Just a dusting :-(

I'm looking for some more snow, but I think this is it -- the sun is out already. We haven't had more than an inch of snow at a time so far this year. Come on clouds, let's dump some snow that I get to play in!

But, at the same time, we can take advantage of this dusting, becuase my 4-paw traction has no problems. Look how fast I can get moving. OK, I'm ready for takeoff.

Look at my new treat!

Well, here was another suggestion from Monica. Alpha and Mom said I had bad breath (can you imagine?) and Monica suggested some chew treats that would work on the tartar on my teeth. It takes a little getting used to because it doesn't just get sucked down like a greenie. But I wasn't getting greenies lately anyways (becuase they were making me cough).

Well, you can see below this really does work on the teeth. I nawed on this one for about an hour (and then I went and hid it -- just like a real bone ;-) They are made out of compressed rawhide. I hope this gets rid of my halitosis.

Who let the dog *In*?

You've heard the oldie-but-goodie "Who let the dogs out", right? Well, I want to know who let this dog *in*? And what is he doing in my house? I'm not looking real happy here.

The black lab's name is Kaleb, and he belongs to Monica, my trainer. Yep, that's right. Alpha and Mom are working on getting me better socialized with dogs. You see I'm a sweetie, unless of course, there's another strange dog involved. Then I someties lash out irrationally ;-)

But Monica already taught me to sit, stay, and walk nicely, and this time she brought over Kaleb since he's the most mellow thing on 4 legs.

As you can see below, by the end of the session, I'm looking a little more at ease. I think I can get the hang of this. After all, I just love to please!

Just smiling

Well, smiling and quite furry, wouldn't you say? Smiling 'cause I'm getting a head rub from Mom. Oh boy, that feels good. And furry ... 'cause I'm a dog! What were you thinking? And it's cold outside, ya know?

Just wanted to say ...

Hi Alli!

Just laying here in my Mom's arms, but I'm thinking about you.

Want to see some more of my cuteness? OK ...

Here's winking at you

Another photo from my game yesterday -- but it was so cute, I thought it deserved its own post. Here's winking at you, Alli.

Let's play "Keep Away"

Nah-nah-na-nah-nah, I got it!

Perhaps I should explain. Alpha and Mom and I were playing "Keep Away" the other day. You know how to play, right? One "person" is in the middle, and the other two try to pass the ball to each other, and "keep it away" from the "guy" in the middle.

Well, perhaps you can guess who gets to be in the middle -- that's right, c'est moi. And perhaps you can also see from this picture, and the ones below, exactly who had possession of the ball 90% of the time.


Hey, I got that fair and square -- and you can't have it.


Ha, ha, you're too slow. I got it again!


Hey, I think I'm winning this game!


Face it, neither Alpha nor Mom are any match for the lightening speed of Frito Bandito. So ... nah-nah, there!

(Not) biting the hand that feeds me

While it may look like it here -- I can assure you I am NOT biting the hand that feeds me. Mom uses the other hand (just kidding).

Sometimes I gets meself all razzed up, and I swing my head back and forth, and snarl a bit, but it is all in good fun.

See, you can tell below. Nothin' but a whole lotta lovin' goin' on here.

Two lumps, please

Alli, clever girl that she is, thought it would be fun to show just how lazy these two lumps can be. And one of them is really hogging the sofa!

Hey, I want you to know this is really a rare event. I almost never sleep. Now as for Alpha -- well, that is another matter ;-)

Actually, truth be told, I almost never sleep alone. And I like it that way.

A wee bit chilly ;-)

OK, winter has now officially arrived. Not with snow, mind you -- but with cold. Check out Mom's rosey cheeks. And check out my chilled belly. On second thought, maybe not. That's just a little too much exposure ;-) (Hey Mom, can you pull my sweater down a little?)

Let it snow ... please!

We have a dusting now (for only the second time this season!)

Psst. Shhh. I'm going to let you in on a secret. Some people are ski bums; some are ski bunnies. Me? I'm a snow bunny! And I need more snow to do my snow hopping thing.

So come on already -- let it snow! Until then, best I can do is scamper around in the thin coating of white stuff -- see what I mean:

Let's play some Paw Ball

I talked Alli into playing some "Paw Ball" (which you might know better as soccer). Here you can see I've got control of the ball and am lining up my shot. Check out the concentration in that face!

Sometimes Alli would get the ball and try to score on me. Are you kidding? Check out this save:


And after such a spectacular save -- in fact, the game winning save -- you'll understand if I take a moment for my victory dance, right? It is only to be expected:


That's right -- who's the best -- who's your doggie -- it's Frito-man with the lightening paws and super-quick snout -- uh huh!

Black Ice and Bathrobe(s)

Here's another close-up of Frito in his bathrobe walking carefully on the black ice. It was really slippery -- even Frito's 4-paw drive had some difficulties.

And now for my clever segue ....

And speaking of bathrobes, Mom wanted you all to see that Frito was not the only one to get a matching bathrobe. Here you can see Pedro and his Mom in their matching bathrobes.

The Ice Storm

We've had some "weather" as they say. Rain just at that freezing temperature for about 24 hours. End result: everything was covered in about a half inch of ice. I didn't get out too much then :-( When I tried to walk on the grass, it was like walking on a bed of icicles -- ouch! Alpha actually had to carry me to my woodland potty spots a couple of time.

But here you see me out for a walk after the rain/ice had stopped. That's one of the many trees in our area that have either bent over to the ground, or broken outright. It was pretty wild.

And speaking of wild, here is Alpha trying to navigate his way down the driveway. As you can see, I didn't have any trouble with my 4-paw drive.

We try harder

Alpha tells me there is a saying among rental cars. Hertz is number one, but at Avis, "We Try Harder".

Well, did you read the NY Times yesterday (hey, just because I'm a dog, doesn't mean you can't read ;-)

January 16, 2007 [edited]

Labradors Still No. 1, but Yorkies, Move Into Second Place

The American Kennel Club yesterday announced a shift in its 10 most popular dog breeds in the nation and in the city, or at least in that elite group of purebred dogs whose pedigrees and papers are in order.

Across the country, the most popular dog last year, as it has been for 16 years in a row, was the Labrador retriever, with about 124,000 registrations, or 14 percent of the club’s total.

But the big news, the club said, was the No. 2 ranking in both the city and the country: the Yorkshire terrier, overtaking larger breeds like the golden retriever and the German shepherd.

That's right, we Yorkies are now the 2nd most popular dog breed in America. Still behind those goofy labs, but ahead of Golden Retrievers, and everything else.

Which means, of course, that "we try harder". So tell me, how did I do for this photo?

Frontal Attack

Alpha was playing "keep away" with me, and I had to try a different approach to get my toy. So rather than running back and forth to each side, I decided to try a frontal attack (do your recognize Alpha's new bathrobe?). But I got this flash photo taken instead of my toy! Well, eventually, he gave it to me. Alpha is so sneaky, and he'll do anything for a photo.

Cleaning up after a winter walk

Well, it still doesn't look like winter, but you can tell from the shadows. Very long, even at mid-day.

Now one thing that is typical of winter walks is the resulting "wet/dirty-belly". Coupled with my winter coat, this can require the "Frito-bath and buff".

You see, after finishing my bath, Alpha towels me off, but I have to finish the job with the Frito-buff; yes the bulk of the effort falls uoon moi. Boy, the things I have to do just to get my treat ... Here, I'll show you.

Assume the position

Part of my evening ritual. After the days activities have started to wind down, and everyone is getting a little tired, we "assume the position". That's Mom on the sofa, with her laptop, reclined so I can sit next to her, right on the footrest.

There are only a few things that will get me out of this position: the sound of food potential in the kitchen; someone coming in the front door; or my tummy alarm clock when it's time for my evening treat. But that's about it.

I want that treat

It was good to see Alpha after his trip. We got to go out for a walk, and then afterwards, I usually get a treat. This time Alpha was wasting time giving it to me so he could take my picture. Holding it hostage, really. Alpha -- enough already -- I want that treat.

TGIF!

Well, since it's Friday and rumor has it that Alpha will be home tomorrow to start posting again, Alli is going to use her last three Frito photos which are unrelated but all cute of course.

The first photo is a picture of Frito strutting his stuff, looks like he could pull off the whole model thing, huh?


The second photo is Frito showing off just how high he can jump. Pretty amazing...although he won't be doing that anymore, right Alpha? ;) (for those of you who missed the injured Frito pics, he tore both of his cruciate ligaments so we don't want to strain his little chicken legs!)


The third and last photo was taken over Christmas break while Alli and Choo were baking and it just goes to show that if there is anything food-related happening, Frito will be there for you no questions asked!

Cheese Monster...

I'd have to say that possibly my favorite snack in the whole wide world is CHEESE!!! If I'm really lucky and my family is having cheese and crackers then I get the really good stuff but otherwise they make me eat low-fat cheese.... I can't complain though because I don't really taste it since I swallow it so fast!

As you can see, my eyes never leave the cheese!

Dalhousie twins

Looks like someone gave Mom and Alpha some Dalhousie sweatshirts for Xmas. Probably the same someone who took this picture. Well, though I'm not so enthusiastic about the picture, atleast I got a walk out of it afterwards!

What a catch!

With catches like this I think I could compete in some sort of professional frisbee!

But I don't want to, I like the frisbee all to myself!

Just Call Me Speedy Gonzales

By now, you all should know (or at least my true fans) that one of my favorite things to do is play frisbee.

Alli was fast enough to capture my incredible speed on film (or should I say on megapixels?)

12 ball in corner pocket

Alpha said he needed some help with the long shot, and asked if I'd help line things up for him. Hey, that's the kind of dog I am. Anything for my Alpha. By the way, even with my help, he still missed.

And what is the story with all of those pins back there. Alpha, ya think you got enough? What's that? That's Mom's doing? Whoa, I gotta have a talk with her!

Belly rubs from the J-man

Oh-boy! I'm so excited to see my buddy the J-man. First he gets the butt wiggles, then he gets some kisses, and then I roll over and get my payback -- belly rubs from the J-man. Thanks for coming over Joey!

Frito speaks

Frito had lots of excitement when the kids were home, not to mention the only snowstorm of the season so far. So he had something he wanted to say when we were all playing outside in the snow. Since many of you don't speak dog, I'll translate:

"I really love it when it snows. I get all friskee. Alpha started chasing me around, and then I turned the tables on him and chased him back. He looked very scared. Ha ha."

"Alli, thanks for visiting, it was great to see you (you too Greg). And I can't wait to see you guys the next time you get to come home"

"OK, that's all for now -- let's keep playing some more, at least until I get tired and just plop myself on the ground, saying, 'time to go inside'."

Alpha's hat

Well you already saw some of my cool Xmas presents. Here's one of Alpha's. He was testing it out during our one and only snowstorm this season (so far), and it looks like it works well. I don't really care, but anything to encourage folks to get me outside for some playtime. Bring on the snow!

The bathrobe

There was a recent post over at my neighbors blog (Pedro-a-Day) about a bathrobe. Well, you know how competative little dogs can be. You can see above that I got one too.


And although I'm sorry to have to share with you Alpha's early morning photo, I wanted you to see that he got a bathrobe that matched mine as well.


But mine is special. (Actually, both are personalized.) Can you see all the writing my Mom put on the back of my new bathrobe?


Here's a close up for you older folks. No doubting who this bathrobe belongs to. Thanks Mom! I hear Alpha likes his a lot too. And for our neighbors -- we'll just have to have a bathrobe party!

Saying bye-bye

Today was a tough day for me. I had to say bye-bye to both Greg and Alli, as they head back to school. Can you see I'm waving bye-bye with both paws? But it was great to see them over the holidays, and to visit with all their friends. Even though I will miss them both, I'll be sure to let Alpha take lots of photos of me, so Greg and (especially) Alli can see my smiling face everyday. I miss you guys already!

Happy New Year from Alli and Frito

Happy New Year y'all! I can't believe it's 2007! I'm so grateful to be able to see my girl (and my bro') over the holidays. (In case you are wondering about the picture, those are cool reflective strips on Alli's running gloves -- neat huh?)

Alas, they both have to go back to school tomorrow :-( But I'm sure it is going to be another fantastic year for both of them -- and for me too. Happy New Year everybody!