2012 Year In Review

I noticed that the trend for today is to blog about the year in review.  I think there is a website/blogger's rule or something, so I better do it too.  I wouldn't want to get reputation as a bad blogger.  I haven't been blogging long, so I can't do my ten best blogs or anything like that.  I'll just do the 10 highlights of my year, the best I can remember them.  I'm a dog...one day is pretty much like the next. 

Me and Huckleberry.

1.  Huckleberry!  My cousin, the beagle, came to visit and we got to play out in the yard.  This was the first time I was allowed to play with a visitor dog.  (Well actually the second, but the first time didn't end well).  He also brought children with him.  I didn't like that much.  I don't understand children; they are short and scary.

2.  Being a bad dog.  I bit the neighbor dog and mom got really mad at me.  I don't get to have as much fun as I used to because she says I can't be trusted outside except in the back  yard or on a leash.  This is a bad memory.

3.  My new brother.  Rocky came to live with us.  I'm still up in the air whether that is good or bad.  He's fun sometimes, but he hogs attention, he's dumb, and he talks funny.

Rocky's First Day.

4.  Dogsitter!  Ryan came to stay with us while mom and dad were gone FUREVER!  I seriously thought they were gone for good, so even though I lurve Ryan and he lets me sleep with him, I got a bit stressed out.  Rocky showed me how to dig under the fence and we got out and scared the neighbors.

5.  Mom and Dad came home!  Hurray!

6.  More visitors!  Dad's brother and little girl came to visit.  She is a kid, but not a little one, so I wasn't scared at all!  They even took me for walks!

7.  Grama (I love visitors, can you tell?).  I was worried that she would love Rocky as much as me, but she doesn't.  I'm her favorite.  I heard her tell mom that.

8.  Walks and the walking drought.  In the fall, I got walked every single morning.  Sometimes with Rocky and sometimes alone.  Then it got dark and cold in the mornings and mom quit walking us.  In fact, she got all kinds of busy and we didn't get much attention at all; even on the weekends.  She says she has a resolution for the New Year to walk us.  I'm not sure what Resolution means, but it is very close to my real name (Resilience), so I'm guessing it is a good thing!

9.  Newtown.  I don't like to think about that.

How I felt about Newtown.

10.  Christmas!  New toys.  New friends.  Too much food! I even was allowed to kill a stuffed alligator with hundreds of squeakers in it!  I love Christmas.

So, that's pretty much it.  It was a good year at our house.  Not so good for the rest of the world.   Too much hate and not enough loving.  It makes me sad to think about it, but happy for my good home.

But, hey, I have to run.  Rocky is barking at the cat in his hidy hole and is going to get in trouble.  I get to watch!

Nervous Habits

Mom says if I tell the world that someone made me nervous I should explain what that means.  It is a little hard to explain, but I'll try.  I'm not sure I'll get it quite right.  First, I am a Pit Bull/Black Mouth Cur mix.  The main personality characteristics of both of these breeds include being extremely loyal to family and not necessarily interested in making other doggy or kitty friends.  I know I can't eat our family kitty or Rocky (although I am tempted at times), but other dogs and cats and even otters better watch out. 

When I was young, I was not treated very well.  I'm not going to go into the details now, but lets just say that my person wasn't always nice to me and I never really learned how to be social with other people.  Before that, I was with my mommy dog and she taught me things that all dogs learn from their mommies and from playing with their siblings.  How to hunt and fight are learned through playing.  One of the things we learn is that a quick way to take down an enemy is to bite their back legs at the ankles.  I only mention that because it has to do with what happens when I get nervous. 

I was in a foster family after my original person was mean to me.  They were very nice and taught me a lot of things.  I learned to trust them.  So when my forever mommy and daddy came to their house to meet me, I didn't get very nervous.  I was happy when they wanted to take me home, because my foster family loved me, but they had a lot of dogs to love and I wanted my own place. But even though my foster family trusted my new family, I had to learn to trust them too.  I was confused by everything, so every person I met made me nervous.

And when I get nervous I do what my mommy dog taught me.  I go for the back feet (I know people don't have back feet).  It is very confusing to me because I know I shouldn't hurt people, but I just want them to stop moving and I feel like I should protect my family.  So I bite at the only feet I can reach.  At first it was very scary for my mom and dad.  They didn't know what to do and I was nervous all the time, so everyone got their feet nibbled on.  They brought one lady over and tried to see what was going on by trying different things with me.  I had only been there a day or two, so I didn't know who to trust.  I got a little too scared and bit down too hard.  I know I did and I feel bad, but that lady still makes me a little nervous even though I see her a lot. 

Now hardly anybody makes me nervous for very long.  I confuse excitement with nervous sometimes.  I get especially excited when there is food in the kitchen.  So new people in the kitchen make me a little extra nervous.  But mom and dad aren't so nervous anymore and they can help me.  They know the signs of when I am nervous (my teeth chatter and my tail wags really fast for starters). They tell the person who is making me nervous what to do and they know what to do, so the worst I ever do is trip someone up or untie thier shoes.  I hope that someday I'll be comfortable with everyone, but I don't know for sure.  Mom says we are going back to obedience school soon so I can work on being around people and dogs without getting so upset.  We went before to a private class and that was ok.  I'll tell you about it later.  And we had a lady come to the house for awhile to work with me, but that didn't work out so well. 

Little babies don't move much, so they don't make me nervous. 

Anyway, I'm working on my nervous issues.  I have a ways to go.  Mom says I can't be trusted with children, ever and that is ok because I don't understand children.  Rocky really likes them, so he gets to be out when children are visiting, but I only get to be out after they have gone to bed or when the child can be watched really closely.  Maybe after awhile I will understand them, but I'm just as happy to stay away from them for now.

Christmas

Wow, Christmas came and went fast and I am exhausted!  Mom stayed home and the house was full of people, so I couldn't get on any computers at all.  It was great to see Grama and Grampa.  I am still their favorite.  There were some people I didn't know too and food all over the place.  I tried to be good, but sometimes the man (Uncle Dan, they called him) made me nervous especially when there was food around.  I don't know why, he was very nice to me and petted me a lot.  I could tell he liked Rocky better though. 

I got to swim with Nathan in the pool and that was fun, but exhausting.  I haven't been swimming much lately and the water was very cold and now my tail hurts a little bit.  And we got lots of new toys and bones!  Hurray for Christmas.  I'm too tired to play today and just want to snuggle up with mom where it is warm.  Rocky has a squeaky toy he is throwing everywhere.  I'll let him keep it.  I don't like the way it squeaks, plus I destroyed a big squeaking alligator on Christmas day and barely let him play with it at all. 

Here is a picture of Rocky and me with Grampa:

And here is a picture of me with my alligator toy:

I need to go take a nap now.  It is way too cold to be out of bed!

Resi

Bored but with hope!

Mom and Dad have been soooo busy lately.  It has been ridiculous.  No walks, no bike rides.  No car rides, no outings.  No kayaking.  Not even a good solid game of tug.  Mom plays chase now and then, but that bores me.  Rocky likes it.  Mom must be dumb or tired because he even won a game of hide and seek last night.  He was running the circle from the bedroom to the pool and she was catching him at the doors...but then he switched up on her and snuck up and tagged her  in the butt with his nose.  Maybe he is getting smarter. 

Dad has had the flu.  I'm not sure what that means except he has been home, but all he wants to do is sleep.  Brandon is here too, but he doesn't want to play either.  The good side of those two things is Rocky gets to stay out of his box and play with me.  The bad side is dad has been cranky. 

Mom hasn't been much fun either.  She is working all the time.  She has computers and stuff that she always seems to be on doing something important.  I don't bother her, but Rocky tries.  It doesn't get him much more than a couple nice pats and words and a shoo away. 

I want my ducks back.  I haven't swam in ages!  I love to swim.  I heard dad say that Brandon should clean the pool deck tomorrow, so I'm going to ask to swim first...that way I won't make a mess. 

I don't usually care about making a mess but here is the good news....!   !  !   I heard mom talking on the phone today and it seems like Grama is coming tomorrow.  I LOVE grama!  She is a tiny person, but she isn't a kid.  She L-O-V-E-S me!!!!  She likes Rocky ok too, but I know I'm her favorite.  Grampa is coming too.  I love him.  He is a dog person from way back, I can tell.  He hasn't even met Rocky yet, so I have the inside track.  And I heard mom tell dad she was taking the whole week off starting tomorrow!   This is going to be so fantastic. 

I know it is Christmas, so we have to be good so Santadog brings treats.  But I also know about Christmas people food....yee haw!  I think my boredom over these last few weeks is about to pay off  big time....I'll keep you posted. 

Below is a picture of us with Grama.

The dogs next door

There are a lot of other dogs in our neighborhood. At least one lives in every house. Most of them are pretty well behaved. I really like the two old Rotty’s who live behind us. They like to come to the fence to say hi now and again. I can’t quite see over the fence, but I can see through. Rocky can stand up and look right at them. Lucky dog.

On one side is a very old Golden. I see him come out every morning through mom’s window. I hate that dog. Sometimes he walks right into our yard. His mom never puts him on a leash and he is a good dog and stays with her, but he just strikes me wrong. He should not come into my yard. Once when we were both outside, mom let go of my leash and I bit him. Mom said I was a baddog. She was very upset with me. Now I’m not allowed to help dad in the front yard any more. It doesn’t seem fair because I never have left my own yard without permission.

On the other side are our newest neighbors. Two beagles. Man do I hate beagles. They talk too darn much. And they are crybabies too! I have a cousin who is a beagle. His name is Huckleberry and I like him just fine. He came and played with me last Christmas. So when these new beagles moved in I was pretty excited. But man oh man, they never seem to shut up. The worst part is in the morning when their owners put them out on the patio and leave for work and school. They cry and howl for an entire hour at least. It is a horrible sound.

Sometimes Rocky tries to tell them to quiet down and that it will be ok, their people will be home later, but I keep telling him it is a waste of time. They are just crybabies. Sometimes the Rotty’s get annoyed with it and yell at them to ‘Shut it’. But that doesn’t help either. I feel bad for when we have people guests sleeping on that side of the house. I’m sure it is annoying.

I thought when they first moved in, it would stop when they got used to their new house. Moving is scary business. But it has been six months now and they are still scared. I guess it is just something we have to live with. Thank goodness their people don’t go to work as early as dad does!

tragedy

Today Mom stayed home from work, so I couldn't get on the computer til she went to bed. 

I'm not sure what happened today.  It was bad.  That I know.  It seems someone hurt a lot of children.  Mom watched TV.  She never watches TV.   And she cried some.  But she cries now and then, so I don't know what made today different.  But we knew it was a sad day.

Even dumb Rocky knew to be quiet and well behaved today.  No playing, no fighting.  Rocky seemed to need extra hugs too.  We tried to be gentle and give mom extra love. 

It is a sad day.  I wish I could understand why people hurt each other.   I'm just a dog, but I know that is not ok. 

He is a baddog. 

Wet Feet

My dumb brother, Rocky, hates to get his feet wet. I mean he HATES it. He is such a pansy dog. He won’t even put his feet in the pool to get a drink of water; he spreads his front legs all out like he thinks he is a giraffe or something. It is a little crazy. I think it is because he spent so much time at the shelter before he found a home. He never had a chance to get used to wet feet or pokey grass as a puppy. The shelter people said he was unadoptable because he was too nervous. I feel bad for them, because they are trying to find so many dogs homes that they have to pick and choose which ones they think people will love.

It is true, when he first came home, he was pretty scared of just about everything. Now he hardly ever tucks his tail even when there are a lot of people around. But this whole wet feet thing, it’s a problem. See, in Florida, in the winter, the grass is very wet in the mornings. Something about dew points or rain or that dad hasn’t mowed the grass in a while.

We are a family with a morning routine. First dad gets up and showers. Then he opens the door to let us out and feeds us. Mom lies in bed pretending to be asleep. When this process is working correctly, we eat, we poop, and then I get to climb into bed with mom after dad leaves for work. Mom pretends to sleep some more before she gets up. After she gets up, I play with the dummy for a while to make him happy because I know he has to go in the box for a few hours (I try to make him behave, I swear, but when he is ransacking something it looks like so much fun, I end up joining in.)

Anyway, this wet grass is ruining our routine. Rocky doesn’t want to go outside to poop in the grass. I get that; wet grass sucks, but we have a cushy life and this one little thing isn’t a deal breaker. Rocky is ruining everything. He wants to poop IN THE HOUSE! This means mom doesn’t get to lie in bed and I don’t get my morning snuggles. Well, this morning she caught him. Woo hoo! You should have seen it!

She came around the corner and caught him in full squat by the front door, man did she yell. She told him ‘No, go outside.’ And he sure did—right out the back door and back in through the bedroom door. Mom changed directions to chase him the other way. It was exactly like when he runs around the kitchen island and thinks I don’t know which way to go. Mom knew which way to go, but she didn’t catch him. He jumped into his box and wouldn’t come out.

That didn’t stop mom though. She just shut the door and pulled the whole darn crate right out onto the pool deck. Then she got a leash and took him out into that tall wet grass and made him walk around and around in it. It was horrible to watch (from the dry rocks, wet feet suck). I can’t really blame mom for being mad. Rocky is a year and a half old and knows about pooping outside. This is sort of like your 13 year old child being sent home from school for pooping his pants because he thought the bathroom was too smelly. Not acceptable.

There was no way that Rocky was going to finish his poop in that grass this morning. Not only were his feet wet, but he was so scared by mom yelling that his butt would take hours to unpucker. Mom walked him around and around and talked softly to him so he wouldn’t think the grass was such a bad thing. It really didn’t work. I knew it wouldn’t. On the upside, maybe mom will get that she needs to crawl her butt out of bed 30 minutes earlier and take us for a real walk in the mornings like she did in the fall. That would be fantastic.

Hi, I'm Resi

Hey there!  I'm Resi.  I'm a dog.  My people think I don't know I'm a dog.  But they are wrong.  I love being a dog...think of the cliches "It's a dog's life",  "Lazy as a dog", "Dog Days of Summer", and of course "All dogs go to Heaven".  Sweet!  An automatic invite!  But here's the downside.  Mom and Dad work.  All day, every day.  And then they have chores.  I mean, they love me and all, but damn it gets boring sometimes.  I have my brother, Rocky, to play with, but he is 4 years younger and seriously dumb.  He can be fun, but how many times can he run around the kitchen island before he gets that I know where he is hiding?  And then there is the cat.  As far as I can tell, the cat doesn't have a name.  Or a use.  I'm not allowed to chase her.  She doesn't like to play at all.  So she is no help.

But mom has this thing called a blog, so I thought I would check it out.  Unlimited access to the computer 8 hours a day?  I could write 'War and Peace' (although I don't get that title...I would really rather write 'Bones and Treats').  Now that I  have mom's password, I won't be bored any more!  There is so much to say and maybe now my voice will be heard!!!

I am about 35 years old, I think.  Nobody knows for sure.  I had a rough youth and I don't much remember my birth family.  I can fill you in on all that later.  Lets just say I am a rescue dog of the rarest kind.  I am a Pit Bull mix!  I was treated badly as a baby and then some nice people taught me manners and found me a real home.  So that was cool.  But there are lots of others just like me that need homes.  I think it is sad when people are scared of us.  But worse I think it is sad that so many dogs get put down (don't be fooled, that means put to DEATH) while people still pay puppy mills to stock those icky pet stores.  ...oh, sorry, I'm on a tangent.  I have a soapbox, but I hardly ever get on it since that one time I fell off and hurt my nose.

I have lots to say about myself and my weird life, but mostly I just want to say hello, world.  I want to share my thoughts and experiences with you and see if you can get my psychotic foot fetish (more on that later) and why I love being me.  I love when people talk to me...people, people, people....if you talk to me I will love you. 

Oh yea, I don't have thumbs, so be patient with my mistakes.  This isn't as easy as it looks when mom does it. 

Let me close with a picture.  It is Christmastime, which is super awesome.  I love Holidays because mom almost always lets me dress up for pictures.  Rocky hates this part.  Dumb boys.  And also the food.  Oh, and the visitors.