Good News and Bad News

The good news is -

Sir Bear is going to be OK.
He does not have Cushing's Disease.
No renal failure. No failure of any kind.
In fact, he is pretty darn healthy for the shape he's in! BOL!

The BAD news is -

My snow is all gone.
Melted.
Not even slush.
All gone.
:(

Kisses,

Pssst! Guess What?

It's snowing!

The real white stuff!

Whoopee!!



Silly youngsters!


Sir Bear got a pretty kerchief at the vets office today. He spent the whole day there having special blood tests. We will get the results tomorrow and let you know what we find out. He was sure happy to be home. He even let Mister Higgins kiss him for about 10 minutes before he started growling! And boy oh boy was he hungry! He had no food or water for 12 hours before the test and then had to go all day long without food. And believe me, Bear likes his food!

Snowy Kisses,

Christmas At The Castle

On Christmas Eve, before the family arrived, the Duke and I had some quiet time to surf the web on the Duchesses laptop computer.

Unbeknownst to the Duchess, the Duke had secretly taken her laptop out of the castle and had some "zoom zoom" added to it. So we were checking out how fast it was working. There we sat, right under her nose and she had no clue we were checking out her Christmas present. Ha ha ha - we really pulled one over on her! (The Duke also got her the beautiful red leather laptop case she wanted!)

The family arrived about 7:00 in the evening and the craziness began. Mister Higgins barked and snarled at the Grand Kids so had to be crated. After things settled down he was allowed out, under close supervision, to have a calmer "meet and greet" session. He got better as the night wore on.

Christmas morning the men cooked breakfast and we were all locked out of the kitchen.

All of us, that is, except Mister Higgins (AKA The Troublemaker). He was constantly under foot, but at least the Grand Kids were safe!

After breakfast the fun began. Everyone opened their gifts. We got toys and Mister Higgins stole every last one of them. In fact he tried to steal everyone's gifts. Even the bows! Since it was his first Christmas we can forgive him. He didn't know that there were rules. He should have known because there are always rules!

Sir Bear doesn't like Christmas very much. Too many people telling him to move out of the way. So he found a good spot to hide out where no one would bother him.

The Duke and Duchess were fully aware that Higgins was not to be trusted with the Grand Kids. He can be very reactive and the last thing they wanted was a "bite" situation. Everything was going fine and they were keeping an eye on things, when all of a sudden all "heck" broke loose. The kids had been throwing the ball down the hallway and Higgins would run to fetch it and bring it back. The Duchess had been sitting at her computer watching them play. They decided to take a break and the Duchess turned her back. Suddenly there was a blood-curdling scream from the guest room and a barking-snarling dog! The Duchess was up out of her chair and covered the 39' distance of the hallway in less than 1.5 seconds! (I never knew she could move that fast. She's been holding out on me!) Of course the Duke and the Dad were right behind her. Little Ben was trying to cover himself on the floor and Higgins was barking and snarling at him! The Duchess, terrified of course, pushed Higgins out of the way, grabbed little Ben and asked him if he was hurt - did he BITE you ?????? The answer was "No". "WERE YOU RUNNING?" The answer was "Yes". This was the "ah ha" moment. Little Ben had been repeatedly warned NOT to run. Thank goodness he was not hurt. We Border Collies are born to chase anything that runs. By this time Higgins was delighted that everyone had come to the guest room! So, as the Duchess held little Ben and comforted him, the Duke hauled the offender off to the kitchen to spend some time behind bars.

Soon all was forgiven and the play resumed. Little Ben promised not to run anymore, and the Duchess never turned her back without making sure someone else was watching.

Higgins: Does this look like the face of a killer? I am the PUPPY! You must love me!

And love him, they did. Even little Ben loved him before the day was done. However, little Ben was very careful not to run!

I personally am ever so thankful that Christmas is behind us. I will be so happy when Mister Higgins grows up a bit. The Duke and Duchess have doubled their resolve regarding his "training". Border Collies are supposed to be smart - but I think Higgins might be an impostor, or maybe even an alien!

I hope you and your family had a peaceful Christmas :)

Kisses,

Merry Christmas to All

Wishing all of you a wondrous and joyous Christmas. We are having the Grand Kids here and I am very excited about that. They like to cuddle with me, and that's my favorite thing in the world. They have never met Mister Higgins - I hope he behaves himself. (Fat chance!)

Kisses,

Wordless Wednesday #6

The Queen's Birthday

Today should be a holiday. Queen Emma Rose Day. Well, ok, maybe not. But it does have a nice ring to it. Today I am four years old. I came to the castle when I was 18 months old. If you have not read about my humble beginnings, you really should! You can find my story here. (Get the tissues ready).

The Duchess says I get more beautiful every day. Well, I think a Queen should be beautiful. However, beauty radiates from within. A happy Queen is a beautiful Queen. You know me as I am now - the photograph below is what I looked like when I was rescued. Quite a difference I would say. I was a frightened, timid little princess.

But now, as you know, I am a Queen living in her own castle. I have a fine servant, (Sir Bear), good companions (the Duke and Duchess) and my own Court Jester (you know who that is!) Life is good - no, life is GRAND! So please celebrate with me today.

Kisses and Hugs all around!!! My treat :)

One Year Today

One year ago today I started my blog and posted my first post. It was fun but intimidating. I had no idea what I was doing, or how to do it! It was very exciting though. There was no one to read it, but I enjoyed it none the less. Now I have blogger friends all over the world and I feel so blessed. Thank you, all of you, for becoming my friends, and for coming back again and again.

In honor of the occasion, here is my very first post titled Crunchy Morning.

Kisses,

Dog Joy

I am so excited! My book arrived in the mail.... Oh, I guess I better start at the beginning.

A while back I entered a give away contest over at Life With Dogs.
AND I WON!!!

The prize was a beautiful little hard cover book. One hundred and eighty seven pages of smiling, laughing, joyful dogs! Oh my gosh, it is absolutely gorgeous!!! Every page makes your heart smile. I am so thankful for my friends at Life With Dogs. They are the best!

My very own dog book.

Just look at these kiddos.

Don't they make you smile right along with them?

Forget it Mister Higgins. You can kiss up to me all you want, but you are not touching my book!

"Hey! Can she really say that to me?"

Kisses,

An Award!

Our very special friends over at Tales and Tails have bestowed upon us this awesome award. We (all of us here at the castle) are thrilled to accept it and wish to pass it on to some more very special friends. Many of our friends do not accept awards, but hopefully the friends we have listed will like it!




1. My friend Wizz at An English Shepherd
2. My friend Abbey at Central Bark Designs
3. My friend Sierra Rose
4. My friend Lean at Scrapsels from Lean
5. My friend and Prince, Fenway, from Fenway's Park
6. My really BIG friend Murphy at Murphy's Law
7. My friends Tristan and Braun
8. My GSD friends at Shepherds' Ledge Life
9. And last but definitely not least, my wonderful friend Scout the Bernese Mountain Dog

To all of you I owe so much. Your comments and friendship have been a blessing to all of us here at the castle, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Kisses,

Santa, We Can Explain!

Dear Santa,

It is not as bad as it looks. That's just tissue paper you see all over. Bear really likes tissue paper, and the Duchess bought one of those great big bags of it at Costco. Bear was just having fun, he didn't mean to be naughty.

I don't know how these things got in my bed. They must have fallen off of the end table when I ran between the table and the window. I know I am not supposed to do that, but there was a big truck coming up the driveway and I had to let him know the castle was guarded.


I didn't mean to knock this over. The surround sound speaker didn't get hurt, I promise.



Mister Higgins must have caused all the trouble. Yes, he was locked in the kitchen when all of this happened. However, he is usually the culprit, so could we just let him take the rap this time too? I mean, after all Santa, he doesn't need any new stuff for Christmas. He has lot's of toys. Besides that, he doesn't even know who you are!

Please Santa. . .

We are awfully sorry!

I love you Santa!

Kisses,

Wordless Wednesday #5

The Meeting of the Dogs

This poem is found in the novel 'Twas the Bite Before Christmas,
by Lee Charles Kelley. We liked it so much, we wanted to share it with you!

The Meeting of the Dogs

The dogs they had a meeting,
They came from near and far.
Some of them came by Greyhound bus

While others came by car.

The purpose of their meeting?

To fill the world with glee

and put a brand new puppy

under ev'ry Christmas tree.

But a special hall was rented,

and the landlord did declare

he didn't want them running 'round

just pooping ev'rywhere.

So before inside that rented hall

the dogs could even look

they had to take their hineys off

and hang them on a hook.

Then once inside the meeting--

ev'ry mother, son and sire--

some cat, dressed in a dog suit,

began to holler, "Fire!"

They all rushed out, that pack of dogs.

they had no time to look,

to which type of hiney

they grabbed off its little hook.

They got their hineys all mixed up.

It really made 'em sore,

to have to wear a hiney

they'd never worn before.

Then, once the chaos ended,

so did the dogs' grand scheme,

and kids who'd dreamed of puppies

were left with just a dream.

It's also why you'll see a dog

give up a juicy bone,

to go and sniff a hiney,

to see if it's his own.

Merry Christmas Kisses,

Where is My Snow?

I thought we were supposed to get snow last night. It didn't even rain!

Snow? What is snow? Does it squeak? Can I chase it?