September 2007 - Posts

• I'm a slacker

  Mom says I've been a slacker because I haven't posted anything since Tuesday.  What can I say?  It's been a boring week because my mom is boring!  She hasn't done a gol-dang thing with me since agility the other night.  My only fun during the day is when Grandma or Grandpa take me out of the office to go run.  Hmph.  Word has it that Mom & I have to spend the weekend with my cousin, Daisy the Basset Hound.  She was super fat the last time I saw her but I heard that she had to go on a diet.  I'll be interested to see if she slimmed down at all and if she can keep up with me a little better now. Last night I found the knotty end of a rawhide that I haven't seen in FOREVER.  I hate the left over knotty ends, but I was so restless last night from Mom not letting me run that I chewed up the whole thing.  Isn't it sad that it was the highlight of my day? Posted Sep 28 2007, 11:48 AM by KarissaKS with no comments

• I rocked it at agility last night!

  I know that my mom hasn't been happy with our agility class lately, but I have to say that we both had a ton of fun last night.  I got lots of massages before we started and Mom gave me a yummy Braunschweiger treat before we left (if she hides an aspirin in there, I can't tell!). We got to play a game at the beginning of class this week!  Now, I like speed circles but this was way more fun and got to play into my competitive side.  We got to use any and all of the obstacles set up in the arena to accumulate as many points as possible in 60 seconds.  I totally kicked butt and got the second highest score in the class (380) because that darn little Sheltie's mom was better at stratigizing how to get more points (450).  I'm really lucky, too, that our trainer didn't see me be naughty and blow the contact on the A-frame!  tee hee!  I know that Mom just loves it when I do that, so I try to throw in a flying leap every now and then to make her happy.  It does make her happy, right?  Oh well, it makes me happy. After we all finished the game we got split up into groups and I had to stop making out with my girlfriend, Belle.  It seems like they're always splitting us up lately.  Hmph.  The trainers have been listening to my mom complain, I guess, because last night was totally for us! Our group worked on distance first.  I had to go out ahead of Mom to the table and then be good and do my contacts while she stayed far away.  She gave me bad directions a couple of times that made me flub, but when she did what she was supposed to, so did I.  Eventually we pieced together a jump, the table, the dog walk, the tire, the teeter and another jump -- all at a distance.  Oh, and we got to play in the chute, too!  I haven't seen that in forever and it was loads of fun. When our groups switched we got to work on discrimination.  Mom was SOOOO proud of me when I listened to her and took the A-frame instead of the tunnel.  Wow, is that all it takes to make her happy?  Okay, easy enough.  Imagine how confused I was, then, when I took the frame and found out I was supposed to do the tunnel instead!  Hmmm.  I guess I need to watch her a little closer.  After I figured out that she was going to change stuff on me I was better prepared and we did all of the rest of the drills perfectly.  I'm a rock star! Mom let me play with the chute a couple of times and visit with Belle before we went home.  There was another dog outside that I don't like very much, but I was a good boy and stayed by my mom.  When we got home, Mom finally stopped torturing me and opened up that new bag of red meat Evo that she brought home a whole week ago.  It's been a long time since she bought me that kind and boy was it yummy.  She told me to slow down because I was eating so fast that I started to gag & caugh.  I couldn't help it; it tasted so good!  Mom is hoping that the red meat food will stop my itching and licking, although if I do say myself, I've been much better about that lately. Posted Sep 25 2007, 11:33 AM by KarissaKS with 1 comment(s)

• My weekend

  As the official work mascott, I got to go along to the company golf outing Friday afternoon.  It wasn't like the last couple of years, though, where Mom & I got to run around the course together (& I would jump in the water!).  No, this year we stayed up by the club house to do some silly job. I got bored, so when I saw Grandma off in the distance I was so happy when my mom said that I could go say hi.  I took off running really, really fast and was not expecting the sand that suddenly popped up in front of me.  I hurt something, but don't know how to tell Mom where it is.  The massages that she's been giving me all weekend feel great, though! I even got to go into the club house this year!  Usually they tie me to a tree (oh the humility!!), but this year it started raining really hard and they said I could come inside.  I was a good boy during dinner and stayed next to the wall to be sure to stay out of everyone's way.  After everyone had finished dinner, a really nice lady brought me a piece of meat.  I thought Mom was going to say that I couldn't have it, but she said okay since it was a special occasion.  Mmmmm! Mom & I hung out Saturday morning (it hurt when I jumped up on her bed, though, and I yelped).  She wouldn't let me chase after the ball outside and it was kind of boring.  She left to go ride her horses for a while and then when she came home we left to go meet Grandma & Grandpa on the boat!  Mom took me to jump in the water quick before we left since it was warm out and my hurt spot bothered me again.  I yelped when I jumped back on the dock and I yelped when running through the water.  That's never happened to me before and I'm not really sure what I did! We had a really nice time on the boat and I really enjoyed all of the great smells.  I saw a couple of dogs in other boats, but I just ignored them because they were barking, carrying on and making fools of themselves.  I try to be much more dignified when I'm out on the river.  It was just a super day because after we were done on the river we got to go up to Grandma's house for dinner.  Thank goodness Mom remembered to pack mine! Yesterday I didn't get to do much.  We went to Grandma & Grandpa's house in the morning but they weren't there!  I heard something about a Packer game and we were just there to hang out with the dogs.  I was excited when we left, but Mom just left me at home so that she could go to the barn again.  She wasn't even home all that long before she left me again to go to her friend's birthday party.  Mom is lucky she gave me a chewie or I might have had to vent my frustration in other ways.  Not being able to run off my energy just stinks. I have agility tonight but I'm not sure how much Mom is going to let me do.  I feel totally fine when I run, so I hope she lets me play. Posted Sep 24 2007, 02:08 PM by KarissaKS with 1 comment(s)

• Run here, run there...

  Today has been very busy!  I was just settling in to work this morning when all of the sudden Mom announced that we were going for a car ride.  Hey, I'm always game to leave the office! I was a very good boy at that Saturn place while Mom got my big moving kennel fixed.  Lots of people smiled & petted me and complimented me on how well behaved I am.  Lucky they didn't see me when I started getting bored and jumping on Mom's lap to try to get her to pet me. After that we went to my mom's groomer where she got her hairs cut.  I had to stay in the car for that, though.  Then she went to another store and when she came out she had good smelling stuff in her bag!  She told me that I can have one tonight when we get home from work. Eventually we had to come back to the office where I got my lunch time yummy treat and then I was able to get down to the serious business of starting my afternoon nap!  I had just settled in, though, when all of the sudden Mom is up and leaving again.  *yawn!*  I guess Grandma forgot to let her dogs out and needed us to go do it for her.  So, back in the moving kennel again....  Mom didn't throw the ball for me, so I just ran around the yard and sniffed stuff. I'll have plenty of time to catch up on my missed sleep tonight.  I guess my mom is going to ride those horses again, so that means I'll have the house to myself.  Hope there is something good on Animal Planet! Posted Sep 20 2007, 01:19 PM by KarissaKS with no comments

• Whew, I'm tired today!

  I've been kind of lazy today and haven't been doing a very good job of greeting visitors here at work.  I did get up to say hi to Charlie the UPS man, though, because he's my best friend. Last night was a really busy night!  Mom only gave me like 15 minutes to rest after work before she loaded me up in the Vue to leave again.  She had our agility bag, though, so I was really excited! Bah, she took me to a place with horses and actually had the nerve to tie me up while she went to ride her friend's horse!!  I was totally not happy and I let her know by barking.  I must have been really annoying because pretty soon Mom's friend, Linda, came over and got me and took me up to the riding arena to watch.  I still wasn't happy at being left behind, but this was better than being stuck down in the grass by myself. Mom rode for a really long time and I was starting to wonder if we were actually going to do agility after all.  Eventually she got off, though, and went crazy excited!  I ran to the car ahead of her to try to speed her up so that we could get going.  We were running late, after all! We didn't even have any time to play with my girlfriend before class.  Boo!  Mom did buy me some new dog food again.  She got the red meat Evo this time.  I hope this helps me stop itching.  Mom's not giving me that nasty joint supplement anymore, but I still itch.  I also saw Mom sign me up for the next agility trial (I still can't believe that she left me home this weekend while SHE went to play).  I saw that I'm going to be doing OPEN in Regular 1 & 2, Chances & Tunnelers.  Weeeee!  That should be lots of fun.  Mom says I only need to get one more Q in my Weavers class before we can move up there.  We won't talk about Touch-n-Go or that dreaded Jumpers class....  Belle & I were in different groups at class last night.  She got to do weave exercises this week (I did them last week).  I was in the group that was playing on the contact equipment.  They brought out these weird slatted things that I've never seen before -- something about a show coming up called AKC?  Psh, must be for those fancy "pedigree" dogs.  Anyhow, it was totally no big deal and I still thought they were as much fun as the other things.  Mom said I was naughty for launching like a rocket off the dog walk.  Hey, she told me to go fast and what could be faster than flying?  At the end of class we got to put together a fun little course of weaves, contacts, tunnels & jumps.  It's the first time in this session that they've let me run a course and boy did I miss it!  I hate those nasty drill exercises.  I did the course the best of anyone in class, if I do say so myself. I got to hang out with Belle after class while our moms talked.  We were totally making out and rolling around on the floor together.  I might act aloof towards Belle sometimes, but I really do love her!  I'm a sucker for blondes. Mom talked for a really long time and we didn't get home until after 8:00!  I was starving!  Thank goodness she fed me my dinner right away and then I pretty much crashed for the night. This morning I chased a rabbit before work and it was really tiring. Now I'm moping because Grandma & Grandpa just left work and didn't take me.  They said I don't fit on the back of their motorcycles.  Mom says they should buy a side car. Posted Sep 18 2007, 11:50 AM by KarissaKS with no comments

• Introduction

  Hello!  I'm Luke, the World's Most Spoiled Dog.  I'm a 3 3/4 year old Lab/Shepherd mix, or at least that's what they told me at the Humane Society.  My hu-mom, Karissa, adopted me from there when I was 12 weeks old and we've had lots of fun together ever since!  The first year of my life was super busy!  My mom put me right to work by taking me to her office every day and giving me the totally difficult job of "office mascot."  It's a very demanding position and I have worked hard at it every day to make sure that I get to keep it.  I have everyone wrapped around my paw and have even trained the delivery people to bring me treats every day!  Sometimes I sneak over to the break room with Grandpa because people over there give me human food.  Mom gets mad because she says I'm not supposed to eat that stuff. I also used to go to the barn every day where Mom would play with those really big dogs that she calles "horses."  They get to eat really good food and they introduced me to the wonderful world of eating grass!  It's like a huge 24/7 buffet!  And man, the horses provide me with some really yummy treats -- in the winter they even provide me little frozen balls to play with!  These days I only go to the barn on special occasions when Mom feels guilty for leaving me at home too much.  Apparently she doesn't appreciate my help in keeping those horses in line. My Grandma & Grandpa got me the most awesome birthday present this year (in January! Don't forget!).  They told my mom to stop procrastinating (what does that mean?) and to get me signed up for a dog agility class.  Oh wow, it was the best thing ever!  I used to get to run and jump over stuff at the barn and now I get to do it again!  There is so much fun stuff there and I start getting excited about 2 miles away from our doggy center because I know what's coming!!  And we can't forget that beginner agility is where I met my hottie Golden girlfriend, Belle.  We've been a hot item ever since.  I think we might get married -- my mom even let Belle spend the whole weekend at our house last weekend and it was hott. Anyhow, I'm an agility superstar.  Mom & I worked SUPER hard in the beginning and all of my natural talents just shone through.  We blazed through the beginner class and moved up to the next level.  My instructor, Laurie, said she thought I'd be ready to do my first show in April already!  My mom signed us up for 10 classes that weekend (5 a day, whew!) and I got five Q's my first time out!  I don't mean to brag, but I've almost got my Novice Versatility title and am moving up to the open level in four classes at my next show.  You should see my pile of ribbons!  I've got almost as many as Mom's horses and they've been showing forever.  I make fun of them for that when I see them.  I got hurt back in July.  Mom was throwing the frisbee (yay!!!!) for me and even though I started to get tired, I kept going because it's the BEST THING EVER!  On the walk home from the park I took a wonky step and hurt my shoulder.  Long story short, the vet lady said that I have bicipital tendinitis.  Oh man, I didn't get to do ANYTHING for like two months.  It totally depressed me.  I was so happy when I got to go back to agility classes and see my girlfriend.  Mom's not letting me show off and jump high yet, though.  She's even going to embarrass me and make me jump down a height for my show next month.  Man....  How am I going to live that down with the other dogs? So that's my introduction.  I will keep up this blog to let everyone know how hard I'm working at the office and how agility goes.  With any luck I'll also be able to go back to disc dog, but Mom is a bit leary about me hurting myself with my spectacular leaps into the air. Posted Sep 18 2007, 11:16 AM by KarissaKS with no comments