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Song sung dog

Ani and I ran away from the two-leggeds to do our guarding job last night when the two-legged went into their bed thing. They always want us to come with them, but we knew we had a job to do.

Funny that the two-leggeds never seem to appreciate that guarding job... especially when we do it during the dark times.

While guarding we found the invader and hunted it. We wrote a song about it...

Armadillo by morning, I'll catch that animal,
If I have to bark all night, and ignore them when they call.
I've got a great sense of smell,
It serves me real well,
I don't need to see 'em in the dark.
So armadillo by morning,
at armadillo I will bark.

Do you think we will get a platinum, framed doggy biscuit for that one?

The two-leggeds didn't seem to like it. We think they didn't anyways because they came out to stop our composing about every hour until it was almost light time again.

Two-leggeds are funny that way.

The missing letter from Pistol about beavers

Hi again Scraps, Quigs and Ani,

My girl two legged was laughing at our web talk. She explained that two leggeds call themselves P-pole. I think we would get in a lot of trouble if we did what that sounds like (kinda like trees), but if that’s what she wants, okay. I can laugh too! Last night I sort of wanted to take her up on it when she called me a “stupid dog” just because I asked to go out in the middle of the sleeping time. I know she doesn’t like it but when ya gotta go ya gotta go! How is that stupid? It’s a good thing for her I’m not a boy. She did say she was sorry for calling me stupid at food time though. I felt better until the parakeet (a little cheeky blue bird that lives in a wire house) said “stupid dog”. Oh well, how smart can you be if you talk P-pole?

I think we have a beaver here at my place too. My very tall P-pole feeds it logs and puts the leftovers in a pile. He calls it “getting ready for winter”. I know what winter is. It’s the stay inside by the warm fire place time. I think “beaver” is the right name for that growly thing because I heard my girl P-pole laughing and telling my furry faced P-pole that she found a food story about cooking beaver tail. I thought that thing was the mouth because that seems to be where the teeth are. Humm. Considering how it smells, I don’t think I want her to give me my (usually) favorite Pre Wash job. I sure hope “getting ready for winter” is not making the beavers fat so we can eat them all cold time. Yuck!

Pistol

What are they called? More from Pistol

From Pistol's Purr-sun -
Pistol says that no matter what I say, it is beneath her to call me P-pole. She also has a problem with U-man. She says it's okay for the boys but I'm not a man. She thinks maybe Purrr-sun is okay. She misses her cat who disappeared about a month ago, and she likes the sun that makes the floor warm at the front door.

How big is the pack?

Lots of sun-times there were other people here at the farm. They built funny people nests, even one that had a big pool of water in it. They ate with our pack-people, some good smelling food. They made lots of mouth sounds with our people. They spent full moon nights out walking with our whole pack.
Then they went away in their little trucks and did not come back. It has been 2 sun times now. Ani went looking for the other people. He stayed at the people nest they call "Yurt" so he could tell the new-pack people he missed them. But they are still not back. Our man-human went and found Ani and brought him back to the camper.
Our humans are moving the stuff in the meadow around.
People are confusing.

The two-leggeds and their new pet... we think it's a beaver

For the past couple sun-times, the two leggeds have been staying at the farm place longer. When we are all there, though, they yell at us. Don't they know that Anakin wasn't going to bite the goat things or the sheep things. He was only making sure they stayed where they were supposed to. He is a shepherd dog!!

And if that weren't stupid enough, the two-leggeds then started hanging their colored, flappy, furless skin things on pieces of string between trees. Trees are good to... you know... but hanging stuff on them?

And then they used a noisy growly thing (and they didn't yell at the noisy growly thing even though it was much noisier and growlier than we are and they yell at us when we are noisy and growly and we're just trying to warn them). This other thing was maybe just saying it was hungry because it sure ate up a part of the tree. It ate so much that the tree just fell right over. Maybe it's a beaver.

They dragged the trees over to a pile. I think they're going to feed the beaver thing more later.

Net Pals

The dogs seem to love having people comment on their adventures, or at least they like the attention I give them when I share the stories with them. The latest adventure from their friend Pistol seems to have them plotting something! (-jen)

Hi again Quigley, Scrappers & Ani,

Guess what I got to do today. I got to eat out!

I asked, very nicely, to go outside, and my very tall two-legged had to tear himself away from the colored box he sits in front of and talks to. When I got out side and got done with my dirt roll, I found the fence open. Woo Hoo! I used to get to go patrol my grounds a lot more but I think my two legggeds must have made the fence higher because I just cannot get over it like I used to. They explained about the High Way and how dangerous it is and how I should stay close to their living place. Maybe the high fence is the High Way because I hurt my back last time I tried to get over it. Anyway, I got to go visit all the shiny cans with the wonderful food in them. Then I got to go roll in the big brown and white moooo's yard across the long, black hard spot. Then my girl two legged came home and found me in the middle of the black spot deciding where the next snack should come from. She was not very happy with "that darn kid" but we don't have any goats, so I am not sure what she meant. I'm just glad she was not mad at me. We girls have to stick together, no matter how many legs we have! Now I'm back in the two legged's place and am scratching up a nice comfortable sleeping spot from the strange fur coats my two leggeds shed every sleeping time. My tummy needs a rest.

Pistol

Good shoes

The light haired human has been gone many sun times. It is different. She does not leave us much.

She is back during dark times, but Quigley misses her lots.

He knows she will be back though. She leaves her good farm foot coverings in the building we spend the day in.

At first Quigley just kept checking her shoes, to make sure they were still there. They smell like his special human, he feels safe.

One day he tried to hide them, but she still left.

So this sun time, Quigley took them to bed with him. They make a good pillow.

And the light haired human hugged and petted and made many mouth sounds at Quigley when she found her foot coverings.

Maybe Quigley should collect other foot coverings?

Comments from a friend

Pistol, who owns one of the humans that came to our summer place, sent us this message. Pistol should come join us and chase green hoppies!

Ani, Scraps & Quigley,

As a pup with a bit of pork-u-pine experience, SKIP IT! It will save you and your two-leggeds a lot of pain and trouble. Green & jumpy sounds interesting but I'm really curious about this thing called elephant. My two-legged tried to tell me about it but you know how that goes. I don't understand. She said it's a huge four-legged (or does it have five legs) that was at the place she went all summer and left me home, but you say you can see it though a small crack and a two legged can get ON it. She said some other things too, but I kind of lost track thinking about the first bits. I also feel asleep remembering all the peace and quiet I had all summer!

Pistol

Stick stuck

When the two-leggeds went back to the work place yesterday, Ani and I hid from them so we could play on the farm.

The farm has a stream we can splash in, but stream small now. Much bigger and more fun in rain times.

But then I discovered jumpy green things. They were not there in cold rain times before. Or maybe they were just a lot smaller and jump less.

Jumpy green things fun to chase in stream!

One landed on a stick and I almost caught it in my mouth, but it got away and I got the stick.

The stick broke... not at all like the other sticks I play with. It broke between teeth on both sides. I can't get it out.

When the two-leggeds get back, it is dark, but I tell them about stick. They make sounds like "pork-u-pine." What's pork-u-pine?

They take me back to work place and get small stick of light to shine in my mouth to see stick - maybe pork-u-pine is stuck stick?

But then they make yipping sounds and pull stick out and say "It was a stick. Not a pork-u-pine."

Maybe pork-u-pine are jumpy green things that make you chase them and fool you with stick.

I show pork-u-pine next time! I catch and miss stick!

Kisses are fun!

Somebody - probably one of the two-leggeds - left a leg from one of those things that I like to chase and never catch. The two-leggeds call it a deer. The leg is several days old and smells really good! I can chew on it!

Sometimes, the two-leggeds take things that smell good away from me, but not this time.

I thank the two-leggeds I live with by giving them lots of good smelling kisses!

Hide sheep!

Soon after the sun rises, the light haired human lets the sheep out of their pen.

We dogs go play and mark our boundaries and look for new smells. The human throws dried grass at the big animals.

It was getting warmer when the human went through the fence up over the top meadow.
Human was yelling, "Sheep, Sheep!"

Why human looking for sheep? Sheep left. Is ok. Sheep fine. Sheep go find grass to eat.

Silly human, is better things to find. Ani find squirrel. Squirrel go up tree.

Scrappie find rabbit! Rabbit run.... fun chase!

Quigley find rose bush. Yiyiyi... Quigley cry lots. Rabbit gone...

Human still call "Sheep, Sheep!"

Fun run... more rabbits?

Then we see sheep. Sheep run at human. Human turn around and walk to our sleeping place.

Fun run over! Stoopid sheep. Sheep need to hide better so we can run more!

Good change

Humans moved things around in place where we spend sun-time. Humans call it mouth sound like "WORK".

Change is good. Now Scrappie have chair all to self, not have to share with human. Human nice, but Scrappie like chair.

A brief note from the man

Why the dogs? Why should they get a voice?

Because they travel with us and 'see' so much more than we do. Because their view is so much simpler (or so we believe). Because it's fun and sometimes, it helps us - the big ol' two-leggeds - to focus on the simpler things.

With that note, I'll stop writing and you can, ahem, go to the dogs.

Sheprrrrddd

I am shepherd.

Humans say, "Ani is a German shepherd."

Not know what German is, but I am shepherd.
Make sheep go.
Watch sheep.
Boss.
B-grrroooooofff-oss!
Sheep go!
Sheep get out of road!
Sheep move!

Grrr, sheep dumb!

TRRRUUK

Truck is good.
Scrappie always like truck. Ani still not sure. But Quigley know best reason truck is good -

Truck make COLD air!
Truck is good - we like truck!

Sleeping

It is still hot, so this is good - sleeping.

The humans spend most of the day in the cat place right now. At least the floor is cool. Scraps would rather have soft rug than cool floor.

The neighbor dogs were in our space last sun time. We barked a lot and they are not here this day. All is good.

Road dogs back in Arkansas

Well, we are back at the place where the cats live and the humans pay too much attention to the fuzzy animals with horns.

The smells are good, but it is too hot to chase. Well, except for the squirrel near where truck stops at the tree place.

The humans closed the doors and made the cat place cooler, it is good, we can sleep there all day.

The humans spend their day in there, too, sitting and looking at the boxes in front of them. It is ok, it is hot and we can run a bit when the humans feed the big animals.