Life's Short- Play In the Mud!

Just popping in for moment - nothing profound today.. because well I'm busy zoom, zoom, zooming around. .
Swiped the keys, the phone and the tablet.. will be picking up pals soon..for a little fun, fun, fun 'til Chief Jason takes the T Bird away...

Oh stop fussing..we will wear our seat belts!

So my message today - Life is short! Have Fun! Go Outside!, Get Muddy! Splash  In  Puddles!.. it's good for your soul!

Go on..get muddy today! I double dog dare you!

Run and play hard- it's good for the heart!

Splash..just cause you can!

GO Play!

Later gators ... got zooming to do before Chief Jason catches us! 

Safety First Humans! Safety First!

Psst hey.. it's me Willie...

I know.. I know.. I've been a slacker about blogging, but hey that crazy human chick has been dragging my fanny all over hill and dale - hither and yon. Just exhausts a poor fellow,  all that aimless wandering that she she does.

I was all set to tell you about our wandering  and shed hunting adventures, (cause lord knows she is still insisting that antlers are dropping already pffft.. they are not.) when our friend Ms. Gigi from Rainforest Coastal Labs sent this photo of a horror she stumbled upon:

Oh Holy Milk Bones! My heart stopped, my stomach hurt, my eyes burned, and I was as woozy as the poor dog that had to ride there with exhaust, rocks and dust  billowing up his snout. Could that be real? Humans - I know you guys can be foolish, but this?

Oh my.... for the love canine creatures...I have to say WTF???.  Okay, that's gonna get my mouth washed out with soap, but really..that's all I could think.

Thinking of my  humans less than stellar driving abilities - seriously she drives like a mad woman, turned loose on a Nascar track - I got even more woozy.

Thinking back to when she got rear ended  at the stoplight (yeah yeah  - disclaimer -  not her fault) I got a whole lot more woozy from that mental picture. Traumatized is good word to use. What if I had been in a crate like that  just hanging on the back bumper? Oh the horror that thought brought to mind. Frankly, makes me queasy just writing that.

So I'm on a mission now to spread the word - SAFETY FIRST! Please humans - transport us safely!

Like any good writer I decided I'd better do some research about this dog transport business. My pals at the hunt tests have all manner of nifty boxes, crates, trailers,  you name it.  My hero Mighty Timaeus - well his human even crawled in his dog trailer to make sure it was fit for him! Now that's my kind of gal!  Then again, she might have done it to make sure he would fit because they don't call him Big Ass for nothing.  But  I digress - let's look at some safe ways to transport us courageous canines. After all we're riding with YOU HUMANS and that alone makes us courageous!

I always thought this trailer looks like it could withstand an atomic blast..

First I checked at GunDog - I always like their information, and trust it. Of course they had a great article about the different styles of trailers and how to transport;  you can read all about trailers  here  . As usual there was more at Gun Dog magazine that I can't resist sharing - they do know dogs over there! Here's another good article about traveling with gun dogs.

We're seat belt fans here at our place, for humans and dogs. Here's a good look at why  leaving me loose during all my travels would NOT be the best idea. The human says it's because I keep trying to drive, but if you had to ride with  her you'd want to drive too.  I keep hoping the nice folks at Ruff Rider will send me one of their newest models to try out.  I hear from my dog colleagues that they are pretty much the be all and end all of doggie seat belt systems.

Whether you choose a trailer, a box, a crate or a seat belt restraint system - above all, make sure it's safely secured. I really don't think any of my four footed pals or I want to experience flying out of a truck bed (in or out of a crate). Contrary to popular belief - that does not make us better behaved truck bed riders..it just makes us bruised and battered.

So humans,  take us along..takes us everywhere.. but take us safely!

Later Gators..gotta go beg Ruff Rider for a new harness! Think this face will work?

PLEASE transport all dogs safely! I'm begging you!

The Pet Door Debacle

Psst..hey - it's me Willie;

Well friends, I'm in deep you know what again..all over that silly pet door.

Back when I was wee little ball of fluff - a very cute ball of yellow fluff I might add - the fuzzy human worked hard all one Sunday to put in a giant pet door for Dolly, Buddy, and I. Of course it had to be a giant one.. you guys have seen Buddy right?

Well, since we have had no ducks, and the crazy woman has been a little lax in keeping me occupied, I had to create some of my own fun this weekend.

Did you know those flappy things on the pet door stretch? WOOOHEEE great fun.. grab the bottom of the flappy thing and PUUUUUULLLL boy does it snap back and bounce!

Maybe..just maybe, I pulled a little too hard, a little too much and welllll....the whole works came flying off and landed on the deck..

OOPSIE

I think I would have gotten by wth it if the fuzzy human wasn't so darned cold natured.. and the wind and rain hadn't started.

I thought perhaps my best course of action would be to hide the evidence, and hope that moose dog Buddy got blamed for being too big to get through and subsequently wrecking it, but just as I was busy stuffing the faulty (Yes I say faulty! The manufacturer should have allowed for this kind of fun!) flap into the  shrubs I heard the fuzzy human shriek "WILLIE You little pissant!"

I hate when he calls me a pissant - really I'm a better creature than those annoying  little black bugs. I also hate it because it's usually followed up with a boot in my behind and I was pretty sure this was going to be one of those boot in the behind deals.

I fetched that faulty flap right into his lap. He was not amused nor pleased with my outstanding retrieving abilities.  Sheesh he is a crab.

There was wailing and gnashing of teeth, lots of expletives that I will spare your delicate ears - seriously things I shouldn't have heard; I am still in my formative years!

When all was said and done, and I had been duly chastised, the faulty flap was restored with about half a roll of gorilla tape.

See there - problem solved. No need for that boot in the behind business.


Later Gators..I've got to go perform some "testing" of the stretchiness and durability of Gorilla tape!

~Just for the record though - I'm staying mum about who ate  the roll of gorilla tape that was casually left on the floor by the pet door. Just remember friends..Buddy is the one with food issues ;) ~

No Birds

Psst.... hey it's me Willie......
No,  contrary to belief I haven't been on some electronic lockdown. In fact surprisingly enough I haven't really been in much trouble lately.
BUT-
I have a confession - I think I have been depressed.
At least overwhelmingly melacholy, and little confused  on top of it.
This was supposed to be my first duck hunting season - oh I was going to impress the socks off all those fellas..
I know they think I'm a big galoot,  but I retrieve like a champion!

Sadly - I made no big impressions this season. 

First off we had delayed start.. that crazy human got all sliced and diced and whined and carried on like she was going to croak or something. My pal Piper..she was out there snatching up ducks and even geese.. but oh no.. I was stuck inside playing nursemaid.

Finally the human drags her carcass to the blind and all I heard  was no bird.. no bird..  ( seems to me there sure were a lot of shotgun shells wasted) no bird, my paw. Piper got birds.

Frankly I've heard no bird until I don't care if I ever hear it again.

The human and I have burned up a thousand miles and all I hear is no birds.. no birds..
She kept saying no birds...
Her friends kept saying  - no birds...
Hell the internet said....no birds.
What is this no birds business?

I read all the predictions, the hatch reports, all the news that  is the news in the duck world. ( I am a prepared duck dog you know!)  and everything said there would be millions of ducks.
Our esteemed DNR Director championed for season date changes and zone boundary changes, that all pointed to an even better season ahead. I was excited!
But there were no birds.

NO BIRDS!

Some say it was a freakishly warm winter that kept all of them up north ( I think that means in Wisconsin and Minnesota) some are trying to blame the season and zone changes, but I don't think that mattered. Even we'd had the same as last year, THERE WERE NO BIRDS!

So here I sit... duck season is over in my zone..the human is sucking up herbal tea and nyquil, and I have no birds to my credit. NO freaking birds.

I think it was a conspiracy.

Later Gators.....
I'm going to see if I can find a sky carp; surely they are out there.