More Fun with Mija

Sergei — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:11:36 +0000

As you’re probably aware (if not, check out my last two posts), we had a guest dog here for a couple of weeks. Her name is Mija; she’s smallish and just about naked, but she’s a TON of FUN when it comes to playing.

Since Mija was a guest, I would (on occasion) allow her to sleep on my chair in the family room.

Mija using my chair. Aren’t I benevolent?

Anyway, she was asleep on my chair one day when Mom turned on 1812, our Roomba. Seeing the strange creature, Mija leaped from the chair, barking and growling, ready to defend the household from this unfamiliar threat.

Sniff-sniff. “What is this weird thing?”

“It could be dangerous. I better bite it to show it who’s boss.”

Bark bark! Growl.
“I dare you to try something.”

Of course, 1812 completely ignored Mija, and I was able to distract her from her fearsome guarding behavior with a chance to play tug-of-war with the pheasant stuffie.

Tired of the stuffie, we then moved on to my favorite toy.

Early in the evening, I carried the pheasant stuffie outside to see if I could get anyone to play with me.

Peaches looked like she might want to play, but Mija was a bit unsure about getting in a game that involved the alpha dog.

And then Captain Jack came out and started playing.

After that, both Peaches and Mija decided to get into the ruckus and we all bounced around on the shady part of the lawn for a while.

Later on, upstairs, Mija and I played some more tug-of-war with the giant green spider stuffie and the fleece tug toy. For a little dog, Mija is pretty strong.

Eventually I was able to wear her out (a truly amazing feat, given the amount of energy she has), and she crashed hard on one of the dog beds.

Exhausted Mija.

She wore me out, too, but she was so much fun to have
around! I hope she comes back soon.

Apparently, she had as much fun here as I had having her here, because she sent this card after she went home:

Gee, I guess she likes me.

Until next time,
–Sergei

Fun with Mija

Sergei — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:55:01 +0000

If you read my last post, you met Mija, the (almost) naked dog, and saw how much fun she is to have around because she likes to play ROUGH, just like me. Since she was here for almost two weeks, we had a lot of time to have fun.

One day while she was here, Uncle Mike and Aunt Carol came over, and they brought their greyhound Wesley (aka Weasel).

Here we all are. What a lively bunch.
(From front to back: Cooper, Peaches,
Mija, Wesley, Captain Jack, BJ, and me.)

The reason Wesley came over - besides to visit - is because he is having hydro-therapy and Aunt Carol wanted to use our pool for one of his treatments.

For a greyhound, Wesley’s a really good swimmer.

Go, Weasel, go!

After Wesley’s swimming session, Carol sat down on the
love seat, only to be attacked by an evil, kissing Mija!

I’ll save you, Auntie Carol!

But Mija was having none of it. Carol was hers.

Later, I decided to show Mija who was boss by taking
away her toy. If only I could catch her…

Fine. If I couldn’t catch her, I’d tempt her close with
my favorite toy.

And it worked!

Of course, then I had to get it away from her…

…which is easier said than done.

Gimme that!

Grrrr… Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Um… pretty please?

Finally, I had both toys. Ha-ha!

Unfortunately, Mija didn’t want to play when
I was just lying around with the toys, so I
had to tempt her again.

This is more like it!

I’ll get you, you naked little worm!

Darn, she’s fast!

Ah! Surprise attack from the side!

Then from the front!

But I was ready this time.

Exhausted, I finally retreated to the dog couch DMZ.

Mija went into the bedroom and waited
on the bed.

Soon after, I joined her and BJ for a nap before Mom and Dad
came and took the best spots.

So that’s some more of the fun I had with Mija.

I’ll be sure to dictate even more “fun with Mija” to Mom soon. In the meantime, I’m going to go stay with some other dogs. Maybe I’ll tell you about that, too.

–Sergei

A Naked Dog Story

Sergei — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:38:01 +0000

One evening not too long ago, this guy came over to our house and he brought this strange little naked creature with him. The creature’s name was Mija (pronounced mee-haw). As it turned out, Mija was going to be staying with us for a couple of weeks while her dad was out of town.

This is Mija.

Okay, she’s not completely naked - she has hair on the top of her head, and a little on her paws and the end of her tail - but compared to me, she’s hardly recognizable as a dog.

What the heck is that weird-looking thing?!?!

Well, she smells like a dog.

And she stands in the pool and drinks like a dog.

Best of all, she PLAYS like a dog!

Not only does she play like a dog, but she likes to
play ROUGH, just like me and Jack!

Two weeks of this, huh? We’re going to have FUN!

Mija: “Come and get me, ya big fluffy beast!”

Jack and I almost had her pinned.

But she’s wiggly - and FAST!

Mija: “Come on, you guys. Here I am!”

Well, if you insist…

She actually wore me out.

Mija: “What about you, Jack? You tired, too?”

Go away, naked one. I’m tuckered.

Finally, we all got settled in bed.

As the guest, Mija got the best spot.

I think I did wear her out a bit, because she slept all night long under the covers with Mom and Dad. I guess if you don’t have your own fluff, you have to borrow some. Still, naked or not, Mija is TONS of FUN to play with. Next post, I’ll show you some more fun with her!

Until then,
–Sergei

Her Name is Rio

Sergei — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:12:02 +0000

“…and she dances on the sand.”

Or not.

I’ve never actually seen Rio on any sand, so I’m not sure if she dances there or not. But I digress…

So, there we were, lying around the house with nothing to do.

*YAWN* I’m bored.

BJ: “Yeah, but it’s a nice relaxing day.”

Cooper: “Relaxing, yes, but I suspect something’s
going to happen. Mom’s got that ‘visitors are
coming’ look about her.”

Peaches: “Visitors?”

Captain Jack: “Hurray for visitors!”

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, Aunt Julia showed up with her Greyhound boy, Dash, and her newly adopted Greyhound girl, Rio. We’d met Rio once before, at Julia’s birthday party, but she was only a foster dog at the time (although we all suspected Aunt Julia would adopt her). Now Rio had her forever home and had come for a visit with her extended pack.

The all-important butt-sniffing.

Followed by some ear-sniffing.

…sniff-a-sniff-a-sniff.

Dash rehydrates after the hot car ride.

“Ahhhh, that’s better.”

Julia in the back yard with tripod Peaches, followed by Dash and Rio.

Peaches: “Forget the toy! Just LOVE me!”

Peaches gets into the ear-sniffing…a bit late.

Rio gets love from her new mommy.

Ear scritches - better than ear sniffs!

Hey! I’ve got ears, too!

I did get some attention from Julia, and then we all went back inside where it was much cooler and relaxed for a while before Dash and Rio had to go home. It’s kinda sad that it was too hot for all of us to play together outside, but at least we got to visit, and to welcome Rio to the extended pack.

–Sergei

Cool Day, Play Day

Sergei — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:05:33 +0000

Living here in the desert means there’s a whole lot of months that are too hot for us hounds to go out and run around. Even in the evening the temperature is too high to really open up and get goofy. Fortunately, we had a number of cool days a little while ago and I decided to take advantage of it by running around the back yard with one of my rawhides.

And then Captain Jack came outside.

He saw me…

…and dared me to chase him.

Jack: “You can’t catch me!”

Just you watch me!

Jack: “Uh-oh.”

Tag - you’re it!

Try to take my rawhide - I dare ya!

Missed me!

Come and get it, Jacky-wack.

Ha! Missed again.

Aw, come on, Jack. It’s right here.

Psych!

Uh-oh. Here he comes!

Hee-hee-hee!

Whoa - that was close!

Ruh-roh, running out of lawn. Time for some fancy footwork.

Darn! He caught onto that move fast.

Didn’t expect that, didja, Jack?

Reset!

Come on, Jack. Here’s the rawhide.

Ha! Missed again!

A final burst of speed and…

…break time!

Tripod Peaches came out and joined us after our break.

Play with us, Peaches!

Peaches: “Okay, I’ll chase you guys.”

Run, Jack! She’s gaining on us!

Peaches: “I tagged you, Jack. You’re out.”

Fortunately, Peaches never caught me and I was able to slip inside and crash on the couch, thoroughly exhausted from running in the unseasonal coolness. Now, if we could only get some more…

Until next time,

–Sergei (aka Turkey, Terg, Fluffy, Schnozzlehead, etc.)

Frappuccino Leftovers

Sergei — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:40:37 +0000

Hello, Turkey here!

“Turkey?” I hear you ask.

That’s right! That’s my new nickname. Mom and Dad have been calling me “Terg” lately - a long story, based on Dad’s silly interpretation/pronunciation of the Russian word “Tsar.” They also lengthened it to “Tergle,” which is really sort of cute. When I went on vacation and stayed with Aunt Carol and Uncle Mike, they used “Terg,” too, as well as “Sergee” - when combined, that became “Tergee,” which they then turned into “Turkey.”

So this is me now - Turkey FluffyFeathers! And I’m going to show you how to enjoy frappuccino leftovers.

First, of course, you have to have a human kind enough to gift you with a frappuccino cup that they are done with. I prefer the venti-sized cups, but any size will do.

The best thing about getting a cup that a human is finished with, is that there’s so much yummy stuff left inside, but only someone with a long schnozzle and the willingness to use it can get to it. Of course, it does take a bit of work to get to all of that yummy stuff.

First, find a comfy spot.

Next, get some leverage on the lid with your
tongue and/or teeth…

…and pull it off.

If there’s any yummy stuff in the lid, lick it up.

Start cleaning all the yum out of the top of the cup.

As the yum at the top disappears, shove your schnozzle
in farther to get the deeper yum.

And deeper.

It takes a bit of practice to have your schnozzle
stuck in the cup and still be able to open your
mouth far enough to get your tongue out.

Practice makes perfect.

Sometimes you have to come up for air.

Checking to be sure I didn’t leave anything in the lid.

Look how clean I’ve got it so far!

Back to work.

No yum can hide from me!

If it tries, I’ll chew my way down to it!

…or not.

Yummy stuff, you will be mine!

Sometimes you have to stand up to
get enough leverage to get the last
yummy bits off the bottom.

With the cup all de-yummed (see upper right corner),
it’s time to finish the last bits from the lid.

And so, there you have it - how to enjoy a big cup of yummy frappuccino leftovers!

This is Turkey, the caffeinated Borzoi, signing off!

My Vacation

Sergei — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:46:30 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, Mom and Dad went out of town awhile ago for a bit of a vacation, and they left all of us dogs with other people for our own vacations. I got to stay with Aunt Carol and Uncle Mike and their hounds, the dogs you met in Greyhounds and Galgo and Mud…

Knock-knock, The Fluff is here!

Sniffs from Ghillie the Galgo (front) and Fox (back).
Nod is trying to squeeze through the middle.

Love from Aunt Carol, while Nod waits patiently.

Okay, Nod - here I am. Well worth waiting for, huh?

Checking out the yard with Wesley.

Back inside, I smell something yummy,
so into the kitchen I go.

Is it here?

Or maybe here…

And then someone yelled at me to get out of the kitchen. *SIGH*

Fine, I’m happier here on the couch anyway.

Ghillie: “Ha-ha, you got in trouble for being in the kitchen.”

Since I was going to be staying for several days, I thought I’d better head upstairs and check out the sleeping accommodations.

Oh, how nice - a Tempurpedic, just like Mom and Dad’s, only
covered with lots of laundry…

…make that lots of COMFY laundry!

Fox settled for a dog bed. Silly old man!

Back downstairs, the hounds gather around their
Mom and Dad on the loveseat. You can see my fluff in the
bottom left corner as I hurry to get in on the loving.

Dinnertime. Look at me sitting so patiently.

It’s chicken-lickin’ good!

I think I’m going to like it here!

And I did!

–Sergei

The Squirrel Girls

Sergei — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:41:31 +0000

Sorry yet again for the gap between posts. Once again it’s Mom’s fault. Not only was she busy, but then she and Dad went out of town and left all of us dogs with other people (more on that in a later post). But enough excuses…on with the story and pictures!

“Squirrel Girls” - that’s what Mom and Dad call BJ and Peaches. Apparently the name got started before Peaches joined the pack. Dad was walking BJ through the woods up in Flagstaff when she saw something moving and - in typical BJ fashion - she went nuts. The moving thing turned out to be a squirrel that ran up a tree. Of course, being the crazy huntress that she is, BJ did her best to follow it and spent the rest of the trip looking for squirrels to hunt. Thus she was dubbed “The Squirrel Girl.” When Peaches moved in, she became one of the “Squirrel Girls.”

BJ is very goofy and playful, but she generally likes to play with just herself and a stuffie. Still, I have gotten her to play with me on occasion.

Peaches, on the other hand, has never seemed particularly playful since I joined the pack. However, as I’m learning, Peaches’ seeming lack of playfulness is because she lost a back leg to cancer about the time I moved in. Now that she’s figured out how to really run with only one back leg, her worthiness of being called one of the “Squirrel Girls” is becoming evident.

One day, not too long ago, I was outside playing with the pumpkin toy when Squirrel Girl #1, BJ, came charging out of the house looking like she wanted to play, too.

So I tossed the pumpkin toy to her.

And off she ran with it…

…into the house.

Mom brought the toy back out to me, and Squirrel
Girl #2, Peaches, galloped outside after her.

I thought Peaches wanted to play, but she just kept running.

Meanwhile, BJ came out, grabbed another toy…

…and ran back inside with it.

Fine. If BJ wanted to keep the back yard free of unused toys, I figured I’d just keep playing with the pumpkin.

After awhile, Peaches and Jack started barking at me to let me
know they wanted to play. BJ found an unused rawhide
lying on the lawn.

She thought about carrying it inside with the other
unused toys, but then Peaches started running.

BJ followed her while I leapt in from the other side.

Jack: “Let’s play!”

We split up…

…and it became two races: boy vs. boy and girl vs. girl.

I’ll get you, Jack!

Okay, you get me.

Having stopped playing with Peaches,
BJ grabbed the pumpkin toy…

…and headed for the house.

I rushed to head her off…

…but I wasn’t fast enough.

Oh well, Jack still wanted to play.

Ha-ha, you missed me!

But, wait, this is supposed to be about the Squirrel Girls. Oh well, I guess they went inside. Their loss. Jack and I had fun without them! Besides, I’m sure the “Squirrels” will show up in some future post…

**********************

ADDENDUM: I’d like to wish Fox, my doggy daddy, a happy 8th birthday! According to Grandma Monica, Fox “is still a bouncy, goofy, happy guy.”

My doggy daddy, Fox.

I hope I’m as handsome as he is when I’m eight years old!

–Sergei

Another Birthday

Sergei — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:56:43 +0000

Time for another apology about my absence from blogging. It’s Mom’s fault, though, not mine. She’s been busy with work…again. If it weren’t for the fact that she keeps telling me that her working is why I get to eat, I might be a bit more insistent. Maybe I will anyway. Maybe her entire “work = food” story is just that - a story.

Well, whatever the case, I’m back now, and today I’m going to tell you about another birthday that happened recently - Aunt Julia’s birthday. Since Aunt Julia had so many people who wanted to come to her birthday party, she needed a fairly big place to have it. Mom and Dad said she could use our house, which was really cool because it meant I got to meet lots and lots of new people, and show them how much fun a Borzoi can be!

Aunt Julia brought her Greyhound, Dash, to the party with her. Poor Dash was depressed because Liza, the alpha dog of his pack, had died recently. Everyone tried to cheer him up, but it didn’t help very much. Having just lost a pack member, I understand how he was feeling.

Poor depressed Dash.

Aunt Julia also brought her foster Greyhound, Rio. As soon as everyone met Rio, they knew she wasn’t going to be Aunt Julia’s foster dog for very long because Julia was going to adopt her - and she did!

Aunt Julia and Rio

Even better than all of the visiting people and hounds, was all of the food the people brought. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t for us hounds. Still, I felt obligated to check it out, and to see if I might get some of the party-goers to let me sample some of it.

Just look at all that yummy food!

Can I have some, pretty please?

Alas, no one wanted to share their food.

But Uncle Mike showed up!

And here’s Carol and Marii, too!

I, of course, made myself at home with everyone.

I even got to sniff the birthday girl’s toes.

One really interesting thing that happened is that the party invitations didn’t say anything about there being lots of big dogs at the party, and some of the people who came were scared of big dogs. But as soon as they saw how nice and well behaved all of us were, they didn’t have any trouble at all being with us. They even complimented us on being so good and mellow and non-scary.

Since Aunt Julia knows how much I like paper that makes nice crinkling sounds, she gave me a piece while she was unwrapping her presents. What fun!

Later in the afternoon, after the weather cooled down a bit, some of the people and hounds went into the back yard where I decided to show everybody how happy I was by running around and around.

Me and Peaches

Me standing in the pool.

Belly rub from Marii. Yay!

TIme to start running around!

SPLASH! through the pool.

Whee! Out of the pool.

Around the lawn

Back toward the pool

Back into the pool

And back out

Another lap around the lawn

Into the pool yet again

And back out

Look out! Wet Borzoi coming through!

And that pretty much did me in. I spent the rest of the party lounging around, but it sure was a lot of fun! Maybe next year Mom will have a big party for ME at our house.

BTW, in case I didn’t say it then:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT JULIA!!!!

Until next time,
–Sergei

In Memory of Raven

Sergei — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:42:20 +0000

My friend and packmate, Raven, went to the Rainbow Bridge today. As you may have read in my post The Greys of Our Lives (in which I introduced my pack), Raven was diagnosed with bone cancer right before Mom and Dad adopted me. He had the affected leg amputated in early November 2007 and received chemotherapy, but his cancer returned recently.

I only knew Raven for about six months, but Mom has lots of pictures and stories about him from when she and Dad adopted him in March 2002. Here is one of the very first pictures they took of him:

Raven - March 2002

Raven doing one of his favorite tricks. If you told him to “hide,” he
would cover his eyes like this. It was a trick he did right up to the
end, even though he only had one front leg to “hide” with.

An early picture of Raven being a silly upside-down hound.

Raven and Aunt Carol at the 2002 San Diego Renaissance Faire.

Raven eating corn on the cob at the 2003 Arizona Renaissance Festival.

Raven and Cooper “sharing” a bed.

Love for Raven at the 2003 San Diego Renaissance Faire.

Raven loved to sing (or “roo,” as it’s called around here).

Lots of things would get Raven rooing - other dogs singing, coyotes howling, a song played in the second octave of a D pennywhistle - but the one thing that was absolutely guaranteed to make him start rooing was the theme song to Stargate: SG-1. He loved that song and would begin to sing any time he heard it.

Raven and Tag at the 2004 Doña Ana Arts Council
Renaissance Craftfaire.

Raven also loved to chase the lure in the hunting demonstrations
at Renaissance faires. These pictures were taken at the
2005 Devonshire Renaissance Faire. Look at him go!

A flying catch!

Got it again.

After running in the demo, Raven loved to go out and
work the crowd wearing a “Donation Dog” blanket.

Peaches using Raven as a pillow at the 2006 Las Vegas
Renaissance Festival.

Raven using Fox as a pillow at the 2006 Las Vegas
Renaissance Festival.

Raven and friend at the 2006 Doña Ana Arts Council
Renaissance ArtsFaire.

Raven’s #1 fan, Aunt Julia, visits him soon after his
amputation surgery in November 2007.

Silly Raven tongue antics.

Raven and Jack playing. Having only three legs didn’t stop Raven
from running around and having fun.

Me, Raven, and Jack wait for Mom to hand out treats.

Aunt Julia and Raven at the 2008 Arizona Renaissance Festival.

Raven and friend at the 2008 Arizona
Renaissance Festival.

Aunt Carol spends some quality time with Raven during his last days.

***********************

RAVEN
May 16, 1998 to June 8, 2008