor pee. I thought closing the shutters would help. But to Buster's mind shutters where there once was a fifth-floor view did not seem at all like the spot he remembered. And to make matters worse, the shutters were rattling.

So when Buster peed by the sliding door rather than on the sod, I gave him a pass. Chalk up another lesson: One must never relent on potty training, even in a storm. For now it seems, anywhere is fine out there on the balcony, a message I definitely did not wish to communicate and must now rescind.

But the worst problem was the accumulating puppy energy. By Day 2 Buster no longer was afraid of the wind and would willingly accompany me to the downstairs potty lawn, but all the windy commotion made him hyper. Although the hype would build to frenetic running on his leash, once back inside, puppy continued bouncing, now off the walls. There's a limit to how much tug-of-war and chase-the-ball a 60-year-old doggy daddy can manage, and chew monkey was losing its appeal. Add to this a teething puppy's insatiable need to chew, on anything really but especially on things you don't want insatiably chewed.

And then, this morning, merciful calm. We just got back from our long delayed walk in the park, puppy damp slippers to chin from cavorting on the wet grass. A long drink of water, a rigorous roll-around-in-it toweling and now, thank the Great God Fido, Buster actually slumbers beside me.

But I must not linger. I must get chew toys aligned for the Chomper's inevitable awakening.

School daze

Yesterday my new teacher paid me a house visit. Her name is Cissy and she was very nice. She had lots and lots of treats. She taught Alan and Michael how to give them to me just for putting my little doggy butt down on the floor. That would make them all happy and they'd make a big fuss over me.

Cissy made a clicking noise whenever I made her happy. Sounded kind of like one of those bugs I tried to eat in the park a couple days ago. After she left, Alan and Michael started clicking too. I put my rear-end down and they click and say something, I'm not sure what it is yet, but it's the same thing over and over. Then they give me some kibble.

After I do that a few times they start wanting me to lie down on the floor with my paws out in front before they'll click again. Humans have such short attention spans.

Later I heard Alan and Michael talking about taking me out to visit Cissy someplace where she teaches other dogs too and we can have recess and all run around together like I used to do with my sisters and cousins before I came to live here. I like to run.

I think I'll go now and see if my humans still remember how to give me kibble if I sit my rear down ... maybe that's what they're saying, "sit." It's so easy to make these humans happy, but I don't want to spoil them too much.