Ferocious green eyes

Yesterday, I indicated I am too cute to be ferocious. Or am I?

As you can see, I can play it both ways ;-)


But in the end, I'm just a sweetie-pie.

And incredibly adorable.

My, what big ears you have

Well, that's what they say about me sometimes.

These are my chihuahua ears.

My attempt at my Pedro impersonation.

Or my big, bad, wolf ploy.

But come on ... on such a cutie pie?

No, it's hard for me to be ferocious. Or is it?

Floor level

This just shows you exactly how cute I must be.


I mean, after all, look at Alpha rolling around on the floor trying to get adorable pictures of moi.

I believe that is the definition of "cute". Hee hee.

My perch

You see, this is one of my favorite spots for watching the world go by.

I sit up on the back of the leather sofa (which scrunches down nicely for me) and get to look out the window.

Look, I'll show you what I mean.


See, that way I get to be the first to see the deer in the back yard, and give a soft growl whenever I see them.

Don't believe me? Here's one shot from their recent visits. They bring all their relatives too ;-)


And they just love to eat from the bird feeders -- look at this one smiling right back at me.


They're worse than the squirrels I tell ya!

Can I sit in your lap?

Sometimes, I really want some attention.

On those mornings, I ask Alpha if he wouldn't mind me sitting in his lap.

And take a look at that face ...

You just KNOW he could never refuse me, doncha?

Lookin' good!

Yeah, that's right. Out in my candy striper outfit again. I told you you might see this quite a bit.

After all, it really accentuates my natural beauty, donchathink?

Lookin' good, I am, I am!

More Frito art (sigh ;-)

One again, Alpha's been tweakin' the photos too much ;-)

I was walking with Mom and Alpha after one of our thaws (we need more of those, BTW). Water was running down the street, and I walked through it. Alpha took a photo with the sun reflecting of the water ripples.

And somehow this is what he ended up with.

Don't blame me. I'm just the model ;-)

Big head wants a snack

Here I am waiting for Alpha to give me a snack. Look what I have to put up with ...

Out comes the camera. Switch it into macro mode. And make my head look too big for my body. Geeesh.


But wait. There are more tricks I need to do. Oh yeah. The dancing routine.

Alpha, really, must I do this every time you intend to give me a treat? I mean, come on!

Almost finished now

Well, I've almost got Alpha totally groomed. Every nook and cranny of his hand has now been licked clean.

All the Alpha smell is now replaced with Frito smell. I know, I know, it is very generous of me.


Don't worry Alpha, no need to wash that hand now.

That's all for you, Alpha -- now, I'm done! And you are welcome!

Got Alpha pinned

So here's how I go about grooming Alpha. Ya see, first you've got to pin 'em down.

So I grab his paw -- er, hand -- with one of my paws and make sure he can't move (hee, hee).


Then I proceed to lick every nook and cranny of his hand. Multiple times.

We're talking well groomed here, my friends. ;-)

Grooming Alpha

Well, we had an extensive photo shoot here -- so you get to see it over the next few days. I hope you don't get bored ;-)

In our typical evening repose, I sit in between Mom and Alpha. On this occasion, I noticed that Alpha tasted yummy.

So I decided he needed some grooming. I'll 'splain more tomorrow, OK?

I've gone hi-tech

Well, now I've gone hi-tech! Here I am video-teleconferencing with my girl, Alli.

The Crisp Apple family (or is that apple-crisp? oh, never mind) uses iChat to make this all happen. Really quite remarkable, with built-in cameras in each laptop.

How is that for cool! She gets to see me, and I get to see and hear her.

Though I must admit I am a bit confused as to how she can fit inside that little laptop ;-) Hey, I'm only a dog, remember?

Alternative to Flossing

I really am such a cutie pie, aren't I? (And so modest, as well ;-)

Here I am laying with my knot. What is my knot, you ask?

Well, it's a toy that I like to use to play tug-o-war ... and it may also act as a suitable alternative to dental floss.

Look closely at my beautiful choppers in the movie below and imagine all the flossing benefit they get, while I'm battling Alpha for king of the knot. (Hee, hee).

Snowball collar

This snowstorm was a wet one. So at least it wasn't so cold.

It produces the kind of snow that is perfect for making a snowballs.

Or in my case, a snowball collar. Just by dragging it through the snow!

Mom actually had to clean it off a couple of times. Ha!

It's a blizzard out there

Our weather has been rather unsettled. Cold most days, with intermittent storms.

This puts a real damper on my walks.

Here's one day I went out in a blizzard anyway.

You can see it is so cold, Alpha's camera is shaking ;-)

How to get Frito kisses

My bro' wants to show all of you his special technique for getting kisses from me.

First, he does the Vulcan mind-meld. Sending me thoughts about giving him kisses.


Next he tries to mezmerize me by staring into my eyes, telling me I need to give him a kiss.


And sure enough, it works! The things some people will do for my kisses.

Greg, it is Valentine's Day donchaknow -- all you had to do was ask (hee, hee)

Bittersweet jail

I went out for a walk in the fields the other day. It was pretty cold with quite a lot of snow.

One section of the walk home goes by lots of bittersweet along an old stone wall. Critters love to make their homes in that area, because it is somewhat protected.

So I had to go check that out. But look at me -- I'm locked in a bittersweet jail (hee, hee)


Actually, I was able to get out no problem. And I thought I looked pretty sharp in my candy stripe sweater.

So I figured you all deserved a clear shot. Dashing, aren't I?

Playin' with my Bro' - take 2

So Greg is back again. Which is really good, because he plays with me and takes that sole responsibility off the parents.

See, my Bro' is willing to get down on the floor (at my level)


I really like that, and just to show how much, I thought I'd give Greg a great big lip smacker.

Don't worry Greg. We dogs are very clean (hee, hee).

Walking with Mom - take 2

It's staying wintery around here.

This time I'm out for a walk with Mom in my new Xmas sweater.

Sharp outfit, don't you think?

Alpha says I look like Xmas ribbon candy (hee, hee).

I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it in the future ;-)

Sending Alpha off for a run

It was a pretty cold and windy day out there, but check this out.

Alpha is going out for a run anyways. Woo hoo.

Don't worry Alli, I let Alpha go by himself. But I did want to give him moral support.

Run, Alpha, Run.

Let's go skiing

Well, it hasn't been such nice weather around here lately. It's been snow off and on, pretty cold, and mostly overcast every day.

As a result, I haven't been able to get any walks outside lately, 'cause the parents are not so motivated in this weather.

So I worked on them, and shamed them into taking me cross country skiing. Woo hoo!


We got to try a new trail in our town -- someplace none of us have ever been.


I really like to blaze the trail, and find all the new sniffs. Can you tell?


After a while running in the snow, my paws started to get cold. But never fear ...


Mom comes to the rescue and rubs all the snow off (and warms them up a bit).


Way to go Mom! Not only do you take care of me, you are an awesome skiier.

We had such a good time. Let's do it again -- OK guys?

Time for a neck rub

Well, ya see, this is the new routine. In the morning, after breakfast, Alpha puts me on his lap for a neck rub. (Alpha's a little scary in the morning, isn't he -- hee, hee ;-)


Usually when I get this kind of attention, for some reason, it makes me yawn. Don't ask me why -- just one of my cute and quirky attributes.


But I think you can see that I *love* to get my neck rubbed. Thanks Alpha -- and keep up the good work!

Hey Alpha, can we play?

Hey Alpha, can we play? Can we, huh? huh? Oh pleeeeeeease?

You see, Alpha is very considerate. When I ask really nice like this, he usually comes through.

Here, let me show you what I mean (Alli did say she wanted more movies, right?):

I love the sun

Nothin better than reposing on the warm tile floor soaking in the sun on a cold day.

Don't you agree? Well, OK, maybe having just finished your breakfast, and now resting on the floor soaking up the sun ;-)

Reclining with Mom

This is a pretty common position for me. There are times when I wait for Mom. And times when I hurry her along.

Sometimes it's just time for a recline, donchaknow.

And can it be any better than with moi?

Dangling Participle

"Frito was playing with Alpha, while dangling in the air." (So exactly who was dangling? Get it?)

I was never much for English grammar (after all, I AM a dog! ;-)

But clearly you can see *me* dangling here. It could have been titled "dangling Frito", but then Alli might get worried ;-)

And just to make sure she isn't, I thought I would follow up with one more movie.

Just because Alli asked for it!

Love my bone

See what a big dog I am?

(OK, Alpha, you can get up off the floor now ;-)

And I just love my orange boney. Sometimes I like to play with it.


And sometimes I just like to sleep with it.

But in case you weren't sure just how much I love it, I thought I'd show you a short movie.

After all, you did ask for more movies ;-)

Making a comfy spot

I really like to be comfy when I lie down to relax with Mom and Alpha. And this looks pretty comfy, donchathink?

Check out that sheepskin somethinerother that I get to sleep on. It's really soft, but sometimes I want to make it even softer. Probably the human equivalent of fluffing a pillow before bed.

I have bit of a routine. In addition to using my paws, if you watch carefully, I also involve my nosey. Do you want to see?

Frito and friends

OK, you've waited long enough. Here's the finished product. Thanks Dara!

And in addition to getting my own special Spaw treatment, I also got to make some new friends.


This is Star -- one of Dara's cute little hot dogs. Dara said Star doesn't photograph well, but I think Alpha was up to the challenge. What a cutie pie.


Here's another friend I made -- Sombra (which is Spanish for "Shadow") -- who just got his own Spaw treatment.

Wow, we are some lucky dogs!