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.