Woe is me; stung by a bee!

While out for my evening walkies last night, I was involved in a scary incident. I was bounding through the grass in our neighborhood park, when something small and fuzzy-looking caught my eye: a bee! Being an official Beedog, I didn’t think the bee would mind a quick game of pounce and chase. No sooner had I executed my first pounce than I felt a sharp pain in my right leg. I cried out, “I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit!” Mommy immediately rushed to my aid, scooping me up and saying, “Oh, little Poopers, did the bee sting you?!” Yes, yes, didn’t you hear me?! I’ve been hit!

I couldn’t walk because I didn’t want to put my little injured paw on the ground, so Mommy had to carry me all the way home. A man walking by said, “Oh, is she all tired out?” Never! I am a hiking dog and I can walk forever; but not with a serious injury like this! Once we got home, Mommy called Daddy, who is a paramedic, and he said we should make a poultice of baking soda and water to draw out the poison. Mommy did it, but I didn’t like it one bit. She also tried to put an icepack on me—oh, the indignity of it all!

See how sad I look in the picture, holding my injured paw up out of harm’s way? I had a nice sleep last night though, and today I am all better. I was even better enough to run errands with Mommy after work today. Hooray, I love errands!

Bye for now,

Poppy

A Cup Full of Questions...or is it Chili?

Hi! All my new friends have been passing around a list of questions about themselves. Since I'm new to Dogs With Blogs, I thought I should join in, even though I'm a little late. Here it is:

1. Your age? About two years old

2. Your age when came to live with your people? About four months old

3. What color is the collar you’re wearing right now? Orange and yellow (my signature colors!)

4. Who is your favorite person other than the people you live with? It’s a toss up between Grandma & Grandpa, next-door-Grandma, Uncle DJ, and Uncle Ben

5. How much do you weigh? 9 ¼ pounds (I’m wee)

6. Most expensive thing you’ve ever chewed up? Uncle Ben & Aunt Mo’s scanner cord (necessitated buying a WHOLE NEW SCANNER!)

7. Do you like other Dogs? I like them from afar...not so much close up

8. Who is your best non-human friend? It used to be cousin Sivan...but then there was some unpleasantness over a dropped treat. We only have supervised visitation now. So I guess it would be my sissy Clover!

9. Squeaky Toys or Tennis Balls? Both!

10. Do you like to be brushed? Not really. It gives me the wiggles.

11. Peanut Butter or Cheese? Lick...peanut..lick...butter...lick...

12. Do your people cut your toenails? No. I get professional help with that. I start hyperventilating when my parents get out the c-l-i-p-p-e-r-s.

13. Any formal education? I’m an autodidact. (It’s okay. You can look it up.)

14. Couch potato or Energizer Bunny? I have two speeds: zoom and flop

15. Five nicknames your people call you: Poopers, Poo-Bear, Baby Girl, Pooper-D, Baby La Poo

16. What is your best trick? Spin—I’m a spinnin’ fool

17. Do you like kitties? Oh yes, ever so much! I have a desire to play with all the kitties.

18. What did you have for breakfast? Newman’s Own Organic small brown crunchy foods.

19. Can you hunt (aka have you ever killed anything living)? If so, what? No, but if you nudge me while I’m sleeping I might eat your hand.

20. When & why was the last time you went to the V.E.T.? A couple weeks ago for some s-h-o-t-s and a nail clipping.

21. Where do you sleep at night? In bed under the covers with my Mommy and Daddy. Doesn’t everydog?

22. Do you like to swim? Very much NO!

23. Can you make puppies? No no no no no!

24. Your favorite place to visit? The DP (dog park), the beach, Fort Funston, and Grandma & Grandpa’s house.

25. Do you give kisses? I am an expert Frencher, both traditional and nose.

26. Can you potty on command? Of course. When I want to potty, I command my parents to take me outside or to my potty box.

27. To Cuz or not to Cuz? Um, cuz? What’s that?

This is a fun game! Maybe my new friend Dobby would like to play too!

Bye for now!
Poppy Dog

Don't Judge Me...

...because I sleep in cat baskets. Yes, it's true, this is a wicker "bunk basket" designed for cats. But my sister Clover doesn't really like it. To try to make it more appealing, Mommy made this nice blue fleece pillow for it. Clover still doesn't like it, but I do! It's just my size. Clover can sleep on the bottom bunk if she wants to.

Mommy spent all weekend reading about Hairy Poppy--or something like that. I'm pretty sure it was about me. But the picture on the cover didn't look a thing like me, so I guess I can't be sure. Daddy's still reading it. He's not slow, he just had to work until 1:00am on Saturday. I love reading. Reading is when my parents sit down for a long time and I go back and forth between their laps (they each have one) as much as I want. It's neat!

Bye for now!
Poppy the LBC

Yard Snacks

This is a picture of me in my Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They just had it redone and it is ever so pretty. (I think they did it just for me because I am their favorite--and only--grand-dog-ter.) It used to have lots of cat poop in it, which is one of my favorite yard snacks, but it's mostly gone now. Wally, I know you are envious of my yard-peanuts, but there are none in this yard. Mommy is glad though, because she has a fear of mystery peanuts. I think it stems from her childhood. You know that song called "Found a Peanut." I'll sing a few lines for you:

found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut last night
last night I found a peanut, found a peanut last night...

Anyway, it goes on. At the end of the song, the person who found (and ate) the peanut DIES!!! Mommy is, therefore, very wary of suspect peanuts, and she won't let me eat any. I'm trying to convince her to make me some home-made frosty paws though. Wish me luck!

Bye!
Poppy

Home Sweet Home

I am finally settling in to my new pupdom. We didn't move very far, but as promised, my new house does have a yard attached. I looooooooove it! I like to patrol the back forty for falling leaves, peanuts, and cat poop. (We do not know where the peanuts are coming from. The falling leaves and cat poop are self-explanatory.)

As you can see from the picture, even when I am inside I stand guard over all that is my domain. Most of the boxes are now unpacked, and Mommy promises to post "after" pictures of the house soon. But I'll give you a hint. . . The walls are mostly yellow, as a tribute, I believe, to my blonde-ness.

Bye for now!
Poppy

Happy and Sad--7/5/07

Hi everybody,

My name is Poppy and I am a little blonde chihuahua. My mommy is in the process of moving my previous posts over (DONE! See below.) from yahoo 360, so check back later for more about me. Most of the blogs we read (Wally, Sparky, Minou & Birdie, Scubee. . .) are on blogger, so we thought we should join in. So I'm happy.

But I'm also very sad today about Scubee. Mommy cried a little earlier, even though we have never met Scubee in person (dogson?). Our best wishes go out to Scubee and his family. My Mommy and Daddy know how it feels to lose a furchild. Enjoy life all the way to the end, Scubee. Our thoughts are with you.

Bye for now,
Poppy Dog

Loofah Dog--5/24/07

You know that commercial from That Store We Don't Shop At... the one that features a dachshund and his loofah dog BoBo... the one that makes every DogMom cry? Well, ever since seeing that commerical, my Mom has wanted to get me a loofah dog. However, as I mentioned earlier, we don't shop at That Store because they sell animals. She has diligently looked at all the good pet stores for a loofah dog, but couldn't find one...until a few days ago! Daddy was getting stinky black liquid from Peet's, so Mommy wandered into Pet Food Express, where we sometimes shop. Lo and behold, they had a HUGE display of loofah dogs right inside the front door with a big sign that said, "Buy three, get one free!" Mommy was so excited (but not so excited that she actually bought four--you know that's what you were thinking) that she bought me a purple one right away.

When they brought my loofah home for me to play with, I attacked it right away. Almost immediately my loofah became gravely injured, but luckily Mommy was able to suture the wound with pink thread. The picture is of me sharing some l0ve with my loofah and deciding which part to rip off next (the tail, in case you were wondering).

Yesterday Mommy saw the NEW loofah dog commercial for That Store We Don't Shop At. Why does that store like to make DogMoms cry?

Bye for now,
Poppy Dog

Happy Birthday to Me--4/1/07

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me-eeee, happy birthday to me!!! I'm two!

I had my birthday this weekend, and my parents took me for a picnic in the park. As a special treat they even let me chew on a stick! They brought some of my normal brown crunchy food for me, of course, but what I really wanted was what they were eating. They had two very delicious-smelling tubs of something they had made earlier that morning. When Daddy tried to give me some, Mommy got mad and said, "Eric, you can't feed a dog tempeh! It's fermened--what if she gets sick!" They argued for a while about that, but in the end, I didn't end up getting any. No fair. I did get a couple of garbanzo beans though. Have I mentioned how I love beans?

The park we went to is right near the new yard my parents bought for me. I haven't been there yet, but they keep telling me that they bought me my very own yard. I am so excited to play in it and pee in it! I wonder if there is a house attached to the yard??? I'll let you know when I find out.

Bye!
Poppy Dog

Me and My Knit Bear--2/11/07

My friend Becky can knit anything. I could knit too, if I had thumbs. But I don't, so I leave the knitting up to her. She made this bear to use up some extra yarn, and when my parents saw it, they convinced Becky to let me have it. She wasn't sure if I would play with it, but I do! It is my new favorite thing! Oh, how I love my knit bear. In this picture you can hardly tell where my bear ends and where I begin. But isn't that the meaning of true love?

Bye for now,
Poppy Dog

Merry Christmas Everyone!--12/29/06

Hooray for Christmas! I got so many fun presents! I got a funny rock with squeaky feet, a caterpillar made with organic cotton, some chewy peanut putter treats, a new pretty blue harness, and a fancy red party coat! I unwrapped most of my presents all by myself, plus I helped with other people's too. I'm so helpful!

This is a picture of me on Christmas Eve after I found one of my presents under the tree. I was supposed to wait until Christmas to play with it, but I just couldn't! You can also tell that I am wearing my fancy new party coat and my new blue Puppia harness. Even though Mommy said she wasn't going to buy me any more coats, she just couldn't help herself. She was in Five Paw Bakery getting my new harness, and she saw this adorable coat that is made in the US! That is very hard to find, apparently. And since we don't like to support sweatshops, it is better to buy things made in the US, where there is much less chance of that.

My sister, Clover, got presents too. She got a carrot filled with organic catnip. She punctured four tooth-shaped holes in it right away. She likes catnip. And so do I. Is that normal?

Merry Christmas!
Poppy Dog

Some Haiku by Poppy--12/11/06

The Good Life
Life on a cushion.
Does it get any better?
I think not, thank you.

For the Love of Nose-Frenching
The nose on your face
Looks so inviting. May I
Put my tongue inside?

Sometimes Little Dogs Get Chilly--11/27/06

Here is a picture of me modeling my brand new red sweater with snowflakes. It came with a hat, too, but my ears are too big to fit through the holes. Darn. Mommy was lucky to find a sweater that fits me so well, because I am usually very hard to fit. It's because I'm built like a supermodel: very long, huge chest, tiny waist.

If you are a sheepdog, maybe you don't need a sweater. But if you are a chihuahua/rat terrier-ish, like me, you probably do. I have five jackets and five dress-up outfits. Is that too many? Daddy says it is, but Mommy disagrees. You see, (says she), I have a rain coat for light warm rain, a fleece-lined waterproof parka for cold rain or very chilly days, a fuzzy fleece for cool-ish days, a corderoy jacket for breezy days, and a red sweater for hanging around the house when it's cold inside. I also have a Giants jersey, a pumpkin costume, a bee suit, a Fourth of July outfit, and a t-shirt that says "I AM the grandchild" (although that last one was a gift).

Some would say that this is enough of a wardrobe for a little Poo like me, but just today I caught Mommy looking at doggy snowsuits online. It may seem silly now, but the next time we go camping and I'm wearing my fleece AND my parka and I'm still shivering, I'll sure wish I had that snowsuit!

Bye for now!
Poppy Dog

Happy HOWLoween!--10/31/06

I love Howloween! It is my new favorite holiday (after Christmas and my birthday, of course, because of all the presents). I finally got to fulfill my destiny as a beedog, and I think I did a pretty good job of it. The tasks are as follows:

1) You have to be a dog.
2) You have to dress as a bee.

It was kind of hard, and I'm glad I had my parents to help me, especially with the photoshoot. I don't think I could have carried all those pumpkins by myself.

And speaking of pumpkins, don't you just LOVE to eat pumpkin? Part of what makes Howloween my new favorite holiday is the time-honored tradition in which your parents carve up a big orange squash for you to eat. They even carve creative little holes in the sides of the squash so that you can more easily stick your tongue inside to get a taste. Oh, hooray, it is my absolute favorite!

Happy Howloween!
Bye,
Poppy Dog

BumbleCat--10/3/06

This is a picture of my sister, Clover, trying to disguise herself as a BumbleCat. Actually, it's a picture of my sister while our MOM was trying to disguise Clover as a BumbleCat. I was under the impression that this was supposed to be MY outfit, but I guess that's what sisterhood is all about--sharing. Maybe Clover will get her own costume for Howloween next year. After all, she didn't seem to mind wearing this outfit much at all. It had some little strings around the chin area for her to play with. She looked pretty happy until I saw that she was getting all the attention, and then I had to run over and make sure nobody forgot about me. When I ran towards Clover, she realized what was going on and what she was wearing, and she started to moonwalk out of the bee suit. Mom said, "Poppyyyyyyy" in that way that means I did something wrong. And then she had to grab Clover before she moonwalked right into the bookcase. Don't blame me--I wasn't the one who tried to turn a right and natural thing like a BEEDOG into a new and unusual BUMBLECAT.

Bye for now!
Poppy

My First Baseball Game--8/15/06

I went to my first baseball game last weekend. Here is a picture of me at the baseball park in San Francisco looking for the Giants. I never saw them, though. All I saw were normal size people. They were certainly bigger than I am, but that's not saying much.

I never knew I liked baseball until recently. See, baseball is this game where your parents take you on a long drive to a big grassy field, only you don't get to go on the field. You have to sit on metal benches with a bunch of other dogs. The baseball game starts when dogs wearing clever costumes parade around the grassy field. Then there is an intermission where some men run around with a ball and a stick--boring. But then the baseball game starts again and the dogs with the best costumes come out on the field and we all get to vote on who we think is the best. My mom and dad liked the beer and hot dog couple the best, but "Lou Seal" ended up winning. He was pretty cute too, I guess. Then there was another intermisson with the guys with the ball and the stick--whatever.

I was wearing my baseball outfit, which is a shirt that says "San Francisco 25." During the ball and stick intermissons, one of the big men was wearing the SAME SHIRT AS ME!!! Each time he tried to hit the ball with the stick everybody yelled really loud and all the dogs started barking. Not me though. I wasn't sure what was going on. I just wanted to see more baseball; meaning well-dressed dogs walking around the grassy field, of course.

The worst part about baseball was when Daddy left for fifteen hours (or minutes, I'm not sure). But the worst part quickly turned into the best part because when he finally came back, he had treats for everybody! He complained about how there is only one concession stand in the whole park that sells veggie dogs, but Mommy was very proud of him for finding them. I got to eat part of one and it was soooooo good. I love baseball!!!

Bye!
Poppy Dog

I'm just a little Pooper--8/5/06

Hello, I'm Poppy.

This picture was taken when I was just a wee little Pooper. Now I'm big...well, biggER anyway. Most people say that my level of hyperactivity indicates that I am still in the "puppy stage." Whatever that means. Now that I'm almost one and a half, I thought I should try my paw at writing. This is my first attempt at blogging, so be patient with me. After all, I am still just a little Pooper. Check back later to see what I've been up to!

Bye!
Poppy Dog