Bosco Dog Blog

I learned a new word today from Joan: parasite. She was petting me this morning and then the next thing I new, she had a metal device from the bathroom that she cleaned with alcohol and then she was parting my fur and yanking something out of me! Then the phone rang and I heard her talking to her friend, Becky, and said that she had just pulled out a tick - a parasite -from me. And she was grossed out!
She put the tick in a plastic bag, as she seems to "save" these things for future reference if needed if something happens. Then she called my vet and talked with them about the tick. She puts this wet stuff on my back every month that is supposed to make me not get ticks, so she was wondering how I got one. In any case, she then brushed me really good (I love that) and put more of that wet stuff on my back. She also tried to cut my toenails but I let her know that I was not happy with that today.
Later on today or tomorrow, I'll post more about the trip Joan and I took last week.

~Bosco

Posted by Joan Hughes at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week, on the last day of summer a really loud sound - Joan called it a siren - went off while Joan was on the phone. It was also raining outside and really dark. Joan wouldn't let me out because it was raining. Then she started closing all the windows and then took her dinner down to the basement.

Then she came up to the top step and tried to get me to go in the basement. No way! Who is she kidding? Doesn't she know I spent a lot of my first two years of life in a basement!!!! I NEVER want to go down there EVER. She was really, really trying to get me to go down. I wonder why she was so worried. I just laid down in the kitchen above the stairs - as near as I could be to Joan but not in the basement!

Later on, she came up and I was waiting for her. I have no idea why she decided to eat her dinner and talk on the phone in the basement. She's a little strange.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, yesterday Joan left to go to work and the music was blaring up in the second floor of the house. Luckily, she shut the door up there so I did not have to listen to the music too much. I really don't like loud noises. I did not hear or see the raccoon while Joan was gone.

When she returned, she let me out and got her flashlight. She looked up where the raccoon had been in the morning and it wasn't there. Then she looked in the other cubby on the other side of the dormer on the house - and there it was. She was surprised! I couldn't see up where it was from my level but I heard Joan talking to it. She also took a picture of it -- see here:

Like I said, I did not see it but I did later on. In the meantime, she borrowed the ladder from Tim, my favorite neighbor, to put against the house to let the raccoon come down --- since the tree it used to come up had been cut down in the morning. Tim thought we should shoot it - it is also what Joan's dad said - except his exact words were something like "except you live in liberaland". Anyway, we put the ladder up and then Joan and I went for a run around the river. Cool. We returned and the raccoon was still up there but it was awake because it was getting dark.

Joan and I went inside and when she was eating her dinner, we heard some noise near the front door and it was the raccoon again!!! I did not bark though because I couldn't exactly see it, but I heard it and I kept walking around trying to find a way to look outside - Joan had shut the blinds. The raccoon tried to get down but didn't want to just drop 2-3 feet to the planter box. Then Joan put a long piece of wood up onto the roof and into the planting bed thinking it would slide down the wood. Instead, when it tried again, it picked up the wood and then dropped it. So much for that. As Joan was trying to figure what to put out there to help it at its third try she thought she'd put her other ladder out there though it was not long enough to straddle the roof. Meanwhile, please note that Joan would not let me out in the backyard this whole time! I did not like that. She opened the back door to go to the garage and then she saw it - the raccoon was down and in the oak tree. Fantastic!

So she took the ladder down and then we went back inside and she still wouldn't let me out for another 2 hours. I was missing my backyard a lot. When she did let me out, she went out first and scanned the yard with her flashlight first. She is so protective of me - I could handle a raccoon. I can handle squirrels!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, Joan had another party. I can't believe it. More food and more people came over. But Joan told me last night that I was soooo good. I was really well-behaved. I did not jump on anyone and I also wasn't frightfully scared of anyone or anything. I just roamed throughout people. There was another little person there - my size - and he was chasing me one time. But I am much faster than he is so I just running in a circle ahead of him. Then Eileen called the little boy to her and then called me and then I let the boy pet me. Martha and Miguel, my favorite friends, were at the party too! I like to follow Miguel around because he is so nice to me at his own house. By the end of the night, I was very tired. See:

This morning was pretty unusual. Joan was in her bed getting ready to take me on a walk (I was hoping) when I heard a noise out the window. There are always squirrels climbing on the trees so I went to investigate. This time it wasn't a squirrel but a raccoon climbing up the tree. I started barking ferociously. Joan was yelling at it to go down. She kept calling me over - funny, she wanted me to bark at it. It did not go down, though, it went up on the roof. That got Joan out of bed!!!

We went outside and she had a flashlight and kept shining it up on the roof. She started talking to the raccoon on the roof (she was not very nice). Anyway, we got to go on a walk. When we returned she went upstairs and turned on her radio really loud. I don't like loud music so I'm going to stay downstairs as much as I can.

Then the weird thing is some men came to the house and cut down the tree that the raccoon climbed up near the bedroom. These are the same guys that came here last week when Joan wasn't here. I barked at them, too. But Joan was with them so I guess it is okay. But they had this really loud machine that cut the tree - and I don't like loud noises so I just stayed in the house. Now, Joan won't let me out of the house. I think she's afraid of a dog-raccoon interaction. Anyway, what a crazy start to the day.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No wonder Joan was cleaning the house - a ton of people came over today. Well, not at first. First, her friend Anneke who I also really like and her parents and a few others came over and started putting food out on the dining table. I tried to smell it but they told me not to smell. Her parents were cutting cheese from Belgium and that smelled great, too. I was waiting for some but didn't get any. They also gave Joan chocolates - the same kind I stole last year out of the candy dish and ate it all including the foil cover.

Then Eileen and I went to the dog park. Eileen threw sticks for me forever. It was fantastic. When we got home, there were a lot of people in my backyard and in the house, including small people who squeal really loudly. That's a little scary to me. But I had a grand time weaving in and out of the crowd. I was totally fine with all the people especially since a lot of them really liked me and petted me, too. Some guy said he wanted to take me home with him!!! No way, I'm with Joan. I can't believe I'm still awake at this time because I am tired!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This afternoon, several men came to the house and Joan made me stay in the house while she walked around the house with these guys. She would point up at the house but they were not admiring me, for some reason, totally ignoring me. Geez. The other day, some guys came over while Joan was gone, and I was barking my head off at them. They are not allowed to be near my house without Joan's permission, and it did not appear to me that they had her permission. They certainly did not have MY permission, and I let them know it!!

Tonight Eileen came over and took me for a second evening walk. Lucky me. Later on, Joan became the cleaning queen and she was vaccuuming with that awful machine and moving things around. Again, I don't know why my fur bothers her so much. I just lay on my bed while she worked so hard.

I had to bark at a few neighborhood dogs that walked by my house today. This is MY territory!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday Joan took Eileen (her sister) and me down along the river near her house. Surprisingly, Eileen had never been on this trail near the sand dune. Joan let me get wet in the river. I just looooove the water. I run down and then immediately plop down in the water. I also looooove to retrieve sticks from the river, too.

Today Joan and I walked around the big lake we used to go around often. That was when Joan first adopted me and I was really scared of everything - especially the busy traffic. I would shake I was so scared. Today, I wasn't scared at all. Again, I saw the lake and was SOOOOOOO excited. I just wanted to jump right in, but Joan made me wait until there was a better place. I smelled lots of new smells since we haven't walked around that lake in a while. Joan also took me on the "secret" trail near 34th St (maybe you can find it) and that was really fun because it was full of squirrels! Well, it was fun for me, but Joan was questioning why she veered off the lake.

So then this afternoon, I did a series of squirrel stare-downs again in the backyard. Those squirrels are taunting me. Even though I was right there under the oak tree, looking at them, they would come down, swish their tails, gurgle, and look at me. OHHH, it makes me so mad! Then they come even closer down, almost to the ground and then I just go crazy. Run around the tree, jump up 6 ft high trying to get them, but I didn't.

Tonight Joan did a lot of vacuuming, and I trust her with the vacuum. With my other people "pre-Joan", I was very scared of it because they would come after me with it. Joan never does that, so I don't even move until she is right near me with the vacuum. Then I have to move so she can clean under where I was laying on the floor. For some reason, lots of my fur on the floor bothers her so she has to suck it up in that machine. I don't see a problem with it.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I had an action packed day that left me really tired at the end. First, Joan and Roberta and I went to Ft. Snelling and walked on a trail. I had to be on leash and I pulled really hard because there were so many great smells everywhere. I had to keep going to see what smell was next. I also did go into the Mississippi River, too, to cool off. In the middle of the walk, I threw up. I had eaten a bit of grass and my stomach did not like it, so I threw it and my whole breakfast up. But, then I felt much better - though a bit hungry later on.

Then I went to Camp Bosco in St. Louis Park - aka Martha and Miguel's house. I gave Boli the cat a lick (kiss) and was so happy to see them! They all were eating and drinking and I was lounging on the deck or following Boli around. Then the best part was going to the golf course where I could run really fast between Joan and Martha and Miguel. Miguel would yell, "Bosc" (his nickname for me), and I would run as fast as I could over to him. Then Martha or Joan would yell "Bosco" and I would run over to them. It was super fantastic. I, of course, had to go in the smelly pond but that's okay they rinsed me off back at home - not for my sake but for Joan.

When Joan and I got home, I just laid down on my bed and slept while Joan watched a show. Wow, I was so exhausted!

But this morning I'm back to normal self, and we went to the dog park and I ran around for 45 minutes again in the water, in the bushes, and around Joan. What a great weekend for me!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't like thunder. It is the same as fireworks. All day today it has been thundering. Luckily Joan was here so she says I am "superglue" to her. I don't know what that means.

I was begging her to take me for a walk tonight and she kept saying, wait a little bit after looking at something called 'radar' on the computer. I only use the computer to talk to you all, so I don't know what radar is. Anyway, we went for a short walk in the rain, anyway. I don't mind the rain at all!! Joan, though, puts on jeans, jacket, umbrella - she looked like winter to me. If you want to take me on a walk, I will go no matter what. I even will go during firecrackers, though, I will walk really speedily and I will jump in fright on occasion. Anyway, the thunder has subsided so now I'm really getting comfortable - no more fright, I hope.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought I'd tell you about my morning routine. First, I usually sleep downstairs on my red bed. Then at about 5am, I quietly go up to Joan's room where there is another bed - yellow and gray. Sometimes I sleep upstairs all night but that is when something scares me in the evening like fireworks or thunder.

Anyway, so like this morning, between 5am and when Joan's buzzer goes off, I alternate between sleeping and going up to the open window to look at the squirrel traffic in the trees. I just lay my head on the windowsill and look out. Sometimes, the squirrels really get me mad by making sounds and, then, I bark and thrash around. Then Joan yells at me. She's afraid I might break through the window screen and fall out the window! I wouldn't do that, though. Usually, I just watch the squirrels. Then when Joan's buzzer goes off, I go to the other side of the bed to greet Joan. Usually I jump up and put my front legs on the bed (it is a tall bed so I can't see her otherwise). If any part of her body is not under the covers, I lick it. Usually it is her arm, hand, or leg. Hee hee. Joan pets me a little until the licking bugs her and then she tells me "just a minute." That means - go lie on my bed for 10 minutes and return. She says I'm a natural snooze.

Sometimes the squirrels drive me so crazy or I really have to go to the bathroom or I'm really hungry and then I might whine a little. That usually gets Joan up!! This morning I took a different tactic and jumped up completely on the bed - twice! Ha ha. (Joan lets me sleep on the bed in a thunder storm, so I know how to get up on the bed now. I'm so lucky that I'm so scared of loud noises because I get benefits.) Anyway, we go through this process until Joan finally gets up and then I know I'm going to go outside and tell/show the squirrels what I really think of them, and go to the bathroom, and eat my breakfast, AND go for a walk. What a fantastic time of the day!

Anyway, that's my morning...what's yours like?

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)