Proofing Halloween Style

One of the great things about growing up in a small town is the opportunity to participate in community events. Council Grove hosts "trick or treating" on Main Street for the little kids and their parents the evening before Halloween (in the daylight). The festivities begin at 6pm with a collective walk down Main Street (the local police close down the road and redirect traffic). Parents and kids then walk up and down the sidewalks and stop at the participating businesses to get their candy.

SWMBO and TBG thought that this might be a great way to work on my distractability and excitable greetings. And, I got to practice in a new cape! Well, I wanted to fit in, you know!

Count Barkula watches the goings-on.























One of SWMBO's favorite costumes.























WILLIE!!

Props to my buddy Raj!

Just got this graduation pic from my fellow CCI bud. Congrats Raj, I bet you were the top dog in class.

Nice shot of me at K-State

Fall is here and the trees are in full color!

Sometimes All You Need Is A Picture...Or Two

My day at the nursing home on Sunday started off routinely...


Stopped to say hello to the flock in the aviary.


And to Pretty Boy.


Always glad to say hello to the hard-workin' staff!


Entertained everybody with my musical skills, too.


Also got to meet a Friend-of-Jeb from waaay back.


Jeb, Jeb, Jeb...that's all I hear about! And, if you think I'm exaggerating, just look what's posted on the door to the nurses' office! Jeb's picture!


Definitely not Jeb! Look out! This is a one-dog facility, Mister!


But this crew was just...strange!


Horrifying, actually! What a way to end the day!

Whaddya Mean I Can't Drive the Forklift?

We were out and about running errands yesterday. We stopped in at the Vet office so I could weigh in (62.5 lbs, thank you very much!)

Then to the grocery, with a quick stop at the lumber store/yard. I practiced my ups and jumps on many of the unusual surfaces there. But, I got really excited when I saw the forklift. Of course, you remember that I am quite the accomplished driver, showing early promise if you will, with both the boat and the tractor:
http://anselcci.blogspot.com/2010/07/ahoy-mates.html
http://anselcci.blogspot.com/2010/05/mowing-grass.html

I was just ready to jump on board when TBG said I didn't have permission to drive the forklift; that the owner was a bit concerned about liability, yadda, yadda, yadda. How's a guy supposed to polish his skills if humans won't trust him?



Oh well. Maybe they'll have one at team training for me to try out!

Not A Slacker! Just...Busy!

OK, OK, loyal fans! Not that I don't appreciate you, but give a puppy a break! I KNOW it's been a week since I posted. I'm not a slacker; just busy...to dog obedience class, to PetCo for my Halloween costume, to K-State for another fun day...

Well, yes, it IS fun at K-State! I get lots of pets and appreciation at that place. Below you will find two K-State employees, who are also FOJ's (Friends-of-Jeb). They have welcomed me with open arms...as is supremely evident in this photo!

How lucky can a guy get?

Agility Should Not Be A Spectator Sport!

So. There was lots of talk on Friday evening about the "great distraction training" I was gonna have on Saturday; how I was "going to be tested"; and "what a good opportunity" this would be.

Yea, right.

Well, I'm sorry to sound so ill-tempered and grumpy. I agree it's not NORMALLY part of my outstanding Lab-personality. But, if you had to put up with what I had to put up with on Saturday! Well-meaning SWMBO and TBG, I suppose, but you know what they say about good intentions...ALRIGHT ALREADY! I'll tell my tale.

We get in the blue bomb and drive all the way to Lawrence, KS. We went the back way, so it took a little longer than normal, even. It was a beautiful day for a country ride. Still. I. had. been. cooped. up. for. 2. hours.

We arrive, finally, and I am SOOOOO excited. It's agility trials! I'm thinking: Cool! I can stretch my legs, run through tunnels, jump around...I couldn't wait to show my stuff! You may remember that I know a little about agility: http://anselcci.blogspot.com/2010/05/fun-fun-fun.html.

I took a look at the course.


I looked over the competition: mutts galore, bichons, a Great Dane (yes, really!). The only one I was a little concerned about was the border collie.

And, then, it happened! SWMBO and I took positions outside of the ring...as spectators! SPECTATORS? You have got to be kidding me!


When I asked why, all I heard was "too young, blah, blah, blah, talents lie in another direction, double blah, blah."

Even my best sad-puppy look didn't work.


Sigh. I guess it was fun to watch the other dogs work the course...but I still say that agility should not be a spectator sport!

Went out for dinner

I should say "they" went out for dinner and I got to go along.

We went into town to the Mexican restaurant. What a great place and great food...so they said!



Deb and Mark had dinner and I got to work on not vacuuming the floor. I did quite well, I must say. I acted like I was at home and just relaxed.



They tried to trip me up by "accidentally" letting a chip fall, but I knew what their silly game was about. I acted interested, but made no move to scarf it up. Silly humans....I'm not that easy!!



After finishing with dinner, we took a walk in downtown Council Grove so TBG could burn off a few calories (and man does he need it). We stopped at the Gardens and took some time to smell the flowers.





and what would fall be like without some pumpkins??



We headed back to the car, made a quick stop at the grocery store and then went home. Time for some evening snooze time!

Adios Muchachos

Council Grove...Beyond the Limit

If you've been keeping up, you know us Pups had a full day yesterday. I thought I'd get Sunday off, but Nooooooooooooo. They had me out again today. What's a dog got to do to get some R&R around here?

Deb packed up the car after breakfast and we were off to the nursing home. Once there I got to see all of my peeps and Pretty Boy too! He was out of his cage today and we had an up close and personal meeting. Birds are an interesting species!

Afterwards, I got to meet a wonderful older woman; I think I heard someone say she was 100 years old :>0

I got to practice my "visits" and got lots of petting. It was a great time. After about 45 minutes of facility training we headed home. Ahhhh, I'm gonna get to relax the rest of the day.

WRONG

We had lunch and once again loaded into my cruiser and headed back into Council Grove. What could possibly be taking me away from my comfy bed?

Found out the humans had entered themselves AND me in a charity 5K walk! Had a great time and got to meet some more new people.

Here we are about halfway. You can't see it (because TBG was behind the camera), but that old guy looked like he was gonna keel over....WIMP.




Getting close to the end




At the finish line!! We could have shaved off about 10 minutes if we didn't have to wait all the time on our "pack mule" :>)




Here's my prize for being the top finishing K-9




We got back home and I told both of them that after I blogged about the day, I was taking a long, deserved nap...PERIOD.

Until next time CG...

Lassiter, Raj, Chloe and Me

Council Grove went to the dogs yesterday...

Boy, am I lucky to have such great friends. Lassiter, Raj, and Chloe drove all the way from Kansas City to come and spend the day with me. They arrived around 10:30 am, and we started our tour down Main Street.

Everyone was so nice and welcoming (not that I expected anything different). We visited many town businesses!

*The Chamber
We were officially welcomed, received tour bags, including coupons, and took some good photos.

PHOTO OP



*ReRun Consignments
One of Raj's humans found a piece she had been looking for-forever! And, we all practiced our "ups" on the big counter.

YOU GO, GIRL!



*Valerie's
We were extremely careful with our tail placements due to all of the delicate and fragile items for sale.

NO GOOD PICTURE HERE. PLEASE USE YOUR IMAGINATION!

*Aldrich's
The humans were really taken with this sign in front of the candy jars that said "All unattended children will be given an espresso and a new puppy." We canines didn't really see the humor there.



SERIOUSLY?




*The Cottage House
Jeremiah gave us a wonderful lesson on its history, and we were able to take a short rest on the beautiful porch.

IS THAT A RABBIT? WHERE? DO YOU SEE THE RABBIT?



*The Hays House
We ate lunch in the Kaw Room and saw one of my all-time favorite people (and one of Jeb's too--Mona, our vet.)

BIG DOGS,SMALL SPACES. MAKE IT WORK, PEOPLE!



*The River Walk and the Kaw Mission
Although we didn't go inside. We ran out of time. And, as you can see, Lassiter was exhausted by this point!

WATCH THIS...



MOM, I'M TIR'D! REALLY, REALLY!



BLISS!



I was too. Thank goodness SWMBO and TBG watched college football in the evening (although I don't think their team won...there was a lot of trash-talking about becoming Gamecock fans!)

Until next time!

Disney Land or K-State?

SWMBO (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) and I headed out for a regular working day at K-State...or so we thought. I wasn't sure if I was in a science fiction movie, or walking through Disney! Why? Well, let me tell you why.

We were on our way across campus, and of course, lots of people wanted to meet me (and tell me how handsome I am). But, the folks we met today were quite the cast of characters!

I bet very few other CCI pups get to meet a walking drop of blood...


Or visit with a dancing turtle at the Center on Aging...


Or meet the squirrel without fear!




Thank goodness for our visit with DB! Those other characters wore me out. I think I'll just rest here on his knee.


I wonder who I'll meet next time?

What...A...Day!

When you wake up in the morning, you never know what the day will hold for you.

Bare/bear with me as I tell my tale (get it...tale/tail...I slay myself!)

Brie, a FOJ (Friend-of-Jeb) was officially retiring from active service today and Deb and Mark wanted to be there. We packed up the blue bomb and headed to the Crestview Methodist church in Topeka where Brie had his ministry and did a lot of his best work. What a very nice place and lots of new people to meet. I was to be on my best behavior so as not to distract from Brie's retirement service. I think I did pretty well and had a lot of fun to boot.

Here's a pic of Brie right before the service doing his best impression of a gymnast!




Here's a shot of De, Brie, me and Deb. I swear Brie had some peanut butter in his ear. I just thought I'd help clean it out.




We said our goodbyes and then headed off to Wamego for the OZtoberfest celebration. They close off the downtown area and had a live band and all kinds of arts & crafts. There was a miniature train, but I didn't get a chance to ride...or drive it.



There is an Oz Museum that has lots of history from the The Wizard of Oz movie and as we were walking by we noticed a crowd was gathering.

Holy cow...do you see what I see??



It's some of the original actors who played the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz and one said I was HANDSOME !!!!! Wow, Hollywood royalty right here in the Flint Hills.



We continued on and came upon another lady. I asked "Were you in the movie too?", "Are you the witch?", "Is that Toto?"



Well, I couldn't get an answer so we moved on.


After cavorting with Hollywood Royalty, I decided I needed to generate my own crowd. I convinced SWMBO and TBG to have a portrait done of myself. Here's a shot of the artist doing her work. People actually gathered to take a picture of me getting drawn by the artist!



Here's a pic of the final product hanging on the living room wall. BTW, my picture bumped off one of TBG's car pics...LOL.




It's been a full day. I had a lot of fun, met lots of new and interesting people and got to meet some famous actors...what more could a dog want? Now, I think I'll kick back and enjoy some "me" time.

There's no place like home.