Bosco Dog Blog

I probably should not even talk about this, but I see it everyday. I don't understand you humans go to the bathroom in a boxed in room with no view of anything but a wall. It is very strange when you consider the alternative. I mean! Joan and I get up and go for a walk. I tend to wait until I'm near the river and then I put my back to the street and look out at the Mississippi River. Now, how can you do better than that?! What a life I lead. I just shake my head at you humans.

I'm becoming very excited about the weather. Not that I don't like the snow, but I really love the sun more. I always seek out the sunny spots on the floor in the house to lay down in. I also am spending more time in the backyard and on walks with Joan.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today I had an unwelcome visitor in my house kingdom. Late in the afternoon, Joan picked up a leash - I immediately thought we were going to go on another walk. Instead, she went out the front door in her slippers. I watched what happened through the windows....there were two young kids trying to get this yellow dog to come to them. It was running around crazy and into the street. Then the neighbor from two doors' down and her 2 year old came out to the street to see what was going on. Joan walked out and asked if they needed a leash. As soon as she held up the leash, the yellow dog ran to her and she leashed her up. She had dog tags on but the number was 952 area code - she wondered how this dog ended up in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, I am going crazy. I mean - how dare she bring a dog near the house with one of my leashes!!!! I was barking like mad. Then she came inside to get the phone after she tied the dog to the front steps. She called but no one was home. She wasn't going to give the dog to the little boys and the neighbor doesn't have dogs...so she decided to bring this dog into MY HOUSE.

She came inside and put the fence up between the kitchen and dining room and left me in the dining room side. Then she walked the yellow dog around back and brought her into the kitchen. Then she opened up the fence, but I did not want this dog in my house. So my lips went up, showing my powerful teeth and I growled. The yellow dog just ran around the house and then Joan put the fence back up separating us. I still went up to the fence and gritted my teeth at the yellow dog. After about a half an hour with no phone call return from the owners, Joan realized that she couldn't keep both of us here overnight in the same house (thanks to my gritting teeth, ah ha!). So she called Mpls Animal Control who picks up loose dogs. John, the animal control officer, came within about 15 minutes and I had my house entirely back to myself. phew. I think I've made it clear what I think about having a new dog in our family - no!

Later tonight Joan got a phone call from the owner and said they had the dog back. They were visiting someone one block away and their dog got through a broken part of the fence! I was so exhausted from gritting my teeth and the two long walks Joan and I went on today that I just zonked out!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today started for me (and Joan) at 3 AM when I woke her up because I kept shaking my head/flapping my ears/jingling my ID tags. See, I sauntered up to Joan's room, where I have a second bed, but my ears were bothering me so I kept shaking my head. This wakes Joan up. So at 3AM, we had a little one-on-one in the kitchen - and not the kind I wanted. I like it if she goes in the cabinet and gets me a bone or lets me outside. But instead, she started cleaning my ears. This consists of her squirting cold liquid from a bottle into my ear, massaging it around, and then cleaning my ear with a paper towel. As soon as I see that bottle, my tail goes down and I look at her with a sad look. So she cleaned my ears and then went back to bed. She also took off my collar so that my ID tags wouldn't jingle anymore even if I shook my head. In that case, all she hears are my ears flapping.

Since I made Joan get up at 3AM, I let her sleep in a bit. And I was sure rewarded. First, she fed me. Then, we went to the dog park where I got to fetch my purple bone toy over and over again. There were 2 dogs when I got there - a white one and a black one, and I liked both of them. Then later a lighter brown dog joined us and he wasn't so nice. I had to growl at him once, so then Joan and I just played fetch by ourselves, off to the side. Meanwhile the light brown dog got more aggressive with the other two dogs and eventually the white dog was on her back, submissive, and the brown dog kept going at her. Finally, the owner got a clue and left. Phew! I could relax after that. Though, I have to say that is exactly why I prefer to operate on the periphery of dog activity at the dog park.

Most of the rest of the day (besides my afternoon walk with Joan) was spent on the backstoop, sunning myself and overseeing my yard - making sure no squirrels came into it. Oh, and then Tim, the neighbor, saw that I was outside so he came over and had a few treats for me! He is so nice to me!

This evening I was sleeping on my bed while Joan folded laundry etc. All that overseeing the yard really tires me out!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is snowing buckets outside. Joan is working in her office and I'm awaiting a chance to go out and run around in the snow. I had to wrestle her second laptop away from her to be able to post this so all my loyal fans can know what is happening here. I hope we do get the 8" of snow they predict. Then we'll get to go to the dog park or the golf course and I'll run around like a maniac. I think I'll go nudge her arm - I like to push my snout under her arm and then push UP which makes her arm come away from the keyboard - trying to communicate that she needs to tear herself away from the computer and meet my needs and wants! And I'm off to nudge!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am super, super, super happy today when I spied an unfamilar car drive up and drop off - who? Joan!!! It is the same type of car that took her away last Thursday morning when I was really sad because she had that zipper box with wheels. I tried to stay on her heels but she left.

However, she did plan a great time for me. The neighbor, Doris, let me out in the middle of the day for a break. Then, Martha came over and whisked me away to "Camp Bosco" in St. Louis Park. Martha and Miguel and Boli (the cat) and I enjoyed each other's company tremendously. Martha took me out for hours on the golf course and I got to run, run, run. Boli would chase me every once in a while but then immediately let me know he was done playing. (Passive aggressive, I think.) And Miguel, well he just loves to give me treats and feed me lots of food....I can always get more food out of him.

Then I returned to my house but Joan was not there. Then Roberta came over and stayed with me for a few days. She gave me a few sausages that were left over from something - another great sitter who loves to feed me. Maybe Joan should go away more often?!

Today Joan finally showed up and I couldn't help but jump up and give her face a couple licks. She told me stories of sandy beaches and warm weather - what is that? It is going to snow here again tonight! Then she brushed me a lot and washed my bed and now I'm still in heaven....

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow, I almost might have needed to go to the vet today. I was happy as a clam, lounging in the sun in the backyard (it was 60 degrees today in March in Minneapolis!!!) Since most of the snow has melted away, I found myself a good stick and started munching on it. The next thing I knew, it broke and I had a piece of stick lodged in the roof of my mouth between my either side of my teeth. OUCHHHH!
Lucky for me, since I learned to escape from the yard, Joan keeps a pretty watchful eye on me when I'm outside. She must have seen me kind of staggering around with sad eyes because she came outside and called to me to come. I walked slowly up to her, and then I willingly opened my mouth when she put her fingers in to pry my mouth open. To her surprise, she saw the stick lodged in my mouth and pulled it out. What a relief! Then I nuzzled up to her because she is so nice and caring for me. She told me (again) that I should not play with sticks. It is true I've had other run-ins with sticks in the past.

The only other fun thing that happened was that I got to see Martha and Miguel, Joan's friends, today as well as her sister, Eileen, who was visiting someone in Minneapolis. I love visitors, but even though I like Miguel a lot, I was a little afraid of him when he first came into the house. Well, it's off to bed for me!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We all know that I have to put up with the existence of squirrels in the world. I do my best to eradicate them from my yard. They are always running along the fence or climbing the oak tree, and I demand that Joan let me out so I can run after them, jump at them, and get them to scurry away.

WELL! This winter I have had to share my yard with at least one bunny - and I can't do anything about it. As you may recall, Joan installed an invisible fence so that one part of the yard is off limits to me because it has a low fence, and I learned that I could easily jump over it. So now I cannot go over to that side of the yard or I'll get a quick shock - which I do not like! The point is that a bunny rabbit has taken up residency in that part of the yard. So, especially, at night, I'll go out for a quick trip out and poof! there is the bunny in my yard! I start to run at it, but then I can't go farther because it is the no-dog zone. Does the bunny know this, somehow? I think it does and is tormenting me....

On another note, I can tell that it is getting warmer. I want to spend more time outside keeping tabs on my yard. I can't wait until summer again when I can lounge for hours in the sun!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)