Another Pet Food Recall

Moomie wanted me to pass the word about the peanut butter recall extending to pet products now. Click here to read all about it. Be careful, everyone!

Levi

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Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was my first birthday. Me's not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the good side me's got a new avatar to replace the one on right that was taken on my adoption day when me's was three months old. Me's also got a cake and play date with my cousin. On the bad side my Moomie made me make a list of everything Levi learned last year and everything me's still needs to learn. It took forever to write!

What I learned This Year ---

To pee and poop outside. To ask to go outside and bound on the window to come inside. Me's learned what Moomie means when she says: No, sit, off, stay, heel, stand, down, up, kiss, back (walk backwards), and come---me's does that real good outside but Levi doesn't see why me's has to do it inside. Moomie can't get lost in the house. Me's can also: Shake left and right, circle left and right, bow, go through Moomie's legs left and right, play the 'which hand' game, and the 'find it' game. But my favorite lesson learned is how to eat snow.

What Me's Still Needs to Work on---

- Not to play with toads
- Not to get so excited when company comes
- Not to take off Daady's socks when it's not bedtime
- Not to bark at Mom's morning doves and squirrels
- Not to squat like a little girl to pee
- Not to take the leaves off the house plant
- Not to keep forgetting to use my "I" word when me's type. Daady never says it, why do me---oops, why do I have to do say it?
- Not to sit and bark at Moomie when she's at her computer for reasons she can't figure out. She calls it a schnauzer thing.
- How to fetch a ball. Moomie tries SO hard to teach me that but me's just doesn't see the point of that game.
- How to put myself in time out when Moomie tells me.

My Best Skills---

Me's automatically does a great sit/stay out the fall zone when my Daady transfers in and out of his wheelchair.

Me's give Daady the best goodnight kisses. First me gets a good drink of water so my beard is all wet, then me jumps on the bed when the light goes out and kisses him in the ear.


This is my cousin Ted and me taking a break from playing keep away with my favorite toy, a sock with a knot in it.


This is me investigating the cakie thing.


This is me playing the 'find it' game. Moomie puts a treat under one of the three paper cups and me's has to watch the cups go around and around before me can have the treat underneath one of the cups.


Next birthday can you all come over to play with me and Ted? Love, Levi

From my friend, Tibby!

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Tail Biting Time

This is my Daady's really, really, really old friend. His name is Donkey Footstool which is a strange name compared to mine---Levi Strauss. Notice that he has a weird bunch of hair sticking out of his butt. Moomie calls it a tail and it used to be longer and thicker.

Yesterday when my pawrents went out for lunch me's decided to turn Donkey Footstool's butt into a schnauzer butt like mine. Clean, trim and sleek.

But Moomie did not like that Levi surgically removing that tail. Can you believe that! She gathered all that hair up and spent a long time trying to put it back together again.


After Donkey Breath got his tail back, Moomie tried to get us to kiss and make up, but we didn't do it. When she wasn't listening he threaten to bite me if Levi tries to grab his tail again and me promised him next time me will hide all that hair so Moomie can't find it.


At least someone appreciates my talents even if Moomie and Donkey Breath doesn't. This award came from my friend Tibby. Thank you, Tibby!

This award came with these words: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Levi is passing this award on to:

Deetz

Ruby

Shelly

Alanis

Hershey

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Training Humans

My Moomie gets SO mixed up! She's old you know, but is that really an excuse? She should be better at following instructions by her age. Do other doggies have trouble training their humans? It's been horrible weather here in Michigan today and my feet got cold. When that happened me's needed to warm them up on Moomie's belly, but when Levi---ever so politely---barked my request to Moomie, she put me outside where my feet get even colder! That happened five or six time. FINALLY, me's got her to understand that Levi needed to sleep on her lap while she did her computer work.

After awhile me's warmed up and decided to play with Mr. Froggie, my new buddy. Did you hear what happened to him? His arm accidentally got caught in my mouth and Levi had to chewed it in half. Moomie sewed him back together but his arm got shorter and put on backward. Why did she do that? Now me's have to chew it off again so she can get it on right
side up.

Levi did make some progress training Moomie, though. Every since my pawrents adopted me we've been having this back and forth argument about where my daytime bed belongs. Moomie wanted in the kitchen next to her computer desk but me would drag it into the living room a million times a day and park it in front of the deck door where there is a great view of the bird feeder. FINALLY, after five months of this Moomie got trained to leave my daybed in the living room. Me's nearly cheered out loud when she told Daady last week that she's going to buy me another daybed for the kitchen. Oh, and those branding irons and old cowboy boots of my daady's---they got moved. Something was said about chewing or knocking things over and hurting myself so Levi now has that sunny corner by the desk all to my self.

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Dog Dancing---is She Crazy?

A bunch of us dogaroons up here at the Rainbow Bridge were lounging under the tennis ball trees discussing our humans and their habit of making New Years Resolutions. So I decided to peek down at my family and see what silly things Mom put on her list this year. Mom's a list kind of person so I knew she'd have one. Years ago she even made one of those "100 Things to do Before I Die" lists and recently she found it again. She'd actually done about half the things on her list and decided she should make a new list. The first thing she put down was: "Shorten this list to 25 things to do before I die. I'm old!"

I digress. For her New Year's Resolutions Mom had put down the customary weight and exercise related things that seem to be required for humans to list. She had a few improve-your-personality type things as well, pretty standard stuff for Mom. Then she had one crazy, totally unobtainable thing listed. Even crazier than the time she vowed to learn how to belly dance. In 2009 she wants to---get this---learn how to do dog dancing with my baby brother, Levi!

Mom thinks it will kill a flock of birds with one stone. 1) It will give her some exercise; 2) it will give Levi some exercise; 3) it will create a stronger bond between Mom and Levi; and 4) it will entertain Dad with their practice sessions. What Mom left out of the equation is that fact that she's old and she can hardly walk. Sure, she'd got one new knee but the other one won't even bend. It's shot and needs replacing, too. She can't walk fast or for long without pain, let alone run and if she tries to dance, she'll look like a character in a low budget Frankenstein movie. I love her but a hunchbacked old woman dragging a leg behind her doesn't exactly inspire my confidence in her ability to pull off dog dancing with Levi.

Levi, the little trouper, is doing his part. Already he's learned how to bow, shake right and left, do circles on command and is learning to go through Mom's legs. He can also do the normal obedience things like sit, down, stand and heel. And get this. When I looked down on them today Mom was sitting in her rolling computer chair trying to get Levi to back up and come forward as she rolled to and from him. I think she's mixing wheelchair dancing up with dog dancing. I know she's watched those wheelchair dancing competitions but I'm not sure she has a clue what dog dancing is all about.

I tried to talk to my older brother, Jason, up here the Bridge about Mom's craziest. He's a full-fledged angel-dog and a newbie trainer on top of that. But he says I can't interfere. I tried to tell him she's going to fall and break her neck but Jason is firm about the rules. No ifs, ands or buts about it I can't erase 'dog dancing' off Mom's New Year's Resolution list and her memory and replace it with 'knit everyone on the block a sweater.' It's a pain in the butt sometimes to have all this angel-power not be able to use it in so-called wasteful ways. How is it wasteful to make my mom act her age? On the good side, most of her New Year's Resolutions don't make it to April. ©

Cooper

Wheelchair Dancing Competition

Wheelchair and Dog Dancing

Paragility Show and Dog Dancing

Carolyn and Rookie, Dog Dancing Team

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Look at This!

Oh, my gosh, look what Levi got from Latte & Cookie and Abbie!


The award states: "This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!" In other words, blogs that receive this award "are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Levi is tickled pink to get this award. But meanie Moomie is making me pass it on to other worthy dogs. Since me has to do that, Levi is giving it away to my new and old friends:

Tibby Tales
Fenway
Willow
Lady Kaos
Ruby

Okay, that only five but that's as high as me can count. Me's still a baby.

Smell ya, later. Levi

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