Birfday, Adoption, FBSam2??!!?

Dune (fna: Winter Storm) born Nov. 10th, 10:43 pm, male, 268 grams.

Yep, today's my birfday! I'm a whole 3 now, and Daddy says that even though I'm 3, I'm still his baby boy. This morning for my birfday, I got a big breakfast of stinky chicken frames and an extra long fizbee session!

Here's some pictures from when I was just a wee thing. They were taken by my LitterMom Amy. I was born at her house. I feel pretty lucky that I get to see her very often, as well as all my brudders and sisters: Bz, Gael, ArthurGood, Flirt and Tek. Even Flicka, my mom!

(dreaming of water. i LUV water!!)

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In other news, Blaze got a doptid last week! He was one of my favorite foster brudders. I had lots of fun playing bitey-face and wrestlin with him while he was here. I normally don't play with my foster brudders and sisters, because they need me to teach them the rules. (rule #1: stay away from my fizbee. rule #2: stay away from me when i'm playin fizbee. rule #3: do not talk about fight club.)

Blaze went to go live with a very nice family down in CT someplace. They have sent daddy updates already and it sounds like Blaze is very happy and being spoiled like he deserves.

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So on Sunday I was chilling in my crate (daddy went to go watch football) and the lady who adopted my old foster sister Breck (who is now Missy) comes in to say hello! I wasn't expecting her so it was a good surprise... maybe she came because it's my birfday? Anyway, she brought a new dog to the house, and put him in a crate in the room next to the room that Pip and I share. His name is FosterBrudderSam2. I've already had a FBSam, and this is at least the 3rd Sam dog i know, so i callz him FBSam2. He doesn't know the rules yet. Daddy had been bringing him outside alone until this morning when i met him. He is 2 years older than me, but he's really fat and slow... so daddy is working on getting him in shape.

FBSam2 doesn't really like that i run 'round so fast, and he didn't like the way Pip introduced himself. Pip is deaf and doesn't really know how to meet dogs very well... he just stands right next to them and stares his big blue eyes at them... if a dog did that to me, i'd show him my toofs too! But daddy seemed to think he was ok, and after a few minutes, he was playing ball while i was playing fizbee.

Daddy told me today that for my birfday he's gonna try to bring me to see sheepz this weekend! i'll try to remind him to bring the camera!

til next time...

-dune, the birfdayboy

Meet Blaze

(blaze likes to talk, so i'm letting him have control of the blog just this once... -dune)

herro. my name is blaze. I'm 1 yearz old and i got rescued by my foster dad a couple weeks ago. when i first met him, i was VERY scared of him. i tried to tell him to go away (repeatedly) and leave me alone but he stayed where he was sitting, didn't look at me and kept tossing stinky treats at me! i was too worked up to eat, but i figured it was a nice gesture.

i rode inside a crate to foster dad's house and when we got there, it was dark and i was very scared still! so i slept in the crate inside the car that night. he left the windows down a little bit so i could smell stuff and hear all the nighttime noises.

in the morning, foster dad came out and opened the crate. i didn't even bark at him this time! he took my leash and let me out to potty and walk around a little bit. i was still kinda scared, so i didn't potty, but i let him walk me around the back of the house (through a big scary fence door!) and into the backyard, which is the biggest yard i've ever been in! i walked around a little bit looking at all the big scary stuff...

"i don't like the look of that scary door!"

I even tried to play a little bit of fetch with foster dad, but i had too many other things to think about. then i went inside and into a nice comfy crate in a room with two other doggies! one of them is a big polkadotted thing who doesn't hear very well (i think, because foster dad always has to poke him, and wave him around to get him to do stuff), and the other is a border collie like me, except red-haired. his name is Dune and i want to be his friend SOOOO bad. he's kinda like a big brother to me, because he isn't scared of anything and i can learn what is dangerous and what isn't just by watching him.

after that first day in the crate with dune and the polkadotted dog, foster dad came home and Dune got *really* excited and told me "woo hoo! it's time to play!!"

so this time, foster dad let me outside and i watched for a minute as Dune went ZOOMING around after a round, flat flying thing (scary!)... but then i remembered that i LOVE to play fetch, and went to go find a ball. Dune and I kept foster dad busy for quite a while taking turns fetching and chasing the ball (and flat-round thing that dune calls "fiz").

I got tired really fast though, because i didn't really get much exercise in my old home. So I took a quick break... but then, i kept getting the sense that Dune was watching me to make sure i was doing things right...

"um... is there somebudy bak there?"

"i'z afraid to look!"

"where'd he go?"

"iz he on dis side?"

"oh man...he's right behind me, isn't he..."

I think this was dune's way of telling me that stopping for breaks is totally NOT a border collie thing, so i just went back to...

--- zooooooomin ---

and --- jjjjjjumpin! ---

In short. So far I like it in my foster home! I've gone on one adventure and got to stay in foster dad's big camper on wheelz! I was with Dune and PolkadottedDog, so i felt safe, and even though i had to meet a couple new people (i am not a fan of strangers!)... i told them to go away, but it only took me a few minutes until i was able to give the ball to a stranger! Foster dad praised me a lot when i did that, so that felt really good!

next time, i'll let Dune type... he's much better than me, and my pozz hurts now!

New foster brudder!

it's been a while!

i know i promised to write about Dog Dayz and other stuffs that's

been going on but it's summer and i'm very busy runnin' round with

daddy and pip and stuff that i haven't made daddy take any pictars

so i can write to my fanz.

here's the rundown from the summer:

• i went to stay at auntie nicole and uncle eric's house over the 4th

of july weekend. so i got to play with my buddy Mirk and guess

who else showed up? my sister Blizzard and Brady and FormerFosterSister

Lyn with auntie Monique and uncle Brian! Pip wanted to stay and

live with nicole&eric.

• daddy got me a camper!

• we took the camper to dog dayz and then back to the farm a couple

weeks later to play.

• i like the camper! pip LOVES the camper and even prefers to stay in there

over going out to play at the farm. weirdo!

• auntie nicole is my dog sitter and she comes over every day to play

with me and pip. sometimes uncle eric comes, but i don't like to play

with him as much.

so that was my summer!

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last night, daddy came home from work and had a foster brudder

with him! his name is Blaze (for now) and he is a very scaredy dog.

I didn't meet him yet, but i was very upset this morning when daddy

brought HIM outside to play before I got to go outside to play fizbee!

I yelled at daddy from my crate to let him know i wasn't vary happy

with this predicament!

daddy told me i'm going to have to be a good boy and teach Blaze

that the world isn't so scary. i think i can do that!

i'll make sure daddy takes some pictures of me teaching Blaze 'bout

stuff soon. 'til then!

oh, hai! i'z blaze

Herdin Trial

a couple weeks ago daddy and I packed up his new truck (no more orange washing machine on wheelz!) and went out to upstate new york to work at a NEBCA herding trial for NEBCR. confused already? me too!

NEBCA is the NorthEast Border Collie Association. they put on sheep herding trials and stuff. Daddy's a member but this was his first time at a trial.

I thought we were going to The Farm, but we drove right by the exit! I wasn't very happy with that, but I ended up going back to sleep... and when I woke up, we were pulling into a really pretty farm with a big 20 acre sheep pasture. there were lots of campers and border collies running around EVERYWHERE! I think Pip was the only non-border collie in the whole place, poor guy.

We borrowed Auntie Nicole & Uncle Eric's camper, which was great since i didn't like sleeping in the car last time we camped out. Dad set it up while Pip and I were leashed to the bumper of the truck like real workin dogs.

Dad was cookin food for NEBCR fundraising all weekend, and he was there with Kerry (dublin and limerick's owner) and Roxanne, who owns Tillie and Other Red Dog Bodie who is one of the only dogs I know that can keep up with me when we're running around at The Farm. But we didn't get to do a lot of running around, because the herding dogs were working sheep and we didn't want to distract them.

I got to meet lots and lots of nice people, and daddy said that they raised lots of money for NEBCR, which is great.

I even got to see Carol, my herding instructor! I was hoping that meant I got to work sheep too, but she had lots of other dogs to work instead. Daddy says I'm not quite ready for trialing (um, not even close buddy! -d), but i definitely could have taught some sheepz a lesson or two!

So here's some pictures of the trial!

in the next installment, i'll tell some stories of my week at Nicole & Eric's house, while daddy was up in Nova Scotia looking for a sheep farm for me :)

-dune

Reunion!

What a weekend!

On Friday, right in the middle of my mid-day nap, I got woked up by Daddy! I was fully expecting auntie Nicole, who comes to play fizbee with me every day, but Daddy was home and asked me if i wanted to go to the Farm!

We jumped in the car, which was packed to the gills, which usually means that we are going for a few days, so i was very excited. Though, at first my crate was really stinky because i left an uneaten duck nex in there, ew. Daddy got rid of it for me, but told me i had to ride in the stinky crate anyway, as punishment for not eating that particular dinner!

Anyway, when we got to the farm some of my friends were already there, but not too many, which usually means it's prime fizbee time! Daddy was helping set up some stuff, but me and pip went swimmin and played with everybody.

Daddy slept in a tent and pip and me slept in our crates, and I was really cold. So, i figured as payback for making me sleep in a cold, stinky crate, i'd wake him up before the sunrise. It worked, because daddy didn't seem very happy about that, and only let me pee and not play fizbee like i hoped. oh well.

Saturday was CRAZY!

The reason we came to the farm this weekend was for the NEBCR Reunion. Once i heard what was going on, I figured i'd try to catch up with some of my former foster brudders and sisters, to see how they are doing. Here's who I got to see:

1. Bek! (fka Lune - sorry no pics, she didn't get to hang around all weekend grr.) - Lune like totally haz crushes on me. so much even that she begged her mom Kim to put pictures of me in a way-cool quilt she made for a big Raffle (dog dayz in august). Check it out, I got on there twice!!! (daddy says it's because i am the cutest dog in history, but i thinkz it's because i haz sekret love affare with LunaBek!!)

hey, my sister Bz is on there, and FFB (former foster brudder) Speck too! And Lizzie (more on her in a bit).

While we're talking about cool raffle stuff, foster cuzzin Zoey got this cool birch bark painting done of her! Daddy says he's gonna get one done of me too!

2. Lizzie:

Lizzie spent the weekend doing one of two things: following MY daddy around like a shadow or chomping on this crazy squeaky toy that goes "SQUONKA SQUONKA SQUONKA" reeeeeally loud.

She is a failed foster, like her brother Didge. I get to see them all the time, still, which is nice.

3. CaseyRedDog:

.o0("oh hai, can't talk, gotta go swim")

He is still in his foster home with auntie Suzanne. I bet he gets a doptid soon!

4. Missy (fka Breck)

(ok, so it's an old photo... she wasn't out a lot and i didn't have my camera with me when she was. she's still just as stunning as ever! -ed)

Missy is doing great at agility, and her owner Lori (also an NEBCR Volunteer, but not until after she adopted Missy) is doing great working with her "issues". I don't think there's anything wrong with her... she's purdy.

5. Colin

(bad pic, sorry)

Colin is just as mellow and cool as ever. He only lived here for a little while, but we got along great.

6. Barley

Ok, so Barley only spent one night here when he was a wee pup, but still! He's a hound dog mixed with Border Collie, and i get to see him and his mommy Althea at agility trials a lot.

7. Ella

FFS Ella and her owners showed up and she did nothing but swim and dock dive the whole time! She's no stranger to the Farm, so she knew just where she was when she got there, and didn't even bother to stop and say hi to me (until later) or daddy! She looks fantastic and seemed to have lots of fun.

8. My Mommy! (Flicka)

I got to hang out with my mommy for a while. Daddy says my siblings and I all act a lot alike, and same goes with Flicka. She taught us all how to use our toofs to get our way!!

Here's me and my mom, don't we look alike?

9. Lyn

Lyn got a doptid by auntie Monique and uncle Brian, who own my sister Bz! Daddy fostered her for a while and she had a very broked leg, so i never got to play with her. but she is now all healed up and boy she sure can run! makin up for lost time she sez.

This is Lyn (foreground) with her big brudder Brady.

10. Phoenix

Phoenix only was at my house for a day or so. He got a doptid by NEBCR Volunteer Trisha and he's a very nice, sweet pup who loves to launch himself up onto people. Daddy thinks he's very cute and that he should steal him the next time he sees him.

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Also at the reunion was my brudder ArthurGood and of course my sister Bz and of course my other sister Flirt and uncle Bodie who both live at the Farm (lucky!)... and i might haz forgotted some others too, but i was very busy with herdin and playing ball and fizbee to stop and talk to everybody.

OH! speaking of fizbees. My EZ Glider collection growed this weekend! Daddy bought me a new purple one, so now i haz BlooFiz, Yellow and Purple! I'm gonna go and drop all 3 of them at daddy's feet while he tries to work once i'm off the computer!

-dune

delays, auntie-doptions, udder red dogs, farm!

daddy is calling me a "slacker". he sez that i don't blog enough and to that i sayz i'm too busy herding and fetching stuffs to keep up with it all!

so i figured i should probably catch you up with all the stuff i've been up to... last time i wrote, auntie meg just came back. i spent the last month going over potential homes for auntie meg with daddy. i wasn't about to let her get a doptid by some people that don't like to throw balls!

so yesterday, auntie meg got a doptid by a very nice family only 2 whole towns away from home. she's practically a neighbor! the family has two little kids who she will train to throw tennis balls and to do her bidding. daddy says she's going to be very happy there, and she doesn't have to deal with any other dogs, just her people, so that sounds great. I'll miss you auntie Meg.

speaking of other dogs, a few days ago, daddy came home with, get this... another. red. border. collie. his name is Casey Red Dog and he's a nice enough chap. here he is.

he's kind of a big lunkhead, but he listens to me and listens to daddy. also, he likes to smoosh his fetched toy right into the lap of whoever throwed it for him, therefore making their pants dirty, so he's got that going for him. (getting people dirty is a fun habit of minez!)

daddy says casey red dog is going to live with auntie suzanne, which is just as well, because i'm enough red border collie for this house, thankz you very much!

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Then today, i got to go TO THE FARM!!!! I guess the weather is getting warm again, so hopefully that means i'll be going out to the farm a lot.

there were a few reasons we went out there. firstly it was because daddy had to pick up a bunch of foodz for me and the pip. also, there was an agility trial and daddy was working the grill. but mostly it was for this:

a bunch of the NEBCR and agility peoples chipped in to get auntie kathy and uncle craig a new golf cart because they are always having people at the farm and it's a really big property and it's no fair for them to have to walk up and down the hill all the time with bad knees and stuff.

(note: thanks for everything Kaig! hopefully this will help minimize the wear and tear. enjoy!!! -d)

til next time!

Auntie Meg is back!

This is my auntie Meg. She used to live with me as a foster auntie, but then she got a doptid, like most of my foster sisters and brudders do. I thought maybe she'd be different because she's a foster auntie, but nope. Anywayz, she came back about 4 months after she got her doptid. Daddy says it's because she wants to be the queen, and she got mad at another queen-ish dog in her former home.

Meg sez "i'n border collie. all must obey."

"do my bidding!"

I sez all Meg wants is to fetch. Runs in the family, I guess...but i'm just glad she doesn't want to play with my bloo Fizbee!

"no... dis ball does just fine."

When Auntie Meg was here before, she had just whelped a litter of puppinz, and her coat was kind of ratty and thin. She was starting to look better when she got her doptid, but still it was thin. But now, it's very thick and she looks great! here's a before shot:

And now...

I'm glad Auntie Meg is back home, because it means I don't have to teach all the foster dogs manners myself. She is much better at that than me. Must be those eyes:

"don't mess with me."

Road Trip!

i haz a bone to pick with daddy.

whenever daddy asks me "wanna go for a ride?", it usually means i get to go herd sheeps with carol or go to the Farm or something fun. sometimes it means i need to go meet a new dog at somebody's house to see if that dog can be a foster brudder or sister or cuzzin.

just a couple days ago, daddy asked me "wanna go for a ride?" and it meant we got to go see my real sister Bz!!! we romped around her back yard for a while as daddy was talking to auntie Monique and uncle Brian, and got to say hello to Lyn my Former Foster Sister with the broked leg. so that wasn't so bad.

dis Bz and uncle brian. haz she no shame? i'd *never* let daddy hold me like that. (yah, right. -ed.)

but then yesterday, daddy seemed all excited and then asked me if i wanted to go for a ride, so i figured it was something extra fun! he loaded pip and i into the car and off we went.

... and went.

... and went.

... and went.

we stopped someplace for a potty break after a couple hours and we were way up in the mountains. the air smelled very clean and it was very chilly. daddy said we were in vermont, but still had a way to go.

after another hour or so, he pointed out a camel! (actually, dune, that was Camel's Hump mountain. -ed.)

Then we finally got to where we were going. Burlington VT. all i know is that it smelled like dirt, patchoulli and body odor to me and pip (ok, sorry couldn't resist a hippie joke. -ed).

daddy found a dog park as soon as we got into town, so that we could potty and i could play a game of fetch. this park was right on a big lake and i'm pretty sure i saw a giant prehistoric monster pop out of the water for a second out of the corner of my eye. but i had more important things to think about.

a big fat yellow lab named Hamilton came over and stoled my ball at one point, but i herded him into a stop (this actually happened! -ed.) and he dropped it for me. daddy said his camera doesn't take wide angle shots so he couldn't get a pic of Hamilton. Hamilton's owner was a nice lady who knowed that i was a border collie and was asking daddy if i was a real workin' dog. daddy said i was getting there!

after i got good and tired out at the park (i wasn't allowed to swim in the big lake) we went to hang out in the car for a couple hours. Daddy went to go watch a concert by some guy named tweety. (Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco actually... -ed.)

when daddy got back, he said we were gonna go to auntie melissa's house, which is in the bottom of vermont. but when i woked up a few hours later, we were home! it was really late at night but daddy still played fizbee with me for a while before we went to bed.

all in all, it wasn't such a bad trip, even if i didn't get to herd sheepz or go to the farm.

-dune

mud season math!

Here's a math prollem for you:

PLUS (+)

EQUALS (=)

(hint.. the answer is PUDDALZ!)

the predator. (lying in a puddalz! hah!)


the prey. the ever elusive 'bloo fiz' (Frisbicus ezgliderus)


dis must be why they call us border collies stock dogs. this is me stocking my prey.


the approach!


!! (look at that tiny yellow dog in the foreground! hahaha!)

!!! SCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!

gotcha fizbee!

all that runnin and slidin in the mud gives my mouth that crunchy feelin.