The year started off badly with Monty's unexpected death. I really missed my big boy. I hadn't realized what a help he was to me in keeping things peaceful in a house full of lively dogs. This was something you would never have see when Monty was on duty.
Portuguese Water Dogs are notorious counter surfers. Many dogs will check for goodies left unattended, but PWDs seem to have perfected the art. They can be very sneaky and take one item without disturbing anything else on the plate.
This was the first piece I bought from the talented Michelle Toland. I quickly realized that she had captured the personality of the breed in her work and I became a big fan.
As the muddy spring went on, we celebrated Fudge's birthday without a visit from the Good Dog Fairy. Then we had to deal with a root canal on Sky.
Samba turned seven in March and in April there was a tremendous increase in interest in PWDs, when the Obama's welcomed Bo to the White House. We had a lot of e-mails and phone calls, but the furor finally died down and we got back to normal. Bo has brought a few changes to our lives. Now when we go out in public, people recognize the dogs as PWDs and ask lots of questions. We've also found many more written articles mentioning the breed and more breed specific items in the stores.
Once the weather warmed up and the grass turned green we played some baseball. Fudge wore the cap with the big P for Portugal.
Bailey was our pitcher and Morgan took lots of turns at bat.
On June 10th we celebrated the first annual Bandana Day. We invited our friends to send us their pictures wearing a blue bandana or anything blue and we had over seventy dogs and cats join us. It was a lot of fun.
When summer arrived we started our trips to the lake. Decked in bright orange life jackets, everyone got a chance to swim. The reviews were mixed. Sky liked the water as long as he could touch bottom. Tess and Norma Jean liked it as long as we were in the water with them. Lola and Noah both enjoyed swimming but wouldn't retrieve any items. Fudge enjoyed it and would retrieve a little.
Bailey was her usual curious self and wanted to go into the woods to look for rabbits. Samba took to the water as if she'd been born in it. It was as nautral as walking for her and the big surprise was Morgan. She became our star swimmer and she and Samba were in quite a competition to retrieve anything we threw.
Summer brought some other good things, too. The pack discovered watermelon.
This turned into one of our favorite treats. Icy cold watermelon on a hot day really hits the spot. Even Tsar, who wouldn't stick his head in the pink dish, found that he enjoyed watermelon.
Then summer was over and it was football season.
Surprisingly, Morgan turned out to be a fierce football player. Even the younger, stronger dogs couldn't keep up with her.
October was full of activities. One of the biggest ones was when Fudge and I earned our first title in Rally.
We'd been working on this for two years and this time we did it.
On October 26th there was a big celebration when the pups turned three years old. We had pumpkin muffins and everyone had a very good time.
The scary Mr Punk Man visited at the end of the month. He just appeared one day and the dogs were all very curious about him. Then a few days later he was gone.
November started with birthdays for Morgan and Tsar, but things took a bad turn when Samba became very sick. Samba is doing well at the present time. She can open her mouth all the way and can even catch her ball. She's trying to gain back some of the weight she lost and we hope she starts growing back some of the hair that fell out.
One very sad note, another PWD named Digby, who was also suffering with the same disease as Samba, didn't make it. His Mom reported to me that he died on December 27 just before his second birthday. As you can imagine, the news upset me a lot and a good friend helped me put it in perspective.
December came and brought Christmas.
The dogs got lots of new toys and treats. Rob and I also got some new toys and treats.
This is one of our gifts from some good friends. Isn't this neat. It's a real street sign and we're going to hang it on the fence.
I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't as productive in 2009 as I would have liked, but I wasn't a complete slug. I knit the stacking cats for my niece and I made a few other gifts. Now that they're all safely in the hands of the recipients, I can show some of them.
I did several cross stitch pieces that I made into pillows.
I also knit a bunny for a friend. I liked the way she turned out.
So, now we're on to 2010. I went back and looked at the resolutions I made last year and my record is only so so. A couple I stuck to, a couple I sort of half accomplished and some I didn't even attempt. Instead of dwelling on them or making more that I won't do, I've decided to resolve the following: In 2010 I will try to enjoy life more.
Now there's a resolution I can get into. Happy New Year everyone. We hope that this year is one of the best ever, for everyone. Come back and visit with us for more silly adventures
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