Summer's here, and it isn't all fun and naps

I'm on the left, Jade is at the back, Daisy Mae is in the middle and Colonel Oliver North is on the right,  Jade always gets a little goofy and in this picture has one of her ears in curlers (turned back). 

It was a long, hard winter, one that kept going on and on and on. Of course, being the spoiled Beagles we are, it doesn't much matter. We're indoor dogs, ones that are used to sleeping on couches, recliners and beds. We very seldom have to resort to sleeping on the floor.

The best part of napping in this house is that mom and pop provide lots of blankets, most of them fleece, for us to snuggle in or lay on top of.  I prefer being under the blankets myself.

Some would say that cats have servants, or at least that's what cats think. They're not exactly right. Dogs have servants, too. We here at the Bogan/Hobbs house like to give back to our humans, unlike cats who are only in it for what they can get. We give love and companionship back to mom and pop.

I think mom needs a life.  She decided to give us whipped cream from a spray can.  She's a terrible shot and got it all over my face.  The indignities I have to suffer are beyond discussion in the animal world.  I hope no one ever sees this photo.  They'd all be laughing at me because I'm the dignified one, the handsome one, the lordly one.

Although I did think it was pretty funny when mom got the whipped cream on Jade's nose and she looked like a trained seal!!!  Woo hoo, I should have howled out loud because it was funny with that tongue of hers going and going trying to get all the cream off.  We tried to help her later, but she snipped at us.  She's so greedy!!

But Jade is sometimes caught in very strange positions.  Mom piles some of the Beagle beds up and Jade thinks she's a princess and has to lay at the top.  Now and then they fall over and she slides down behind them. 

Oliver may not be my favorite but he is a good watchdog, better than the rest of us.  One day he kept going on and on, whining, barking.  Who knew, behind the back yard fence a moose calf was being born.  Mom went out and took photos, and this was probably when he was a day old.  But he's still bigger than we are.  I think we could outrun him, though, cuz he's pretty wobbly on those long, gangly legs of his.

But now both are gone, on vacation. When will they come back to us? For Jade and me, it doesn't matter as long as there's someone here to feed, pet us, give us our treats and let us in and out when we want to go. Daisy Mae is a wimp and misses them. Colonel Oliver North gets all whacked out of shape cuz he's a nervous kind of pissant. Maybe I'll cut him a break. He's on meds because he has bronchial pneumonia. Who knew we dogs could get pneumonia?

Pictures of Oliver usually show a pretty pathetic-looking dog.  This isn't recent, but he still kind of looks like this whether he's on antibiotics or not.  Okay, okay.  I feel bad cuz he's sick.  He was trying to throw his guts up.  But I'm still not going to give him my Yummie Chummies.  They're mine, all mine.

I could be a sled dog … maybe

Looking out into our cul de sac you can see that there's a ton of snow.  It's too deep for me although I could play Beagle of the Hill on the big pile.  Cept no one will let me out there.  I'd love to play with the two-legged kids when they're playing on the snow pile.

It snowed and snowed and snowed. It appears we're getting all of our snow for the winter in March. I'm good with that as long as the humans don't throw us out into the back yard without shoveling, or make us stay out for more than five minutes. We are house dogs, you know. But I'm thinking that since sled dogs get fed so well and run on trails, I could be a sled dog. I'm strong even if I do have a bad leg. I'd get some fancy booties, probably brown to match my coat, with leopard trim cuz I'm a tri-color, and a fancy little dog coat and harness. I could so do this.

The nesting flamingoes in the front yard weren't happy with all the snow.

Mom doesn't do this plowing, but pop does. He takes the snow blower and plows trails for us in the back yard. I could probably go through it all, but Jade AKA Bitchy Beagle couldn't cuz she's only a 13-inch Beagle and her legs are too short. I'm the biggest and tallest in this house … but BB is the one that rules, smallest or not.

So we were all inside … waiting, waiting. We knew pop was outside clearing snow. It was snowing and not stopping, so he was out lots of times removing snow from our driveway and a couple of driveways of neighbors. He's really good that way, helping out the other folks.

Pop had a lot work because there was so much snow.  And he's on top of it all the time, too, going out to shovel and plow multiple times a day when there's a lot of it.

Mom went out and shoveled the walkway, and the area to the side of the house where we usually go to do our Beagle business, if you know what I mean. She took lots of pictures of snow cuz it's getting pretty deep. And still we waited. I'm ready to run. Hurry up, you guys.

Mom does a good job of cleaning the walkway, but we don't get to go out there much either.  And never if the gate is open.  We're runners, you know, although I think Oliver and I are the only ones that will really run.  Daisy is too scared and Jade is too fat and doesn't want to get too far away from Pop.  Sometimes I think they're not real Beagles if they don't want to run away.  That's one of the things we're known for.

Oliver the pissant was waiting, too.  I don't know that he gets it yet about how Pop makes trails for us.  See, he has a little black mustache and his teeth stick out.  He's a goofy-looking dog.  But then ... he's not a real Beagle, only a Beagle mix!!  Ha!!!  I'm the best Beagle boy in the house ... and Mom tells me that, too.  Ha ha!!

Pop finally started blowing the trails for us. We waited inside since he's running a snow blower, but we know that once he's finished we get to go out and run all over like silly Beagles. Well, duh. That's what we are.

Jade was watching Pop through the window.  She only has eyes for him.  It doesn't hurt that he's always giving us treats.  I think he gives her more than he gives me.

Daisy doesn't really like her photo taken too much cuz the first year Mom was taking pictures all the time.  But here we are, Daisy, Oliver and me ... waiting.

Still waiting. I was losing my patience. Okay. I'll take a nap. Then Mom shoveled the back deck to help Pop out. When he was blowing snow near the house it was really, really deep. Deeper than I am tall.

I just got so disgusted with waiting for so long.  I wanted outside, and it just wasn't happening quickly enough.  I need a nap.

This is a Beagle-eye view of what I see when I get out on the trails Pop's made for us.

And then … they were done. Mom grabbed her pocket camera and went outside to await our arrival.

Pop makes professional-looking trails for us.  We can run two or three abreast if we want to, and if some of them can keep up.  Jade runs pretty fast when it comes to food. 

Pop let us out and we went screaming through the doggie door, howling, barking as loud as we could to let everyone know we were out there, running back and forth through the trails. All we needed was a rabbit to chase.

Daisy and Oliver are running on the trail.  I'm up on the deck waiting to go around again.  I've already made a couple of runs around the track.

Here comes Jade.  But she's not running full speed since there's no food involved.

Here I come, ready or not.  Get out of the way, Mom.

I got cold and came in. Maybe dog sledding isn't my calling after all. It was time for a nap.

Daisy Mae ...

From left, me ... Tuffy, Jade in the back, Daisy Mae in the middle and the pissant, Oliver, on the right.

Daisy is a sweet girl … sometimes. She likes to give hugs, but she's not so free and easy as you'd think. She gives hugs to mom a lot, but I know that's because mom blows in her ear and tells her she's the prettiest Beagle ever. Then she just melts and falls over and puts her head on mom's shoulder. It's the cutest thing. Wish she'd do it to me.

This is me with the big old brown-eyed Beagle look, feeling sad cuz Daisy doesn't give me hugs.

Pop always wants Daisy to give him hugs, but she's rather stingy with him. She'll be up in the chair with him, and he coaxes and coaxes, and she just looks at him with those big, brown Beagle eyes. And then she might just puddle up against him, or look at him and jump down. She can be rather fickle sometimes. Guess cuz she's a girl.

There's Daisy Mae puddling up next to pop, giving him a big hug.

Sleepy time

This is me, the blogging Beagle.  As you can see, my ears are down.  That means I am not a happy Beagle.  I am not doing the happy dance today.

Mom made us all get on this big Beagle bed in the greenhouse for a photo.  The pissant is on the far right.  Notice how he hams it up in front of the camera.  Probably thought he'd get an extra treat.  He didn't.  None of us did.  Daisy Mae is in the middle and Jade is at the back.

The household has been rather quiet lately … for this household anyway. We all get up with mom in the morning, she lets us out and feeds us, then Jade barks til pop gives us our good goodie. Then we all go back to sleep while mom and pop read their newspaper and drink coffee.

When mom is off doing other things I like to get under the blanket by myself.  I also like to stretch my legs.  Besides, if I take up as much room as possible that means some of the others can't get up here and crowd me.

But don't get up to get a drink of water or ask to go outside because someone will steal your blanket and your spot on the couch.  There is no honor among thieves or Beagles. Oliver took my spot, the pissant. 

But a while later I got it back, and got the other one on the couch, too.  Oliver had to go lay on the loveseat and there's only one small blanket dad got us.  Haha. 

Jade is just plumb silly sometimes.  And they call me goofy.  Ha!!!  I think not!!!

That's the routine. But the other day we were all sleeping under blankets, or in Beagle beds, mostly behaving. I was next to mom under a fleece blanket cuz they're soft. And my place is next to mom, always touching her in some way, with my head, my butt, a paw. I was minding my own business, when the pissant jumped up on the couch and stepped on me, my bad leg. I snapped at him. And I got in trouble!!! Mom yelled at me to stop it. I don't understand. I was the injured party here. Life's not fair. But mom did make him get down off the couch at least. Hahaha!!!

My name is Tuffy, I blog and I'm pissed.

I can pout with the best of them ... although mostly I'm a fairly easy-going kind of Beagle.

I know I've not blogged in a while. There is a reason. I've been out-of-sorts, pouting and sulking, but now I'm pissed and need to vent.

Sometimes I smell things on mom after she's been out. I know that smell. It's the scent of dog, and even – oh no, sometimes the acidic smell of C A T! She's been petting and hugging on other dogs, even wet ones (although that does smell kind of sweet to me).

Mr. French is one of the dogs who she smells like A LOT!!!  Seems like every other day she's been around him.

So why didn't she just get a French Bulldog if she likes them so much.  Gigi is cute, but I think I'm much better looking.

Now you may ask how I really can tell. I have a nose, humans. I'm a Beagle, and Beagles are trained to be drug dogs, so you know that our noses are some of the best. I am not trained to sniff out drugs, and don't want to. Can you imagine me sniffing cocaine or some other useless drug that is of no value or consequence to me? I sniff food. I can smell a treat at a hundred paces. Usually pop has those.

And then there's Baxter.  He's even come to our house and he has the nerve to cozy up to her when she visits his mom.

She even got close to some big dogs at the Alaska State HOG Rally last summer.

I digress. Anyway, my feelings have been hurt because she (and you know of whom I speak) comes home from rides or visits with other people or traveling, with the rank smell of dog on her. It's in her clothes, her hair, on her hands. How am I supposed to feel? She comes up to me and tells me I'm her handsome boy, but then she's out and about with others. I should pee in her bed.

She also seems to like the dogs that hang around on the back of motorcycles flashing their fancy Doggles like they're movie stars or something.  Maybe I should get a pair of those.

Not only can I smell dog on her, I found out from her blog (cuz papa reads it and I sneak a peak from behind him) that she's even taken photos of other dogs. Even more insulting, her blog says that she visited a coon dog cemetary last summer. I saw photos of it, too. I bet she never looked for a Beagle cemetary to visit.

But at least she hasn't brought home one of these things ... talk about ugly.  Even my mom wouldn't love one of these.

Or these ... this thing could trample my butt all over the house.

And thank the Big Beagle in the sky that she didn't let this follow her home.  Maybe life isn't so bad after all.

Maybe I make too much of this. After all, she always comes home to me, I sleep in the bed with her, right next to her heart and she says I'm her heartthrob. But I'm still pissed so rather than peeing in her bed, I just lay next to her and pass gas. And I've gotten into some strange things so it's really bad. That will teach her!!