Two are Better Than One

Graduation and Ice Cream

So, I don't know what's up with my mom, but she is really getting lazy about keeping my blog updated. I don't know what she means by "other responsibilities" and "school." Seriously woman, straighten your priorities.

Anyway...

Last weekend I graduated from my final obedience course at Petsmart. I did a fabulous job, if I do say so myself. Here's a picture of me with my "diploma". See my graduation cap? I took it off as soon as they took the photo. It was cramping my style. That and it kept leaning over near my right eye, which was annoying.

I have my Canine Good Citizen test on the 24th. Wish me luck! Mom says she's most nervous about me staying in heel position when meeting another dog or a person. I'm a very sociable kind of guy (hello, I'm a Golden!), and I sometimes have difficulty staying put without going over to say hello. Other times I do it just perfectly (as on my graduation day). I like to keep Mom on her toes. Can't be too predictable you know!

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Since I have been such an excellent student in obedience class, and because I am so incredibly cute, Mom and Dad decided I could celebrate graduation with ice cream!! I'd never had ice cream before. Maggie and Mitch get to go for ice cream sometimes, and now I know why they like it so much! Mom and Dad got me a child's size cone with vanilla custard. I don't know why I had to have a child's cone. I could've eaten a BIIIIG one! It was so yummy.

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My first taste. Mmmm. Creamy and cold!

This stuff is great! (Sorry the pictures are so dark. I know it's kind of hard to see my adorable face.)

I made my way through the ice cream pretty quickly.

Can I eat this part too?

Lemme get a bigger bite.

Last little morsel.


Delicious!! Mom says I won't get to have ice cream very often, but she is going to make me some of Nanook's famous doggie ice cream. Perfect for this super hot weather!

Country Dog

(Warning: Photo intense. Not dial-up friendly.)

I had another adventure last weekend. No kayaking this time. We went to my great-grandma's farm in East Texas. It's the very first time I've gone. It was sooooo much fun! My great-grandparents used to have a couple of herds of Angus cattle, but now she just rents out the pastures.

Look at all that open space! I couldn't wait to get out there.

Mom and Dad don't know how much exposure I had to farm life in my previous home (and I'm not telling), so they weren't sure how I'd react to seeing cows and having all that open land to run on. But, they knew I'd be mellow about it, because I really am a very easy going kind of guy. The first time I went out into the pasture I was on my long leash. We did see some cows that time, but silly Mom forgot to bring the camera with her!. Geez. Humans. I took a looksee at the cows but overall wasn't terribly impressed...just kept on walking.

The other times we went out in the pasture the cows were in the back part of the acreage, so we didn't see them. Mom and Dad let me go off leash. I have never had so much fun in my life!! My first time I went out with Mom and my grandma. As soon as Mom unclipped my leash I took off. I was FRREEEEEE!!!! I did my best impression of a Greyhound and ran at full speed. Then I did my impression of a galloping horse as I zoomed past Mom and Grandma (Mom said that's what I sounded like when I sped past). It was sheer doggie heaven. Here are some pictures of me in action.

I am heading straight for Mom in this one. Look out, here I come!

Can you see the look of bliss on my face? Here is a close-up version so you can really appreciate my joy.

Can you see me way out there?

Let's go this way!

Taking a little pause to decide where to run next.

You know what else I did? You city dogs are going to be so jealous. I rolled in cow patties!!!! It was awesome. Mom didn't take any pictures of that. I don't know why you wouldn't want to capture that.

We walked back to where there is a little creek on our first off leash walk, but Mom didn't have her camera for that so no pics (bad Mom). I walked right into the middle of the creek and layed down. It was cool and peaceful under the trees.

This muddy puddle was almost as refreshing.

I'm sure you can guess what happened to me later that day. Here's a hint. It involved water, but it wasn't in a creek or a puddle.

Do you see that greenish area above my eye?

That's cow poop. They made me wash it off along with some other lovely patches of eau de bovine and mud. Isn't that terrible?

Notice the sadness in my eyes. *Sigh*

At least I got to sit on the swing with Grandpa afterwards.

And I got to sleep on the bed at the hotel with Mom and Dad. Here's a picture of me chillin' with Dad.

I can't wait to go back to the farm!

Answer to the Mystery

Sorry it's taken me so long to post about the mystery. So, without further ado....

Friday night Mom and Dad and I got in the car and drove about three hours south to Austin, or at least that's what they told me. I don't know geography and have no idea what Austin is. Anyway, we got to stay in a hotel that night and guess what? I slept in the bed with them! They decided that since we were away from home and the bed was king size that they would let me sleep with them. They had to keep telling me it was okay to get up, because I was a little unsure at first about whether or not that was okay. Man, I slept so well! I found a really comfy spot right in between Mom and Dad. It was great.

I still didn't know what we were doing in Austin until the next day. You dogs were right...it was water! But, not the beach. Mom told me that's still kind of far away from Austin. It was a lake. We went kayaking! Not just the three of us, but us AND about twenty other people and their doggies. It was with the Dog Scouts troop from Fort Worth. Have any of you heard of Dog Scouts before? My trainer Debbie told us about them. They do all kinds of fun stuff together (and yes, they do have badges just like Boy/Girl Scouts...hee hee).
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I did the navigating, while Mom and Dad did the rowing. Here is a picture of me at the front of the kayak. Straight ahead Mom and Dad!

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A dog gets thirsty navigating, so I took a leisurely drink from the side of the boat. Mom kept trying to get a picture of my tongue lapping up the water, but this was the closest she got.

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We all rowed down the river to this little island where dogs are allowed off leash. Row faster Mom and Dad. I can't wait to get there!

Mom didn't really get any pictures of me on the island, but she did snap a few of me in the water after we docked. Mom and Dad had never taken me swimming before, so they weren't positive about whether or not I'd like it. I say, of course I do! I'm a Golden Retriever for dog's sake! I had soooo much fun swimming. And, I got to play fetch in the water. I "stole" the dummy from this cute little lab named Jasmine when her dad threw it into the water. I just can't help myself. You throw it, I retrieve it. It's what I do. Fortunately, she didn't mind and just swam along with me.

I took in the scenery on the way back.

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Here is a picture of some of other dogs and their parents.

Here's the embarrassing part. Don't laugh. On the way back I fell out of the kayak, not once but twice (although Mom isn't entirely convinced that the second time was an accident). The first time it happend I was just shifting my weight in the boat and in I went. It shocked me, and I was kind of scared. Mom and Dad paddled over toward the shore so I could get some footing and get back in.

All in all, it was a super fun trip. I was totally worn out when we were done, as you can see.

I hope I get to have another water-related trip some time soon! Now that Mom and Dad have seen how much I like to swim and play fetch in the water, they've got to take me again!

Mystery and Intrigue

I need to get me a detective coat like Joe's, because there's something going on around here and I'm not sure what it is. Mom has been telling me all week that there is a surprise for me this weekend, and yesterday and today I found some clues. What do you think it is?

First, Mom and Dad came home yesterday and told me they got this for me:

What is that thing? I have no idea.

Then today I saw Dad pull this out of the closet:

And I saw Mom packing up some of my stuff. She put my travel bowl, some food and treats, and some towels into my bag.

Usually when Mom packs my bag it means we're going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, but this is different. We don't usually need towels! And what the heck is that other thing for?

I wish Mom would just tell me what my surprise is, but she just keeps saying I'm reeaaallly going to like it. Do you dogs have any ideas about what it might be?

P.S. Mom says that whatever it is we're doing, it's not just the three of us.