Stinky! Stinky Goodness!

♫  Tastiest treats in the land!  (Sing it with me, everyone!)  Stinky!  Stinky Goodness!  Mom's got it all over her hands!  Stinky!  Stinky...

Oh.  Sorry.  Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  I got a little carried away there.  Yesterday I helped Mom whip up a batch of Zim's Stinky Goodness Jerky Treats.

Maybe it's just because it was over 100℉ out on our deck while they were cooking away, but these are some of the yummiest Stinky Goodness treats since... well, since we made the last batch.  Ha roo roo roo!  But the heat did seem to increase the lovely fragrance.  I just don't understand why Mom insists on cooking them outside.  Imagine that smell permeating into everything in the house!  Mmm-mm!

I did my best to help!

"Wait, Mom!  I should taste-test that!"

I'd hate for Mom to go to all that trouble and have the Stinky Goodness be less than superb!

♫  (Mom's makin'..) Stinky!  Stinky Goodness!  Makin' stinky goodness treats for her boy!  Stinky!  Stinky Goodness!  The smell makes her want to say "OY!"  Stinky... Stinky Goodness....

Play bows,
Zim

PS:  Dave asked me to let you know:  for those of you who admired the fabric in Tuesday's post and wanted to see the finished product - he did have a hyperlink in there to the bag he and Mom made!  Click here if you'd like to see it!

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

Thinking On Some Fabric

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me - Dave.  I know you're familiar with how hard I work down in the Studio as my mom's Guide Dog for the Color Blind.  Sometimes I have to check the fabric out up here on the main level of the house, though.  Before it goes into the wash.

Take just over a month ago, when Mom got some fabric in for us to make a bag for Mom's cousin.  The fabric was really different from what I'm used to.  Mom let me have a look at it, and because it was so unique, I had to do some heavy thinking on it.

After much consideration, I found the prints very restful.

Luv,

Dave

I Did Movie Night!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  I know you've seen Dave's posts about doing movie night with Mom - he's such an expert at it, he even wrote a tutorial to help the rest of us out!  He's such a cool guy!  So there I was the other night, looking for something to get into  something to occupy myself with, when I thought I'd see what Mom was doing.

"Hey, Mom.  What's shakin'?"

See that shadow to my left? At the right of the photo? Any guesses as to what that might be?

"Ha roo roo roo!"

Did anyone guess "Dave's head"? Ha roo roo roo!

Anyway, it hit me - it was Movie Night!  I thought this was my big chance to give his tute a go! Dave thought that sounded like a great idea EXCEPT...

"MINE!"

...that he had dibs on Mom. Fine. I like my own space anyway!

"Mom?  Hi Mom.  Mom?"

I settled in just in front of them and checked the TV. Normally I only like episodes of COPS when they have police pups on or westerns when they let the horses have speaking parts, but I really liked this:

"Oh... it's that evil Kim Jong Il guy..."

It was a documentary on North Korea called Kimjongilia.  I highly recommend it, as do Mom and Dad.  It's on that Netflix thing - check it out!

Dave said I did really good at Movie Night.  Especially since I let him have Mom all to himself.

I hope all of you had a good weekend!

Play bows,
Zim

Serene Scenery ... Umm ... Wait a Minute ...

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  I was all prepared to bring you some serene pictures to help you relax on this beautiful Sunday morning -- you know, like a pic of a Day Lily:

Our Aunt Janet sent us the seeds for that one. Isn't it pretty? She also sent us this Butterfly Weed:

It's even bigger than that now; that picture is a week or so old. Then I thought, "How about a sky shot?" So I have this:

Wooooo! Mammatus Clouds from one of our very stormy evenings. Those clouds are really cool, but usually are associated with really bad weather. You know, like thunder and lightning and hail and tornados and Dad telling Mom to stop taking pictures and get in the house and stuff like that.  That didn't seem too serene at all.  So then I thought maybe I'd post a picture of Zim at the Kansas Ocean!

"Sing to me, Froggie Friends!"

SO... I showed Zim how nice that picture came out and how nice and serene he looked and he said, "We don't have time for 'Serene Scenery Sunday' this week, Dave! Hambone needs my help!!!"

What?  Who is ... then I remembered.  Zim's bestest friend Huffle Mawson's brother - Teddy.  Huffle and Teddy didn't get along too well when they first adopted Teddy... maybe still not now, in fact ...  and Zim's been trying to help out.  Zim thought that if Teddy had a cool nickname, maybe she'd like him better.  Knowing how much Huffs LOVES ham... Zimmie dubbed Teddy "Hambone"!  I think it must be doing some good, because I've actually seen a picture of Huffs and Hambone together.  Anyway, let me sign off for now and pass the keyboard on over to Zim!

Thanks, Dave; I'll take it from here!  I got a message from my mancat pal Hambone on our blog!  He said, "Zimmie, lately I have been hearing that 'nonoTeddyNO!' thing a lot.  Can you tell me what it means please?"  I let him know I'd research the issue ... THEN I received a most distressing  email from him last night my time, so that's morning time in Australia, saying in part, "I am writing to you from the depths of the garage, where I was banished at 7am today because mum and dad were trying to sleep in and I wanted everyone to get up and play. I heard that nonoTeddyNO thing so many times so I can't wait to hear what you found out."  (I'm choosing to ignore the part of his email where he mentions chasing Huffle and biting her on the ear.  Teddy!) 

I thought long and hard about this.  I mean, sure I've heard things like "nonoZimmieNO!" and similar stuff plenty of times ... but honestly - it's usually associated with me doing something incredibly fun, so I think it must be my mom's way of cheering me on.  I've never heard the word "nonoTeddyNO!" so I had to do some research.  I had to go to someone who's older and wiser.  I checked with Dave, but he'd never heard it, either.  I didn't know who else to turn to ... and that's when Dave told me about an old friend in Mom's Studio!  There's someone in there, usually high up on a shelf or guarding the inside of the fabric closet, but who is sometimes allowed to come do some airing out.  Someone who met Mom before us, before any of our great sisters or great brother -- before DAD even!!!  And grab this - Dave said he was getting some fresh air yesterday!  I had to meet him -- to seek his wisdom on this matter!

Pups and kit-cats... I'd like you to meet ... Ted!

Ted.  Born c. 1965, Detroit, Michigan.

I KNOW!!!  How perfect is it that his name is TED?!?!?  If anyone would know the meaning of "nonoTeddyNO!" it would be a fellow named Ted - right?!!?

He came out into the main part of the Studio to watch Mom work, and I approached him.

"Excuse me, Ted?  I come seeking your wisdom on a most puzzling matter!"

I approached him slowly and respectfully; he seemed to appreciated that, as he didn't try to run off or anything.  We shared a long, intimate chat about Teddy/Hambone's query; wow, is Ted is a good listener!  I told him all about Huffle and Auntie Trace and Hambone ... then asked him the big question:

"What's it all mean, Ted?"

Ted was silent for a good long while.  Finally, he said that in all of his years (let's just put him in the "over 40" crowd) he's never heard the term "nonoTeddyNO!"  He double-checked with a Koala that lives in the Studio, just to make sure it isn't an Australian slang term, and the Koala had never heard of it either.

The conclusion we all reached, Hambone, is that it's very similar to "nonoZimmieNO!" and that it's some kind of cheer your bipeds do when you're having fun.  It's their way of encouraging you!  Kind of like that "Aussie!  Aussie!  Aussie!  Oi!  Oi!  Oi!" thing.  Just to be on the super-safe side, though ... you might want to consider officially changing your name to "Hambone".

I hope that helps!  Keep it serene, everyone!

Play bows and luv,
Zim and Dave

 PS:  And seriously, Auntie Trace?  Anything past 0500 is sleeping in!  Trust me!

Switch-O, Change-O

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  Mom and I have been working real hard down in the Studio lately - and Zim's been working equally hard on Guard Duty.  Us guys thought it would be interesting if we traded places for a while, though, just so we could fully appreciate each other's jobs.  We pulled the ol' Switch-O, Change-O just the other day...

I got right to work guarding the stairs like Zim normally does.  Here's an action shot:

I think I handled it pretty well, don't you?  Let's take a look at how Zim's doing down in the Studio!

"Do those colors 'go'?  Do they what?  Go where?  What kind of crazy talk is that?!?!"

Umm...

"Chase me, Mom!"

On the bright side, I think I have some job security! Woo.

Luv,
Dave, the one and only Guide Dog for the Color Blind

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  For Photo Finish Friday, I thought I'd share some of the pix my mom took of me yesterday at the Kansas Ocean!  Let's go!

I hadn't been there in a while when it was just me and Mom, so I made the most of everything! We did some cool exploring and walking, then stopped to admire the view of the water:

"Sure is calm out there this evening!"

What a beautiful evening! The surface of the water was as smooth as glass - except for where a couple little bugs were bouncing around. And then it hit me - where there are bugs, there are... FROGGIES!!!

"I love listening to the froggies!!!"

Mom did some cool vignette thing to that photo.  Personally  Siberianly speaking, I like my shadow!  It's listening to the froggies as intently as I am!

Eventually, there was some chit-chat from Mom about us needing to head home; I'm not sure what that was all about - I was too busy listening to my froggie friends to hear what she was saying!  She did get me to move as far as the boardwalk  sidewalk, then I just had to sit and listen some more.

"Sing it, froggie friends!"

I could still hear them just fine from there!

My shadow followed me up to the sidewalk - check it out:

My shadow kept watch over the froggies while I checked out the golfers over on the tenth green.  (It's just before that big house they're building over there.)

Is it just me, or does it look longer than it did in the earlier pictures?  I guess maybe we were there longer than I thought.  

Mom jumped in front of me and shot this real fast:

Me.  Lomo camera effect applied.  Whatever.

She used the Lomo Camera Effect thing on that one.  Dave said the colors look kind of strange, but that's part of the whole "lomo" thing.  Whatever!  I just know I totally enjoyed my time at the Kansas Ocean! 

As with all cool adventures, the time sped by and it was time to go home before I knew it.

"Let's get that AC cranking, Mom!"

Happy Friday, friends! And remember, there's a cool adventure out there just waiting for you!

Play bows,
Zim

Wordless... Thursday

Play bows,
Zim

Tagged by the Random Felines!

Woo, everypup and everycat (except for one certain cat who lives next door and is a BULLY! -- you know who you are!)!  It's me, Dave!  Zim and I were tagged by the NICE cats over at Random Felines recently in a very fun game.  We thought we'd throw Wordless Wednesday to the curb and play today!  Let's get to it!

1.  Do you think you're hot?  Hmm.  Well, taking that literally, as Siberian Huskies we do get quite hot in the warm months - which is why we exercise early in the morning, then spend the day laying around on AC vents or chilling out downstairs.  My mom's Studio is downstairs and it's a very cool place to be.  Here's a look at me working in there:

"Zzz... mix stripes with plaids... red with pink... those greens don't go... zzz...."

So I'd have to say ... I'm more cool than hot. And I think we all know Zim is about the coolest Siberian in the world!

2.  Upload a picture of the wallpaper you are using at the moment.  OK.  This is one of Mom's quilts.



You can read more about it here.

3. The song you've listened to most recently.  We have Pandora radio playing one of my favorite stations right now and a song I like a lot just happens to be on - Astrud Gilberto singing "Take Me To Aruanda".  You can hear it on YouTube at this link, if you're interested.  I have a thing for Samba music, old jazz classics, and the bagpipes.  I find them all extremely soothing.  In fact...

One of the only real "behavioral quirks" I brought with me when I was adopted that Mom and Dad haven't been able to work me through is that I can't be crated.  I just freak!  It's a long story.  Of course, this can cause a problem when I have to go to the vet's for any kind of surgery or something where Mom can't stay with me.  Fortunately, we have VERY kind, understanding vets!  The past couple times I've had to go in for dental work (I ... err ... used to try to chew through steel, and that's kind of come back to haunt me ...) they've let me be first on the schedule and let Mom stay with me in the exam room until my first round of anesthesia kicks in.  That way I'm NICE and relaxed come surgery time ... and ... oh.  What does this have to do with music?  Mom brings her iPhone with her and plays Samba music or bagpipes for me.  The first time she did it, the dental student came in to check on me and thought I'd already had the first anesthesia.  That's how mellow it makes me.  Woo.  Our vets are the BEST!!!

I had a vet appointment just yesterday, in fact - allegedly a recheck after dental surgery.  Here I am with my senior student Amy:

She wants a Siberian of her own one day and gave me ALL kinds of lovin' and tummy rubs and hugs and stuff. Apparently they did a complete physical and looked in my mouth a lot, but I just remember the tummy rubs part. There was another student named Stephan who was really nice, too. And my doctor. All of them gave me tummy rubs. I'm pretty sure that's all I was there for - not the "recheck" thing.  They must have forgotten about that.  Mom said they didn't forget and that my incision site looks really good ... but I don't remember that part.  Here's another shot of me and Amy:

Sorry the pix are a little blurry; I'm not sure what happened.  Oh.  I remember one other important thing - one of our very favorite vet techs Beth saw me out in the waiting room.  I don't remember the context of the whole conversation, but she said Mom should give me more snacks.  Music to my ears, getting back to music!

4.  What were you thinking about when you were doing this?  Umm... I didn't exactly know what this one meant, so Zim said I should post pix of me and him and explain what we were thinking.  OK.  These are from yesterday afternoon!  Here's one of me:

"WATERMELON!!!"

I remember thinking that watermelon is my very favorite food in all the world and that Mom should remember what Beth said about snacks!!!

And here's Zim:

"Is that cantaloupe?"

Zim said he was thinking he wished he was taller and that Mom would leave the room. Ha woo - not that he'd steal food - he doesn't do that. Any more.

5.  Do you have and nicknames?  Do Sibes like to run?  Here are just a few:

Me:  Davy, the Deeve, Pickle-Nose, Dave-Dave, Tex and the LabraDave.  

Zim:  Zimmie, Zim Zim, the Z-man, Drill SGT Zim or SGT Zim, and the Zimstigator.  

There are lots of others but this post is already pretty long and I don't want to embarrass either one of us guys!  I'm supposed to tag 8 other bloggers then do a bunch of other stuff.  Since I'm not sure who all has played this game, I'm going to leave it up to you - if you'd like to have a turn at these fun questions, please consider yourselves tagged!  Zim and I thought it was real fun, so give it a go!  

One of the other things I was supposed to do was say something nice about one of the bloggers I tagged.  I thought I'd turn it around and say something nice about the Random Felines who tagged us!  If you've never visited their blog, please do!  They are a family of really nice kitty-cats and their mom does really incredible foster and rescue work.  She also helps transport pups who are on their way into rescue!  They're really all pretty wonderful!  (And none of the cats are bullies... like someone else I could mention)  Stop by and tell them Davy and the Z-man sent you!  
Oooh... "Agua de Beber" is playing... I feel a nap coming on.  

Luv,
Dave

Let's Go!

Woo, everypup and almosteverycat!  It's me, Dave.  We had some pretty wild storms rip through here last night (again) and they changed our extremely hot, muggy weather into cool, breezy Spring-like weather.  You know... now that it's Summer.  I still can't figure this Kansas place out.  Woo.  That's OK, though, because cooler temps mean good things for me and Zim!

"Hey Dave!  Think it's too early to ask to go on another walk?"

"We might want to wait until we get home first.  THEN we'll ask!  Woo!"

Have a great day, everybody!  I know Zim and I will!

Luv,
Dave

Good News!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats.  It's me - Zim.  Long-time readers of the Ao4 Digest may remember that we had major changes to our living room over the winter.  Changes that I didn't really care for - remember that?  The bottom line was that my CHAIR, my lovely chair that I used to hide under for my own private den is gone.  I tried to find a good substitute, but nothing really was suitable.  Until now.  I've discovered ... the ottoman!

Believe it or not, I am in this picture!

Looks mighty good, doesn't it?  And it's sort of tucked away from the traffic flow, so no one will disturb me by accident.  Because it's not like anyone can find me by looking!  No one can see me at all!!!

Play bows,
Zim

Dad's Day!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  A very happy Dad's Day to all of the dads out there!  Dave and I plan to make our dad's Dad's Day just as special as can be!

I let my dad sleep in all the way until 0500 this morning - a little extra shut-eye, but still time to take him on a nice, long walk before the heat sets in!  Here are me and Dave with Dad:

Me, Dad and Dave.  Dad's the tall one in the middle.

Mom jumped ahead to take that one. Dave helped her do some special effects on it - pretty cool, huh? Here we are, coming up the driveway:

"Hey, Maude!  Happy Dad's Day to your dad!"
"C'mon, you two!"
"Hey, how did Mom beat us home?"

After our walk, Dave helped Dad grade his classes and check email:

"Lemme know if you need anything, Dad!"

After they finished up, I thought Dad would like to play!  Here's my imitation of a tornado:

"Check these crazy moves, Dad!  Can't touch me!!!"

Then I got "that look" from Mom and did this real fast:

"Who me?  Messing up the bed?  I'm Mr. Innocent!
...besides, Dad 'stigated it!!!"

She can't resist my innocent look. (Whew!) Which of course led to this:

"Ha roo roo roo!  Do it again, Dad!"

Dave got in on the action, too!

"What are you guys playing?  Can I play?!?!  Oh... wait.  Neck rubbies?  Yeah... right there, Dad!"

After that, we had breakfast then coffee on the deck! This Dad's Day celebration's just getting started! Are you all celebrating with your dads today!? I hope you have as much fun together as we're having!

Play bows - and HAPPY DAD'S DAY, DAD!!!
Zim (and luv from Dave!)

Hey Everybody!

Hey, pups and kit-cats!  It's me, Zim!

And it's SATURDAY!!!

Who's ready to play!??!

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Finish Friday - The Feety-Feet Edition

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with Photo Finish Friday.  This week, Dave and I thought we'd share with you just how versatile and hard-working our feety-feet are when we do our cute poses.  This is only a small collection of what all our feet can do, but we hope you enjoy it!

This first one is the traditional, but always in style "criss-cross" feet.

Criss-Cross Feet

Pretty cool, don't you think?  And it adds a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the pose.  (Our French Bulldog pals Lily and Benny will know what I mean - what with them being French and all.)  Just don't try to get up in a hurry if you try it out.

Here's Dave doing his "gathered feet" pose:

"Zzzz... I smell Fritoes.... zzzzz...."

Without having to get up, let me show you another - it's a little something I call "dangling feet":



Like the dangling head action, too?  I think I need a bigger cushion to lay on.

Here's Dave with the ol' "foot being used as a prop" pose:

I think Dave's teaming up with those Angry Bird dudes; he's mighty steamed about those smug, green pigs stealing the watermelon!

Take it from me, that "foot being used as a prop" pose is really hard.  I mean ... to have something TOUCH your footy-foot??!?  Not my thing, that's for sure!

While Mom and Dave work in the Studio, I often like to stand Guard up on the stair landing.  Why not work a foot pose in?  Here I am, hanging ten:

I guess in my case, since I don't have dew claws, it's more like hanging eight, but you get the drift.

And when Dave has really worked too hard at his Guide Dog for the Color Blind job, he's got a great feety-feet pose - "hidden feet":

"She'll never find me in here!  I hope she doesn't try anything crazy while I catch some sack time!"

They've really been working hard down there; you can't blame him for needing some down time!

I hope you enjoyed the Feety-Feet Edition of Photo Finish Friday! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Play bows,
Zim