Poppies?

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber! Mom took me outside to play the other day and before it started to rain (AGAIN!), she asked me to pose by the potted posies under the Purple Ash tree. OK! I remembered Zim posing there and posting the pix the other day ... and how that bunny ate the poppies. But look! The pots are BURSTING with posies!

Kind of funny-looking poppies, Mom! But they're pretty!

Then she told me they aren't poppies, they are portulaca. Ooooh. I hope the bunnies don't eat these!

Did you say, "Portulaca"? Oooh, I love those!

Uh-oh. Mom's not going to be a happy camper! I think it's time to reapply the Bunny-Be-Gone!

Until next time!

Love,
Amber

P-Updated Mission

Ha roo! It's Zim again today - Drill SGT Zim. We've added a few more new Troopers overnight, so make sure you click our cool animated gif file in the sidebar to view our whole Army! A big welcome to MayaMarie (The Husky in the Window), Guinness & Shiloh, Macie & Malechai ... and I think that's everypuppy! Give me a bark out if I missed anypup!

As promised, I have a p-updated mission for the Troopers in the Ao4. Before you watch the video, I should remind you that I was chained to a tree for the first year and a half of my life. I hadn't even had time to learn how to sing like a Siberian before I was whisked away from my bio-mama ... so I learned from the only source I had -- the coyotes. Yep, I could hear them singing to me at night, so I learned to answer them back in their own language.
Since coming here, I've been studying the ways of the Siberian at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies. Storm has taught me all kinds of languages - Siberian, of course, (I can imitate Storm perfectly and can even fool Dad sometimes with my voice, thinking I'm Storm! How cool!) and biped English & French, and some Cat. I also speak Dyson and just a little bit of a few other languages. Anyroo ... that being said, I've chosen to deliver my message in my first language - Coyote. Mostly, anyway. I threw a little Siberian in, just for good measure. For those who may not be able to understand me, Dave is in the background, translating word-by-word into Siberian - like he did when Storm used the universal canine language of Bark. Unfortunately, I do not speak much Bark ... so do the best with what Dave and I are giving you!

Hit replay if you need it! Good luck, Troopers!

Play bows,

SGT Zim

New Troopers in the Ao4

Ha roo, everypup! Drill SGT Zim here!

We are pleased to announce that we have some new members in our Troopers in the Ao4! How exciting! Please give a big ha-rooo to The Newfs of Hazard (Princess, Tank and Isaac), Sasha, and the Kapp Pack (Kelsey Ann, Sky, and Canyon) and Amici! This is so cool - check out the list of Troopers -- we ARE Army strong!

If you're on the list and have not emailed us to get the cool code for your sidebar, please do so! It's fun to be all linked together! Remember Stormy's mission for us that she posted a while ago? I've got an update on that; I'll post it tomorrow. For now ... we had some rain that really cooled things off, so I'm going to go play with my cool camo football!

Harr! I mean "hoo-ah!"

It's the coolest toy EVER!

Play bows,
Zim

Ask the Ao4 XVIII - Junebugs!

Tail wags, pups! It's me - Stormy. Our dear puppy friend Kat left a great comment the other day on Zim's post about the Bee's Knees. She said that she loves to chase a bug that comes out at night. She told us, "Dad calls them 'Junebugs'. I wonder if next month he will call them 'Julybugs'." Great question, Kat!

First, let me clarify one thing. When I first heard Zim mention "Junebug", I thought he meant Harley's sister, Juno... who occasionally goes by the nickname Junebug! It would be really cool to chase her around, too .... but then I realized Zim meant the real BUG kind of Junebug, pictured at right. Hmm. We don't have a lot of Junebugs here right now. They seem to come out in May, then disappear until August... which really makes me wonder about the name, too. I did a little research and found out the bipeds also call Junebugs "May Beetles" ... so I'm going to have to say that it's only fair that we call Junebugs "Julybugs" next month, then "Augustbugs". It only makes sense. Except for Juno - we'll stick with "Junebug" for her. OK?

OK ... I'm going to play with my cool toy for a while ...

...then go in before it gets too hot.

Have a great day, everypup! Stay cool!

Tail wags,
Stormy

Speaking of Bugs ...

Woo! Dave here! Zim mentioned those bee bugs in his post yesterday - and some of you left comments about some other cool bugs! Kat mentioned June bugs (I'm not sure if they'll be called July bugs next month ... I'll have to ask Stormy, Kat!), Kelsey Ann & Canyon mentioned the cicadas (oh, I love it when I catch one of those and they buzz around in my mouth!), a lot of puppies seem to know to keep away from bees of all sorts!, and Echo mentioned one of my favorites - the lightning bug! I wrote a Haik-woo about them last year. It's Haik-woo #15:

Yeah, they're my favorite. Zim finds all KINDS of cool bugs; I don't think he has a favorite! Amber likes grasshoppers best, I think. She likes to pounce them. Stormy likes to do gentle nose pokes with all kinds of bugs - but she's VERY anti-fly! In the house, anywoo. How about the rest of you - what are your favorite bugs?

Luv,
Dave

Ask the Ao4 XVII - The Bee's Knees?

Hey, everypup! It's me - Zimmie! We got this really great question from our sweet friend Madie! I think it was sparked by Stormy's post about cat's pajamas and bee's knees and all! Madie said, "Speaking of bees...this morning I saw a bumble bee and was just innocently sniffing it and Mom kept telling me 'MADIENO! EHMADIE!' And she said I better not bite the bee cuz it will sting my tongue and make it swell up...I don't know why she's telling me all this when I just wanted to sniff the bee!!! What's wrong with a little bee sniffing??? I also was checking to see if the bee had knees since you all keep talking about the bee's knees! Zimmie do you have any advice to get my Mom to chill out and let me sniff the bees?" Madie, you and I have SO much in common! I tried to check on that "bee's knees" thing myself just the other day!

Mom wanted to get some pictures of her Sunburst Hypericum bushes, so I naturally volunteered to help! What's a picture of our landscaping without ME in it?!!? I was about to strike a pose, when I spotted something!

Hey! It's a bee! Not a bumble bee like Madie saw ... but it's a bee!

Hey ... hey, little bee! Do you have knees!?!?

He wouldn't answer me, so I tried to get a little closer.

Hey, c'mon! Show me your knees!

Oddly enough, Madie, I got that "NonoZimmienono!" thing. I'm not sure what Mom means by that, but I think it's similar to your mom's "MADIENO! EHMADIE!" thing. The only way I've found to stop the "NonoZimmienono!" thing is to do a cute pose. Real fast.

I'm Mr. Innocent, Mom! Here ... let me smile for the camera!

Mom stopped the "NonoZimmienono" thing, but wouldn't budge on the bee-inspection issue. She told me a story about my Great Uncle Rookie getting up close and personal (uh... I mean "canine-al") with a bee wearing a yellow jacket and it bit him on the nose and gave him a big owie! Just from sniffing it! I decided I didn't really need to check on the knee thing after hearing that.

So Madie, even though I don't really understand the whole "MADIENO! EHMADIE!" thing, or other related "nonono" phrases, I do understand that if you or I get close enough to the bees to check for knees, we'll get an owie like Great Uncle Rookie got. Your mom is trying to protect you! That's really pretty cool. You should lick her on the nose for that! Or better still, poke her in the back of HER knees with an icy cold nose, yell "Ha roo roo roo" at her, then run ten feet away and play bow at her. My mom loves it when I do that!

Hope that helps!

Play bows,
Zim

Sunday Salute - Maui!

Today's Sunday Salute goes out to our feline friend Maui of Florida! That's right, the sister of Bryn; we saluted both of them back in December, shortly after they were adopted! This is an update on Maui and a Salute to her!

At first, we were a bit alarmed! She sent us these pictures and we thought she'd turned into a Giant Cat! YIKES!

Pretty scary, don't you think? But then we saw this picture of her next to Bryn, telling Bryn a secret and we knew it was just an optical illusion! Whew! She's normal kitty-size!

So ... I heard the bipeds talking ... and I think I have this whole thing figured out ... OH! Shhh! Here they come! I'll tell you later!

She and Bryn seem to have a very loving relationship - though we did hear a rumor that Maui is the alpha. Hmph. A cat in charge? We're not sure we like the sound of that! But look at her doing a Quality Control Inspection on a little quilt their mom made for Bryn!

This one looks the most like Bryn! No ... maybe this one!

It's really sweet of her to make sure it's good enough for Bryn, isn't it? In fact, she seems to spend a lot of time inspecting quilts! Here she is on another job:

Ooooh, flannel! I like this!

Who knew kitties were such hard workers!?!? She also supervises workers. Here she is making sure the plumber is doing his job correctly.

Note how she made him stop what he was doing to scratch her ears. A caring supervisor will allow the workers a break, to relieve stress and tension. Maui is making sure this man will be happy and content in his work!

With all the hard work she does, we were a bit concerned that though we saw Bryn's cool sleepy quilt, we didn't see one for Maui. She assured us she had someplace very comfy, just for her.

Oooooh, comfy!

Oh, wait. No. Not that one. That's her mom's chair. Here's Maui taking a cat-nap (ha roo roo roo) in a little bed her mom made just for her!

Look at that angelic face! But she does have her wild side! She told us, "I took pouncing lessons from watching Simba in 'Lion King'!" (Not our friend Simba in the UK, this one lives in the World of Disney. Or something like that!)

Ready or not, here I come!

Maui, you're doing so great in your fur-ever home! We love the bond between you and Bryn, admire the hard, hard work you put into inspecting quilts and supervising bipeds, and the training you're doing to pounce like a lion! For these things and the myriad of other things you do to enrich your bipeds' lives, Maui, we salute you!

The Army of Four

Ask the Ao4 XVI - A Shoe In

Woo! It's me - Dave! Based on Stormy's system of pairing up the right pup with your great Ask the Ao4 questions ... I get to respond to one from our friend Nugget! She said, "Lately I find Mum's shoes irresistible or the 'bee's knees'! I have never chewed her shoes before and now I have done it twice in the last two weeks. What power do you think these shoes hold over me? I can't help myself!" Woo. Love that "bee's knees" thing!

Nugget, it's never the pup's fault if there's something "funny" going on. Is there a change in your life? You're definitely sending your mom a message. You must really love your mom and just want something of hers for your very own! Or maybe she went somewhere reallllly interesting in the shoes? I don't like it when my mom goes out without me. I'm her Davy - I should always be with her!

You know that old saying about how pups and their bipeds start to look alike, the more time they spend together?

I'd say Mom and I are spending just the right amount of time together, wouldn't you?

I think you just miss your mom. Your mom is the bee's knees! That's my professional opinion as a mama's pup. Woo. I hope this helps, Nugget!

Luv,
Dave

Magic Bean P-Update!

Ha roo, pups! It's me, Zim! A big THANK ROO to everypup for sticking up for me yesterday after all those false accusations! It's good to have friends!

Hey, remember a few months ago when I got the package of Magic Beans from my Aunt Janet?!?! I thought I'd give you a p-update on how everything is doing!

I helped Mom plant some oriental poppies in the pots under the Purple Ash tree in the backyard. Unfortunately, while Mom was trying to sprinkle the tiny seeds in one of the pots, a big gust of Kansas wind blew in - and the whole packet went into the pot. Oh well ... we figured we could thin them out later. They came in really good - there were tons of little seedlings in there! So... the other day, I went over to check out how they were doing.

Hey... where did all the little poppies go?

That's funny ... there were so many in there ... and now they're almost all gone! I had to sit down and think this through. We've been watering and everything ... where could they have gone?

Hey! Hey! What's up there?

Tell your Aunt Janet they were deeeee-licious!

Oh, PUP! I'm sure glad Mom sprayed Bunny-Be-Gone on my Magic Beans to grow my Beanstalk! I better go check those out!

Whew! This one looks OK!

We put three pots in, so I think we have a chance of getting a good escape route if the Giant ever comes after us! I should give them a little encouragement!

C'mon, little bean-ling! You can do it!

That's our p-update for now! I'll keep you posted.

Play bows,
Zim

Ask the Ao4 XV - Eat Your Veggies ... & Other Stuff

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim! Storm asked me to reply to a question we got from our pals Macie and Malechai. It was about veggies - right up my alley. I love eating my greens! Anyroo, M & M wrote, "...can we Huskies have asparagus & brussels sprouts? We get all kinds of good veggies (green beans, broccoli, carrots, etc.) but the lady wasn't sure about the other 2 & we think they would be very tasty!" Great question! As Amber reminded us in Ask the Ao4 IV, Stormy says that we are canines and the world is our salad bar. I say go for the asparagus! I can't find a single mention of it on the Forbidden Foods list. Just don't over-do! As per the brussels sprouts ... I'm a wee bit leery of those. They're like mini cabbages and those lead to gas! Gas could lead to all kinds of problems with our insides (and making us rather ... unpleasant to be around) ... so I'd avoid them. As would Mom. Unless they're the ones her friend Betsey made; it's the only time she liked them. I think there was bacon involved. Mmmm.... bacon!

Speaking of getting enough veggies... as you may know, I love helping Mom with the landscaping and other yard work duties. Some of you have asked how our yard and gardens stay so nice, actually, and that's the key - Mom and Dad have got me to help them! Ha roooooo! Anyroo, Mom's got this really cool pot of posies and stuff out front. Here it is:

Pretty, isn't it? Dave and I got to help "tend" it yesterday. Here we are - helping:

I had my eye (and my nose) on the sweet potato vine at first (Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie', for those of you playing along on the home version!) but then I decided to check something else out. And then, grab this by the neck and shake it, Mom accused me of trying to eat the geraniums! ME?!!? Innocent little Zimmie, trying to eat the geraniums?!?! Really...

...how does she come up with these things? I can't believe how fast the accusations fly around here!

Stay cool, remember to eat your veggies, and have a great day, everypup!

Play bows,
Zim

Ask the Ao4 XIV - Cat's Pajamas and storms With a Little "S"

Ha roo, readers! It's me - Stormy! Today I'm getting back to some of the great questions you've sent in for our Ask the Ao4 column. You have all come up with some interesting queries!

Many of you have said really nice things about our deck - thank you so much for the compliments! Our little Sibe buddy Marley was confused by a comment he heard his mom make! He told us, "My Mom thinks that your deck is the 'cat's pajamas'. What?!?!?!" Oooh, yeah. I've heard this expression! And the cat's meow or cat's whiskers! VERY confusing, this biped language! The cat's pajamas is an American expression that came about in the 1920s - in the jazz-age, flapper era. It was used to describe a wonderful or stylish person or thing. They used a lot of "different" expressions in the '20s! Some guy named Stuart Flexner, in I Hear America Talking, wrote about similar expressions, "...just about any combination of an animal, fish, or fowl with a part of the body or article of clothing that was inappropriate for it: the bee's knees, the snake's hips, the clam's garter, the eel's ankle, the elephant's instep, the tiger's spots, the leopard's stripes, the sardine's whiskers, the pig's wings." I can only begin to think about how this is going to make Marvin's and Amber's heads spin. Ha roo roo roo! Marley, apparently your mom's comment really has nothing to do with felines in PJs - but was a lovely compliment! Please tell her thank roo for us!

Our dear friend China left us the following message, "Oh Stormy, my Mom said it's Stormy outside tonight and I looked out the window but I didn't see you all I saw was rain and I heard thunder and I saw little balls of ice too! So I hope you weren't out there in that stuff! What in the world was my Mom talking about? I told Madie about it and she said I should ask you on your blog cuz you are smart about these things! Did you try to come visit us?" Oh, China, my sweet friend! No, no, that wasn't me! This is another confusing one! As much as I would love to come visit you and Madie and your parents, that was my archnemesis, "storm" with a small "s"! I don't care for storms with a small "s"!

My archnemesis - storm with a small "s".

Me. Storms with a capital "S".

I get rather panicky when small "s" stormy weather comes to call on us, truth be told. Mom tells me there is nothing to worry about and gives me something to help soothe me a bit.... but I just DO NOT care for storms with a small "s"! If it was me out there, Storms with a capital "S", I would have politely scratched on your door or something. No thunder and lightening from me!

This leads me to a rather dear question from Lola! It was for Zim, actually, but he's got the day off today - and while I'm on the subject, I'll field this one. Lola wrote, "I have a question for my handsome Zim: Are you afraid of thunder? I have decided I am." Lola, Zim pretty much has no fear of anything. Except perhaps people who move too fast. Or me. Ha roo roo roo! Just kidding on that second one.

The handsome SGT Zim

Maybe your mom could look for the special elixir my mom gives me? It really helps me out.

I hope that clears up the confusion, Marley and China! And Lola ... maybe Tubey will be elected president. If he is, he is going to ban thunder and lightening!

Keep those cards and letters coming, pups!

Tail wags,
Storms (with a capital "S")

My Cool Camo Football!

Hi and ha roo, everypuppy, it's Amber! Did everypup enjoy seeing Stormy playing with her nice arctic camo bone yesterday?!? She really appreciated all your kind remarks about how good she looks - coat-wise and energy-wise! She is feeling really GOOD! Ha roooooo!

As promised, I have some videos for you today of me playing with my VERY nice camo football! Here is the first one - it shows how we exit the house for play-time! We go out the glass atrium door in the kitchen into the screened in deck, across the main upper deck, then jump down onto the small landing by the first gate! Here's how the rest of it goes!

I stopped at the wicker trunk because that's where most of our special outside toys are - but Mom had my cool camo football instead! Can you hear it squeak? Ha roo!

We played down on the second tier there - it was fun! You can probably hear the wind - that made it a little hard for Mom to throw the ball sometimes; one time it took a bad bounce and went down over the retaining wall and into the third tier! Oh no! You might notice that I don't have my leash on, like I often do out there. Sometimes I forget the retaining walls are pretty high in some places and I jump right off them! Or jump up on them! But I've learned not to jump off the high places now - and so when Mom said, "Wait, Am! Wait!" I did! She went way around and got the ball herself. She's a pretty good retriever. :)

Here I am, not jumping.

You've heard of Nanook of the North? Check out my pose -

I'm Amber of the Midwest!

I hope your enjoyed my videos and photos! And now I have a question for you ... how do you get down off our deck? Anypuppy? Anypuppy at all?

Give up? Well... you don't get down off our deck ... you get down off a duck. Hee hee hee! (Marvin said he was hoping for one of my jokes today ... so I had to write that!)

Have a happy day, everypuppy! Love,
Amber

My Cool Arctic Camo Bone!

Ha roo, pups! It's Stormy! Mom finally shot some footage of us girls playing in the yard with the cool toys that Opy and Charlie sent us! (The boys were otherwise engaged... but I'm sure she'll do vids of them soon!) I got to play with my very favorite one - the bone with the arctic camouflage! It's so cool! Here I am!

Notice how I let Mom get a good shot of it near the end? Isn't it just the coolest??? (Sorry about the noise from our wind!)

Am will upload her video tomorrow!

Tail wags,

Storms

PS: Summer and Prince! Please let your mom know that our mom figured out another way for you to access the video. Try clicking here if the embedded vid won't play for you! Does that work?

Sunday Salute - Our Dad!

It's Father's Day here in the States, so it is our total pleasure to Salute our dad!

Our dad is the best dad we've ever had! He takes us on great adventures, runs us, and gives us wonderful treats! Here we are from a few days ago, all lined up for Daily Banana Formation:

Dad's the tall one there by the counter. As you can see, we're all sitting at attention!

He's also really patient with us when we're being ... well, you know. Siberians. He's really patient with mom, too, when she wants to stop to take pictures or to ask his help with our blog. And then there are all the trips to the yard to go potty. Ha roo.

Dave wrote Haik-woo #26 for him last year, and we'd like to post it today, on behalf of all of us:

Remember to honor your dad today! We ran and walked ours early this morning, beating the heat. This afternoon after his golf match, we plan to help him watch the last day of the US Open. Good Dad-Sibes bonding time!

Dad, for the MANY things you do for us and with us, we salute you! Happy Dad's Day!

The Army of Four

PS: As promised, next Sunday's Salute will go to our friend Maui!

Ask the Ao4 XIII - Bunny-Be-Gone!

Ha roo, everypuppy, it's me - Amber! We had an urgent cry for help from Simba. He has a serious problem and said that some of our fellow bloggers advised him to seek our help. Simba, you've come to the right place - I think we have an answer for you! Stormy thought I should answer this one, so here goes!
Simba told us that his blog was taken over by an evil rabbit who tried to poison him! "The rabbit is in league with one cat (Peanuts) and Girasol seems to think they are all been lead by a squirrel," Simba said. The rabbit is under hutch arrest, he continued to say, and, "CSI say they'll deal with her but I think they may let her off with a warning. Her Daddy is very rich. Please help." This is a very serious situation!

We have a slight problem with rabbits, too. Or we did. They were all over our garden, devouring entire bushes and potted flowers. And they're vicious! Here's one trying to attack my mom when she was out watering:

But you'll note I said they "were" all over our garden. Past tense! Our mom went to the garden place and bought a little thing she's been referring to as Bunny-Be-Gone. Get yourself a container of it, Simba. Mom sprayed it all over our garden and the rabbits HATE it! I think you could just threaten your rabbit with it - you know, leave your blog alone or you'll spray around her hutch - stuff like that. It smells so foul she'll be doing your bidding just to avoid the stench. Seriously. After just one application in our garden, we have growth back on our Oak Leaf Hydrangea, the magic beans Zim planted, and the Euonymus. I think it could do wonders for you! Mom recommends wearing a gas mask if you uncap it.

As per the cat known as Peanuts ... do you think she's a member of the Cat (un)Intelligence Agency, the C(un)IA? That group is a real menace, and I hope it hasn't spread over to the UK where you live! Maybe Bunny-Be-Gone would work on Peanuts ... ???

About the squirrel connection. Girasol could be right! As our dear friend Ivy would say, "Squirrels are EVIL!" I wouldn't put anything past them! There seems to be something of an event for squirrels going on this weekend near Pittsburgh, PA, though - see? Here's their logo:

Dad is watching it and I've heard some of the commentary. They've mentioned "players" from all over the world, so I think most squirrels are going to be there. The one instigating all the trouble in your area should be there - so now is the time to get busy with the Bunny-Be-Gone. There will be nothing left of his little band of trouble-makers when he gets back!

I hope this helps, Simba! Good luck!

Love,
Amber

Mystery Photo

Hi everypuppy, it's Amber! Does anypuppy know what this is?

As a hint, please see the comment my favorite Scotspup left on yesterday's blog. Get it? Marvin said, "...But now I understand, Specialists answering in their own fields..............ooooh now I am getting very confused again." The picture is ... me. Answering in my own field. :)

Hee hee hee.

Love,
Amber

Ask the Ao4 XII - Taking Turns, Posing for Pix, and Cookies!

Woo! Dave here - ready to post on behalf of the Ao4 today! Before I do, though, I want to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the US Army! Hoo-ah!


We think this occasion calls for cake, and we know our buddy Echo would agree! Echo, I put your email address in the computer, and am sending this to you through the "D" drive.

I think all you have to do is fire up your CD/DVD drive, hit "print" and it'll be there for you. Woo.

It's also Flag Day here in the States, a day set aside to honor our flag, its designers and makers. Once the rain is past us, I'll help mom post the colors!

Stormy said I could respond to a couple of the Ask the Ao4 questions! Thanks, Storm! The first one is from our very best friend in all of Scotland - Marvin! He asked Stormy, "How do you decide whose turn it is to write a post on your Blog? I have often wondered, and do you fight over whose turn it may be? I look forward to hearing a clever answer soon." Woo. Stormy is the one who makes the decision about whose turn it is to blog and who fields the Ask the Ao4 questions - she is our Supreme Commander, you know! She is great about letting somepuppy post if he or she has a really exciting idea, though! I'm sure she let ME answer this one because you wanted a "clever" answer. Woo. (Why is Stormy ha roo roo roo-ing at me?) Anywoo, she tasks the resident subject area expert to do the blog - like I wrote about baths, Ammy wrote about the Snowball bushes, Zim shared his expertise on drills with us, and Stormy answers the hard ones or really confusing ones, like about that Windy babe having Stormy's eyes! (I hope K feels better about that; I'm still a bit freaked out, myself.) And fighting over turns? Nah. We share well! We're not the fighting sort!

Our good friend Boomer wanted to know, "How do your mom and dad get you all to pose so pretty for the camera? My mom would love to know!" First, Mom said to say, "Thank you" for the nice compliment! She said it boils down to two different approaches, both starting with a nice digital camera, lots of shots taken so she has lots to choose from, and the old adage of A Tired Siberian is a Good Siberian. Woo. That being said, the first approach is to catch us doing something we love, so we are relaxed and acting like ourselves. Those are things like playing in the yard, exploring, being out on walkies, working, or napping. Stuff like that. The other approach is either being in an Ao4 formation - where we MUST behave! - or ... a picture being worth a thousand woos ...

I think you know what I mean. Woo. As our vets have said, we Ao4 members are not food-aggressive, but we are food-motivated! Especially me. And ... well, especially me.

This leads to a great question from our pal Steve in my former home state of Texas! Steve wanted to know the answer to one of life's great mysteries. "How can I get my mom to give me cookies whenever I want them? See my blog for more details." Woo. So... your mom, who bakes the BEST cookies a pup could ever want made cookies you and Kat couldn't have? I just don't get that. No, I don't. I wanted to field this one myself, but I was at a loss. I had to consult with Storm. She really liked the pouting pose you did, Steve. She said you could punch it up a bit by combining it with the Sad Eyes Look. As you do that, Steve, she said to throw in a mind-meld message that you need cookies. Big time. Stormy's really smart! I think this will work. Get Kat and Wilbur to help. Chant it together, "We... need... cookies! We... need... cookies!" Let me know how it goes for you! If it doesn't work, all of us out here in Siber-space can join in. That'll be sure to do the trick! Our mom tried baking cookies for us after we went crazy over the ones you sent us that your mom made. They were OK, but didn't measure up to your mom's! She needs to try again, using your mom's recipe. In fact, today would be a good day to try. "We... need... cookies, too! We... need... cookies, too!"

I hope this all helps, woo guys! Let me know - and keep those great questions coming!

Luv,
Dave

Package Contents Revealed!

Ha roo, pupper-ooohs! It's Stormy again! Now ... what were all those guesses about the contents of our surprise package? They were all great guesses! A Lab in Sibe's Clothing? Cookies? Treats? CAKE? Much-needed dog hair to decorate the living room? DWB gear? Bones? Vegemite or something with kangaroo? (Our mom looked up what Tim Tams are and started drooling on the keyboard, kandle!) Any other guesses?

Any more guesses?
Stormy... I just can't wait much longer! I've GOT to know!

After sitting patiently and hearing all of your guesses, I let Zim open the package to see what Charlie and Opy and their wonderful bipeds sent!

Go ahead, Zim. I've got you covered!

As some of you may remember, Zim is really good at getting into things! I knew he was the right guy for the job! And look! Look at what Charlie the Big Dog and Opy sent us!!!

WOW!

It's a really cute picture of the two of them - and TOYS! (Two are shaped like bones, Nugget, so you were right!) They're really cool camo-covered toys - two like bones and two footballs! They're just perfect for the Army of Four!!!

At first, Zim and I both wanted the camo bone ...

...until he saw one of the cool footballs!

Wowzers! A G.I. Dog football! Cool!

Dave said he really liked the camo bone Zim and I were sniffing at, so I made a command decision that he should have it.

I just LOVE this one!

I decided the arctic-camo bone was even COOLER, (you know ... "arctic" ... "cool" ... a little Siberian humor there!) so I got to be the first one to play with it!

Oooh, arctic camouflage!

And Amber - well, Amber loves to play football, so I had a feeling I knew which one she'd want to play with first! And she had so much fun tossing this one around and making it squeak that she just exhausted herself!

I just love this new toy!

It's been raining, raining, raining, so we haven't gotten to play with these in the backyard, but when we do, we'll be sure to take pictures!

Thank roo again - from all of us - to Opy, Charlie, Brooke and Greg! We just love our cool camo Army toys!!! Ha rooooooo!

Tail wags,
Storms