A Visitor from the North!

My Onkel Eric has come to visit me all the way from Norway! And he brought a very special present that I must show you!

Can you see how ho-hum humdrum things were the day he was to arrive.

Same old, same old regular obnoxious peppy sheppys.

I was wondering--would I remember my Onkel who I have not seen in over six years? (Answer: yes.)

And what presents might he bring me? I was hoping for smalahove, a Norwegian dish often served at Christmastime made of a sheep's head.


Or maybe a reindeer who could pull me around before I ate him?

Alas, he could not get either of these things through customs but he did bring us something really really wonderful...

Snow!! Piles and piles of it! For me to eat!


Still obnoxious sheppys but no more same old same old!


No more humdrum ho hum!

Look at the sheppys unable to keep up with me!


Hooray! And everyone is trapped in the house admiring ME! Feeding ME snacks!


Thanks for the prezzie Onkel Eric!

A Grab Bag of Good Times

Things have been very sad around here lately so I thought I would take this opportunity to wish Sophie's ape a happy happy birthday and share with you some of the many things that happened that were not sad.

First, my ape has become obsessed with photographically documenting my every cute moment which is every moment which means I do not get a moment's rest from the puparazzi.

I can sort of understand, though, as this is a devastatingly handsome face. I'm sure this is how Angelina Jolie feels. It's not easy being beautiful.


A boy cannot even get a belly rub in peace! (Look at my pawesome corgi ears, though!)

Now things that happened other than the relentless pursuit of the puparazzi. I got a package in the mail!

Pawsonalized snacks! Can you see who is on the bag?

Yes! The only thing tastier than delicious snacks from The Baker's Dog is being able to look at a picture of myself as I eat them!

I approve.

And my picky sissy goes goofy for them.



And then me and my sibs were caught in the act of conspiring. Our lips are sealed as to what we were up to.

Nothing involving a plan to hypnotize the apes were our amazing eyes. I swear. (Though lamb shanks were purchased. I'm just saying.)


I need to beware of working with this crew, though. They are not reliable partners.

And then I let my brudder go to the dog park to play with his buddy Tuchuck and be ignored by Chuck's sister Narra.

Chuck brought his brudder, er, foster brudder (right guys?) Theo to the park for his coming out party! (I mean coming out in public, right guys?) And now Oscar has a NEW BESTIE!

Oscar loves him some cookie faces.

Especially the new guy.

I think they are going to run away to Vermont and get married.

If Oscar can catch him.


But, Theo, before you get too confident about your love that dare not bark its name, just remember--there's no love....


Like brudderly love.

The drawback of the puparazzi--I get caught sharing the snuggle ball with my brudder.

Happy burpday, Sophie's ape!

Good Night, Graham

Sophie's brother Graham Riggins did not make it. We miss you, big guy, even if you fell in with a rough crowd, becoming besties with Tan Torkelson. I am sad you did not get to run free with Sophie and her mom for longer but trust me that your memory--and your gas--will linger on.

For Graham

This is for my friend Graham Riggins, known as the baby brother of Sophie Brador. I am staring intently into the camera so as to beam part of my brain to him in Canada. He is feeling quite poorly and I'd like to share some of my perfectly firing neurons. It is quite selfish of me to hog this gigantic brain.

Also, I am sharing a bit of my heart with his mom who also needs some extra love and I've got some extra heart so I might as well!

Make a Wish!

This a.m. we went for walkies and we saw this! (Not this exactly as my ape is not coordinated enough to handle a camera with three dogs) Since you're supposed to make a wish when you see a shooting star I wished for another one of those lamb legs! My ape thinks that maybe I did not use my wish wisely but she's never had a lamb leg.

Taking Care of My Ticker

So I told you that Saturday I had to go to the vet. It was a surprise visit because I was feeling poorly. I did not sleep Friday night and I was clearly uncomfortable Saturday even though I am stoic and don't complain very much. My ape knew what it probably was. I have had cardiomyopathy for awhile now. That means my heart valves and heart muscles are not perfect (even though the rest of me is) and my heart has been working harder and getting progressively larger over time. Eventually it leads to congestive heart failure which is where I am now. You can read about the problem here. There were some telltale signs.

One was that I was uncomfortable at night which we now know is from having the fluid in my chest pool on one side making breathing more difficult. As you can see I was not my usual peppy self. I was coughing and wheezing a bit and couldn't get comfortable.

Also if you look at my eyes they look droopy but that is really just noticeable because my mucous membranes are so pale because my ticker is having a hard time pumping my blood.

And then you can see that I am looking a little skinny in the rear. That's because they starve me. And I have lost 4 pounds since my last vet visit. But when I lie down I get a tummy pooch because I have fluid in my belly.

So I had to go to the vet to help my discomfort. The vet took some picture of my insides (that are not as pretty as my outsides.) Here are my gorgeous outsides:

Here's an approximation of my not so pretty insides:


There is almost no dark space in my chest because it is all taken up by my GIANT heart and built-up fluid. I am already taking a drug called Pimobendan that helps my heart beat more efficiently. And I have to take a diuretic that will help me pee out that extra fluid (and boy have I been peeing my little heart out! Er, big heart.). And I am taking an ACE inhibitor called enalapril. And the best part is that all the pills come in SNACKS! Now I just need to stay calm, get moderate exercise, and get plenty of rest. And peeing. As Patience pointed out, when the snow comes I will be able to write my name! And I am getting extra snacks and when I want a bed the peppy sheppys have to MOVE IT and I get to sleep in the people bed with my ma ape. Unfortunately my heart will not get better but I hope the new meds will make me more comfortable and I plan to MILK IT for all it is worth!


So I'm just going to live it up! And I am accepting all incoming smooches!

How Not to Use a Snuggle Bed (a photoessay)

My siblings have taken over my bed and THEY ARE DOING IT WRONG.



Yes, he was sleeping like that.