Back to Wompatuck

Yesterday Mom and I went back to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. I didn't get to play with any other dogs, because we didn't see any. We did get a little lost, though. Mom had said she didn't want to go back to the park while Dad was away because she wanted to be sure someone knew where we were going, in case we got really lost, but we couldn't use the little box that talks to us and tells us where to go so we had to go someplace she could find. Anyway, it was nice. Cold, but nice. I splashed in some puddles and in some streams, and I smelled all sorts of new things to smell. Mom made us stay on the paved paths so we couldn't get too horribly lost, and that was okay. I did get to meet a nice cyclist, though.

Dirt!

Mom and Dad have a garden. At least they say it's a garden. Right now it's a gigantic patch of the yard that is fenced off and I can't go inside. There were plants in it when it got cold out last year, so I guess it must be a garden. If the plants are in there I can't eat them and steal the flowerpots, which is disappointing. On the other hand, there may be time and opportunity for me to trip them going into or coming out of the garden, thus enabling me to steal vegetables.

Yesterday they broke ground in their garden for the first time this year. Mom made the first cut and then Dad turned the soil over. He had fun turning the soil over. Of course, turning the soil over translates as digging. I was on the other side of the fence, but I decided that I was going to help dig. I started in the exact same spot on the other side of the fence as Dad. He yelled at me, but he couldn't stop laughing so I don't think he meant it.

Blaat!

Yesterday I gave my mom quite a scare. I threw up early in the evening. Then I threw up again, and again and again. I couldn't keep anything down, nothing at all! Mom couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. As near as she could tell, I hadn't eaten anything I shouldn't. There weren't any empty pill blisters on the floor, and there weren't any cleaning products that I could even get to. There was no chocolate out anywhere. There was no discernable reason for me to be so sick, but I couldn't even hold down an ice cube. I threw up a few times after we all went to bed, too.

At two o'clock in the morning, Mom called the nice people at the 24-hour emergency vet in Weymouth (which is near us.) The lady Mom spoke with was very nice and said that it was probably not an emergency yet. She told Mom to take away my food and water and give me nothing by mouth at all for 24 hours. If I was able to keep anything down after that, I would have passed whatever was causing the problem out of my system. If I still couldn't keep down water, there was an obstruction, and they couldn't do anything about it with anything in my stomach anyway. Keeping me thirsty and hungry would let them diagnose the obstruction right away and fix it.

So far, I'm doing okay for today. I threw up a big block of something that looked like a sponge even though all sponges were accounted for this morning, and I've been fine ever since. I'm not in any pain and I'm certainly not lethargic - quite the opposite right now. It's all I can do to type! But I'm not throwing up. Dad even sneaked me an ice cube, my favorite treat, and I've kept that down no problem. Mom still won't give me any real food until the full 24 hours are up, though. Oh well.

Dad says to tell you that dog food smells better on the way in than on the way out.

Ball

Yesterday we went to Houghton's Pond, but we did something unusual. Mom wanted to make sure that I was good and tired, because today's weather was supposed to involve flooding and we weren't likely to be able to go anywhere today, so we went around the pond twice. I only realized that because she told me, though. Otherwise I would never have realized, because there was always something (or someone) new to sniff. I made friends with a little beagle about my age, and I met a couple of other dogs and a small child who was terrified of me despite insisting to his grandma that I was his brother. Two-leg children are weird. Oh well. I'm weird too.

Anyway, the people and the dogs and the kids aren't what I wanted to tell you about. There was this one spot on the trail where you can get right down to the pond. It was fabulous. I splashed around, and I drank the water, but do you know what really caught my attention? Balls. They'd been frozen in the snow and the pond for a while. There must have been about six tennis balls floating in that one spot, but Mom wouldn't let me have them. She said that they belong to Reggie. She did let me have the giant, sodden, waterlogged soccer ball. We kicked it around for a few minutes, in and out of the water. It didn't go very far, but it was such a wonderful and surprising find!

Hingham Must be Dog Heaven

The town of Hingham, MA must be dog heaven, because Mom took me to a different park there yesterday! We went to Wompatuck State Park, which has campgrounds and a spring where you can bottle your own water for free (dogs aren't allowed in that park) and lots of running water and streams and everything! It's huge. I ran amok, I frolicked in the streams (and drank some of the water - yum!). I sniffed new things to smell. I was a very good boy when confronted with mountain bikes, which I've never seen before, and I got to play with a little terrier named Lucky. I had fun with Lucky. Mom liked Lucky, she gave him a treat. Fortunately I don't get jealous when she gives other dogs treats. Unfortunately, the park is huge and the trails aren't well labeled. Mom says that we have to wait to go back there until Dad is in town, so he can call the police if we get horribly disoriented and can't find our way back to the car.

More Friends to Play With

Yesterday Mom and I went to the Bare Cove park. It was fun. We took a couple of different side tracks just to make the walk longer, since the weather is supposed to be pretty bad for the rest of the week and I don't like to be out in the rain. The weather yesterday was fabulous, so it was a good idea on her part.

We met lots of new friends. There was a Springer Spaniel. She was very timid, but her mom says she's afraid of everyone. She was therefore very brave when she walked up to Mom and gave her a little snuggle! She even let me play with her a little bit. There was a big black Lab who was feeling frolicsome too. I also encountered Abbie, the beagle who didn't like me from last week. She was a little friendlier this time. She actually played with me. The problem came when she decided she really liked Mom and that Mom was part of her pack now. I don't mind sharing Mom, because Mom likes anything on four legs, but Abbie didn't feel like sharing. I also encountered a very... affectionate Yorkie. That was... different.

We also met a friend named Lexi. That was great! We ran around and around. Lexi also unhooked my leash, allowing me to run around even more. This caused Mom some consternation, but I didn't run far. I even came back when called... eventually.

Mom says that whatever the weather may do, Spring is officially here. There were some vines that flower in the Spring. I don't know what they're called. Anyway, they've been brown all winter, and when we saw them yesterday they were green. Mom says that this is important, but I don't understand it. I'm only 7 months old. I don't know what Spring is. I know Fall. That's when I came to live with Mom and Dad. I know Winter. It's been Winter for about a million years. I was born in Summer, but I don't remember much of it. So we'll see what this Spring is all about. I hope it involves frisbees.

New Friends in the Old Park

Yesterday Mom and I went to the usual park, the Blue Hills. It was a clear blue day, cold but not as cold as Thursday, and we had a great time. There is something in the park, on the wooded side of the pond as you come around toward the end of the path and the parking lot. Mom doesn't know what it is either, since its tracks were so smudged as to be unrecognizable. Whatever it was, though, the smell really excited me.

The best part of the trip was that I made two new dog friends, in the same place. One was a beautiful, smiling, happy Pit Bull named Cody. Cody wasn't very playful, he just wanted to play with his ball, but that's okay. He was friendly with me and we sniffed each other. Cody's mom probably loves him almost as much as my mom loves me. After we met Cody we walked around the park and when we got back to the field near the parking lot there was another dog, playing with a different kind of ball, in his place! This one was a Boxer and he was there with his dad. He was a little more playful and we ran around and around. I was so tuckered out when I got home that I just went flop right on the bed!