VISITORS FROM AFAR

The day is finally here, I have been waiting so long!!!  Today I get to meet my Granny and Grandad from Scotland!!!  The Nice Lady told me they are coming in on a tiny little airplane this morning and bringing lots of belly rubs and back scratches with them, enough for me, Mo, and even Morrigan.  I can't wait!  I am wiggling from nose to tail with excitement.


I am already planning to show them how fast I can chase my orange ball and how I can snatch my tennis ball from midair.  I have been working hard on my "play dead" trick too.  I can sense the excitement in the house that always comes with visitors.  Mo got a bath last night, The Nice Lady says she "smells like flowers."  She even put silly pink bows in her ears (I don't get that, but whatever, as long as she doesn't try to do the same to ME!)  

My favorite babysitter, Hannah, even came yesterday to play and clean the house a little bit.  It was Mo's first time meeting Hannah too.  Mo is real friendly, just like me, so meeting new people is fun.  Especially when treats are involved.  Speaking of which, do you suppose Grandad likes bacon?  If so, I'll share mine with him.


Well I need to catch a nap before they get here so I am all ready to show off.  I sure hope they love me the way I already love them!  Wish me luck!


Love,
Merlyn

TREATS TO DROOL FOR

Every dog has their own favorite treats.  For some it's cheese.  I happen to like cheese just fine on the way down, it's the second taste of it that doesn't sit so well with me.  And trust me, I taste it twice every time, so The Nice People tend to shortchange me in the cheese department.

Other dogs love chicken.  I'm not a huge chicken fan either, it's a little on the dry side for my liking.  I'd much rather be chasing a chicken than eating one.

Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

1.  Bacon.  I LOVE bacon.  Even the butcher knows when The Nice People order steaks that they don't need to bother wrapping them in bacon, the bacon just goes in with the steaks and gets cooked for me.  I can smell bacon a mile away, and once I smell it I can't keep from pacing, whining, drooling, and generally making a pest of myself until it winds up in my bowl.  When I'm done, my bowl is shinier than the day The Nice People bought it.  Lip smackin' good!

2.  Tuna.  Not the kind The Nice Man grills, but the kind that comes out of the can.  When I hear the can opener twisting I just know that I'm going to get to lick the can of it's leftovers.  The Nice Lady hates the smell of tuna and always can tell when I've had some.  At least she doesn't give me a bath every time, I'm not sure it would be worth it.

3.  Shortbread.  Oh my goodness, break out the Walkers stuff in the little plaid packages and I am a puddle at your feet.  I hear that plastic wrapper scrunching and I come running from the far corners of the house to sit pretty at The Nice Man's feet.  Even though he complains I know it's really that he loves shortbread as much as me and hates parting with it.  But to his credit, he always shares, even if it's just the crumbs.  He's an ole softy.

I hope your family keeps the pantry stocked with all of your favorite treats too!

Love,

Merlyn

A Teaching Exercise

The beautiful weather continues here in Iowa.  Of course anything would feel better than what the whole month of July had in store for us with the high humidity and sweltering heat.  The best thing about cooler days and nights is that I often get TWO walks each day instead of just one.  On the evening walks The Nice Lady often comes with us, I just happily trot along while The Nice People chat softly in the twilight.  

Well last night there was a big change in the form of a small, furry, black and white body:  Mo got to go for a walk too!  She had never been on a long walk before and I was dubious that it would go well.  When she first came to live with us she hated the leash and would bite at it and pull on it or just sit down stubbornly and refuse to move.  She's had a little more practice since then because Sam and The Nice Lady walk her half a block to the post office most days.  She even got her picture taken there by the UPS man one day so he could show his girlfriend how cute she was.  I guess that was her 15 minutes of fame.

Much to my surprise, and The Nice People's too, Mo was a trooper!  She didn't pull on the leash, she walked right alongside of me, keeping up with me, and walked the whole way without needing to be carried.  For every one of my steps she has to take about 4 since her little legs are so short but in true Havanese fashion she just bounced along like she'd been walking on a leash all her life.  The Nice Lady kept commenting on how pleasant it was to walk with us and even gave me credit for teaching Mo how to walk so nicely.  I felt very proud of myself and of Mo!

When we got home Mo crawled into the bed in her pen to rest and I jumped up onto The Nice Man's lap, baby style on my back.  I may have fallen asleep for just a minute, but I was awake enough to hear The Nice Man say that this pose was pathetic even for me.  I just kept my eyes shut and pretended not to hear him, but I was thinking he must like pathetic because he snuggled me a little closer and sighed his happy sigh that he saves for only when he feels like all is right with our family.  It was a very nice way to end the day.  

Love,
Merlyn

Welcome Home

Last night The Nice Lady opened the front door just after dark and let Mo and I out onto the big front porch to patrol the neighborhood.  I take this job very seriously.  You never know when a rabbit will sneak into the yard to nibble our pretty plants, or when someone might walk on the sidewalk in front of our house and need to be announced.  I pace from left to right against the railing checking things out, reporting back to The Nice Lady for an occasional pat on the head or belly rub for doing such a good job.


Suddenly, my ears pricked up high and I raced to the side of the porch by the driveway and began to whine loudly to get The Nice Lady's attention...The Nice Man was coming!!  I could hear his car from a block away (my gorgeous ears are super tuned to anything related to The Nice Man).  By the time he pulled into the driveway I was in full HAPPY MODE, tail wagging, barking, and jumping at the front door to be let in (how disappointed The Nice Man would be if I wasn't at the back door to greet him when he came inside!)  The Nice Lady understands how important this ritual is so she let me in right away and I raced to the back door and began to howl, letting him know I was waiting for him.


And just like always, The Nice Man came inside, knelt down on one knee and scratched me behind the ears good and proper; he doesn't even put his bag down first.  He is as happy to see me as I am to see him!  He eventually gives a little belly rub to Mo too, but I'm first cos I'm his best buddy.  I like that he counts on me to welcome him home every day, it makes me feel important and loved.  I hope your Nice People are as happy to see you at the end of a hard day at work as mine are.


Love,
Merlyn

Hooray!

This past weekend started off like any other; a few walks, chasing my tennis ball, running from Mo, laying on the tile floor to stay cool, nothing special.  UNTIL I went outside last night after dinner, and what do I see???  A brand new doggie pen, built just for me!!!  It has pretty black fencing and two fancy gates, lots of grass to lay on so it tickles my belly, a sidewalk to walk on when the grass gets too wet, and best of all there is plenty of room to chase my beautiful orange ball.  The Nice People worked on it all afternoon yesterday in the hot sun, just to make me happy.  They know how I love to lay in the grass, dig a little, play ball and soak up the sun's rays while the summer breeze blows through my golden fur.  I am so lucky to have a Nice Family.

Last night, even though she was tired from working on my pen, the Nice Lady practiced some new tricks with me and Mo.  I am working on "Play Dead", and "Give Kisses".  Mo needs to work on not stealing my treats.  The Nice Lady also tried to teach me something called "Spin", but I outsmarted her by figuring out if I just sit still she eventually gives me the treat anyways.  Mo, on the other hand, turns around in a big silly circle when The Nice Lady says "Spin", as if turning a circle is going to impress anyone...

I hope you all had a nice weekend like we did.  Don't work too hard this week, and remember to show your nice family how much you love and appreciate them for taking good care of you.

Love,
Merlyn

PLAY BALL!!!

Want to know what makes me happy?  I mean, tail-wagging, butt-wriggling, pitter-patter-heart-beating-really-fast happy???  Playing B A L L !  There is NOTHING I don't LOVE about playing BALL!!  

Inside, I have this tennis ball that Stella helped me chew all the yellow fuzz off of (The Nice Lady was SO impressed).  The Big House is open floor plan so I can chase that ball all the way from the front door to the back door without anything slowing me down.  I can do this really fast too, even though I have to go up and down some stairs (which I've gotten very good at).

Outside, ohhhhhh booyyyyy, this is my favorite part, OUTSIDE I have this lovely ORANGE SOCCER BALL that is deflated just enough that I can grab it on the run, or pluck it out of the air on the bounce.  I can dribble it with my nose and even The Nice Man has a tough time getting the ball off of me and he is a soccer champ!  I don't mean to brag, but I'm tellin' ya, I am REALLY GOOD with that ball!  I have other balls outside but this one is my FAVORITE, CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT, ball.  In the Small House I had a pen in the backyard just for ball chasing, I could do it for hours before collapsing in a panting heap happy as Larry.  At the Big House I don't have a pen, yet, but The Nice Man promises me that I will have one, and it will be wonderful, maybe even with a tunnel system and lots of room to dig to Scotland (my granny and grandad live there.)

So I hope this hot Iowa weather lets up soon so The Nice People can get my pen built and I can get back to chasing my orange ball.  I hope you are all blessed with that one special toy that you love more than all the rest.  Isn't being a dog great?

Love,
Merlyn

Puppy Pranks

Now that Mo is settling in, I am starting to see little glimpses of my puppy self in her and can only ask, "What were The Nice People thinking?!?!?!"  Although I was six months old when I came to live with them, I still had plenty of puppy power in me to give their patience a run for their money.  Let's take a walkie down memory lane....

I happen to have a cute mouth with a slight underbite that gives me the appearance of smiling when I look at you.  My mouth is full of healthy pearly whites that I have honed to perfect sharpness through countless hours of chewing.  On everything.  I mean EVERYTHING.  Examples, you say?  How about shoes, shoestrings, The Nice Man's jacket (hung on a chair), Sam's Celtic shirt (left on the couch), a dining room chair (the lattice back of it, not the legs), the wooden ironing board cabinet (even after repainting), kitchen cabinets (originals and their replacements), wall trim, and last, but not least, The Nice Lady's newly refinished 1920's wicker rocking chair (this one was almost the end of my stay with The Nice People).  Luckily, The Nice Man is an incredibly good tantrum thrower the likes of which have never been seen before or since.  It was after that incident that I realized that all of those items put together didn't taste so wonderful that it would be worth losing my place in The Nice Family, so I changed my chewing ways.  

Now I restrict my chewing to The Nice Man's ABC gum (when he leaves it for me to find in the yard), rawhides or flossies, food (including the occasional ice cream cone), and treats (preferably the soft chewy kind).

As I hear The Nice People say for the umpteenth time "No Bite, Mo!" I find myself hoping that she catches on quickly that they are not chewtoys and neither are their nice things.  I might have to have a muzzle to muzzle chat with her the next time I see her proudly carrying The Nice Lady's flip flop through the living room.  Big brothers gotta look out for their little sisters, don't they?  Here's hoping that your Nice People surprise you with a yummy flossie as a reward for good chewing behavior real soon.


Love,
Merlyn

Feelin' Like A New Dog

Wow, Iowa is H O T !  It's almost hot enough to make me want to go for a swim....I said ALMOST!  So I guess The Nice Lady meant it when she said I needed a bath because yesterday turned into an "all about me" spa day.  I was brushed, trimmed, shaved, bathed, brushed again and I gotta say, I'm pretty happy with the results.  What do you think?

Usually I really hate being trimmed.  I don't like the tickle of the clippers or the sharp pointy scissors coming straight towards my eyeballs.  But this time The Nice Lady snuggled me the whole time and whispered her special words to me and before I knew it we were all done!  And the best part is I get to show off my new physique.  All that walking The Nice Man and I have been doing, along with playing ball in our new big house has me all trim and fit.  The Nice Lady tells me I am handsome, and for that I give her lots of kisses.  Now I have less hair for Mo to hitch a ride on too!  I guess spa day wasn't so traumatic after all. 

Love,
Merlyn

Looks Like She's Here To Stay

My baby sister, Mo, arrived, all squirming, wiggling, nipping 3 pounds of her about 3 weeks ago.  She's a Havanese (kinda rhymes with Hafta Sneeze), aka a Havana Silk Dog, from Cuba.  I told myself we were just puppy sitting, that if I was patient she'd just go away.  But between you and me, it looks like she's here to stay.

Her bed is now upstairs right next to The Nice Lady's (mine is still in the kitchen).  She gets fed twice a day (I only get fed once).  She has all kinds of cool new toys (I got a new rawhide that I can only have when Mo is in her pen cos she gets sick when she chews on it).  She got a new wardrobe (I was told I needed a bath).  Honestly, I'm feeling a little jealous.


But I'm also discovering that being a big brother isn't all that bad.  She follows me everywhere so if I do something I'm not supposed to, chances are she will get blamed for it (teehee).  She likes to run like me, so we race up and down the stairs a lot.  I taught her where the water bowl is and sometimes I share my ice cubes with her.  I'm showing her how to play ball, and that if you keep bringing it back to The Nice People they will keep throwing it for you (a little pathetic whining to remind them it is their turn never hurts).  I demonstrate "Sit", "Stay", "Dance", and "Shake" for her in exchange for extra treats.  And thankfully, when I'm all played out and she's still Energizer Bunny charged, I jump up on the furniture, where she can't get me, and take a nice little snooze.  


The Nice Lady says Mo will outgrow this puppy stage (good cos I'm not sure I'll have much fur left if she keeps hanging from it when I walk), and that someday she won't be so little and I can rough house with her a little more.  In the meantime I will just have to be patient and content with the little things, like Mo leaving a few pieces of kibble in her bowl for me to find.  I accept her peace offering and look forward to teaching her how to love The Nice People the way that I do.


To all you big brothers and sisters out there, hang in there.  I think it gets better, so let's find out together.


Love,
Merlyn

My BFF

I heard The Nice Man say once that if the animal shelter ever had a Cairn Terrier that he wouldn't be able to leave it there, that he would have to bring it home.  I also saw The Nice Lady roll her eyes at him when he said it and figured that was the end of THAT.  Imagine my surprise when The Nice LADY showed up one cold November day with a 6 month old Cairn/Jack Russell mix puppy!  

I was instructed to be nice to her (but of course, I am a gentleman after all) and we were put to stare at each other through jail bars (a.k.a. a baby gate).  Morrigan came to sit beside me and told me I was meeting my replacement (she's mean like that).  Soon the new puppy came to lay against the jail bars right opposite of me and that's when I knew we would be best friends.  The Nice Lady named her Stella Bean and we had many adventures in our short time together.  I taught her to play ball and she taught me how to open doors.  I taught her how to make the back of the couch nice and squishy for naps and she taught me how to bark at EVERYTHING.  I taught her that not all humans are bad and she taught me that some humans are very bad.  The people she lived with before the shelter had been mean to her, and had left her in the snow to starve and freeze.

Stella grew to love life with the Nice People and me, she even liked Morrigan although I can't say the feeling was mutual (Morrie didn't like the way Stella thought kitties looked best from behind with their tail streaking out behind them just out of her reach).  But one thing Stella could not overcome was her fear of everyone else.  She would shake and tremble, bark and snarl, and in general not act very lady like at all.  This scared the Nice People and me too, especially when she got in trouble for biting our grandma.  Poor Stella, she only wanted to protect the Nice People who had taken her in and made her happy.

The Nice Lady told me that Stella had to go to the Doggy Peaceful Place but that she would always be my BFF and would watch over all of us from that place where she no longer felt afraid.  That made me happy but I still miss our adventures.  We think of her every day at dinner and miss the way she would turn in circles while The Nice Lady got our bowls ready.  Wherever she is, I hope that she has lots of rawhides (her favorite toy) and tons of treats (she loved them more than I do).  If you have lost a doggy friend, I hope that they get to meet Stella in the Doggy Peaceful Place so that she isn't lonely.  I am sure they will love her!  She plays a mean game of "fetch the ball," sometimes she even lets you win.


Love,
Merlyn

A Man And His Dog

There is something really special about the relationship between a man and his dog.  Take The Nice Man and I for instance. Rain or shine, 100 degree heat or below freezing, he makes sure I get my morning walk.  He knows which telephone poles are mine and lets me stop and check my messages.  He takes me by my friend Baxter's house to see if he is outside chasing his red bucket or howling at any motorbikes.  He stops at Lil Blonde Girl's house so she can scratch my ears and give me hugs and kisses.  He carries a Sponge Bob Square Pants bottle with cold water just for me because all of this walking and socializing makes a dog VERY thirsty.  

When I walk with The Nice Man I hold my ears and my tail up as high as they will go to show the world how proud I am to be his buddy, and you know what?  I think if The Nice Man had a tail and gorgeous furry ears like me, he would hold them up nice and high as well so everyone could see how proud he was to be with me.  I love The Nice Man more than treats, and that's saying something because I REALLY LOVE TREATS!  Especially the soft liver kind that he's been giving me lately.  

Until next time, here's hoping that you all have found a Nice Man like mine. If you have, don't forget to hold up your tail and ears and to be generous with your kisses.  If you haven't, hang in there, the right one will come along for you, and if he doesn't, I will share mine with you until he does.  Just don't ask me to share my treats!

Love,
Merlyn

Introduction

Hello, my name is Merlyn.  Thanks for visiting my new blog.  I'll start by telling you a little about myself.

As you can see, I am a Cairn Terrier, a breed originating in Scotland and bred to extract small, furry things from underground for our masters.  You may recognize one of my ancestors, Terry, who played the role of Toto in The Wizard of Oz.  I've been told we Cairns have winning smiles, do you agree?

My family saved me from a home with a mean ole crotchety teacup poodle whose master was convinced would meet her end through my youthful exuberance.  So now my home is with The Nice Man, The Nice Lady, and The Nice Boy, Sam.  When I first came home with them they introduced me to a small furry thing I had never encountered before:  a CAT!  Her name is Morrigan, and she seems to be happiest when left completely alone.  Over time we came to an understanding of coexistence, but every once in a while (like every chance I get) I cheat and eat the food out of her bowl.  What?  I'm a dog, not an idiot!

Over time we have had others join our little family, but I will save their introductions for next time.  In the meantime, may you have more belly rubs than itchy scratches and may your treat jar be overflowing with yummy goodies.


Love,
Merlyn