Bosco Dog Blog

Well, I did it. I got Joan reaaallllly mad. It all started 2 days ago when I was simply hanging out in the backyard, checking out my territory when a squirrel invaded it. The squirrel likes to run along the side of the garage (Joan says it is made out of stucco so that might help you imagine how the squirrel stays on). In any case, I couldn't just let that go. So I ran out and started tracking the squirrel who just kept running back and forth along the garage. The problem (for Joan) is that as I track and jump at this squirrel I am running through the garden beds. So there was some damage and casualties after Joan came out and grabbed me and made me go inside.

1 giant hosta - lost about 1/2 its leaves and the others are hanging on by a thread.
1 smaller hosta - lost only a few leaves.

Joan was MMMMAAAAADDDDD. Especially because she says people come by to look at our house to live in and they might not like to see the damaged hosta. (Oh well, I say, would they rather have that squirrel think he owns the yard????)

Yesterday, Martha was over and she looked at the damaged hosta and told me I was a "good bad dog." She told me one more time and it might be "hosta la vista" for me. Martha - what is she saying? I don't know. Joan laughed at that and agreed.

So this morning Joan let me out and I was surveying the yard when the squirrel repeated the same trick. Joan was inside so I ran after the squirrel and was jumping, jumping, running, pivoting, running, jumping until the next thing I know Joan is outside in her bare feet yelling and screaming at me. Lucky for me, I had no collar on since Joan had given me a good brush, so I could easily slip by her. She really thinks she can catch me when there is such an important task at hand?! Really. I just kept running and jumping and trampling until all of a sudden Joan had me by the back of my neck. Wosh. That calmed me down. I guess she IS in charge. I immediately sat down.

Then she walked me inside. She went back out to survey the damage:

1 giant hosta - decapitated.
1 smaller hosta - 1/3 of its leaves gone.
1 plant just emerging - trampled.

Boy, was I in trouble. I might find out what "hosta la vista" really means. But instead, we went on a walk. Joan IS really cool and forgiving!

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

My oh my. I'm exhausted and freaked out. Joan has been out of control - I live now in this really really clean place. Where did all my fur on the floor go? GONE. One day about 4 strange people came by - 2 people were putting smelly stuff on the wall, 1 guy was doing something in the bathroom where I'm not allowed, and 1 woman walked all around the house inspecting things. As is usual, I didn't really like the guys but the woman was okay.

The last few days I haven't had my usual long all-day naps. Joan has taken me to the place where she goes during the day. I got to go with her! She even had one of my beds there. It was okay but I was scared of the men there, too. I barked at two of them even though Joan says they are nice.

The best time was last week when I was at Camp Bosco with Martha in St. Louis Park. I stayed there for a few days but Joan still came over everyday which was kinda funny but I slept there at night with Martha and Boli, aka Simon Bolivar the cat. We had a fantastic time. I like their backyard since it is bigger - I can really run after the ball. My current backyard I have a running route but if I go off course through the tall plants, then Joan gets maad at me.

I'm back at home now but when Joan and I leave and then return, I can tell that other strangers were in our house and yard. I can smell them immediately. Like yesterday, Joan and I were out and about for a long time - we were at the coffee shop. I was scared of everyone! In any case, when we finally got back home, I smelled "others" in the yard. Not good.

This has all led me to stop eating. I am very nervous with all this weird change in my normal schedule. Today I didn't even eat anything (besides my peanut butter pill this morning) until tonight around 7pm. That's just the way it's gonna go. I'm worried. Is Joan taking me with her or not? Whose been here? Why is she vacuuming again? Nervous, nervous, nervous.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

No worries, friends, I plan to keep bloggin - i've gotta tell you what it is like in Texas. I'm sure we'll have many adventures there. I'm kinda excited but it is true as Hobbes said, if Joan had told me earlier, I could have held out for relocation allowance - more toys, new bed, more bones and treats. University of Texas should at least throw me a bone, right?!

Joan is kinda boring right now. She's cleaning. She's been doing this for weeks. The nice lady came again this morning and met with Joan. I don't know what she wants but she told me to protect the papers she put on the floor that were for Joan. I obeyed her. I can tell she is a dog lover.

As long as I get my walks and food and pets, I'm pretty happy. Though, I would really like to get my backyard back!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Oh my do I have some news. However, I'm hoping some of you dogs out there might be able to help me out. Joan says that we are moving to a place called TEXAS. I know I have never been there. Last summer we went to: Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. And I barely ate the whole time.

Now Joan is telling me we are not only going to drive to Texas but we are going to live there - like our new forever home. How can I ever ever say goodbye to my home sweet home? Joan did some funny stuff and said I'm going to have to mix my Minnesotan love of snow with a new Texas flair - something like this:

Do you, good dog friends and humans live in Texas? We are going to Austin, Texas.

Now there is some good news in this. I have two dog cousins who live there and they are named Bella and Brandy. Joan says they have a big water hole in the back - like when we were in Bakersfield, CA - and I know I'll wanna go in it! I guess Bella and Brandy don't go in there. They are crazy to not love the water!

I can tell you one thing - I'm gonna miss my big dog park with all my dog friends there. But I bet I'll make more friends in Texas!

This picture is not to scale, I might add, as I am bigger than both of my cousins, Joan says.

What do you think?

Posted by Joan Hughes at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Luckily, Joan was smart enough to take me to the park last weekend. I had a blast.

At the chimney - relic of yesteryear, Joan says.

Fast running with stick.

On upper trail along Mississippi with boat drifting by.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love looking out the window!

This is my new favorite spot in the house.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A couple weeks ago we went over to Martha's house on a really nice night. We went to the golf course and I got to run around in my preferred crazy dog mode. Joan kept me out of the swampy lake. Martha's young neighbor (remember the little boy I ran over a couple years ago because Miguel threw my stick and I didn't see the boy) well, he was with us. Then another girl came out and walked around with us.

Isn't it a nice place? There was still some ice on the ground and the kids were throwing snowballs for me and I would run and pick them up!

Posted by Joan Hughes at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can you believe this? Joan has shut off the entire yard (or almost) from me. Well, I already told you about that because I jumped over it a couple times. You can see how I'm held captive in the brick area and I can at least go up to the oak tree and smell for squirrels. My real problem, though, is the bunny rabbit. Everytime I come out of the house in the morning, the bunny is there ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE! But then it scrambles away.

In any case, I'm living with it as much as I can. I still have my balls and toys.

Posted by Joan Hughes at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)