The Wind in My Hair

Who knew that the nation's terrible economic state and the high prices of gasoline would or could result in a new adventure for me?
My lady and man "took the old Harley on a [two-] day cruise" (as Travis Tritt sings). They left on Friday and returned the very next day in time to get home and see Tennessee get a butt-whippin' by those Georgia Dawgs. Anyway, since gas prices are so high and since my Bernie's house was on their way home, they thought they'd pick me up on the Harley. Oh yes, they did! It's true! I know what you're thinking: you're thinking, "Tuffy such a scaredy cat, he wouldn't ever do something so gutsy as to ride on a motorcycle." Well, guess what? I did ride on the Harley and I loved it! Still don't believe me?

How's this for proof? Yes, you're eyes are correct: that's me in the rear-view! Need more proof?

Hair doesn't blow like this sitting still! It was the most fabulous and exciting thing I've ever done (seeing as how my wonderful, kind and caring people had me neutered when I was too young to have a say)! You're kidding me. You still don't believe I did this?

Well, here's the reflection of me and my lady in the back of my man's helmet as we are, yes, it's true, rollin' on down the road. I think I need a helmet.

Life's Been a Whirlwind

No pictures and not much to say, except that obviously my lady has really been busy. You see, she's my secretary and without her I can't blog. Within the last two weeks she's been to Mississippi, Tybee Island, and work. So blogging might not happen too much now that school's beginning again. Please keep checking with me, though. I'll try to blog as often as I can.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this picture.

This is Bonnie. She's a beautiful and curious Bishon Frisee' (did I spell that right?). She is what I fondly refer to as a "fru-fru" doggy. I, quite obviously, am not a fru-fru doggy. Anyway, Bonnie blongs to my lady's mom and dad. Bonnie came to see me this past Monday. Her lady and man were on their way home from a trip and couldn't get into town in time to pick Bonnie up at the vet. So my lady and man picked her up and brought her to my house. While I didn't play with her (I never play with other dogs), I didn't be mean to her either. She spent her time snooping around the house. The only thing she did that I didn't like at all was jump up on my couch and get my man to pet her and rub her belly. She didn't stay long, though.

Hope to blog with you again soon.

Long time no blog . . .

Hey, everybody! It has been such a long time since I blogged. I wish I could say not much has been going on, but that would not be truthful. I'll try to think back over the last week or so and fill you in on what's been going on in my life:

Saturday, June 28: As usual on Saturdays, I went to Bernie's, my groomer. The eventful thing this time, however, is that I stayed forever!! I thought my people would never come and pick me up!! In addition to the stress of staying at Bernie's for so long, we had a terrible storm while I was there. I don't really like storms, and I would much have preferred to be home in my lady's lap while it stormed. It was so good to finally get home that night.

Sunday, June 29: We just hung around the house all morning, and then my lady and my man went off to meet family for lunch and then to Bruiser's house for dessert. Oh, please excuse my negligence: you don't know Bruiser because I have never introduced you to him. Well, please meet Bruiser:

Bruiser lives with Marilyn and Floyd waaaaay faaaar away on Highway 58. Here he is relaxing on their new back porch (which my man helped to build). He's holding his favorite toy, a stuffed squirrel (oh, please! - if you're going to play with a stuffed animal, you're supposed to rip and shake and pull all the stuffing out of it). Bruiser weighs 90 pounds and has a ton of hair on him. He is also an inside dog (believe it or not!). To be totally honest, I've never met Bruiser in person, and quite frankly, I don't care to, thank you very much. He's big, he's hairy, and he's just as neurotic as me.

Tuesday, July 1: the bug man came finally. It was about time! My lady says if he doesn't start coming regularly like he's supposed to, she's going to call someone who will do the job correctly. I really don't want that to happen because I like Dustin. He takes time to visit with me when he comes. Bad news: this time was his last visit and he brought the new guy with him. New Guy doesn't seem to have much personality and he had nothing to do with me. Not a good way to begin a relationship.

Thursday, July 3: Meagan came to visit! I love Meagan very much. I love for her to visit. Then Bentlee came over and they all went out to the pool for a while. As usual, I got left in the house.

Friday, July 4: Whoa! The worst day of the year as far as I'm concerned. Since I don't like loud noises, I'm sure you can understand why I say it's my least favorite day of the year. In a word: fireworks!! I hate them. And there are always lots of them on the 4th. In addition to that, dozens of people descended on my house and stayed for hours. This would all be well and good, except for the fact that I'm left all alone in the house while they hang out outside and have fun. They swam, grilled (and yum, the aromas coming from that grill are positively mouth watering!); they played badminton, horseshoes, corn hole, dirt digging, and just generally had a good time. One person did be nice to me: my lady's mom actually took me out on the front porch and held me for a while so I could watch the fun. **

** Because it really irks me when my people go outside and leave me alone inside, I expressed me feelings on that action loudly and clearly. In fact I made my feelings clear on two specific occasions (once Thursday and once Friday). On Thursday both my lady and Meagan stepped in it, literally. Hee-hee.

Saturday, July 5: the day started off with a yummy treat - I got to lick the hamburger platter clean. It even had a few tidbits of hamburger left on it. But then I got taken to Bernie's as is the usual Saturday practice around here. This time I didn't have to stay too long. When I got home everybody hung out inside the house with me.

Finally, today, Sunday, July 6: wonderful day. My people stayed home all morning. We shared fresh blueberry muffins on the porch, read the paper and relaxed together.

Oh no! My man just went out of the house dressed and with his boots on. That usually means my people are leaving. Gotta go - check with you later.

As I suspected, they left. However, after being gone about three hours, they came home and we hung out at the pool together. Now you would think I'd never hang out at the pool after what happened to me (see "The Big Splash" for details on that), but it was actually a very pleasant today.

And that's what my week was like. Hope your's was good. Hopefully it won't be another week before I blog.

Favorite Things

What a great idea for blogging, Meagan! Here are a few of my favorite things (in no special order):

Well, duh, obviously, my man and my lady.


Sitting up high, even if it's only on a stack of pillows (the higher, the better).

Sitting in my lady's lap while she reads, or my man's lap while he reads or watches television.

Relaxing on the chaise lounge on the back porch.

Playing keep away or tug o' war (especially with a sock or panties, but preferably panties).

Sitting with Meagan when she's here OR (and perhaps even better) taking a nap on her back when she takes a nap on my couch!

Sleeping on my pillow on my couch in my living room in my house ALL NIGHT LONG!

Licking the bottoms of shoes. Now, now, don't go yucking until you've tried it! I particularly relish the bottoms of my man's shoes when he gets in from work. Yum!

And then there, of course, lots of favorite things for which I have no pictures. These include: finding snakes, barking at turtles, flushing up turkeys from my yard (there were 23 of them: be impressed!), humping my bed, enjoying the last bit of ice cream (on the rare occasions that my lady and man eat ice cream), sharing my lady's and man's food, Wheat Thins, any kind of cookie, my food and water being kept just so (I do tend to be a bit OCD), snooping outside, and last, but certainly not least, my treats! Oh yeah, sitting in my window watching birds and squirrels and rabbits and chimpmunks.

What are some of your favorite things?

A Good Night's Sleep

I have a new favorite sleeping place. It's on one of the couches in the living room. It's on this one particular chenille pillow (the only chenille pillow).

Actually, it's always been a favorite napping spot of mine, usually while my lady reads in her favorite chair or while my lady and my man watch television. Most nights I'll just snuggle on my pillow until they're ready to go to bed. Then one of them will take me to my bed in my crate. Well, I get so tired of them disturbing my good night's sleep by getting me up like that. So the other night I snarled and snapped at my lady. She got frustrated and left me on the pillow! I loved it! Now it's my favorite over-night sleeping spot. Here I am wishing she'd get that blasted camera out of my face (disturbing the sleep again).

What could possibly be so important that she has to take my picture this early in the morning?

Ever had a really bad hair day? In reality, my hair will be fine once I've had a chance to shake it all out and get it back into place.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease get that camera out of my face and just Go. Away.

P.S. I found a snake. But did she get a picture of that? Noooooo. She didn't. Actually I found the snake yesterday (Sunday) right outside our garage door, in a separation between the driveway and sidewalk. I barked and snooped until my lady finally came to look and noticed that big ol' snake in there. Then she drug me away. So every time I went out I'd return to check on the snake. Today (Monday) my man came home and noticed that the snake was still there and that it was dead. He took it out and disposed of it. Wish I had a picture of me and that snake! That thing was four feet long. We don't know why he died but I gotta say lurking around under concrete like that can't be a good way to live. He should have found himself a chenille pillow on a big comfy couch.

Let's Play Chase

chase or tug o' war. Your choice! On laundry days (or if I get lucky and someone leaves a sock or a pair of panties laying around) I challenge my lady and/or man to a game of chase. This is me letting my lady know, "I got this sock!"

If the first offer doesn't get her, then I give her this look. It's a winner every time. She can't resist. If I let her get ahold of the sock, then we play tug o' war.

Surprised that I'm wanting to play these games? I've been feeling better lately. I'm even off of my medicine. Now I'm only taking glucosamine with condroitin (just like people do!). It's helping me enough so that I don't have to take the other stuff, which is bad for my liver and kidneys.

So, wanna play?

R U Kidding Me?

I know you all remember my recent experience about which I blogged, aka "The Big Splash." After that experience you can surely understand my amazement (bordering on disgust) upon observing these two quackers in the pool. They appear to even be enjoying themselves! Go figure! Then . . .

we have these two "quackers" more or less doing the same thing!! What is up with ducks and people? Don't they know how dangerous that big blue hole is?

The Big Splash

Yesterday was such an incredibly hot day, but I love, love, love to go outside in the sunshine even when it is so hot. So imagine my excitement when my man said, "I'm going out to check on the pool and I'm taking Tuffy with me." !!!!!!! My man and my lady worked for quite a while Sunday morning opening up that pool. I've been out there many times. It's one of my favorite places to explore and squirt around. Sometimes I find a lizard to chase; sometimes a frog will jump out from under the plantings; of course the chipmunks go out there and they're fast! quite a challenge. Anyway, they uncovered the pool and worked out there for a long time. Then they came in, cleaned up and the day continued as usual. I love Sundays! My people stay home with me all day long on Sundays. To get to go out to the pool was an extra treat. So, my man was checking on things at the pool and I was snooping around the edges (I love to walk on edges of thing: couch backs, porch edges, tops of stairs, pools). I just don't understand what happened! One instant I was walking along the edge of the pool enjoying all the smells, and the next instant: SPLASH!!!!

Brrrrrr! That water was cold! Well, I did what any doggy would do! I swam! I held my head above the water and dog-paddled for my life! I didn't swim long before my man pulled me out of the pool (by the leash around my neck - Ouch!! and Gag!!). After he made sure I was o.k. (of course I was o.k. I know how to swim!!), we went to the house. But when we got there, my man wouldn't let me go in because I was soaking wet. Then, things went from bad to worse: my lady heard us and opened the door for me to come in. When she saw me she exclaimed, "What happened to you?!" Then she got a towel and tried to dry me off. I growled at her because I hate getting dried off. Then we went to sit on the back porch (under the new fan :) ) and my people sipped on Pina Coladas until I got dry enough to be in the air-conditioned house.

And that's the story of the big splash. I don't think I'll be hanging around the pool any more. Even though I'm a good swimmer, I really didn't like it much.

Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

My man got my lady a brand new ceiling fan on the back porch, so you know we had to go out and enjoy it. We thought we would test it to see how effective it is at cooling us off when it's 94 degrees outside. It worked pretty good, especially considering that the late-day sunshine was on the porch with us. It's been a great day for me: my lady has been home and inside all day long. Also, she didn't work on her puzzle, so I've spent most of the day sitting in her lap while she read. I love to sit in my people's laps. It's the most comfortable seat in the house! However, if you're going to sit out on the back porch, that chaise lounge is truly a good spot. I can't figure out one thing, though: where is my man?!? He hasn't been around here very much the last few days. He leaves early in the morning and doesn't come home to stay until after dark. He is working way too much. I miss him. I can't wait for Sunday, because that's the day both my people will stay home with me all day long. It's my favorite day of the week. That's all for today. Stay cool, ya'll!

The Beautiful Summer Day - Not!

Isn't this a beautiful view? This is the view from the front door of my home. If you look carefully, you can see that there's a pond in the distance. There are bird feeders closer to the house (not seen in this shot). There are rabbits and chipmunks and squirrels and ducks and all kinds of birds. Think of the fun to be had snooping and sniffing and chasing. But do I get to do any of that? No, because my lady NEVER LETS ME OUT OF THE HOUSE TO HAVE ANY FUN!!!!! When I do get to go out I'm almost always on the leash and am only allowed to go to certain areas. She's so afraid of ticks and fleas and poison ivy. Every now and then my people let me roam around this yard just for a few minutes. Oh, the joy! The smells! The goodies (turkey turd and such).

But usually, while my people sit on the front porch, while my lady drinks her coffee and enjoys the view, I stand inside the front door like this and enjoy what I can of it. That's how this beautiful summer day started out. Then, horror of horrors!, she scooped me up and we got in the car. Now, I'm telling you, when she does this I know something bad is about to happen. The only time I go anywhere is on Saturday when my man takes me to Bernie's, the groomer. This was aTuesday. So we got in the car, I shook and whimpered, and we ended up at the vet's office. As if that wasn't bad enough, MY LADY LEFT ME THERE!!!!! I only had to stay for an hour or so, but while I was there Dr. Carter let me roam around the office a little while he watched me, and then he did blood tests. Ever had blood tests? I get stuck in my front let and they draw out blood. Then they test it to see how I'm doing. As it turned out, I'm doint just fine, even though I take a medicine every day. My kidneys and liver are working just fine. Yeah! And then she picked me up and took me home. Other than the trip to the vet, it really was a beautiful summer day.

The Bad Haircut

Can you see it? Can you see that wild whisker that got missed when I recently went to the groomer?!? I absolutely don't know what all the fuss was about. Big deal. A long whisker. You would have thought the world was going to end. As Charlie Brown would say, "Good grief!" Here's how it happened:

As is my usual habit, I went to see my groomer on Saturday (her name is Bernie and she loves me most of all the dogs she grooms - she tells my lady and my man that every time I go to see her - that's how I know). Well, my lady had slept a little later than usual that morning, so I was late taking my pill. For any of you who might not know, I have a little arthritic condition that makes it very difficult for me to get going in the morning. Well, anyway, I was late taking my pill so when I got to Bernie's, I wasn't quite ready to go through the grooming. When she was shampooing me, I cried out a little because, well, to put it bluntly, it hurt! Well, maybe I need to try that more often because once I let out that yelp, Bernie was all about babying me and not hurting me and all. She said she couldn't bear the thoughts of hurting me more so she did a very abbreviated hair cut. I liked that idea because I absolutely hate having a haircut, especially around my face.

But guess what happend when I got home? My people noticed that unruly whisker and nothing would do but that they snip it off "for me." Yeah, right. I could care less, except that I don't like for anyone to mess with my face. Well, I gave 'em a time getting that whisker snipped. Nevertheless, they did get it whacked off.

The result of this story: my lady does not sleep late on any morning any more. Now that school's out, she even gets up early to give me my pill, then goes back to bed. My lady is a good and caring lady. I'm very lucky. Except she can't stand a stray and wild whisker. Good grief!

Just bloggin'

How have you been? I've been doing as well as usual. It's been such a long time since I blogged and tonight seemed to be a good time to catch up. Lots has been going on in my world lately. For example, remember the two Chinese Cresteds that came to visit a month or so ago? Well, they came back last week. It seems my lady's family had a big get together and they came for that. Of course, they didn't go to the big tado. They stayed at my house. It's a good news/bad news story, actually. Ever heard or read a good news/bad news story? I think they originated with some old comedian years and years ago on television or something. Anyway, it goes like this: The Chinese Cresteds came to visit. That was (for me) the bad news. But it was good news because their lady made them leave me alone. But that was bad news because that made me even more determined to make them go away. So I snarled at Carlie. Well, usually when I snarl at anyone, they get out of my face . . . quickly! She didn't! She had the gall and the nerve to snarl back at me. That was good news, though, because then I got all kinds of attention from my lady, petting and cooing and comforting (oh for Pete's sake, she gets carried away). But it was bad news because apparently Little Miss Prissy Carlie decided she'd get me back. Later she backed me into a corner and acted like she was going to eat me alive. Yikes!!! Ladies to the rescue. That was good news because then her lady kept a close rein on her and my lady held me for awhile. My heart was going 90 miles a minute! It was a very close call. I'm telling you that's just not how things are done around here! Obviously despite the fact that she's been here two times within one month she hasn't gotten it through her head that I'm the alpha everything in this house!!!! In fact on this side of the Mississippi! Then it was a bad thing because I felt like I had to hide for the remainder of their visit. But that was a good thing because everytime the people left the house the visiting dogs (and may I insert here what my man always says: "Tuffy, tell them we don't allow dogs in our house.") any way the visiting dogs got penned up in the kitchen and I had the rest of the house to myself. I love it when I get the house to myself. I always lay around on my couches and stuff. I get to eat and drink in the living room and everything. It was soo cool. Anyway, they only stayed about three days. It was a good thing when they left because I could relax, but it was a bad thing because my lady and my man always get real sad when the other lady leaves. And so that was Memorial Day weekend. Hope you had a good one. My lady's daddy served in the airforce in the Korean War. My man's brother served in the army in the Viet Nam War. I think my man's daddy also served in the military but I can't remember the specifics right now. Anyway, God bless our troops and thank God I am an American dog.

Having Company

We had company last week! I was very surprised. The day started off like every Saturday. I woke up, took my medicine, and laid around in bed until the medicine started to work. When it did, I pottied, snuggled in the big bed with my people, had a little breakfast, and went off to the groomer (I go every Saturday - her name is Bernie - she loves me more than any other doggy in her business). Anyway, later that afternoon my man picked me up and took me home. I knew the instant I got out of the van that something was wrong and someone strange had been around my territory. I could smell it, er, them. Then, when I went into the house, oh my God! It was like an invasion. There were two of them!!! They had been drinking from my water bowl! My food bowl was no where to be found! The near ultimate insult: one of them had been in my bed!!!!! The ultimate insult: they'd been on my people!!!! I'm telling you, a dog can't even go get a bath without things going wacky while he's gone!

Here is a picture of these two visitors. Obviously, they are not Yorkies. They have no fur! Can you believe it? Perhaps the worst part was my lady liked them and played with them and held them. They ran here; they ran there; they were everywhere seemingly all at once. The one on the left is called Paris and the one on the right is called Carly. Their home is in Montana, but not really. They really live in an 18 wheeler truck. I can't imagine a worse place to live because I hate traveling, even a short distance. Well, they spent the night, and left the next day. Whew! My world back to normal once again.

Tuffy's Second Blog

This blogging stuff is so cool. I never dreamed anyone would actually read what I have to say. Since it's been a week since I blogged, let me update you on the week I, er, we, had in our house. I guess the biggest news is that my Boxer dog, Lady, no longer lives here. Here is a picture of Lady when she was little. Trust me, she wasn't little any more. (She also doesn't have blue eyes!) Here are the reasons she had to move away.

1. She needed lots of attention from my people and they simply couldn't give her the time and attention she needed because they work a lot and I'm the alpha dog around here. While I felt sad that she didn't get to play with my man, I was jealous because everytime she did get to play, she played outside and got to run around free.

2. She just about killed me! On Tuesday night, my people got home from work rather late. My lady didn't get home until 7:00 and she usually gets home before 4!! So she put me on my leash and we went out to turn Lady out of her pen since the man wasn't home yet. Right after we let her out, my man drove up and Lady took off chasing his van and to greet him. After she said hello to him, she came running back to my and my lady. Well, Lady like to do a "fly-by" like a jet plane every chance she got, terrorizing me and my lady. So she flew-by and ran right into my leash. She sent me flipping over and over and over and over! I thought I would never stop tumbling. I tumbled into a mulched area and came up with mulch all tangled in my fur, which I hate, because I knew then my lady was going to pick and brush at me until she got all that out of my fur, and I H A T E being picked at a brushed. Boy, my lady was mad! I was pretty shook up, too. But not as bad as my lady thought I was. I got held for quite a while after that event. Later that evening . . .

3. Lady just about killed my lady!!!!! She was on her way to close her chickens up for the night. I needed to pee. So my man took me out and called to my lady to call Lady away from us so I could pee. She called Lady and Lady took off running full speed ahead - and plowed into my lady! Can you imagine? My lady went up in the air and then down on the ground and then slid down a little hill. I don't think my man saw it happen 'cause we just went back in the house. But you can bet we got an earful when she came back inside. And the next night, her neck and leg hurt her real bad.

So, Lady moved to a 180 acre farm in Birchwood, that lucky dog. She'll get to roam free outside all the time. But I got my people all to myself again plus I can go outside to use the bathroom and not worry about being terrorized by the big Boxer.

Another thing happened this week, but it wasn't good. One night, I guess my people were very, very tired, because they forgot to take me out to potty before they put me in my crate and went to bed. Well, I did the best I could to let them know I need to go out to potty. I barked. And I barked. And then I barked some more. I barked for FOUR FREAKIN' HOURS! They never did come take me out to potty. Finally I realized I was going to have to hold it so I went to sleep. You can bet I was furious when my lady came to get me up the next morning. The nerve! What's a little guy supposed to do? I can tell you I peed a flood when I finally did get to go out. My lady felt really bad about that. See? If they would just let me back into bed with them these things wouldn't happen. We have no problems communicating at all when we're together in the same room.

Boy, it's cold outside. What is up with the weather? My lady loves to garden, and she gardened some yesterday, but today it's too cold to do anything outside. Sometimes, on windy days, she doesn't get the door closed really well, and I'll sneak out to the garden and find her. I like the garden a lot.

Tuffy's First Blog

Hello everyone! Welcome to my very own blog. My name is Tuffy. I am a Yorkshire Terrier. I'm eight years old and I live in a wonderful home in southeast Tennessee. I have one lady and one man and two love birds. Oh yeah. I also have a boxer puppy, but I pretend she's not around. I don't much care for other dogs. However, I love people very, very much. One of my most favorite things in all the world is to have people come to visit us in our home. My other favorite thing in all the world is treats. My lady and man buy these little treats for me that look like human snacks called Combos. I'll do almost anything for one of those treats. My lady and my man think they manipulate me sometimes by using these treats, but I really know what they're up to, and it only appears to work because I choose to let them have their way. For example, sometimes I will get a sock from the clean laundry, or, like today, I found one of my lost mini-tennis balls. I love to chew the fuzz off tennis balls so my people try to keep them away from me, but I found this one in a basket of stuff in the laundry room. We got a new washer and dryer today so stuff was all out of place. My people let me play with the tennis ball for a little while, but as they always do when I have something extremely fun and exciting, they enticed me to give it up by offering me one of my treats. In reality, I do these things to get extra treats, but please don't tell my people. They think they're so smart in trading me treats for forbidden items. Another way I get them to give me treats is I ask to go out to potty as often as I dare when they are home. Another favorite thing I love to do is lay in the sun in my special window bed. That's where I spend most of the day while my people are at work. I watch the birds (and we have lots of those!) and the squirrels, the turkeys and chipmunks, and sometimes rabbits.

A very exciting thing happened today: someone didn't close the kitchen door very well and I got to go outside. I went all the way to our barn and was having a glorious time sniffing around the chicken pen and squirting weeds and stuff. Then, as usual, my people came looking for me and found me. I didn't get in trouble because they realized it was their fault for leaving the door open. Who could resist going outside on such a beautiful day like today was? I'm not allowed to run around outside too much any more because I have arthritis, but I'm not letting that slow me down too much.

I've told you a lot about myself for this very first blog, and it's time to go to bed. My people recently ousted me from sleeping with them and started making me spend the nights in my crate. While this has helped my arthritis a little, I happen to know that they're in their bed watching a Tennesse Lady Vols basketball game right now, so I'm trying really hard not to go to sleep. In fact, I've been barking for over an hour while I worked on this very first blog. But I'm getting tired. Perhaps I'll write more tomorrow. Hopefully I'll put more pictures here also. We'll see. I hope you've enjoyed my very first blog.