Tanks a Lot, Boys!

Storm here. (Amber chose the title for today's post. Can you tell?)

I'm not sure quite how they did it. I tasked the boys to come up with a tank, since our friend Peanut said he wants to join the Ao4 and if we could get a tank ... he said he could be a tanker like his dad was. His brother Flash wants to join up, too - so I thought it would behoove us to get a tank. Though a hard task, I thought it would be a good test for Dave and Zim. Check this out:

Pretty cool. I told them to put it in the driveway, behind the Celica. I'm sure Mom won't mind.

OK... so far, those wanting to join the A04 are: Charlie the Big Dog; Marvin; Pippin and her flock: Tansy, Hamish, Renzo, Rafe and Kyzer; Echo; Holly; Fu Fu; Butchy & Snickers; Marley; K & Kali; Steve & Kat; Sitka; China & Madie; Thor & his Wild Hunt pack; Peanut & Flash; Tubey; Magnum; Jazz & Dixie; Tasha & Eva; the Dachsies (Roxie, Andy & Sammy); and Maddie & Frankie. Anypup else? Holly, Magnum and Tubey - what about your housemates?

Tail wags,
Storm

Sunday Salute - Dogs With Blogs!

This week our Sunday Salute goes out to Dogs With Blogs! It's the 1-year anniversary of this wonderful group of dog bloggers from all over the world! Our friend Pappy has put together an incredibly creative video to mark the special event and our very dear friend Marvin has written a great poem to commemorate the anniversary! These are just some of the ways our fellow dog bloggers are celebrating the day!

This wonderful group was started by our dear friends the beautiful Miss Opy, Charlie the Big Dog, and their bipeds Brooke and Greg of Sydney, Australia! Dogs With Blogs is now over 400 dog bloggers-strong! Incredible! We love the friendship and support this group provides - plus Greg's technical support! He also designed our Ao4 logo!!!!! DWB supports dog rescue - procedes from sales in the DWB store go to support Monika's Doggie Rescue in Australia.

Dave encourages fans of Opy and Charlie to go back and read the Haik-woo he wrote about these very special pups at the links provided!

We are pleased and proud to be members of DWB. For all you do - Brooke, Greg, Opy and Charlie - we salute you and DWB!

The Army of Four

Mail Call!

Ha roo! It's me - Storm! Guess what?!!? We got a package in the mail from Steve and Kat! WOW, what a wonderful surprise! We all stuck our noses in the envelope, then Mom let me check everything out.

WOW! A pretty package of home-made cookies made just for us and a card! The card was a great picture of Kat and Steve. Kat's leg is in Steve's mouth and Steve is saying, "Hopefully these treats will taste as good as Kat's leg." Ha roo roo roo! That made me roll over with laughter!

Oh, those puppies crack me up! Ha roo roo roo!

Their mom was kind enough to list the ingredients she used in the cookies so our mom could make sure everything would agree with our tummies! That was really nice of her! And guess what? Mom gave them the green light!

Check out the expression on my face! Yes, that is my very happy look! Ha roo! I had already read the ingredients myself and knew they were all on the "yes!" list! The boys were still waiting for Mom to check the ingredients - and to tell them they're a go!

Amber was right there, too, but Mom couldn't get all of us in the shot at one time. We were kind of swarming her. We couldn't help it - we knew those cookies were going to be great! Here's Am, savoring the fragrance!

Ooooh, these smell delicious!

Then ... we got to taste one! We thought the look on Amber's face summed everything up! Check out her pupils!

These are incredibly yummy!

THAT is one happy, excited diner!

Kat! Steve! We really loved the card and the cookies are delicious! Your mom should open up her own puppy biscuit bakery ~ seriously! We don't normally get as excited about food as we did with these cookies, but these were amazing - your mom is an incredible baker!!! We loved the special touch of writing our names and messages like "woo" and "mush" on the cookies with yogurt drops!

Thank you SO much for your thoughtfulness! Let us know if your mom's going to open up a bakery - we'd be happy to be on the official taste-tester team!

Tail wags from all of us!
Storm

PS: I'm delighted so many of you want to join the Ao4! I'll post all the details next week. In the meantime, here are the answers to some of your questions:
K & Kali: Following orders? Please. If that was a requirement, a certain someone wouldn't already be a member. Ha roo roo roo. You're with us, aren't you?
Peanut: I've tasked the boys to find us a tank. I gave them Monday as a deadline, so we'll see.
China & Madie: I'll post more info soon, but basically it means we all cover each other's six, stick together in case of trouble, be supportive, and teach each other cool stuff. Are you in?
Everypup else: We accept all willing volunteers!

Kong-on-a-Rope!

Wooooo! It's me, Dave! Did everypuppy just LOVE Amber's happy look from yesterday? She loves to run and run and run and gets so HAPPY! Woo. Me? I like to play with my Kong-on-a-Rope! This is my happy look when I know Mom and me are going to play Kong-on-a-Rope!

I'm ready! Oh pup, oh pup, oh pup! It's Kong-on-a-Rope!

I've posted pix before showing how I love to chase the toy and bring it back and have Mom throw it again. (But I am NOT a Labrador, like somepuppy says!) I also love to play tug!

Mom doesn't let me tug too hard, since I got whomped upside the head by the Tooth Fairy, but we still do gentle tugs!

Pup, do I love playing Kong-on-a-Rope! What are some of your favorite games?

Luv,
Dave

PS: Stormy wanted me to let you know that yes, we will be expanding the Army of Four. Details will be posted within a week. All volunteers please report to our blog and let us know you'd like to join. You must volunteer yourself; your brother cannot draft you! Woo. So far we have Charlie the Big Dog; Marvin; Pippin and her flock: Tansy, Hamish, Renzo, Rafe and Kyzer; Echo; Holly; Fu Fu; and Butchy & Snickers. Have I left anyone out? Who else wants to join?

New Blogging Friends!

Hi, everypuppy! It's me, Amber! I hope everypuppy is happy and is feeling good and is enjoying nice Spring weather. I've had some great play sessions in the back yard lately and when I paused, Mom took this picture of me:

I was very happy because I had been running, running, running and chasing the toy and running, running, running! I love to run!

You know what else I'm happy about? We have some new blogging friends! Echo is writing The Daily Echo now - and we are really glad he's here! Please check out his blog! We remember back when he was born - the wonderful people at MaPaw took in a very pregnant puppy named Sissy and when she had babies, Merlin's Echo was one of them! We helped Mom make some things for a fund-raiser to help defray some of the expenses involved. Here's Davy with a pillow he and Mom made. It has Echo's baby picture on it!!!

He's STILL that cute today - please surf on over to his new blog!!!

Another new friend is Marley, of Marls in Charge! He's a VERY cute little red and white Sibe puppy! He's only about 4 months old and he's just adorable and he's learning how to be the very best Siberian he can be! He seems to think Zim is a good role model, which seems to frighten Mom but has made Stormy very, very proud of her boy puppy! Please check out Marls in Charge, too!

Stormy wants everypup to know she is really pleased that some of our friends want to join the Ao4. She's currently working on a plan and will reveal it when she has the details worked out. Could you imagine me and Hamish working together, shoulder to shoulder!?!? Oh, that would be so fun. I'll bet he loves to run and run and run, too! Or Dave and Marvin working together on a poem or something? Charlie is a great asset to the team; it'll be really nice to add even more to our numbers!

Love to everypuppy,
Amber

ANZACS Day

Today, the 25th of April, is ANZACS Day, the day we honor our friends, the fighting men from Australia and New Zealand. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War, at Gallipoli. (ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.) We at the Ao4 hope you'll visit the links provided to learn more about these brave men and ANZACS Day. (Remember ... anything in light blue is a hyperlink to take you to more info!)

We also have provided this touching video, in remembrance of the sacrifices made by the ANZACS - from the Boer War in 1899 to present .

Today, we will say a prayer of thanks for these brave friends and allies, will send our mom a mind-meld message to bake some ANZACS Biscuits (not that we'd get any, but you never know what she'll drop!), and (on a lighter note) post this picture of one of our best friends from Australia, Charlie the Big Dog - who left home recently to join the Army. Of 4. Now 5. Ha roooo!

We thank God each day for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces - and for our allies as well. To our readers in Australia and New Zealand - we will never forget your friendship.

The Army of Four

Blog Music

Woo! It's me, Dave! We at the Ao4 couldn't help but notice (and enjoy!) the music some of you have on your blogs! Marvin always has some cool tunes playing, Frankie and Maddie had "California Girls" playing for a while, and Ivy has some cool music in her videos, and so does Charlie (a bone-afide member of the Ao5!) ... and lots of other pups ... and we've linked to some songs from time to time. Well, me and Zimmie thought we should come up with some original music for your listening pleasure - so without further adoooo, here we are!

We sound good, don't we? We usually have one sing-along per day and usually the girls join in. They were doing something else at the time, but we'll try to do another song with all of us singing.

As you could hear, Mom came in during our taping session. We didn't want her to know exactly what we were up to, so I clammed up and looked to my little brother for help. Zim changed the subject by going for the quilt. (He's really getting smart - Storm is teaching him all KINDS of great stuff!) ... Oh, and he said the answer to her question is, "Not exactly ... it was more like my nose and gums. Really." Woo.

Have a great day, everypup.

Luv,
Dave

A Giant Discovery!

Hold on to your collars, pups & pup-ettes, it's Zim - with my incredible discovery! So ... where was I on Saturday? Oh, yeah. I helped Mom run an errand, then we decided to drive around town a little on the way home. We wove through campus, then parts of town, then went past City Park. I saw lots of cool pups walking their bipeds, a few squirrels running around and then WHOA!!!!!!!!!

Great Balto, I've found him! Pull over, Mom! Please!!!

Can you puppers see him!?!? It's the GIANT! It's got to be the one we've been tracking for so long now!!! (Newer readers of the Ao4 Digest are encouraged to check out our previous adventures in the land of the Giant at the links here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and WHEW! here.) As you can see from the number of links, we've spent a lot of time and energy looking for the Giant ... and now here he is! Right in the middle of City Park!

Mom pulled over and parked, as per my request. I got out of the car (with Mom on a leash, of course - we Sibes can NEVER trust our bipeds off-lead!), bounced at a couple squirrels, then went over to confront the Giant!

Hey... what's he looking at?

I wasn't one bit scared of him - even though he was so GIGANTIC and all. I mean - I think he was actually scared stiff! He didn't move or anything the whole time I was there. Yeah... I think he was petrified! Scared of the Z-man! Ha rooooooo!

Hey, Giant! Your weed-whacker needs sharpening.

Seriously. The guy was frozen with fear.

I'm not afraid of you, Giant!

I gave him my best "I Am In Charge Here" look, tried to lift my leg on one of his boots (though for some reason, Mom wouldn't let me), then went off to stare at the squirrels.

I told Stormy, Am and Dave all about him when I got home. Dave was more curious about smelling the little Bulldog Babe on me that I met at the vet's, but the girls were REAL excited about my discovery! Storm did some research on the internet and learned the Giant's name is Johnny Kaw and that he carved out all our rivers into the Kansas lands, invented sunflowers, and even controls the Kansas weather. (Yeah, well, he's got some serious 'splaining to do about THAT! I think our Weather Control Device is more effective than he is!) Anyroo, you can see all the other stuff bipeds claim he does at the Johnny Kaw hyperlink above. Sounds like he's responsible for all the cats around here, too! Hmph! I have mixed feelings about this guy - but I DO know he's scared stiff of ME!

We're the Ao4 and we're a force to be reckoned with! Ha rooooo! I found the Giant - and I have no fear!!!!!!

Play bows,
Zim

Sunday Salute - MaPaw!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to our friends at the MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue and Referral Services, Inc. This group of volunteers is dedicated to placing Siberian Huskies from Eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey, Maryland and Deleware into wonderful, appropriate, loving fur-ever homes. They foster Sibes in their own homes and help teach other Sibe owners about the special needs we have.

Our buddy Magnum (pictured at right) writes the MaPaw Fosters' Blog; he does a great job, doesn't he? The good folks at MaPaw have reached out to help quite a few special needs dogs recently and could really use your support! Magnum blogged about some of those pups and gave one way you can help out - plus you can donate directly at the MaPaw site or shop in their store! They even have a line of Army of Four gear - so look for it!!! You could wear a tee shirt, drink from a cup or have a ceramic tile box with our pictures on it -- all sorts of cool stuff! - and support a great rescue group in the process!

Picture one of these cool bumper stickers on your Siberian Utility Vehicle (SUV) - it's Stormy's God Bless America! You could buy one of your own at the MaPaw store!

Dave's twin brother of a different mother Harley (at right) is a MaPaw pup! Harley has a blog of
his own, but he's been very busy and hasn't had time to (p)update it lately. Harley ... where are woo? :)

Princess Casey and Team Husky are also MaPaw-related bloggers! Check out their cool sites!

The MaPaw rescue group has been sponsoring and attending all kinds of great rescue events lately, helping educate the public about Siberians - and they've also been giving canine CPR seminars! If you live in the Eastern PA area, we highly recommend checking them out and sending your bipeds to one of their lectures! CPR - what a great skill to know!

MaPaw is also going to be having an on-line auction soon - we'll be sure to let you knowwhen that happens. They'll have all kinds of cool items for sale, with ALL proceeds going to help homeless Siberians! Dave has been helping our mom make something special for it! Ha roo!

In the meantime, please check out the fund-raiser on Magnum's blog, the MaPaw site, or their on-line store. You could even buy something special with a sweet Amber on it - and help support homeless Sibes!

Please support your favorite doggy rescue group!

There's something for everyone in the MaPaw store! Ha rooooo!

To the pups and bipeds at the MaPaw rescue group - thank you for all you do for homeless, needful Siberians!!! For finding homes for them, educating the public about us Sibes (and teaching canine CPR!), and getting medical care to those with special needs ... we salute you!

The Army of Four

Running Errands

Hey everypup! It's me - Zim! So ... the other day, I saw Mom try to sneak out of the house to go somewhere in the car. I said, "Hey, Mom! Take me with you!" I just love to go for car rides! I even tried sneaking into the garage. I can squirt through that doorway REAL fast when I want to! Anyroo... she said she was just going to go to the vet's to get a couple prescriptions refilled for the girls and would be right back and I said, "I love going to the vet's! Please, take me with you!" She paused, then said, "OK... Quick! Before everyone else hears us!" Cool! I'm in! Though I don't know why she wouldn't let all four of us come ....!

Here I am, cruising past our park. It's the county fair grounds AND the city/county park. They call it CiCo Park. Like "see-co". Mom thought it was "chico" for the longest time ... biped language isn't as articulate as ours, is it, pups?

We pulled in at the vet's and I couldn't wait to go in. The ladies at the Discharge Desk (that's where we pick up meds) are always REALLY sweet! Here I am, being greeted!

Ha roo! I'm here for Storm and Am's meds, please!

She gave Mom the meds while I signed the credit card slip. After that, I offered to eat the potted plant on the desk.

Mom tugged me down for some odd reason and said that really funny, "Zimmieno!" thing. I have no idea what it means.

When we got outside, I met the cutest little English Bulldog! Her name was Daisy or Dixie or something. She was about one year old and was simply adorable! We got to do sniffies with each other and her mom said I was such a handsome, well-behaved gentleman. Well... of COURSE! Mom didn't get any pix of us together, 'cause we were too excited and all - but we did stop over beside the hospital so I could have my picture taken with this Golden Retriever, a vet and a little biped. They weren't nearly as fun as the Bulldog!

I was still looking for my little Bully friend!

We left the vet's and drove around town a little. I saw something INCREDIBLE from the window and asked Mom to pull over! It was what we've been waiting for, pups! I'm out of time today - but be sure to check in on Monday! Wowzers, do I have a story to tell!

Play bows,
Zim

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Woo-s

Woooooooooo! It's me - Dave! Woooooooo!

Is everypup still laughing over the Ruby Red Slippers caper? I can't believe the redheads had that kind of fun before I even got here! Stormy just cracked me up with that story - especially "the rest of the story"! Amber!??! Who'd have thought!?!? Woo.

Stormy got an email from Holly yesterday. I was surprised she wrote to Stormy instead of me ... but she was asking for Stormy's help with some technical computer thingy, so that makes sense. Stormy is really smart! Holly attached a couple of pictures and asked Storm, "Please have my darling Dave vote to choose which he likes best. His opinion means the world to me, so of course will go with what he likes best!" Woo. I looked at both of them ... and got lost in this one.

Woo. It's Hollybollyboo.

I choose this one, Holly. You look very serene and bee-woo-tiful. I couldn't tear myself away!

Good luck with the thingy Stormy was helping you with!

Luv,
Dave

The Rest of the Story

Hey pups! It's me, Stormy! Have you all been on pins and needles waiting to read the rest of the story? Ha roo. I think you'll find it worth the wait.

Before I get to that, let me respond to an insightful question our dear friend (and super model) Chelsea posed yesterday in the "comments" section! It ties in - so please bear with me! She wanted to know, "Stormy, Do your brothers know you are dishing their secrets???" Ha roo roo roo! You're very sweet to ask about that! I wouldn't put anything on our blog that would upset any of my pack-mates; we all like to have fun with each other and the very last thing I'd want to do is publish something everysibe wasn't OK with! I think you all know how I feel about all of my puppies, don't you? Zim is just SUPER fun and is a great student at my School of Siberian Studies. He gets along with EVERYpup he meets and is very charismatic. A bit on the silly and mischievous side, but we love that about him! Amber is the sweetest thing on the face of the earth - honestly. She goes out of her way to do nice things for all of us and always watches over us. She is a master communicator and is excellent at keeping the peace in the pack! She is all things good and true. She's also a great meteorologist and tells funny jokes. And Dave .... though not one of my puppies ... he's just such a lovable lug! I can't understand it; I am the alpha and he doesn't listen to me! But I love him. ??? You'd have to meet him in dog to know. What I'm saying is ... yes, they all know I'm dishing on them - and they think the stories are as funny as I do! Ha roo roo roo!

Back to our story now. Where was I yesterday? Oh, yes. I left you with Mom holding the bag..... so to roo. She and Dad thought that perhaps Zim's newly-given freedoms needed to be cut back a little and that was that. That was ... until our evening walk that day. Mom reached down to scoop up somepuppy other than Zim's poop ... and ... and ... and we heard, "WHAT'S THIS?" Oh, yes. Pieces of the aforementioned ruby red slipper's insole. Large and apparently easily recognizable. So the perpetrator of the crime had a partner. Teamwork. It's one of the many admirable traits of the Siberian Husky! Don't you think?

Mom offered a quick apology to Zim for pointing the sole (pardon the pun) paw at him. And who do you think worked with Zim in the great Ruby Red Slipper Caper?

"...little bit o' sole, yeah, little bit o' sole... hee hee hee"

It was my sweet little girl puppy! You know, the sweet and innocent never-do-anything-wrong, sugar-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth Ammy girl!!??!! Ha roo roo roo! Good one, Amber!

And now you know ... the rest of the story!

Tail wags,
Storms

PS: Who was it who did that "I'm A 'Sole' Man"? Am and Dav... oh, no... he wasn't here yet. Ha roo roo roo! Ha roo roo roo!

Why Mom Can't Leave Kansas

Ha rooo! It’s me – Stormy! I keep laughing about Dave’s banana post from the other day. That was pretty good. Of course, that prompted all of us in the Ao4 to exchange other fun stories – and I told Dave one of my favorites. He’d never heard it; it was from before he’d joined the family. He laughed so hard over it - he thought I should share it with you today. Not a bad idea! Ha roo roo roo! I’m laughing just thinking about it.

This happened a long time ago - a couple months after Zim got here. He was just starting to learn the house rules, earning more privileges. He was at the “free reign if Mom’s home” stage, provided he’d been well-exercised and was “too tired” to get into mischief. (Mom’s words, not mine. I mean … he’s a Siberian. Define “too tired” and “mischief”!??!)

Mom and Dad left Fort Riley, Kansas the first time in '93, for Dad’s next assignment. One of the farewell gifts Mom received was a pair of "ruby red slippers" (à la"Wizard of Oz"), so that she could "get back home". They were VERY cute -- a highly creative person took some pumps, spray painted them red, and put red sequins all over them. Those shoes went with Mom to Maxwell AFB, Alabama,then on to Korea. In '96, they got the word -- reassignment to Ft. Riley, Kansas! Wow! Mom shot off an email to the friend who had made the shoes -- "The ruby red slippers WORK! We're on our way back to Kansas!" Ha roo roo roo. An intra-state move and retirement from the Army later, and here we all are.

Mom had (note the past tense....) the ruby red slippers displayed on a table on the stair landing with a big bouquet of sunflowers. WELL.... she came out of the shower this one day to find one torn up ruby red slipper in the middle of the living room floor. I had made myself at home in Zim's carrier, Amber was asleep in the breakfast room, and again, Dave hadn’t adopted us yet. …Mr. Innocent himself was snoozing by the living room fireplace acting like he had been there the whole time.

I taught him that – never get caught and always have an innocent look on your face. So how did Mom pin it on Zim? In her words, “You just haven't lived until you reach down to police up your Sibe's pooper and it's glittering with red sequins!!!!” Ha roo roo roo! I should have told him not to swallow the evidence! Ha roo! But it was a sight to behold! Mom and Dad were standing there looking at it, laughing like crazy, while people drove down the street staring at them wondering just what in the world could be so funny about poop!

So now you know why Mom can never leave Kansas! How would she get back? Ha roo roo roo.

But wait - there's more!!!!! Please ….. tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story!!!!!

Tail wags,
Storm

Our New Favicon

Ha roo, everypup! It's me - Zim again! Two days in a row - isn't that cool!?!? Stormy said I could! Ha roo!

For those of you whose operating systems support tabbed browsers ... look up at the logo by our address! You should see this: It's our new "Favicon". We saw what the Dachsies were able to do and they helped me figure out how to put our logo (designed by Charlie the Big Dog's dad!) up there instead of the Blogger "B". Thank roo, Dachsies! You guys are the BEST! (Storm was napping, or she would have helped me.)

After all that hard work, I had to go put my feet up for a while.

Have a great day, everypup. Remember to take time out to relax.

Play bows,
Zim

Mail for Us!

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim. Wowzers, guess what?!!? The mailman brought us, the Ao4, a package on Saturday! It smelled incredible!

Sniff, sniff! It's for US!

Ooooh, wow ... it's from Sitka! And she put "love" from Sitka. Ha ROO!

What's in here??!!??

She sent us a bag of some treats (yum!) but what we enjoyed MOST of all was the bee-roo-tiful CARD! There was a picture of Sitka and one of us and really sweet stuff written on it! Here's Storm, reading the card:

Oh, what a nice card!

Sitka has an ocean near where she lives so I asked Storm if the picture of Sitka was from the ocean. I'd really like to have one here in Kansas. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it sounds really fun from what everypup has said. Sitka is going to mail me one someday!

Nah... this is her splashing around in a plastic kiddie pool, Zim. Odds are much better of us having one of those instead of an ocean. They look fun, too!

Thank roo so much from ALL of us, Sitka! You're such a sweet Siber-girl!

Play bows,
Zim

Sunday Salute - HTHNBR!

This week's Sunday Salute goes out to our friends at the Harnessed to Hope Northern Breed Rescue! They work really hard with their bipeds to help Northern Breed dogs find forever homes - they foster them in their own homes, educate bipeds about how to care for them, get them the medical help they need ... and help raise money to off-set those costs!

You probably know some of the members of HTHNBR already! There's the ever-handsome Indy, who (among other things) writes their newsletter!

Oh, sure, his mom claims to write it. But we all know who the real author is!

And there's also the wonderfully fluffy Meeshka!

Help homeless pups, or I'll claw you!

They both work hard to help out homeless puppers! We heard through the Siberian Grapevine about a beautiful carousel HTHNBR is selling as a fund-raiser; one look at it and we knew we had to have it! Little carved sled dogs and a musher going 'round and 'round! And all the proceeds go to helping puppies! How delightful! We sent Mom a mind-meld message about it and she sent off a check right away!

It came in the mail this past week, and even though it's now safely ensconced in the middle of the dining room table, Mom let Dave check it out. He even figured out how to make the sled dogs run!

Run, pups, run! Oooh, this one looks like Holly!

A big THANK WOO to the HTHNBR folks for all they do for our Northern Breed cousins. Meeshka, Indy and all the other Harnessed to Hope volunteers, we salute you!

The Army of Four

Charlie the Big Dog's Haik-Woo!

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Stormy! Have you seen our friend Charlie the Big Dog's blog lately? Not only did he post pictures of himself doing the Hail Me pose (Hail Storm/y) but he's written us a Haik-woo!!! Yeah! Isn't that wonderful?!!? He's taken Dave's art form to new heights and has honored us with a Haik-woo about all of us! Here it is!

We are totally impressed, touched and honored. Dave says it's outstanding and is flattered that Charlie is trying his paw at writing Haik-woo; Zim thinks it's totally cool; and Amber says that we must do something to show Charlie how deeply we cherish this Haik-woo and his friendship. The choice seems clear to me - and I think it was Holly who inspired it with a comment to Charlie. She said he could be "a Siberian in Lab fur, just like Dave is always confused with being a LAB in Siberian fur!!" Exactly. Only there's no confusion -- Dave IS a Lab in a Sibe suit. Ha roo roo roo! (Just kidding, Dave.)

So... by the powers vested in me as the Supreme Commander of the Army of Four and the Dean of the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies ... I hereby declare Charlie the Big Dog to be an honorary Siberian Husky! Dave has marked the occasion (not that kind of marking!) by writing a Haik-woo of his own:

Charlie the Big Dog: Honorary Sibe!

Also, from this day forward, Charlie is an auxiliary member of the Army of Four!

Treats for everyone!

Tail wags,

Stormy
Supreme CDR, Ao4

Going Bananas

Woooooooooooo! It's me - Dave. Here I am, saying, "Woooooo!"

Wooooooooo!

That picture actually has nothing to do with what I was going to post today, but Mom took it a week or so ago and thought it was cute. I thought maybe Holly would like to see it.

The tie-in is that I read a couple emails Holly's mom and my mom sent each other the other day and they seemed to be highly amused by something I did after I first got here. Storm said I should go ahead and post it, partly because she thinks it's funny and partly because she said we're in "peril" (I thought we were in Kansas!) of losing our HULA membership and that Meeshka thinks we're goody 4 pawses. I said we should just say, "Are NOT!" but Storm said this story would do the Ao4 proud. I don't HAVE to do what Stormy says... but I will in this case. And, um ... I usually do.

It all happened shortly after I got here. Remember, I was probably 4 years old at the time and really a pretty good guy. My dad was at work, and Mom was taking us on morning walks. She took me and Stormy first - woo. We had a nice time and then got home and mom asked, "Will you two be OK while I walk Am and Zim?" Stormy gave her "the look" - you know, like "Why wouldn't I be OK? Don't you trust me?" and I gave Mom my "Yes, Mom" look.

Mom took Am and Zimmie on their walk. And I think it was a long walk, 'cuz I remember getting pretty snack-y while they were gone. So ... well ... I decided to get my own snack. That's simple enough, right?

When Mom and the redheads came back, me and Storm were nice and quiet. Storm was by the stove napping like she likes to do. Mom looked around and saw me in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. As she told Holly's mom, there I was "with what remained of the bunch of bananas that had been on TOP of the fridge!" (I think she means the magic cold box. And yes, they were on TOP of it. Were.) We all know bananas are an approved snack for us, so I was just being helpful! I gave her a friendly greeting, "Hi Mom! How was your walk with the redheads? I got my own snack, OK?" I don't know what the big deal was.

Later that day, Mom had to talk to the vet about something else and said, "So... while I have you ... hypothetically, if someone took a bunch of bananas off the top of the fridge and ate probably 2 or more of them... peel and all? You know... hypothetically ... would that be OK?" The vet told Mom, "Hahahahahahaha! Which one of them was it? Hahahahahahaha!" or something like that. And there were a few "How in the WORLD?"s thrown in there. The vet assured Mom I'd be OK but that she should keep an eye on me. Mom thought that was a good idea, bananas or not. I don't know what that means. Besides, it helped firm up the loose stools I'd had since I got out of the slammer.

Mom and the vet wondered if maybe I was getting too much Cosequin DS and that my back legs were turning into springs! I think they were just teasing. I like to sproing, sproing, sproing especially at supper-dupper time. I just don't see what the problem is with me getting my own snack. Woo.

Luv,
Dave

TV Time

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim! How's everypup doing? You know, after the bipeds have dinner, there's nothing I like better than to do zoomies around the living room with Dave for a while then to settle in to watch some TV. How about you? Do you pups like TV?

One of my favorite shows is COPS. The theme song is pretty cool and is great to sing during a zoomies session with Dave - but what I really like is when a K9 cop is involved in bringing down the bad guy! Here I am, watching an episode with a police puppy involved!

Yeah! Get him, Rex!

I could hear him yelling at the bad guy! It was so cool! And very realistic! I thought he was right inside our TV cabinet!

Hey! Where are you, K9 cop? Rex? Where are roo?

Pretty cool, huh? I've also got a favorite commercial out there. No ... not the one where the guy calls his dog "Mr. Barky von Schnauzer" - though for some reason, that always cracks my mom up. My favorite commercial is the one below, for Jeep. It has a "wolf" in it. But we think up until they show him snarling, it's the most Siberian-looking "wolf" we've ever seen. Stormy thinks it IS a Siberian and they had to teach him how to make the growly-face. He's just acting! Here it is:

What do you all think - a wolf or a Sibe pretending to be a wolf? Maybe a Malamute at most ...

Play bows,
Zim

Haik-woo #35

Wooo! It's me, everydoggie! Dave! As Amber promised yesterday, I have written a new Haik-woo I'd like to share with all of you. Just to re-cap, a Haik-woo is my own Siberian version of the Japanese form of poetry called haiku. Haiku is three lines of non-rhyming verse, 17 total syllables: 5 in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last. In Haik-woo, it's the same thing - except the last word is always "woo". That's my favorite thing to say, so I finish every poem with it. Woo.

It's been a long time since I've been inspired to write a Haik-woo, but the great sleepy poses everypup has been posting are really something I can relate to! They're all so bee-woo-tiful! The Beagle Babes, as Zim calls them, Jazz and Dixie, just looked SO warm and snuggly ..... that, well, without further ado... I give you Haik-woo #35:

I hope all of you like it. Jazz and Dixie have also inspired me to go take a nap ... so I wish you all a great day!

Luv,

Dave

Sleeping Ammy

Hi everypuppy! It's Amber! I'm so glad you liked the "hot, cross bunnies" joke I told Zimmie! Hee hee hee! I just love that one! Did you know my nickname is "Zichick", which is Ukrainian for "rabbit"? It has to do with the growth spurt my ears and legs went through when I was a little girl ... but anyway, I like bunny-related things!

Stormy said I was up for posting sleepy pictures. I do a lot of the same poses as everypuppy else - but mostly I like the Side-Layer. Like this:

That's the Side-Layer on the Bed, Brown Eye Up. Here I am on our very cool Ao4 quilt in just about the same pose:

It's very comfy. It's better than the Doggy Doughnut for watching everypuppy else. I always like to stand guard over my pack; it's what I do. I especially like laying on the landing where I can see everypuppy. I do the same thing wherever the pack goes - and we usually all have to be where I can see us all - bipeds and Sibes alike! I have to know that everyone is safe!

This one is downstairs - it's a Side-Layer with the Paw Tuck. I like tucking my paw under me like that.

Lastly, here's a Side-Layer in the Living Room, Blue Eye Up. It might look the same as the Brown Eye Up to you, but it's really very different.

Really. I get a whole different perspective this way.

Have a happy day, everypuppy! And make sure you stop by tomorrow - Davy has written a new Haik-woo!

Love,

Amber