Prince, Trip, Overboard

Ha roo, pups! Storms here. Lots to tell you about, so I'm going to get right down to business! The title of the post was hard not to play with; Amber wanted it to be "Prince Trips Overboard", but I think you all know Ammy. Ha roo roo roo!

First up - have you seen Team Husky's blog lately!?!? That handsome, strong, fast Siberboy Prince has asked me to be his girlfriend - in the most creative way! Make sure you stop by and give his latest post a read. My answer, of course, is YES! What a pup! I am so flattered!

Next up - did you see Tucker's blog yesterday? His Human Assistant offered to give a 13-year-old Sibe named Sinjin a new home, rather than be put down. It's a long story we won't go into here, but a big tail wag to Tucker's H.A. for offering to take him in. He just needed a little help with transport - which is where our dad came in! Our dad headed west yesterday, picked up Sinjin out in Salina, then headed off to meet up with Tucker and his H.A..

On the following map, Dad started at point B, on the far right. Tucker and his HA were in Denver - point A on the far left. They met in Burlington, Colorado, which is point C.

Tucker posted some pictures of the meet-up in Burlington on his blog; here are a couple our dad took!

Here's Tucker. Ammy thought he looked cute here. It was nice of him to make the trip with his H.A.!

Tucker

Here are the boys meeting for the first time.

Tucker is on the left; Sinjin is on the right.

And here is Sinjin after Dad turned him over to Tucker's H.A.

Sinjin

We wish Sinjin a most happy new beginning in his life - and say a big thank roo to Tucker's H.A. for taking him in. AND a big Ao4 thank roo to our dad for all the miles and work he put in yesterday!!!

Lastly, this is for Summit the Super Mal. Summi is rather famous for his love for "livergreat" -- his word for liverwurst. We saw this cartoon this morning, and Summi immediately came to mind.

Ha roo roo roo! That Louie has one great snooter on him to find that pill. Hey, Summi! You don't think your mom hides stuff in your livergreat, do you?

Tail wags, all!
Storms

Morning Walk Videos

Ha roo, pups! Storm here! I thought I'd share a few short videos with you today. These are from the walk Dave and I take in the morning with Mom to go find Am, Zim and Dad. We shot these vids last week. As you can see, most of our snow is GONE. I'm not sure who to see about that.

Ready? Let's go! In this first one, we're heading up the steep hill around the corner from the house.



Mom usually gets a tad winded at the top of the hill. Dave and I don't.

Here we are on the other side of the hill. Mom seems to like that side better for some reason.

The sidewalk ends on the up-hill side, then starts again toward the end of the down-hill stretch. Note I understood what Mom said and got a "Good girl, Storm!" Ha roo roo roo!

Once we get down there, we can see the entrance to the trail! Usually that's where we see Dad and the redheads! Check it out! (Sorry about the wind. Hey... we're in Kansas, what can I say?)

Did you see Dad, Am and Zimmie? Cool, huh?

Thanks for coming along on our morning walk! We always get a cookie when we get home. Since you came with us, you should demand one from you bipeds now. It's only fair!

Tail wags,
Storms

Sunday Salute - Our Fur-Cousins!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to our very own fur-cousins, Monroe, Newton and Skyler! Here they are!

Left to right: Newton, Monroe and Skyler

These guys live with our Aunt Janet - you've heard us mention her quite a few times! Yes, she's the Master Gardener who sent Zim the Magic Beans and sent us the flag for Ao4 Headquarters! We thought we should tell you about our fur-cousins now! The group pictures are a couple years old, but currently Monroe is 14, Skyler is 4 and Newton is 5. Here's another very sweet picture of them!

Monroe holding a meeting.

Don't they look sweet and charming? But sometimes, after our fur-cousins have been out playing in the back yard, Aunt Janet hesitates before letting them into the house. How could she do that!?!? Look at these sweet, innocent faces!

Let us in, please!

Why the hesitation? See... apparently Skyler - who Aunt Janet adopted when he was 8 months old - has a bit of ... excess energy, shall we say? Mom has suggested that if Aunt Janet would only get Sky, a young Australian Shepherd, his own flock of sheep to herd, he could work off that energy. As it stands now, he finds his own entertainment.

Have we mentioned there's a canal that runs past Aunt Janet's house?

A canal that's very muddy when the tide is out?

Ha roo roo roo! A big paws up to cousin Skyler for keeping Aunt Janet on her toes! He's real helpful with the gardening, too - maybe he's the Master Gardener, not Aunt Janet! He's always digging stuff up and transplanting it!

Fur-cousins Monroe, Newton and perhaps especially Skyler - for all you do, we salute you!

The Army of Four

Tagged By Quincy!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! My very handsome friend Quincy tagged me the other day in the fun tag game going around! I've been working very hard on my answers and am ready to play! Zimmie played this last week and was very creative. I'm not sure how creative my answers are, but I did have fun thinking about everything!

This is me thinking about my answers!

I have to post 7 weird facts about myself then post the rules! Here goes!

1. I love to herd! Our Siberian ancestors herded reindeer. I mostly herd Mom or members of the Ao4. Once time when we were out walking, Mom slipped and fell on the ice (and none of us were even pulling her!). Even though I had Dad on a leash, I pressed up against Mom and herded her the rest of the way home. She said I was a big help!

2. I was a Mother's Day present for Stormy!

3. I had a mole removed. Well, actually I caught a mole out of an instinctual prey drive, then dropped it when Mom told me to. I'm not sure why I did that!

4. I have a very sensitive, highly calibrated snooter. I sneeze at car exhausts that aren't up to my code standards and at smoky fireplaces; that same sensitive snooter allows me to predict snow! Dad says I could be used to snuffle out truffles; Mom says the only truffles she's interested in are made of chocolate. Hee hee hee!

5. I can count to 4. Every day we have Banana Formation and we all get 4 slices each. Dad gives one to Stormy and me, then one each to the boys. And he does that 4 times. I walk away after I get my fourth slice, even before the boys get theirs - because I know I'm not going to get any more!

6. When I was a little girl, I was afraid to go down steps and across this wooden bridge in the park. We call it the Trippy-Trap Bridge and it was very scary to me. My daddy helped me conquer both the steps and the Trippy-Trap Bridge, and when I did ... I sort of scrambled down the steps or over the Trippy-Trap Bridge. One of my nicknames is The Scrambler because of that.

7. And one of my other nicknames is Jaws of Steel. No one has invented the "durable" rubber toy I couldn't destroy. This includes the real dinosaur bones made of the black "indestructible" rubber. And a few other things.

That was fun! Thank roo, Quincy, for tagging me!

Here are the rules to the tag:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the blogger who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 bloggers and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Let's see...


I'm not sure who hasn't been tagged yet, so if you're reading this and haven't played yet - you're it! Have fun - I came up with more than seven things, so I'll share more stories later in the week!

Love,
Amber

Haik-Woo #40

Or is that "Haikh-Woo"? Woo, it's me - Dave! I was inspired by our snow-loving friend Khyra to write a new Haik-woo. Haiku is three lines of non-rhyming verse, 17 total syllables: 5 in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last. In Haik-woo, as frequent readers of the Ao4 Digest may recall, it's the same thing - except the last word is always "woo". That's my favorite thing to say, so I finish every poem with it. Woo.

So... that being said, I give you Haik-Woo #40.

Thank woo, Khyra, for the inspiration and permission to post your snowy photos!

Luv,
Dave

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ha roo, pups, it's me - Zim! On behalf of the entire Army of Four, we'd like to wish a very happy Valentine's Day to all of our special friends out there! We'd like to spread love to all of our bloggging buddies -- and those special puppers and pupperettes ... you know who you are! We love each and every one of you!

Remember a few days ago, I showed you my new, little friend and told you I'd sent him on a special mission? You can follow that hyperlink back, if you need a refresher. Then I posted a video of Mom delivering the exciting news that I had a package from my bee-roo-tiful friend Sitka! Remember? Check out what was in the package!!!

Hi, little pup!

A little stuffie friend! And a wonderful Valentine! Sitka said (in part, 'cuz there were lots of words like "love" and "smooch" and stuff that I'll save for between me and Sitka!), "I wish I could give your snooter a kiss on Valentine's Day, but I hope the little stuffie will do." Oh, wowzers! Siberian minds think alike, don't they? That's the mission I sent my little friend on!

Nose smoochies!

I'm going to hold you REAL close!
I don't want any Sibe to mistake you for a chew toy!

Oh! And she and Tia and their mom also sent a Valentine to our mom & dad, Storms, Ammy and Dave! Isn't Sitka just the sweetest thing?!!? Sigh. I am the luckiest Siberian ever!

Happy Valentine's Day, every pup! Spread the love!

Play bows,
Zim

A Package for ME!

Ha roo, everypup! Zim here! Wowzers, you won't believe this! There I was the other day, kicking back in the ... I mean working! working hard in the bedroom -

Here's a close up...

Close up of me working hard

Anyroo... I was in there hard at work when I heard Mom say those magic words! "Zim! You got a package from Sitka!"

Check this out!

A package! From SITKA! I was so excited! Tune in tomorrow to see what the very bee-roo-tiful Sitka sent!

Before I sign off for the day, a big thank roo to our good buddy Echo for posting about yesterday being National Pancake Day! I sent Mom a mind-meld message and guess what she made for dinner? Banana pancakes! And I helped!

Look at those golden goodies!

I owe you, Echo!

Play bows,
Zim

My Friend Is On a Mission

Ha roo, pups! It's me, Zim. I've got a new, little friend here and I've sent him out on a VERY important mission!

OK, little guy! You know what to do, right? Find her! Find her and tell her!

I sure hope this works!

Play bows,
Zimmie

Kinneared!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Did you see the latest post our dear friend Pippin put up on her blog? She explained about "kinnearing", which is basically someone holding his or her camera at hip level and pretending not to be taking a photo even though he or she is! Mom thought this might be a good way to get a picture of me, since I'm not thrilled with the camera. This is what she came up with:

Yep. Like Pippin, I knew what Mom was doing the whole time. Maybe it only works for humans on other humans; Stormy said canines are smart enough to know what's going on.

It's not a bad picture, though I look a bit squinty. It's because of the sun reflecting off all the snow. Oh! And it's from last week. Most of our lovely snow is gone now - except for in the shade and where the snow plow piled it up!

Love,
Amber

Sunday Salute - Dogs With Blogs!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to Dogs With Blogs (DWB)! We've saluted this incredible organization before, but wanted to tell you more about how it all started and see what's new in the works! Do you realize DWB is over 800 bloggers strong now?!? Ha rooo!


Stormy recently interviewed Greg, Opy and Charlie's dad and co-founder of DWB. Here are excerpts from that interview!

SZK: Thanks for agreeing to this interview! I know you're a busy guy - between work, all the volunteer activities you're involved with, and the really important things like giving Charlie and Opy hamburgers and all! I'd really like our readers to know more about the heart, the origins of Dogs With Blogs! How did it all start?

DWB: Dogs With Blogs was an idea that I was never initially able to fully realize. I volunteered to build a website for a doggie rescue organisation in Queensland Australia, and had planned to use the "dog blog" idea to draw attention to the cause. Ironically, I was literally fifteen minutes too late in my offer. Someone else got in before me. I felt the idea was too good to waste, and started thinking about how I could make the idea stand alone.

SZK: AH! Doggie rescue! We love that, you know! All of us are former pound puppies except for Amber; she was a "late adoptee" off a farm! We love helping rescue groups! Was there one special event or pup who inspired you?

DWB: Yes! I used to own a retail outlet, which had its fair share of "strays" wander through the parking lot. One day, a Blue Cattle Dog took refuge on our doorstep. She was the most beautiful puppy I had ever seen. She was so sweet, and we came to calling her Marny. We knew if we didn't act, Marny would have been run over by a passing car, as our store was located on a very busy major roadway.

SZK: Oh, no! Poor little Marny! What did you do?

DWB: We took her to the local Animal Shelter who informed us that if Marny wasn't claimed in 7 days, she would be put to sleep. We were shocked and astounded, we could not believe it.We were on the phone day and night and at the 11th hour, we found a friend of a friend of a friend, who was a carpenter, and he was ecstatic to learn that his life could be blessed with the companionship of this beautiful puppy, Marny.

SZK: YEA! I'd sure like to lick that guy's nose! Yours, too, come to think of it! So what became of Marny?

DWB: We paid $110 to have Marny released from the shelter we left her at seven days prior, and drove her to meet her new human. They hit it off instantly. The last we heard, Marny had taken to the building site like a duck to water. Sleeping on the end of her new daddy's bed each night, it was so rewarding for us to know we had saved her from certain death.

SZK: What a special puppy - and what a special thing you did for her. We canines never forget kindness, you know! How did this lead you into launching DWB?

DWB: That was just one dog. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of beautiful pups, with hearts full of love, that are put to sleep everyday. Both Brooke and I cried many tears after learning this. Like a bolt of lightning from above, our urge to do something to help dogs on death row, and the "dog blog" idea came together. Dogs With Blogs was born.

SZK: That is so special! It's a great blogging community!

DWB: Right! Some two years later, Dogs With Blogs is easily the best online community on the planet. We now have over 800 members from all walks of life blogging harmoniously together, with no controversy or conflict. Dogs With Blogs is truly a case study in Social Science. It defies the patterns seen in all other public gatherings. We are all united by one common cause which completely negates all of the other issue's which under normal circumstances, would divide us. We all LOVE our dogs, flat out, no questions asked.

SZK: And us pups love you guys! Tell me more about how DWB helps doggie rescue! Like helping Monika's Doggie Rescue! That's such an important aspect of the organization - though sometimes, sadly, that gets a bit "lost", if you know what I mean!

DWB: Yes! Even though we have created this clearly remarkable online community, it has only generated $500US in two years, chiefly through the sale of our annual calendar. As great as Dogs With Blogs is, it has not been able to generate the support we had hoped it would, to help save the lifes of the hundreds of other doggies like Marny... Hopefully, the re-Incarnation of the Dogs With Blogs' online store will change that.

SZK: A new on-line store with really cool stuff, right? I've taken a peek and plan to order some things for our mom and dad! You're using artwork and images donated by DWB members! Everything is so cool! We love the items you made with the Ao4 logo on them! Thanks so much for doing that!

DWB: We hope [that will] generate sales and create interest in what Dogs With Blogs was originally designed to do. We realise that there is so much work to be done locally, and it's hard for people to support a dog rescue charity in Australia, but believe me, there is nothing we would like more than for Dogs With Blogs to be supporting many doggie rescue organsiations all around the world.
The biggest journey starts with the smallest step, and we are hoping that the new and improved online store will start a worldwide journey that enables Dogs With Blogs to save the lifes of thousands of dogs all around the world.

SZK: What an outstanding goal - we are so honored to be a part of the Dogs With Blogs communtiy.
Thanks so much for the interview, Greg. And a HUGE thanks to both you and Brooke for starting this remarkable Dogs With Blogs organization! We salute you!

I'm going to do my part to help raise money for rescue right NOW! Now ... where is Mom's plastic card ....?

On behalf of the Army of Four,
Storms

Mystery Blogger Revealed!

Ha roo, pups! It's me ...... Zimmie! That's right - and a big "way to go" to the lovely Dakota, our pal Louka, those cool Beagle babes Jazz & Dixie, and the bee-roo-tiful FloPuff for guessing correctly! I am the mystery blogger from the other day! Ha rooooo!

Thanks for all the guesses! Thanks, too, for all the cool comments on yesterday's post and the pictures of Dave and me playing. I mean "working". I also built a couple cool new snow forts! Here's one I really liked:

I claim this as Ft. Zimmie!

Yeah. It's so cool, I stuck a flag at the top! Ha roooo!

Sadly, it's mostly gone now. I don't know who's been taking all of our snow, but whoever it is sure is leaving a soupy mess out there! Not that I mind that part, but the whole having to get your paws wiped off after you're outside thing isn't my bowl of kibble, if you know what I mean!

I decided to make some snow angels this snowfall, too. It was pretty fun! Here I am, on the approach:

Yep! The perfect spot!

The flop-down and twist:

Ha ROOOOO!

And stopping to admire my work:

Oh, yeah! Totally cool!

I've heard some of our pals in Pennsylvania are finally getting some snow. I hope you guys have a BLAST in it! Don't work too hard!

Play bows,
Zim

It's Snow Fun ...

It's snow fun ... being a a silly Siberian! (With apologies to Genesis ...)

Woo, everypup! It's me - Dave! Sorry we're late posting today; we've had places to go ... people to see ... work to do ... you know, the basics. A Sibe's work is never done. Especially if there is snow on the ground. Here are me and Zimmie hard at it!

Oh! Hey, guys!

Time out! Is that Oswald?

Ha! Made you look!

Gotcha, Zim!

Yep ... busy, busy, busy!

We didn't want anypuppy to worry about us! We've been busy Sibes! We'll do a longer post tomorrow and will reveal who the mystery poster was on yesterday's posting! Woo!

Luv,
Dave

Tagged by the Captain!

We've been tagged by Captain Maverick! We're supposed to reveal 7 weird facts about ourselves then tag more bloggers.

We decided to carry the game a little further by having one member of the Ao4 respond and to let who that is remain a mystery! It's up to you to figure out who it is!

(Members of the Siber-Mal Society have already seen the following silhouette and are asked to please not reveal who the mystery blogger is!)

Ready? Here goes!

1. I love to watch people work. Or basically to stare at anything that moves.

2. I have no dew claws. I don't know what happened to them or where they went.

3. I am usually a little bit skittish when meeting people for the first time. This did not apply when I met the Mala-moms! (That says a lot about how wonderful they are!)

4. I couldn't learn the trick "Gimme 5" when I joined the pack. Mom tried saying "Gimme 4" as a joke (see item #2 above as to why) and I did it - so now that's my trick.

5. I own my own vacuum.

6. I have lingering heat exhaustion issues, dating back to before I found my fur-ever home.

7. I've never met another pupper I couldn't win over!

We are going to tag Marvin, Echo, Team Husky (Summer and Prince), Sitka and Tia, Holly, Khyra, and Jazz & Dixie. Have fun!

Now, the rules to the tag:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the blogger who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 bloggers and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Any guesses as to who is our mystery blogger? GOOD LUCK!

Lots of Work Today!

Ha roo! Drill SGT Zim here. Lot of work to do today. This is what we woke up to this morning. That's our street in front of me, in case you can't tell.

After Dad and Mom shovel the driveway and sidewalk, I'll get to work. I'll make sure Mom has the camera handy.

Play bows,
Zim

Hot Dog!

Or as Amber would say ...

... it's a dog eat dog world out there!

Ha roo roo roo!

Play bows,
Zim

Editor's note: No hot dogs were administered to the above Siberian ... or any other Siberian ... in the filming of this blog post. He was rewarded with a dog treat for posing for the picture.

E For Excellent!

Ha roo, pups! Our friends over at Jan's Funny Farm have given us the "E for Excellent Award"!

Thank roo so much! This is most kind of you and we feel quite honored! Thank you for your kindness!

According to the gang at JFF, this award is given to bloggers who have wonderful outstanding styles and a fantastic ability to keep us thinking, amused and entertained. We now need to send this to ten writers of outstanding style and ability. We gave this a lot of thought and would like to present the award to:

Frankie & Maddie

Jazz & Dixie

Tubey

Sitka & Tia

Xsara

Kelsey Ann and the Kapp Pack

Marley & Ziggy

Holly

The Cyber-Sibes (Star & Jack)

Pippin and her Pack

We'd really like to give the award to all of you, but worked hard to limit our selection to ten!

Thank roo again to our friends at JFF! You guys ROCK! Oh! And Samaritan asked Zim about his eyes the other day ... for a good look at all four of us, please click here!

Tail wags!

Storms

Sunday Salute - Luna, Kito and Timber!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to our bestest friends in all of Miami, Florida - Luna, Kito and Timber! You've read about them before on our blog; the latest adventure was when our very sweet friend Luni helped gain Ammy's freedom during the great Reindeer/Hostage situation. We've been thinking about them a lot this week and thought we'd give them a well-deserved Salute!

Here's a great picture of Luna and Kito in their Cinnamon Roll poses.

Luna (top) and Kito - Cinnamon Rolls!

Am and Zim, Luna and Kito's cosmic cousins, love doing Cinnamon Buns themselves. Mom showed Dad that picture, and he thought it was Ammy and Zim at first. Ha roo roo roo! Dave wrote a Haik-woo about those four; since our link to the Haik-woo page isn't working quite right, here it is -- Haik-woo #21:

I think you can see the similarities!

Anyroo, also curled into a doggy doughnut is Luni and Kito's brother, Timber! Here he is, in a Hostess Cupcake pose:

Well, OK, he was coming out of the pose.

How am I supposed to relax with that camera going off?

It's hard, hard work being Sibes, especially with the pup-arazzi around. We totally understand!

For all you do, and for helping us fool Dad with another great picture of you, Luna, Kito and Timber ... we salute you!

The Army of Four

Big Day Today!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Today is the big day! It's Groundhog Day! For our international readers who may not know about Groundhog Day, please click here to go back to last year's post. Stormy gave some really good links to explain all about Punxsutawney Phil and how he decides if we're going to have six more weeks of winter or an early spring. This year, he decided we're going to have six more weeks of winter! YEA, Phil!

Stormy also explained last year that coincidentally enough, I was born on Groundhog Day! Given my ability to predict whether or not we're going to get snow, it's rather appropriate, don't you think? Hee hee hee!

Mom took me outside this morning to get my prediction. I got my snooter busy ...

and checked for any lovely snow in the area. (I look a little bit like Meeshka in that picture above, don't you think?)

I gave the forecast a lot of careful thought, as you can see. Sadly ... our immediate forecast is ...

... no snow. Sigh. If only I could request and not just predict!

Yoplait has a new snooter-friendly yogurt cup. I predict we'll get to share some of that to celebrate my birthday! I hope you'll join us in the celebration - I'm NINE today!

Love - and paws up to Punxsutawney Phil!
Amber

I'm Such a Cut-Up!

Woo, everypup! It's me - Dave, Guide Dog for the Color Blind. It's been a busy time around here lately. Mom's been trying to put the finishing touches on one of her bags - the Storm Bag - and is also busy putting a quilt tutorial together for her other blog - how to make those cool fray-edged quilts. I thought I'd give her a paw by cutting the denim for her for the tutorial.

All done here, Mom! What's next?

She said I was sooooo helpful that she was able to get the Storm Bag done. (Amber said it's because I'm such a cut-up! Woo.)

Here's how the Storm Bag came out, in case you're interested. It's fully reversible. Here's the one side:

That's a thing of neon orange Post-It Notes in the pocket, so you can see the pocket. Here's the other side:

It has sort of a "day time/night time" thing going on. Siberianly speaking, I like The Deeve Bag better... but I could be biased. Woo.

My work here is done!

Luv,
Dave