Southernmost Moose Lodge

Help! Duffy is eating all my snacks!

2011-08-13T07:11:00.001-04:00

First things first: I am almost out of snacks cuz my foster pal Duffy is eating them all! I entered a photo contest because they are giving away FIFTY bucks worth of snacks so I really need your help! If you are on Facebook can you go here and click 'Like' under the photo of the most handsome of the 6 hounds? (Hint it is the tall dark and handsome one!). You don't have to fill out a bunch of forms you just have to click here and then click once more to vote. You can only vote once for every account and there is no cheating so every vote really counts!

So I have not blogged in TWO Months! It is terrible! Momma is very busy and has had a terrible flare up of whatcha call 'attention deficit disorder' so she is all scatterbrained and what not.

In my last post you met Duffy who was sick with heartworms- well he is all better now and ready for his furever home! He is possibly the dorkiest labradork there ever was though! Momma is always giving him snacks for doing dorky things which is how I am nearly snackless!

As for me there is not a whole lot that is new. There have been the usual string of countersurfing episodes...

....new toys bought and gutted....

... special deliveries...

...noms...

and naps. Lots of naps!

You know... the usual! I am gonna try to get Momma to let me blog more so paws crossed that it will not be another 2 months til I get to blog again. I bet if I win a big pile of snacks momma will let me on here so please go vote for me!

My 4th Moosiversary!

2011-06-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked 4 years since I rescued my momma from a dogless existence. Can you believe she used to have to borrow dogs from friends? There was no fur in her house, no slobber splatter on the walls and worse yet there was no waggle dance everytime she returned home! Can you imagine?
Of course that means it is also our 4 year blogger anniversary. There is really not much to celebrate there though since I can hardly get her to post any of my exciting adventures!

Still, it was a day to celebrate, and in recognition of my 4 years of service, I got a pizza and ice cream party! I know some of you are thinking I must have an upset tummy but I have eaten whole pizzas before so one slice is no problem! The ice cream was of course doggie icecream but that is my favorite anyway.

I gobbled the pizza so fast that there is only this one photo of me enjoying it! Yummers!

Then on to desert! I have not had Frosty paws in ages!

I did get a slight case of crazy eye! Who can blame me though?

Some of you may be wondering where Duffy is in all of these photos. Well momma delayed the party until he was having breakfast in his crate so that I could enjoy my treats in peace. He gets beside himself excited for plain old kibbles anyway so I don't think he was too worried about what I was eating. AS you can see from his suppertime dance, he is a very bouncy boy!

On Squatters

2011-05-29T17:01:00.001-04:00

As my pals know, the Mooselodge occasionally allows homeless labbies to squat here temporarily. Feebee was our last squatter who has moved on to a happy new home. Now we have Duffy squatting here. It seems he will be here for at least 2 months while he is getting rid of some heartworms. Momma assures me that they are everybit as gross as they sound but luckily they aren't catching and he is not so sick with him that he acts sick and miserable. He did not even know he had them! He is a bouncy happy boy and sorta fun except that momma keeps yelling 'SettleDown' at him whenever we get any good games started. Apparently he is not allowed to play crazy because of the worms.

So now on to the other kind of squatters... Squatter bunnies! Any faithful reader knows that Squatter Stuffies are a Mooselodge favorite! They are nothing fancy but they are the perfect size for carrying around and squeaking and they can be destuffed pretty quickly too. So you can imagine how distraught I was to find that momma could not get them at the local squatter store anymore! So she ordered me some online! Hee hee! A whole box of bunnies for me!

Me and Duffy went crazy unpacking them! In fact we went so crazy that momma gave up yelling 'settledown' and had to put them away! But she did let us each have one to play with. Of course Duffy wanted mine and I had to get all big dog boss on the noob and momma put together a little slideshow to show how that went down. There are captions but most of my pals will understand perfectly without them...

WTF Wednesday: Weed Eater edition

2011-05-18T05:44:00.001-04:00

WTF? Momma is growing me a salad! I love eating grass but there is not a lot of grass around the Mooselodge.

Two years ago My first foster pal TeddyNo and I decided to rip into a bag of grass seed and even though momma tried to clean it all up a little patch of grass sprouted up in the gravel! You can see it behind the handsome boy in the photo! Because she loves me she has left the grass there even though she is always pulling weeds up.

Sooo she decided to grow some grass just for me! But before she starts plowing the back 40 she wanted to make sure I liked it so she bought a sample size.

I think it is not done growing yet but she let me sniff it and oh boy I went nuts!

Since it is not done growing I only got to eat 2 pieces but I totally got 'crazy eye' while I was eating them!

I guess that is what a bag of weed will do to you! Heh heh heh! I think we're gonna need a bigger bag!

p.s. update on FeeBee- She got adopted ! She is not too far away and she sometimes sends me emails about her new adventures. Apparently she has started up a lizard extermination business.

When she is off the clock she is some kinda flying/swimming dare devil doggie! She is a happy girl...and she likes coconuts too!

Round 2: Feebee's house hunting again

2011-04-07T08:07:00.001-04:00

Look who came back to the Mooselodge yesterday! It is feebee! I'm not sure where she disappeared to but she mast have been at tugging school because when she got here we played an awesome round of tug with my giant sheeps which has since gone to the intensive care ward (paws crossed for a speedy recovery sheeps!).

Wow! She never played with me like that before so she must have graduated from tugging school at the top of her class! On the other hand she came with a basket load of stuff, her bed, bowls, leashes, toys, shampoos, kibbles, snacks and more so maybe she was out shopping for the last month!

While all her stuff was being carted into the Moose lodge we were busy having loads of fun but then her ride left without her! She was so upset that it made me kinda sad for the little girl! She ran around pretty frantically for awhile checking all the doors and windows to see if her ride realized she got left behind and came back for her. No such luck!

Now momma made me promise not to tell feebee but her family is not coming back for her. They said they ran out of money already and that she has to find another place to stay. Since they had enough money 25 days ago I guess that feebee must have ate a big wallet full of cash while she was there. She does not seem like the type to do that so it is pretty hard for me to understand but how else can you explain being able to afford something one day then realizing that you can't three weeks later. We are very sad for poor pheebs but glad they brought her back to us at least!

Whatever happened she is back here and in the market for a new family. I was not crazy about her before since she was kinda boring but she likes to play more now so guess it could be fun having her here. She agreed to share some of her snacks and not to pee on my bed again so that is cool!

You know how your people are always leaving and they can't understand why you are so upset about it since they are coming right back? You know how they don't get why we are so worried when we see bags being packed... Well this is why, people! My ride left me and all my stuff behind once. Sure I ended up in an ok place but moving sucks! You always lose stuff. I felt so bad for poor feebee but I also can't help but worry, what if it happens to me again? Momma said she would never leave me but I bet feebee's people told her that too. On the other hand momma says she would die without me and I have to say I think that is true so hopefully I am safe.

But really... who could leave a face like this behind?

Fire Safety... Seriously

2011-03-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

Gainesville firefighters pet a dog rescued from a house
fire Monday morning. (Courtesy of Gainesville Fire Rescue)
from Ocala Star-Banner 3/21/11

We got an email from LRRoF that one of our foster parents Chris (who fosters ALOT of dogs) lost his home and car and one of his foster dogs Mowgli (RIP) in a terrible fire but he and his room mate and some brave firefighters managed to save the other 7 doggies. The pups were unconscious from the smoke and had to be carried out and revived with oxygen by the Gainesville Fire Department. Momma was doubly impressed that they had special oxygen masks made for doggies donated by a community member. You can read the news paper article here.
Momma & I have not met him but we know what it is like fostering one dog and to have 6 in addition to your own must mean he is an awesome dude. We feel terrible for the foster parent and donated a little of my bone monies to a fund to help him get on his feet again. I know money is tight for lots of folks right now but if you would like to donate even a couple of bucks, the fund is here.

Fire Momma! Help! Put it out!

This tragedy has made us think a lot about what we can do to make things safer because frankly I am pretty scared of fire. I mean, one time my snack was on fire (see pic) and I had to yell and scream for momma to put it out! So I thought we would share the safety tips we came up with.
1. Check your smoke detectors often! Personally, as a chicken hound who gets very 'alarmed' by the sound, I have asked momma to test it while I am outside but she told me to suck it up because she is pretty forgetful and better just do it while she is thinking about it.
2. Have an escape plan for all of your family members and a meeting place outside. Momma is worried she won't have a leash and I will bolt because I am scared so she is thinking on a plan for that (what can I say, she is a worrier!).

3. Fire extinguishers! Of course you should always call 911 and if it is more than a small contained fire, just get out. Also, they only help if they are immediately accessible and you know how and when to use them. When in doubt, get out!
4. You can get these free stickers from ASPCA that let the firefighters know there are doggies in the house. Momma got one ages ago but never put it up until today! So lazy!
5. Does your local fire department have pet oxygen masks? Some communities have them through donations. Momma is gonna find out if our fire fighters have them and if not she is gonna try to get some neighbors to pitch in for them. You should ask your local fire department too. If they need them, then maybe you can help get some for use by your local department (link opens pdf).
If you have any other helpful tips as far as keeping us dogs safe in the event of fire please share!

Wordless Wednesday: A boy and his Bunny edition

2011-03-23T18:11:00.000-04:00

An artist's Moose Muse

2011-03-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

So you pals probably recall how I won 2nd runner up in the Best in Show over at MangoMinster2011. Well the prize was a portrait of yours truly and some of you even weighed in on which photo momma should send to the artist lady. Still though momma could not decide so she sent them all and told the lady to make her magic happen! Well the painting has arrived! Hooray!

Momma thinks it is an excellent likeness of me!

She chose one of momma's favorite photos of me which she calls my snuffleuppamoose look. What do you think?

Momma has it sitting over her desk so she can gaze lovingly at it while she is working and neglecting me! I am right by her kooky birdies which I am most definitely not allowed to play with (I tried!).

If your people would like a painting of your handsome mug they should go ask the artist lady (ok her actual name is Lauren C. Mitchell) to make one! It costs hardly any kibble money at all! I am a model at her store now too!

Ok and now an update on Pheebee. She was adopterated! Momma took her to meet some people who fell in love with her right away! Apparently she was shamelessly sucking up to them- even by labbie standards! Within minutes she was rolling around on her back asking for rubs and has even been pretty good on a leash- neither of which she really did for momma.

Oh and momma was not sure that these people were ready to adopt a lab that day but when she got there they had an awesome bed, a jillion toys, bowls, brushes, leashes, collars, the whole deal. Pheebee walked into their place and found the toys in about 2 seconds! I asked momma if she tried to trade her new bed for the one of mine that pheebee peed on but she said no and that was just rude of me! Anyways, she was not tons of fun for me but aside from the humping she was a good little girl and I am glad she found some people to love her!

My new bowl!

2011-03-03T20:37:00.003-05:00

Lookit what I got! Some of you may have seen my post about drinking Recycle Bin Juice last week and how I refuse to drink out of my metal bowl. Of course I am willing to eat out of the metal bowl but drink? No thanks!

So momma noticed the other thing I like to drink out of is a little bin that is up at my lady friends house in Miami so Momma asked their momma where she got the bin and it turned out they had two of them so we are borrowing it to try out here at the Moose lodge to see if the water still tastes good out of it and if so Momma said she will get me one!

Phoebe has been complaining that she has not gotten much blog time at all compared to my other foster pals. She is so quiet that mostly I forget she is here though! Do you see that leaf in her mouth? I sometimes get leaves stuck in my drools but this is different!

She carries leaves around like they are some kinda big prize! Every time momma opens the door she leans waaayyyy out to get a leaf (without stepping a paw outside if she can help it!) and brings it in. Total labraDORK!

Momma says that might have been all she had to play with where she used to live and that I am not to laugh at her... but OMD it is hard to resist! Have any of you pups ever seen of such nonsense? About the time she gets a good collection going momma vacuums them up! Heh heh heh!

Goodnight Sweet Swissie

2011-02-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

We are sooo sad around the Moose Lodge today. My best girl Swissie had to cross over the bridge this morning. She has had bone troubles and troubles with her insides for awhile now but she is one tough lady and she soldiered on.
But this morning she told her people that it was time. She was glad that they helped her stay for as long as she could but it was just time.

Here is a picture of me and her together on my last visit to see her.

She loved stuffies like no other doggie I have known. Actually not just any stuffies, she liked squatters and platypus eggs!

The first time she visited 2 1/2 years ago she decided that the platypus eggs were the best toy at the Moose lodge and from then on that was always her favorite! Even if there were 87 other toys around and the platypus egg was under the couch it had to be the egg. Nothing else would do and no peace would be had until she got the egg!

She was an awesome playmate and never failed to make momma laugh. There just are not enough words to say how much she will be missed by me and momma but even more by her people and sweet Jetta.

Run free sweet girl, may all the toys still squeak on the other side of the bridge.

Woof!

TGIF!

2011-02-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

Thank dog it is Friday! Plus this is my 400th Post!!!! wooo hooo!

Time to kick back and have a drink!

Have you pups tried Recycle Bin Juice? It is a different flavor every week but you have to wait until the sky water is added!

My latest habit is outright refusing to drink out of my waterbowl! No way no how! The only thing I will drink out of is my doggie canteen which is made of the same kinda plastic as the recycle bin so momma is looking for a new waterbowl for me. She has tried metal and pottery types... No thanks! Apparently the canteen is both a pain to fill and clean or she would let me just use that all the time but for now it is in the crate where the squatter labbies stay when they are visiting.

Did you guys see Koda's bowl? Momma says it looks great because it is both a water bowl and a contraption of sorts. You can only get it in New Zealand apparently. Momma says she would find a way to get me one but she is pretty sure I would just ring the bell to go outside for some Recycle Bin Juice! Yummers!

Thanks for helping with the problem in my last post- disaster averted! I was able to remind momma that I actually don't shed that much and she is too lazy to even brush me so I don't see her doing it more if there was machines involved.

WTF Wednesday: Sucky Contraptions Edition

2011-02-23T17:27:00.015-05:00

Do you see how worried I am? WTF? So there I was tweeting with my latest love interest Randi and she posts this thing about a new fur stealer contraption. Yikes! Some of you loyal readers may have noticed that my momma has a thing for 'gadgets' (see here or here or here or here). Some friends even call her gadget girl! Although she is trying to cut back on her gadget habit, this is exactly the kind of thing to make her fall off the gadget wagon!

This torture device works by attaching it to the sucker thing that we already have and adding gadgets to other gadgets is even more irresistible to Momma! Oh Help! I am pretty sure this violates the Geneva convention or something...
I am already preparing my response and it looks something like this:

Now that is a face worth $69.99 for sure!

Personally I think the old way worked just fine!

If you ask me she should use the money to buy me a new bed instead. Phoebe peed on mine... twice! WTF?

Prizes for ME!

2011-02-22T19:22:00.001-05:00

As you all know (and momma tells me you may be tired of hearing me brag) I won the bad sport category at MM2011 and the prize came today from a place called Clara's Collars! As usual I got to open it since it is MINE.

The only thing better than opening packages is getting to whats good inside. And lookit what I won... a cookie! It was total yummers and I did not have to share with that brat Phoebe either! It had a nice collar attached to it as a bonus too.

That is kinda a nice thing too because my old collar that used to be very smart looking is a little bit dirty! It looks really dirty with the new one next to it though!

This collar is very summery and so in keeping with that Momma wanted me to do a photoshoot outside with my coconut!

I am not a fan of the photoshoots but must say I am quite handsome in this new collar!

Plus maybe my Lady Friends in Miami will see that my very last coconut from their yard is almost gone and decide to send me some new ones!

This Prize was sponsored by the honorable and benevolent Judge Frank E. Furter! Thanks Frankie and Clara & Clooney (they run the collar shop!). You have to go see their Friends page to see who they are then scroll all the way to the bottom (they save the best for last) and see me right next to Frankie's pic!

p.s. For you pups who don't visit me on FaceBook Momma says you don't even know who Phoebe is! She is my latest foster sister who is squatting here at the Mooselodge while she looks for a new home. She is ok, I guess. Momma says she is very sweet and a good girl but I find her sorta bossy!

The Many Faces Of Moose!

2011-02-16T17:54:00.055-05:00

I thought winning first place Bad Sports and 2nd Runner Up for Best in Show was just plain awesome and what could be better? Well, Prizes! That is what! For bad sports I won a new collar from Clara's Collars sponsored by Frankie and for the BIS I won a portrait (sponsored by Kitty and Coco) of my so-handsome-boy self for momma to stare at lovingly when I am off hiding because I did something bad.

The trouble is Momma needs to pick a headshot to send the artist lady. It is a 5x4" portrait so it has to just be my face otherwise I think I would just look like an ink blot! So momma has compiled 'The Many Faces of Moose' photos. The thing that makes me Mooses (for those of you who think all of us Black Labs look alike) is my Bumpkin (the pointy thing on my head) and my long square beak so momma wants to pick a photo that shows my Mooseness.

So below I am posting some of her favorites- feel free to weigh in!

This sort of funny picture is one of momma's favorites- no bumpkin in sight but my beak looks crazy long and square. She was about to get 'SnuffelupaMoosed' in this photo and that always makes her giggle.

This is just a plain old smiley Moose- She probably had food or something...

This is one that kinda shows my bumpkin- I think I was about to say something when she took the photo though. It was probably 'woofel'.

This is...hey! How did that get in the pile! She better not!

This is another one of her favorites- she says I look like a supermodel (ok it was re-touched just like all the super-models)! But since it is already a pretty picture maybe there is no need to make it a painting, huh?

There was definitely promise of food in this one... lookit my drool! I guess that is another thing that makes me Moose but maybe not one that she wants preserved in paint!

This is one that makes me look totally nutters! Although it seems like an unusual photo apparently she has a surprising number that look just like this. I cannot confirm or deny that I will enter MangoMinster 2012 as a Cracker Dog, no further questions at this time.

This is another one of Momma's favorites of me in all my handsomeness- There is a hint of bumpkin and a pretty long beak so it is a good possibility I think!

Considering it took her like 87 hours to pick a collar for me I bet it will be forever before she decides!

From momma: Any suggestions? The artist (Lauren Mitchell) has a somewhat abstract style (at least I think that is how I would describe it but I am no art expert!) and the smaller portrait I think will do best with a more simple image to start with. Even without the background I think the last one might not translate as well to a small canvas. That is actually why I am favoring the first photo. It is probably kind of an odd shot to most people but it captures a certain look that I like about my Moose! I will probably narrow it down to a few and see what the artist thinks will work best! I have always wanted a painting of my Moose so I am thrilled to have the chance!

Ch. Key Largo's SouthernMost Moose BSD UDX SE

2011-02-15T20:43:00.000-05:00

How do you like my new MangoMonster official champion name? The Ch means champion and the BSD means Bad Sports Dog, the UDX means 'Utility Dog Excellent' (because I am most useful at lotsa things like opening the mails) and SE means 'Senior Earth' Dog. I got the last title for laying in the dirt. I could not find one for eating or I would have that one too.

Here is a list of AKC titles in case you want to tack a few onto your own name so you can be like those other doggies at that 'other dog show' as Mango likes to call it.
Mango did a shocking expose about how labradogs have been totally shafted by the dog show over the years. Ok, there was more to it than that but that is the important part! If you have not read it you should check it out!]

I did not get to thank all my pals who voted for me in the readers choice polls. Momma was supposed to help me go around and visit you all but that has not happened yet :-/ and given that there are projects from summer laying around half done I am not gonna hold my breath for it to happen so I wanted to thank you all! I read through the votes and enjoyed the nice words. Darwin actually almost voted for me INSTEAD of herself in the bad sports group because she thought she might not be allowed to vote for herself! That was very nice of her but that 'nice' thing did not help her chances of winning Bad Sport I am afraid! Sure she is still just a pup really so I bet she will get the hang of this bad thing! Still, Thanks Darwin! You are a total doll in my book!
Thanks to all the judges and Mango for a great show!

Baddest In Show

2011-02-13T11:02:00.001-05:00

I was truly honored to have been chosen as the Baddest Dog, I had some serious competition in that category! Some of you did not believe I was truly a bad sport but I say that just shows I have mastered the art of Badness! I find that badness must be tempered by what looks like remorse along with a good dose of cuteness, otherwise you end up a homeless doggie. I ended up homeless once already in my life and don't want that to happen again (though I swear every homeless labbie seems to end up at the Mooselodge anyways)! For my Best in Show Entry I am submitting the photo below as a prime example. I bet you will look at it and immediately think what a cute and handsome labradog who is looking inexplicably contrite. I bet only a few of you looked at this and immediately thought "I bet he just stole one of those stuffies from a poor homeless doggie who has probably never had stuffies and even though his momma got one for each of them I bet that Moose is gonna shred it to bits right in front of the homeless doggie". Probably only the other 19 bad sport doggies saw it that way! This shows my mastery of 'Badness' and why I deserve to win ~~Best~~ Baddest in Show! May the Baddest Doggie Win!

Drugs are for Losers Winners!

2011-02-10T20:08:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? I am the baddest of all the bad doggies! Or, wait... am I the goodest of the bad dogs? That seems like an oxymoron... Whatever. I Won!!! I am the first place winner of the Bad Sports Category over at MangoMinster 2011!

From what I can gather my win seems to have resulted from my solid back ground of raiding the pantry...

...and my general kleptomania habits.

But my drug binge just prior to the contest is what pushed me to the front of the pack! I say that the message here is that crime does pay and that drugs are always the solution and never a problem!

Momma says this is a terrible message and reminds me that I very nearly had to spend the night ALONE in the hospital and had to chug a charcoal smoothie as a result of my drug abuse. Plus, and I was not aware of this until now, but the nearly $250 vet bill is being deducted from my toy allowance and meat budget! Still, I have no regrets! I am the Baddest Moose in the Whole D@mn Town!

I would like to thank my momma for her generally lax house keeping habits that made all of this possible. I would also like to thank the Honorable Judge Fiona for having the wisdom to recognize pure badness but also the strength of character to vote for me in the face of what will surely be some raised eyebrows, particularly from the judicial ethics committee! As bad as I am I think it is clear that she could never be intimidated by the likes of me.
Plus did you see that she added an honorable mention category (won by my Pal Brutus) and the prize is a donation to Paws and Stripes, a most honorable cause that I had never heard of before now! Check it out!
Congrats to Ambrose and Pepsi-no for their wins too! Some totally fuzzy guy named Fudge won readers choice (Congrats Fudge!) but I would like to thank my pals who supported me there too!
Be sure to go vote for Kittehs and Crackerdogs next!

Vote for ME!

2011-02-08T10:19:00.000-05:00

Mangominster voting is open! You have a few hours left for the shameless doggies and a whole day left to vote for the bestest good doggie then tomorrow is MY category- the Bad Sports and you MUST, I repeat, MUST go on over and vote for me! You can view my original entry post here but below I submit a few photos as a refresher!

Yes, I stole a stuffed kong from Mandy, an elderly hearing and vision impaired lady with cancer and only half of her jaw left even though I was not even finished with my own kong. What of it? If she really wanted it she would have finished it faster!

Would a bad dog leave surprises like this around the house for his mom? You might have to bigify the photo but one of my droolcicles was artfully placed on this bag for my momma. She says the only thing worse than seeing me with drools all hanging down is seeing me missing drools I had a minute before. I don't get why she does not appreciate my abandoned drools... I think they are quite decorative!

This sort of speaks for itself... Momma left my medicine topping (Cheeze Whiz) out so you see why there were mixed messages in my book.

So what if I got Medicine Topping (click to bigify!) all over the walls and even up to our cathedral ceilings that momma could not reach even with a ladder at the former moose lodge? I am pretty sure that is why we moved... who wants to live in a place where noms are on the wall but you can't reach them?

And I have told momma a million times- if a 'flower bed' does not have flowers in it then it is just a 'bed', am I right? So what if I have at least 6 doggie beds all to myself, until she gets me one with dirt in it I don't see as I have a choice but to make use of the flower-less beds!

Ok, so along with my original entry I submit these photos as evidence that I am a bad sport! Please go vote for me or I assure you I will be a very bad loser which looks something like what is pictured to the right! Voting starts tomorrow morning- the Mango Estate has some very early morning inhabitants so I don't know when it officially starts because no one should be awake at that hour! But when you wake up go vote. And although momma will not let me explicitly state the ways in which you might cast more than one vote, please remember I am competing with doggies who are bad sports and probably will do that. She says it is fully acceptable to let ever man woman child and doggie in your house vote though so happy voting!

My Weekend at the Swiss Lodge

2011-02-06T17:52:00.000-05:00

Hey pals- sorry I have been MIA so much lately. This weekend I was actually in MIA (that is Miami) visiting my lady friends Swissie and Jetta.

Their peoples went out of town and normally they would come and stay at the Moose Lodge but this time me and momma went to the Swiss Lodge.

You see my Swissie is a lady of advanced years and has had troubles with her back end as long as I have known her pretty much. But about 2 weeks ago she suddenly could not really walk at all and even when she could stand up and not fall over she could not really even reach her beak down to pick up her most favorite thing in the world... squatter stuffies.

Her mom took her to see the doc and not only did her back end have bad troubles but her back bone was starting to fuse together. To make matters worse they found she has some giant lump on her spleen and they don't know what it is. Her mom knew that there was no point in worrying about her innards if her legs were not going to work and we were all really scared that she might have to get over the bridge and without me even getting to see her again. But momma told her mom to see if my knee hospital could help and she saw a nice doc who gave her prednisone and now she is up and trotting around again! Well sort of... her people built her some ramps (you can see in the pic that it even works for mooses) to get around the house and had to cover every square inch of floor with mats so she would not slip and there is no way she could make the long car ride to the Moose lodge because she is a stubborn lady and would just try to stand up in the car and fall down. So that is why we went to see her.

The sad news is that we don't know how much longer the prednisone will keep her going and if her spleen troubles could send her over the bridge even before then. So momma says I might never get to play with her again because even if she is ok for a few months she probably would not be strong enough for any moose play. But at least we had a nice visit and I got to see her again.

She is a smart lady too and definitely has her people wrapped around her paw because she has gotten them to spoil her with things like raw beef marrow bones!

I can always find a leftover bone or two in their yard but on this visit they were absolutely everywhere! There are at least 5 in this photo of me in the yard and that is not counting the one in my beak!

I had at least one with me all weekend! Momma says she is pretty sure I will not be invited back because of the disgusting drooly mess I made on their mats. I could not help it though, there was no place without mats so I don't know what she expected me to do!

Oh, and I guess it would be nice to say that I also had fun with Jetta. She is a nice lady too but she is very quiet and never gets any pictures taken of her because she is either sleeping and just looks like a fuzzy black lump or she is sucking up to momma and looks like this photo. She keeps momma company while Swissie and I play so that is nice of her!
So pals, if you would cross your paws that Swissie's bones and spleen will keep working for as long as they can I would really appreciate it. Momma also says that your people should give you all lots of love and spoil you with marrow bones and such while they can! I say that you should enjoy your friends every time you see them in case you don't get to again. Sigh.

Hope you pups are watching the puppy bowl today. Momma is cheap and canceled the tee vees so I am just going to nap and dream of last years game. I hear there are chickens this year and there is a camera strapped to a puppy's head? I bet there will be lots of puppy butt shots with that one...

Wordless Wednesday: Sheepish Moose Edition

2011-02-02T17:12:00.000-05:00

BONUS: Zombie dog out for brains!

Ok, that is actually my lady friend Swissie who has been feeling quite poorly of late but sent me this pic to show she is still her frisky self!

Mangominster 2011: Identity crisis

2011-01-22T14:27:00.028-05:00

Hi pals! Momma finally got around to helping me enter MangoMinster 2011. I hope I am not too late. The hold up was apparently my original plans to enter the Good Ol' Boys category were dashed by my ill-timed experimentation with prescription drugs. Even if momma had not ratted me out I would never have passed the pee test.

Does eating sports equipment make me a Bad Sport?

So I have had to re-examine the possibilities. It is a shame because momma always tells me I am a goodest old hound and I definitely have beds strategically placed - After all I have two couches, 1 people bed and 4 indoor doggie beds and 2 outdoor doggie beds. I did once eat some Beef Jerky but the fact that I stole it from the counter and shredded the package apparently makes more of a case for Bad Sport category!

So I guess I have to embrace the bad sport in my goodest old hound self!
Here are Mango's seven Bad Sports criteria:

1. Is every toy, bone, or bed on your estate YOURS whether you are using it or not?

Uh... yeah! I have found I can only fit 2 or 3 toys in my mouth at once but that does not stop me from carrying them off and sequestering them from my hapless foster siblings!

Plus when Tiny Hound was here and he would show off by 'retrieving' tennis balls for momma I would be sure to intercept them all one by one and take them back to my bed for the sole purpose of halting such shameful 'retrievering' displays. Really when you think about it I was doing him a favor...

2. Do you bully the other fur kids in your pack?

Was the phrase 'hapless foster siblings' not clear? The minute I find out they will not attack me then I am the BOSS! Here is Lucas cowering from my most intimidating presence! Plus I am totally guarding two tennis balls that I don't even really like so it is more evidence for criteria #1.

I will even go so far as to make sure they know whose crate they are squatting in! Just because they are 'homeless' does not mean they can walk all over me!

3. Do you hide foodables in your mouth even if you don't like them just so nobody else can have them?

Hmmm... no comment as I am not sure what is not to like about any foodable. In my recent drug binge I did consume things (and ALOT of them) that I would not normally eat without cheese on them and momma accused me of only doing that because of not wanting Lucas to have them when he got home. I definitely do this with toys though... See #1 & #2 above

4. Are all your stuffies beheaded or disemboweled? Ok... there are actually too many photos that show this. I however consider this a point of pride! I think it is an excellent way to impress lady friends or to strike fear into the hearts of new hapless foster siblings. I go on stuffie gutting sprees when they first arrive at the mooselodge.

Momma says that this is the stuffie version of #3 above since I play with stuffies until new kids arrive when I tear them to bits so no one else can play with them. Either way, I am pretty sure I could win stuffie gutting contests paws down!

5. Do you already have a plan in place to bribe the bad sport judge or to stuff the reader's choice ballet box?

No... but only because I don't need too! If you will check the records from last year you will see that I awarded first place Sporty dog to Fiona herself so I assume she will return the favor... (oh... momma tells me this is some kind of coersion or raketeering or something so I guess it counts! In case that fails I do have a somewhat compromising photo of her from last year's Key West sporty dog adventure. If I don't win perhaps I will petition her ruling on the grounds of drunkenness! Hmmm.... guess this qualifies as a plan, huh? So yes to #5...

Plus lets not forget my exclusion from the 'Good 'Ol Dog category based on my use of performance enhancing drugs!

6. In the absence of medical issues, are your potty habits still, ahem, relaxed? Absolutely not- I really hope this does not disqualify me- I am a perfect pee-er and pooer. I only go outside no matter what except when I was very sick once. Not only do I poo outside but I poo in far corners or behind bushes where people won't step in it! Momma calls my potty area of the yard 'poo corner'! I do occasionally pee on things outside that momma says did not need any pee on them, but I beg to differ!

7.When your humans say, "come" do you just stare at them waiting for them to prove they have noms? Yuh, totally as Mango would say! I actually went to reform school for it for awhile before momma gave up!

My latest version of this is where I am outside and I come and paw on the back door but stop at the door and snooter the air and won't come in unless dinner preparations have begun. If not I go back out and wait a few minutes and repeat until momma goes mad or gets supper ready. Why come in if dinner is not ready?!

EXTRA SPECIAL ADDED Criteria #8
I do not want to question the wisdom of the Mango (except that makes me a bad sport right?) but he is such a goody two paws that he left out a most important thing... Kleptomania!

I am a master of thievery and have even once cracked a vittles vault! I can reach at least half of momma's pantry and she can't even list all the things I have eaten off the counter! Then there is the can of cheeze whiz that I crunched into forcing cheesy goodness onto the old moose lodge's cathedral ceilings.

So in conclusion... Please vote for me as top Bad Sport dog! I think you will agree that while I may not be the worst at every criteria I have them all covered pretty well. Ok except the potty habits one but I am a civilized dude!

I ate ate something... again

2011-01-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

file photo showing my medicine snack box

Some of my long time pals may recall last year when I ate ate Bagels.... Well I did it again only not bagels. This time I ate ate pills! I don't see what brought on the federal case against me, I used to get them for my leg troubles all the time (they are delicious!) and yes I helped myself to them while momma was out but I do that all the time too and I just do my low tail wag and she forgives me. But this time she flipped out! (NB from Momma- he ate EIGHT 100mg Deramaxx pills- that is 8 days worth of a maximum dose of a medication that can cause serious problems for some dogs even at the prescribed doses!).

See... I did not eat ALL of the medicines!

See, she had left me at home with some paltry stuffed kong while she took Lucas for walkies. I finished my kong and as it was supper time I found myself still a bit peckish so I decided to forage a bit. It did not take long before I found my medicine box with some of my favorite snacks inside. (Approximate inventory: 8 deramaxx, ~ 50 fish oil caps, ~ 80 vitamin C and ~ 50 Glucosamine). Some of them did not taste the greatest but they were next to the other tasty ones and I am not the most discriminating of eaters. So after about 87 hours (30 min) she finally gets home from walkies and is all sweetness and light until she sees the empty box and she looked like she saw a ghost so she calls the vet and starts screamin' about how I ate ate there-am-ax.

I am not sure what they told her but she gets this giant shooter thing and the brown bottle from the medicine cabinet and starts calling me outside with scary voice. You know the one where your people think they sound happy and excited but are not fooling anyone, least of all you? Ok, fine, I'll play along and I go outside and she grabs my beak and starts shooting some nasty tasting stuff down my throat- or trying to. Nope! Then she did it again. No dice, then again. Nope not a drop makes it in! Off we go to the vet which is like 87 minutes away (30 min). We get there and I get some eye drops (Apomorphine)- weird because I was not having eye trouble then I get to wander around the vet yard- I pooed a ton- no fun with momma the doc and this other lady all staring at me (I am a private pooer). They are apparently waiting for me to barf! I am not a barfer though so I wander around then I overhear the vet tell momma that if I don't then I am going to have to sleep there alone overnight with ivy fluid - no thanks to what ever that is! So I decided to barf, then all three of them were hunched over it with a flashlight counting. Ewww! Then I go inside get a needle full of some medicine and they stand around yammering then this giant shooter thing like the one momma came after me with at home comes out! It gets filled with this black stuff (activated charcoal) and I get wrestled into submission and am forced to drink this stuff! Even worse than the stuff momma was shooting at me!

Then I get to go home but have to come back in the morning so they can make sure everything is still working right. I guess it is because I feel just fine now. I did get my momma up in the middle of the night for a most unusual potty break but otherwise it is all good!

On the other hand momma was helping me get my Mangominster 2011 entry post ready for the Good Ol' Dog category but after these shenanigans she says I am disqualified from that category and will have to enter one of the other ones... I wonder which one it will be?

Epic Fail: Lucas & the Brain Game

2011-01-11T19:45:00.075-05:00

Although my new pal Lucas is gifted in the looks department he was not so lucky in the brains department! In fact momma thinks that he might have gotten lost on the way to the brains department and missed it entirely! So she thought she should see how he did with the Brain Game and last night she loaded it up with some kibbles and started the timer.

Totally embarrassing display of a confused labbie being propelled around the room by his wiggling outboard motor of a tail for 6 minutes before it was emptied (it takes me about a minute!)! Single most embarrassing part? When he kept trying to eat kibbles out of Momma's hand with the ball still in his mouth!
So tonight she loaded it up with cooked liver in case kibbles were not enough to make his brain work. You can see the video for yourself. It was heavily edited down to the parts that don't involve him parading around with the ball in his mouth with liver sitting untouched!

Before any of you sappy types come to his defense and say he just likes toys more than food, he REALLY loves food like any normal labbie. It does not matter if it is a piece of kibble or a piece of steak, he will take momma's fingers off for the tiniest morsel of foodables. Plus no self respecting labbie would walk away from actual liver for some dollar store tennis balls that don't even squeak! And some of you might think that he is just a puppy but the vet says he is 6 or 7 years old! I am the first to admit that chewing on things is fun but why this guy is obsessed with eating momma's camera I will never know! He has been trying to eat it since he got here!

Here I am knocking it out in no time flat!

Ok... Momma uncovered footage from my first attempt and it took four minutes but I was totally handicapped at the time. My second try of the super advanced version took 1 minute!

My new pal (and foster roomie) Lucas!

2011-01-10T20:28:00.002-05:00

My bestest play pal ever, 'Tiny Hound' (aka Willie), went to his new home! I was really sad to see him go because he really knew how to play.

Since I was totally bummed Momma took me up to Miamis to visit my girlfriends Swissie and Jetta. Not that I can't handle two ladies by myself, but I thought it might be fun to have a wing man so momma and I stopped and picked up Lucas on the way.

Lucas is a homeless labbie that some nice people found wandering around and they wanted to help him so they called Lab Rescue to see if we could find a home for him.

He is a fun guy for sure but like so many other foster buddies he is way more interested in momma than me.

He does like to play with toys at least so maybe there is hope for him but if I try to tug with him he just lets go. No fun for me!

Mostly he sits by momma and does his cute act and momma falls for it hook, line and sinker! She goes around snapping pictures of him every few seconds like he is America's next top model or something! She didn't even get mad when he chewed a hole in one of her shirts!

Momma has assured me that I am still her so handsome boy and the goodest hound ever though so I guess it is ok that she is swooning over some new guy!

Besides... I am still way taller than him heh heh heh...

p.s. Yes, he is my new roomie until he finds his forever home!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: M-I-N-E edition

2011-01-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

Look Moose! One for each of us!

Back off Tiny Hound, this one is mine!

This one too. M-I-N-E Mine tiny hound!

Mine!

I think we all knew this was coming

2010-12-24T23:01:00.002-05:00

I thought we were going to make it through the holidays this year without the dreaded photoshoot with the ridiculous hats but I guess I was in denial.

Here I am as a majestic reindeer and Willie as a dorky elf

Hurry up and take the d@&n picture momma!

Momma says Willie wears the antlers better because his furs are brown so then I got to be Santa!

Here we are at least looking like we are having fun... Is it over yet? Merry Christmas every doggie!

Wordless Wednesday: Paws off my Jug edition

2010-12-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

Drinking Problem

2010-12-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

My new foster brother has a drinking problem! I won't even discuss how he came home all stumbling drunk with a lampshade on his head on Friday night and passed out cold (but for the record he did). I also won't mention that he sometimes drinks so much he barfs (but for the record he does).

But look at this latest evidence that he is a totally sloppy drinker! You can tell by the look on his face that he is totally buzzed too and does not even know he should be doing an "I didn't do it" look.

I tried to show him how to pull off this look while making a hasty retreat (of course always grab a Kong since you never know how long you will be in hiding) but I don't think he got it!

I guess that is a little better, buddy! Still it is better to get some distance and look a little scared so momma will feel bad for you... Boy does he have a lot to learn!

Sham-Wow was momma mad though! She says now there will be a clean spot on the rug and the floor so she will have to clean the rest of it or it will look funny!!

WTF Wednesday: Willie Wonka addition edition

2010-12-08T19:01:00.003-05:00

The Moose lodge has a new (but temporary) addition! He is my new chocolate pal named Willie! He is another foster labbie from LRRoF!

He is a little dude (my very own Pee Wee?!) and when he first arrived I thought momma brought home another dud because he would not play with me! Instead he trotted around the mooselodge peeing on everything like he owned the place!

That is when momma started calling him the 'Whiz Kid' (I prefer Pee Wee) and locked him up in jail!

Apparently he has some extra 'equipment' that is causing him to leak so momma is taking him to get tutored on Friday.

In the mean time momma has been spoiling him rotten! He gets clicked and treated for performing such basic functions as stepping in ~~his~~ my crate, stepping outside, peeing outside, looking at momma, sitting down, ringing the door bell etc etc! All the same stuff I do every day! sheesh!
Plus I guess he thinks he has successfully claimed ownership of the MooseLodge because he has stopped peeing all over the place. As if!

I would not stand for it except that it turns out the little guy is an awesome playmate!

Momma made a video of one of our bitey face matches. It went on forever so this is only part of it. Plus the second half of the video is Willie caught in a most embarrassing moment where he is pretending he is that StarWars Kid and playing all by himself.

After I pass out from exhaustion that is how he passes the time! Such a goof! Then I wake up with him just staring at me ready to go again!

Momma says he is a good boy though. Even though he loves to play he is pretty mellow when he is not playing and very quiet in the crate and has not gotten into much trouble other than peeing. I am just glad she did not bring home another chubby old blond who did not know what to do with a stuffie!

Happy two-year knee-versary!

2010-11-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

Two years ago today I got a new knee! I can't believe it has been two years. It has mostly been a good thing but some of you know I did something wonky to my leg a few months ago and although it is doing better it is still not 100%. Still I know I am better than I would have been with my old knee and even though momma's bank account is a bit emptier she is glad they fixed it too! You can see when I sit it still sticks out to the side.

Paws crossed my other knee will hold out. Momma says that if I keep standing on it more than the new knee (see how that leg is kinda out to the side?) that I might break it too so we are working on getting me stronger.

You can see in this photo from over my head that my back looks twisty when I stand because all my labrabutt weight is on my other leg. Momma says she got me a brand new knee and I should go ahead and use it already!

To work on this we have been doing 'puppy pushups' where I sit and stand lots of times in a row but momma is not good about remembering to do them often. Walkies are great too though. The thing is momma says it is best to take lots of short walkies through the day rather than one long. Sounds good right? The problem is she gets all busy at the 'puter and forgets what time it is and so there is one short walk instead. Bad momma!

Another thing that we do is tugging which is awesome. I am not supposed to jerk around though just pull back and so that is what we do a couple of times a day. If momma forgets this one I remind her though, it is one of my favoritest things to do!

Oh and remember how I got a new Kuranda bed and I was saying that it was kinda wobbly? Well momma learned that standing on wobbly things can be good exercise for leg muscles so it might even be good for that too!

When I stand on it, which I love to do while I eat my supper, I am actually exercising! Too bad momma can't figure out some way to exercise while she eats!

We have lots of work to do to get me moving right but hopefully we can do it little bits at a time!

Call me Señor Moose!

2010-11-17T07:06:00.001-05:00

Momma has been calling me Señor Moose again. She first started calling me that about a year ago when the vet mistakenly labeled me a 'senior' and after some discussion it was decided that as a gentleman residing in a spanish speaking area (Miami) it is only natural to address me with the courtesy title of "Señor" so that is clearly why the vet and now momma are calling me that. It is definitely not related to my being a labradog of advanced years.

Sure I recently turned NINE years old but I know for a fact that you are not a senior until you are 55 years old. Momma tried to say I was 70 people years old because she found this chart (she loves graphs...Geek!).

But I took a quiz on the internets (what could be more scientific?) and it said I was 38.4 people years!

She is always taking inventory of my grey hairs too. As you can see in the first photo I do have a few more grey furs than I used to. But just the other day momma noticed the appearance of a small patch of grey on my beak! Do you see it?

It is in with my whiskers... It is tiny but momma thinks it is most curious since it appeared so suddenly and has all black furs around it...

Whatever! I am still younger than Señorita Swissie (11years old!) ...

... and Señorita Jetta 9 years + 4months (3 1/2 months OLDER than me!).
Plus I can not help but mention that in my birthday post I got lots of comments about how I don't look 9 years old. So that is proof that I am Señor Moose not senior Moose!

A real pill...

2010-11-14T14:45:00.001-05:00

My lady friends Swissie and Jetta are visiting again! We love having them visit the Moose lodge but lately momma has noticed that they are quite the pill poppers! I take some pills too but as a card carrying labradog it is my policy to eat things first and ask questions later. Momma gives me something & I eat it no problem! I do prefer a sort of topping on the white one, you know maybe a little cream cheese to help it go down but I will eat the fishoil one plain and really consider it a light snack!

Jetta (also a card carrying labradog) has the same policy, however momma says Swiss Miss is a real pill when it comes to taking her pills. Momma has to really hide them all the way and even still Swissie will spit it out and lick all the good stuff off! There are these things called pill pockets out there but it is expensive for a doggie who would need 4 of them every day! There is also this stuff that is like edible play doh for dogs but it is pretty expensive too (and they stopped making it anyway!).

So momma remembered that people sometimes make edible playdoh for kids and maybe that would work for us so she tried out the recipe.
She puts peanut butter, bee juice and powdered cow (at least that is what is on the box!) and mixes it all together!

From momma: it is equal parts dried non-fat milk, peanut butter & honey. I have found that more dried milk may be needed depending on the peanut butter you use. A table spoon of flour can also be added if it is still too sticky! you should be able to form it into a ball without leaving a big mess. It is much less messy than regular peanut butter or cream cheese and does a better job of really hiding the pills- espescially the large glucosamine & fish oil capsules. It needs to be stored in an air tight container but will last a long time.

Here I am showing Swissie how it is done!
Swiss Miss can't feel the pill so she gobbles it up no questions asked.If she keeps it up Jetta and I are going to make her an honorary labradog!

Momma also has another trick too that is even wayyyy better than that but may gross out some of you peoples. She will stuff a pill in one of the holes that are already in a chicken heart! She says they are "nature's pill pockets". Hee hee whatever, even Swiss miss does not question a chicken heart! Total yummers!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-10-31T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today I am a NINE year old Moose! Can you believe it? Momma can't! It has been a pretty mellow birthday this year compared to last year.

I woke up this morning to a new squatter bunny!

I know I always get squatter bunnies but they are my favoritest stuffie of all!

Momma did make me a special dinner though. I guess it might not look that good to some peoples but to me it was some of my most favorite things! Yummy fish, pig ear, chicken paws, chicken hearts! Plus she topped it off with some kidney shaped like a heart.
I guess the neighbor kids heard it was my birthday too because they have been coming by all night and knocking on the door to surprise me! I guess I am more popular than I thought! They are confused about birthdays though, if you ask me. They come over and ask for treats instead of bringing ME treats. How rude!

I want to be a Moose!

2010-10-30T19:20:00.002-04:00

When Momma asked me what I wanted to be for Halloween, I said 'I just want to be a Moose!' because I did not want a repeat of last year's udderly horrifying costume! I just wanted to be my regular everyday un-costumed self.

I guess I should have been a little more careful with what you call my 'articles'. Apparently saying 'a Moose' instead of just 'Moose' left things open for interpretation.

At least I was handsomely rewarded for my patience!

My new bed & check-in

2010-10-17T12:46:00.000-04:00

Can you believe I have only gotten two posts in the last month! I am neglected I tell you. Momma has been glued to the 'puter lately so you think she could take two minutes to visit my pals or post all of my exciting news but no! It is all work work work while she is on there. On the other hand, sitting around watching momma tap tap tap on the computer does not give me much to blog about. There has been a lot of this:

and sometimes this: Boring!

One kind of exciting thing is I got a new bed for outside! I have had a perfectly nice bed for ages but sometimes I would find that it was too wide and not long enough to fit my long and lanky self. Weird because sometimes I fit just fine... Momma says I have 'spatial planning issues' but I can't help it if my bed keeps changing shape!

Anyway... this bed was fine with me, it was a great place to sit back and enjoy a nice meaty bone or fresh pig ear. But apparently getting meat all over my bed was really grossing momma out. Apparently she wants to be able to wash things that get all meaty even though I assure her I never leave any thing behind. Hmph!

So then she gets me one of these kind of beds:
It is a Kuranda Bed! She says I look so handsome on it (duh, I am handsome everywhere!).

AND she likes it because she can just hose it off after I have taken some delicious pig parts back to it for a truly relaxed dining experience.

Ages ago, before I knew most of you I had a similar bed called a 'Coolaroo' bed. She thought it was a great way to keep me off the gravel and I thought it was great to lie next to. It felt all shakey and slippery to me so it was kind of scary and I never used it. Then when my old pal TeddyNo was here he loved that bed and used it like a trampoline (he was a bouncy boy!).

TeddyNo convinced me it was not scary and I would occasionally lie on it until he turned it into a pile of twisted metal and shredded fabric! (Momma says this is not all his fault because it was old and not put together very well by her.) So then I had no bed until momma got me the soft, really good at soaking up meat juices one! And now a not so shakey version of the Coolaroo bed.

I like it well enough but it is a little slippery still and I find that it changes shape too! I think beds should be the same size all the time, momma said this is called 'round' or 'square' so I think it is bed makers who have spatial planning issues. It is easy to clean though!

Is anybody still there?

2010-10-02T17:54:00.001-04:00

Momma has not helped me blog much lately and she has not read me news of my pals nearly enough so I wonder if everyone has wandered off? Summer is kinda ~~lazy~~ busy here at the Mooselodge so that is why we have not been around much. I know what you are thinking... "Um Moose... summer was over ages ago" but see, here in Florida Keys summer lasts until they start putting up halloween decorations, then we know it is fall. Then when chirstmas stuff appears we know it is winter then when the easter bunny appears it is spring. Any other time is summertime!

What have we been doing? Well, one big change is in kibbletime.... or rather suppertime. You see, I managed to convince my momma that I am a wolf and as such I require MEAT and BONES for dinner.

So momma has been spending all of her free time out hunting chickens and pigs for me! She is an awesome hunter too. I don't know how she does it! She takes a couple of sacks and a square piece of plastic out and comes home in less than an hour with like a hundred chickens! So what used to be kibble time is now supper time and it only happens once a day instead of twice. But dog alive it is a really yummers once a day so I don't mind!

Aside from that my girlfriends Swissie and Jetta have come by to visit a few times. I have been quite the ladies' man lately so Khyra said I am turning into a Huge Heifer whatever that is! (No Moose, she said Hugh Hefner!)

Momma said that with all of my Squatter bunnies it is sorta like the bunny ranch too!

There has been lots of fun though. This weekend they are here and we got to watch this awesome movie on the Tee Vees with dogs in it. Swissie went a little nuts over it!

You should see the actual movie we were watching here: http://www.okgo.net/dogs/
There are 12 doggies and a goat in there!

On the girls last visit momma got me a new stuffie and Swissie went a little nuts about that too as you can see here! I was too ~~scared~~ much of a gentleman to steal it back from her so I let her keep it.

I know it looks like Jetta is never around but that is because she is always napping! Here she is snuggled up with momma!

WTF Wednesday: Big DOPE edition

2010-09-15T16:39:00.001-04:00

I am officially a Big DOPE which stands for Dog of Particular Excellence in case the rest of you don't know. I had to ask momma and that is what she said it meant and it is official, I am a Big Dog of Particular Excellence! It says so on the internets and everything on the internets is totally true!
A few weeks ago my pal Khyra shared this awesome website with me called Draw the Dog. It is really cool and often features labra-antics so momma submitted my downward facing dog photo to see if the cartoon dude (Jim George) would use my likeness for one of his drawings.

Then, this morning Khyra called my attention to today's cartoon! Look! It is Me!!! Ok Mandy is in there too and even has a speaking role but clearly I am the star!

I asked the artist if I might snag a jpg of it but until he gives me permission to post it here you will have to visit the website to see it. Actually it is most entertaining and you should totally visit everyday!
Click the logo to see today's in a cartoon!

If you are late and there is a new cartoon up then after you enjoy that one you can see me here: http://drawthedog.com/?p=2200
I will be selling pawtographs on ebay now that I am famous who wants one?
UPDATE! The author has allowed us to post the drawing so here it is (but please check out their site- the drawings are awesome and the website itself is very nicely done!

Missing: Crinkle Pig

2010-09-12T12:29:00.000-04:00

Help! My Crinkle pig went missing yesterday! Last seen headed north with two old chubby blondes! Have any of you seen him? You might remember I got him (or one of his predecessors) for my 8th Birthday. He sounds like a plastic water bottle but feels like a stuffie. He is the best!

Here is what happened... I was playing with him on Friday night and crinkle crinkle crinkle it was awesome!

Then we woke up and momma picked him up and put him in a bag and she and Mandy left for the day. I was home alone for about 7 naps then momma finally comes home... No Crinkle Pig! WTF? Momma loses things all the time but she denies leaving him somewhere. She came home smelling like about a hundred other dogs... I wonder if that is related to this?

She did seem pretty sad about the Crinkle Pig being gone though so I snuggled with her. Anyway, if you see my Crinkle Pig please contact the Mooselodge!

Mandy and her new brother Cliff

From Momma: Crinkle Pig went to help Mandy get comfortable in her new home! She was adopted by a wonderful couple and their lab Cliff a retired seeing-eye dog! Mandy was not big on toys but she was getting very attached to us so I thought it might be comforting if she took something that smelled like us with her. She always got excited when Moose played with toys so I figured her new brother might play with it and it would make her happy! I hear she is doing great so far and has even nibbled on her new dad which is something she only does when she is happy (that is how she got her nick name 'Niblet'). I am pretty sad about her being gone but could not have hoped to find a better match for her and know she is in great hands! It feels strange being back to one dog. I think Moose liked her just fine but doubt he is too worried about her being gone since she did not play with him and that is all he cares about! I think her new brother will appreciate the adoring attention he will get from her more than Moose did!

My owie

2010-08-27T18:27:00.000-04:00

I had to go back to the knee doc yesterday. One time I went to see him and came out a total wreck but since he has good machines there momma convinced me that is where we needed to go. When the doc came in there was a little bit of a hello and how do you do but then he and this other lady wrestled me to the ground and started groping me all over. Holy cow! If you are gonna do that kind of thing I prefer if you buy me dinner first sheesh!
Then they flipped me over and prodded more and that side did not bother me so much. Then I got whisked off to the private room for a photo shoot. Usually I go in there and get all sleepy and come out all loopy, but this time I was awake through the photoshoot. I still won't tell momma what happened in there though.

Anyway, the doc said he thought I got something called a 'groin pull' which is a huge relief if that is right. The photos he took were just to check if everything else was ok and to see if my arthritis was worse which would have suggested it was some problem with my knee afterall. Here are the photos of my knee from my past 4 photoshoots for anyone who wants to see (you can bigify).

Doc says my bone is all healed up from when he broke it before. My arthritis might look a little bit worse but he said nothing too bad. Anyways, I am supposed to not do any crazy cracker dog dances for awhile and no park trips until I am all better. Last night I wiped out and did the splits when momma came home so I guess I see his point. That really hurt! Problem is I tend to forget that when momma comes home or when she has my supper bowl in her hand. Sorry no cute pics. Momma is busy busy busy but wanted to update my pals who were nice enough to be worried about me!

WTF Wednesday: not again edition

2010-08-25T19:03:00.000-04:00

Some of my long time pals may think this is an old picture of me (like this one) but it is not.

I have been walking a little (ok a lot) funny lately and momma is very worried about me. I have no clue why my knee isn't working right again but it is not. It is the same knee that I got fixed awhile ago. I wonder if momma got one of those extended warrantees on it... I think the doc messed up because I have not done anything unusual. I was layzing around quietly and next thing I know it was busted. Let me see if I can think back... It started this past weekend. Sunday was fine.

I hopped in the car on sunday afternoon.

Momma took Mandy and I to the park. My leg was working fine.

I strolled around the perimeter as usual, leg was fine. I layzed around by the pool, No worries there!

I waited around forever while Momma yammered on an on with park peoples. Mandy hogged the one good butt-scratcher in the crowd. This is the dude who usually tugs with me so I did not get to play tug, so definitely no leg troubles there.

There is a people beach there but it was empty and Momma has been wanting to see if Mandy would go in the water so we strolled over for a little dip.

Will Mandy go in? Yes... That girl will follow me anywhere. Still no leg troubles though.

I could not get rid of her! She was on me like black on a black labradog! Then I thought of a trick...

If I take my tall and long legged loving to get wet self out in deeper water her short stubbyness will have to turn around.

Yep Worked like a charm! So long Sucka! I strolled around for a bit and there were still no leg troubles.

Then I like suddenly realized I did not have my leash on and decided to do some aqua zoomies! Super fun! So much fun that I don't remember if my leg hurt or not... Momma thinks it did...

She did not notice it at the time either but looking back at this video right after my zoomies it looks like I was limping a bit. Every thing seemed fine when we got home other than the bath I had to endure. THen a few hours later I got up and wouldn't even put my paw down. Momma is very worried. It seemed like I was getting better but then tonight I got a little over excited about dinner time and after that I was limping badly again so she is going to get me to the knee doctor as soon as she can. I really hope he does not decide to cut me open last time. It took me a long time to get right after the last time. Please cross paws for me.

Also you might have noticed in the 3rd photo that Mandy has a new collar that says 'Adopt Me' on it! Momma is hoping that people will see her face and fall in love and ask about her. Here is a close up:

Meanwhile I am stuck wearing the same old collar. Momma says I might be getting a new knee though so I guess that is something.

Wordless Wednesday: Downward Facing Dog edition

2010-08-18T08:16:00.000-04:00

I almost got it, Mandy!

Black is BEAUTIFUL!

2010-08-08T14:18:00.001-04:00

My pal Dexter is hosting a contest for black labradogs ONLY! Finally a contest where I have a leg up!

Momma says she is excited about anything that helps the world see how wonderful black doggies can be! Apparently there is something called Black Dog Syndrome that many of you are aware of. It is the phenomenon where black dogs are slower to be adopted and faster to be euthanized in shelters. A double whammy is being a BIG black dog. *Gulp*! You can see this video below that explains it.

Isn't that a terrible thing? Momma has loved black labbies since the first one she met named Maddy. Maddy was later joined by Ebby. I never got to meet either but Ebby (who was part lab and part flat dog) passed over the bridge recently and Momma leaked all over the place and made pathetic sounding noises so apparently Ebby was pretty special.

Then she met Darwin a big 95lb black labbie who is pretty Awesome! Momma loved all of these black doggies so much that when she went to adopt her own dog she was afraid that if she got a black dog she would compare it to these guys and it could never live up to Maddy, Ebby or Darwin. So she decided she wanted a yellow girl labbie but when she went to meet them none of them felt right to her.

Finally she came to her senses and realized it was because she was looking for a big black labbie and if that is what she wanted AND if black labs are always overlooked (everyone wants a yellow lady lab!) then she should just get what she wants so that is how she ended up with ME! (this is one of the first pictures she ever saw of me- can you blame her for driving 2 hours to meet me?).

So why are us black doggies harder to adopt? Some think it is because we are not as noticeable in dark kennels at the shelter. (Here is what I might look like behind bars).

Some say it is because people see black as scary. I mean, what is so scary about me trying to catch a snack? Ok perhaps that is not a good photo to show...

Some say it is because we don't photograph well. Momma claims this is a little bit true and her hard drive is bustin' with 'bad' photos of me. I submit this photo as evidence to the contrary though.

Whatever the reason (and it is probably a combination of things) We big black doggies are more likely to end up homeless and on death row. Some of you may remember TeddyNo (who was on death row when LRRoF snagged him) he was a 'puppy' and it took almost 3 months for him to find a home compared to Bella who took less than 3 weeks!

Ok sure, he apparently got into trouble from time to time but no one even asked to meet him for 3 months! He was an awesome pal who was way more fun than these chubby blonds momma keeps bringing home!
Momma found this site called Start Seeing Black Dogs that has ideas for helping shelters and rescues get us black doggies noticed! I am so excited that Dexter's contest will show the world that we are all unique and wonderful doggies even if some people say we all look alike!

Part of this contest will have the readers match the photo with the name of the black doggie so I need to have momma pick a good photo of my big beautiful black self. She likes this one but PeeWee says it should show your whole face and this one hides most of my moose-ness.

She also likes this one but thinks since I am holding a Moose in my mouth that it would be too easy to match me up with my name. So she will find a photo that shows off my handsome shiny black Moose self and send that to Dexter. It might even be a never-before seen photo of Moose which is reason enough to check out the contest! If you are a black labradog you should enter because for every entry Dexter is donating some of his tennis ball money to homeless labbies up in Master Chew Sits.

Mandy doin' A-OK

2010-07-29T08:22:00.004-04:00

Boy my foster sister Mandy has been super annoying lately. I think she has a crush on me or somethin'! I do love the ladies but it is not like she will play with me or my toys or anything useful, she just follows me around and she nuzzles me and stuff. Since she has lost some weight she is all perky and on walkies if I sniff something she has to come sniff too and just when I get a good trot going she decides it is time to play catch up. That would not be so bad except that she tries to circle me and gets us all tangled up! Momma says to be patient, she just does not understand leash behaviors yet and I am trying but when I step off into some trees for my private time I DO NOT want to end up hogtied!

Momma will explain the details of her bad beak sickies- it is kinda complicated and has scary pics so if you are like me and not into that kind of thing then maybe stop here! But you see she is looking pretty good with her new smile!

Mandy's doc says the biopsy revealed a low grade tumor called a multi lobular osteo sarcoma that was fully resected. Good news is that no further treatment should be needed (in terms of chemo/radiation). The not so good news is that it is not uncommon for this type of tumor to recur and 50% of recurrent tumors metastasize. See the 'before' pic compared to when I first noticed it to see how much it grew in just over a week!

The doc felt confident from the report that she got it all and the cells in Mandy's case showed low activity so she thought it was pretty likely that at Mandy's age she would likely live out her life before this came back. I would like to be able to tell potential adopters a more simple 'all clear' kind of thing, rather than 'basically I think she probably is in the clear' but soooo glad it is not worse news which it easily could have been!

As you can see, she is still looking good after her partial (rostral) mandibulectomy! I have read other stories of doggies with a similar diagnosis whose owners opt for just removing the surface tumor and or using radiation to treat this because the prospect of removing part of the jaw sounds scary.

Removing the affected jaw offers the best prognosis though so I wanted to show how great a doggie can still look after this proceedure so people won't be too worried. She is still eating soft food but should have no problem funtioning normally by next week too! She is also not really drooling more now that she is more healed and used to her new mouth. A lot depends on where the tumor is and Mandy was lucky it was in the front as this is easiest to remove without disrupting the stability of the jaw.

I would also like to clear up that this is different than the initial diagnosis I suggested and that it is not likely related to lack of dental care but stand by my strong support for teeth brushing! Aside from healthy gums that is the best chance you have of noticing important changes to their mouth where tumors are quite common in dogs! Here is what 'beautiful chompers' (for a nearly 9yo boy!) should look like!

I think Mandy is really lucky that she was rescued in the first place but am also proud to volunteer for a rescue that will dig deep into their pockets to treat a foster dog (especially an older one) with the same standard we hope all dogs will be treated after they are adopted. I think they have given her a great chance for a happier second half of her life in a loving home as every dog should! LRRoF is having their annual 'Friends and Family' fundraiser this year and once again this year we have a generous donor who will match our donations up to $10,000 so now more than ever, even small donations will make a big difference! If you want to help me meet my modest goal of $200 please click here or see the button on my side bar! I know lots of you already support lots of worthy animal causes but if you would like to also support homeless labbies in Florida we would be most grateful!

Half beak!

2010-07-22T23:55:00.000-04:00

On tuesday momma, Mandy and I hopped in the car and momma took me to my girlfriends' house in Miami and dropped Mandy off at the vet for her nose job (as Jack put it!) and then momma went to see her family up north. We are all home again so figured I would update you all.
First off- I have yet another new contraption called a seatbelt. ugggh. Totally not cool!

Second- Mandy had this hideous lump on her beak so she had to get a nose job to fix it. Momma said it is called a 'rostral mandibulectomy'. Whatever... I was calling her 'half-beak' but momma said that is a kind of fish and also not very nice. Really she looks pretty much the same.

You can see that she is missing a few toofers and some beak when she is smiling but even then momma thinks she is still a pretty girl. And on the up side she finally is able to produce a respectable amount of drool! Momma is less impressed by this though.

The doctor who did her nose job said that it was not as bad as it could have been and sent part of her beak out to be tested for bad sickies. We will know next week sometime so please keep your paws crossed that she is sickie-free!

Third- Momma was bummed that I went to my girlfriend's house instead of driving north but there was another travel-sized doggie there named Shadow (my cousin) who did a good job of preventing doggie-withdrawl.

I did get lots R & R in with Swissie and Jetta though so I had fun!

Product review: Drool Cleaner... fur real!

2010-07-19T01:21:00.000-04:00

Momma came home from the store today with this weird stuff designed to remove the slobbers I have carefully coated our windows with. I don't know what she is thinking... I have placed it there as a sort of 'privacy film' since we have lots of glass doors. Once she cleans it anyone walking down the street will be able to see in! She is crazy but I will let her tell you about it.

So I was at the hardware store in the vacuum section and this is what I saw on the shelf: Bissel Drool Cleaner!!! It is a can with a scrub brush and squeegee attached. At first I thought it was for upholstery since I saw the brush. I am in constant need of a way to clean drool off of my sofa. I could put a cover down but Moose has a way of 'missing' any covers intended for this!
Anyway, it turns out it is for glass... as you can see from the first photo we have a bit of a drool issue there too. Now, you doggies that leave nose prints on windows might get away with regular cleaner but some doggies produce something far more enduring than just nose prints. Moose's 'floogers' are nothing like Mango or Honey's slobbers but still, window cleaner is not enough to remove them!

Speaking of Mango... The doggie model looks a little Mango-like, no? Though he is definitely missing some mango-ness! (And why not have a slobbery doggie on the bottle?) But here is the really funny thing.... lookit the doggie's name on the can... it is Dexter!!! Coincidence? I think the Mango estate must be some kind of product testing lab or something...

Anyway, I decided to try it out on this is the door (this is actually only Moose's lighter duty drool):

For comparison I tried regular glass cleaner (I use a very effective foaming spray that does a good job on normal things) on the right side and the Drool Cleaner on the left side.

Here is the door after cleaning both sides. For the glass cleaner I wiped as I normally wood to clean typical glass. Not as hard as I would clean drool covered glass (though I admit I am a lazy housekeeper!)

Back to Moose! Below is a photo essay of my review of this product. Four paws down! It is evil smelling and sprays out of a can- two deal breakers for me!

Now this is a product I can endorse!

What do you think Mandy?

Same here! Delicious!

Momma says Mandy looks like a manatee here. I think it is more Hippo-like myself!

Keep your paws crossed for her. She is having beak surgery on tuesday. Momma will update on that later.

Speaking of paws crossed and updates. Did you guys hear that Mango scared the daylights out of his Momma and Pee Wee the other night? Yikes. Momma made me promise never to do that to her. Keep your paws crossed that Mango never does that again either!

Mandy's Bad Beak Sickies

2010-07-13T18:41:00.001-04:00

***Kinda yucky pics- skip this post if you are really squeamish)

Mandy is my pretty little (ok not that little really) foster sister. She is here at the Moose Lodge while momma helps her find a forever home. Lots of you have asked if she is staying but the answer is No! I would love a brother or sister to play with but momma says she can't manage another doggie full time so now she is just fostering from time to time for Lab Rescue of Florida. Plus if I were to approve of a full time sibling it would HAVE to be one who played with me instead of ignoring me and snuggling up to momma 24/7! So no she is not staying but while she is here me and momma are treating her like a full fledged resident.

Canine Acanthotmatous Ameloblastoma

So you can imagine how scared momma was when she got up and discovered our Mandy girl's beak was bleeding! Momma had noticed a mass on her gums and had an appointment scheduled for next week but now she was dripping blood on the floor and walls and momma freaked out! So off she goes to the vet!

Mandy got pictures of her insides and poked and prodded for a few hours and came staggering home to wait until some of the stuff the vet stole from her gets looked at by some other vets. So I asked momma to cut to the chase already and tell me what was wrong with her and she said it is probably Canine Acanthomatous Ameloblastoma (CAA) which is apparently a big fancy word that means bad beak sickies. So Mandy is going to a surgeon soon to have this done (warning- really graphic pics- not for the squeamish!). It looks really scary to me but momma has read that most doggies do just fine with after having part of their jaw removed. So as long as they don't find anything more serious and no troubles come up in surgery then she will be ok but we are still worried and kinda sad for her. Momma says that it is hard to find homes for older doggies but it is even harder when the seem less than perfect.

In case you are worried that she is having trouble eating you need to watch this video (taken with Momma's cel phone). Mandy is getting soft food and momma wanted to feed her slowly since she was still a little loopy from the vet. Momma feeds me from metal spoons and forks (because I am a sophisticated labradog) all the time but luckily she decided to use a soft spoon for Mandy... Yikes! If you turn up your speakers you can hear a whooshing sound as hoovers it in!

Mandy's gums are receding and swollen. In one place her
furs collect in the pockets and only make things worse!

The other thing we want to say about this is that Mandy apparently came from a 'home' where no one cared for her teeth (or any other part of her) and this condition is no coincidence! These tumors are associated with chronic gingivitis or other underlying periodontal disease (though they can happen for other reasons too). So please please let your people brush your teeth! I know it is weird but they are just trying to help. I am not very cooperative, I admit so momma gets discouraged but makes up for it with an annual dental cleaning. I went to the vet the other day and vet lady said I had 'beautiful chompers' but momma is still going to brush them more so they will stay that way.

Here I am showing off my 'Beautiful Chompers'

Note from Momma- I have been pretty lazy about toothbrushing before Mandy got here and I think part of the reason was that it did not seem like I was doing any good but dealing with Mandy has made me read up on it and now I understand better. Brushing is good to clean the teeth but the most important thing is to clean around the gumline just like with people. I also read that the outer surface of the upper teeth/gums is the most important part to get to because their tongues do ok on the inner surfaces. Luckily this is the easier more accessible part to brush so even if that is all you can do it is a big help! Moose has gotten 2 dental cleanings in the 3 years I have had him but they both happened when he needed another procedure that required anesthesia. As he is getting older I am not crazy about the idea of putting him under solely for the purposes of a dental cleaning so maybe brushing will mean that we can go longer between cleanings I am learning that the risk of poor oral hygiene is not trivial in the least and should be considered when you are weighing the risk of anesthesia. Also the more you brush them the more they will get used to it and the more likely that you will notice if unhealthy changes to their mouth crop up so things like this can be caught early! Here are some very helpful tips on how to do it right. You need to do it everyday to reverse gingivitis but I have read 3x a week is enough to maintain already 'beautiful chompers'! I say every little bit helps though...

Important Update: I was wrong about the initialy diagnosis, Read the full update here!

Kibble Nibble (Part 2 of 3 Premier Pet Pressies!)

2010-07-12T18:20:00.001-04:00

So the 2nd present I got from the good people at Premier Pet was a thing called a Kibble Nibble. Now at first I thought it was a jug that was missing a rope. It was purple like the jug and smelled like my jug.

Momma opened it an put kibbles inside just like my jug!

I was beside myself excited to get it so yep... must be a jug!

But when I got ahold of it I realized it was different! It had 2 holes and it kept rolling away which my jug does not really do... hmmm

I tried sitting down to see if I could keep ahold of it... nope!

That is when it finally hit me! You are SUPPOSED to let it roll around so the kibbles fall out by themselves. You dont need a rope!

Success! At this rate it will take me forever to get all of the kibbles out!

Here is a little movie showing how it works!

And just an aside to my friends who suggested that I broke my old jug... Why, I never! I would never destroy a toy! Momma simply replaced it due to normal wear and tear! The problem was that the new jug had a cotton rope which works great for many pups but not for my particular brand of slobbers. My slobbers made the rope too soft and it got jammed in the jug and trapped my kibbles. So that is why momma wrote to them whining about my need for slobber-resistant materials!
Note from Momma- Customer service and lots of online reviews say that people prefer the cotton rope because some pups chew the rubber rope into tiny bits (like TeddyNo did with the first jug) but for some reason my Moose who destroys everything has left the ropes undamaged. I really would never complain about a toy just because moose was able to destroy it! If so I would be writing letters everyday! I only wrote to them to explain why I preferred the rubber ropes and suggest that they offer them with both types of ropes and they responded by making us happy customers!!

RECALL! Merrick treats

2010-07-11T23:11:00.000-04:00

If any of you enjoy Merrick Beef Filet Squares please note that a recall has been issued for them! This is the second lot to be recalled since January!

So if you have any check the dates and lot numbers BUT I suggest being cautious about some of their other products as well. We buy the Lamb filet squares and the bag that we have at the moment is dated 10 days off (11-9-2011) from the first lot of recalled beef squares.

Although I might normally look at the recall and dismiss it as different I think it is no coincidence that moose got terrible poo troubles after eating them 2 weeks ago! Sure he stole a small container of them and ate more (~1 oz) than I would normally give him but given all of the crazy things he has eaten in the past without so much as a burp it seemed odd to me at the time and now with this recall it seems highly suspiscious. His poo troubles resulted in 2 accidents in the house (which has never happened before!) and inspite of pepto, immodium and a variety of food remedies (pumpkin, rice etc) his problems continued until we went to the vet and got antibiotics!
So there you have it... possible coincidence but I will let you decide! I am calling the hotline tomrorow.

Return of the Jug! (sponsored by the good people at Premier Pet!)

2010-07-10T14:25:00.000-04:00

Most of my readers probably know that I have a kibble jug that I LOOOVE! It had this rubber thing in it that helped me get the kibbles out. Apparently after about a zillion dinners my drool started to melt the stopper thing so momma got me a replacement jug that had a different rope. Long story short it was not really working out for me and momma emailed the people at Premier Pet all whining and complaining (you know how she is!) and then next thing you know I get a package in the mails!
Check it out:

Can you believe it? More ropes! Aren't they nice people??? Momma promises to wash it more often so my drool does not corrode the thing and they will last forever! Yippee. (note from Momma- the jugs now come with a cotton rope which MOST pups prefer but Moose is kind of stuck in his ways you know!)

As if that was not enough of a surprise... they sent me ANOTHER box! Momma sent them pictures of me and I think they just could not resist my Moose face!

Here is yet another 'un-boxing' movie- lucky for me Momma knows that opening presents is half the fun so she lets me do it!

Holy smokes! Did you see there were lots of things in there? She said we will share the other stuff with you guys later 'cuz this is already a long post but you can see one of the things is a fleecy ball (ok, actually called a Pogo Plush and you can read about it here).

It is a squishy ball that squishes like a stuffy (but there is no stuffy inside!) and it also squeaks like a squeaky but here is the rub... the squeaker moves around so it is never in the same spot when I go to squeak it!

I keep squishing it all over and just when it squeaks and I think I found where it is, it moves so it is not there next time and I have to keep squishing it to find it again!

Plus the squeaky seems to be behind some special protective forcefield because I have not been able to silence it yet! Hard work I tell you! Luckily when you get tired from squeaker hunting you can use it as a pillow!

Wordless Wednesday: Snooter edition

2010-07-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

Independence Day Name Game

2010-07-04T20:44:00.001-04:00

Happy Independence Day! My pal Frankie wants everyone to tell how they got their name. My name is Moose! Sometimes people meet me and ask how momma knew I was gonna be so big when she named me. Well, that is easy... I was already a full grown 5 1/2 yr old labbie when I got that name!
I was first named Skeeter Lou's Raven of the Oceans (Seriously?!). When Momma adopted me she did not think that was a good name for me and even before I picked her to be my momma she was thinking of names. She had a list that she sent out to friends to have them take a vote. Some of the choices were Scout, Atticus, & Boo because she loves "To Kill a Mockingbird". Others were family names like Walker or Webster etc and some were ocean names like Salty or Fathom. She was really leaning towards Boo since my birthday is Halloween and her favoritest Black Labbie from grad school's nick name was Boo. But the first 2 times she took me to the park there were other dogs being called Boo. She tried some of the others, but none of them seemed to fit. Moose was on the list too because she used to know a big chocolate lab named Moose and she always liked that. Then one of her friends from work came over to meet me and went on and on about how huge I was and said Moose would be perfect and there you have it... A moose was born!

Momma knew she made the right choice when we went to the dog park a few days later and I ran up to a guy I never met before and he called me Moose even without knowing my name! Since then that has happened a few other times so I guess my name fits! Here is a picture showing my new name being made official on my first name tag! Of course, even though that is my name I only get called that about half the time. Otherwise my name is 'Mooselby Waggerstien', 'Leaky Beak', 'Precious', 'Momma's Baby', 'Mooses' and 'Mister Wiggles'.

So that is my story. Mandy's story is not so interesting because it is just starting. Momma got a piece of paper that said Amanda on it but the LRRoF lady made it Mandy though unofficially she was called Miss Piggy! Mandy still does not know her name is Mandy and that is probably not gonna happen because momma mostly calls her Niblet, Nibbles, Golden Niblet or Bear Face. Momma does not have a good pic of her looking all Bear Face but this is kinda close. Personally I don't see it but whatever... Momma is crazy!
The nibble thing is cuz when she is all excited and goes to give Momma kisses she will start out with some licks and the all the sudden... Nibble! When I am being Mr. Wiggles with a toy or before Kibble time she will sometimes start sniffing and nuzzling me then all of the sudden... Nibble!
So that is where our names come from! Hope you pups share your story too!

And of course Hope you all have a Happy Independence Day and stay safe and don't get too scared of the big booms!

Flat Brutus' Undersea Adventure

2010-07-03T11:21:00.000-04:00

Since Flat Brutus is visiting Key Largo he told momma he wanted to go SCUBA diving!

He saw Mango and Dexter's diving trip back in January and really wanted to prove that not all Frenchies are afraid of the water.

Since an all day kind of adventure would interfere with my naps I sent him off with momma!
First they went to Elbow Reef where Flat Brutus got to see the Threatened Elkhorn Coral that momma is always yammering on about. He was very careful not to break it because it is very delicate!

Then they went to another reef called Sand Island. Momma was busy working so she left him on his own to explore. Well, she turned her back for one minute and found poor Flat Brutus being visciously attacked by a Threespot Damselfish! Poor brutus!

No sooner had he escaped being pecked to death by these 'chi-wa-was of the reef' (as momma calls them) than he ended up in the clutches of a monstrous Reef Spider Crab! Holy Cow!

You can see all the action in this dramatic video. Yikes!

That was a pretty harrowing adventure lil' guy! I think you should stick with us laid back labbies for your next adventure in Key Largo!

Special Delivery from Dirtville!

2010-07-02T18:01:00.000-04:00

So you guys remember a few weeks ago when Stumpy hosted the Khatch me if you Khan Khontest? Well I Won! Ok, Momma says I did not really win win but a package I received in the mails today is proof to the contrary! I won cookies which means I won! Ok... really Wyatt won because he caught 25 pieces of cheese before his parents ran out so maybe could have caught more! I think that Wyatt's parents are better at throwing than my momma who throws like a girl!

So anyways, I get this package that smells so delicious that I have to admit I forgot my manners a bit...

Can you blame me? They smelled so delicious! They smelled like Peanut Butter, Bananas and pumpkin! Which are my favorite non-meats food group foods!

Plus, Mandy was hanging around sucking in her tummy trying to look skinny so momma would let her go off her diet. So of course I had to make sure I got them!

Then look who else crept in... Flat Brutus! So now I am splitting my winnings with TWO other doggies??? I don't think so!

But of course Mandy does her whole irresistible look thing and shows off her new found understanding of the 'wait' command and momma gave her one!

You're so little Brutus, you can't possibly eat all of that by yourself!

Then Momma made me share with Flat Brutus who is of course a guest and it is the only polite thing to do (grumbles!)

There are still some left so there might be a midnight pantry raid planned for when momma goes to bed!

Thanks Stumpy & Alphonso & Fenway! And extra thanks for your support of Khyra and her mom's rescue efforts! They really deserve it !
Oh and more thanks for devising this ingenious 'Khontest' that tricked momma into handing out loads of treats! Brilliant!

Wordless Wednesday: Flat Brutus Arrival Edition

2010-06-30T07:44:00.000-04:00

What's this... I did not know we were expecting a visitor!

Give it!!

I don't see your name any where on here Mandy!

Welcome little guy... what would you like to do whilst in Key Largo?

Yet another contraption

2010-06-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

Momma is always getting weird contraptions around here but this latest one is messing with my water supply. Not cool. See, my last trip to the vet revealed some slightly wonky numbers from the many fluids they stole from me and the vet said that I probably need to drink more water.

I used to have this way cool fountain outside that I would drink from and I loved it until the vicious neighbor dog 'Snow White' nearly attacked and killed me while I was drinking from it (note from momma: Snow White was a 7mo old puppy who barked at Moose who then decided she was terrifying! See here for details).
Anyway, since I love running water Momma decided to try an indoor fountain for me. I find this contraption to smell, sound and look totally suspicious. Since my other water is gone I am forced to drink from it though (and yes, I checked the toilets.. they are all closed!). Maybe I will go on a water strike until I get my other water back...

WTF Wednesday: Supermodel Moose?

2010-06-16T06:54:00.000-04:00

Momma got this magazine in the mails and was shocked! She has found out my secret that I was a supermodel in my previous life...

She tried to take a picture to compare but I was not cooperative. I retired from modeling ages ago so was not up for hours of flashy box to capture that perfect look so this was as close as she got.

It was the 348th take though and here are some of the out takes from the session...

As you can see I was a little frustrated in that last one... Guess I will stick with my other jobs as floor cleaner, food tester, stuffie shredder and fur distributer.

Mooseiversary celebration

2010-06-12T17:25:00.000-04:00

This year for my 3rd anniversary of Gotcha day and Blogoversary momma made me a special chicken dinner.

Ok, it was just kibbles and chicken and frozen green beans (which I loooove!).

Still... I was pretty excited about it!

That was pretty good but she also got me a HUGE honking squeaking stuffie!

I am a little confused as to how to work it and exactly where all the squeakers are but it is pretty cool.

My girlfriend Mandy was beside herself while I was playing with it. She is a quiet girl and not really into stuffies but this really set her off (turn your speakers down!). I think she was jealous!

I tried to get her to play with it but she would rather sit there and bark about how I was doing it wrong! Just like a lady! Oh... momma says that is offensive to my lady readers... I guess maybe she was just making helpful suggestions then. Whatever.

3rd Mooseiversary

2010-06-09T06:33:00.000-04:00

Me at my foster home looking a tad round but so handsome.

Three years ago today I was hanging out with my 4 foster brothers up in Jupiter Fl at a lovely place with a big grassy yard and a very nice foster mom when this yellow haired lady showed up I had seen her before and all my foster brothers were excited by her arrival but she kept wanting to see me and visit with me. I had met her a few weeks before and same thing, it was all about visiting me.

First ever photo of me after leaving my foster home.
That is my bed squished in the back!

I could tell that she needed me. She did not have any doggie smell on her when she showed up which is just sad so I decided to rescue her from a dogless existence even though it meant leaving my foster home and going who knows where!

So after driving for what seemed like days and stopping at a petsmart to stock up we arrived at this little tiny place. (Can you believe she did not have a proper camera to document all of this?)

Here is the first photo ever of me in this tiny place. I had the bed I had brought with me from the only home I had ever known and a new squeaky toy (that sadly did not last more than 15min).

This place was not as awesome as my foster home but it was all mine so I settled in pretty quick. There was a nice dog park not too far away that helped me not miss my foster brothers too bad.

I got a huge box of toys that helped me stay busy!

This big Moose had like a jillion squeakers in it and it took me awhile to get them all out!

All in all it was not such a bad place and I did get to rescue this lady (my new momma!) so it was worth it!

Moose wondering what Mooseiversary treats are coming
his way...

I am not sure what momma has planned to mark this occasion but I hope it is something good. She has been working and sleeping mostly these days so not sure what she will have time to do. Last year I got a cheeseburger and some doggie oreos... not too bad!

Since momma started blogging for me the day I came home it is also our blogoversary! We are at post 355... who knew I would keep it up this long?

p.s. from momma: Moose's blood work is nothing too worrisome. His bilirubin is slightly elevated and one thyroid number is a bit low but since he has no other signs of hypothyroidism she does not think it is meaningful. He will get weighed again on the 25th and if he has gained weight then she just wants to re-run those two blood tests in 6 mos.

Stumpy's Khatch Me if You Khan Khontest

2010-06-07T05:17:00.000-04:00

Stumpy is hosting a khool Khontest for Khyra and her mom who spend every Sunday morning transporting homeless doggies to give them a second chance. Whoever catches the most treats in a row will have a gas card donated in their name.
Sounds easy huh... Well momma is not the best videographer to begin with and she is not all that great at throwing treats so you can imagine it did not go well when she tried to do both at the same time! So she just held the camera and paid attention to tossing the treats and as you can see from the footage I am a bit cut off! Still, it was my best score so she wanted to enter it anyway! Unfortunately momma got confused about the deadline and she might have sent my video in too late. Still, it was lots of fun!

Lucky thing the vet wants me to eat more because it took lots of tries!

Super Skinny Saturday

2010-06-05T16:52:00.000-04:00

I went to the vet yesterday and there was a new lady there and Momma likes her even less than the other new lady who replaced the original lady. I, on the other hand, LOVE her because she told momma I was too skinny and was not being fed enough (and made momma feel very bad about this!). I have been trying to tell momma this forever and since she would not listen I was forced to find food where I could. 'Catch as catch can' as the saying goes. I was 98lbs in october which momma was shocked at because a few months before I was 102lbs and had been for some time. The other lady vet said both times that I was about right.

Well a few weeks ago Momma thought I was looking skinny so she started giving me more kibbles, but still when I went to the vet I was...brace yourself... 93lbs (and momma thinks I was probably about 92lbs before she upped the kibble). I am emaciated! Espescially when you consider that I was 110lbs when I was adopted and accidentally got as much as 118lbs at one point! So hooray I get even more kibbles! This is a pic from Oct 2007 when I had accidentally gained a few.

Here is a pic of me from the top to show how emaciated I am!

Here is a chart that shows what us doggies should look like that we got this from Murphy who was not lucky enough to be sent home with a prescription for more kibble because he was already perfect. Momma thinks I look ideal but I think I am emaciated. What do you think?

Here is Mandy (my latest foster pal) from the top. Heh heh... which do you think she is? Momma says she is at least heavy though she has already lost some weight this week! I think she should just wear black which everyone knows is slimming.

Also- Mr Darcy's family has welcomed a most handsome labra-like fella named Digby and one of those Danes what look like cows named Delta. Stop by and visit if you have not already!

Note from Momma- the vet did not think he was exactly too skinny but was more alarmed at the amount of weight lost. She is running a senior blood panel to make sure there is nothing wrong but wanted me to up his kibble to see if he would gain weight because it will help us see if there is a problem. I have been feeding him the same amount since his TPLO surgery and he has been slightly lower for each visit (e.g. 1 lb over 6mos) but nothing dramatic. So that was probably on the low side of what he should have been eating. However, in the past I have been more active about training with him using nutritious treats (generally cooked meat) and so I kept his kibble lower since it was being supplemented with these treats. When I noticed he was getting skinny that is when I realized that those training treats were likely a substantial part of his calories for the day (which is why I used something like meat rather than biscuit type treats that are like cookies or crackers to us) and now they were missing! I hope that is the whole story and there is not something more serious going on. His coat has not looked as nice since spring when he started shedding and that went on longer than it has in the past but other than that I have not noticed any other changes so hope that means he is ok. In the mean time he is getting lots more kibble. We get bloodwork back on Monday and go back in 3 weeks so will know if he has gained weight. Paws crossed for good news on monday!

Top Hat

2010-06-03T08:13:00.000-04:00

Momma says that they are going to put a Top Hat on something big black and oily so I would like to illustrate how ridiculous that sounds....

When you think about it, it is most worrisome so here I am looking pretty worried about it.

Ok... very worried actually

My thoughts on the matter:

TTTTHHHHHPPPPBBBT!

I think my last top hat was better suited for this but Momma says if it is too big Methane Hydrates will form and it will float off what ever that means! Ok- actually this is the top hat from my Scrooge wiener dog that Santa brought me. I finally de-cap-itated him a few days ago!

Half-way house?

2010-05-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

I think I am going to need my bed re-stuffed, momma

I think my momma is running some sort of half-way house for labbies here at my Moose lodge! She brought home another chubby blond girl last night! Mandy is probably my age and weighs almost as much as me (98 lbs) but is way shorter and rounder. She is a pretty girl but I am not sure where momma is finding all of these labbies who don't want to play with me.

Here she is with my squatter piggy. She picked it up for a second and that is it. I think she dropped it when she realized it was not food! Squatter piggy is one of my favorites and if she doesn't like that I am not sure what I can do. Sheesh!

She has not growled at me like the last one did but I still tip toe around her in case she decides to fly off the handle. Momma assures me that even if she wanted to go postal on me that she is so slow I would have plenty of time to get away. I don't know about that... when momma has a treat in her hand she is lightning fast with her jaws of doom! (note from momma- she is very mellow and friendly and there is absolutely no sign she would be aggressive but I think Moose is still skittish after Bella's growls... I think he does not know how to interpret the unrequited play invitations)

She is only here so momma can help her find her own home but then who knows... apparently there is an endless supply of blond girl labbies up in Miami so there will probably be another one. I just want somedoggie who will play with me, is that too much to ask?

Note from momma again: See the brown discolored fur on her paws? I think these are hot spots (lick granulomas) and wondering if any of you have experience with helping them heal? Once they heal will the fur go back to normal? I found this stuff called DermaPaw that sounds pretty good... has anyone tried it? It seems odd that it is in exactly the same place... I have heard dogs do this from anxiety or boredom or it can be allergies too. She does not constantly lick them so I am hoping it won't be too hard to fix and it won't get worse.

Also- for those who have asked about my last post and what I am doing related to the oil spill. We are working to take baseline samples before the oil gets here so nothing heroic like actually cleaning it up or rescuing birds or anything. Current predictions suggest the Florida Keys may be spared from too much oil impacts so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Bizzzzy!

2010-05-23T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hey pals. Momma has been crazy bizzy lately. Since she works in the water she is always bizzy this time of year. She is gone all day and comes home wet and salty. I ask her where she goes and all she says is she spent all day in the field which makes no sense since the fields are not wet and salty. There is a field at the dog park so I asked if that was the field she went to and she said no and went on blah blah blah but I stopped listening because as long as she is not going to the dog park without me then I don't really care.

But this year she is going to get even bizzier. She said someone spilled bee pee all over some golf course or some thing like that (I was not really listening). Since we could end up with bee pee all over our Florida Keys beaches I made her take me to visit the beach before it got messed up! Technically doggies are not allowed but since it was pretty late and there were only a few people she let me splash around a bit.

Anyways, all of this bizziness means you may not be hearing so much from me for awhile. I will try to get her to post pics at least but I may not get to visit you pups much either until July when things slow down a bit.
So I hope you pups are having a less bizzy and more fun summer and I will try to visit as much as I can!

Seriously? Saturday

2010-05-15T00:28:00.000-04:00

You and your peoples HAVE to watch this clip from TV. Momma first saw it as the 'Clip of the Week' on The Soup and could not stop laughing. Her insane cackling woke me up and I had to come investigate (I hate being left out of a joke!) and this is what she was watching. She says there is not one part of this clip that is not hilarious. I don't really get it... looks like a couple of pups and some dumb humans standing around in a park blah blah blah which is pretty much every day around here! What's the big deal?

Momma offered to provide color commentary but then I saw she did not have a lot of nice things to say so I deleted it all. The one thing I will agree with her on is that little Bianca IS indeed looking for a new home and watch out for those fleas and ticks when you are in the Hamptons.
Sorry for you folks with slower connections... it is kinda long I am afraid!

Wordless Wednesday: Oldies edition

2010-05-12T07:43:00.003-04:00

p.s. Forgive the re-runs... Momma promises all-new episodes will return soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Oldies edition

2010-05-12T07:43:00.001-04:00

p.s. Forgive the re-runs... Momma promises all-new episodes will return soon!

Camp Coconut

2010-05-07T23:47:00.001-04:00

Hey blogger buddies! In case some of you noticed I have been MIA lately that is because I am actually in MIA.. Miami that is! I am visiting my girlfriends Swissie and Jetta whilst Momma is off globe trotting! She is in a place called Curacao which she says is a lovely place but it has terrible internets so she has not been able to visit any of my pals and I have had my paws full with my lady friends and have not been able to make blog rounds either!

I am having a great time though. Here I am with Swissie after a lonnnng walk. We were wiped out but you should have seen their Momma who had to walk 3 of us pups at the same time!

She was pretty exhausted too! Here I am hogging the girls' bed. Both of them usually share it but I like to spread out and unfortunately they could not be accomodated once I had made myself comfortable and poor Jetta had to sleep on the floor!

Some of you may know that I love coconuts... well since we moved to the Moose Lodge I have not had any coconuts, but check out what my girlfriends have ALL over their yard... COCONUTS! I busted one open and had some milk and delicious coconut the other day. This place is awesome! Momma will be back from island hopping next week and wanted me to tell you all that she will stop by then!

WTF Wednesday: Holy Cow edition

2010-04-29T20:32:00.002-04:00

Regular readers will recall how I was tortured this past halloween and dressed up as a cow. Although I was not excited about this costume it was still MY costume.

You can imagine my horror when I looked on Momma's phone and saw that Mapquest is using my likeness as a map icon! WTF? I think this might be some kind of copyright infringement, intellectual property use, identity theft or something??? I am pretty sure I should be compensated some how! You know like royalties or something?

Are there any attorneys out there who would like to take on this case? Momma said it would have to be pro bono which I think means you will be paid in milk bones. Sounds like a sweet job to me! Any takers? On be half of dog cows and hand dogs everywhere... Please?

UPDATE: A Hollywood director has spotted my raw talent in portraying the complex character of a cow and scooped me up to possibly appear in his upcoming film! Check it out! I might not make it all the way out west in time for the filming though, you will have to stay tuned for the premier!

Hungry Hungry Moose

2010-04-27T22:42:00.001-04:00

I got a new food bowl! I think it is defective because it takes me FOREVER to eat my dinner! When I eat out of a regular bowl I can eat my whole dinner in 40 seconds so momma started having my eat my dinner out of my Jug which took me about 20 minutes. But when momma replaced the last Jug there was a different kinda rope in the new one that is really not working out well. :-( Why do they always mess up something perfectly good by changing it? So for now it is back to a bowl. Boring!

Here I am demonstrating this terrible contraption! See how my beak barely fits in it and I can't hardly open it all the way? Torture! This must violate some sort of geneva convention or something...

Bella is home! and What color is your Kong?

2010-04-25T12:46:00.001-04:00

Bella finally went home yesterday! I thought she would never leave. I tried to get momma to get some video of her pushing me out of the way which she did every time I came anywhere near but that did not happen so you will have to take my word for it. Sure she was cute and momma fawned over her sweet face all the time but no bones about it she was one pushy bitch! Momma says I can say that word because it just means a lady doggie so it is not an HBO word!
When momma came home alone I could see she was a little sad about it though so I snuggled all over her like crazy just so she would not feel bad. I mean as annoying as Bella was she really took over the job of making momma feel loved which is a lot of work for an independent guy like me.

Bella came to the Moose lodge with nothing so you would think she would leave with nothing right? Wrong! Momma wanted her to have something familiar in her new home so she sent along a blankie that had soaked up some eau de moose lodge and one of MY Kongs! I don't think Bella even knew what a Kong was when she came here but since everydoggie knows they are the best toys ever even Bella (who never played with toys) liked the Kongs!

So Momma got me a new Kong. But check it out... it is Blue! What's up with that? I have seen Red Kongs, Black Kongs, Puppy kongs that are pink and baby blue but never dark blue! Momma tried to tell me it was a special edition but I think she is just cheap and got it on sale!

Whatever! I got it stuffed with chicken and carrots for Sunday brunch this morning.

Then back to my job snuggling with momma on a lazy Sunday!

It's nice work if you can get it!

Note from Momma: Bella was adopted by a 65yo widow with a lovely home in Miami and I got a call from her last night that Bella only went to the door a few times after I left but otherwise settled right in and took a nice nap in her bed with her and has just been an absolute angel and she is totally in love with her already and could not have hoped for a better companion right off the bat. I don't understand how such a perfect dog would find herself ready to be euthanized at animal control but I know she is only one of so many 'perfect' doggies who find themselves in that situation every day. I will be fostering again in a month or so and hope I am lucky enough to get another delightful dog like Bella but Moose is hoping it will be another TeddyNo type who he can go wild with... maybe something in the middle would be best!

A-OK

2010-04-22T07:34:00.001-04:00

Hi buddies. Momma has been super busy but I told her she had to take a sec to tell everyone that I am ok! I got even sicker though and momma even called the vet at like midnight but it is all good. I finally got back to normal on Monday and was STARVING!

Bella is STILL here but I hear momma talkin' to some lady who would like to take her soon and I say, What's the hold up? She is a total suckup to momma and always shoving me out of the way. Making me feel like this:

Or even like this:
***Ok, not really, momma took those pics while i was eating an Oinkie but they look pretty ferocious, no? ***

Bella got to play the mini brain-game the other day. Momma had to make it super easy since she is not so smart as me. She did pretty good for a newbie.

Here is a movie of her playing. It is over 2 minutes... if I were playing it would be about 30sec but I am a genius labradog!

Also, since momma posted ferocious pics of me here is my 'glamour shot' to show that I am the handsomest labbie ever! Yes, it has been 'enhanced' by photoshop but they do that for all super models ya know!

Sick Day

2010-04-17T12:42:00.003-04:00

I had a tummy ache last night and was really feeling icky this morning. Momma woke up to some horrible moose sounds! She was very worried! Of course Bella told her I was faking but momma knows you cannot fake the terrible smells I was making last night!

What could be making me sick? Bella has been eating all of the same stuff as me and she is fine. I have been eating some of Bella's kibble and different snacks than usual and momma finally got more fish oil and started giving me that again and maybe that was the trouble. So she decided to make me some chicken and rice and only give me that for awhile.

After she started cooking I went outside and got caught red-beaked eating fruits from the Pigeon Plum tree (related to sea grape for you fellow floridians)!

Here is the tree in case you have never seen one. (Note from Momma- I think that is what kind of tree it is anyway, if anyone can tell for sure let me know. Although it is related to Sea 'Grape' they are not related to actual grapes. The fruits are edible to humans and I can not find them listed anywhere as toxic to dogs so I don't think it is a toxic reaction, just maybe ate enough to disagree with him? If anyone knows about dogs eating these or Sea Grape let me know!)

I still got chicken and brown rice for breakfast though and there is enough left for dinner so yummers!

Bella got some chicken with her kibbles and got to clean the pot so she would not feel left out.

Now I am going to sleep and recuperate while momma goes outside and tries to figure out how to pick us 87million (nod to Frankie ;-) ) little fruits off of the gravel!

Pigeon plum fruits CARPETING the gravel on my side yard. Momma will never get them all!

Bella goes to Miami and deserts a Moose

2010-04-16T20:29:00.000-04:00

So yesterday momma packed up some bags and left with my 'girlfriend' Bella. She said she had to go to work up in Miami and since Bella was limping she was going to take her along so she could got to the vet. Bella was totally faking just so she could go with momma, I know it. One minute she was limping and the next she was fine... yup faking it for sure. So momma took Bella and many bags and left. I knew I was in for a long day! If momma takes many empty bags she will only be gone for a minute and come home with foodables but many full bags means I might as well take a nap. Sigh... Poor me!

She said not to feel bad that she and Bella were not going to have any fun but I checked her camera after she got home and found evidence to the contrary. Here is Bella waiting to see the vet where she was diagnosed with a 'soft tissue injury' which is vet speak for faking it I think! Bella said it was really scary being there because it reminded her of the shelter and she was very worried she was going to be left there. Momma said she cried the whole time. Baby! I am not scared of the vet, there are cookies and people tell you you are handsome there.

Then they went to momma's office. Now I will say I am glad I missed out on that. I do not like that place with all the slippery floors and stairs that sound echo-y every where you turn, so I am ok with missing that!

Then I saw this video of Bella totally showing off with the moving box thing. What is she, some kind of dare devil? Do you see her showing off playing chicken with the sliding wall of doom? She is young and not so smart as me so I guess she just does not know any better!

I was starting to be really glad I stayed home until I saw she got walkies by the water. Momma swore she did not get to swim because she had to stay clean to go meet a lady who might adopt her! I think some of you got the wrong idea from my earlier post. Bella is just staying at the Moose lodge while momma helps her find her furever home. She is a lab rescue doggie just like I was before I met my momma! Now, I happen to think Bella is boring because all she does is snuggle and stare at momma with these adoring eyes but apparently momma says people like that in a doggie and she will find a home in no time!

Momma FINALLY came home like 7 naps later and look what I did between naps... I know I had already chewed my way into that same vittles vault and yes momma had already emptied it but I wanted to make sure it was really empty! I made sure that vault would never hold kibbles again! And I dragged it to the front door too so she would see it right away Hmph! That'll show her for deserting me!

Great Kibble Heist

2010-04-11T21:12:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago while Momma was at work I finally did it! I cracked the Vittles Vault! My kibbles have been kept in there since I came to live with Momma and I probably could have done it sooner but I picked this day to chew the corner until the seal broke then I lifted the lid and ate as much as I could reach before momma came home. After all that Kibble boy was I thirsty! I drank all of my water for the day.

When momma came home... she felt horrible that I had no water and thought she must have forgotten to fill it up so she gave me water and when I started drinking like crazy that is when she noticed and that is where the video below starts!

Luckily she thinks my little guilty act is too funny to stay mad at me.
After that my kibble had to be hidden away in a cabinet but that meant the stuff in that cabinet had no where to go.

So Momma found a new Vittles Vault that would fit on a shelf that I can't reach (grumbles) or at least it will probably take me another few years to figure out how to break into this one.

Tonight we transferred the kibbles but unlike the usual 'kibble transfer', she didn't spill any and I did not get to eat right out of the vault. Apparently I had already had enough kibbles today what with eating my own dinner and half of Bella's.

Looks pretty secure, huh? Any of you pups out there ever cracked one of these before? I will send you 20% of my take if you tell me how you did it!

On an unrelated matter here is a gratuitous shot of my girlfriend Bella enjoying a Kong! It is not related to the Kibble Heist except that now that she is here I may be able to shift blame for some of my misdeeds. Unfortunately she has a ridiculously angelic face so it won't be easy!

Who's that girl?

2010-04-10T11:16:00.001-04:00

It's Bella! I was trolling the internets looking for a new lady friend the other day when I saw this gal:

Young hot blonde and spayed? My kinda girl! So I sent momma to get her yesterday and now she his hanging out here at the Moose Lodge!
I was a bit surprised that she did not look anything like her profile photo (isn't that always the way). She was quite a bit chubbier in person but I do love a set of curves on a lady so it's all good.
I was soooo excited to meet her when momma brought her home! She was named Paula by the shelter but I guess they never told her that was her name so I told Momma to call her Bella instead.

Here is a little video of our meeting.

She is a very nice girl I suppose but she is not really into me or any of my really awesome toys so I am not sure what to do with her. She is crazy into my momma though. I told her I would share my momma for a little while but she said she wants my momma all to her self! Sheesh!

Since she is a little on the chubby side Momma stopped at the store with her and got some special diet ('Healthy Weight') food.

She was not too excited about it though so momma put some of my super terrific kibbles in and she decided it was not so bad!

Remember the other day how I said it was going to be doubly important to have a fenced yard? Well unfortunately the fence did not get put back on Friday so momma had to jury rig the pieces back together. It is not pretty and Momma says we still have to be chaperoned the whole time but at least she does not have to keep Bella on a leash. As if! That little girl has not left momma's side so I am not sure where momma thinks she would run off to!

Note from Momma: Bella was one of five (unrelated) labbies that appeared at animal services this week and were set to be put down because they were not adopted in time. The wonderful LRRoF coordinator for Miami Dade managed to find foster homes for all five which is a major accomplishment since we are always at capacity here in SoFla. I can't tell you how heartbreaking it is to get emails from her with pictures of these beautiful labbies ready to be euthanized while people are going to puppy mills or breeders to get new ones. I get these emails a couple of times a month and wish I could foster every time but can't always do it. If you know of anyone looking for a lab please tell them to try their local lab rescue or check the shelters before shopping for them. If you want to know more about Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida or would like to help support this cause please visit their website. I know lots of you bloggers have your own rescue causes which is wonderful, they all need your support so wherever you chose to give or volunteer I know it is most appreciated!

Gopher attack!

2010-04-08T20:37:00.000-04:00

The Moose Lodge has been under siege for the past few days! I think we have been infested by some kinda mega-gopher. Look at the trench they dug! It goes all the way from one corner of my territory, across the grass momma has finally gotten to grow,

around to the side of the Moose Lodge by momma's office door,

aaaallllll the way to the back yard! What on earth?

The gophers went so totally nuts that they even knocked my gate down so I had to be on a leash in my very own back yard!

For the first day momma and I were pretty much trapped in the house because of course Mooses are not really 'all terrain' kinds of critters but momma called these guys (kinda like Mango's Tool Time pals but momma says no where near as cute!) who made a bridge over the trench so I could go for proper walkies.

Now I only got a glimpse of the evil varmint what did this to my yard but he was huge and green like some kind of gopher-saurous or something!

It has been 3 whole days with no 'fenced back yard' meaning that I can not go bake in the sun any time I want and can only go outside when momma will chaperone me. Total bummer! Momma is really hoping they put the fence back up tomorrow and I am not allowed to say why but it will be doubly important to have a fenced yard tomorrow!

Note from Momma: This mess is actually a good thing (I have to keep reminding myself of that when I look at my yard). The Florida Keys have finally established a wastewater treatment system! Up to now everyone has relied on septic tanks or cesspits. Since we are living on a narrow strip of porous limestone this means the wastewater was making it out to the ocean and the reef very quickly and adding to the serious problems we are seeing out there. So with wastewater now being treated before it is released, the ecosystem will have one less stress to handle (there are still lots of others, but this is kinda a big one). If this looks and sounds expensive, it is! The cost of the infrastructure and treatment plant has been distributed to our property taxes over the next 25 years but the actual connection to the sewer pictured here is all out of pocket (and mandatory within a 2 month time frame) and involved digging a 100+ ft long trench in this rocky limestone ground. My water bill will also triple from ~$20/mo to ~$60/mo. Still, it is a good thing and looonnnggg overdue! I just hope the contractors can get the fence back up... I have my doubts!

Wordless Wednesday: 'Still Life with Pensive Lab and Jug' edition

2010-04-07T07:50:00.007-04:00

Labra-bunny Returns

2010-04-04T12:41:00.003-04:00

Some of you may recall last easter when there were two Labra-bunnies here at the Moose Lodge but this year only one has been sighted so far....

Ok, there is no such thing as a labra-bunny, that is just me in those $#&@ Bunny ears again. Momma told me that if I did not wear them the Easter bunny would be scared off and would not leave me any goodies. So I wore them and got a big easter egg full of kibbles! Totally worth it!

As usual momma giggled because I got a case of the 'crazy eye' which I only get when I am beside myself excited. You can tell because my ears are back (not the bunny ears, the real moose ears) which goes along with crazy eye (momma says probably no one else can recognize the crazy eye look so you will have to trust her!) Can you blame me though? The easter bunny himself was obviously here!

He even left behind one of his carrots!

Hope the easter bunny left the rest of you some goodies!

p.s. here is the ferocious side of the labra-bunny! Momma thought the egg would be too big for his mouth... ha! She is pretty sure that labra-bunnies can unhinge their jaws like a snake can!

p.p.s. We have not heard any news about TeddyNo (the other labra-bunny) since last May but hope that no news is good news!

Wordless Wednesday: Moose & Mini Moose II edition

2010-03-31T12:05:00.004-04:00

Jetta (Mini Moose II) is short and sweet compared to Moose (and a lot less dorky!).

Jetta is also a bit more 'full figured' than Moose but she prefers to be called 'voluptuous'

Here is the 'Original' Mini-Moose Sarah (2007)!

Note from Momma: Moose has lost 10 lbs in the 2.5 years since the 2007 photo!
Note from Moose: Feed Me! I am wasting away to nothing!

P.S. Both Jetta and Sarah are average sized for female labs so they are not really Mini but Moose is Mega!