Vacation Number One continued

If you know much about us, Saint Bernard dogs, you are probably aware that we are not cheetahs. Cheetahs are fast. We aren't. Some people think it's a sign of laziness, but what they don't realize that being observant and contemplating a lot is actually a sing of intelligence.

OK, where was I? Oh, yes..., that. Mom and Sammy went around the hill, and I stayed behind. When I turned around, they were gone, so I panicked and ran to look for them. I was standing on top of the hill, and they were about 10 yards below. So I carefully started to descend down the hill. I made a couple of steps, and suddenly heard mom loudly saying, "No, Lancelot, stay there!" I thought she was upset that I didn't come right away, so I thought, "Oh, I see. If I go down faster, mom will be happier". I started making bigger steps, but all of a sudden I felt the front of my body shifting forward and I wasn't on my paws any longer! I was in fact rapidly moving down the hills, head over hills. Ouch, ouch, ouch! I think I am not moving any longer... CAN I move? I tried to get up. EVERYTHING hurt! Mom came and was very-very concerned. And I felt awful that I didn't listen to her.
Needless to say, I didn't do much for the rest of the trip. My dad took my crate with us so I either lay in my crate or in the back of our truck while everyone was exploring the surroundings.

I had to be on guard though, this time to protect the truck.

Vacation Number One

I apologize for such a prolonged silence.So much has happened recently, that I don't know where to start.... We had many stressful events that lasted about 3 months, but it's all over now. Perhaps, I will let my mom tell that story, because even though I am learning so fast, I am not very good at figuring out the complexity of my humans' lives.

What I can do well is tell you about what happened to me, and may be show you some photos.

Summer is here, and it's almost half over, and even though everyone seems to love summer, I have very mixed feelings about this time.

As you know, I am a Saint Bernard. Saint Bernards are not particularly fond of hot weather. Lots of fur, you know... You can't exactly take it off. But I so enjoy being with my family and I ALMOST want to say, "Heat is worth it."

Well, back to the Summer Trip # 1.

We drove for a long time and stayed at this place for 3 nights. My family was really excited to go there, they absolutely love this place. As for me...
Well, read on.

 

The thing on the right is what my family was really attracted to. They went inside it and then all I ever heard was sound of their steps. Then they disappeared from sight. Sometimes I would hear my name, but I never, ever could figure out where they were calling me from. I looked around really hard, trying to find where the sound was coming from. Sometimes mom or dad would tell me to sit or to lie down. I couldn't see them, but since I always do what they ask, I sat or lay down for them.

(And I never went inside that thing with them).

 

Oh, I almost forgot. If you read my other memoirs, you know about feisty Sammy. He went with us too this time.

 

Here he is.

I am sure you think he is cute. That might be true, however, he is a very serious dog with no sense of humor AT ALL. But one thing we have in common - we both love mom (however, Sammy loves ONLY mom, and I love all my family).

He does everything on his terms. But... I was still grateful he was around during this trip.

 

When we arrived, everyone was happy and excited to be there. I listened and learned, so I am pretty sure I can do a good job telling you the "Vacation Number One" story.

 

Dad and my boy carried a lot of things into the "tall thing" on the picture. The took up lots of boxes, the thing called "ice chest" - they could have left some ice for me...The only thing I can't understand is where it all went.

 

When evening came, mom and my boy went for a walk. Sammy follows mom everywhere, so he went with them, of course. And I wanted to go, too, but there were so many new smells, new sights and little bugs in the grass, that I got very distracted. I remember mom calling my name, but for some reason it was very faint... I thought to myself, "Just a second, I am coming with you", but didn't say anything (well, I couldn't, really). And that was a VERY BIG MISTAKE.

 

All of a sudden, I turned around, and they were gone. Oh, no. What do I do now? I will go look for them! Go to the top of this hill, smell, smell, OK, I think I can smell them. I am getting closer - YEAH! There they are! "Hello, mommy, here I come," I so wanted to yell. But instead I just decided not to waste another minute and go. Down this hill on the picture to catch up with my mommy and my boy.

I am tired... I will write more tomorrow. Good night.

 

 

 

 

A Very Special Spring Break

Hello everyone! I feel awesome and ispired to write today! I just had another adventure. At this point, the biggest one in my life (I am 1.5 years old now by the way).
My mom and my boy had a break at their school and our whole family went away. And I mean AWAY! It was a very long drive. In human hours, it was 3, and in young dog hours, it was forever... But - I still enjoyed it because I was a little worried I might have to stay behind and watch the house. It is my job, you know.
Anyway... When we got there, it looked like this:

and like this

 

Lots of huge rocks and lots of places to run around. Kind of brown everywhere and not very many tall trees. Quiet, many trails and even a river nearby. Smells like sage (that's what mom said), and very windy. Not like where we live at all. 

I had a very special job to do while we were there. You see, my boy needs me by his side. Sometimes he decides he wants to go places on his own, and I have to be with him every step of the way. When I was very little, my birth parents taught us that that's what we are destined to do - love and protect humans. Pretty much the same as

 serve and protect. 

 

 

But we did have fun, too. First time in my life I thought I would try to get really wet in the river. I wasn't sure at first, but they I just took a chance and jumped in. Deeper and deeper I went. I've heard that all dogs know how to swim, but I didn't know what it meant for sure. So, I walked around in the water, and it did feel so good - cool, making my skin kind of shivery and ticklish.

 

 

And then we had a fire. It was so wonderful being together with my family and relaxing to the sound of crackling wood and my humans laughing and having a good time. And even though I can't laugh, I was smiling inside. And of course, always keeping a close watch. After all, that's my real destiny - to keep my humans safe.

Lucky Dog Weekend

Well, weekend is over. It was sunny and dry both Saturday and Sunday, so my mom took me and my boy for a long relaxing walk.
On Saturday I got in trouble... really wanted to play with another dog and mom didn't think it was a great idea. She said it was a good thing we were on the other side of the fence. The dog sure barked a lot. His owner barked a lot too. He had a different pitch than most people though. Talked slow, slurred his words a little and walked funny. Mom didn't want to hang around him and his dog too much. We left very quickly. Sunday walk went much better. We made a nice long detour where two magnolia trees grow. Mom was taking pictures of the trees, and my boy and I ran around and chased each other. I got a couple of sticks and carried them around for a while. Then I got bored.
We walked for a while along the fence of the dog park, and mom kept taking pictures of trees, my boy and me too:). Then we finally came to an opening and found ourselved inside of the dog park where I found a nice tennis ball and... oh, boy! It was fun throwing it up and catching it, then my boy would pick it up and throw it far away, and I would ruuuuun to get it..... I dreamt about such a walk many times, and hey, dreams do come true!
Here are some pictures mom took while we were playing:

 

 

 

 

 And then I was tired... I love relaxing just as much I love walks...

 

Good night and thanks for reading!

 

Chilling on Saturday...

Happy Saturday to everyone who is reading this;

Not much has been going on, with all this rain and cold weather outside, I only get an occasional walk now and then, otherwise, just stay home and chill... Mom and dad work during the day, so that's how I look when they aren't home.

 

Then they come home and I usually tell them how much I missed them:

 

And more talking....

 

 

 

 

Sorry for a long break

I know, I know, it's been a while. Lots of things going on in a busy dog's life. Mom went back to work (she teaches everybody!), Dad is building a VERY BIG kennel (I am thinking it's probably a replacement kennel for my mom and dad though - I don't need one THAT big...). So, I am it. Taking care of the household when everybody is gone. Granted, I do get to take a lot of naps, but would you call it a resful sleep when no one is home and I am responsible if something goes wrong? That should explain my long absence...
So, I was going to talk about encountering another "small dog syndrome" creature in the last post, and never got around to it...

(our park)

... One day mom and I were talking a walk in the neighborhood during one lovely morning. We usually have a route we always take. Go through the neighborhood, then wait for the traffic to go by before one busy road, and then - there is something I always look forward to - a park, well, it's actually an open feild, but still lovely to run through... There mom always puts me in a "down" stay - she calls it "dog training", then she keeps walking away, and I paitiently wait until she waves... and then - I just go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really fast, as fast as I can. And run some more. Then we cross the park, my mom says "walk", and I just join her by her side, and we keep strolling on the neighboring streets until we make a loop and come back to our kennel, oh, I mean "house" in a human language. And by the way, what's that long line that most dogs have attached to their moms and dads? I wonder if it keeps your human from running away? Mom and I don't use that sort of thing.

OK, let's get back to the story. This time our walk wasn't as peaceful as usual. We were walking on one of the sidewalk, when something really square and short ran across the street straight over to us. He snorted, made noise and agressively clenched his teeth. I was going to say "hello" anyway in spite of his weird looks, when all of a sudden I felt this sharp pain in my side. I screamed, mom stuck her hand around my side to push the creature away, and got bit too! Her finger bled, my side hurt, and we walked home really fast where my dad was waiting. When mom told him what happened, he called someone and there was a lot of commotion, then some guy came and dad talked to him for a long time. What I got out of it was that square thing and it's dad were punished for being mean to us. I felt bad I couldn't protect myself and my mom. But I was only 8 months then. I am older now, and I won't let anyone get so feisty with us next time.

I need to find a bigger friend

Sorry I haven't written much. I've been busy lately with the beginning of a school year and all. My boy is back at school, my mom is, too. Dad is busy building something (I suspect it could be a dog house for me, but it looks almost too big?), and my mom's aunt doesn't want to have anything to do with me, because of.. well, it's another story, and again, not a very glorious one...I wouldn't be surprised if I had to move outside, so a dog house would be handy. 

Every dog I meet is smaller then me. Every dog starts out by moving it's nose close to me, and suddenly transforming into a super agressive monster actively attacking my nose or something worse. Mom thinks it's funny - I overheard her talking to dad the other day. I don't mean the attacks are funny. It's the way it's starts. The owners always say from a distance,"What a cute puppy you have, can they say "Hi"? My dog would never hurt a fly!" Then they approach, and - it's all over with. May be they never never hurt a fly because they have been waiting for a perfect moment to hurt something much bigger, like a St. Bernard dog. And every one of them tries!