Hot Summers

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 9

Remember I told you that I love to play indoor soccer with my stuffed buddies? Well, today I played it to celebrate that my dear friend Octopus finally made it out of the ICU. He went AWOL for a very long time after I had chewed off more than I could handle. When I saw him again he was called Septopus. After a successful surgery and speedy recovery,  Octopus is back in the game, up and running on all his legs.

THE GAME

Prerequisites: First, I had to learn the names of my stuffed animals. This sounds more complicated than it is. Every single time a new fellow joins my herd, I’m taught his/ her name.

Octopus in the ICU
You have to be fast
Got two!

The rules:

  1. My human kicks one of my stuffed friends. This really sounds worse than it is. My friends sometimes squeak but I’m sure this is from delight. Let’s say it is Mr. Crocodile that gets the boot. And yes, boots can hurt us canines so we only play this game barefoot.
  2. As my human kicks Mr. Crocodile, she says “get Crocodile” and then we both run after him.
  3. If my human gets to my friend first, she kicks it again. If I’m first, I grab my friend and we go to step 4. I make sure that I run very fast. I don’t want my friends to be kicked in the butt twice in a row.
  4. Next, my human says the name of another friend and kicks it. We then run as fast as we can after that fellow. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as many times as you like. You can include all your friends in this game or just one or two, it’s up to you and your friends. I can now hold up to three stuffed fellows in my mouth. That’s why we play the game with more than three friends. My favorite friend right now is Mr. Crocodile. He has an ultrasonic squeaker. I hear it but humans cannot! It’s a win-win for all.

Happy days, 

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 8

What to do on one of those lazy Sunny Days? Make new friends! This one was technically speaking not a new one as he had been hiding in our doggie pantry since November 2016. Yes, you read that right. That’s when a V.I.P. stayed with us and we did the coastal tour. Oh, those were the days. Cool temps, excellent company, what else could one want.

I love Mr. Crocodile
He fits in well with my other friends

From l. to r.: Ducky, Crab, Moose, Rabbit, Rhino, Rope, Wallie, and Mr. Crocodile

I’m glad we found Mr. Crocodile. We hope he can stay and play with us for a long time to come. It all depends on his heart a.k.a. squeaker. Sometimes I have to do CPR on my friends. In the past, I have experienced some losses (see R.I.P. Ducky I). I guess I have to practice more. I also hope that Mr. Crocodile is a good soccer player. I love to play that game. More about that later; it’s getting pretty close to dinner time!

Wishing you a happy 4th of July weekend,

please keep your furry and not-so-furry ones safe,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 7

As you know, I love agility training. However, sometimes it’s raining or just too hot to do any agility training outside. That’s when the Ultra-Movable-Agility aka UMA set comes in handy. What you need? One human and one chair. You could even use a table. Really that’s all. How? Here it comes:

1. Under
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Instructions: put the human on a chair, look at one or both leg(s) and think “extend”. Crawl under the leg(s). Done! It’s that easy. The same can be done with a chair and even a table. So you really don’t need the human but I think that it is way more fun with one. They are also good for yummies in the tummy.

2. Over 
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Instructions: put the human on a chair, look at the leg(s) and think “extend”. Jump over the leg(s). Again, the same can be done with a chair or table. Whatever takes your fancy.

3. Up
armsc.jpgInstructions: Put the human in a stand. Make sure you grab a sturdy human and not a wobbly one. Pick an arm. Look at it and think “extend”. Jump up on said arm. This can also be done with a chair or even kitchen counter. Personally, I like the latter the best but I can’t even take a peek before the doggie police starts to bark.

Sorry for the not so clear illustration here. We experienced some technical difficulties. Something to do with not having enough arm to take the photograph. At least you can see how careful I’m about not digging any of my nails in the arm. After all, it’s very important to be gentle with your agility equipment. Sometimes I am “up in arms” too. That’s when I jump up high on my human and she wraps her arms around me. Oh, and before I forget, always get official approval with stamps and an inifinite number of carbon copies for any of these exercises. Especially if you want to be(come) a therapy dog.

Have fun,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 6

I’m so happy; finally, we made it to the dry matter!  No, not the dark matter, that’s a whole other ballgame. Dry matter is more my cup of tea. Although now I come to think of it, I have never had tea in my whole life. It’s probably not good for us canines anyways. Plus it’s wet…

Anyhowls, we are getting off track here. The question is what can you do as a dog besides getting wet on a hot summer day? Well, I love to go to Doggie Dayz. It is a daycare and training facility. I get to play pretty much the whole time when I’m there. It’s inside and that is absolutely pawbulous in a hot climate with lots of rain in the summer. Of course, we go outside for our walks, but other than that we are sheltered from the sun and rain. And I just love, love the staff. I could go there efury day.

December 2015: moi, 12 weeks
December 2015: moi, 12 weeks
October 2016

Photo credits to Doggie Dayz Daycare and Training Facility

I’ve been going to the doggie facility on a regular basis since I was 12 weeks old. These kinds of facilities are nice for humans too. They can shop till they drop or work to get treats on the table without having to worry about us four-legged ones.

Happy Dayz, WOOFFF!

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 5

You thought all the wet stuff was behind us, right? Well, so did I. Apparently, we forgot about the beach. The beach is actually fun as long as you don’t get saturated with the wet stuff. We go to the beach a lot in the winter and fall, but we hardly go in the summer. It’s Florida you know. If we go in the summer, we go at night when the sand is cool and still a bit wet. I love to play in the sand and look at sunsets.

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I have been going to the beach since I was a youngster (12-17-15). Click on the photo to watch my video

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The sand is fun (1-1-16)

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I like to just sit and enjoy the scenery (11-23-16)

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And reminisce about the day (2-5-17)

Phew, I made it through the wet stuff alright; onwards to the dry matter,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 4

I thought it was best to get all the wet stuff behind me, so here is the inevitable POOL note. If you ever do decide to go to the pool and in the sun, you can now take doggie sunscreen with you. Isn’t that something? And yes, we can get a sunburn too. I get one much more easily than Ms. Zulu with her thick undercoat. Be careful of the chlorine too, see Pet MD.

I don’t have a problem ingesting too much of the pool chemicals. As I’ve said before and I do want to reiterate this: I don’t like to swim! There you have it black on white. Let’s hope this will be remembered by those who need to be in the know.

pools4Do you remember this photo from October last year? There was a reason that I was not in the photo. 

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No, still not in the water, even with a tennis ball, just saying

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And nope, a small pool doesn’t change anything

Higher authorities finally gave up and our doggie pool now sits in Adonis’ yard. That’s a much better place, don’t you think?

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Ms. Zulu found a more natural pool; still looks too wet to me

Better be safe than sorry and keep your fur away from the wet stuff, 

Benji 

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 3B

As promised an update on our wet affair. Rule number 1: avoid the wet affair at all cost. Rule number 2: if you can’t, make them pay with lots of yummies. All woofing aside, the wet affair turned out to be a lot cooler than anticipated. I may even like this game. But never tell anyone. The yummies may stop coming. And we don’t want that to happen, ever.

“Wait here”, you said?
“And come”!!!
Yep, that’s wet
My second photo can be in the dry right?

Love and woofs,

Ms. Zulu and Benji