Another summer in the RV 2011

I've read all the guide books I intend to for now. Time for a nap. And why do I need my sleep? Because I had to go to the vet again today.

This is the second time this summer that I've been to a vet. They are all alike, poking and exploring and putting me up on a slippy metal table. At least today the vet kept giving me treats.

It's nothing to be worried about, really. Just a little eye infection. Better than ticks. That was the reason for my other vet visit this summer. Up north in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the woods are amuck with the little suckers. I had two of them. You can get real sick from those ticks. So Dad drug me to a vet, where I got a prescription for a month to ward off the bad possibilities. I don't mind the pills. Dad buries them in hamburger meat. Yum! But today I got drops for my eyes. Those I do not like.

I secretly enjoyed the first vet because of the cat that lived there. I LOVE to harrass cats. Mom said she does not understand where that comes from. No cat has ever harmed me as far as she knows. I guess I don't have a reason, really.

Don't have a reason for barking sometimes, either. Just like to hear my voice.  Here's how it goes.  I sit at the door to the RV and let out a yip.  Mom puts me out on the long line.  Then she settles in nice and comfy doing what she was doing before I yipped.

Then I let out one little yip.   I know she hears me.  But she ignores it.  It was just one yip, after all.  Then I start again.  At regular intervals, till she opens the door and says, "Do you want to come in?"  I just sit there and look at her.

This goes on for a while till she comes out and makes me come back in, where I most likely get Dad to give me a treat.

Sometimes I just want to play. 

Sometimes I need some petting.   Can you blame a dog?

Here's my album of the summer, just sharing the fun!
https://picasaweb.google.com/margaret.lincoln/20110720Daisy#



My summer vacation 2010

I spend a lot of my time looking at the four walls of the RV, but when I am allowed at a tourist attraction, I really get my money's worth. Here I am pictured getting to ride the shuttle back from Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. I jumped right up, climbed on Mom's lap, and off we went. The trip back was a lot faster than walking down with Mom, but that's not necessarily a good thing, because I love to walk and walk and walk.

The only time I pooped out on walking was our visit to Mystic Seaport.  I was ready to get back in the RV and sleep.  That was a big day. When I'm in the RV, this is what I do most of the day. I don't care at all what state or country I am in.

The minute I get out, though, I am a popular girl. Check out this bevy of young girls loving me. They were playing violins at a gazebo in town square in Rochester Vermont, and the minute they saw me, practice was over.  I hope I didn't get them in trouble with their moms.

I'm very popular with humans, but what I really crave is other animals. There are so many smells out there where animals have been. It drives me crazy. Here I am while I was supposed to be looking at a covered bridge in Connecticut. I was into something much more interesting.

I've been on some cool walks with mom. Here's a few of them.

Appalachian trail

Jetty to a lighthouse in Maine

Meat Cove, the farthest tip of the Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia

On the beach in South Carolina

My favorite time of the day is the evening.  Then I get to sit outside at the campground and watch the rest of the dogs get walked.  I am always the cutest as well as the friendliest dog in the camp.  I would stay out all night if my parents didn't insist on my coming in after dark.

I wish I could be off leash more.  I have a largely undeserved reputation for running away, not coming when called, that sort of thing.  I haven't run away since last Sunday morning, so I feel like it's a bad rap. This summer Mom has started leaving me on my leash outside of buildings while she goes in.  I am SO GOOD.  I just wait there for her.   Here's one time I got to be off leash.....in a putt putt course.  It was fun.  I chased the ball, as you can see, right down the hole. 

It's not all fun and games.  I have jobs.  Like navigator.  And keeping the family together.  I'm the glue, the go-to for affection, the wake-up bark, the one who spots the deer and the bears and the snakes.  What would they do without me?

Here's my trip photo album. Enjoy!

Daisy's trip album

Daisy's book is finally ready.

Lost and Found...

By Margaret Lincoln

Book Preview

Drat that Rabbit

 

It is my third night of torture. I can't be out on the longline again because I want to eat the rabbits. There are at least 30 of them, all colors, tame rabbits, with a hutch on the lawn about 50 yards away. The night before, I could not be out on the longline because I kept picking up the garbage. We were in a scenic but not that fastidious spot on Flathead Lake. I don't give one nickel for scenery. What I want is some nice clean grass and a long time outside. The night before that, we were south of Glacier, and it was looking good for me. Nice pine shade trees. Then the squirrels came out. I cannot control my barking around them. I just want to catch them!

I am hoping and praying for a grassy lawn, no animals, tonight. Please! I have cabin fever!

Out of the stickers and into the dunes

 

Do you know how hard it is to pull Mom up these sandy hills? Need I say more? SPCA!!! Where are you?

gathering foxtails

 

Oh my how innocent this looks. Just hanging out in Napa Valley State Park. Gathering Foxtails.

California has a problem beyond budget crisis. They have foxtails. The seeds burrow into the skin and cause infections and even death. And I have had SO many of them that Dad has refused to let me out of the RV anywhere but pavement. It is a real pain.

Not that I blame him. One of the devils got under my collar and caused a huge inflamation as it worked its way into my body. He's found several others on their way in. Did you know that they can even work themselves into organs and cause death? Or my ears, or my eyes or my nose? This is serious business.

So, no more hanging in California for us. We are headed north, out of this plague. The sooner the better.

Foxtails, Furminators, Doom and Groom

Since I last blogged, I have been in way too many stickers. As it turns out, the California state burr is a foxtail, a devious little sticker that burroughs into my skin and can become infected. Dad checks all the time and still I get some. Aunt Mary said that one summer when she was just learning to use Quicken, she discovered she had spent $575 on removing foxtails from the dog.

When I got to Larry and Lori's house, mom let me run free. Five minutes later I was yelping in pain as I tried to lick stickers from my fur. Mom got scissors and gave me a haircut. All this was setting me up for the inevitable. Dad began saying the groomer word, over and over, and Aunt Mary found me one called Ruff House. It was one ruff day. I was an all day dog and the lady had to call an assistant.

Next I met Tom and Misty in their pet store. I walked around eating treats off the shelves and Tom said no problem. Misty looked at me and declared I needed a furminator. So far I don't mind the furminator. It does not pull like a brush.

I am coming to the conclusion that I am just not a country dog.