Sunday Salute - Misty & Earnhardt, Jr. and Teanaway & Kanukh!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to some very special friends who are in cool photo contests! Misty & Earnhardt, Jr. and Teanaway & Kanukh have all posed for wonderful pictures and need our support!

Misty and Earnhardt, Jr. are friends from Athens, Georgia. They are members of the Husky Hill Gang, seen here:

What a beautiful family! They are in The 3rd Annual World’s Coolest Dog & Cat Show, sponsored by Dogster and Catster. You can see all the rules for the contest here. Both photos are totally cute.

Here is Earnhardt, Jr.'s; he is entered in the "Smiles and Grins" category. Just click the photo to vote for him!

Who can resist that smile!?!?

Misty is in the same contest, only a different category! She was her mama's Maid Of Honor in her wedding, and is entered in the "Best Friends" category! Click this picture to vote for Misty!

Isn't she a beauty? Voting in this first round ends on 15 November!

Our other friends, Teanaway & Kanukh are members of Little Mountain Siberians! Here is Teanaway; isn't she gorgeous?

And here is her son Kanukh!

Oh, what a handsome boy! Even though they are hard-working, sled-pulling Sibes (they'll be running in the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon this year!) - they are entered in the National Sleep Foundation's "My Pet Loves Sleep" contest! Scroll down to their picture:

and please cast a vote for them! (You can click that photo to get there!) The contest ends tomorrow, so don't delay! Please! :)

We salute our friends Misty, Earnhardt, Jr., Teanaway, and Kanukh! We know you worked hard on those poses for the photo contests and wish all of you GOOD LUCK! You're already winners in our book!

The Army of Four

PS: Please don't forget to vote! :)

New Pose by the Z-Man

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim. In accordance with the new orders Storm put out for us Troopers in the Ao4, we've all been working on some new cute poses. You know - as a defense mechanism, should something go awry. Here's the best one I've come up with:

It doesn't look that remarkable from that angle, though it is rather "Zen of Zim"-like. Check it out in this other shot. Please pay special attention to my back right leg:

Yep. It's the bottom leg, but it's suspended in air. It was hard to hold this one until it could be fully admired by Mom and Dad, but once they realized what I was doing, they were duly impressed!

A Working Breed dog's work is never done!

Play bows,
Zim

Here We Go, Troopers! New Mission!

Woo, everypuppy! It's me again - Dave. I hope you got some play time in yesterday, because I have two videos for you today - Storm and then me, briefing you in on our new mission! We're about to get busy!

Are all the Troopers in the Army of Four ready? The Supreme Commander is here; a-ten-shun!

That's pretty clear, if you ask me. Storm gave me orders to fill you in on the rest of the mission.

I couldn't remember if I got everything, but SGT Zim didn't have anything to add, so I must have covered all the key points. I asked him a couple times, as you could see. Mom seemed to think there was something else, but there wasn't.

Any questions? Good luck, Troopers!

Luv,
Dave

Time Off

Woo, it's me - Dave! Everypup has been working so hard! Take off early today and get some recreation time in!

I'm going to play with my favorite toy - Kong-on-a-Rope! Here are some shots from our last play session! First I played tug:

Then Mom threw it and threw it and I brought it back!

Here I come!

We played with Mom throwing it the other direction for a while, too - toward Oswald's bunny condos. I was confused at first - she usually throws it the other way. I don't know why. I caught on after a while, though.

Great fun!

Kick back and treat yourself to some rec time, pups! Before you know it, we'll be posting a new mission for the Troopers in the Ao4, and we'll all have lots of work to do!

Luv,
Dave

Calling All Troopers in the Ao4!

Ha roo, everytrooper! It's me - Amber! I know some of you think of me as the sweet, kind and gentle, joke-telling, giggling member of the Ao4. Well, OK, I am. But I am also Stormy's XO (Executive Officer). She asked me to handle the list of new inductees in the Troopers in the Army of Four!

This is my serious XO look!

OK! We've heard from Bama, that she and her River Hill Pack would like to be Troopers! And my very handsome friend Pippa, and Russell, who also is quite handsome. Maddox - you said you and Shelby would like to be abducted. Hmm... I'm going to assume you meant inducted, as we don't kidnap pups and force them to join our army. Hee hee - oh, sorry. Stormy told me to be serious. We have added all of you to the list of Troopers! Congratulations! We have a very cool animated gif file you can put in your sidebar, to link you up to the list; please email us at SibeTracker at yahoo dot com (you know what I mean here... right?) and we'll email you the code! Ours is currently right above our profile - isn't it cool?!?

Anypup else? Also ... MJ, you are already on the list! Email us for the code! Koobie? Yes ... if you say, "Yes," it does mean you're in the Army. Of Four. Let us know what you decide!

If you're already a Trooper in the Ao4 but don't have the animated gif in your sidebar yet, shoot us an email so we can set you up with the code!

That's all for today. New mission coming soon. In the meantime, I just checked our Weather Control Device and there are snow flurries in Siberia! :)

Love,
Amber
Executive Officer, Army of Four

Eyes Left!

Tail wags, everypup! It's me - Stormy. I called a meeting of the Ao4 the other evening out on the deck. I wanted to brief everypup up on adding more members to our roster of Troopers in the Ao4. I called everysibe to attention, told them to sit, then told them to do an "eyes left" - Sibe-style, naturally. Now ... I ask you ... look at this photo:

Left to right: me, Amber, SGT Zim, Dave

Is it just me, or is a certain Labradave out of synch with the rest of us? Sigh.

We're spending extra time doing drills to get him straightened out. I'll get back to you soon about augmenting the Troopers in the Ao4 list. In the meantime, let me know if you'd like to be added (if you aren't already a Trooper) and if you are .... get in step!

Tail wags,
Stormy
Supreme Commander, Army of Four

Happy Columbus Day!

Ha roo, pups! Zim here! A happy Columbus Day to all! How cool is it to think about Christopher Columbus landing here in the New World back in 1492! What a discovery!

Speaking of discoveries, I learned a whole lot about my cool friends through the interviews that I did with them! Please check their blogs! I interviewed:

Marvin - read all about about sit-down here
Sitka & Tia
Louka
Chili (from Bama's River Hill Pack!) - click here for that interview!
Madie & China - see their interview here
Holly - she posted her interview here
Star & Jack - the CyberSibes posted their interview at this link
Guinness of Guinness & Shiloh - at the Stoutino Inn & Foster Kennel - her interview is here
Prince & Summer - Team Husky posted their interview here
Maddox

Check out their cool interviews; Sitka & Tia, Louka, and Maddox will post their responses shortly! And remember, if you haven't been interviewed and would like to be, drop one of them a note!

OH! And our friends at Team Husky have an interesting poll in the sidebar of their blog! They are asking "Which member of the AO4 likes cuddles the most?" Ha roo, that's so cool! Stop by and vote!

I've made an interesting discovery right here, pups! You aren't going to believe it! I was walking Mom down the street the other evening - just me and Mom. It was great. Then I had this really weird sensation ... sort of like the feeling you get watching a Hitchcock movie, you know? So I turned around ...

Whoa! Look at all those birdies!

Can you see 'em? THOUSANDS of birdies! Swooping around and talking! Here are some sky shots; it was hard to get their pictures - they wouldn't hold still!

Here's one guy on his own.

I had never seen birdies like this before! I asked Mom what they were and you aren't going to BELIEVE what she said! "Seagulls, Zimmie! It's a flock of seagulls." WHAT!?!?!? Oh... no, she didn't mean a Flock of Seagulls, that 80s band with the wild hair-dos. She meant a real flock of real seagull birdies -- you know, like all my friends who have oceans see all the time! This can only mean one thing! The ocean is on its way. Don't you think? Ha! And no one thought I'd be able to have an ocean in Kansas!

I better find Oswald and tell him to raise the rent in his condos - we're going to have beachfront property! HA ROOOOO!

Play bows and surf's up (almost) -
Zim

Sunday Salute - Sitka & Tia!

Ha roo, everypup! ...and kitty. Today our Sunday Salute goes out to our dear friends Sitka and Tia! You may remember that we saluted Sitka and her mom (Shelli) just a few weeks ago. Well, we got an email from Sitka's mom over the weekend and just had to share this p-update with you! (Can you do a p-update if a kitty is involved? Or would that be ... cat-ching up? Hee hee hee! That one's for you, Marvin!)

OK. Sorry. Down to business! In the email from Sitka's mom, she said she came home from work Friday with a horrible headache. As she told us, "I got out my (ok 'our') quilt and curled up on the sofa with it to watch some TV. Miss Sitka came over, crawled up on the sofa (being as quiet as possible), curled up by my legs and laid the upper half of her body on my legs on the quilt!" Check this out:

Sitka helping her mom!

Is that not the picture of true love, devotion, and sweetness?!?!? Shelli told us Sitka has a way of knowing when she doesn't feel good. "She just climbs right up and either lays right up against me, or gets (fully or partially) in my lap! Silly pup really thinks she is a lap dog!" That "lap dog" part sounds like the Deeeeeve, if you ask us! Ha roo roo roo!

And do you know how good it made our mom feel to see Sitka and Shelli (well, Shelli's legs ...) snuggled up on the quilt we made them? Incredibly good! We thanked Sitka's mom for sending the picture and brightening our mom's day!

But that's not all! She sent another picture! Sitka decided to get up and move to lay at her mama's feet, so Tia stepped in and curled up by her on the quilt.

Sitka AND Tia helping their mom!

Could it get any sweeter?!? She said they ALL love the quilt!

She continued, saying, "Sitka has tried a few times to 'help it shed' by attempting to pull out some of the frayed denim out. She quickly got a 'no, leave it' command! And she stopped." Oh, hey, Sitka! You know what's even more fun? Digging in it! Really! Give it a try! Sure .... you might get one of those "no, leave it!" things for that, too, but it's worth it! And you might get a cool star on your quilt as a reward!

Sitka and Tia, we're so glad you were there for your mom when she wasn't feeling well! (Her headache cleared up eventually - thanks to the girls, we're sure!) For all you do, especially for helping your mom, we salute you!

The Army of Four

Condos

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Zim has had a lot of exciting things to share with you lately, but I really thought I should let you know about what's going on in our garden! It has to do with this line up of Emerald Green Arborvitae trees on the north side of our back yard.

As you can see, I am fascinated by them. I asked Mom to let me get a closer look. She said, "OK," but kept me on lead for some reason.

Wow! Look at what happened at the base of all three of the trees!

I wonder what's in there!?!?

Hello?

Only it wasn't "what" was in there, it was "who" was in there. OSWALD! And he ran out of there faster than I could try to rip Mom's arm out of its socket!

He ran up here and snuck out under the fence.

He sure can move fast when he wants to!

Anyroo, I found these tiny fliers laying around, left in his wake. They read, "Spacious bunny condos available - lovely view of sunsets over the Flint Hills, close to tasty pots of portulaca, purple bean vines, and neighboring vegetable gardens. Friendly residents who are kept on lead. More condos available soon. For more info, see Oswald, under the Mugho pine." This is really getting out of control!

I need to go back out on patrol. Before I go, do you know what this is?

It's the VERY last thing you want to see if you're a bunny trying to rent a condo from OSWALD!

(Hee hee hee!)

Love,
Amber

PS: Zim is working on the interview questions for everypup who volunteered to be interviewed! He'll leave them sometime today in the comment sections of your blogs!

Zim - Interviewed by the Tube Wolf!

Ha roo, everypup! It's me - Zim! I had the pleasure of being interviewed by one of my most favorite Siberians - Tubey! It was cool! Have you seen these interviews going around siber-space? Very cool. Let's get started!

I'll put Tubey's words in bold-face italics, so you can follow along!

Question time! I'm going to address these questions to Zim, but anyone can pitch in.

1. Why are humans so stupid?
Wow. Starting out with a tough one. I asked Stormy for help. She responded with a quote from some guy named Orwell -- "Four legs good; two legs bad." She thought that summed it up. I'm not sure, but I think I also have a new reading assignment for Literature class at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies.

2. Tell a story of Siberian destruction, please.
Oh, this is a cool one. You've heard our favorite one about why Mom can't leave Kansas. Like that, this happened a long, long time ago, before Dave joined us. Mom had her Quilt Group here for the first time since I had joined the family. Storms and Am said, "Ha-roo!" to everyone, then went and laid down somewhere. Not me! We had visitors! I had to entertain them! I'd never met "the quilt buddies"! They insisted Mom let me stay and socialize. This one lady smelled like a year old Flat Coated Retriever, so I especially wanted to get to know her. In fact, she was cutting out little fabric "hands" for some little dolls or something. They were about an inch by a half an inch. About the size of small grasshoppers! Mom is always saying she needs a hand with things..... so I just acted all calm and schmoozy to She-Who-Smells-of-Retriever... then zoomed in and grabbed a couple off her lap and ate them. Mom tried to catch me and take them away, but they were too tasty and I was WAY too fast! (Oh, sure ... I gave them back eventually..... if you guys know what I mean.) Anyroo... for some reason, Mom asked Stormy to get out of the carrier after that and put ME in there. We used to have the door on it, back then. I couldn't understand it. I was just trying to help! Mom said it was lucky for me that She-Who-Smelled-of-Retriever found the whole thing extremely funny and was laughing and crying, "Zim ate my hands! Zim ate my hands!" The whole group laughed so much, they didn't get much quilting done... but I'll bet it was the most fun they had at a meeting. It was a great day! Ah........ sweet memories!

3. You all work so hard, do you ever go on vacation?
True, Tubey. As you know, Siberian Huskies are members of the Working Breed group. Our work is never done.

Me. Zim. Siberian Husky. Member of the Working Breed Group.

In order to combine work with some recreation time, I'm working (ha roo roo roo) on a plan to get an ocean here in Kansas - and a mountain, too. They both sound like a ton of fun, and I really think we'd like both. Perhaps we could put the ocean between Kansas and your home state of Missouri, so you can have one, too! Then every day will be like a vacation!

4. I recall that one of you is not only in the Army, but also a Marine. I think it is Dave. What's the story?
Good memory, Tubes! Yeah... that Dave! He's got an interesting past! When he joined us, he turned the Ao3 into the Ao4. But when Mom tried to get him to say "hooah!" like a soldier, he kept saying "hoooh-rah!", more like a Marine. Very odd. Very odd indeed. Stormy said Dave must have been a Marine before he joined the Army. Of Four.

5. Have you ever gone swimming?
No, not yet. But once I get that ocean thing here, I will!

Thanks for the interview, Tubey! That was fun. And I feel totally honored!

So now.......... I am offering to interview some of you! Here are the rules if you want me to interview you:
1. If you are interested in being interviewed, leave me a comment saying, 'interview me.'
2. I will respond by posting five questions for you. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Who's game to be interviewed by me!?!?

Play bows,
Zim

Greenies!

Ha roo, everypup! It's me - Zim. Wowzers, do I have some exciting news to share! Yesterday, Mom came in from playing Kong-on-a-Rope with Dave and saw Amber staring out the front door. She checked the porch, and sure enough, there was a package out there! Amber always knows.

It was addressed to Dad, but he let me help him open it!

Hey ... this tape reads, "Greenies," Dad!

Dad! There are all kinds of Greenies in here!

It was so exciting! A few weeks ago, Dad played golf with a very nice man who works for S&M NuTec/Mars ... better known to us as the Greenies Company! Dad told him all about us - the ever-charming Army of Four rescued Siberian Huskies. They talked about all kinds of stuff and dad's new golf friend told him about the Greenies Company and how they have re-formulated Greenies to make them more digestible AND even better at cleaning your teeth! Well... guess what!?!? He's who sent us this huge box of Greenies! Wowzers! I can't believe this!

Mom let me read the letter Mr. Garcia wrote to Dad. It was really nice. What a friendly guy!

He also sent a bunch of literature and a DVD on the science behind Greenies. Storm said we're going to watch it today; I think it will be included in the Chemistry curriculum at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies. In the letter, he also said there are some NEW varieties of Greenies - Lite and Senior! How cool! Now everypup can enjoy them!

Dad held up a Lite one for me to see. It looks YUMMY!

Amber came over to see what was in the big box. Dad gave her neck rubbies and told her it's a huge box of Greenies!

She and I then changed places. I have no idea why.

We called Dave to come in. He was very excited. He loves to chew stuff!

Woo! A whole box of Greenies! Hey, Stormy! Have you seen this!?!

Storm came in to check it out; she couldn't believe it!

A whole box of Greenies!!?!? This is VERY generous of Mr. Garcia!

She was totally excited and licked the box when Dad showed it to her.

Since she's our Supreme Commander and spokes-Sibe, she turned and asked Mom if we could have one.

Mom said, "Tomorrow!" That's so exciting! (We had just had rather hearty play sessions in the yard, and Mom wanted our tummies to be more "normalized" before we had a new treat.) Stormy told Dave to stare at Mom, give her the sad eyes look, and to send her a mind-meld message not to forget to give us one.

Dave's good at sending mind-meld messages. He's not as good as the Master of the Sad Eyes/Harp Seal look (Storms), but no one is. She's the BEST!

Anyroo....... Mom won't forget. In the meantime, MEGA-THANKS to Mr. Garcia for his generous gift! We look forward to chewing our Greenies - and sharing them with our friends, too! We thoroughly appreciate your thoughtfulness!!!

Play bows,
Zim

Ivy's Poetry Book and Help in the Garden

Woo, everypup! Dave here, with some exciting news. Have you seen our very dear friend Ivy's blog?!? Check out this post - her new book of dog poetry came in! And guess who wrote it? SHE DID! Isn't that cool!?!?

Poet Paws

And Marvin and I are contributing poets! I'm very flattered that she included some of my Haik-woo. You can go to this link to order one of her books for your very own! It's so exciting!

Speaking of exciting, I was helping Mom with the watering the other day - here I am, helping:

Could you see me? Here's a closer shot:

I'm here for you, Mom!

Yeah, so I was up on the deck helping while she went down to water those Butterfly things Aunt Janet sent. Then I heard her start talking to someone! At first I thought maybe Oswald was out there, but Zim (who was also helping) said no, that he'd know if it was Oswald. Here's Zim, making sure it's not Oswald.

No ... it's nobunny we know, Dave!

Here's who she saw!

A giant toad! Oh, no ... wait. Here's some perspective for you:

That's Mom's finger! The toad (or is it a frog?) was less than an inch long! He hung out and watched Mom water the butterfly thingies.

What a helpful guy! Knowing he was out there, I could relax.

My work here is done!

Have a great day, everypup. And Mr. Toad.

Luv,
Dave

Dot Dash

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim! Did you see our bee-roo-tiful friend Sitka's blog the other day? She told us all about her most recent adventures at St. Simons Island ... then showed us a cool "dash" mark her mom just discovered on her tail. She wanted to know if any of the rest of us Sibes have one on our tails.

Storm and Dave don't really have one - their tails are so nice and dark that any marks would be disguised real well. Am and I do, though. I have more like a "dot", as seen here:

...and Amber has a dash, as seen here:

In Morse code, we're spelling out "ET". Hmmm... what do you think of when you hear the letters "ET" -- "extra terrestrial"? Maybe me and Am are from outer space! COOL! I always thought Amber was born in northeast Kansas ... but no one has any idea where I came from. Wait 'til I tell Dave! This is so cool!

Siiiiiiiiiiiiibessssssssssssss innnnnn Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccce!

Play bows,
Zim

Theme Song Tag!

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Stormy! Our friend Bama tagged us in a cool, new game of tag. We are supposed to tell our theme song! As Bama put it, "What is your song? If you don't already have one, try to think of one that fits your name or personality, or if possible, BOTH!" Oh, cool! Thanks for the tag!

Mom has little songs that she sings for each of us. Fortunately, they are very SHORT (ha roo roo roo). Here are each of ours!

Dave's theme song is sung to the tune of the old TV show Davy Crockett. Does anyone remember that one? It probably was before your time. Fortunately, it was before Mom's time, too, and all she can remember from reruns is one of two lines. What she sings is,

"Davy! Davy Doggie! King of the Wild Frontier!"

That's it. And she sings that over and over again. Sigh. For the words to the original song, you can check out this link. We didn't know them. Dave likes the part about answering his country's call and "seein' his duty clear. (Serving his country well)." Pretty cool song!

Davy Doggie

For Amber, it's based on her nickname of Ram-a-lamb. Did you see the comment our dear friend Marvin left on that post? He posted a link to a great rendition of Rama Lama Ding Dong. Am's song goes like that, only Mom sings,

"Oh oh oh oh
I got a girl named Ram a Lamb a Lamb a Lamb a Ding Dong
She's everything to me
Ram a Lamb a Lamb a Lamb a Ding Dong
I'll never set her free For she's mine, all mine!"

Ram a Lamb a Lamb a Lamb a Ding Dong

Zim gets the tune from the theme to Spiderman.

"Zimmie-man, Zimmie-man
Friendly neighborhood Zimmie-man
Wealth and fame He's ingnored
Action is his reward.
Lookout! Here comes the Zimmie-man!"

His is pretty fun, isn't it?

Zimmie-man, incognito

As for me, Stormy, I've got the theme song to the old TV show Top Cat. (Can you tell Mom only watched quality TV as a biped puppy?) That link also has the words to the theme song. My version goes:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh STORM-CAT!
The indisputable leader of the gang.
--- insert "blah blah blah" here, as Mom can't remember the whole thing---
She's the most tip top,
Storm-Cat!
Yes she's a chief, she's a king
But above everything,
She's the most tip top,
Storm-Cat.
Storm-Cat!

Me ... Storm-Cat! (The indisputable leader of the gang!)

What a great tag game! We really had fun with this; thanks, Bama and pack-mates!

We're going to tag Sitka & Tia, Ruby, Steve, Kat & Wilbur, and Tasha & Eva! Have fun, everypup!

Tail wags,
Storm