My upset tummy

I had a little bit of a problem this week. It all started with bones (or so Sally says). Every birthday and Christmas and sometimes in between, Santa or Sally or Steph or Ken gets me a rawhide bone. I love rawhide bones more than anything. They are tasty and fun to chew on. I can chew on one for hours and hours. This year, Santa got one each for, me, Mollie and Willie. Since I love them so much, I chewed on mine for a couple hours one night and then Mollie's the next night and then Willie's the night after that.

Well, the day after that, I got a very upset tummy. My tummy hurt and I had to go outside a lot. Sally said it was because of the the bones I had chewed but I don't think bones could ever make me feel unwell. I lay on the couch a lot and generally felt very sorry for myself. Everyone was very nice to me, even Mollie. The best thing was that Sally added rice to my breakfast and supper. Sally says that rice is something called a bland diet. I don't exactly know what a bland diet is, but it certainly tastes delicious. Sally said that if I didn't feel better, she would add chicken instead of my kibble.

On the second and third day, I still had an upset tummy but I felt really well and ran around. Sally said it was a good thing because if I was still upset she was going to take me to the vet. You know that I hate going to the vet, so I am glad I felt better. Steph told me that in the future, I could only chew my bones for a short while. She said "all things in moderation." I don't understand that but I think it means I don't get my bones as much as I would like.

Well, I finally felt all better and Sally said it looked like my tummy felt fine (which I could have told her - I don't know why she was telling me that!), so I celebrated by running up to the cats' room when no one was looking and eating a bowl of their food. I don't know why Steph and Sally got so upset. They should have been very happy that I was feeling so well.

Updates on our resolutions.

In my last blog, I told you about the resolutions that I was going to make everyone keep. It hasn't gone very well, so today, I think I will update you on each one. Mine is going very well. This morning I told Sally that we had to get my blog done nice and early. Sally wanted to eat breakfast and do some other things, so I was very patient and now we are working on it. I don't actually type - my paws are too big for the keys. If I try to type one letter, about 5 different letters come up on the screen. We sit on the couch in the living room, and I tell Sally what to write and she does it. Sally says this is called dictation.

The resolution I gave Sally was to not take me to the groomer or vet. Sally did a very good job until yesterday. I was all happy when she put my leash on - I'm not sure why because I don't even like walks. I was even happy and brave when we got in the car. Suddenly, when we pulled up outside the groomer, I realized Sally had betrayed me and was making me go to the beauty shop (that's what Sally calls the groomer). I hate it there, even though they are all nice to me and ooh and ahh over me. The one benefit is I smell very nice and Sally and Steph and Ken all want to cuddle me.

Ken's resolution was to give me as many freeze dried liver treats as I want. He never tried, not even for a day. The very first morning, I asked him for some and he said no. There is no arguing with Ken when he makes up his mind - Sally says he is stubborn like me - so I decided it would be better not to even try.

Steph's resolution was to take naps all day long so that I could nap with her. This sort of worked a couple of times, except Sally was the one who I napped with on one couch while Steph napped on another. Steph doesn't seem to want to take lots of naps and if she takes one upstairs, she never takes me with her. She says I can sleep on her bed, occasionally, but only under special circumstances. Apparently, daytime naps aren't special enough.

Mollie's resolution was to stop asking Ken and Sally to take her out all the time, since I have to go out whenever she does. I think Mollie is asking to go out even more than before her resolution so that I will have to go out even more than before!

Willie's resolution was to stop taking my toys and to start letting me win all the games we play. I don't think Willie understands resolutions very well, because he just does what he does, regardless of what people tell him to do.

Well, I think my resolution plan was definitely not a success. I have a whole year (that's a lot of blogs) to come up with new resolutions, so I will be better at getting everyone to do what I want next year. See you next week!

My Resolutions (for everyone else!)

Sally told me that today is the start of a whole new year. She said that is why there were lots of scary people making lots of scary noise in the middle of the night last night. Sally also told me that on this day each year, everyone does something called making resolutions. These are things that people are going to do no matter what. I think that I am good enough already but Sally told me my resolution is going to be writing my blog every single week, even though it's Sally who doesn't help me turn on the computer, causing me to not be able to write my blog. I decided that since Sally told me what my resolution is going to be, I am going to tell all my friends what their resolutions are going to be. I'm going to make a list.

Sally: will no longer take Harvey to the groomer or the vet, because Harvey hates it.

Ken: will give Harvey as many freeze dried liver treats as Harvey wants, regardless of whether he poops outside or not (Harvey, not Ken!).

Steph: will take naps all day long so that Harvey can take naps with her all day long.

Mollie: will stop asking Ken and Sally to take them out all the time, since Harvey has to go out also whenever she does.

Willie: will stop taking toys from Harvey and start letting him win all the games they play.

I think that if I can make everyone do all these things, I am going to have a great coming year!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!

Our special treats

Every month, Sally gives each of us dogs a tiny little treat. It is quite delicious but not really enough. The other thing Sally does at the same time is put some water on our backs, just a tiny bit. I love getting the treat, but I always wonder why Sally puts water on us. It's not enough for a bath so I don't really understand it. Today, when Sally gave us our treats, I looked at the box they come in and I was shocked. The reason we get the little treats is so that bugs don't get in us!! Then I looked at the box where the water comes from and that is so that bugs don't get on us!! At first, I was very upset; I am a very clean dog and I go to the groomer often so that I always smell very nice and have a very fluffy tail. The thought of getting bugs on me (or even worse, in me) is ridiculous!! Well, I was too worried to ask Sally about this, since she is the one who is giving us this stuff, so I went and asked Steph. Steph told me that even the cleanest dogs there are can get naughty little bugs on them. It's not the dog's fault or even the human's fault. It's the bad little bugs! Steph said that the bugs are itchy enough on their own, but sometimes they can spread germs or other things so that the dog gets sick. The treat Sally gives us each month is actually a pill that protects us against the germs and whatever the other things are. Steph said that it is very important we get our medicine now that it is starting to get warmer. I told my friend Mollie about this and she told me she knew all about it, although I think she was just saying that so that I wouldn't think I was smarter than her. We agreed not to tell Willie, since he is naughty (like the bugs!!) and wouldn't take the pill if he knew it was medicine!!

My Walk

I have had a very exciting afternoon. Everyday, Sally takes my friend Willie on a walk. Willie loves his walks and nags Sally all morning to take him. After Willie’s walk today, Mollie decided she really wanted to go too, even though her knees hurt! Well, when Sally said she would take Mollie, I was very upset. I wanted to go on a walk. So when Sally opened the front door to take Mollie out, for the first time ever I ran out. When I got outside, I was very excited but not very sure where to go, so I ran around and around the front yard and even went into the next yard over!! Sally and Steph were screaming, but not in an angry way. They just wanted me to come back. After I had run around for what seemed like a long time (Sally says it was about 20 seconds), I went back into the house and Sally and Mollie went for their walk. When Sally got home, I told her I wanted to go on a walk. Sally asked if I was sure, and I said yes, so she helped me put on my cupcake harness and we set off for a walk. I’m not sure exactly what I thought a walk was, but I hated it. We seemed to walk for miles and miles (Sally says it was around the block). I’m not sure what our house looks like from the outside so I kept trying to go in all the houses, and Sally laughed at me each time and said “Oh Harvey!”. Normally, when I am happy, I wag my tail. I was so upset that I let my tail drag on the ground and it got lots of leaves and bits of mud in it!! Steph wouldn’t let me sit on the couch until Sally picked all the bits out of my tail, and Sally says we are going to have to brush my tail tonight, which I hate!! I always thought walks sounded like lots of fun, and Mollie and Willie are always happy when they come home from them. I think in the future, I will stick to running around in the dog run!!

When I Go To Bed

Every night, I go upstairs to bed with my family. I sleep with Sally. She has a big bed with lots of pillows and covers. Going up the stairs is not as straight forward as it sounds. I get ambushed by that little black cat, Lucy. She tries to hit and hisses and Sally says, "Knock it off Lucy!" Then when I get upstairs, I sometimes get distracted and go in the wrong room, the one where the cat food is. But Sally calls "Harvey, where are you?" and then I go in the right room. I get on the bed (with a little help) and then Sally gives me my bone. I can't have my bone downstairs because the other dogs try to take it and when I bury it in the couch, Steph gets cross. I lie on the bed and chew my bone and I am very happy. Sally reads her book and when it's time to put the light out, she says, "OK Harvey, time to go to sleep," and she takes the bone away. One night I didn't want to not chew my bone so I growled. It was only a little pretend growl but Sally overreacted and shouted at me and didn't let me have the bone back for a whole week. I will make sure I don't make that mistake again. I sleep at the foot of the bed. That means by Sally's feet. If I get cold or scared, I move up and cuddle under the blankets with Sally. One slight problem with that is that Clarence sleeps on Sally's head and Olive sleeps on top of Sally, so I have to be very careful not to upset either of them. Once in a while Lucy gets on the bed but Olive doesn't like her very much so she usually sleeps somewhere else. I stay warm and cozy all night and I love sleeping in Sally's bed. I'm very pleased she doesn't let Mollie and Willie come upstairs. That would be too much. Once or twice, I have climbed out of bed during the night. I can't get back on by myself, so I put my paws up by Sally and I cry. Then she says, "Oh Harvey!" and she has to get out of bed and help me back into bed. I'm not sure why it bothers her. In the morning, Ken opens the door and he says, "Come on Harvey!" and then it's alright for me to jump off the bed, and I rush downstairs and Ken lets Mollie and Willie out of their cages and he says, "Come on you lot, lets go outside" and you know what we do out there!! Then We come into the kitchen again and Ken gives us our breakfast and Steph gets breakfast for Sally and Ken. I enjoy my family life!!

My New Year's Blog

Hello everyone! Sally says it's been a whole year since I did a blog. So first of all let me say I will not be telling you everything that's happened in the last year because that would be a very long blog. I have had a very exciting year. Probably the most exciting thing is that Sally and Steph and Ken went away on a cruise at Christmastime, and Mollie and I went to Al and Eddy's place (they're our groomers) to be looked after. The cats and Willie went somewhere else. Oh, I must tell you something about Willie first. He is going to see a behavior doctor; more about that in future blogs. ANYWAY, when I went to stay with Al and Eddy, I thought I would be very miserable because I like being with Sally. But guess what??!! I had a great time. I missed Sally but I ran around all day with the other dogs. There are lots of dogs there. I even chased around in the snow, and Al and Eddy had to wash my paws every time I came back inside, but they didn't seem to mind. I should point out that Mollie was not part of the gang. She did her usual princess thing and Eddy had to keep giving her cuddles. She is a whiner. I was very pleased when Sally came to get me but I'm looking forward to going back there at Christmas. I am very pleased to be sharing my news again and I will tell you more next week. Oh, I must remember to tell you about Luna's visit. Bye for now - Harvey.

My sick friend

My friend Willie has been very unwell for several weeks. He suddenly just slowed right down and got very bad tempered. He stayed in his cage and didn’t want to play or even eat!!  I was very worried.  Steph and Sally took him to see Dr. Keller.  She did some tests and gave him fluids.  They put the fluids (I think that’s a doctor name for water) under his skin. It makes a big lump, but it goes away. Then he got even sadder, and Dr. Pasdo decided to remove a lymph node to “see what was going on”.  He gave Willie pills. Willie licked the wound and made it all nasty so now he has to wear an e collar – that’s like a lampshade. It’s healing very quickly. Dr. Pasdo also gave him some pills called Pred. My goodness. What a difference they make! He rushes around, eats everything and has improved a lot. He still isn’t being like himself, but he’s much better. It seems he might have some sort of weird illness caused by a tick bite.. probably from years ago! Before he came to live with us! Isn’t that terrible? Ken, Sally and Steph have been paying him a lot of attention. A lot. Of attention. I don’t mind. I understand. He’s very sick. I’m not. A lot. Of attention. I hope he’s all better, very soon, so that things can get back to normal.

My new toy

This morning I told steph that I would like to do one of my blogs.  I was very worried because I haven't done one for a long time, and so many things have happened in that time. Steph told me not to worry – we would have a “Fresh Start”. I told her that sounded like a shampoo. Steph said it meant we would just start talking about new things, and not bother ourselves with what was past. I liked that idea. Steph is very smart. I want to tell everyone about Mollie and the new toy. Sally bought a toy dog at the pet store. It cost $5 and the money is to help little dogs who don't have homes. I used to be one of those, but Sally found me and now I am the luckiest dog in the whole world. Anyway, Sally let Mollie play with the new toy (really it was for me, but Mollie thinks everything is for her. Very spoiled little dog). Every time Willie and I walked towards her, or even just looked at her, that naughty Mollie snarled and growled and snapped at us. It was terrible! Then – it got even worse! Steph put her hand out to pet Mollie and tell her to calm down and Mollie snarled and snapped at Steph! Oh my goodness! Steph and Ken are the rulers of this house – even Sally has to listen them (sometimes). We all know that you never even growl at Steph. Well, she was very upset. She took away the toy and told Mollie she was a very bad little dog. Mollie was so mean – she kept snapping at me and Willie and  Clarence. He wasn't even interested in the toy dog! So then Steph said Mollie had to have a timeout. That doesn't mean you have to go outside, it means you get put in your cage, without any toys, and stay there until you are calm and nice again. That never happens to me because I am always calm and nice.  Sally suggested that we buy two more toy dogs then we would each have one. Steph said “I think not” and Sally said “I concur”. They often talk like that. Isn't it funny?  I love them very much, although Sally is my favorite. I'm very pleased that I've had a “Fresh Start” with my blog. From now on I'm going to blog every day. Or nearly every day. It makes me happy. Oh, Mollie stayed in her cage for one hour. Then Steph cuddled her and everyone was happy again. 

Sitting on the Couch

My blog today is more about Willie than me. Well almost!! When I want to sit on the couch next to Sally or Steph, I jump onto the couch and lie down. Now that seems the right thing to do, but quite often, everyone yells, "Harvey, what are you doing?" and  it turns out that I'm on top of Willie or Clarence. Sally and Steph and Ken make a big fuss about rescuing whoever I've sat on. I don't know why because it doesn't bother me in the least. I'm quite comfortable as long as they don't move too much. Last night, I landed on Willie and he poked his head out from underneath my tail and it made everyone laugh because it looked as if he had a wig on. Sally says my tail is so beautiful that it makes a lovely wig. Willie must have thought so too because he stayed there long enough for Ken to take his picture.

Mollie's party

I promised Mollie that I would tell all my friends about her birthday party. Her birthday was on July 13th, but we had the party last weekend. She was 10 years old. We had our funny pointy party hats to wear, but we also used them like little dishes, hanging around our necks - Sally put special little treats in them. She thought it would make us like the hats more. It didn't, but the treats were lovely. We gave Mollie some toys and we sang "Happy Birthday Dear Mollie" and then we had a big fight over who would play with the new toys. Ken took photos and it was a lovely party. Even Mollie enjoyed it and she is very hard to please.

A little more about me

Today I suggested to Sally that we tell people a little bit more about my background. Before I came to live with Sally, I belonged, together with a lot of other dogs, to a nice old lady lady who had trouble caring for so many dogs. We never went outside. She had newspaper on the kitchen floor for us to use and she didn't have visitors, so I wasn't used to other people. The lady fed us properly and loved us but then she died. I was taken to a shelter and they didn't really know what to do with me because I was so frightened of people and frightened of being outside. Sally came to the shelter and rescued me. We loved each other very much right from the start, but it has taken me a long time to accept other people. I love Steph and Ken but I'm still worried about strangers. Sally has been very patient and I now understand that I have to make my bathroom visits outside, like Mollie and Willie. For a long time I didn't want to go in the dog run. Now I go outside and everyone is very pleased with me. When I want to come back inside, I stand up on my back legs and hit the screen door. Mollie and Willie are very impressed. They never thought of doing that. Sally says now we are going to take lots of walks with me on a lead. I'm not sure about that, but she seems to think I'll enjoy it eventually. I like seeing other dogs, but the people with them always want to pet me and that bothers me. Did you know that you don't have to run in a dog run? You can just walk. And when you go for a walk, you can run. And if you poop on a walk, they carefully put your poop in a little bag and bring it home again! It's very confusing!! I love my family. 

Behind The Story - Harvey's Blog

Today was rather a quiet day. When Steph is doing her errands and Sally and Ken are at work, we have to stay in our cages, so we just sleep. All the adventures I talk about in my blog really do happen, but for adventures to happen, we need to be out of our cages. Steph says that all families have adventures like ours, but generally people and dogs don't think to talk about them. In this family, we are easily amused and easily shocked, so there is always something to talk about. Ken keeps his camera on the table, ready to record the events. Yesterday, Mollie went to work with Sally, and Dr. Pasdo removed her third eye. I felt quite sorry for her when Steph brought her home because she has stitches in her face. She slept the rest of the day and we left her alone. That is always a good idea with Mollie because she can be quite nasty anyway. I didn't understand why Sally took Mollie out and not me but when Mollie came back, I was glad it was her and not me. Steph said "I don't know why you're upset, Harvey. You don't like going out anyway", which is true!! So when you read my blogs, you will know they really happened. We're not including Mollie in the blog photo today, because she wouldn't let anyone to see her cosmetic surgery.

Willie's Hideaways

My friend Willie, the mini pini, did some-thing quite amazing the other day. He is very fero-cious most of the time, but some-times he is a big baby. There was a thunder-storm and the thunder frightened him, so he ran into the laundry and hid behind the laundry basket. Ken wanted to give him his supper, so Steph lifted the basket and told him to go and eat his food. Willie was so scared he jumped into the tumble drier that Steph was taking the clothes from. We all laughed and Steph and Ken couldn't decide who was going to risk lifting him out. Steph made Ken do it. She told Willie that going round and round in the drier would be a lot worse than listening to the thunder. He usually hides under the couch. When he does that, Ken has to use the broom to sweep him out. I find it very odd that Willie is frightened by loud noises that can't hurt him, then tries to bite Steph and Ken and Sally, who would never hurt him. I guess mini pins aren't as smart as I am. 

The Brown Bear in Camp

Last night was very exciting. Sally and I went camping and I had a fight with a brown bear. It started because Sally's bedroom was too hot so she said we would sleep downstairs in the living room, on the couch. Sally took pillows and her brown bear called Jewel and we got ourselves all comfortable on the couch and then Steph came to say goodnight. Steph picked up Jewel the bear and held his arms and made him jump around and box at me and then he made a very rude gesture with his arms. Steph laughed and said, "Harvey, Jewel is being very rude to you". I stared at Jewel and then I jumped forward and grabbed his face in my mouth and tried to kill him. Steph and Sally laughed and laughed because they said they didn't realize I understood what Jewel was doing. I was very cross so Sally had to hide Jewel which was really quite silly because I knew exactly where he was. I just couldn't be bothered to kill him. 

The Beauty Shop

Saturday was a very special day for me. At first I wasn't very happy because Sally went to work. Then I got quite worried because Steph and Ken put me in the car and said, "We are going to make you look all beautiful," and away we went. Sally tells me every day that I am beautiful so I didn't understand why they needed to take me anywhere. We went to see Al at the Bark-A-Lounge Groomers. Al is very nice but I was still worried when Steph and Ken left. Al had to carry me to the back because I wouldn't stand up and walk. Al picked me up and told me I was a big scared baby. I think that's a compliment. The groomer shampooed me and dried me and cut my hair and my nails and brushed and brushed me and tied a pretty scarf around my neck. Then Steph and Ken came to take me home. They were so happy to see me and kept telling me I was very beautiful and smelled very nice. Going home in the car, I was so happy I forgot to be frightened. I sat up on the back seat and looked out the window and when the car stopped at the red lights, people in other cars smiled at me. Steph said I was very brave. When I got home, Mollie and Willie were very pleased to see me and kept sniffing me because I smelled so nice. Then Sally came home from work and she was so delighted with me. She said my tail looked like a cheerleader's pompom when I wagged it. Usually, Mollie goes to see Al with me, but as I mentioned before, she has a lump between her eyes that Dr. Pasdo is going to remove on Wednesday. Steph says it is not a third eye. When that has been seen to, she can go to the groomers. The people at Bark-A-Lounge are very nice. Steph said perhaps she should have her hair done there because her hair dresser never gives her a pretty scarf. 

My favorite day of the week

Today is Sunday and I think that is the best day of the week. Sally and Ken don't go to work on Sundays. We get up late so I can stay snuggled in bed. After I've had my breakfast and run around with Willie for a while, I have to go in my cage for just a little bit while Sally and Steph and Ken all go out to breakfast. I don't understand why they go out to breakfast but it seems people like doing that. When they come home again, they let us out of our cages and then we can just mess around all day. We get on and off the couch and we follow Sally and Ken and Steph round and round and they talk to us lots. We can play games and chase around and have naps as well. It's a really nice day. After we've all had supper, we sit in the living room and we all watch that thing they call the TV. Mollie seems to understand the TV more than me because she barks at it. So I join in, but I don't know why. And that's why I like Sundays.

My favorite game

My friends Willie and Ken and I have a favorite game that we love to play. The game even has a name. It is called "Take Mollie's bed out of her cage". We started playing this game when Ken and Steph got Mollie her new bed not too long ago.  Willie and I take turns pulling out the bed and Ken puts the bed back into her cage.  Sometimes, Willie and I play tug-o-war with it.  Today, Willie sat on it and I pulled him along. We have never played that part of the game before and Willie thought it was a lot of fun.  I don't think it would work if Willie tried to pull me because I weigh a lot more than Willie does. I think Ken likes the game a lot because he laughs and says "Oh Harvey, not again" and then jumps up to put it in the cage right away. Mollie doesn't play the game with us, although we have invited her. She is just too serious. 

My friend Olive

I have a friend who is like a secret friend. Olive is a small, pretty, gray cat with green eyes. She is a very shy cat and stays upstairs most of the time, unlike Clarence. Olive sleeps on the bed with Sally, Clarence and me. Although she is a very little cat, who is shy about strangers, she is actually very bossy. She's like  a Mollie-cat. She gets very annoyed with me and with Clarence when we mess around and she hisses at us and smacks us with her front paw. She is very little but she is very greedy and she panics if she thinks the food dish might soon be empty. She makes a terrible yowling noise and Steph and Ken yell "Sally, what is wrong with that cat?" She doesn't like the dogs very much, except for me, of course. Olive likes to lie down where it is warm, like the bathroom floor and Sally's TV. One day, she fell off the top of the TV and tried to pretend that it wasn't an accident but we all laughed at her anyway. Sometimes, she makes a terrible noise and throws up things called hairballs. Not very ladylike if you ask me!! I like to chase Olive.  It's not exactly a game because she gets very annoyed with me and Steph says, "Leave that cat alone!!" 

My friend Mollie (I think)

Tonight I am going to tell everyone about the third dog that lives in this household. Her name is Mollie, and Steph and Ken and Sally sometimes call her Princess Mollie.  I think it's because she thinks she's royalty. It's very difficult to tell you fun things about Mollie because she is actually rather crabby. If I try to get on the couch that she is on, she tries to bite me. Sometimes if I just walk past her she tries to bite me. In her defense, I must say I think she hates all the dogs and cats in this house, but she does love Ken and Steph and Sally very much. Mollie has grown a lump between her eyes.  I try not to laugh but I think it looks as if she is going to get a third eye. I hope it doesn't hurt her but it does look funny. It's very strange but Steph buys her collars and harnesses and leads that are very pretty.  I think she should have things that have spikes on them because that is more her personality. She is very clever about one thing.  She watches TV and barks at animals on the TV and she actually makes them go away.  I don't know where they go but they do disappear. She is a very good dog about going outside and it's sort of annoying because when she tells Ken or Steph or Sally that she wants to go out, they make all of us go outside. I suppose that's because she is a princess. I must admit I am a little bit frightened by her. Every now and then I try to be her friend, but she doesn't seem to understand the rules. Instead of playing, she just tries to bite me.