Do you know what my mom has done to me now? It's called a Pixie and it is my newest tormentor.

She was supposed to be my girlfriend. With friends like her, I'd rather have a cat.

When she was little (in this picture we had only had her a few days) it was ok. I kinda thought she was cute.

So this one day I tried to play with her and she bit me! Bit Me! The man! The boss! Not only that, but where she bit me was, well, not cool. That's all I can say on a family blog.

So that was it. No more Mr. Niceguy.

I tried growling, nipping, running, but it didn't matter she just kept coming. She has stolen all my toys, sleeps in my bed, stole my blankie, eats my food and steals my biscuits. She never quits!

Poor Mom. She tries to keep her from biting me, but when Mom's not looking, she sneaks up on me and pounces. Ouch! In the nose, the foot, the ear, or that other place.

Mom fixed her though. She had surgery. No pups for her! Ha! Mom said that it would be more trouble than she could handle and with my age and all, it could even be dangerous for us both. I tried to be romantic, licked her ears, gave her kisses. All she did was bite me! What's up with that? Any of you guys out there have that problem? So now it's just me trying to find some peace.

She is 6 months old now and has found her voice so it probably won't be long before she steals my blog too.

Keep Waggn',

Spike (& Pixie)

Health and Happiness

Guess you were wondering what happened to me. It has been a while since I wrote anything.

To be honest, nothing. I just haven't had anything to say. Sometimes life is like that. One day just follows another. But the weather is changing and Mom and I are outside more. I hope that will inspire me to write.

March 26 was my birthday. I turned 10. That's 70 in people years. I let my Mom put this silly hat on for the picture. All these years and she still manages to humiliate me. But sometimes you do silly things for the ones you love. I love my mom and I know she loves me, so I let her put silly hats on my head and dress me in jackets, sweaters and other costumes. It seems to make her happy and that's what I live for. My mom's happiness and dog biscuits.

I have been thinking about getting older. 10 is getting up there for a dog, but you know, I still play with my ball, walk fast, and eat only when I am hungry. I still like to ride in cars, chase squirrels and help Mom in the yard. I have decided that it is the simple things in life that matter and I try to make the most of every day. 

Some days are not so good. Rainy days in particular are a drag. I don't want to do anything much but sleep and go for rides. Hot days are hard. I can't run my ball around as long or walk as far when it is hot. But that's ok. That's part of getting older. Doing what you can and not worrying about what you can't. Mom says there's an actor name Clint Eastwood who played a character named Dirty Harry (strange name for a person; I wonder if he played with his ball in the dirt like I do). He said "A man's got to know his limitations." I think he is right. If I run too much in the heat, I get very, very hot and uncomfortable. Then I have to drink so much water I feel like I'm going to throw up. I don't go out in the rain without my rain coat on. And I don't go out in the cold without my jacket or sweater. I make sure to drink enough water and eat my dog food, even though I prefer Mom's chicken or steak.

Sometimes I eat things I shouldn't and then I get a tummy ache. Or I stay out in the cold too long and get the shivers. But Mom is there to take care of me. 

So the bottom line is this...

Eat right, get exercise, don't worry if you are a little slower, enjoy each day and listen to your mom.

Keep Waggin'

Spike

The Mouse and the Lights

It's almost Christmas. I love Christmas cause I get presents. I usually get chew sticks, a new frisbee, and one or two squeaky toys. It's great. And of course the smells. Lots of good smells. Cookies, cake, and meat.

Sometimes people come to the door with packages and I get to smell people and packages and get patted on the head.

Mom is very busy. She's making stuff and putting things away and putting other pretty stuff out. Like there is this little tree that has twinkle lights that move. It's on the table. I didn't think trees could grow on tables.

Mom was looking for lights for outside. She looked everywhere. I tried to help, but I didn't know what they smelled like or even what "lights" are, but I followed her everywhere anyway just in case I could help. She even called Dad to ask him if he remembered where they were, but he didn't know either.

Finally, she talked to God. She does that when she can't figure things out. I don't think He heard her quite right though. 

The next thing I know she's taking everything out of the closet and mumbling about how messy it was. I walked by and stopped dead in my tracks. A stinky smell! I had smelled that smell before, but Mom shooed me away before I could fully check it out.

Finally, she found it. No not the lights, a mouse! A very dead mouse.

Mom gently scooped up the mouse and put it in the trash bag. Then she cleaned the closet and sprayed tons of better smelling stinky stuff. I guess it was an improvement, but I kinda thought the mouse smelled more interesting.

Then the neatest thing happened. As Mom was walking out the door to the garage to take out the trash, she looked up and there were her lights!

God sure answers prayers in a funny way, but I guess if he hadn't led Mom to the closet first, that mouse would have caused a real big stink and a big mess. I guess He really does know best and I am glad my mom listens to Him.

Til next time,

Keep Waggin

Spike

The New Ride

There's a rule in dogdom. All real dogs love to ride in cars. I sure do.

Mom has a SUV with lots room and windows. I love windows. I like to look out while we're moving or even better, stick my head out and get all the smells. Sometimes it's a bit over powering. Even a dog can get too much of a good thing. Plus it's not very comfortable having your ears flapping in the wind.

Now I have a choice of rides. The Pest got a new car. It's metallic apple green. I don't know what that is. Dogs only see in shades of gray, but I can see it is different then Mom's car and it smells different. It doesn't smell like me. It will though cause the Pest says she will take me for rides. I've been in it a couple of times. The seats are slippery so I have trouble standing up. Mom says I need to sit when the car is moving so I guess having slippery seats that make me sit is a good thing.

The Pest wanted her car to go in the garage with Mom's. She was afraid that something bad would happen to it if she left it outside. The problem was that there was not room in the garage for her new car. We had to clean out the junk and do some rearranging before the car would fit.

Mom says it's like what God does to our hearts. If we let Him, He cleans out the junk so He can put a new, clean spirit inside. Then we get to go riding with Jesus. I wonder if we have to sit down? 

Mom Stays Cool

Friday was quite a day for Mom and me. It started out great. The temperature was cool enough so I could go in the car. First we dropped the Pest off at school then we headed to Mom's next place she had to go. Since it was cool, she left me in the car. I wasn't too happy about that, but I knew it was my job to guard the car so I was a good boy and stayed in the car.

It seemed like forever, but finally Mom came back. I gave her a kiss and she gave me a biscuit because I was a good boy. When Mom tried to start the car so we could go, nothing happened. Not a sound came out from the car. It was very strange. Mom got out and opened the car's mouth. I thought she was going to give the car a pill like she gives me when I am sick, but nope. She looked inside the car's mouth and then closed it again. 

Mom had forgotten her phone so she had to go inside and talk. Since she didn't know how long it would be before the car came, she put my harness on so I could go inside with her to wait.

Boy, was that great! There were people there and they really liked me! I did some of my best tricks like sitting up and standing on my hind legs. And of course, my tail was in wag overdrive.

The girl behind the desk asked Mom why she wasn't upset. I wanted to know too. Usually, things like this really make Mom upset, but not today. Mom told her that there was no point. It was no big deal. The weather was nice, she was close to home, and she wouldn't have to pay to get the car fixed. She said she knew that God was in control so she was calm. The girl seemed encouraged by that. I was too. I hate to see Mom upset. I never know how to help her.

Soon the car doctor came and he opened up the car's mouth and attached wires from his car to Mom's. Mom turned the key and voom the car roared like a big kitty. We were off.

Mom took me home because she needed to take the car to another car doctor so I had to stay home. I was okay with that cause I was thirsty and sleepy.

She wasn't gone too long. She was very happy when she got home. She called Dad and told him all that had happened. I think he was glad too.

Then it was time to go and get the Pest from school. I was a little nervous that the car would still be sick, but it purred right along.

Mom has had to ask God to help her a lot the last few years and He always seems to help. I'm glad Mom has God to help her. 

Best Buddies

Remember when I told you about Thumper? Well here she is! Isn't she just the cutest thing? She's was almost as big as me! She was fast too. She went to heaven about two years ago, and I miss her a lot. Let me tell you about her.

About nine years ago, the Pest (I'll tell you about her some other time) brought home this bunny named Thumper. She had been injured by a bad doggie (not me) and my mom was taking care of her.

Thumper was as black as night. Not a bit of white or brown or any other color on her. She was much smaller then. So was I cause I was just a pup.

Anyway, I was fascinated by her. She smelled different to me. And she sure didn't look like any dog I had ever seen. I had never seen or smelled a bunny before, so to me she was just a weird dog or something. As you can tell from the picture I loved her ears. In fact, I love ears period. If you get your ears within reach of my tongue, I'll lick them.

Thumper was unusual. She didn't go potty outside like me. In fact, she didn't go outside hardly at all except in her play area and then only when mom or dad could be outside to watch out for hawks or cats. She had a box she went potty in. Kinda like a cat but not as stinky. Whoo, cats are stinky!

I have heard that dogs, especially Jack Russells, are not supposed to like rabbits. We are supposed to hunt them and even (I can hardly say it) eat them! I would never eat Thumper, in fact, I never even nipped her. Or growled at her or anything bad like that. She was my friend. It didn't matter that she was a rabbit and I was a dog. Or that she was black and I was white. What mattered was that we liked each other and had fun together.

We would play chase around the house and hide n' seek. When she would get into a hiding place that mom couldn't get to, I would use my nose to push on her butt til I made her get out and then I would herd her to mom and gently put my paw on her back so mom could catch her. Thumper would always get real flat when I put my paw on her back. It was really funny.

We took naps together sometimes. She was very warm and soft.

We didn't share food, cause bunnies don't eat meat. They eat vegetables and fruit. I tried her food once. Yuk! Give me steak anyday!

I am glad that God made bunnies different from dogs. I think that being different is okay.

Love your friends,

Spike

Stinky Boy - God's Love

Mom gave me a bath the other day.

I don't really care for baths. I like dog smell, not people smell. I mean I don't like people smell on me. I like people smell, on them.

Mom gets so excited when I am clean. She says I glow and she sniffs me and tells me how good I smell and she uses that tone of voice that gets me all quivery and my tail just wags and wags. I do love to please her, but I still don't like to be clean.

Yesterday I was out in my yard checking on my territory. I try to do this at least three times a day, more if I can get Mom to let me out. If I had thumbs and longer legs, I'd do it myself, but I don't so I need Mom to do it for me.

Anyway, I was checking out my territory and oooh the smells. There was bird poop, bunny poop, and squirrel smells. There is a lizard I keep trying to catch so I had to try to track him down too. I was very busy.

As I was enjoying exploring my yard, I came across a different smell and I couldn't resist. I rolled in it. Ha, Ha I thought, now I really smell like something other than a person. Oh, boy!

Oh boy is right. When I came to the door to come in and Mom saw me, she freaked.

She grabbed me and put me right into the tub and bathed me again! I didn't understand all the words she was saying, but I could tell she was NOT happy with me.

Afterward, when I was all clean again, she hugged me and sniffed me and told me she loved me. I got all quivery again and my tail wagged and wagged. I was happy cause I knew that my mom still loved me even after I got all stinky.

I think God is like that too. When we get stinky with sin, He can't be around us so He cleans us up and then loves on us and tells in the special tone of voice He has that we glow and smell good.

I will try not to do it again, but I know that if I do, Mom will clean me up and love me anyway. Just like God does.

Till next time,

Keep wagg'n

Spike