Sunday Salute - Bryn!

Our Sunday Salute this week goes to our dear friend Bryn of Florida! You may remember Bryn from a Salute we did to her and her feline sister Maui back in December! We wanted to give you a P-update on how the two of them are doing, since they've been in their furever home for a while now! They sent us SUCH great information and pictures that we decided to give each of them their own Salute! We'll fete Bryn today and Maui next Sunday!

Bryn's mom told our mom, "...the chain of command is definitely established in the household......Maui, Bryn, then us." Sounds like things are going remarkably well - with the possible exception of the cat coming first. Sitka - does Tia out rank you at your place? Is this normal? She continued, "Both furbabes are fine-tuned to the sounds of the house: the opening of the freezer door means ice cream!" Mmmm, ice cream! Bryn told us that if she hears her mom get something called a purse out, it "...usually means she's going out without me. BUT...if she takes the special fanny pack from the closet and clips my waterbowl to my collar then I just know it's all about ME!!! A nice drive then a walk around the lake makes for a great day." Sounds idyllic!

We are really proud of all the hard work Bryn has taken on since arriving at her furever home! Here she is on KP, one of SGT Zim's favorite duties.

We bet that bowl is clean enough to put back in the cabinet when she's done with it!

She also earned her CGC - Canine Good Citizen - certificate! Here's her graduation picture!

She told us, "My mom was so proud of me......I'm an AKC certified CGC (that's Canine Good Citizen). That means I can visit hospitals, nursing homes and schools. Mom takes me to the Home Depot, Lowe's, JoAnn's, the nail salon and the quilt shop (eat your heart out, Dave). And guess what! All those places have treat jars for pups like me!" Woo. The quilt shop? Woo. And treat jars?

Even though she's a CGC, she's not normally allowed on the beds at her house. A picture being worth a thousand woos, you can see here that she can get away with a few things when her "Treasures" are tucked in.

Ha roo roo roo! Way to keep that young biped safe, Bryn!

Not only does she watch over them while they sleep, she helps keep them cool while they're playing in the yard!

Bryn, helping to keep small bipeds cool!

Or was that revenge during a bath? Whatever the case, it looks like fun!

Her mom told us, "I'm always surprised at Bryn's thick coat. ... Heads up, Sibes - Bryn LOVES her Furminator! ...I sent for the Furminator shampoo and conditioning pair as well and we're so almost hair free in this house it's a joy!" What is Bryn thinking!?!? This causes us some concern. Especially Amber; I think we all know how she feels about baths and brushes - especially the EVIL Furminator! Stay safe, Bryn!

Bryn even does yard work! Here she is, watering the lawn!

Can't blame her for helping herself to a little refreshment. That's got to be exhausting work!

She's even met an historic celebrity since her adoption! Check this out - she met Davy Crockett!

Or maybe it's her "Treasure" Nick. Who cares!?! Look at the snuggle action! That's what really counts! It's all about the love!

Sounds like everything is going GREAT! But apparently there is one slight glitch - or as she told us, "...there's only one problem with my dad. He has these power tools.......and they scare me so bad I go hide in the shower."

Awwww! Bryn, you need to get with Zim. He LOVES power tools. Maybe he can help you overcome your fears! At least you have a place to go to where you can feel safe, though. Stormy will have Zim post about power tools some time this week, so be sure to stop by and read what Zim's got to say!

Power tools aside, it looks like you're doing INCREDIBLY well, Bryn! And you're working so HARD! We're so proud of you for earning your CGC certificate, for all the help you give your mom and dad around the house (yard work, KP, keeping the Treasures safe and cool) and we're totally impressed that you're rubbing elbows with celebrities! For all you do, Bryn - we salute you!

The Army of Four

Time to Have Some Fun!

Woo, it's me - Dave. Have you been working as hard as we have all week? Well, the weekend is here and it's time to have some FUN!

I usually play with my Kong-on-a-Rope out here, but I like this toy, too!

Wooooooooooo, here I come!

Have a great Saturday, everypup!

Luv,
Dave

PS: We've added new friends to our Cool Pals list! Stop by and visit Snørokk Siberians! Ulf and Kari Hope and their pups live in Norway! Gorgeous dogs; gorgeous scenery! Their blog is great - leave a message on their chat box and tell them the Ao4 sent you! Woooooo!

Photo Shoot With Dave & Zim

Woo! Dave here! Mom had this great idea to take some nice pictures of me and Zimmie out front by some pretty bushes. They're called Little Princess Spirea and they're pink. Needless to woo, we didn't want her to take our pix in front of pink Little Princess stuff, so I posed by our Support Our Troops sign instead.

Zim came over and got in my shot. I think this picture captures our true nature better than posing in the garden!

Gotcha!

Mom was saying something about us not being very cooperative, but I wasn't really paying attention so I can't tell you exactly what she said. Something like, "David and Zimmie! Blah, blah, blah!" Then Zimmie got away from me!

Get back here, you little...

We were semi-cooperative for this one. You can kind of see those bushes in the background. Woo.

Luv,
Dave

Ask the Ao4 XI - Another Way to Keep Cool!

Our good friend Cubby left a comment on our post about Keeping Cool. He said, "Dakota needs more keeping cool tips. We like those, but she is still hot. And she likes the pool. Crazy girl!" We just don't get enough snow or really cold weather for us Siberians, so I totally understand where Dakota is coming from!

The first thing I recommend is trying your paw at a Weather Control Device. You can see ours in the side-bar on the right - yes, the info on Siberia's weather, right under our weather. Our aim is to get our weather more in line with Siberia's. It's in the 50s there right now. Not as cold as we'd like it by any stretch of the imagination, but it beats the 83 we already have here (at 1030).

The next thing I recommend is growing a snowball bush! A long, long time ago, we told our friend Tubey that we have our own snowball bush! He posted a great picture of Zim right next to it. (You can follow that link to see it!) Here's what ours looked like last year:

Here's a close up:

They do look like snowballs, don't they? They're actually called Snowball Viburnum. Unfortunately, the really heavy freeze we got around Easter this year killed off a lot of our blooms. Here's what our snowball bush looks like this year:

One measly snowball! Here's a wider view of the line up(the Snowball Viburnum are on first/lower tier):

Kind of sad, isn't it? They'll come back next year, though.

Behind them, we have a row of more Viburnums - another variety called Mohican Viburnums. There's the one closest to the house - that Mohican Viburnum has gotten really tall! Then the viburnum in the middle ... and then ... after that one ... do you know what that one is?

Are you ready for it?

It's the last of the Mohicans. Hee hee hee!!!!!!! Get it!?!? The Last of the Mohicans. Hee hee hee!

Love,
Amber

Ask the Ao4 - X - Baths!

Woo, everypuppy! It's me - Dave! I sure hope Amber never gives me the look she gave our mom in that last picture on her post yesterday. Woo. Scary.

I don't know that I'd agree with Amber's strong words that she "hates" baths, because I'm not sure she's capable of hating anything. She's really the sweetest girl you'd ever want to meet. (Stormy is sweet, too, but in a very different way!) She sure doesn't care for them, though.

What I'm leading up to was another great question our very cute Beagle friends Jazz and Dixie sent in! They told us, "We hate baths as much as you guys do I think. We had another one today and were wondering if you have any advice for our mum on how she can make it more enjoyable for us. We don't mind the drying part as long as its with a towel and not the hair dryer!! But the bath is the worst!" Jazz & Dixie, you'd have to go a LONG way to top Amber in your reaction to baths! Could you hear her screaming in Japan? Probably our readers even farther away in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore could hear her sad, sad woos, if they knew when to listen. It was amazing! Having said that, I think Mom gives a great bath! It's one of the first things Mom and I did together after I was adopted!

I had her chronicle my bath from the other day on film for you, in hopes that it would help make the process more enjoyable for woo! Here's how me and my mom do it!

First, gather supplies!


Our very own shampoo and some nice, fluffy towels, still fresh with that Downey fabric softener freshness! Mmm! I love that smell! Mom forgot something, though.

Woo, there it is! See that purple thing? It's a Zoom Groom. Mom uses it VERY gently to help work the shampoo into my nice, thick fur. It's like a massage and feels GREAT! OK! What else?


Crocs for Mom's feety-feet! Not only comfy, but they protect her when I step on her feet. Mom's got a nice sock tan-line going, doesn't she? Woo. She was also sporting some quick-dry shorts and a cotton tee-shirt. Color coordinated by me, of course.

Here's the scene of the grime. (Amber made me say that!) Mom uses the shower because (1) the glass door contains us, so she doesn't have to worry about somepuppy jumping out of the tub and running off (one less stresser for her means she's more relaxed - so we are, too), (2) if she gives us a bath outside, there's no hot water! If she uses the warmest water comfortable to us, it helps encourage the shedding process to get it over with! and (3) there is a hand-held shower head, so she can rinse us easily!

Here I am, getting all wet!

Careful not to get water in my ears, Mom!

Sometimes, Mom uses one of the other jets on the shower head that do a massaging action. I like that a lot! To help with the soaping up, Mom usually dilutes my shampoo with water, so it spreads easier and so that she doesn't use too much. Then we rinse, rinse, rinse! It's important to rinse real well; any lingering shampoo can dry your skin out. Our shampoo has special moisturizers! I like to help the process by shaking as often as possible. It also cools Mom off real nice. I mentioned quick-dry shorts, right?

We start the toweling off in the shower. Do I look cute enough here?

Once you get out of the shower, it's important to stand in the middle of the room and give a real good SHAKE! Oh, sure, if your mom is anything like mine, she'll act like she doesn't want you to get hair and water all over the bathroom, but hey! What's a bathroom for!?!? Sometimes Mom is quick and she can stop me from shaking. Did you know that if your biped gently lifts one of your paws up off the floor, you can't shake? Totally unfair!

Here I am, after doing the shake-shake inside! Woo!

After we thoroughly saturate three towels or more, Mom puts my collar on me for a minute and leads me out to the sunny, windy deck! If she doesn't hold my collar the whole way there, I'll run off and do zoomies with Zim and rub all over the furniture and shake, shake, shake in the living room. She can usually avoid that. Here I am, shaking it outside!

Woo, that felt good!

As Stormy mentioned in her post the other day, we get a good deal of wind here! Today, for example, we're under a high wind advisory and are expecting wind gusts up over 50 mph. I don't want to say anything, but if there is anysibe who didn't get a bath the other day when Ammy and I did, today would be the perfect day! Woo. Mom basically uses the Kansas wind as our hair dryer! We play around on the deck to get dry, then do some fluffing and Mom uses the Zoom Groom again.

We do some more toweling off out there, too. Sun and the blast-furnace Kansas wind get me dry in probably less than an hour! If the sun is too hot, we move down to our lower deck, where there is lots of shade but still tons of wind. There is so much to see and hear and smell out there - I forget all about the bath/towel process! Mom usually brings the radio outside with us, so we can listen to stuff!

The whole process is pretty exhausting for me. I had to take a quick nap on top of Mom after a bit. When I woke up, she hooked me and Ammy up and took us for a walk, so we could keep drying!

Jazz and Dixie, I hope some of those tips will help your mom make your baths more enjoyable!

Luv,
Dave

Ask the Ao4 - IX - Snow Noses!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! We had related questions from our dear and lovely friends Sitka and Holly. Sitka wanted to know, "Juarez, with D'Azul Siberians, posted a picture of his snow nose (which is super cute). My question is, 'Why do some Siberians' noses change in winter months, and others' don’t?' Furthermore, I live where it is hot, although I like to think that I have a snow nose year round (with the pink stripe down the center). So, can you all enlighten me and everyone else???" And then Hollybollyboo asked, "I have another question for you smart Sibes!!! D'Azul is posting pictures of their noses. Samuel gets snow nose in the winter, but it goes away in summer, so his nose then looks like mine - all black. I was wondering if Sibes in the south get snow nose, even though they don't get snow? I wish I got snow nose. It's really cool!!" These were such good questions! Stormy gave the assignment to me - and I had to give the issue a lot of thought.

Hmm.... snow noses.... hmmm......

Before I get started, let me say that I totally agree with Sitka - Juarez has a VERY cute nose! Very cute! :)

I did a lot of research on this. For readers who may not be familiar with the term "snow nose" - please look at my nose in the picture above. See the pink stripe down the center? That's a snow nose, and it's fairly common in Siberians. All four of us get varying degrees of snow noses during the winter. Check out Stormy's!

Check out my nose!

Mom just took that picture last week. She doesn't get the degree of snow nose I do, but it does pinken. In the summer, it turns back into a lovely black gumdrop of a nose! This is very normal and if we were show-puppies like some of our friends at D'Azul, it would not be considered a fault in the show ring.

Like Stormy, Davy gets a modest snow nose. In the picture Dave posted a while ago where he was doing his im-Siberian-ation of Holly's brother Samuel, he pretty much had his full amount of snow nose going. Here is a picture of him from the other day:

I've got a pickle nose ... and a snow nose ... turning back into a black gumdrop nose! Woo.

His black nose color is coming back in, too. The snow nose is thought to be caused by the shorter daylight hours in winter and hence less UV rays. The return to a summer full of sun darkens most snow noses back up. So Sitka, even though you don't get much cold weather where you live, the shortening of the daylight hours in winter would effect your nose! You have a bee-roo-tiful snow nose, as we can see in the Haik-woo you wrote in Ask the Ao4 I. And Holly, that answers your question about Southern Sibes!

The lingering question is why do some of us Siberians get snow noses, while others don't. I couldn't find anything in our books or on the web to answer it, so I took a poll here. Why do some of us get snow noses and some don't? Because we feel like it. Or not. It's the Siberian way.

My name is Zim ... and I have a snow nose. Because I want to.

Zimmie's snow nose is cute, isn't it? Anyroo, I hope that clears things up about snow noses.

Dave is going to field Jazz & Dixie's question about making baths more enjoyable (???) tomorrow. He did a lot of research yesterday, taking photos as he went. Yes, that means Dave had a bath. Guess who else got one?

Have I mentioned I don't LIKE getting baths?

That aside, thank roo for the wonderful questions! Keep 'em coming!

Love,
Amber

Ask the Ao4 - VIII - Ev'ryone Knows It's Windy!

Ha roo! It's me - Stormy! We got a great email in yesterday from our dear friend K in Mexico City! He wrote: "Hey guys, K here. I've got a question for you. My mama was listening to some old music from the 60's way before our time and there is this song called Windy and she was singing along, she won't make American Idol any time soon let me tell you, anyways, I could clearly hear her sing 'and Windy has Stormy eyes' and I got very very worried! Please put my mind at rest and let me know that Stormy is ok. Your friend K." Is he sweet, or what?!?

Stormy eyes

K! I'm just fine! You're so kind to worry about me! We know this song! It's called "Windy" and is by the Association. (You should be able to follow that hyperlink to hear a clip.) They sing, "...and Windy has Stormy eyes that flash at the sound of lies!..." What's amazing to me is how they knew I'd come along so many years later! How prescient of them! And also to know the power of my eyes! My dad calls me his "Therapy Pup" because when bipeds get upset here, or riled up about stuff, or just get off a nice even, happy keel, I flash my (Stormy) eyes at them - and it calms them right down! Dad can't look into my eyes and not feel an inner happiness. Just can't do it. Mom either. I should hire myself out.

So ... I have no idea how The Association got onto this so many years ago, but my eyes are great and are just where they're supposed to be! :)

Coincidentally, Amber loves this song. As many of you know, we live in Kansas. And living in Kansas means a normal day has 20 mile-an-hour winds. Pretty much, anyway. Any time one of the bipeds tells the other it's a windy day here, Amber always likes to sing, "Ev'ryone knows it win-dy!" Ha roo roo roo! She's so funny!

While you're admiring the picture of my eyes, check out my nose. Yep. A slight snow nose. We'll answer Sitka's and Holly's great questions about snow noses tomorrow!

Until then - tail wags!
Stormy

Sunday Salute - DWB-TV!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes to Dogs With Blogs TV! DWB-TV has some of the greatest, most entertaining, most informative videos on the web! Here is an outstanding video our pal Charlie the Big Dog just put together! In his words, " ...I rounded up some of the coolest doggies who also have a DWBTV channel, and we went out to Vegas and robbed a casino, then blew it up :-) ..." Stormy, Supreme Commander of the Ao4, was honored to be involved in Charlie's 11!

We heartily encourage you to check out some of the really cool vids at DWB-TV! And to our fellow bloggers - add more videos! We just love watching them!

Charlie also did some "translation" work on Stormy's video for the Troopers in the Ao4. He said, "For those of us enlisted in the Army, Supreme Commander Stormy recently barked some orders. For those humans who just HAAAAVE to know what she said, I have translated the video and added subtitles for you." So ... yes ... to any bipeds reading, this is all she was talking about. Nothing to worry about at all.

Yep... just talking about cookies, that's all. Not like we're laying down plans to take over the world or anything. We've added the original version to our own DWB-TV channel - Ao4-TV. Stop by and see us in action!

Please visit DWB-TV! We'd like to give a very special thanks to Charlie's dad Greg for all the hard work he does (under Charlie's supervision, naturally!) for DWB and DWB-TV. For entertaining us and keeping us informed, we salute DWB-TV!

The Army of Four

PS: Sorry we're late with today's posting. Mom and Dad spent half the day cleaning the garage. We had a tough, tough job supervising them from inside the air conditioned house. Whew! We need a nap!

A Celebrity in Our Yard!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Guess what? I was exploring in the back yard with Mom the other day, and we came across a celebrity! Really! He was hanging out down in one of the rock retaining walls and so I grabbed the camera and took a picture of him! Here he is!

Can you see him?!? It's the Geico Gecko!!! So I said, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Geico Gecko?" And he didn't say anything but he did turn around and look at me!

'ello? Who's there?

Then he ran back into our retaining wall. I think maybe he wanted his privacy and thought I was part of the pup-arazzi or something. Not just me. Amber.

Imagine that! A famous advertising spokesman right in our own back yard! I hope I get to see him again! I'll keep my eye out for him.

Love,
Amber

Ask the Ao4 - VII - Favicons and an Intruder Alert!

Wooooo! It's me, Dave! Stormy said I could answer a question our very good friend and talented poet Marvin asked us! He left us the comment, "How do I prevent my Mama from going cross eyed? She has been trying to put something called a Favatar on the heading of my blog, but her eyes hurt now; she is teaching me new 'naughty' words and is in the process of hurling the computer out of the window or putting an axe through it - whichever is a quicker and easier death for it! Advice much appreciated if you have any?" Marvin, there has been many a time when our mom has wanted to heave our computer through the window, so I think I know where you're coming from. Woo. I have a couple recommendations for you. First, bring her a toy. My mom likes nothing better than for me to jab her in the leg with my dinosaur bone. If that doesn't work, start a howl-athon until she takes you for a walk. This might be easier for us, since there are four of us, but do your best. A nice, brisk walk will help clear her head. And with any amount of luck, she'll forget about the computer when you get home and play toys with you! If all else fails, try this:

Go to http://www.myfavatar.com/. Register with their site, then upload the picture of your choice. The simpler, the better! It will have a couple steps for you - just follow those. Where it says "edit blog" - they don't mean that like we thought. It's basically where to put your blog address. So we did that, too. Then it will take you to the favicon codes. Go to the one that says, "favicon code". Select all, then copy.
Go to your blog dashboard. From there, click on Layout - then the template tab. Click on HTML. Keep scrolling through that until almost the bottom. You should see something like ]]>< / b :skin > < / head > See it? Paste your code right after that. Roxie of the Dachsies suggested putting it on the next line so you could see it better, and that worked real well. Click preview to see if it worked - give it time to load.
Select "save template". All done!

We hope that simplifies things for you. Zimmie did ours and I think he did a great job!

I need to sign off now. I have some important staring to do. Woo.

Luv,
Dave

Ask the Ao4 - VI - Leashes, Love, & the LabraDave

Ha roo, readers! As promised, it's me, Zim! Ready to field today's questions!

First up is a really great question from my very favorite Beagle babes - Jazz & Dixie! They read my post yesterday and went to the cool Colors of the Siberian Husky website. They commented, "One thing that caught our eye at the bottom of the page was this quote: 'Siberians have been bred for centuries to RUN and WILL RUN at the first opportunity. DO NOT trust a Siberian Husky OFF LEASH. NOT EVER!!' Is this true of you guys?" In a word, YOUBETCHA! We can NEVER be off lead - except in the safety of our own backyard (6-foot fence with a concrete strip underneath) or in the house, of course! You can see our fence in the picture of Stormy, to the right here. (That's the quiet, reflection part of the yard; picture taken a summer or two ago.) As you can see, sometimes we even wear our leashes out there, though Mom doesn't usually hold on to them. Usually the girls don't have to ... but me and Dave do. Something about not coming when we're called ... I'm not sure. Anyroo, unlike most canines, we Siberians have no homing instincts. Combine that with our ability to cover over 50 miles a day, and it makes for a real scary combination. Great question, girls!

Next up is a concern my Sibe pal Marley has! Marls wrote, "I actually have a question for Zimmie...going right along with your suggested question. I have a new neighbor-pup, a 4 month old Lab/Rottie/Retriever mix named Lexi. She comes over to play, and even though she's 1/2 my size, she tries to dominate me!! I really like her, but am I going about things the right way? Should I keep letting her win? I look forward to sniffing time every night when we go for big walkies together. What's a pup to do?Help this lovelorn guy out, please!!" Wowzers, Marls! Lexi sounds like such a babe! That's cool that you get to play together! First you need to remind yourself that you are one very handsome red and white Siber-boy! You don't have to prove anything to anypup! So she likes to dominate! So what? Let her think she's in charge! Who cares about that? Not me, that's for sure. Storm and Mom both say I don't have a dominant bone in my body. Because of this, I get along with everypuppy and have tons of friends! You sound like you really like Lexi and enjoy your walkies together - so hey, let her dominate! You don't have to prove anything! You're a Siberian! Stand tall, Marley! But let Lexi think she rules. Besides... a Lab/Rottie/Retriever? She may be half your size now ... but she may not be for long! Good luck, pal!

My last question du jour comes from my very sweet Lab friend Maddie! She wrote in, "Hiiii, it's me Maddie the Chocolate bunny! You know I DO have one question today! What color Lab Lab fur does Dave Dave have underneath that ever so sweet Black & White Sibe costume? Oh please do tell!??????" Ha roo roo rooo! We're all STILL laughing over that one, Maddie! I had to do some sneaking around to find the answer to this one! I saw Mom petting Dave and sort of going through that Sibe suit of his.

You know, she goes through our fur all the time, checking for bugs or lumps or stuff like that. Then I could have sworn I heard her say, "Hey, what's this?" under her breath. At first I thought maybe Dave had a tick even though we're on Frontline Plus. I mean, you never know! Then I crept behind her with the camera. WOWZERS! Check this out!

Sorry the image is a little fuzzy, but it just surprised the daylights out of me! Dave really is a Lab! A Black Lab, Maddie! No wonder he's able to camouflage the zipper so well - it's deeply embedded in black on black. Ha roo roo roo!

Keep those cards and letters coming!

Play bows,
Zim

Ask the Ao4 - V - Bedding and Sibe Colors

Ha roo, puppers! It's me - Zim! My turn to field a couple of the great questions you've sent in! We really appreciate all the inquiries!

Our wonderful friend and fellow Sibe Echo asked, "How do we keep Mom from washing the rugs and blankets that are in our crates? Just when we get them all smelly and full of fur she takes them out and washes them. Do I go upstairs and take her blankets away to wash? I think not! Go figure!" This is a tough one. Call us "different" if you must, but we all love the smells of fresh laundry and fabric softener.

Mmm... original scent Downey!

As a Drill SGT, it is my duty to inspect all bedding and to make sure the beds are made properly. This means our beds and the one the bipeds call "theirs". (Ha roo roo roo.) Here is one such inspection, in progress. Check the right-paw side of the photo. That's me. Helping.

For some reason, that kind of help seems to slow Mom down, as does this sort of action:

Mom calls that picture "My sheets have a tail." Ha roo roo roo. Oftentimes, help like this makes my mom give up - not when it comes the the bipeds' bed, but at least when it comes to ours. Maybe you should help out like this, Echo! Not only is it great fun, but I know my mom is always real appreciative - I get lots of "Thank you, Zim, what would I do without your help?" type of comments. And she always appreciates me turning a 5-minute task into a 20-minute one. I'll bet you'd get the same thanks from your mom! And who knows? You might learn to like the smell of Downey!

Our little hamster-berian friend Girl Girl asked a great question: "Can I ask why are some huskies black/white while some are red/white?? What other colors do huskies come in?" I asked Stormy about this, and she went into a VERY long discussion about genetics that was WAY over my head... so I'll go for a simpler version of the answer. I could tell you that when God invented the Siberian Husky, we were so special that He decided we should come in lots of different colors, but that might sound breed-conceited. But what is true is that we do come in a variety of colors - black/white (like Storm and Dave), red/white (like Am and me), grey/white (like our great-sister Jesse!), all white (like our bee-roo-tiful friend Frankie) -- and others! (Please check out this hyperlink to see all the wonderful varieties!) Just like Labs come in different colors (Yellow, Black, Chocolate), so do we! Cool, huh?

That's it for today, readers. More tomorrow - from me! Ha roo!

Play bows,
Zim

Ask the Ao4 - IV - Furminators, Small Guys, Digging and Grazing

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber! Stormy said I could answer some of the Ask the Ao4 questions today - I hope you like my answers!

Jazz and Dixie, our very special Beagle friends in Japan, wrote, "What do you think of the Furminator?? Mum has one that she used once towards the end of autumn last year. It seemed to take out a lot of our downy undercoat and mum was worried that we would need that for winter to keep warm here in the cold Tokyo winter. So she put it away. However things are warming up over here and of course we are both shedding like crazy. So she has dug it out and used it again. Its not coming up with the longer hairs that are falling out all over the floor but the undercoat. Please advise AO4!" I do believe I'm the right member of the Ao4 to field this one, and it's a low soft-ball, right over the plate. Let me refer you to Dave's Haik-woo #17, and the post at that hyperlink. The simple answer is, "Brushes are evil, Jazz & Dixie! EVIL! And the Furminator is perhaps the most evil of all!" Oh, sure, our mom thinks the Furminator is great - like you two said, it gets our undercoat out. She thinks that it's great to remove the old part of the undercoat (which is what the evil Furminator gets), and that come Fall we just "know" to grow it back in - so we'll be plenty warm come winter. Our mom has another torture device called a "comb" that she uses to get the guard hairs out. (She used to use a softer bristle brush on her Beagles to get those longer hairs.) I love my mom VERY much, but I think she is way off base here. Brushes are EVIL and it's MY fur! I want it! I wish she'd stop taking it! I hope that helps.

Bruin, a very sweet Boston Terrier, wanted to know if I "like smaller guys???" Ha rooo! Oh, Bruin, you're so sweet! Yes, I like almost EVERYpuppy I meet! Probably the smallest puppies I made friends with were two Yorkies who came to visit us. There is a picture of all of us at that link... and here is one of just me and the boy Yorkie, at right. There was some concern about me playing too rough with him, so there was no rough-housing allowed. There was also some concern about me stepping on him, so I tried not to do that, either. He and his sister were carried when we went on walkies together ...

... so we actually didn't get to do too much, but he was a nice little guy. Are you as little as a Yorkie?

Ruby Bleu, another sweet Boston Terrier friend, sent us this question, "When I'm at the doggie park, my mom insists that I shouldn't dig in the mud or eat grass. Is there a good way I can convince her it's ok for me to do that?" I ran my answer past Storm and she gave me the green light to post. First, the digging issue! Ruby? Your mom knows that you're a Boston Terrier, right!?!? Isn't digging part of what you do for a living? I'm sure she knows that. So you have to wonder why she doesn't want you to dig in the mud at the park. The obvious answer there is that she wants you to dig in your own yard! Maybe that's a good compromise! Some bipeds have set up special designated "digging areas" in their yards for pups who like to dig; perhaps your mom is waiting for you to choose where in your yard you'd like one! Then you won't dig at the park. :) As per eating grass, Stormy said that we are canines and the world is our salad bar. (She can be very profound sometimes!) We members of the Ao4 eat grass sporadically - sometimes if our tummies are upset or sometimes because we just feel like it. Storm said perhaps our diet is lacking in veggies. Siberianly speaking, I love fresh baby spinach (at left) and can't get enough of it. How is your veggie intake, Ruby? Maybe your mom needs to check with your vet about what green veggies you can have and give you a little supplement! Or again... maybe she wants you to eat the grass at home and not at the park. Hee hee hee.

Thank roo for the great questions! We'll answer some more tomorrow!

Love to everypuppy,
Amber

Memorial Day 2007

It is Memorial Day here in the United States today. Celebrated on the fourth Monday in May, we set aside this day to honor our fallen service members. Originally, this was a day on which flags and flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers who died in the American Civil War; today we remember all service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

In President Bush's Prayer for Peace, the proclamation he issued for this Memorial Day, he says in part, "...When it has mattered most, patriots from every corner of our Nation have taken up arms to uphold the ideals that make our country a beacon of hope and freedom for the entire world. By answering the call of duty with valor and unrelenting determination, they have set a standard of courage and idealism that inspires us all..."

We are truly inspired by these patriots and will never forget the sacrifices they have made for us. We will spend time today to honor our fallen American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen. In the words of the late General George S. Patton, "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

We will leave you with the lyrics to a song we found on The White House Commission on Remembrance website, On This Day, by Charles Strouse. (Please click here to listen!)

The bugle has sounded
Its notes drift away.
This time now belongs to you….
Verse:
On this day for one brief moment
Hear the silence fill the air.
Think of those, who walked beside us;
Now no longer there.
Then, don’t cry, but hear their laughter
For their spirit lives inside,
Let the mystic stream of mem’ry
Fill our hearts with pride!
Make us humble,
Make us knowing,
And reflect on what is done…
On this day
For now, forever
Make this nation one!
On this day,
For all the fallen,
Make this nation one!

Music and lyric by Charles Strouse
© 2003 Charles Strouse Publications

God bless them, one and all.

The Army of Four