Who's the super hero?

Just who is that masked man, in the very swanky leather outfit.


Ohhhh, it's Greg in his motorcycle get-up. He got the pants for Xmas. Yowsa, those are cool!

So what's in there? Is it for me?

Greg is playing hard-to-get with my present.


And now he's just playing with my present. Which turns out to be a stuffed squirrel (oh boy!)


I do love to try to get those squirrels. Come on Alpha, don't be such a tease!

My first present ... is battle tested

OK, now we are getting to MY presents. 'bout time!

This one is cool. I am very vicious as you know, and can tear apart most frisbees in no time.

But this one is "battle tested", or so it says.


Well, of course, I start by giving it the once over.


I think I can break this if I just chew in one spot long enough.


Gimme some time, I'm getting there.

Well, the good news is that it still in one piece! I think it just might hold up.

Alpha's present (from Alli)

Now this is Alpha's present (from Alli, with a little modeling help from moi).

It's a running shirt, with lots of pictures of me running over the years! Here's a close-up:


If that won't motivate his butt out on the trail, then nothing will. Run, Alpha, Run!

(Rumor has it that Alpha will be wearing this shirt for his 2nd marathon in Eugene, OR on May 4th 2008.)

Better start that training, Alpha. You've got Xmas cookies to burn off (hee, hee).

Thank goodness for presents (or maybe Santa)

Yep, we had a pretty good haul this year.

Although restraint was shown.

Thankfully, though, not on MY gifts.

Heck, I'm the cutest present around, and I'm the gift that keeps on giving!

Oh Alli -- not you too

Now I know you are going to say Alpha made you do it. But still, won't you stand on principle?

Well, actually, I do look rather cute and adorable, now don't I? And you look stunning too, Alli ;-)

Merry Christmas to all

Well, a good time was had by all. Nice to have the family home.

And I got lots of presents too, and I really enjoyed opening them. Really, I did.

I'll show you some of them in the upcoming days.

But until then, just wanted to say, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Well look who's home!

He's back home! Greg has returned from college. In fact, rumor has it that he's finished!

Who knows -- I'm just glad to see my bro' again. Welcome home, Greg.

Hanging with the girls

This was my last day with my bandage on (thank goodness). Mom and Alli took it off and I'm a much happier camper now.

They actually found the broken dewclaw -- the whole thing came off -- ouch!

Mom and Alli are now protecting me from any rough-housing. I'm getting "special treatment" ;-)

Hold my hand, er paw, er bandage

So I'm imagining that Alli might want to sign this song to me. See what you think. With no further ado, but with all due apologies to the Beatles ...

Oh yeah, I'll tell you something,
I think you'll understand.
When I'll say that something
I want to hold your paw,
I want to hold your paw,
I want to hold your paw.

Oh please, woof to me
You'll let me be your girl
And please, woof to me
You'll let me hold your paw.
Now let me hold your paw
I want to hold your paw.

And when I touch you I feel happy inside.
It's such a feeling that my love
I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide.

And most assuredly, the crowd does go crazy ;-)

But I am still "handy"

Notwithstanding my bandaged paw, I can still manage to eat my chew bone. Ironic, you might say, that people think dewclaws are useful for dogs to hold onto bones and such.

Well, I guess I'm just "handy" -- not to mention incredibly skillful, and otherwise quite impressive ;-)

Peg leg

Well, see, this is how it is. I (and all dogs) have what is known as a "dewclaw" on my paw. That's the hooked claw that is actually on the back of my paw, up higher than my normal toenails.

Well, mine got injured -- we think running though the snow/ice that has taken over our yard. So the doctor had to bandage it, which not only eases the pain, but keeps me from licking it.

But I'll tell you -- it is quite a challenge getting used to walking around with my front paw like this. Oh well, c'est la vie.

On the bathrobe, again

Once again. The hot tub routine continues right into the freezing temps. Those guys are driven, I tell you.

Funny to see them run out to the hot tub in freezing weather.

And then I make Alpha get out of the nice warm water, and into the freezing weather again to let me in.

So I can lie on his bathrobe. Hee hee. I can be such a stinker sometimes ;-)

Hey -- where are the presents?

Just checking out the Christmas tree. I seem to notice something missing.

Shouldn't there be some presents under here? I mean, besides me, of course.

Better get cracking there Santa.

But it's warm inside

As bad as it gets out there, at least I can come inside and lounge on the sofa, with my boney. Alli took this picture of me.

Alli, be careful -- you don't want to get like Alpha with the camera!

It's getting deep out there

Man, will ya look at the snow banks. I can barely see over them. And there's no way I can walk through all that snow. Don't believe me?


There -- see what happens -- I just sink in. Fortunately, Alpha has snowblowed a whole bunch of paths around the house.

And he has his priorities straight -- the driveway might be a mess, but he knows to work on my paths first ;-) Woo hoo.

Before and After

Check it out. Alli redid the parents pin collection. They had to add the blue fabric, and that meant taking off all of the pins, and then remounting them all. This photo is the "before". Can you imagine removing and then replacing all of those pins?


And of course, this one is the "after". And for the record, I helped!. OK, maybe that means I distracted Alli to make her play with me at various times, but hey, everyone needs a break.

Just shows you how much fun finals must have been. Alli actually offered to do this for fun ;-)

Snowy and Cold

Wow -- it sure got cold and snowy around here.

But no problem for me. Mom put on an sweater AND a vest, to keep me extra toasty.

And, well, you can see I was tromping through the snow piles. That's because I smelled some deer tracks, and had to go check it out.

It's fun to explore after a snow storm.

The Hill

We are out on a standard walk. And we are now heading UP the hill.

It's a pretty good workout. Can you tell that I'm pulling Alpha along?

He's a pretty large load, but hey, I'm very strong.

Practicing for the Iditarod. Ha, ha.

Wrapped present

Christmas will come a little early this year. Note the "wrapped present" sitting out on the deck.

Well, it just so happens that one special girl gets home later today.

I will be waiting, and will slobber her up big time.

Woo hoo! I just love Christmas time.

Custom clothing

Lookee what I got.

This here's a custom, handmade, all-weather safety vest.

Yep, Mom wanted one that did a better job covering up ye old hind quarters.

So she had the lady that makes these for County Stores, make one special, just for me.

Now how is *that* for "special".

Ice skating (kinda, sorta)

Well, after the snow, and the so-so removal, came the ice.

Here I am trying to skate across it (kinda, sorta).

I made it, but I'm not a real fan of the ice. At least not without little doggie skates for my paws ;-)

It had to happen

Well, it had to happen sometime ... snow has arrived here in New Hampshire.

Not a lot, but enough that we used the snow plow, the snow blower, and Mom manning the snow shovel, to get things under control.

Hey, look at it this way -- it is likely to remain cold enough that we might just have a white Christmas!

Who's got stinky breath?

Listen up -- I don't know what you guys are saying.

My breath smells just fine to me!

...... BREAKING NEWS ...... THIS JUST IN ......

OMG -- this is from Anna B.

Well look at that -- there really is a flossing cat!

Hey Mom, do you think we should give that a try???

Running like the wind

It was cold and it was blustery.

Leaves were blowing every which way.

And so was I -- I was so fast.

Mom and the happy boy

Just to show there's no hard feelings about that teeth brushing adventure ...

See, Mom's still happy, and so am I ;-)

Ohhh - the Indignity

Oh, the indignity of it all. Mom and Alpha say I have stinky dog breath. And the vet suggested brushing my teeth.


Can you believe it? I mean, come onnnnnn, I'm a dog!


And I say pppttttouie to your feeble attempts.


Mom tries her dental hygenist technique.


Let me thwart their attempts with clever use of the tongue! Ha!


It didn't take me too long to wear them down. After all, they are just amateurs. And I am the pro!

Peeking

There's a hole right through the tree on our morning walk.

This day, I decided to take a peak through it. Guess what I saw?

You guessed it ... Alpha's camera ;-)

Glistening

Yes, see how my fur, er hair, glistens in the morning sun.

Just helps to show of my cuteness, donchathink?

Getting cold ... brrrrr

Well, I guess it had to happen. It is now officially COOOOOLD.

Mom and Alpha were all bundled up, and the wind chill was brutal.

But I was toasty-warm with my thick sweater, on top of my well-insulated chub, er, fur, er, hair.

I'm ready for you Winter ... bring it on!

Paparazzi

Oh Alpha, you are just like the Paparazzi.

Sometimes I have to cover my face to avoid the glare of your camera!

Sometimes ... I tell you ... it is very tough being so popular and photogenic ;-)