BUSTED - Criminal Behavior

Busted!  And so young!  Oscar and me are too young to be criminal!  But according to FlowerySmellingGirl, we now are criminal.  I did not think we were criminal.  I was just having fun...at first!  Then I got scared.  I do not think I should be criminal for being scared.  Here is what happened...

FlowerySmellingGirl and Dwarfman came home and let us outside in the yard.  We like playing in the yard, and it is a good time of day when SillyFamily comes home! There were WorkerStrangers (DANGER!!) though who had been painting the back deck.  Oscar and me do not like strangers and we kept far away!  We went to the far corner of the yard, and saw WorkerStrangers had left the gate open.

We have never been outside of the yard or house!  What fun it would be, I told Oscar!  We ran out the gate very fast.  What a big world to explore outside the gate!  There were many other houses and yards and sniffy smells!  What fun this would be in BigOutsideWorld!!

FlowerySmellingGirl did not seem to think it was fun!  She acted VERY scared and started to run for us.  She yelled for Dwarfman and he came running too.  I was still having fun!  SillyFamily wanted to play chase in BigOutsideWorld!  I was playing chase, but Oscar did not.   He is big chicken and was scared in BigOutsideWorld.  He is no good at chase!  FlowerySmellingGirl and NeighborStranger (DANGER!!) herded him back into the yard.  Chase time was over for Oscar.

But not for me Felix!  I am VERY fast!  Why are SillyPeople so slow?  They can never catch Pipe Spaniels when we are running!  I played chase and keep away, with ME being the thing keeping away!  FlowerySmellingGirl did not seem happy playing chase, she seemed very scared and upset.  Why would she be scared and upset playing chase?  It did not make sense.  FlowerySmellingGirl got on the TalkieBox and told SmellyMan to come home quickly.  Did SmellyMan want to play chase too?  What fun!

Dwarfman and NeighborStranger (DANGER!!) chased me but I am very fast!  I ran very fast and very far.  I won!  Nobody could find Felix!  I am master hider!!  More NeighborStrangers (DANGER!!) saw me and talked SweetTalk, but I was not fooled!  I did not let anyone catch me!  I saw DwarfMan and FlowerySmellingGirl many times but they did not see me.  I am too fast!  I am invisible when I am hiding good.  I may be a SuperDog!!!

The game was starting to not be fun though.  I decided the BigOutsideWorld is scary!  There are many strange sights, with many strange dogs and NeighborStrangers (DANGER!!).  I was getting very scared!  SmellyMan was now home and was riding on his bike, while DwarfMan and FlowerySmellingGirl were looking in their car.  DwarfMan saw me once but I ran very fast.  Maybe SillyFamily left the gate open on purpose!!  Maybe SillyFamily does not like Felix, and wanted to chase me away!!

Finally SmellyMan saw me from his bike.  I was very far from home!  But when SmellyMan saw me, I ran very fast!  I was like a FastRaceDog and ran straight for 3 blocks before SmellyMan could barely start after me.  Was he going to chase me away too?  SmellyMan followed fast on his bike, with FlowerySmellingGirl coming behind in her car.  HAH!  I had lost them!  Felix was tricky!  I turned a corner and went another direction.  A NeighborStranger (DANGER!) had seen me though, and pointed for SillyFamily to follow me.

Drat!  SillyFamily was still trying to chase me away!  I found a yard with a fence. The gate was open!  I went in the gate...SillyFamily would never find me there!  I was laying in the back yard of a NeighborStranger (DANGER!!) when SmellyMan saw me.  SmellyMan saw me and called my name, then he RAN very quickly to shut the gate to the NeighborStranger (DANGER!!) yard.  I have never seen SmellyMan run so fast!!  He trapped me in the yard!

Curses!  I was sure BadTimes were coming.  SuzyClay and SillyFamily do not know, but I have had bad times with SillyPeople, back Before.  Before was scary, when Oscar and me were Pipe Spaniels.  SillyFamily had chased me away, and now trapped me in the fence.  Were BadTimes coming again?

SmellyMan opened the gate and walked into the yard with me.  You will not get me without another chase, I told SmellyMan!  But SmellyMan did not want to chase.  SmellyMan sat down in the grass and talked SweetTalk to Felix.  SweetTalk?  But SillyFamily had chased me away!  SillyFamily had left the gate open!  I thought SillyFamily did not want Felix!!

This was not true!  SillyFamily still loved Felix very, very much!  I was wrong, SillyFamily was not trying to chase me away!  I let SmellyMan pick me up, and he put me in the car with FlowerySmellingGirl.  I was very tired!  I was very happy to get home and be with Oscar and SillyFamily again.

The good news is that SillyFamily loves me!  The bad news is that Oscar and me are now criminal pups!  I think I am more criminal than Oscar.  Oscar went back to SillyFamily's yard right away, while I ran and played chase.  So far it is not bad being criminal though!   SillyFamily all seemed very upset, but now it seems I am getting more pets and hugs than ever before!! It is good to be in SillyFamily.  If the gate is ever open again, I will still run!  But maybe not so far...

Felix

Hangin' with the Dwarfman

A quick note from me Oscar!  We are hanging out with Dwarfman this morning.  He left us yesterday!  He said he wanted to go fishing with SmellyMan.  SillyFamily...why go fishing when the Pipe Spaniels are home?  Playing with Pipe Spaniels is more fun than catching smelly fish.

Things are good in South Dakota!  We love Dwarfman!  We follow him everywhere.  We are tricky with SmellyMan and FlowerySmellingGirl.  We will let Dwarfman do things we will not let others in SillyFamily do.  Dwarfman can pet us and hug us whenever he wants! He is Dwarfman!  We are loving SmellyMan and FlowerySmellingGirl too.  We let them pet us and hug us but we are more shy with them.

They are bigger and are thus more scary!  Dwarfman is small and cute and innocent.  We trust him more.

Oscar

Dwarf Man not so bad!

DwarfMan is very snuggly!!

Things are not so bad in South Dakota.  Oscar and me love Suzy and Clay very much.  We miss you!  But SillyFamily is pretty OK too.

We were not sure about DwarfMan though at first.  DwarfMan was only here one day when we first got to South Dakota, and then he left!  Did he not like us?  Did he think we were ugly and stinky?  Not me, but Oscar is sometimes stinky, and he is always ugly.  Do not feel bad for him, that is his way!  DwarfMan may not have liked stinky and ugly so he may have left.

That is what I thought. But I was wrong.  Did you hear that Oscar?  That is the first time I have been wrong. You will not hear that again Oscar!! I am a very smart pup!  But DwarfMan did not leave because we were stinky and ugly.  He just had DwarfMan things to do with other DwarfPeople.  Now that he is back we have decided DwarfMan is good!  Maybe because he is Dwarf he has less bad in him than big people.  That is my idea.  I am very smart.  If SillyPeople are small they do not have room for bad.

DwarfMan likes to play games.  I like to play games!  So does Oscar!  He also likes to scratch us and hug us.  Many times DwarfMan sits on the floor in the MovingPictureBox room.  Oscar and me are VERY brave with DwarfMan when he is on the floor.  It does not matter what DwarfMan is doing, when Oscar and me come close DwarfMan stops what he is doing. We are the Pipe Spaniels!  He knows we are VERY important!  He will stop what he is doing and will hug us and pet us and scratch our chins and ears.  He is very nice.

Now that I know DwarfMan is nice, I get excited when I see him.  Whenever DwarfMan comes in the room, I start talking to him.  I like to talk to DwarfMan!  To DwarfMan it sounds like I am whimpering, but it is talking to DwarfMan.  When I WhimperTalk to DwarfMan, my bottom starts to shake back and forth.  I can not stop my bottom shaking!  I am excited to see DwarfMan and that must be why my bottom shakes.  Whenever I WhimperTalk to DwarfMan and my bottom shakes, DwarfMan gives me a hug and scratches my head.

That is very good!  DwarfMan is also a good sleeper. It does not matter who sleeps with Oscar and me.  We will sleep with all of SillyFamily.  When FlowerySmellingGirl was gone, SmellyMan sometimes let DwarfMan sleep in the big bed with us.  SmellyMan says it was so the Pipe Spaniels got used to DwarfMan, since DwarfMan had to go  when we first got to South Dakota.  SmellyMan is silly!  We do not have to get used to DwarfMan!  DwarfMan is awesome and is our friend.  Sometimes when we sleep with DwarfMan he hugs us while we sleep.  That is very good.

This is all good things in South Dakota!  We miss you very much Suzy and Clay!  But be happy because we are very happy!  We hope you are happy too!

Felix

World Cup Pup!

I am blue.  Really I am brown and white, but I am told you are blue when you are sad. That is silly because I still look brown and white, but I am sad so I must be blue. I am blue because the ball games on the MovingPictureBox are all done.  I really do not care about ball games on the MovingPictureBox, but SmellyMan was watching them and seemed to like when SillyMen kicked the ball in the big square net.

I have decided I really like SmellyMan.  It is boys week and we have had fun, even though we miss FlowerySmellingGirl. We have played in the yard and had so much fun.  We have played inside and had so much fun.  Me and Felix have been brave and have snuggled with SmellyMan while he watched the ball games on the MovingPictureBox.

I want to make SmellyMan happy.  I love him so.  SmellyMan liked ball games so I am going to learn to play ball games.  I am told the next ball games are in four years, and I want to be ready.  I am practicing ball games so I am good.  Maybe if I am good enough I can play ball games on the MovingPictureBox and make SmellyMan happy.

I do not have a black and white ball like on the MovingPictureBox so I am practicing with a blue ball.  I am getting very good.  I will pick up blue ball and carry up to the couch.  I drop the ball and then hit it with my nose.  SillyMen on the MovingPictureBox liked to hit the ball with their head so I think I must learn this.  I hit the ball with my nose and watch it fall off the couch.

It is a very exciting game!  I will see the ball fall and get excited and go down and get it again.  Then I bring it up on the couch and push it off with my nose again.  I will do this many many times until I am good enough to play ball games on the MovingPictureBox.  I have four years to practice and I will be very good.

I hope FlowerySmellingGirl likes my ball playing.  I miss her very much and hope she still loves me when she gets home.

Oscar

My tongue is too big for my mouth...

I am ugly.  I have read Felix blog where he says so.  He says my tongue is bigger than my mouth, and that I am ugly.

It is true.  My tongue is longer than my face.  I do not know my mom or dad. Felix says one was an anteater.  He says I am one part spaniel, one part anteater.  It is true, my long tongue does not lie.

It is very long when I am playing and it is hot.  It starts out in my mouth and gets longer and longer.  Felix teases me and says I will trip over my tongue.  That is not true. It is a very long tongue but I do not trip on it.

I do get dirty tongue though when I am playing hard.  The other day SmellyMan said my tongue looked like it was dipped in chocolate.  It was not chocolate, it was dirt.  When I play hard I forget about my tongue!  Maybe Felix is right and I will trip on it. I do get dirty tongue.

It is not easy being ugly.  Felix is so very handsome.  He tells me he is handsome, so it is true.  And he says I am ugly.  My tongue is very long. Also my face spots are bigger than Felix face spots, making me very ugly.  We are both brown and white, but Felix says his is a handsome brown.  I think that means I must be ugly because I am darker brown.

I do not mind being ugly. I can not help ugly!! I was born ugly, and I guess I will live as an ugly dog.  It does not bother me.  I am still very loved!  Felix says I am ugly on his blog, but he also follows me everywhere.  He plays with me and sleeps with me.

Maybe I am not so ugly after all!  SillyFamily also plays and sleeps with me.  I do not think SillyFamily would like me if I were so ugly.  Maybe Felix blog was a joke.  Maybe I am not ugly after all!

No...that is not true.  If it were true I would not have anteater tongue. I am ugly but I am happy.  I am being brave.  I am posting about my ugly, so other ugly pups know you can be happy even if you are ugly.

Hang in there ugly dogs!  SillyFamily loves both Felix and I. Maybe I am just ugly to handsome dogs like Felix.  Maybe I am handsome to humans!  SmellyMan scratches my ears and calls me a cutie.  I do not know that word, but do not think it means ugly.  If you are an ugly dog, do not talk to handsome dogs.  Find a SillyFamily and they will love you even if you are ugly.

Oscar

Boys Party!!

Artist's depiction of the Boys' party

[Felix] It is party time!  FlowerySmellingGirl said she was going to a meeting and it would be boys party.  It will be so much fun.

[Oscar] We have never had "party"!  You do not have party when you live in a pipe.

[Felix] We are boys so we must have party when it is just boys.  That is what DwarfMan has said.  Oscar do you know what to do in "party"?

[Oscar] We have never had party! You must listen Felix.  I have asked SmellyMan. SmellyMan said we must dance and listen to music and eat yummy food and have fun.

[Felix] We have had lots of yummy food since we got here.  Maybe South Dakota is always in party!!

[Oscar] Do not be silly Felix.  You can not always be in party.  Party is for special times only.

[Felix] You are right Oscar.  I am excited for even yummier food!  SmellyMan said when there is boys party you must have beer.  Did you try SmellyMan beer?

[Oscar] SmellyMan had a very special party beer last night.  It must be made from trees as it was called root beer.  When boys are in party they must drink special party root beer.  I did not try root beer...it did not smell good.

[Felix] We are just pups, maybe we are not old enough for party root beer.  I cannot wait to share party with FlowerySmellingGirl.

[Oscar] FlowerySmellingGirl will love boys party!! I too cannot wait until she joins party!  She will have fun with the Pipe Spaniels!

[SmellyMan] Ummmm...guys....the reason it's called a "boys party" is because FlowerySmellingGirl is gone for work and won't be back for a week.

[Felix] Boys party means there is no FlowerySmellingGirl?  You are funny SmellyMan, FlowerySmellingGirls loves the Pipe Spaniels very much.  She would never leave us.

[SmellyMan] I'm sorry guys, but she got on an airplane and flew a long ways away.  She won't be home for 6 days.

[Oscar] You are not kidding SmellyMan?  FlowerySmellingGirl will not be back for boys party?!?!?  You said boys party would be fun!!

[SmellyMan] We can have fun with FlowerySmellingGirl gone!  What would you boys like to do?

[Felix] It is no fun without FlowerySmellingGirl!  Boys party is no good!  FlowerySmellingGirl!!  FLOWERYSMELLINGGIRL!!  Where ARE you?   AaaaaRROOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  AaaaaROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Oscar] AAAAAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[SmellyMan] Silly pups, howling will not bring FlowerySmellingGirl back.  She might read your blog though.  Do you have anything to tell her?

[Felix] Boys party is no fun without FlowerySmellingGirl!  Please come back soon!

[Oscar] Come back soon!  We love you FlowerySmellingGirl!!!

Oscar and Felix

Smellyman Update - Puppy Earmuffs and More

It is Friday! It is our day off!  We are very busy!!

The boys say they're taking the day off, and they're graciously allowing me to blog in their place today.  An update on the boys' progress, in "human" language...

Other than the great Fireworks Fiasco of July 3rd, where fireworks really spooked them and they were cowering in the bushes in the yard, it's been slow and steady progress.  We're now almost 2 weeks in. The first few days, the boys showed curiosity in us, but it was mostly suspicion.  We'd let them out in the yard, and they'd occasionally come close to you, checking you out, but rarely coming close enough for a touch.  That certainly has continually improved.  Now when you're outside with them, they will come and "check in" with you very often.  Sometimes that means just running up, stopping a foot or so away, and then resuming their play, but sometimes it means coming up for finger licks, or more and more often, for full-blown ear rubs or other contact.  What's especially encouraging (and heart-melting!)...if you let them out for a bit and then go outside, many times when they see you come out onto the deck, they'll race in at full speed and come up onto the deck to greet you, in full-bore "wiggle-butt" mode that shows they're genuinely happy to see you.

Going in and out continues to improve.  We were really worried the July 3rd incident was going to be a big setback, but it was just a temporary blip.  It's now usually not difficult at all to get the boys to come in and out when we want. They often do pause on the deck, giving a suspicious look in for a little bit before coming in, but it's nothing like before where you always waited inside with baited breath, praying they'd come in.

They're eating and drinking well, with the one continued oddity of never using inside water, and always waiting to drink from the outside bird fountain.  I now make sure I clean and fill that every day! I'm wondering what the boys will do in winter, when that fountain is put in storage!  Eating has really progressed.  At first, we had one bowl out all the time.  They would eat, but always in "private" when we weren't around.  We just wanted to establish where food was.  For the last several days, we've done it differently, now that they're more used to us.  We have separate bowls for each of them, and we have set feeding times.  We also have the bowls closer to us and the kitchen table.  Now they know when it's "chow time", and that there will likely be SillyFamily sitting at the kitchen table when they eat.  We said we'd put bowls up on the counter if they didn't eat during this time, just to teach them 1) there's a set chow time, and 2) it's OK to trust us and eat while we're close by.  However, it hasn't been an issue at all. Given our schedules, one of us is always up before the others, and at breakfast, they will come and finish all their food with someone sitting right there at the table.  It's the same at supper...they'll come and eat all their food with us sitting close by.

Inside time, during the day, is still the time when they act quite shy. We have a 2-story house with basement, but no matter which floor we're hanging out on, we're now generally gating off the other floors during the day, so they have to be on the same floor as us.  That's typically not an issue anyway.  Even though they're in shy daytime mode, they still typically want to be near us.  For example, if I leave the main and 2nd floor open and am up working in my office, they'll usually come up and hang out in the office area with me.  If we're downstairs, they'll hang out down there.  Often though, it's still in a "safe" spot, behind a chair.  That too is changing though.  Particularly if we're in the main floor living room, they'll often come out to play toys.  "DwarfMan" (Alex) has a laptop and he's often sitting on the floor with the laptop on the coffee table.  The boys will often go right up to Alex and let him pet them.  Alex has been so good and patient with them!  When they come up, he'll stop what he's doing, and then very slowly move his hands out to touch and pet them.  The boys do the same for Lauri and I, but not as much yet, not during daytime inside.  However, if you're sitting on the couch, they will come up and give you a foot lick or a quick ear rub, and now Felix a few times will come up and jump up on the couch and want to sit next to you.

However, most of our "touching" time is at night (more on that in a second!) and when they're in a "safe" spot.  I had to go back to work this week, and one thing we wanted to do was establish their daytime safe spot.  That's a doggy bed in the corner of the laundry room, a quiet spot away from the front door and windows.  We put a gate up and they have access to the laundry and mudroom areas.  It's really worked wonderfully!  No problems at all while we resumed a "normal" schedule this week. And that "safe" spot on their doggy bed is also one area where we really establish physical contact between us and the boys.

My favorite...Doggie Earmuffs!!  When you get home they're always asleep on their doggy bed.  You come in, go to the laundry room, lay down to greet them...and it's doggie earmuff time!  I stick my head right between them and give them big hugs and greet them.  Man, NOTHING warms the heart more than doggie-earmuff time!! When they're in a safe spot, be it the doggie bed or behind a chair, they will always let you hug them, give ear rubs, belly rugs, etc. as much as you want. We make sure to do this a LOT, to get them used to our contact.  The boys are probably like WHOA!!! What are you doing!?!? This is our safe spot, SillyFamily!  Stay away!!  They're initially "on edge" when you come in for contact in a safe spot, but give them one ear rub and you get a happy groan while they "lean in" to the contact.

One time we have NO anxiety issues at all...nighttime.  Hence the previous blog post on "Skips-so-Frantic" (schizophrenic) pups!  After the first 3 nights where they slept on the floor in various spots (with me with them a couple nights), the 4th night I just went and picked Felix up and put him on the bed.  They now know bed is "OK", and they certainly adapted extremely quickly to sleeping!  When we go to bed, they'll initially lay on the floor, or in Oscar's case, they'll typically go under the bed.  But after a few minutes they'll come out.  Felix will put his paws up on the bed to check things out, then jump up and settle in.  Oscar will then follow.  Once lights are out and everybody is dozing off, it's a big puppy love fest!  They will let you do ANYTHING at night...pets, ear rubs, belly rubs, playing with their paws...anything. As Suzy said happened with her and Clay, Felix will nearly always sleep high, by your head.  He's usually either curled up in a ball, often in the arms of whoever happens to be there, or is splayed out on his back.  But his head is nearly always by one of our heads.  Oscar is also often high, particularly because he always wants to be by Felix, but sometimes he's down by your feet.  The one thing you MUST be prepared for at night...slobbery licks!! Felix particularly is QUITE fond of showing his affection with licks.  Given that he's always up by your face, your face and ears are his primary targets!  It's SO sweet sleeping with the pups, but you do have to sometimes put up a "lick barrier" blanket between your face and Felix, to get him to stop licking so everybody can go back to sleep!

We've not many real "negative" issues with the boys. Lauri leaves for work very early (usually around 6), and sometimes Alex and I aren't up when she leaves.  There was one day this week where Alex and I didn't get up until about 6:45, and at some point after Lauri left, there was some poop by the front door.  They probably just weren't out long enough that morning and didn't know what to do with nobody else up yet, because otherwise they've been perfect in their house training.  The only other issue has been chewing. It really has been very minor, but there was an incident yesterday.  I heard "chewing" behind a chair in our living room, one of their favorite "safe" spots, but I saw toys sticking out and thought they were chewing on a toy.   It started to sound weird though so I went and looked, and Felix was gnawing on the back leg of the chair!  Sigh.  He carved up one edge pretty good.  There have been a few other times where we've seen the boys (usually Oscar, not Felix), go up to like the edge of the coffee table and initially "mouth" it.  We say "Leave it", what Suzy would say, and it stops immediately.  They're by that one chair so often it really surprised me that after almost 2 weeks, Felix decided it looked tasty!   Given that they're always with us, the chewing isn't a big concern, but we did order both some "bitter apple" spray and the "EQYSS McNasty" spray that we'll put on potential "chew" spots to nip it in the bud.

That's it from SmellyMan!  We now resume you to your regularly scheduled programming.  Oscar and Felix will resume their blogging tomorrow!

SmellyMan (aka, Terry)

Lord of the Strawberries

All hail Ser Felix, Lord of the Strawberries!  I am not picky.  You may call me Lord of the Strawberries or King of the Strawberries or the Strawberry Knight, it does not matter.  You may call me "Ser", "My Grace", or "My Lord".  It does not matter which.  All that matters is I rule the strawberry patch.  You must bow before me.

Oscar and I LOOOVE our yard.  We will play and play and play.  Sometimes we sniff and explore.  Sometimes we play with sticks and other things we find in the yard.  But we also like to wrestle and chase.

I am a very good wrestler.  This is a new yard and Oscar and me must decide who rules what part of the yard.  We will chase and wrestle for a long time.  Sometimes Oscar wins, and sometimes I win.  We are both very good (but I am better).  I am king of the strawberry patch.  Oscar and I have wrestled many times in the strawberry patch.  It is easier to wrestle there now.  At first the strawberries were very tall and thick.  It made it hard to wrestle.  Now the strawberries are flat, and we can wrestle much better.

SmellyMan laughs when we wrestle in his strawberries.  He says it does not matter, berry time is over.  But SmellyMan is wrong.  He is not wrong that it does not matter.  He is wrong when he says they are "his" strawberries.  We are the Pipe Spaniels!  This is our house and SmellyMan must do as we say.  It does not matter when berry time is.

I am Felix!  Lord Of the Strawberries!  I am ruler of all who cross into my strawberry patch!  Oscar and I have fought fair and square and it has been decided!!

There are still many other places yet to conquer.  Oscar is King of Under Bed and King of Behind Chair.  I will not fight him for those, he is King.  Oscar is also King of Daytime Doggy Bed.  But I am King of the Strawberries.  I am also King of the Flossy Bone.  We have fought many battles over Flossy Bone and I am the King.  Oscar does not agree and says he is King of the Flossy Bone.  But I took the Flossy Bone and hid it behind a chair upstairs.  I am King because he does not know where it is.

SmellyMan, do not reveal my secret to Oscar!  I am King of the Flossy Bone!!

Felix, Lord of the Strawberries, King of the Flossy Bone

Ode to "Under"

Felix is a stinky poet.  What is a haiku?  It is not a poem. There is no rhyming in Felix poems.  Felix says he is smart, but if he was smart his poem would rhyme.

I am a much better poet than Felix.  I am smart and know my poems must rhyme.  I have made a poem.  It is about being "under".  I like being under, and this poem will tell you why it is so good.

ODE TO "UNDER"

Is it any wonder

Why I like being "under"?

Under is safe and cozy

A place to be sleepy and dozy

A place I can bring my toys

And keep them from the other boy

Under keeps bad things away

It is a place where I'm OK

When I'm scared it calms me down

It turns my frowns upside down

Try "under", you'll like it too!

it will help when you're feeling blue

THAT is a good poem.  

Felix also likes "under", but only when I am under. When I am under, sometimes Felix joins me.  He makes bad poems but he is good at making me feel better when I am under.  Then Felix will come out from under and I will follow him.

I love Felix very much but do not tell him that.  Felix will get big head and think he is very important.

Oscar

Skips-so-Frantic Pups

Felix and I had so much fun last night!  SmellyMan said we were "Skips-so-Frantic". That is a big word but he says it means we do not act the same all the time.  This is true!  It is all part of Oscar's plan.

I am a deep-thinking pup.  I am the smart one, not Felix (yes Felix, I read your blog posts!!!).  I am thinking it is more fun to be silly, shy, crazy, sleepy, bouncy, slow, all at different times.  Why do the same thing all the time?  That is boring.  Oscar's plan is more fun.

When we came to SillyFamily, I was brave and Felix was chicken.  BAWK-BAWK-BAWK, Felix-chicken!!!  I am still brave but am acting more chicken.  This is mostly to make Felix feel better but also because it is fun to be different.  It is fun to make SillyFamily crazy with Skips-so-Frantic.

It is most fun to be Skips-so-Frantic between LightTime and DarkTime.  During LightTime we are acting not brave. SillyFamily will sometimes pet us and scratch our ears, but we act chicken and often do not let SillyFamily close.

We are not devil dogs!  We are Skips-so-Frantic!!

It is very different at DarkTime. DarkTime is time for playing and being silly!  We are very brave at night.  We sleep with SmellyMan, FlowerySmellingGirl, or DwarfMan, it does not matter which.  At DarkTime we will jump on SoftSleepingPlaces and snuggle with SillyFamily.  Felix likes to lick SillyFamily during DarkTime, and sleep by their heads.  I like to lick feet and sleep by their legs.

But we are Skips-so-Frantic pups!  We get lots of pets and snuggles at night, even though I think SillyFamily is tired when we are brave during DarkTime.  Last night SmellyMan was getting face licks.  He rolled over to pet Felix, but it was not Felix, it was me Oscar!! It was me by his head being Skips-so-Frantic and licking him.  I was pretending to be Felix because DarkTime is time for being silly.

Felix and I jumped between DwarfMan's SoftSleepingPlace and the big people's SoftSleepingPlace last night.  We also played and wrestled in the hall.  It was so much fun!

But now it is LightTime, and we are shy again.  SmellyMan wonders why we are sitting behind the chair when we were so brave and silly last night.  We are the Pipe Spaniels!! We are Skips-so-Frantic!!! SillyFamily will never understand us!!!

Oscar

A Haiku! By Felix

Oscar again says he is too tired to blog.  I am the smart one anyway so I will blog again today.

Summertime napping

Too warm to play with Oscar

He is sleepy too

I am smart and am a poet.  SmellyMan tells me this is a "Haiku".  I think that is human for "dog poet".  

Oscar and I were very lazy today.  It is hot!  South Dakota must be much hotter than where we used to live.  I told Oscar that means there will be no snow here. We did not like snow when we lived in a pipe.  South Dakota will be warm and will not have snow.  It was so warm we did not want to play outside much today.

I think it is also because Oscar thinks he looks silly on hot days.  His tongue is longer than his face, and is too big for his mouth when it is hot.  He does look silly but I do not tell him that.  I am nice. He is not as smart as me and will not read this.  You do not have to worry.

Oscar and I do like sleeping in our new house.  It is full of soft places.  When SillyFamily is watching MovingPictureBox, we will sleep on SoftFuzzyFloor.  We did not have SoftFuzzyFloor in our pipe.  Oscar is scaredy-cat and still likes to sleep behind a chair.  I am braver and will sleep in the open more than Oscar.  I am very good looking so did not run away when SmellyMan took this picture.  Maybe Oscar HideSleeps behind the chair because he is ugly.

He is not as handsome as me, but I do not tell him that.  I am nice.

Felix

It's War!!!

Close your eyes guys!  Maybe War will go away!!

Holy puppy chow!! We're at War!  Well, SillyFamily is at War, I think!  I will tell you why.  Oscar and I had a quiet day.  SillyMan left us again!  FlowerySmellingGirl was with us alone for awhile.  And when SmellyMan came back, he had DwarfMan with him.  We had not seen DwarfMan since our first day here!  It was very quiet until DwarfMan came home. DwarfMan is loud and silly!  He is a jabberbox!  But it was later when Oscar and I found out we must be in War.

We had a nice day with a lot of time outside, with SmellyMan this morning, and FlowerySmellingGirl later.  Tonight Oscar and I were doing our evening sniffs when the DarkTime started to come.  Then War started!! What have SillyFamily done to make the neighbors mad?  It started out with a little bit of noise and light, but then SkyFireBombs started going off around our house.  It was loud and bright!  I will not pretend about this, BOTH Oscar and I were very scared!  We have never been in War before!!  We did not know what to do!!

SmellyMan tried to get us inside, but we did not know if inside is safe in War.   Oscar told me we should hide in the bushes, then the WarMakingPeople would not find us.  We hid in the bushes so well that SmellyMan could not find us!  SmellyMan got FlowerySmellingGirl, and they walked around in the yard with MagicLightSticks.  They are VERY brave, to be looking for Oscar and I during War!  They must love us very much!

Oscar and I decided that even though we were scared, SillyFamily must love us and we should be nice.  We are now part of SillyFamily and must protect them.  I was ready to fight WarMakingPeople!  I barked VERY loud to scare WarMakingPeople away, and so did Oscar.  They did not stop making SkyFireBombs though.  SillyFamily finally got us inside, and we could not hear War as much.  Maybe Oscar and I hiding tricked the WarMakingPeople to go somewhere else.

It was an exciting day!  But Oscar and I do not like War, and we hope there is no War tomorrow.  If there is War, Oscar and I will hide again and trick the WarMakingPeople!  If that does not work we will bark loudly and protect Silly Family.  We are the Pipe Spaniels!!  You do not mess with our humans!!

Felix

Yard Time!!

SmellyMan left the house for a few hours today.  SmellyMan has been always been home with us so far, so it was scary to be home alone!  Felix and I showed him who was boss when he came home though!  And that is ME, brave Oscar!

SmellyMan got home and let us outside.  We love outside! There are so many sniffs and places to explore in this new yard! Felix and I thought we would teach SmellyMan not to leave us alone any more, so we did not go inside when SmellyMan wanted.  That is your fault SmellyMan!  We were mad!  SmellyMan stayed outside with us and tried to get us to go in, but we are tricky boys!  We are also MUCH quicker than SmellyMan!  It was a fun game!  Felix and I would go up the stairs and act like we were going inside, but then we'd run down the stairs into the yard and play some more.  It is fun teasing SmellyMan!

Playing in the yard is fun, but Felix is such a bother!  He likes to jump on me and wrestle.  I like wrestling too, but Felix acts like such a puppy.  I am not a puppy!  I am a big boy dog!  I played with Felix but got tired in the yard.  Felix got tired too, and we both tried to nap in the shade.  SmellyMan could not figure out why we wanted to nap outside but did not want to go inside.  We were just playing tricks!  We were so tired after playing for 3 hours that we finally let SmellyMan herd us inside.

I am the brave big boy dog out in the yard!  I am also the boss!  Because I am brave boss big boy dog, I must check in on SmellyMan very often.  I must make sure SmellyMan is not up to no good!  SmellyMan likes to sit in the grass while we play, and the best way to check on SmellyMan is to smell him and lick his fingers.  He is smelly, but he is extra smelly when he is being naughty, so I must check.  I sometimes let him scratch my ears too.  I like my ears scratched but I will not tell SmellyMan that!  Felix is not so brave.  He sometimes will go to SmellyMan for a finger lick in the yard, but that is all.  Felix is not smart!  Ear scratches are good!  But he is just a puppy and does not understand.

Felix and I were very tired after our long day in the yard.  We came and slept on the fuzzy blanket. We were so tired that we let SmellyMan lay down and rub both our ears.  Even Felix!  But we tease SmellyMan.  He thinks we love him when he scratches our ears, but when we wake up we are shy again.  Hah SmellyMan!  We are the pipe spaniels!  You will never understand us!!

Oscar

Beds are better than floors!!

These people are weird!  SmellyMan slept on the floor 2 of the first 3 nights we were here.  Why would he do that?  Beds are so much softer than the floor! I think something's wrong with him, he doesn't seem so smart.  Oscar and I didn't know where we were supposed to sleep.  SmellyMan was on the floor, so we came and slept by him. Such a dumb, silly man...we felt sorry for him!  I even laid on top of him the 2nd night.  I am a smart pup!  I thought maybe some of my smarts might rub off on him!

SmellyMan, FlowerySmellingGirl, and DwarfMan have 3 soft beds, and many nice couches and chairs. Oscar and I are SOPHISTICATED (NO!  Oscar, that does NOT mean "brave"!!!).  We are no longer the Pipe Spaniels!!  Why would we sleep in a pipe, when we could sleep on a nice soft bed?  Last night, FlowerySmellingGirl went to bed first. Sigh.  Here we go again!  What's a pup to do?  Oscar told me NO WAY he's sleeping next to SmellyMan on the floor. He went and laid down by the bed next to FlowerySmellingGirl.

Hello, SillyFamily!!  We are sophisticated dogs!  We want to sleep in the bed too!  Do you not get the hint?  I was mad about having to sleep on the floor again, so I went out and sat by SmellyMan by his ElectricLightBox.  I was just falling asleep, and I heard a creak of SmellyMan's chair, and before I knew it, he had picked me up!  PICKED ME UP!!  What am I, a sack of potatoes?  WE ARE THE PIPE SPANIELS!!  Nobody picks us up!!

But SmellyMan DID pick me up!  I was a little scared, but I let him carry me.  I felt sorry for him again, maybe he needed me to sleep on top of him again!  But SmellyMan did something good.  He took me into the room where FlowerySmellingGirl was sleeping, and laid me down on the bed.

WOO-HOO!!  FINALLY SillyFamily understands!  We are sophisticated pups!! We need the finer pleasures in life!  The bed was OH so soft, and FlowerSmellingGirls was OH so nice, talking sweetly to me and scratching my ears.  This is so much better than the floor!!  Floors are for SmellyMan, not for sophisticated pups!!  

Oscar and I are still working on training this family, but we are making progress.  Now that we've taught them to sleep on beds and not the floor, we are going to spend all our sleepy time on soft things.  SmellyMan went into the tiny FallingWaterRoom this morning to wash the stinky smell off.  About time, SmellyMan!!  Oscar and I decided to continue our training of SmellyMan.  When SmellyMan came out of the FallingWaterRoom, we were fast asleep up on the bed.

OUR BED, SMELLY MAN!!! If you are nice, we will let you sleep up here with us!!!  

Felix

Oscar's Rebuttal

WHOA there, Felix!  You think I'm going to let that one pass? You think I'm going to let YOU put up a blog post, talking as if you're the brave one and like I'm some sort of coward?   THINK AGAIN, brother!!!

Forget everything Felix said...it's nonsense.  As NiceGirl said when she dropped us off here, I am the "sophisticated" one!  I'm pretty sure "sophisticated" means the same thing as "brave", it just has more letters.  Yessir, there's no doubt about it, I am the dapper, sophisticated, and BRAVE one in this doggy family!

OK, I admit it was a little bit scary to be dropped off with SmellyMan, FlowerySmellingGirl, and DwarfMan.  After all, we both loved NiceGirlandMan very much.  But it's ME that's been leading this new household!  It's ME that's been taking charge and showing Felix the ropes!   Is it being "scared" to prefer to hide sleep under something, like under this piano bench?  Heck no!  It's intelligent!  What if something fell from the sky?  This is a new house...who knows what kinds of things happen here!  I'm not being scared by resting under things, I'm being SMART!  And SOPHISTICATED (that means BRAVE, Felix!!!).

One thing you'll learn pretty quick if you read this blog...everything Felix posts is bound to be a bunch of hooey!  I consider him my "little" brother, perhaps one that should be seen but not heard.  DID YOU HEAR THAT FELIX!  I AM IN CHARGE!!  ZIP IT!  No more mean blog posts.

All right, now that we've got that straightened out, I think I'll take a nap.  But look, I'm being SOPHISTICATED!  I'm being BRAVE!  I'm napping near the coffee table, but not under it!

Oscar

Welcome! Oscar And Felix's Blog!

Welcome to our blog!  We are Oscar and Felix, the "Pipe Spaniels!!  This is Felix writing our introduction to you.  We had rough (ruff!!) start to life.  We don't 'member where we started out in life, but in February 2014, we were living in an auger pipe near Lawrence Kansas.  Kansas may not sound bad, but it's a scary place when you're all by yourself!!  OK, not by ourselves...we had each other!  But Kansas can be a cold place in the winter, and it really wasn't very fun living in that pipe!

One day FarmerMan saw us and decided to try to bring us in his house.  Silly man!  We are the pipe spaniels!! We are too smart for the likes of him!! But gosh darn it, he knew our weakness...food.  We were OH so hungry.  There's not a lot of doggie kibble in a pipe!  FarmerMan left food out on his porch for us.  I blame Oscar for what happened next.  That Oscar...he couldn't help himself and went up to get the food.  Me?  I was just looking out for my brother!! Next thing you knew it, FarmerMan was herding us into his house. We may have been awfully furry looking without a groom, but we're not sheep!  

Oscar was scared and ran under FarmerMan's bed.  I wasn't scared!  I'm brave!  But I had to try to calm down Oscar, so I ran under the bed too.  And we stayed there for the next 2 weeks!  FarmerMan was nice, but it's scary being somewhere new!  

FarmerMan must not have liked us living under his bed, because the next thing you know, we were in a car!  Car rides can be scary! We didn't know where we were going, but we ended up with NiceGirl and NiceMan.  NiceGirl and Man (I think they called themselves Suzy and Clay) took us in, but HAH!!  We weren't going to give in to these strange people, even if they were nice!  For the next month we didn't want ANYTHING to do with NiceGirl and Man.  We thought for sure they'd get sick of us and let us go!  That's what our first owner did!  But NiceGirl kept coming and sitting down and talking to us.  No way, NiceGirl!  We weren't going to fall for evil human tricks again!  We stayed as far away from NiceGirl as we could.

After a month though, I realized NiceGirl and Man didn't want to hurt us.  Who knew there were humans who actually liked dogs?  She was oh so nice, and we started to let NiceGirl pet us a little bit.  I found out I LOVE to get my belly scratched!  Who knew??!?! I'd never had my belly scratched before, and it felt OH so good!  Oscar was a little shyer, but he too started to like NiceGirl and Man.  Ear scratches are almost as good as belly scratches!

NiceGirl and Man were good to us, but it was still scary living in a strange place.  She called it a "basement", but we were too scared to go anywhere else!  One day though NiceGirl opened a door to the outside.  Doors are scary!  Who KNOWS what's on the other side of a door!  But Oscar and I sniffed, decided it was safe, and went outside.

WHAT FUN!  LOOK AT ALL THIS ROOM TO RUN, I tell Oscar!  What could be better?  We had NiceGirl and Man, a cozy place to sleep, AND a big yard to run around in!  It was oh so great!  Life was looking better.  Maybe humans aren't so bad after all!  We were still very shy though.  One Day NiceGirl taught us what "stairs" are.  NiceGirl was way up high, looking down and asking us to come up!!  How could we do that?!?! Stairs are like doors...they're OH so scary!!  I was the brave one and slowly made my way up.  Wow!!  NiceGirl and Man have even MORE space to play in, and there are other pups and cats to play with up here!  OSCAR!! OSCAR!  You HAVE to see this!!  COME UP!!  Oscar did come up, but it took him just a little bit longer.  Now we not only had NiceGirl and Man, but we had LibbyPup and other pups and cats to play with!!

This was so much better than that old culvert!!  I thought we were going to stay here forever, but one day NiceGirl put us in a car and started driving.  We were driving for a very long time!  She kept saying we were going to "South Dakota".  What is a "South Dakota"?  Is it a big yard with more pups and cats to play with?  Oscar and I slept a lot of the drive, but after awhile NiceGirl stopped and got out.  She opened the doors and wanted us to come out.  NO WAY!!  WHERE ARE WE!?!?! WHO ARE THOSE STRANGE PEOPLE!?!?!??!

Standing outside the car was a little Dwarf Man, a Smelly Man, and a Flowery-smelling Girl.  No!!  We are not leaving the car!  Take us back to LibbyPup and our house, NiceGirl!!  We did get out of the car finally, and NiceGirl brought us back to a big yard.  Fools!  This was our chance to escape and get back home!  But, wait a minute!  There's a big fence here!  We're stuck!  Trapped!!  Marooned!!  NOOOOOOOooooooooo....

Oscar and I started to investigate the area, probing for weaknesses!  But alas, SmellyMan had built an escape proof fence!  Oscar and I decided to play it cool, and wander around the yard, while NiceGirl talked to SmellyMan, FlowerySmellingGirl, and Dwarfman.  You know what Oscar?  This is pretty nice here!  We have a lot of room to run!  And look!  A bubbly bird bath!  This must be where we go to drink water!

We played outside for what seemed like forever that day!  But before we knew it, we looked up, and NiceGirl was gone.  NICEGIRL!!  WHERE ARE YOU!!  WE LOVE YOU!!! WE MISS YOU!!  We will NEVER warm up to SmellyMan, DwarfMan, and FlowerySmellingGirl!  Well, OK, maybe they're not so bad.  We'll see.  So far they talk very sweetly to us, give us more toys than any pups on the planet, and let us play outside whenever we want.  Maybe it'll work out here...we'll see!

That's our story!  And this is our blog!  Oscar and I will be sure to keep you all up to date on how we're doing!!

Felix