Good Day, Bad Day

Well Mom & Dad were home from work yesterday for President's Day (one day there will be a President's Day for our pal Tubey). So it started out as a Good Day. Dad took us to the park in the morning and we had fun. Then we all just sort of relax in the living room. Mom on the couch with the cats, Dad in his chair and Doofus and I on the floor. Funny how we always end up on the floor.

I've been a bit down lately cause I recently destroyed my most favoritest toy in the whole world, Bad Cuz. I chewed a hole in him and got the squeaker out, then I proceeded to bite off chunks of his body so Mom & Dad had to take it away from me. I really haven't know what do to with myself lately as this was my bestest toy.

After our afternoon family nap Mom had a surprise for me. Doofus and I got in the car and we went for a drive. Now I quickly realized we weren't going to the usually place (i.e. the dog park). Okay, I didn't realize it, I have no sense of direction, I'm a husky. The Doofus on the other hand always knows when we are going somewhere different in the car and he told me to be cool as this could either be something real fun or really bad (like the vet). The car finally stopped and guess where we were, if you guessed PetCo, you are right. Mom and I went right into the store. Doofus had to stay out side and sniff/pee on everything. Mom & I quickly located what we came for, a new Bad Cuz. Below is a picture of him for those of you who have not been lucky enough to have one. Notice his little horns, they are what makes him "Bad". Apparently you can also buy a Good Cuz, which doesn't have horns. Mom asked Dad, which we should get and Dad said that I was "more of a Bad Cuz kind of girl". I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or not but whatever, I was just happy to get a new Bad Cuz.

"Bad Cuz"

So you would think that my day couldn't get any better but on the way home we stopped at the dog park. Yep that's right not only did Mom suggest that I get to go to PetCo to get a new Bad Cuz but she was also joining us at the dog park, which hasn't happen in awhile due to the cold.

And this is where my day went from Good to Bad (and I'm not referring to Bad Cuz). We got to the dog park and had gone through the first gate and were waiting at the second gate for Dad to take off our leashes, when I saw a dog that I just didn't like the look of. This very same dog had roughed me up a bit on our Saturday afternoon trip to the DP. I tried to tell Dad not to open the gate but it was too late. As soon as the gate opened, the mean dog was on me. Now I'm a husky, I like to play rough and Mom & Dad know what playing rough looks like. This was not playing rough. This was just plain vicious. The mean dog was growling and snarling and biting me and stuff. I tried to defend myself as best I could but he was definately winning the fight. Mom & Dad were trying to separate us. Finally Dad managed to land a good kick on the mean dog, which distracted him and allowed me a chance to escape. When Mom got to me she noticed some blood on the fur on my back so we immediately went home. Mom started to wash the blood off my back but couldn't find any actual bite marks. Seems that I did manage to protect myself and drew First Blood.

I was feeling kind of down at this point but Mom (like all good mommies) knew just the thing to cheer me up, Bad Cuz. Within a few mintues I had my new Bad Cuz looking just like my old Bad Cuz (minus the hole in his butt where I surgically removed his squeaker). Here is my handy work.

"Just the way I like him."

Later,
Althea

PS: Althea's Dad here. Please don't think that we condone hitting dogs as a means of training or punishment. However you have to do what you have to do to protect your children. The "mean dog's" owner was not nearby when the incident happened and I wasn't waiting around for her to get there. For those of you that take your dogs to dog parks, please spend your time watching your dog and be within close proximity to them at all times. Unfortunatley many people that go to dog parks think it is social hour for them and let their dogs do as they please while they are chit chatting with their friends. Needless to say the next time we see that dog at the park we will be turning around and heading home.

SNOW!!!

Well, lots to post about but I'll save some stuff for future posts. Between Valentine's Day and the cute pics of Kona the Malamute puppy, I completely forgot to tell everyone that we got snow. Now don't get too excited for me, it was more ice than fluffy snow but at least it was some of the good ole white stuff. Dad got up at the usual time on Wednesday and took us for a walk in the snowy/icy stuff. Then he went back to bed. Doofus and I were like, "what is going on? Dad never goes back to bed after walking us". Turns out that due to the snowy/icy stuff Dad got to go to work late and Mom didn't have to go to work at all (Mom is a teacher and they closed lots of schools in NJ cause of the snow). So we got to hang out with Mom all day and do you think that she took us to the dog park? If you guessed "NO" you would be right. We asked her to take us but she mumbled something about the roads be too icy. Fortunately the snow was still around on Thursday, and do you think that Mom and/or Dad took us to the dog park. Again if you guessed "NO", you would be correct. Dad got home early from work on Friday and apparently the third time is a charm cause Dad took us to the dog park to play in the snow. And he brought his camera along to immortalize the event. Here is the story of our adventure.

"Step on it Dad before the snow melts"

Well we finally made it to the park, Doofus and I were off to check out the snow.

"Check it out Digs, we finally got some snow"

Now I don't know if you know this about me but I love to run and there is only one thing better than running. It's running in the snow. Here I am at full speed cruising across the tundra (Fine, it isn't really the tundra but a girl can pretend).

"Look at me go, I'm ready for the Iditarod"

I love snow so much that I like to stick my tongue out and scoop some up while I run. Dad caught me a couple times with my tongue out.

"Yummy Snow, Yeah"

Lares asked me to post a couple of him. He thinks he looks pretty handsome in this first one and wants his "girlfriend" Amber, to see it. The second is a picture of him "playing" with a Dogo Argentino.

Hope you enjoyed our pictures.
Later,
Althea

Too Cute

Look at this little pup. Isn't he cute. My Mom's friend had a Malamute that sadly crossed over the Rainbow Bridge awhile back. I never got to meet him but I hear he was way cool. Although you can never replace a lost one, who can live without a dog or two or three. So she recently brought this little guy Kona into her house. She sent these pics to my Mom along with the message: "Some pics of our newest addition, Kona "The Terror". Now I'm not sure what kind of trouble the little guy could possibly be getting into but I'm sure that with that cute face, he can "talk" his way out of anything.

Later,
Althea

Happy Valentine's Day

There's Always Next Year

Last night Dad, Lares (aka Doofus) and I sat down to watch the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Mom was working late at school so she missed it. Unfortunately Dad was not paying attention to the time so we missed the beginning of the Working Group and therefore didn't get to see the Alaskan Malamute: Ch Nanuke's Snoklassic No Boundaries or Costello as his humans call him (thanks to Cap'n Maverick for giving me the lowdown on the fancy dog name stuff) , strutting his stuff. We tuned in shortly after and got to see most of the action in this highly competitive field. Here are some pictures of me waiting for the best dog in the Working Group to come out, the Siberian Husky of course. Notice I look a little bored.

"Bring on the Sibe"

"Why is the butt shaved on that Portuguese Water Dog?"

Finally, the proud moment for us Siberian Huskies, our day in the spotlight, living vicariously through our cousin: Ch Paragon's Red Red Wine, better known as Merlot. She looked great. Here are some pictures of me watching closely.

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be for us Sibes this year. Costello did come in second. So Lares is all excited since he is part Malamute. I'll have to bring him back down to earth and remind him that he is a total doofus dog with stoopid floppy ears and isn't a real Malamute.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Later,
Althea

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

I'm sure the good huskies over at D'Azul Sibes are well aware of this but for the rest of you, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show starred today. From what I hear this is one of the major dog shows. Lares and I like to watch dog shows with Mom & Dad. Of course we always cheer for the Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute when the working group comes up. Unfortunately I've never seen either of win. So this time I'm putting out a call to all husky bloggers. We must ban together and use our collective powers of persuasion to ensure victory of one of our brethren.

They already completed the Best of Breed for both the Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute. Here are our contenders looking their best after their big win. For the Sibes we have: Ch Paragon's Red Red Wine and for the Mals we have: Ch Nanuke's Snoklassic No Boundaries. These seem like rather fancy names to me but I guess when your in a dog show you need a fancy sounding name.

So everyhusky, please keep your paws crossed and cheer for our cousins to win. This way I can have bragging rights at the dog park this weekend.

Later,
Althea

Snow?

I overheard my Mom telling my Dad that we might be getting some snow soon. Now I'm not talking about that pathetic little bit of snow we had awhile back, I'm talking about real snow. Like 6 inches of snow. I've been complaining about this lack of real snow for sometime. Dad told me not to worry. He's been telling me "just be patient and wait till February, that's when we usually get the real snow". Well it's February and I still haven't seen any real snow yet. Dad did remind me that on Feb. 12 last year we got real snow and had a great time at the dog park as you can see from the pics below (yeah, I've posted these before but they are the best I've got since I'm still waiting for real snow). Keep your paws crossed for me.

I had to do some pretty significant work today in order to smooth things over with my Dad after our morning trip to the dog park. You see there was this little fluffy white dog with a pink sweater at the park and I just couldn't stop myself from chasing it. Every time I caught up to it I would try to squash it. The little sissy white dog's owner didn't seem to take to kindly to this treatment of their little pansy dog. Needless to say Dad wasn't too happy with me either. Shortly after we got to the park he was yelling at me that we had to leave. I managed to evade him for awhile, which I think just made him more angry. Eventually he caught me and we had to go home. I could tell he was really mad, he said something about making him "look like a fool". I tried to apologize with a couple woos on the way home but he was not having any of it. I decided that the best course of action was to stay off his radar for awhile. I mean there was still the afternoon trip to the dog park to be concerned about. Fortunately when Dad woke up from his afternoon nap, he was in a much better mood and he took Lares and I to the park. I got to play with my husky pal, Sabrina and another of my bestest friends, Shelby.

Lastly, Dad asked me to make a quick mention of my feline brother Maxwell Silverhammer. Max went across the Rainbow Bridge on February 10, 2005. This was before I came to live with Mom & Dad. So I went about trying to find out more about him. Lares didn't know Max very well cause from what I hear Max was a bit scared of Lares and stayed away from him. I got the lowdown on Max from Spencer who was his litter mate. Spencer said that Max was the greatest brother in the world and that he misses him everyday. He told me some pretty cool stories about Max. Delilah said that Max was the bestest big brother, who taught her alot about being a cool kitty. So in honor of Max here are a couple pics of Maxwell Silverhammer.

Later,
Althea

Life is Good

Well my Dad got back safely from his trip to Holland. Unfortunately he didn't visit Belgium where the Ao4's great sisters were from and he didn't bring me home a puppy like Zim suggested. But I'm glad to have him home regardless. I mean somebody had to talk my Mom out of killing me or sending me back to my life of living on the streets. Seems she didn't take too kindly to me chewing on the dining room rug. Hey I was bored what can I say. And I figured that if I chewed up all the carpet in the house, that Dad would stop using the stoopid dyson creature. Here is a picture of my handy work. I'm not sure that Mom even knows about the second one.

Since Dad has been back I've been too busy to do any blogging. To make up for all his time away, Dad took us to the dog park a bunch of times. We went Friday afternoon and tried to go Saturday morning but it was closed because of the pitiful little amount of snow we got. But it was open for our Saturday afternoon trip and we got two trips on Sunday and even one on Monday cause Dad decided to stay home and spend more time with us. Dad has been complaining that it is way too cold to be standing outside but he loves us so much that he suffers through it.

On a good note, Dad maybe getting a new job soon. He has another interview on Friday and then hopefully they will offer him the job. I heard him tell Mom that there would be almost no travel, so he would be home with us all the time. Lares and I are keeping our paws crossed.

Later,
Althea

Work is Stoopid

I just don't get this whole work thingy that most of our humans do. Why can't they just stay home and hang out with us all the time. And as if being gone during the day isn't bad enough, my Dad has been going on "business trips" and is gone for days at a time. He doesn't even get to come home at night. Needless to say Dad was on one of these business trips last week which is why I was able to do any blogging. Mom tried to help me one night but she didn't have the right password and I couldn't remember the correct one. So it isn't my fault that I haven't been blogging.

Now to make matters worse, Dad is leaving again on another business trip. This time he is going to some place called Holland. This place is in a whole other dog park across the ocean. He leaves tonight and will not be back till Thursday. Hopefully Mom will be able to help me with my blogging during this time but I can't make any promises.

In other news, I haven't been feeling very well the past few days. Mom says I have sick poops. I'm embarrassed to admit it but I had an accident in the house. I really had to go and Dad was busy with the Dyson creature. I just couldn't hold it any longer. On the good side, I've been getting cottage cheese and ground beef for breakfast and dinner. It is a yummy change of pace. Lares is not happy about this since we have been cut off from all treats till my stomach is better.

I'm not letting my stomach problems slow me down. To make up for his absences, Dad took us to the dog park four times this weekend. I got to play with my husky friend Sabrina and some other pups.

Later,
Althea

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Well actually it should be more like here this morning, gone this afternoon. But beggars can't be chooser and snow is snow. Yes that's right we got snow. From the minute I woke up I knew something special was happening. I was so excited that I forgot myself and jumped in bed with Mom (I'm not allowed in the bed). Dad finally came downstairs to take us for our walk and I could barely contain myself. I keep wooing at him to tell him to move faster.

Finally we got outside and what did I see, wonderful fluffy white snow. Now it wasn't much but at least it was something and it was still falling. So we headed off for our morning walk with an extra spring in our steps. Well Lares and I did, we pretty much had to drag Dad along as he didn't seem too excited. It was so great to feel the snow under my paws. I got to sniff the snow and eat the snow (of course not the yellow snow, cause you know Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow).

Unfortunately our time in the snow was brief and Dad cautioned us not to get too excited cause it would likely be gone by the afternoon. Well sure enough, even though Dad got home early today, the snow was gone. I was upset to say the least but was still grateful to get some snow. And hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

Here are some pictures of Lares and I this morning in our yard with the newly fallen snow.

Later,
Althea

New Look

So Dad and I have been messing around with the look of my blog. I was getting a bit tired of the old template. I like this one better but it still isn't quite right. I need to play around with the colors a bit. I might need some help from Dave - Guide Dog for the Color Blind.

I'm a bit tired today cause I got a pretty good beating from Lares during Fight Club last night. Seems he is not too happy about me posting the video of him freaking out on the couch. I think he is most upset about the fact that his supposed girlfriend, Amber of the Ao4 saw it. He is afraid that she will not think he is cute anymore cause of his goofiness.

Later,
Althea

Now This is an Outrage

Have you checked out Steve & Kat's Blog today. They got snow. First 33 degress in Sandy Egg-O. Now snow in Texas. It's not supposed to snow there. I'm surprised Steve & Kat's mom even has gloves and a hat. Here I am in New Jersey and still no snow. It is finally getting cold in my corner of the dog park, Dad actually wore gloves this morning on our walk. We better get some snow soon or I'm heading to Siberia where my ancestors are from. Does anyone know where it is and how to get there? Cap'n Maverick I might need to borrow your pirate ship.

So I've been waiting for a couple weeks now to post this funny video of my floppy eared doofus of a brother. As you might remember that Lares mentioned in his list of things he didn't want for Christmas, that he does not want any more ear infections. Well here is why:

When Larry and I got home from our Christmas vacation at Camp Bow Wow, Mom noticed that his ear was kind of smelly. Upon further investigation it was determined that he had an ear infection. This isn't the first time this has happened. Since the goofy gobber isn't a real husky and he has stoopid floppy ears, they tend to get infected. So Mom & Dad had to clean out his ear for a couple days with this smelly solution (I'm not sure what smells worse, his infected ear or the smelly cleaning solution) and then put in some medicine. Well Lares is not a big fan of this process. After they are done he tries to rub the stuff out of his ear. Well Dad managed to catch this process on video. Check it out, it is pretty funny.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Well that's it for today, I have to go and do a snow dance.

Later,
Althea

Stoopid Dad and Why it is a Small World

So my absence from blogging was a bit longer than expected. As I stated in my last post, my Dad had to go away on a business trip for a few days. "Where did he go?" you might ask. He went to Minnesota and Winnipeg, Canada. Do you know what they have in those places? Two very cool things that huskies love:

1. Cold Weather: especially in Winnipeg where it got down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Snow: yep, that's right, they have snow. In Winnipeg the snow basically doesn't melt all winter, why? cause it is cold there.

So Dad went to these cool (or should I say cold) places and did he bring anything back for me? No. Did he bring back the cold weather? No. Did he bring back any snow? No. Not even a small snowball for me to lick. I know that asking to go along on his business trip was too much but the least he could have done was bring back some snow. Instead I got left at home with the floppy eared doofus, who kept Mom and I up every night with his pathetic whining cause Dad was not home.

Well, Dad finally got home and should have had time to help me with my blog but our family had some very sad news. My Mom's grandpa went across the human equivalent of our Rainbow Bridge. So Mom has been very, very sad and I have had to spend all my time trying to make her feel better. I believe that the best way to do this is by licking her face.

Larry and I got to go to Camp Bow Wow for a day and night so that we would not be in the way. When we got home I could tell that there had been lots of new people in our house and that there was food (I don't even think that I need to mention that I didn't get any).

Still no snow here in New Jersey, in fact it was about 50 degrees this weekend. This is ridiculous for mid-January. My new friend Frodo, who lives in some place called Sandy Egg-O mentioned in his blog that it was 33 degrees in his corner of the dog park. My Dad said that this Sandy Egg-O is supposed to be warm and that it is very rare that it gets that cold. What is going on with this crazy dog park that we call home. 50 degrees in NJ, when it should be 33 degrees (or colder) and 33 degrees in Sandy Egg-O, when it should be 60 degrees (or warmer). I think the stoopid humans are ruining our dog park. I've been resistant to joining the HULA HOOP cause I'm not big on commitment but I'm starting to think that it is necessary for the good of our dog park that we take over control of the world from these stoopid humans. I think I'll take a nap and make a decision later.

So I mentioned our newest Husky Blogger, Mr. Frodo K. Banks. He has a cool new blog and is training to be a husky ninja. I don't know much about this ninja stuff but it seems to me that a husky ninja and a husky pirate should be able to get along just famously. He also has another thing going for him, he is a rescue sibe and was rescued by Tails of the Tundra Siberian Husky Rescue, which just so happens to be the rescue group that rescued my doofus brother Lares and I was an unofficial TOTTSHR rescue. So as the saying goes "it's a small world".

Later,
Althea

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

I would like to thank Raisa for making me The Husky Bloggers Ring's featured member of January 2007. It is a great honor to be the first featured member of 2007. Hopefully this is an indication of a great year to come. To think after not blogging for a whole month, I was still picked to be the featured member. Boy if I spent more time blogging just think of where it could get me.

I don't have much time today cause Dad has to leave soon on a business trip. So I have to take time out of my busy schedule to console the floppy eared doofus. He gets very upset when Dad goes away.

I did want to touch briefly on this whole cat issue that has come up recently. I live with two cats, Spencer and Delilah, and although they are a bit strange, (I could list their idiosyncrasies but I just don't have time to do the list justice) they are not all bad. They do seem to be a bit devious and therefore we should keep and eye on them but don't let this keep you from being friends with a cat. As for this whole head butting thing that Zim mentioned in his post yesterday, it is no big deal. Cats just think they own everything and they like to rub themselves on stuff to show you that they own it. Hey its a lot better than lifting your leg on it. Believe me, I've experienced both and I'll take the head butting any day of the week. So in closing here are some pictures of my friends, Spencer and Delilah playing with their Christmas presents.



I don't know if I be able to post with Dad gone, maybe I can convince Mom to help me. If not, I be back on Thursday.

Later,
Althea

Christmas Past

So during my blogging hiatus, Christmas came and went. I checked out every one's blogs and it seems like you all had a good Christmas with your parents(except for Indy who although his parents were away got to stay with his grandparents). Well my Mom & Dad went away to visit Dad's parents in California for Christmas. Did they take me with them, NO. Did I get to stay with my grandparents, NO (Dad says he would not do that to his in-laws even if he didn't like them). So where did I spend Christmas you might be asking. At Camp Bow Wow, which is a doggie daycare and sleep away camp. Basically I get to play all day with other dogs and then get to sleep in a "cabin" with my floppy eared doofus brother. Now don't get me wrong, I like Camp Bow Wow. Lares and I have been there a couple times before but never for seven days. And it was Christmas, a time when you are supposed to be with your family. So I'm still a bit upset about this treatment. Here are some pictures that Dad got of the web cam, when he was checking up on us.

Mom & Dad finally came to pick us up at 11:00 am, keep in mind they got home the night before, if they really cared they would have been there at 6:00 am when the place opened to pick us up. So to add insult to injury, when they got me and the doofus home, they had the nerve to give us bathes. I hate getting a bath so I continueally fight them to try to get out of the bathtub. I figure if I'm gonna get wet then so are they.

Mom & Dad did make it up to us by getting us some cool Christmas presents. Lares got his favorite beef sausage thingy and we got a stuffed basketball (I heard there are some extras for when I destroy this one). My Aunt Allison got me this cool frog with a tennis ball in it. I've already chewed off one of his back legs so that he can't hop as far.

Well it is about 70 degrees and sunny today here in New Jersey and although I would prefer to have snow, I'm not going to pass up a second trip to the dog park. So that's it for me today. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a chance to comment on this whole CAT epidemic that seems to be the talk of everyones blog.

Later,
Althea