That is the only photo I have of my mom, BB, but you see where I get my good looks. It’s unusual for dog offspring to have contact with their mothers after the infant puppy stage. The Dog Mom does her job, does it well and then she bounds on with her human family. I saw my mom only one more time when I was about ten months old. I was all legs and panting and energy. And BB wanted absolutely nothing do to with my shenanigans. She had her family and I had mine.

Most dogs are tough. Chessies are probably one of the toughest. Pain, fatigue and injury all take a back seat to the love for our family, the love of a swim and just the love of life. That’s why, when my mom started limping a few months ago, the vet prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and she was on her way. It was her only symptom. Who knew how much she was hurting? After a few weeks, her humans began to be concerned. Tests began and that’s when they found the cancer.

BB passed away on Tuesday. She had a great life and her family cared and loved her very much. I don’t know if she had been a different breed, if they would have discovered her illness sooner. But that is the heart of a Chessie — strong, stubborn and full of love.

P1090067-01
Originally uploaded by Davor Curic

Imagine sitting in the park with your human. A cool dog walks by. You eye each other. Everyone introduces themselves. Y’all get along swimmingly. Next step?
Lay a calling card on your new best friend.

Drinks?

Dinner.

Oh, you humans. I hadn’t had a proper walk in three days because of your To Do lists and fretting over what you haven’t accomplished. Maybe A-Dog realized how silly she was acting, because we finally got to see the sun today. Not just through the window. Outside!

To help you humans out, in your cushy, worrisome lives, here IT is.

The Dog List:

1. Feed me
2. Walk me
3. Give me a place to do my business
4. Give me a place to sleep
5. Repeat

Granted, you have to do these things for us, but that’s how you set it up ages ago. The key is… that little list keeps us happy & satisfied. Can you dig it?

Craig, a friend of A-Dog’s, is the guest contributor today.
He features his dog, Max, from the fun choice of a puppy vs. the reality of a dog.


We’ve owned Max for almost 10 years now. When we bought our first house, things must have seemed bigger. I suppose moving from our apartment to a house made everything look roomy and spacious and we needed to fill that space with more than just furniture. My older daughter had been asking for a puppy, so to kill two birds with one stone, we used a puppy as a Christmas gift for her, and I went out to find the right one. I had some fantasy of getting a big, fun dog that would walk with me and heel on command, play fetch until we were both tired, guard the house and be a companion to the family like all those dogs in the Herriot books. I liked Labs, so I drove 45 minutes to find a breeder and looked over her selections.

She had about 10 Chocolate Labrador puppies in a small pen, and I and several others played with them as we all decided which one would be the perfect dog for our families. They seemed to be going fast, as I heard one or two of the other prospective owners selecting theirs. At least one of the contenders I had in mind had already been taken, so I needed to act fast. In retrospect, these other people were probably shills, friends of the breeder who, like a snake oil salesman in the Old West, had her accomplices make everything look so attractive I would be forced into a hasty decision before my opportunity ran out. One somewhat fat puppy shied away from me, and I didn’t select him. He has since been dubbed “Schmoey” (rhymes with Joey) by my wife, who when she is lamenting my choice of Max (and I have heard several times about my choice) often pines for the serenity Schmoey would have brought. To make a long story short, with Christmas a few weeks away, no other litters in sight and no present for my little girl, I walked away $600 poorer, and one family member richer.

My daughter dubbed him Max Joseph on Christmas morning. He has since chewed through a few baseboards, dozens of rawhide toys, several stuffed animals, and at least two computer mice wires. His nails click clack on our hardwood floors in the most annoying tap dance rhythm you have ever heard. He drinks in threes, and by that I mean when he drinks, he laps three times, waits a beat, laps three times, waits a beat, then repeats 100 more times. It may take a minute to notice, but once you do it gets under your skin and drives you mad.

He’s not always good, and he has run away plenty of times. Before my neighbor blocked off the other side of his backyard, Max would lull you into thinking he was going to sit quietly with you in back, and then quick as lightning jump on the retaining wall, around the neighbor’s house and off he’d go. He never left the neighborhood, but would run up and down the street barking at passers-by. When you would walk to get him, he would stare at you and wait, and as you approached and were almost close enough to grab him, he’d take off down the street. He always came back eventually, head down, knowing you were angry with him. These days when he squeezes under the hole in the back gate to make his getaway, he still runs from you if you walk to go get him. But I have discovered that all I need to do is hop in the car, drive to where he is, throw open the door and he hops right in.

He still barks like mad when someone is at the door, but where he used to take a long time to calm down when guests arrived, now within 5 minutes he is over the distraction. He has mellowed considerably with age. He doesn’t chew anything inappropriately anymore, and in fact raids the girls’ rooms to bring down stuffed animals which he lays by his bed. We say he is looking for companions when we are all out working or at school. He’s pretty calm and quiet these days, and mostly just looking for someone to scratch behind his ears. I wonder if Schmoey turned out as well?

Hello Pooches and your humans too!
I have a request for you…

If you carry calling cards to the dog park or just out for a walk, what information would you like printed on them? RiverDog Prints is working on some new designs for Dog Calling Cards, but we thought we’d like your input for the info.

Leave a comment below that will make me turn circles!
Thanks furry creatures (and your dogs too!)
Woof.

Don’t I look vicious? Grrrrrrr.
Probably more freaky than vicious…

I usually love walking the trails around where we live, but today, whew! We mostly walk trails where humans take us dogs off our leashes. When we meet other dogs, we socialize. Simple concept.

We see a small dog running down the trail to greet us. There are introductions of the doggie kind. Then, his big dog brother lopes on down. More intros - all good. When their human joins us, all H-E-double-hockey-sticks broke loose. The little dog barks what seems like orders to the big dog and big dog attacks. It’s an intimidation strike, teeth bared, but no intent to bite… yet. Their human reprimands, as I snuggle myself in the human tunnel of mine, between both his legs with my tail in assault mode. The human apologized for her dogs, even gave me a little pat on the head and they were on their way.

It was pretty much out of sight, out of mind for me. I heard A-Dog say that the little dog reminded her of the cartoon dog with a hat and cigar, barking orders to his big, dopey dog friend. I don’t know about that, but I do know that dogs can be unpredictable to humans. We don’t always act sweet and want our heads rubbed. And when you’ve got more than one, you must be wary of the dynamic. Those behaviors live deep in our furry genes. Woof!

I was so sad to hear the news yesterday of the suicide of Stephen Huneck on January 7. He was such a champion for dogs and seemed liked a wonderful human. Below is a copy of my post from August about one of his books, so you can see his unique and beautiful art. Mr. Huneck’s Sally books are such favorites with the whole family. Our house is grieving for his house.

Book Review - Sally Goes to the Beach**

When it’s bedtime in our house, I trudge upstairs with the boys and lie down in Preemie Feet’s room. He is put to bed first, so I listen to his books before getting up and moving to Little Feet’s room for chapter books. Preemie Feet has been reading the Sally series of books and they are my favorite, by far. Stephen Huneck, artist and author, creates these great books based on his dog, Sally.



Sally has a big personality and the Sally hardcover books we take out of the library are just as large. Filled with humor and Sally’s escapades in this human world, the author captures the fun and laughable attitude of dog. The illustrations are printed from woodcuts that Mr. Huneck creates in his studio in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a beautiful part of the US called the NorthEast Kingdom.



Sally Goes to the Beach describes a trip by ferry to a beach community by a group of dogs and focuses on Sally’s experiences on her trip. Preemie Feet frequently giggles throughout the book, which is a magical sound. And each page is a pleasure for the eyes. If you haven’t read these books to your kids or your dog, please do so immediately.

Stephen Huneck has his own website, where he tells his own amazing story, gives you a peek into the beautiful NorthEast Kingdom and sells prints of his art. You can find him here.

**originally published August 26, 2009

I love when the humans want to be fit! We have been hiking daily for the past couple weeks and I AM LOVING IT! A-Dog usually finds a trail where I can be free from my leash and my nose can do what it yearns to do. The hikes have been snowy and long and sunny and cold. All so very good!

I don’t enjoy being photographed, as evidenced above. But I did want to share some photos from one trail we hike. It’s so bizarre, but this vehicle is right in the middle of the woods. No road, no path, just smack dab in the middle of the forest.




Humans are just odd… but we love them anyway.

I’ve just been given the high sign that we’re off for another one, yea! Smell ya later :)

Hello & Woof! RiverDog Prints is still in the holiday spirit and it’s Week #3 of the special giveaway featuring a Rope Toy from Teeny’s Friends, along with a set of our new Dog Stationery.


If you haven’t read about Teeny’s Friends before, we met Teeny and Katy through our support of the Pet Postcard Project in September. We discovered that they run an organization that supplies needy dogs with toys. Located in Austin, Texas, Teeny’s Friends coordinates various toy drives and sells its own colorful rope toy, pictured above & part of our giveaway. With each sale of the toy, their organization donates another rope toy to a dog in need.


I’ve really had it easy compared to shelter and rescue dogs. My friend Teeny (short for Marteeny) was an abused dog. Katy adopted him and nursed him back to health. She enjoyed the simple pleasure that Teeny experienced playing with his toys. Katy decided to throw him a “birthday party” and ask the guests to bring a toy for a needy dog and Teeny’s Friends was born.

For the past two Wednesdays, we’ve posted a giveaway for one of Teeny’s Friends’ Rope Toys and one set of original Dog Stationery. This Wednesday is no different. Please leave a comment below to enter and we’ll announce the 3rd week’s winner next Tuesday!

Below is our D-O-G Stationery. Take a look… and good luck!