Bears and tents, oh my!

OMG do you see that bear behind me?!?! Don't worry, he's just like a giant stuffie! Nothin' but fur and stuffie fillin! Your guesses were close, I kinda went camping, well, more like looking at camping supplies...mom took me to Bass Pro Shop!!

Most people don't know, but the BPS will allow in well behaved dogs. We hadn't been there in a while so mom took me for socialization and I did so good!! But the piktures aren't good, mom just had her cell phone to document my excursion.


We checked out the camping supplies....this camping thing seems kinda fun! I may have to make mom and dad invest in a tent and stuff.

At first, I was worried. This guys butt smelled like wood....then I realized he and his little wood-butt smelling family weren't real. They were man-ee-kins. So weird!

Then we saw this black bear...mom said it looked like me, although I was much cuter. Well duh!

Sigh...shoes mom? Seriously?? You drug me here for shoes?!?!

This is more like it!! Wait, where's the pink?? (oh and I didn't do that wet spot on the floor...I don't know where it came from, guess some pup needs some Doggie Diapers!)

I took one final look around....there's so much stuffs!

So that was my excursion! Mom and dad would love to go camping, but it's already too hot here!

PS- thank you for all your prayers and thoughts for the peoples here in the South! It's been hard to watch, but we all have a new perspective on what's important in our lives...it's not the toys, the collars or even the noms, it's the peoples you love, like mom and dad, and even the kitties.

Right now there's not a lot of info on how to give to the pets here, but we're looking out for info. As soon as we know something, we'll pass it on! Have a great weekend with your peoples, and spend an extra minute snuggling with them!

We're Okay....

Dog mom here--

Just a quick note, we are all okay from the horrible storms that ravaged Alabama yesterday. We did have one hit the county next to us, where they're still locating people and doing recovery there. This same storm caused us to go into our "safe spot" but nothing happened thank God. The weather was so weird...hot, muggy and nothing moving...so surreal.

That's Anna's head by the toilet, Mia and Duncan. The other two kitties were with Dog Dad and I in the tub.

Dog Dad and I watched in horror as the tornado hit Birmingham live. Our family is in and around the B'ham area, so we watched, guts wrenched and feeling completely helpless. Luckily, all our family, friends and family-critters are fine.

My mom and dad (Anna's Granny and Pawpaw) have debris in their yard from who knows where. But they have no damage. Dog Dad is from the Pleasant Grove area that was hit, but it seems everyone they know there is fine. And of course Tuscaloosa is a disaster area.

As the death toll rises, please keep all those affected in your prayers. I think the Red Cross is also taking donations.

Anna will be back tomorrow with her blog she teased about yesterday.

~Dog Mom

A very bunny weekend!

And by "bunny" I mean busy, not Bunny the greyhound!! (Although a BUNNY weekend would be awesome! We could trade fashion advice and stuff!!) Mom was off Friday, but she spent the majority of Friday and Saturday preparing for dad's side of the family to visit for Easter!

There was a lot of cookin' and cleanin' and stuff. I supervised of course, and taste tested a few items to make sure no one got food poisoned. On Sunday they came down, it was Granny and Papa (dad's parents) and dad's sister and her family and dad's brother and his family.

It was a lot of people, but I did good. Much less spazzy than I was two years ago when they came down for last Easter. But when they left, mom and dad just COLLAPSED on the couch...I joined them. Entertaining is hard work!!

After they left and we had a good snooze, the Easter bunny brought me a blue bunny. I have tried, unsuccesfully, to remove his eyes. But it's only a matter of time.

Today we're watching more possible bad storms (BOO!!!) and hoping it's nice and quiet. Tomorrow I'll post about my adventure last night...it involves tents and bears. Any guesses??

Helping Burry the Bodies

Each year, mom commits murder. Her intentions are well meant, and some may even argue it's unintentional manslaughter, but nope, it's straight up premeditated MURDER!

Let me show you the scene of the crime.....

Yep, for some reason, my mom thinks she can grow plants. She can't. She knows she can't. But she gets to looking around the neighborhood at all the pretty plants and thinks "This is the year!" Yeah, the year of DEATH!

Here's this year's victims and killing supplies. Poor guys, they have no idea what's about to hit them...oh and notice mom didn't have to buy any soil, cause the dirt in the planter is nice and rich due to the decomposition of previous years' victims!!!

I supervised, just so I could tell the po-po (aka police) about what happened.

But then I got sucked in...I mean, you call this a hole?!? Woman! No wonder you kill them all!

Sometimes you just have to jump in there and do it yourself....oh wait, oh no! This makes me an accomplice!!!

This is my look of shame to mom. How dare you trick me into helping your murderous plot! And how dare you waste my toy and nom monies on flowers that you're going to kill!

Ugh, in fact, I can't even look at you right now!! It does look good though...sigh....

As of right now, they're all still alive. I think mostly cause it rained after she planted them. It's the watering mom has a problem with, but she said she's going to water them today....umm hmm...we'll see how that goes!

Do I know You?

After my awesome Woooing on Friday, Saturday was Bark in the Park. It's a fundraising event for our local humane society. Usually, Lola and Aunt Temple go with us but Aunt T had to "work" so Lola couldn't make it! Boo!

But this year, Dad and Duncan went, that was cool. But while there I thought I saw a lot of people I knew...Like at first I thought "OMG, Hound dog Mom is here!!!"

But nope, it wasn't them.

Then I thought, OMG, Lola made it, wait, why's there two of them?? Oh, that's not Lola! Boo!

Then I got super excited cause I thought I saw Bunny! Then I realized no, for one, it's the completely wrong color, and two, Bunny has much more fabu accessories than that...I mean, that dog's nails aren't even painted!

It was a fun day, we saw all sorts of dogs...little ones, big ones, in between mutt ones. I sniffed a lot of butts and had a good time! Mom said I was even much less spazzy than in years past...that I must be getting "mature" whatever that means.

We even saw some of the girls from Dr. VET's office, they said "You should come see us! Oh wait, nevermind! You do already!!" Mom said it's kinda sad that they recognized us out of a hundred people and dogs! I told mom, that's the price of being a supermodel diva...you can never go out without someone recognizing you!!

I went WOOOOOO!

What a crazy weekend! We had some BIG storms come through Friday night. Dad had to work, so mom was home with us watching the weathermen on the TV. We were fully ready to do our tornado drill in the bathroom...even with Alley the Devil Kitty.

Luckily everything went north of us, but sadly one storm had a tornado that killed three people, about 20 mins from our house and only about 5 mins from mom's work.

Even though we were okay, several times the tornado sirens went off because we were in the Cone of Possibliltiy (not be confused with the cone of shame). After hearing these sirens, I did show mom new talent of impersonating the sirens! I went WOOOOO WOOOOO WOOOOO! See...err...hear!

Do you see and hear how mom snickered at me?? That's why I gived her the stink eye!! Here I was trying to warn her about the sirens and she snickers at me! Boo on you!!!

Luckily we was all okay and I didn't have to be locked up with Alley, but for some reason when Dad got home he and mom laughed at my video....I just don't get it!

There Goes the Neighborhood...

There's been some strange activity in the 'hood lately. Besides my nemisis, Socks the Devil Cat, there have been some characters waltzing around.

We live in a pretty suburban neighborhood, we're not out in the country or anything. Although, our property ends up against a railroad track then woods beyond. It's an older neighborhood so there are lots of established trees. All of this is part of why mom and dad chose our house. But apparently, with the trees also comes some sketchy characters.

Exhibit A: The band of marauding turkeys.

They just walk on out, stand in the road and eventually wander off. At first mom thought she was seeing things. But then dad saw them too! And this is also right by a school, there's some pretty heavy traffic there in the mornings, but these turkey's ain't scared...they're hard core gangsta turkeys.



There's about 7-8 of them...but we haven't seen them in a few weeks. Dad says it's because it's now officially turkey season here, so the turkeys must be smart! They ain't scared of a car, but they are scared of becoming this:



Exhibit 2: Apparently I have some long distance relatives coming to visit. Can you see them in the photos?

Yep, that's a coyote! Not just one, but there are two. Dad caught these with his camera phone so the quality ain't great, but almost every day, about 12:30 or so, a pair of coyotes go down the tracks behind our house!

Mom did some research and apparently late March is when coyotes turn on the Barry White and "get it on"with the languate of l-o-v-e. Mom thinks that this pair may have a den close by. So we'll wait and see if we hear any little coyote howls in the next few months!

We've also had a pair of "fighting" raccoons we've heard in the woods, but I have to stay away. Mom says there's been reports of rabid raccoons lately! Oh my! We've also seen a bobcat walk on the tracks as well.

So it seems my 'hood is going wild! Do you have any interesting neighbors?

Hooky Creek Day!

Hey all! Yesterday was AWESOME!!! Mom played hooky and got off work. I don't know what "hooky" means, but if it means mom comes home and we go do cool things, then I think she needs to come down with hooky-itis.

It was a slow day at work, GORGEOUS outside (76 and sunny) and mom decided she wanted to spend time with the fam. So she came home and we loaded up and went to the creek. I haven't been to the creek in ages...would I remember how to have fun?? Hmmm...

ZOOOOOOOM!!!! Yeah, it's all coming back to me now!

Splashy splash! I'm coming to get you Duncan!!

Don't even think about it kid!

Uh oh! RUN AWAY!!!! I'll get him later!

Did I just hear Jaws music??

I'm suprised the photo even came out with mom's scary white legs, I thought they might reflect the flash!

Way to go mom!! I think all dog moms/dads should take a hooky day!!

My belly MAY have got a little wet....

Hey, what's that in here?!?!

OMG what is THAT!?! These giant GIANT tadpoles were everywhere, dad said not to taste them....

Come on slow pokes!

Ta-dah! Two happy, wet, dirty dogs means the day was a success!!

So it was a great day...we all just needed to get out and run off some steam after being cooped up with the allergee sickness. Also we had to get out of the neighborhood....there's some strange characters hanging out there lately...more on that tomorrow!

Wordless (sneaky) Wednesday

Shhhh....I'm hiding, waiting for mom. She's taking off work early to take me to the woods!!

Cough cough Hack Hack...sigh

How was your weekend? Was it full of fun adventures, sunshine and awesomeness? Want to know how my weekend went?

Here's a soundbyte:

"HACK HACK! COUGH COUGH!"

Snot noises

"COUGH COUGH!"

MOOOANNN!

"OMG we're DYING!"

Yep. That's what I heard. I had double-dose nurse duty as BOTH parents were sick! We're not sure if it's allergies or a sinus infection or both (mom calls it the "plague of neverending snot death") but all our fun, outdoor plans got thrown out with all the used tissues.

I guess as soon as Simon and I get better, mom and dad have to go get all sickly. But they PROMISED me this weekend we'll have fun. It's Bark in the Park Saturday, a fundraiser/doggie event for our local humane society. And we're going. If I have to drag them out by their Breathe Right strips, we're going!

Protekt This House!

As a German Shepherd, part of my job is to protekt mom, dad, the house, Duncan and, sigh, the kitties. I take this seriously. I'm willing to take on any foe (as long as they don't have a vaccum cleaner, skateboard or the like) to protekt my peoples.

Squirrel. Bring it.

Pizza delivery guy? I'm on it.

UPS man...well, he brings me stuff so I just let him know I'm "keeping an eye on him".

But my main nemisis lurks around our neighborhood like a poisoned snake. Glance by and you'll miss him. He hides in people's shrubberies and looks in windows. He goes through people's trash and learns about them...and I keep my eye on him. Watching for the moment to catch him and be hailed as a heroine!

Last night, he almost walked into our backyard as mom and dad were up on the back patio, clueless the the danger in the bottom part of our yard. But I was there. I was like a ninja waiting to strike! As soon as he got ready to hop our fence I went into action! I ferociously barked and tried to get mom and dad's attention!



Finally mom came down to see what the "fuss was about." I tried to warn her to stay back, this is not a guy you want to take lightly...but then mom just started laughing!! Can't you see the danger in the photo?!?!

Let me biggie-fy it!

Yes, it's a black and white kitty!! OMG!! Not just any kitty. I HATE this kitty. I mean, I'm pretty equal opportunity when it comes to kitties, but he's always taunting me and this time he was on my property chasing a chipmunk!! That is MY chipmunk!! What' next?? He goes after MY squirrels!?!? This will not do, my friends.

Mom finally got me inside and I quickly ran to the front windows to see my foe...and there he was. Across the street, glaring at me. Until we meet again kitty....

Kitty Update...give yourself a hand!

Mom took Simon off to Dr. Vet today to see how his thyroid and liver were getting along. She made us all cross our paws and give kisses before they left....so then we waited.

I pulled a shoe out of the closet and left it in the living room just to show how much the waiting was wearing on me. Duncan passed out in worry. Tick tock tick tock....

Then mom came home, annnnd: Simon is fine!!!

Dr. Vet ran the bloodwork and not only is his thyroid now normal, but so is his liver!! Throw your paws up!

The only thing mom and dr. Vet can think of is that Simon must have gotten into something to make his liver value spike like that. Then the fluids and denamarin did their job of flushing it out!

We are all so relieved! Thank you all for keeping him in your prayers and for crossing your paws. We all appreciate it so much, and love our blogging family that is there for us no matter what happens, even if it is to a kitty! Love and hugs!

Anna and Simon!

Anna-bana-fo-fanna

So my buddy Reilly over at CowSpotDog is having a contest! An EASY contest, you just have to talk about you! Well, how you got your name actually.

My story isn't that exciting. On the 1.5 hour car ride to come get me, mom and dad had several names they liked, one of them being Dory...like the fish. Seriously. A fish. What was they thinking?!?! Daddy also liked Panzer, but mom said I was a girl! Panzer was a boy name! Dad tried to argue that, but of course, mom won.

When they saw me, there was only two of my litter left, me and my sister. Mom and dad hadn't thought about a black shepherd before, but I had a lot of "spunk" as mom called it. They even brought Duncan up to meet the puppies and when I saw him, I went right up to him and licked his nose! Yep, I won!

On the way home, asleep in Mom's lap, mom thought of the name Ada, from the movie Cold Mountain and the song mom loves called Ada Plays from that movie. So there I was....Ada. Then mom remembered she had a lady at work named Ada! Oh no, now she'd always think of work lady! So after some thinking we then we changed it to Annabelle.

My middle name is Walker, for the county in which I was born...mom says it's a inside joke because everyone back home HATES Walker County drivers and the county itself is quite infamous. So there I was, Annabelle Walker.

I only hear the Walker part when I'm doing something they don't like, like eating underpants or trying to put a kitty head in my mouth...I get the "ANNABELLE WALKER! NO!" Pfft. Like that'd stop me!

And for Duncan, he was named Duncan at the shelter and mom and dad thought it was cute, so it stuck. He doesn't have a middle name, but that's okay, he doesn't ever do anything to get it yelled at him...underacheiver!

Eye haz good news, and Eye Mad at Mom!

Hola!! Mom is back from her conference, so that means I'm back too, with my internets. Not much has been going on here, it was a beautiful weekend, but dad worked all of it, so we just bummd out at home. But I do have good news!

Last week mom took me to Dr. Eye Vet to see how my pannus is going. After all the kitty news, mom needed some good furkid news...and survey says: my eyes are 85 percent improved!! Dr. Eye VET was very happy and said I should be good to go! How cool is that?!

Simon is also doing well, he goes back for a blood panel Thursday, so keep your paws crossed. He's still eating a good bit and I'm giving him magikal Anna kisses. Now, on to the bad news....which caused me to shun mom....

I mentioned mom went to a conference, well, now begins her busy travel time! Leaving me with no internets!! She and aunt Temple are going to Denver in May for a week and staying at some haunted Stanley Steamer Hotel (they keep referencing the Shining, but I don't know what this means) and going hiking in the Rocky Mountain Park.

THEN she's going to a 3-day beach conference the next weekend...THEN she's going to Miss-or-ee during July 4th for a family reunion, then ANOTHER conference that next week.

Seriously mom?!? You're just dumping us off with dad?? Yep, she's keeping dad at home too! I mean, I love dad, don't get me wrong and I can get away with more, but GAH, its the principle of the matter!

At least we're all going back to North Carry-line-ah in September on a family vacation. That may win back my affections, but right now. I'm mad at mom. I bet get some majorly cool swag from all these places...