Friday, July 31, 2009

Eating Contest

Last weekend, Mom took me to the Go Dog Go festival in Kirkland, Washington. Kat stayed home with Dad, so it was pretty exciting to go somewhere, just Mom and me.

There were dogs doing cool tricks with Frisbees. I don't play with Frisbees, but I did sit for a photo in front of the field where the Disc Dogs were doing their tricks.
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There were lots of booths set up and several people gave me treats, which I always appreciate. Mom and I entered a raffle to win some cool gift baskets, but we didn't win. (I'm okay with that because a lot of the prizes were from grooming places.)

There were several contests going on throughout the day. Mom entered me in the Clean Your Plate contest. The goal was to be the first pup to finish an entire serving of canned food. Mom wasn't paying attention when she entered me and then when the contest started, she realized I had been put in the 55+ pound weight class, even though I'm just 50 pounds. Mom was disappointed that she didn't get me in the correct category because there were only 3 dogs in the category I should have been in, but about 15 dogs in the 55+ category and some were huge! I was glad I was in the 55+ category because that meant the serving was bigger. I mean, look at these plates!
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I didn't win the contest, but I did clean my plate. Mom didn't get any pictures of me eating because she was too busy making sure I just ate my food and didn't bother any other dogs who were trying to eat their food. Here's a picture of me in front of the contest stage. Don't I look full?
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On our way out of the festival, we stopped at a booth that had a big pool with balls in it. The goal was for pups to bob for a ball and then you could take the ball home with you. I just stood in the pool, but the people let Mom bob for the ball and we gave it to Kat when we got home. She loves her new ball and was happy we didn't forget about her on our adventure.
Steve

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Get out there and VOTE!

Just three days remain to cast your vote for us! Send an email to dogs@artisphotography.com with your pics. You can vote for both of us in the same email. Just include the category and our names.

You can vote once per email address, so if you haven't voted, please do so!

Kat is entered in Cutest Purebred. (1st page, 3rd row, 4th picture)

Steve is in Most Handsome. (1st page, 3rd row, 5th picture)

Thanks for your support pups!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Mom's new torture device

A couple weeks ago, Mom and Dad were out shopping and found a great deal on a video camera. Mom had been wanting one for a while, so Dad bought it for her (since her birthday is coming up). So as soon as they got home, Mom rushed to charge the battery so she could do some filming. Steve and I were nice enough to perform for her. She got a whole 90 seconds of video that first day! We sure were tired after that!

Kat

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Something is under the clubhouse

There is something under the clubhouse. Kat and I have been working hard to figure it out.

I just had to pull up the landscaping fabric.
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Then I dug a little bit around the clubhouse porch.
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Since Kat is the smallest, I sent her in first.
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Kat, do you see anything?
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Mom never did find exactly what we were after, however, she did have to clean up a dead mouse in the yard that she saw us "playing" with. Dad is in the process of tearing down the clubhouse because Mom doesn't want it to be a place for mouse nests. Kat and I decided that was okay because we're going to have more room for zoomies.

Don't forget to vote for us in the photo contest!
Steve

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Two more prescriptions

I feel really bad. Biloxi sent in a prescription request for his mom and I didn't get it done in time. I hope that this prescription will still help. Here's what Biloxi had to say:

Hey Doc Steve,
Could woo write us a prescription fur us to give to Maw when she gits home from vacation???

Husky kisses,
Biloxi

Certainly, Biloxi! I love to help the humans. I think it's very sweet that you wanted a prescription for your mom. Since you didn't say exactly what ails her, I assume you just love her so much that you want her to have some rest and relaxation. What better way for her to relax than to spend time with you? I offer some suggestions in my prescription, along with a warning of what would not be good for your mom.


Finally, Maebe wrote in about her sister.
Kayla has a really embarrassing problem. She's a piddler. The humans thought she would outgrow this problem, but she still does it sometimes. Like today, when it was time for her bath and wouldn't come when she was called, the humans had to corner her. That's when she piddled. The humans learned that the cornering should be done outside instead of inside, so that's why we got our baths outside today. I think this is dumb. She should've clawed them instead or something. She needs a cure for her piddling problem. What can woo prescribe?
So that's my story, Maebe

Kat will probably get mad at me for saying this, but sometimes she has this problem too. Kat usually does it when she gets really excited or when she meets a new dog. In Kayla's case, I don't think it's her problem at all, at least not from the evidence you provided. Kayla would have never piddled if your humans hadn't tried to give her a bath. So really, they are the ones with the problem, and therefore, I have written the prescription for them.
Kayla, you're A-OK in my book.


So I think that gets me caught up on all of the prescription requests that were sent in before Friday. If I've forgotten anything you requested, please let me know.
Dr. Steve

Friday, July 17, 2009

Dr. Steve catch-up

Wow, once again I am really behind on prescriptions. It's my goal this weekend to get a lot of new prescriptions out there to help pups.

First up, Scampi. Kira wrote in, lovingly, about her brother:
How about something for an annoying, scared of thunderstorms, border collie who is psychotic and paranoid? I know untreatable, right?

Actually, no. Not with Dr. Steve around. I have the perfect solution for Scampi. He just needs to get tired and then distracted. See my prescription for details. I'm pretty confident that Scampi is in good hands though, since his mom has been taking a lot of training classes lately. I'm sure she's getting trained enough to do as Scampi wishes.
Stella wrote in with a similar problem:
Hello Dr. Steve:

I also have kibble allergies plus I am very scared of thunderstorms. Can you help me like you did Mango?

Thank you,

Kisses,
Stella

Well, Stella, I recommend pretty much the same stuff for you. Getting tired and then a good distraction. As you're an urban gal, perhaps a nice stroll around your neighborhood would be good instead of the dog park. Although if you get to take the bus to the dog park, that's a bonus.


Finally, Peanut had this to say:
Do you think you could fix up stupid Shelby and stop him from being a jerk?

If you don't read Peanut and Flash's blog, then you might not know that Shelby is the cat they allow to live in their house. When I became a doctor, I took an oath to always help when required. But sometimes part of being a responsible doctor is knowing the limits of your abilities. I have seen that Shelby and Wilbur correspond and I know that anycat in cahoots with Wilbur is beyond repair.


Until next time, stay healthy and eat your vitamins,
Dr. Steve
PS. Don't forget to vote for us.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Vote for us!

We are contestants in the Dog Contest in our town. Kat is entered in the Cutest Purebred category and Steve is in the Most Handsome category. We'd love it if you'd vote for us!

Here are the details:

To vote, just email your picks to dogs@artisphotography.com. You will not get any spam. Be sure to specify which category you are voting in. You can vote once per email address per category. So you should be able to vote for Kat in her category and Steve in his, plus any of the other dogs in their categories.

Voting ends on August 1st.

Check out our pictures and all of the other entries at this website. There are lots of cute dogs! We'll let you know who wins!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Feather Hunter

Mom and Dad moved the furry beasts' crate into the living room for July 4 so they would feel better about the fireworks. The four of them also went to the dog park on July 4th evening because the dog park is inside city limits where no fireworks are allowed. While they were at the dog park, Mom found a feather on the ground and picked it up to bring home for me. (I have her well trained.)

When the furry beast cage is in the living room, I like to sleep on top of it and so that's where Mom found me and started helping me hunt the feather.

First I rolled over and grabbed the feather as it tried to attack my tummy.
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Then I deployed my claws and decided to get serious about taking down the feather.
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I got a taste of the feather and it was good.
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I was very intent on getting the feather.
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Alas! The feather was on the ground!
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I delivered one final blow and the feather was dead.
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Feather hunting is great fun. I wonder if I should mount the feather on the wall of my room like my Texas grandpa does when he hunts?
Meow,
Wilbur

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Family Portraits

Family Portraits

Mom signed us up for a professional photo shoot. We went to it a couple weeks ago and hopefully we can share the pictures with you all once they are available online. After the professional shoot, Mom set up the tripod in the front yard so she could try to get her own pictures of us while we were all matching. (No Wilbur because he prefers not to be that close to us and Mom preferred not to get holes in her new shirt.)

We took seven pictures, so I’m going to share all seven. You’ll see that I am looking perfect in every single picture, but the rest of my family can’t get it together.

Photo #1:
First, all of these pictures are goofy because Mom posed us with weird shadows over Dad. In this picture, Dad’s got his hand in a weird spot over my back and Kat is looking at the kitty across the street.
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Photo #2:
Look at me. I’m looking happy and bushy-tailed, but Kat is looking weird. She sits like a lazy bum and can’t even look at the camera.
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Photo #3:
Mom ruined this picture because she has her hand up after pushing the remote to make the camera take a picture.
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Photo #4:
Kat just can’t stop looking at the kitty. I swear, she will never be a professional model like me.
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Photo #5:
Again, Mom has the remote in the picture and Kat’s doing something goofy.
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Photo #6:
Honestly, Kat! What is she doing? She is hopeless.
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Photo #7:
I gave up after this picture. It’s pretty good even though Mom has her chin up in the air all weird.
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See what I have to deal with? My handsomeness is diluted by all the others in these pictures.
Steve

Friday, July 3, 2009

Take Us Out to the Ball Game!

Some of Dad's coworkers formed a softball team and played against other teams from around the company. Dad decided to go to one of their last games and he invited Mom, Kat and me to come too. I was very excited because I had never been to a ballgame before.

When we first got to the park, we went for a 20 minute walk. For some reason, Mom and Dad think that going for walks helps us sit still. When we first got to the bleachers, I was afraid to get on them and just stayed on the ground.
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Kat and I were both pretty tired after our walk.
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Then Dad's coworkers took to the field. Kat was ready to be a cheerleader and was paying close attention to the game so she could woo at just the right time.
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After a while, I decided that the bleachers weren't very scary and climbed up next to Dad for a better view. There's nothing more entertaining than a bunch of engineers trying to play sports.
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Eventually, Kat got bored with the game (you know how girls are) and decided that the bleachers would make for a good jungle gym.
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Mom finally got Kat to sit down at the very top of the bleachers.
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It was a pretty fun game. There were also some chickens in the bushes near the car that were very interesting. I hope we get to go to another ballgame soon.
Steve

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Painting with paws

Mom decided to paint the hallway, stairs, and entryway. It sounded like a good deal to us. We like it when Mom does things to make our house nicer. She has to do stuff like that to earn her keep.

The first thing she did was put blue plastic all over the floor. Steve helped by holding down the blue plastic in the corner.
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Then Dad got the giant ladder out and set it up for Mom on the stairs. Wilbur helped by doing a stability check. He climbed to the top of the ladder to make sure it wouldn't fall down.
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I helped by supervising. I find that Mom works better if I watch her.
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Steve and I even tag-teamed our helping.
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After a while, Mom moved the ladder and blocked us out of the painting zone. Steve felt very dejected that he wasn't allowed to help anymore.
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We don't have any pictures of the complete painting job. Mom hasn't quite finished the stairs and the trim yet because she ran out of paint. Finishing the job is on her list of things to do over the long weekend.
Kat