Face Plant

The other day, I came inside looking like this.

Dad thought I had been digging, but my paws were clean. What really happened is that it had been raining, Steve's paws were muddy, and we started wrestling. I took a paw to the face and that's what happened.

Want a closer look? Just stare into my eyes.

Kat

Dr. Steve's latest

First I want to say that we are thinking about our friend, Jack, and his family as they mourn the loss of the lovely Star. Star's brother Sherman was the one of the first blogging dogs we knew who passed away and we remember Mom shedding tears over him and how his mom described the situtation. We feel so fortunate to be part of the Dogs with Blogs community and that you all share your stories with us and we can get to know you all, in happy and sad times. Good-bye Star, we hope you and Sherman are playing zoomies once again.

Stella wrote to me recently, on behalf of the Texas Happy Heelers. Here's what the Happy Heelers had told Stella's feline sis, Ali Z:

That Dr. Steve must really be good if he can fix the pest.. She is always biting at our heels and doing fly-byes.. She just doesn't listen to Mom, you think it might have something to do with her being deaf? She doesn't watch the signs.. We are hoping she will grow out of this pest-ism..

Big Sloppy KissesGus, Louie and Callie

Well, Gus, Louie, and Callie, I really am good. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with Callie. She sounds totally Siberian to me. Now, I understand that she's not actually a Siberian, but I have checked the Dogs Rule Book and I don't see anything in there about dogs not being able to act like other breeds. So I think Callie should continue her Siberian ways. In fact, she should be rewarded for them since she's having to try so hard to imitate a breed she is not. Way to go, Callie!

I must apologize for our lack of blogging lately. Mom and Dad are finally done with all of the work in the backyard, so I'm hoping that we can get back on track with our blogging. We will also have to catch up with reading all of your blogs too!

Dr. Steve

Our new fence

Our new fence is complete now, so we can play off leash in the yard. As you can see in this picture, we took full advantage of it.

Check out Kat's moves here. She's on one leg!

Here's a picture showing more of our fence.

Mom and Dad are going to put some watersealant on the fence this weekend. It's always wet here in Seattle, so they want to protect the fence investment. Then they have to put down some mulch and our yard project will finally be done!

Steve

Mom's Pet Peeve = My New Bed

Dad does something that annoys Mom. When he has clothes that he's worn, but aren't dirty enough to be washed, instead of putting them away, he piles them on top of the chest-of-drawers. It drives Mom crazy. I have found that I can get pretty comfy on top of his clothes.

I hope he doesn't mind a little fur.

Meow,
Wilbur

Dirty Face

Over the weekend before the grass went in, Dad found me outside looking like this.

At first, he started to get mad because he thought I had been digging. Then he noticed my paws were all clean.

I had just been pushing my nose throught the dirt. The landscapers brought in some new dirt for Mom to plant flowers in and it wasn't packed down, so I thought maybe I could do some work of my own! I gave Dad an annoyed look to show that I wasn't happy about being wrongly accused.


Kat

Our new yard

We've shown you over the past few months how ugly and brown our yard was. That's right, WAS! We now have grass! It's very exciting and Kat and I were happy to check it out last week.

Kat thought the new grass smelled pretty good.

Here we are checking out the sprinkler and also saying good-bye to the old fence.

The day after these pictures were taken, the fence was torn down. The new fence is almost done, but not completely, so we have to go outside on leashes.

I'll share pictures of the new fence soon.
Steve

Our Photography Session

Back in June, we went to a real photographer to get our pictures taken. We've shared these pictures with several people already, but in case you haven't seen them, here's the slideshow. (Photographs by Alyssa Rose Photography.)

Mom loves all the pictures and could hardly decide what to order. We now have an entire wall devoted to us!

We're pretty sure this means she loves us more than Wilbur.
Steve and Kat

New Trick - Gimme 10!

Kat and I have learned a new trick. It's a variation of shake and high 5. Mom calls it "Gimme 10". We were nice enough to perform the trick for the camera the other day, but I think the first part of the video will show that I am a Siberian through-and-through and have some trick of my own up my paw.

Steve

Sprinkler System Tester

The new grass will be installed on Tuesday, so today Mom and Dad have been testing out the new "sprinkler system" to make sure that we'll have good coverage for watering the yard. I think the following video will demonstrate what a good helper I am.

Working dogs have to keep busy, right?

Steve

Heavy Lifting

Look what showed up in our front yard. (We wouldn't sit the right direction for the camera, but at least we're sitting, right?)

Mom and Dad wouldn't let us dig in this huge mound of dirt, which seems so wrong. Instead, this machine was allowed to carry the dirt from the front to the back and spread it around. The machine is called a Dingo and I'm pretty sure it's related to the machine that Huffle found in her garage a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Huffle, the Dingo did not bring your parsley pot to our house.

We will keep you posted on the hard work that Mr. Dingo is doing in the yard.
Steve and Kat

I'm the King of the World!

Along with the destruction of the Siberian Clubhouse, Mom and Dad have been spending every free moment out in the backyard working, working, working. I seem them pushing the wheelbarrow all over, so that gave me an idea.

Hey, Mom, can you give me a ride here so I can pretend that I'm in the movie Titanic, at the front of the boat?

She said that she couldn't even push the wheelbarrow full of rocks, much less the addition of me on top of the rocks.

I tried looking cuter, but that still didn't get me anywhere.

I guess with humans, you have to do all the work yourself. Never stop pulling, my friends, otherwise the other end of the leash might not go anywhere!
Steve

What was under the clubhouse

Previously on Washington Woos:
Gasp! The Siberian Clubhouse was torn down and fed to an evil hungry buzzard. Readers were outraged. Amici, in particular said, "We thought the clubhouse was so cool. Did Kat and Steve just not use it enough??". What will happen? Why was the Clubhouse destroyed?

Now on Washington Woos:
Last month we showed you how we had been trying to dig under the clubhouse. The fact that we were intently trying to get under the clubhouse, combined with the fact that Mom found three dead baby mice in the yard, made Mom think that there was a mice nest under the clubhouse. Since the only time we ever went into the clubhouse was to chase Wilbur into a corner, Dad decided the clubhouse had to go.

What's interesting is that when Dad finished tearing out the entire clubhouse, guess what he found under it? A really cool Scooby Doo ball! Not a single mouse. So now Mom and Dad have no idea where the baby mice are coming from, but Mom says as long as they are just in the yard, she guesses she won't worry too much about it.

Now about that Scooby Doo ball. It's the most fun ever! It doesn't even squeak, but I love it to pieces. Mom and I played a little Scooby Ball in the yard.

It's just so fun to pounce on!

So there you have it, the story of the Siberian Clubhouse. To be honest, I haven't missed it. Now I have more room to get up some really fast zoomies along the back fence and I have a new Scooby Doo ball.
Kat

PS. Speaking of Amici, he's going to get his new human puppy today or tomorrow, so we want to wish him and his family the best! We're sure Amici will make the best big brother any human's ever had.

RIP Clubhouse

Remember our cool Siberian Clubhouse that we posted about when we first moved into our Seattle house? This is all that remains of it.

That's right, nothing! Here are all the bits and pieces of clubhouse that still are around, but they just don't have the same soul as when the pieces were in their former clubhouse shape.

Wondering what happened to the clubhouse? Well, this thing showed up and ate it.

Apparently the buzzard really was very hungry to eat an entire clubhouse. And you know what else? Mom and Dad fed it. That's right, they put pieces of the clubhouse into the buzzard and those pieces were never heard from again.

What should we do about it?
Steve and Kat

Sleeping habits

The other morning, Mom came into the bedroom to get dressed for work and here's what she discovered (excuse the unmade bed).

Kat, cuddling with her ball:

Me, doing my favorite legs hanging over the edge:

Wilbur, being whatever cats are:

That's right, we were all sleeping in harmony.

We better not let that happen again.
Steve

A prescription for Star and Jack

Star and Jack sent me a note yesterday asking for help:

Dear Dr. Steve,

Star & I are not feeling too well. Mom says our poo isn't right, & we're not eating & just kinda tired. She hauled me to the v-e-t. (I had to go for shots anyway). We think we should consult with woo about this, after all, who knows more about sibes than another sibe?

Woos & a-roos,
Star & Jack a-roo

Since they have already been to the vet, I decided to just let their vet handle the physical aspect of their ailments and I would handle the psychological aspects. As some of you know, Star's boyfriend and Jack's best friend, Moon, moved away to Pennsylvania and now can't come over to Star and Jack's house to play. In my Siberian opinion, their symptoms tell me that they are depressed and missing Moon lots and lots. So to help Star and Jack feel better, I recommend that their humans give them even more love and attention than they already do give them. I recommend that the humans share their snacks (I included examples of some of my current favorites), take them for lots of walks, and let them play with stuffies more (especially Jack-a-roo).

Star and Jack, I sure hope you start to feel better soon. It's no fun being lonely, but it is sweet that you loved Moon so much.

Until next time, stay healthy,

Dr. Steve

Birthday Cake

Last week when we posted about Mom's birthday, several of you left comments about whether or not we were going to get any cake. Mom's favorite cake is chocolate, so we didn't think things looked good for our cake chances. This is the cake that Dad bought for Mom:

Once we saw the cake, we were almost positive that we weren't going to get any. It was covered with chocolate!

Here's what the inside looked like:

Guess what though? We got some cake! Mom is so well trained that she cut a slice of cake for us, then removed all the chocolate parts!

Here we are waiting for our slices. (Excuse our eyes, the flash does that to us. We weren't really sleeping.)

After waiting nicely, Mom said we could dig in.

The cake was delicious! The only thing missing was some ice cream.

Steve and Kat

The Contest Results

Thanks to all you pups who voted for us in the Cutest Dog Contest! Steve was awarded Most Handsome and Kat was runner-up in the Cutest Purebred category. Mom picked up our prizes the other day and here's a video of us opening everything.

Note: This is the first time Dad used the video camera. He's a little zoom crazy!

Steve and Kat

World Cat Day

It's World Cat Day, so without further ado, I give you me!

Curled up on my mom's lap:


Hiding in my tunnel:


And chilling outside:


Despite what I've heard some of you claim, it is not World Kat Day, so don't even ask for pictures of the girl furry beast. (I gave you her in the background of the first picture.)

Meow,
Wilbur

Mom's Birthday Present

A while back we told you that Dad gave Mom a video camera for her birthday. It was actually an early present since her birthday was yesterday. As a gift to Mom, I decided to put on a really good show for the camera with my new toy.

Sorry the video is so long. Mom couldn't decide what to cut out to make it shorter. She thinks I'm so cute and would hate to deprive my fans of my cuteness.
Steve

A mystery...

Do any of you know this baby?

A couple other clues, here's some events that have happened on August 5th in the past.Something is going on around here...

Steve & Kat
PS. We'll return to our regularly furry programming next time.

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.

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!

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?

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

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!

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

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.

Then I dug a little bit around the clubhouse porch.

Since Kat is the smallest, I sent her in first.

Kat, do you see anything?

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

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

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.

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!