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Papa Wes stayed home from work today to take care of me. He took me back to the V.E.T., and I made lots of new friends. I may be under the weather but my personality still draws people to me, so I couldn’t disappoint any of them. Wes said I worked the crowd in the waiting room at Veterinary Referrals of Hickory like a politician. I even managed to get my snout up a woman’s shirt. Wes got blamed for that one. Sorry for embarrassing you man. I also planted a kiss on the doggie nurse who took me back for my workup. They drew blood again and gave me a shot and sent me home with a bunch of pills. They think I have ammonia (or is it anemia?), have eaten too many bones (or have some kind of bone marrow problem?) and/or I’ve got the Arthur (or is it arthritis?).The doc has been using really big words and my attention deficient disorder kicked in. Wes and I make a good team when our ADD kicks in at the same time. I’ve had it pretty ruff the last few days but there were doggies at the V.E.T. that have it worse than me. One poor feller had a cast on his leg because his person sat on him. Then one guy was having such a bad day he snapped at me. After I sniffed out all of the exam room doors and a cat in a baby carrier, Wes paid the bill, (we won’t mention how much it was) and he drove me back home. I got to see my little sis Lexie and we took a walk down the street toward Barney and Opie’s house. Since then I’ve just been chillin’ in the kitchen trying to say hydrated. I’m not one to beg, but if you could, say a prayer for me that I get well soon.

Sweet Fall Tweets

We had fall photos taken today. Of the three dogs, I think you'll agree that I'm the most photogenic. Also of the three, Duchess hates the camera in her face more the Lexie and I.

BTW: You can now follow me on Twitter @ShuffDog.

Students pen story about dog

Sounds like Cheryl met some cool kids on her visit to Oak Hill Elementary School today. And smart, too. Here’s a few photos of them and a story they wrote about a great subject: Me.

Baxter, a 10-year-old golden retriever, goes on a walk in the afternoon to the park because he wanted to get more energy. Baxter walked without his leash. While on his walk, Baxter met his sisters and played with them. After his walk Baxter decided to take a nap.

Visiting the Bulldogs

My person Cheryl is speaking on my behalf today to 72 first graders at Oak Hill Elementary School (go Bulldogs!) I would love to be there myself, but could not clear my appointment calendar to squeeze in the visit. I did, however, prepare a Power Point presentation for Cheryl to share with the kidos. I wish her well. Between you and me, she’s a much better writer than she is a public speaker. Can’t wait to get a report back from her on how it went. I did send along my camera, so hopefully I’ll have photos to post later.

Happy early birthday Alison

The people had Alison's 16th birthday party up at Nana and Pawpaw's this weekend. It was a bonfire/marshmallow/weenie roast/swimming/camping party. I told them they were crazy for mixing water, fire and teenagers. Maybe I was just a bit bitter that Lexie and I were left off the guest list. The excuse was there's a mama bear and 2 cubs loose up near Table Rock and they might eat us. Good point. Despite our absence, all seemed to go well, except for the people being dog tired after it was all over and poor Duchess almost getting hypothermia. Wes, Cheryl, Alison, 2 of her friends and Duchess stayed overnight in a tent. Though the people packed two SUV loads worth of stuff for the party and camping trip, they forgot Duchess’ sleeping bag. Back to Alison – she officially turns 16 on Friday and since we didn’t get eaten by a bear we will be around to wish her a happy birthday on the actually day. Don't worry about changing your driving patterns on Friday because she got her permit late and can't get her license until April 1. That’s no April fools!

Zipping through the trees

Except for the scales that the V.E.T. lifts me up on when I go for my annual wellness check-up, I have never been very far off the ground. It’s safe to say, though, that I’m a scardy cat when it comes to heights. Apparently Cheryl is not. This past week during her first day of Leadership Burke, she got to fly through the trees at Catawba Meadows Park. It was one of the activities listed under “team building” on the first day’s agenda. The video is of the longest zip starting from only about 50 feet off the ground.

Ruff. Ruff.

A few years ago after Lexie overheard a conversation the people were having, she came to me and said, “Guess what I heard? We are getting a new ruff.”
I questioned her, “A new ruff. What does that mean? Is something wrong with my ruff? Are they replacing it with a new one? Are we getting another dog that goes ‘ruff’?”
She said, “I don’t know, that’s just what I heard.”
One year went by. Two years went by. Almost three years went by, and no one got a new ruff, and we didn’t hear anything else about a new ruff. I actually had almost forgotten about it.
Then at 6:22 a.m. Thursday morning a convoy of work trucks and worker men converged on our front lawn, backed a dump truck up to the side of the house, extended ladders into the early morning sky and hopped up on the house with hammers.
Ruff. Ruff. Ruff, said Lexie.
Ruff. Ruff. Ruff. Ruff, said Duchess.
Ruff. Ruff. Ruff. Ruff, Ruff, said me.
Meanwhile, the people, seemingly oblivious to men on top of our house, stayed in the bed.
“Hello,” I cried under Wes and Cheryl’s bedroom window. “Get out here quick.”
Finally 30 minutes later, we heard Wes rustling around in the kitchen and then a sleepy-eyed Cheryl emerged from inside the house.
“What’s going on, Bax?” she asked.
“You didn’t hear the pitter patter of strange men on the house?” I asked back.
“Everything’s OK, guys, we are just getting a new roof today,” she said.
“A new ruff?” Lexie asked.
“No, a new roof,” Cheryl said.
The light bulb came on in my head faster then it came on in Lexie’s.
“So, did a conversation about a new roof first come up about two and a half years ago?” I asked.
“Something like that,” Cheryl said, “We’ve been putting it off for a few years now and are finally getting around to it.”
She went on to explain that for our safety we needed to be confined to the sunroom while the roofers were working and that if they happened to leave one of the gates open, we were not allowed to run out.
“They are supposed to clean up when they are done,” Cheryl said, “but please don’t eat any shingle pieces they may leave behind.”
While Lexie will put anything in her mouth, I vowed not to get any shingles. It might mess up my ruff.

Perfect little angels

We knew someone important was coming for a visit when the housework commenced.
The carpets got shampooed. The ceilings got dusted. The clutter got gone. And even our sunroom got a sweepen and scrub down.
“Maybe it’s the Pope,” Lexie wondered.
“Maybe it’s the Queen,” Duchess wondered.
“Maybe it’s Cesar Millan finally coming to use his mojo on our dysfunctional pet family,” I wondered.
Turns out all three of us were wrong. But it was still some VIPs.
Cheryl hosted her prayer group from church at our house.
“My guess was the closest,” Lexie bragged.
The prayer people started arriving shortly before 7 Tuesday night.
Wes and Duchess were banished to the back bedroom with strict “NO BARK” instructions from Cheryl.
Lexie and I were allowed to hang out in our room as long as we were “Sweet little angels.” Translation: Don’t bark. Don’t jump on the door. And for heaven’s sake don’t sniff anything you shouldn’t sniff.
The only thing left to do was take a nap, which we did.
After the praying was over the people moved into the dining room to eat, which good Baptists do. As Cheryl served blueberry dump cake (we helped pick the blueberries from our backyard bushes) and lemonade, we continued to be sweet little angels -- it really was too hot to do anything else.
Besides one little peep from Duchess and a pesky fly, that probably only Cheryl noticed, the prayer meeting went smoothly.
After it was over, Cheryl commended us for our behavior and allowed things to return to normal, as will be the case until the next VIP visit.

Am I the only one who wants to have fun tonight?

The people went to see Dierks Bentley in concert on Saturday night at ASU. Here's what I know about Dierks: He sings country music. He has a dog named Jake. And the chicks dig him. The concert was an early birthday present for Cheryl. Judging from the photos, they had pretty good seats. And it looks like there was some tailgating going on before the shindig up on the ridge.

Oh Deer!

Cheryl and Wes were having a deep conversation in the kitchen the other day while she was home for lunch. I was in a deep sleep so I wasn’t paying attention to what they were talking about until I heard, “Quick. Come here.” Cheryl motioned Wes to the kitchen window from wince they spied this creature foraging the garden. “That little …,” Cheryl said, bolting for the drawer where she keeps her camera. Lexie and I started rousing from our noontime slumber due to all of the commotion. “What’s going on?” a sleepy Lexie asked. “I don’t know,” I said. “You stay here, and I’ll do some noising around.” With my ear pressed up against the sliding glass door between our sunroom and the dining room, I heard Cheryl say, “That’s why my tomato plants are broke off at the top.” Looking toward the garden I spotted a doe. “Oops,” I said, realizing because we had been sleeping on the job, there had been a security breech on the property. Technically Lexie and I are only responsible for keeping the fenced-in backyard secure, but we are usually pretty good at running off creatures they stray onto the backside of the property beyond the fence. (We even once treed a raccoon at the corner of the backyard.) Cheryl managed to take a grainy photo of the doe from the bathroom window (which really does need to be cleaned.) As I was pondering an excuse for letting a deer have her way in the garden, I heard the jingle of the side gate as Cheryl opened the latch. Lexie and I bolted out of the sunroom door toward Cheryl, ready to take a tongue-lashing. We made enough noise that the deer ran off as fast as she could. There Cheryl stood with her camera in hand disappointed that she didn’t get a better picture of the intruder. Eureka! An opportunity had presented itself, and I explained to Cheryl that we didn’t run the deer off because we knew she wanted to take a picture of it. Yea. That’s it. I don’t know if she bought it or not and upon further inspection, we couldn’t tell that the deer had done much damage in the garden that day. There is a tomato on one of the vines that is almost ripe for the picking. Lexie and I are putting wagers on who will get to it first. Cheryl or the doe.

Happy trails

The folks just got back from vacationing in Florida and Georgia. They were supposed to go to Orlando on an Army trip, but it was canceled, which meant Lexie and I had the house to ourselves for one less night than expected. Because of the change in the people’s plans, we had to switch up a few of our own plans, including starting our daily block parties with all the cool canines in the hood a day later. The only kink in our plan after the folks packed up the rented minivan and headed for the highway was our Aunt Kerri’s schedule. She took care of us while the folks were gone, and there were a few close calls when she arrived unexpectedly. It was pretty tricky ushering all the party dogs out the back gate and burying the party evidence before Kerri got out of her car, got the door unlocked and began the chore of meeting our food and water needs. Of course when she asked if we’d been good dogs, all she had to do was look into our puppy-dog eyes and see that we had. Since Duchess spent the week at Nana’s she wasn’t around to tattle on us. What happens during our backyard parties always stays in the backyard. As for the people’s trip, sounds like it was a good one. They toured landmarks associated with two of their favorite movies – Ricky Bobby at Daytona Speedway and Forrest Gump in Savannah. Sounds like they ate well, too - fresh seafood, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, sushi, ‘mater sam’iches – and only gained a few pounds. As usually, Cheryl took loads of photos. Wes, like Duchess, says enough is enough once he’s had his pictured taken one too many times, as evident in the huge frown on his face. Maybe one of these days we’ll actually get to go on vacation with them. Until then, we’ll party till the cows come home.

Cool treats

Lexie and I got a special treat on this hot dog day of summer day: ICE CREAM!

Happy B-day America!

"O, say did you see that Yankee doodle doggie born on the 4th of July" was the tune I caught Lexie singing the other day. "Are you sure that's how the song goes?" I asked her. "Of course," she said, "it's my favorite Independence Day ditty." I didn't have the heart to tell her she was running three songs into one and playing loose with the lyrics. We've had a good 4th of July weekend so far. The 8th Annual Red, White and Bluegrass Festival is going on across the river and the pickin' and grinnin' sounds have been wafting our way. The people volunteered to shuttle some festival folks around in golf carts the other night and for their hard work have been able to attend the concerts for free. The weekend also included an annual trip for the people to Boiling Springs for a reunion with Cheryl's college friends. They ate pizza, watched the kids swim and Wes learned a new game called Corn Hole. These ladies haven't aged a bit. Monday it's more 4th fun with a trip to a farm for an old fashion gathering. I just hope everyone skips the fireworks this year. I don't like things that go boom. Happy 4th!

Lake livin'

While I was home recuperating from my surgery and while Wes was busy serving our country with Army duty, Cheryl, Alison and a bunch of other Shufflers went for a ride in Uncle Greg's new boat Sunday. Alison and Greg even did some fishing. Glad we weren't counting on them to reel in supper.

While Baxter is recuperating from elbow surgery he had on Thursday (you can see that his front, right paw is still wrapped up), we -- Lexie and Duchess -- decided to update his blog for him. He is doing fine, following doctor’s orders and getting lots of pampering and attention. Too much really. So enough about Baxter. We’ll tell you what we’ve been up to.

Lexie wrote: It’s been years since Baxter and I have been out of each other’s site. So Thursday morning when Cheryl carted him off to the V.E.T. I have to admit I felt a little lost. It really affected my appetite, but only for a little bit. Though his pre-op instructions prevented him from having breakfast that morning I figured Baxter would want me to eat to keep up my strength. To keep my mind off what Baxter was going through, the people gave me a ginormous bone to chew on all day. I could get used to this, I thought. I also hung out in the sunroom and took a few catnaps. Then finally around 4:30 that afternoon, Cheryl and Wes brought Bax home. I sniffed him and licked him until I was sure they brought home the right dog and that he was OK. He was a little high on pain meds and then pretty much crashed. To give him some piece and quiet, Cheryl and Wes took me to Freedom Park where Wes ran and Cheryl and I walked a whole 2 times around the park. I got a lot of catcalls regarding my lion tail. And I met this cool kid named Kevin. He told me the Spanish word for dog is “perro” for boy dogs and “perra” for girl dogs. I like Kevin. When we got back I was afraid Baxter had found my bone and was chewing on it. But he was too tired to. Being the good sister that I am, the next morning as he started feeling better I ended up giving him my bone. Cheryl praised me for it and said maybe it would keep him from chewing on his stitches. So when do we get ice cream? I thought when someone had surgery, everyone got ice cream.

Duchess wrote: The way I see it, Baxter’s surgery is nothing compared to what I went through before Christmas with my illness. Baxter was only in the doggie hospital for less than 10 hours. I had to stay for a whole week. Cheryl says Baxter is a better patient then I was as far as taking medication. I say I’m smarter. I figured out real quick the people were disguising pills in stuff like cheese and peanut butter. Baxter on the other paw just takes it from them and asks no questions. While Bax was away I wanted to take the opportunity to confide in Lexie about some stuff I’ve been going through. But she was more interested in that bone they gave her. So I’ll pour out my soul here. How long does summer last is what I want to know? My daddy the school teacher is home all day long,every day this summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with him. But he won’t let me sleep. Something about him wanting to tire me out so I’ll sleep through the night. So he keeps me up during the day by boogering me, teaching me silly patty cake songs and playing country music nonstop. If he doesn’t find a summer hobby and soon, I’m going to end up in the doggie psych hospital. And I vote in honor of Baxter’s recovery we all get ice cream, too.

After skipping a garden last year, the people decided to plant one this year. We have tomato, cucumber, squash, zucchini, okra, pepper and watermelon plants growing and a few of them blooming. We’ve also set out some flowers around front. And Lexie and I have been tending to this weed in our backyard.

As predicted, the day after we got our bath and haircut, Cheryl carted Lexie and I off to the V.E.T.’s office. It was time for our annual checkup. When we first got in the car I wondered if we were going back to the pet cleaners to reclaim all of our lost hair. But when Cheryl took a right at the red light instead of a left, I knew exactly where we were headed. The V.E.T. people oooed and aahhed over our new dos and pampered us while they poked and prodded. They checked our weight (I gained a few pounds, beefing up to 75, Lexie stayed the same at around 93), they took our blood and they gave us our annual shots. The doc asked if we were having any troubles. “When you get to be my age, Doc, yes, you have troubles.” Lexie is a little slower getting up and down, so the doc sent her home with some Deramaxx to pop once a day. I had him check out a knot on one of my knees. As it turns out, I have to have a little surgery in a few weeks and have it removed. Lexie’s blood work came back A-OK. Mine, however, showed some numbers that are too high in my liver, so I’m having to pop SAM-e a couple times a day. We’ll retest in two weeks. Good thing the people started a “Doggy Aliment Fund.” Duchess almost depleted it last year. It’s my turn to dip into it this year. I’ll keep you posted.

3 shaves and 3 haircuts

Faithful followers of my blog, all three of you, will remember last summer when the people let Lexie shave off all of her hair. “Baxter, next year you’ve got to try this,” Lexie told me over and over. “It’s so much cooler. It’s like instead of wearing a fur coat all summer long, you’re just wearing a windbreaker.” Duchess recently got her summer do, too and echoed what Lexie was saying. "Don't be a scaredycat Bax. I get shaved all the time," Duchess would say. If you follow my blog, or my life, you also know I don’t take too kindly to change. So a new haircut was way out of my comfort zone. But I let Lexie, Duchess and the people talk me into it last week. You can see the result. I can feel the result. I hate to admit that Lexie and Duchess were right, but wow, I feel like a new dog. I think it took at least 35 dog years off me and makes me look 10 pounds lighter. Why did I go through nine summers of my life without this buzz cut? As for the type of cuts we got, because Lexie had a few extra tangles in her tail, more of it had to get shaved off. If you want to copy our hairdos, and you want a “lion tail” ask for The Lexie. If you prefer the “Swiffer duster tail,” like mine, ask for The Baxter.

Setting sail

Our Uncle Greg got a new boat and took the folks out for a spin on Saturday. Our cousin Gracie Lee, unlike Lexie and I, loves being on the water and relishes her role as co-captain of the boat. The top photo is an eagle and its nest along the shores of Lake James.