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.