My Big Camping Adventure

Well, we went camping last weekend for my Mommy's birthday. It was really fun, but cold! I had to spend a majority of the evening wrapped up like this:

Yeah, it was pretty cozy. And then in the morning, Daddy wore my special pouch for the first time! Usually it is Mommy who wears it. He did a good job, as you can see:

Later that day we had lunch at the beach--my favorite beach! It was the first time I had been to the beach since my injury in December. Boy, was it fun! I even got to run around a little bit and look in some tidepools:

After that, we went to get pumpkins! Wahoooooo! I posed my very cutest pose in front of these pretty pumpkins. I was wearing my courduroy jacket that is perfect for the fall, so I felt very fashionable. However, the straw was a little scratchy on my butt.

There were so many pumpkins I didn't know what to do with myself!!! Can we take them all home?

Just like last year, I got to go on a wagon ride. Daddy didn't pull me around very much this year because he was afraid I would fall and hurt my back. So mostly it was a stationary wagon ride...don't tell anyone.

Check out this pumpkin! Mommy was a teensy bit afraid that it would fall on me, so she wouldn't let me stand on the ground under it. But next to it was okay.
Bye for now,
Poppy the LBC

Happy Saturday Everyone

Hi friends!

Thank you for all your help and suggestions about my cousin Jasper. Mommy and Daddy went over to his house last night to see him and he is already feeling better. He is on Reglin for nausea and also Prednisone to help him fight the cancer. His parents were very glad to get all the info about their options. Thanks again for the help!

In other happy news, we are about to leave to do my favorite thing...CAMPING!!! I will post all about it in a few days.

But for now I will tell you about what I did last weekend. I got BLESSED! We went to Grandma's church and a big man in a white robe said some nice things about me and the other animals who were there. We stood in front of the church and tried not to bark while he talked. I was very quiet, which is more than I can say for some other dogs.
After he spoke, Mommy took me up to him individually and he shook a big stick at me. He dipped it in a bucket of water first, so when he shook it over me I got a little wet. It was weird. After we were blessed we each got a medal that said "St. Francis" on it. Do I look blessed?
Afterwards, there was a meet and greet. I got to sniff and chat with lots of other doggies. This guy was fluffy. I don't remember his name:
I also met a little guy named Balin. I usually love other chihuahuas and he was no exception. He was a little nervous about letting me sniff his butt, but he tried to be brave. He was dressed like a rock 'n' roll star. I wonder if he's famous.
Okay, I'm off to go camping!
Bye for now,
Poppy the LBC

Oh No!

Do you remember my cousin Jasper? He had a Bad Adventure last year. Yesterday Jasper got some very bad news from the vet. He has an aggressive type of lymphoma. The vet said that if they do chemo, he will be very sick and feel bad, but he will have a small chance of living for another year. If they don't do chemo, he will only live a few more months, but they can make him feel more comfortable. His parents haven't decided what to do yet.

Does anyone have experience with lymphoma? Jasper and his family need some advice.

This is a picture of Jasper in happier times with his favorite radish. He likes to play with it like a ball.

Bye for now,
Poppy

Happy Birthday Clover!

Happy Birthday Clover!!!

Well, actually her birthday was on the 1st, but I don't think she'll mind if I write about it a bit late. Clover is six years old now. That is twice as old as me! She is a good big sister. Especially when she lets me kind of almost play with her. This is a video of us from the other day. She likes to block my path so I have to bark and gruff for help.



Clover got a big catnip log for her birthday. She is sometimes suspicious of new toys, but this one seemed to pass inspection. First she licked it, and then she started biting it a little bit. I happen to love catnip toys, so I was watching closely to see if she was going to let me play too.

She didn't. But I understand; it was her present and not mine. Maybe I'll get to play with it later!

Deefor told a great story about how he and Arrow got their names. Since it's Clover's birthday, I'll tell you how she got her name. The story starts a long time ago...

Several years ago, Mommy and Daddy had a cat named Puck. He was from a shelter too, and he was sort-of-orange. Daddy wanted to name him Puck after a character in one of his favorite plays. Mommy and Daddy had been Uninformed and Unaware, so Puck was sometimes allowed to go outside in the yard. When Puck was two years old, there was a terrible accident. He went into the street and was hit by a car. Mommy and Daddy rushed him to the emergency vet, but there was nothing they could do. Puck died. It was a very sad day. They wished someone had told them how dangerous it is to let cats outside, but they just didn't know. Now they know that indoor cats live an average of 12 years, and indoor/outdoor cats live an average of 2 years. What happened to Puck was very "normal."

For two years, Mommy and Daddy felt sad and alone without a fuzzy warm animal in their family. So when Mommy started working at an animal shelter, she brought Clover home almost right away! Here is a picture of Clover when she was still at the SPCA:
Back then her name was Jilly Bean, which is a teensy bit weird. She was two years old and she hadn't lived in a very good situation before, so they thought it would be okay to change her name. Mommy wanted to name her Lucky in honor of Puck (Puck...Luck...Lucky), but Lucky didn't sound like a very good name for a girl cat. So they decided on Clover, just like a four-leaf lucky clover!

Whew, that was a long story! Thanks for making it all the way to the end!

Bye for now,
Poppy the Little Blonde Chihuahua

Bark in the Park

Hi everybody! This weekend I went to a dog festival called Bark in the Park. It was the third time I have been there. The other times I went were before my injury, so I was able to try out the agility course for fun. I'm not allowed to do that anymore though because I might hurt my back again. So Mommy decided that we should enter the costume contest this year. We used my Howloween costume from last year--the Sooper Pooper outfit.

Here I am walking across the big stage. Mommy had to lift me up and down the stairs because they didn't have a ramp. Hey, don't they know about the ADA (American Dog-ablility Act)?!

After the contest, we walked around the park and looked at all the vendors selling stuff. But since I already own all the Stuff there is to own, we only bought one thing for Mommy and Daddy. It is a really cool little poster designed to look like an old fashioned ad. We got the "Head Honcho" Chihuahua brand coffee ad. While we walked around, I got to ride in my pouch because it was so crowded. I could have gotten stepped on! Mommy is so aware of little dogs that she kept looking down at her feet before she took a step. But not everybody does that, so I got to ride!

I hope everyone had a great weekend too!
Poppy the Little Blonde Chihuahua

Pee Ess: Are you wondering if I won the contest. Well, I did not. I was sad about this. But then today I found out that I got an award from my friend Pedro! He was so sweet to think of me! Here is my special award from him:
It is only fair to pass along an award that you get to another friend, so that is what I will do. This is actually my least favorite part--not because I don't want to pass the award along, but because it's so hard to choose! How about if YOU choose? If I love your blog (and you know I do), consider yourself awarded!!!

Foggy Days

What have we been doing lately, you ask? Not much. The weather has been kind of foggy and cool, which makes it nice for sleeping and cuddling, but not too much else.

So this week we have been doing a little of this:

and a little of that:
As you can see, Clover has perfected her "tuck" position. Pretty good, huh? She can also do a "pike" position. I would definitely give her a 10 for form.

Oh, and of course I've been doing a little of this:
See how I learned to use my ramp to get closer to the food? Very clever, if I do say so myself.

Bye for now!
Poppy the LBC

Today's Post is Sponsored by the Letter H

Over Labor Day weekend I got to go to Humboldt Redwoods State Park (that's the first H of this post). It was sooooo beautiful. There were so many giant redwood trees to sniff and pee next to. We had to be Rule Breakers again, because dogs are not allowed anywhere in the park, except the campground. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Ahem.

We went to several different "groves," which are just different areas of the forest that have been named after people and groups. Each one seemed to be more beautiful than the last. I posed in front of one of the big trees so that you can make a comparison between a nine pound dog and a gazillion pound tree:

We walked around the forest following whatever little path caught our fancy. It was very dark in there, and a little bit chilly, so I wore my green sweater and stuck close to Daddy so he wouldn't get lost. Can you see us in this picture? We are very small:

We did an awful lot of driving this weekend, because Humboldt is so far away. After a while, each time we stopped I would try to climb onto the cooler because I was tired of sitting in my carseat. Safety-shmafety:
But of course it was all worth it just to see those gigantimous redwood trees.

When we got home from our trip I finally forced Mommy to check our email, and we saw that my HULA certificate (that's the second H) from Meeshka had arrived! Here it is in all its glory:
Of course, one just doesn't become a part of HULA simply because one is cute (although I am). There are certain qualifications that you must meet. Here they are, as written by Meeshka herself:

HULA Qualifications
1. Demonstrating Disruptive Behavior
2. Cause Humans to freak out for no real reason
3. Destroy Something
4. Human behavior modification
5. Humans dress you up
6. Love of Kleenex

I meet all of thise qualifications easily.
Number one: Every time my Mommy and Daddy hug or kiss or even THINK about hugging or kissing, I must squeeze between them and be a part of the action. That's disruptive, right?
Number two: If I sneeze or cough of throw up a tiny little bit, my parents spend the next hour closely watching my behavior to see if I am going to explode or something.
Number three: This one is a little trickier. I am not super destructive. Although I did recently shred Daddy's brand new nursing license. Luckily it was just a scanned copy. Although Mommy's heart did stop for a minute. Ha ha!
Number four: Well, this is simply my forte. My humans eat on the floor so the table will be at chihuahua height. They only eat at restaurants with outdoor seating so that I can accompany them. They carry me around whenever I want them to. The list goes on.
Number five: You've all seen the pictures. If the weather is the slightest bit chilly, I will most certainly be wearing a sweater. And I dress up for almost every holiday and special occasion.
Number six: Duh. Especially if they have a chewy center.

Thanks, Meeshka, for making me a part of your special group!!! :)

Bye for now,
Poppy the Little Blonde Chihuahua (and official HULA member!)