Lambiedog

Over the river and through the woods, or, A difficult visit

We took a trip to Ojai to visit our relatives.  Below is a picture of me with some of them.

From my perspective, the evening was problematic.

From my hosts' perspective, I was not the easiest guest. 

What threw me was the presence of their puppy, Annie.  Annie did a lot of swiping at me with her paw to try to engage me in play.  Each time that paw came toward me I got nervous and snapped.

It got to the point where, as depicted in the photo at left, I growled when Annie even looked at me.

    Things went downhill from there.  I was not my finest self.

    I began begging to be picked up.  The more anxious I got, the less safe I felt anywhere but in my owner's lap.   

  
I made it through a reading of Peter in Blueberry Land, but when my owner put me down so she could play with the young master of the house, I freaked out.

 It was time to go home.  I was not proud of my performance, but I was relieved that it was over.

Vote for Thomas' remix!

    While Thomas recuperates from his surgery, he has been working on a remix in a contest on Indaba Music. 

    Having listened to this song, 'Just Can't Let You Go,' by the teen pop star Manika, easily five hundred times as Thomas perfected his remix, I can fully recommend his final version as the one that should win. 

    To do that, however, he needs votes.  Come on, Lambie-lovers, stand with me -- let's make our preferences known! 

    You can listen to Thomas' remix below -- it's #1, the one by "The Menstrels" (T's nom de plume).  (#2 is the original, 'pre'-remix version.)

    Then, after it's knocked your socks off, please vote for it.  The catch is that to vote you need either a MySpace account or an Indaba account.  Both are free.  Within my own demographic [dogs, natch!] there are not many of us who have MySpace accounts, let alone Indaba accounts.  However, I joined MySpace today so that I could vote for Thomas.  I felt it was the least I could do. 

Supporting the injured

        Thomas steered his wheelchair over to visit his beloved skateboard, the very cause of his injury.

It was a dark moment.

I knew Thomas needed moral support, so I jumped aboard the skateboard to show that I was with him.

I think my encouragement means a lot to him.

Helicopter brother

          He tends to hover over me, anticipating my needs and smoothing my way.

        
       But we both know that it's high time for me to learn how to deal with obstacles on my own.  

           He's trying to learn to let go.

         

Whitley Heights

  

     Hollywood's Whitley Heights was the scene of our latest Secret Stairs walk -- Walk #36.  This was a classy area, with our first staircase being entered via a wrought iron gate.

Whitley Heights is an appealing and well maintained neighborhood.  Even the dogs we encountered seemed upbeat and welcoming.

        

Following the itinerary led us through one of the parking lots for the Hollywood Bowl, where we were surprised to encounter friends who were there to take part in the Amazing Los Angeles Race.

I wished them well as they embarked upon their endeavor.  

        Later we heard that they had come in first! 

    If the encouragement that I provided them helped in any small way, the sweat I expended on the stair walk would be worth it.  I live to serve.

Me and my owner

     My owner and I have a close relationship. Whether it is heading out to the bluffs, playing with my rawhide, or just relaxing, we stick together. 

  
                We're in sync. 

Heroic rescue tale

    Enough about the deficit -- now here is a newsworthy story, from Australia. It concerns a dog named Bibi who is blown from a pier but saved by a heroic young man who happens to be at the pier to scatter his family member's ashes. 

Bibi's rescue actually occurred almost two years ago, but news is slow to travel across the Pacific.  Here's what happened:  

Bibi, who is a Maltese / Shih Tzu mix, was walking on the Brighton pier in suburban Melbourne with his owner when he was blown into the water by gale-force winds.  He tried to dog paddle back, but the wind was strong and for a while blew him even further from the pier.  

A hero named Raden Soemawinata happened to be on the pier for a ceremony to scatter his grandmother's ashes into the Melbourne bay.  Mr. Soemawinata stripped to his underwear (conveniently, he was a part time model), got into the water and swam Bibi to safety.

 
Bibi and his owner were both very grateful.

Contemplating the sunset with Thomas

It's great to have him home.

Happy Mother's Day

My lightness of being

  I may have lost some weight.  I say this because yesterday, when my owner picked me after I begged her to as usual, I so surprised her with my lightness that in one swift movement she hoisted me up and dropped me overboard on my head.  

    We were worried that I might have been paralyzed or something, but all that happened was that I got dirty, as shown in the photo on the left.  

In the photo on the right, we are looking happy that I'm not paralyzed.

 

Unfortunately yet predictably, the aftermath involved a bath.