Off Week

I haven't been home to take pictures and spend time with our favorite little puppy for over a week. Now I can't travel home until Friday, so that will be one more day without Mickey for both you, dear reader, and me.

You can make the time apart a little more bearable the same way I do...This is the picture I have up in my workspace (large conference room shared with lots of other people).

I miss home.

I'm Looking at the Mickey in the Mirror

A blog dedicated to my little pooch is proof enough that I find him irresistible. Now here is further proof that he feels the same way... about himself. I spoke many months ago about how he would stop and look at himself in the reflection of the fireplace.





Rosie brought a mirror out from Illinois for me. She brought it inside (thanks!) and put it down by the front door. After the 'excitement' of Snickers and Rosie coming inside had subsided, we spied Mickey going over to investigate the new furnishing.

mirror mirror on the floor ... who's the sweetest to the core?

He sat in front of the mirror sniffing his reflection and we even caught him giving himself a few kisses as well.

Bug Hunt!

The last bug hunt featured Mickey as the bug tracker, and myself holding the final bug kill. This time, Mickey took care of it all on his own (with a little coaching from the master).

oh man, my super senses have located a bug in the pattern of this carpet.

whoa, he's getting closer. what do I do now? He's not supposed to get closer... why isn't he fearing me?

okay, lets do this. enough stalling, its time to get 'er done.

wait. who is that in the background?

It is the champion bug killer, Snickers! walking Mickey through his first bug kill with the gentle temper of a world class mentor.

Farewell Cape Cod

After our long weekend of relaxation and fun, it was time for Mickey and I to head back to DC. We got to ride with our friends Lindsay and Precious.
At first, Mickey was made to share the backseat (with a duffel divider) with Precious.

Why am I back here again?

le sigh.

Mickey finally insisted on moving up to the front seat with me. After a few hours my lap was no longer comfortable enough for our little doggie and he insisted on getting a share of the seat.

So I took 'long arm' self portraits

This is the best one of the bunch, I am not skilled.

Our friend Precious did a lot better on the trip, snoozing like this for the majority of the 10 hour ride.
That's the end of our Cape Cod recaps!

Yellow Toy

Mickey was given a new toy here in Cape Cod, a long yellow dog. The feet, tail and ears have no stuffing and provide no access to the main stuffed body when destroyed. This gave the toy an extra 24 hours of life. Mickey finally breached through the head to get at the stuffing and one of three squeakers. It was a little disturbing to hear him grunting and chomping into the brain cavity of the toy.

I removed all the stuffing, after the hole was made large enough, so he wouldn't ingest any of it.

On Friday night I took his bed and towel into the bedroom along with some of his nylabones. He reviewed my choices for bedtime and trotted back out to the living room, located his yellow dog, and climbed into bed with it.

I love you, but I destroy you

Backyard

Victor's house has a very nice backyard.

Mickey decided to try out some new poses for the camera. Here he is trying the 'looking back over the shoulder with a sexy pout'.

Mickey is learning to enjoy his time outside and to explore the soft grass. He is working on his runway walk. Strut. Strut. Paw.

He also enjoys sitting on the deck looking out at the yard to keep the bugs in line. He pulls off the 'looking intently into the distance' well.

Beach! Part II

In the middle of the day, Victor and I took Mickey for a short walk down to the beach. Victor took us to a small kayak landing area, so we wouldn't bother anyone else. I'll tell the rest of the story with pictures:

see... the water is much warmer now than it was this morning...

I can get in to my ankles... what do you think?

not. going. to. do. it.

is this a face of someone who should be trusted with animals?

why do you do this to me?

at least I can see the 'shore' from here. I'm getting out of this weird wetness.

Beach! Part I

While in Cape Cod, we of course had to visit the beach. I had visions of taking Mickey swimming and splashing in the waves. Turns out there were a couple of problems with my fantasies:

1. It is a little chilly for open water swimming. With highs in the mid 70's it is very pleasant weather, but still a little cold for swimming in a large body of water.
2. Dogs aren't allowed on beaches until the off season, which starts after Labor Day.
3. Mickey doesn't have a strong interest in the water.

We walked down to the community beach near Victor's house in the early morning. No one was around to enforce the "No Dogs Allowed" signs so we walked onto the little sandy strip. Mickey seemed to enjoy the new smells and the feel of sand between his paws, but he always stopped exactly at the waters edge. Not even a little dew claw dipped in the water.

I was thinking: "nice picture at the beach at sunrise"
Mickey was thinking "its kinda chilly what are we doing here again?"

Up next time (Monday), what happens when we go to the same beach with Victor when its a little warmer?

Home Base - Cape Cod

Victor's house has nice hardwood floors. Most people would think this is a positive feature, but Mickey is less than impressed. He misses the wall to wall carpet of his home.

Luckily we brought an extra towel, so he uses it as his home base to work on his bones/toys/treats.

Tread softly and carry a....

Big Stick!

oh boy oh boy oh boy. Come on Vic, toss it, toss it!

Whoa, a little bigger than I realize.

Don't worry, I've got it!

We're on Vacation!

Mickey and I are out visiting Victor in Cape Cod. I'll finally have a chance to blog about a couple of things that have happened in the last few weeks as well as lots of fun stories from our long weekend trip.