flowers

it is the year 2012. 

twenty twelve.

 twelve.

however you choose to look at it 

make sure you stop to smell it. 

the flowers it brings you, that is. 

and if you really like it, 

you can eat it. 

down. stay.

no matter what you do in life, you must always maintain respect. 

Christmas Spirit

merry christmas!

look for reindeer in the sky tonight. 

i don't know about you, but i am going to share my carrots with them.

fa la la la laaaaaaaa!

(p.s. up and running again, so stay tuned)

ummm, nope.

tsk.tsk.tsk.

seriously. if you are looking for a new job in this economic climate of crisis...well...i challenge you to invent any dog toy, really - any. dog. toy. to top this. dog. toy. people - who would really want to chew on a prophylactic? much less one who appears to be begging, no pleading for it's life...

do it. 

do! 

it!

now!

make your mark.

make some money...

hunny.

if this thing can cost 7 euro - well, then - anything goes. 

fa la la la la!

 hello.

we have just put up christmas.

without too much of a fight.

put-a-cork-in-it!

sometimes it gets noisy 'round here. very noisy. sometimes you just want to tell someone to put a cork in it. and that's ok. 

zeus demonstrates how easy it can be.

"L" is for Layla

it's september and it is back to school time on this side of the world. christina comes home smelling of children, pencils, markers, laughter, excitement, discussion, hopes, fears, dreams, doubts and certainties...the energy is intense and it's all gooood.

this also means that i must wait at home until she returns. often times people ask her if it's fair to have a dog cooped up in an apartment. truth be told, i sleep, mostly, when she is away. sometimes i wrestle with mojo, but mostly i dream of good times past and good times to come.

i look forward to my morning walks. 30 minutes, down to the park and up and around. see the usual suspects, smell the usual smells...sometimes the unusual ones as well.

afternoon walks border on an hour plus. we map out the neighborhood and visit our usual favorite haunts. sometimes we go shopping and run the mundane errands, which are never mundane to me. we are out and about. one. together.

i love the life of a city dog. but perhaps like christina loves living here as long as she can skip out of town and/or country every now and again, so do i love visiting the country and my country kin.

night walks are short but sweet. but always there.

afternoons might entail hanging outside or inside the local "pub". weekends definitely bring social gathering and visits with human friends...

if you do it right, you too can adopt a dog and let them enjoy their life with you...even if you have to work some of the time.

big paws to fill

this is phoenix. named in honor of tula. he has big paws to fill, but a heart that's in the right place. he enjoys sitting in my spot. it's ok, i don't mind sharing. he doesn't take up too much space. it's all good. 

although we adore him, he is up for adoption - looking for a forever home...

there's somethin' happenin' here...

do you ever get a song stuck in your head, chorus playing over and over? i'm sure it's not just a canine thing. i have a song. it's about all these pups we are fostering. i know that some of the lyrics aren't pertinent, but the song works because something is happening here..

almost a star - video link

here it is - available to all on youtube! this is the video i was almost a star in! check it out, out!

Rescued Pups

one of my humans rescued these pups from the 

garbage bin.

their beginning 

in life

is just like 

Tula's

was.

we are looking for homes.

great homes. 

homes like mine, 

where the humans care.

i like these pups. 

we will keep 

a 

couple.

almost a star

the other day i was so close to stardom i could literally smell it. 
no, reallly - i was on set and i could smell it. 
                                                                                feel it. 
                                                                                            see it. 
                                                                                                       hear it. 

as soon as i knew that my human uncle thought i should be in the new video he was working on for our friend's band -trifono - i ran and put on my costume...

the devil horns were an instant hit. 

on set everyone was so friendly and i was a welcomed surprise. 

lots of commotion. lots of action. lots of distraction. 

too bad that as on all shoots, they were running behind schedule and so,

                                                                                                                                                                                                               alas,

my cameo debut only made it as far as the personal handheld "flip" video footage of behind the scenes. regardelss, i still felt like a star. that, i can hold onto...

a dog's best friend...

best friends are hard to come by. spike is it. he is with tula now, but i really miss him.

i am on the hunt for a new best friend. 

one who gets me right away. 

one who can rough and tumble with me 

or chill on a hill with me. 

spike was an old soul. one of those wise and easy going characters who could get along with anyone. 

i want to say he wouldn't hurt a fly, but that would actually be a lie! 

he would chomp down on anything with insect wings...bees, wasps, bumble bees - 

he was a dare devil on that level. 

occasionally i try it out... 

ouch!

talk to the paw

noseprint. that is what it is. each dog is distinguished from another, amongst many things, from it's noseprint.

this is ollie. as i have said, this is ollie and he is the grand alpha of my canine pack.

rescued one dark and rainy afternoon from a posh neighborhood square by christina, of course.

he is our eldest, now that tula is gone. he runs the pack like a male lion. king. alpha. he is of little words and large, grandiose, yet subtle gesture. it leaves an imprint. i, luckily, have escaped any reprimand from him...i attribute that to tula and spike's warnings, but also to my keen senses.


but mostly ollie is the "talk to the paw" sort of dog.

how green is your carbon paw print?

seriously. my poop always gets scooped. i mean, it's a given, no? 

but then we came across this sign which even i could read. christina, my human, just had to take a picture. it's the first sign she has ever seen like this in our country. and that's when i realized...it's the law, and she was collecting evidence of that law.

i poop. she scoops. even though there are plenty of little garbage bins throughout the park at a seated human's level, we always drop-off in bins located outside the park. we are polite like that. 

in the past, tula and christina have had to defend themselves against lame people who would blame her for all the poop on the streets. they would often get in heated arguments where christina would have to literally wield all her poop bags (empty sandwich bags) over her head for people to get the picture. even then, though, they thought she was just doing it for show. thought she would only pick up if she were being watched. weird. 

once tula heard her address an ignoramus human, offering to run dna tests on all the poop on the block in order to prove that her dog didn't do it. tula had a good chuckle. turns out that in germany, humans might even be offered a reward based on forensic poop analysis. the reward would be a dog food voucher or even a doggie toy. cool!

or there was the time when tula said christina was as cool as a cucumber when she told an older man that she would most certainly not remove her dog from what appeared to be the man's cat-litter strewn front sidewalk and that she would pick up the poop. no, not with her hand, but with the baggie she was waving at him over her head. and that yes, he could call the cops if he cared to!

and then of course the time where she was fed up with being accused of not picking up and scared a widowed old lady into backing down (and away) from her as christina forcefully stated that the lady could also go have a very nice day! echo, echo, echo...

but i was there when tula and i got the death threat from the stinker in the blue car. our poop had literally hit the pavement and within seconds christina had bagged it in front of the wimp who waited to address her from the safety of his car. "you like animals, eh?" um, yes? "well keep them off my road!" but i pick up sir.  this time, she held the full sandwich bag up and in front for clear inspection. "pick up! no you don't! i see you up and down this street one hundred times a day! if you ever bring your dogs back i will kill them!" 

it took christina all her willpower to not throw the bag of poop at the man's car. 

we took down his license plate number and reported him to the police. but if they can't even enforce a dog poop law, you guessed it, they can't even record a threat on our lives. 

seriously, humans. pick. up. after. us. because if we could, we would.

                                                        

city vs. country

i'm a little bit country. yes. i'm a little bit rock n' roll.

and there you have it. back in the city since easter festivities and i just love it. home is home and home is here, be it city or country.

humans often and mistakenly assume that dogs only love the country. only love the great outdoors. only love to be on the loose. free. but thats is all a matter of perspective. i could be one of those dogs in the country, under the great wide blue sky and starry night, forever tied to a 6 foot long chain. free? you decide. or i could be packless, running around trying to survive in this dog-eat-dog world. and the list of circumstances goes on...

it does not matter where a dog is. what matters is who that dog is with.

i have my pack. it runs 5 deep. tula, mojo, ollie, spike, moose and cookie. and my human posse runs even deeper. my main girl, though, my human, she takes me places. we do pretty much everything together.

i have the best of both worlds. when i am not in the country, i am in the city. i am an apartment dog and i love it. since returning, all my usual haunts are much the same.

park - check. pee mile - check. cat alley - check. poop row - check.

can you guess which collar i wear where? 

lemons

what. is. this. place!? 

this is a great spot. for me to... pose. 

and this is another reason why i love to go out. 

explore.

remember to take your companions places. 

we love it

and we love you.

and when life sprouts lemons...

make lemonade.

long live the volta!

my spots

this spot is the spot where i sit and spot.











my views are of the forest, the road, the sea and the horizon.
i park it and can spot for hours. 
i listen. i smell. i gaze. i meditate.

i love it here.

and even here.










i sit in the present.
remember to pause your paws daily and spot.

(in memory of pack members who are resting their paws)

"layla hatches the egg"

woke up this morning and excitement permeated the air. squealing as i flew out the door, i could barely contain myself. i flew past my spot on the mountain, opting for the highest point i know and announced loudly to all near and far in what humans refer to as barking. "can you hear me? we are having a party! can you hear me? we are having a party! can you hear me? we are having a party! can you hear me? we are having a party! can you hear me? we are having a party! can you hear me? we are having a party! ca-" interrupted by the silencing call of my name.

and then came the egg. i'm gonna keep it. i'm gonna love it. i'm gonna play with it. i'm gonna hatch it. what a cute little egg! my gift today. 

easter sans tula

there have been a lot of "firsts" since the era of tula.

this year, right now, it's the first easter. which means i was invited to church.

up the stairs. turn to look for my human. down the stairs. heel. stay at the door. feet hobble past. legs. 34. dark inside and out. echoes in the church. laughter. singing. light. color. everything a-blaze.

i am with my human. i am home.

tula, i am filling your paws.

xristos anesti as they say.

peace.