Toodles Says Thank You

This week I got to pay Daddy back for taking care of me after my operation. He has the flu and was in bed all day Monday, Tuesday and most of yesterday. When Anneedabus was at work, taking care of Daddy was up to me. He's a lot better now. You can still barely hear him talk but I think we pulled him through.

Since Daddy was sick we had to cancel our car ride to Roanoke. Anneedabus loves to cook, and was going to fix Thanksgiving dinner for Grandma Buggs, Aunt Missy, Uncle Barry, and my cousins Trevor and Audrey. I've never met them but Tico has. He says Trevor and Audrey are our kind of people because they like to play ALL the time.

Trevor is almost 12. He plays all kinds of sports. His football team didn't lose a game this year and even won the Super Bowl. He's also in Boy Scouts so he gets to go camping and hiking. He's really smart and makes good grades in school. Daddy is so proud of him!

Audrey is nearly 10. She's a famous ballerina and has danced in several shows a year since she was a little girl. She must be beautiful because Daddy says she's even prettier than me. She could have any boy she wanted but she'll be too busy with her career for a boyfriend until she's at least 30. I just know when we meet we're going to be best friends forever.

Anneedabus is cooking all the food we were taking to Roanoke for our Thanksgiving Dinner. He says he's not cooking again until every bit of it is gone. The house smells great! I hope they put some turkey in our dog food.

I am blessed in so many ways. Thank you Daddy and Anneedabus for rescuing me and Tico and for loving us so much. We love you, too.

I am especially grateful for all of you who take time out of your busy lives to read our blog. Making you smile makes me happy. I love you all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tico Sets the Record Straight

It's a rainy, Sunday afternoon. Playing in the rain is fun if you ask me but I'm the only one around here who thinks so. We never go for walks or play outside on rainy days. Given there's absolutely nothing else to do I want to set the record straight on a few things.

Toodles is no angel. She never does what she's told. She claims she can sit and stay, but I've never seen her do it without a treat. She runs away at least once a day and makes Daddy chase her all over the neighborhood. It's so embarrassing.

When Daddy says Kennel Up, Toodles does the sad eyes at Daddy and just sits there. Daddy thinks the sad eyes are about missing him but I know she does it for treats. Frankly I'm impressed. It used to take Daddy a long time to give her a treat but now he does it almost as soon as she sits down. You won't hear me complaining because he gives me a treat, too--so I won't tell Anneedabus.

Besides ripping the head off her squirrelly, Toodles has chewed on shoes, sofa cushions, the carpet, and every rug in the house. I'm happy to share until you start tearing up my favorite toys. She tears into my sheep every chance she gets. I may have kidnapped squirrelly once or twice to make a point.

The long walks with Daddy are nice. Yeah he talks the whole time, but that's just Daddy. Sooner or later Toodles will learn to tune him out like me and Anneedabus do.


We did have fun tailgating. You should have seen Daddy trying to take pictures. With him as her teacher, no wonder Toodles is a bit slow. She didn't even mention the farm animals. We saw giant chickens, baby chicks, rabbits and bugs. We even got to meet a cow!!!








Don't get me wrong. I love Toodles and Daddy almost as much as I love Anneedabus. But if you only hear what Toodles has to say about us, you're really not getting the whole story. I promise to pop in every now and then just to set the record straight.

Two Car Rides in One Day!

We slept in until almost 7 this morning. Good thing! Today has been the busiest and most exciting day of my whole life. I'm so tired I can barely type.

Tico and I spent a pleasant morning in our private dog park to start the day. While we were out Daddy and Anneedabus pushed the big noisemaker all over the house and made everything smell good. The service around here is great.

Then we went for a car ride! Daddy said we needed to go shopping so me and Tico would have something cute to wear tailgating. Great. Y'all know I am not really in to dressing up. In fact, there are few things I detest more than wearing stupid dog clothes.

When we got to the doggie clothes, Daddy made me try on a few things I wouldn't wear to a flea market. Didn't help that they had so little in my size. Finally found a cute little red dress in size tiny. It hangs all over me but I think if we take it up a bit I can make it work.

After a too-short nap, we headed out to go tailgating. Tico and I wore matching Georgia hoodies. The walk from our parking spot to the tailgate party has to be the most exciting walk of my whole life. I've never seen so many people!

The tailgate was fun. I met several of my devoted fans (kiss kiss!) and made some new friends. The cheerleaders wouldn't leave until they got a picture with me. They were all very encouraging about my goal to take over as the official UGA mascot. We'de have a lot more pictures but Daddy is too old to work the camera.

It's really been a long day. We were going to go to the game but since they didn't need me to fill in for Uga, we decided to go home. Now me and Daddy are going to lay on the couch and watch the game on television.

The Chance of a Lifetime?

Everybody knows Anneedabus takes me and Tico for walks. Most the time Daddy stays home. Anneedabus says Daddy needs to come with us. Sometimes he does, but mostly he stays home on his butt. It's been that way my whole life.

When I was a puppy I didn't like to go for walks so much. Now I enjoy a good walk--unless we stop at that nasty public dog park. That place terrifies me. Some thuggy dog is going to mug, rape or murder me one of these days. But I love Anneedabus so I go.

Everybody loves Anneedabus. Between me and you, sometimes I think Daddy is a little jealous. He got real quiet one morning when I was playing with Anneedabus. I'm pretty sure he was pouting. Silly old man. Everybody knows I love Daddy more than anyone in the world.

Now Daddy takes me and Tico for long walks all the time. Anneedabus listens to music when he walks us. Daddy talks to us...almost nonstop. He calls us good dogs a lot and gives us treats like he's trying to bribe us or something. Daddy says we're bonding.  I like it but I think Tico wishes he'd shut up.

On walks with Daddy we go to places we haven't seen before. We see strangers, dogs and a lot of squirrels. We're not allowed to talk to strangers even if they tell me I'm cute. Daddy put a chip in me so nobody can steal me.

Tomorrow we're walking to the football game and South Campus Tailgate. The Georgia Bulldogs are playing the Kentucky Wildcats. I'm scared of cats so I'm pulling for the Bulldogs. Did you hear Uga VII died? He was only four years old. So sad. I bet we're going to the game tomorrow so I can replace Uga. You know I've dreamed of being rich and famous. I just know this is my chance--the chance of a lifetime!

R.I.P Uga VII. We loved you even if you were the ugliest dog in the world.

Toodles Debunks Global Warming

Things are starting to return to normal around here. Daddy is going to the office enough for me and Tico to finally catch up on all the sleep we missed the six weeks he worked from home. I'll never understand why people need to stay awake so much. I need my beauty rest. A day or two without 20 hours of sleep and I start to feel ugly.

Finally stopped raining and dried off enough for us to play outside. It rained so much the leaves fell off the trees. With most the leaves on the ground now it's a lot sunnier in our dog park. It's also easier to keep an eye on the squirrels.

More sun doesn't mean it's any warmer. Some mornings it's downright cold! Nothing wakes you up quite like squatting in icy wet grass first thing in the morning. I'm serious. If you don't believe me try it yourself.

Having been to college and experienced weather my whole life, I can say beyond any doubt that global warming is a hoax. It's not getting warmer. It's getting colder. It's not nearly as hot as it was when I was growing up. Shoot. I remember concrete hot enough to scorch your paws.

The days are shorter now, too. Tico, Daddy and Anneedabus don't seem too worried about it. Maybe they just haven't noticed. What do they know...they don't see the monsters, either. Good thing they have me looking out for them.

Chi-ao!

Toodles Goes to College

Today has been a great day!  We got to sleep with Daddy last night.  No matter what I did, he wouldn't get up and play with me until almost 5:30!  Doesn't he know the early chihuahua gets the best kibble?

After we came in from doing our business, Tico and I played Keep Away.  Tico sneaks up on me, takes my squirrelly and runs all over the house.  Anneedabus got a new squirrelly for me because I ripped the head off my old one.  It was fun!  I'll do the same thing to Tico's sheep if I ever get a chance.

Then Daddy put us in our crates and went to work.  Fifteen minutes later, he was home again.  We went outside for a walk around the yard.  Our friends Callie and Noori were out, so we stopped to say hello.  Callie is a homely thing--maybe I could fix her up with Uga.  Tico has had a crush on Noori since he was a pup.  The way Noori was acting I'd say the feeling is mutual.  They'd make pretty babies, too.  And who wouldn't want a long-hair labrihuahua retriever?

After we came inside, Tico had to kennel up but I got to go ON A CAR RIDE!!!  We went to Daddy's new office.  I was a very good girl because Daddy said they would make him take me to the dog pound if I peed on the new carpet.  It was fun visiting with all my friends.  They've known me since I was a baby. 

I thought we were leaving but we walked around the University of Georgia.  Going to college is fun!  I'd have to join a sorority.  They would all want me, but Alpha Gamma Delta is the one for me.  They have the prettiest, smartest, most fashionable and overall coolest girls on campus.  Is that me or what?

I can see myself really enjoying college life, especially since the operation.  More than a handful of really cute boys smiled at me.  A few even winked!  I'd want a big, strong boyfriend. Campus is a little scary.  Noisy buses fly by just a few feet away.  Men with big noisy blowing machines are everywhere.  One got so close if Daddy hadn't picked me up I would  have blown away with the leaves.

Then we went in a really big building.  You won't believe who was there...Anneedabus!  I was so surprised I almost didn't recognize him.  He introduced me to his friends Nicki and Kassie.  They're both really nice and love everything about me.  We never go to his office because they run the vacuum cleaner all the time.

After a quick visit with Jill, Amy and my new friend Ginny, we walked back down to Daddy's office.  All the girls wanted to talk to me but we didn't have time to stop.  I have so many fans.  Unless we've notified crowd control we don't stop because things can get out of hand pretty fast. 

College is fun.  I hope I get to go again soon.  Now it's time for a nap...  Chi-ao!

Our Morning Routine

We had to sleep in the crates last night for the first time since my operation. It was Tico's fault, though it hardly seems fair to single him out. I'm the only one in our house who can make it through the night without getting up to pee. Must be a man thing.

No matter where we sleep we go out with Anneedabus first thing every morning. We do our business and get the newspaper. I usually go back in to play with Daddy while Tico looks around the property and sniffs all the shrubs for messages.

Every morning Daddy drinks coffee and carefully inspects each page of the newspaper to make sure it's OK for the bottom of our crates. The service around here is great. If the paper in my crate gets the least bit soiled or damp, one of the daddies replaces it right away. It's rare to find an empty food dish or water bowl, either.

After coffee we have to make the bed. Usually it takes all four of us. No telling how much longer it would take without our help.

Then it's time to get ready for work. After Daddy brushes his teeth and stuff, we face the scales. This morning Tico weighed 7 pounds, I weighed four pounds, and Daddy weighed a whole lot.

Then it's time for our shower. Took me a long time to figure out the water wasn't going to hurt me. Don't know why you want to get soaking wet like that first thing in the morning but if that's what Daddy wants to do, I'm in. At first he yelled at me and told me no, but now he just laughs and calls me silly girl.

After we dry off Daddy digs through drawers, spritzes himself and combs his hair like he thinks it makes a difference. Then I get him dressed. I help him with his socks, approve his pants and shirt selection and show him which shoes to wear.

He'd look a lot better if he'd take me shopping with him. If it wasn't for Anneedabus everything he owned would come from Land's End and Kohls. The one good thing --he doesn't own a single pair of pleated plants. Unless you are thin, pleats just make your butt look big.

Then Daddy puts the sheep and a chew stick in Tico's crate, and squirrelly and a chew stick in mine. When he says "kennel up" we're supposed to jump in our crates like we don't know he's about to leave. Tico jumps right in but I won't do it without a treat.

Daddy says he'll be back in 15 minutes. Sometimes it seems a lot longer than 15 minutes. I've learned fifteen minutes goes by a lot faster when I'm asleep. As soon as the door to my crate closes, I'm in my bed with my eyes closed.

Maybe one day I'll tell you about my dreams. Until then, chi-ao!

No More Operations!

I don't want any more operations. Mostly I'm back to normal, but my butt itches something fierce from all the shaving. I've tried scooting on carpet, hardwood, tile, concrete, grass and pine needles. Nothing helps much.

Grass feels soft and cool, unless it's wet. Scooting on pine needles just made things worse and hurt so much I cried. Daddy picked me up right away. He told me I was a silly girl and petted me until I stopped crying and calmed down. Even the itching stops when Daddy pets me.

Since the operation Daddy has hardly left my side. We go outside without Tico and he stays with me until we go back in. He lets me sit in his lap while he works on the computer. Last night while he was watching TV I slept with my nose in his neck and my forehead on his chin, just like I do at night.

Anneedabus held me for a while last night. He explained that without the operation I was going to have to stay in the garage all by myself whenever I was in heat. That would be awful! Good thing I didn't waste any time digging a tunnel out of the dog park.

Maybe the operation wasn't such a bad thing after all. You can't miss what you haven't had. I know what I want now. I want to spend every minute of every day as close as I can get to Daddy. Where he goes, I'm going. That's just how I roll.

Chi-ao!