I can teach tricks too!

Mom and Gman do taked so long to deciyd how to go abowt teeched me da new triks dat dis tiym I haz deciyd to teeched dem a new trik! Dis one is not silly trik dat is for amyoozemunt of da hyomans, nope! Dis trik does helped to maked me cumfortabul and feeled safe wen I jumped on big stuffs liyk cowch or hyoman bed.

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But dis did gotted me to wondering. Why do da hyomans worked so hard to maked da little dawg and da big dawg lerned dis Engulish langwige, but dem does not try to lerned da Buddy Dawg langwige? If dem wud tried to lerned dat, I wud not haz to worked so hard!!

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It did taked dem long tiym to lerned dis trik. Akshully, I feer dat mom wud not haf reelized she wuz suppoze to say majik word for me, but Gman did figyured owt wut I teeched dem and him explayn to her. Tank dem stuffies above dat Gman is heer to setted mom strayt!! Her did apoliyz for not unnerstand wut I wuz teeched her and gimmie lots of cuddul after tho, so dat wuz da bestest!

Awww, mom!! Iz ok! Now stop, you iz embarrass me in front of da bloggy reeders!
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So heer is why I teeched dis trik, and not a reel gud for dawg trik liyk "Mom, drop the bacon." or "Gman, give me the good pillow". Well, cuz I iz littul dawg I haz to jump hi sometiym to get to my hyoman. Some of da jumping is so hi it is liyk 3 of me stakked in dawgy piyl! Wen da V.E.T. furst steeled my eyestuffs and putted prahs-theeesiz in dat spot insted-well, I wuz reel skared of da big jumps (don't tell da big dawg kay?). Lucky for dis littul dawg dat da hyomans haz da long arms to picked me up and I doesn't haz to do dis big jumping. But now dat I is akklimayted to da blindy stuffs da hyomans tell me I haz to me induhpendant. (Pfffft, I wud tink dat picked up is much gooder dan induhpendant. But wutevur, dem controls da kibbuls.)

Jumping is still da skeery skeery stuff to do. So I waits for mom or Gman to telled me iz safe. Dem din't knowed dat der wuz majik word so dem wud sayed all sorts of stuffs liyk "Go Buddy, Up Buddy, Buddy Jump, Buddy Come, Come Buddy, Buddy COME, Here Buddy....seriously Buddy it's one foot - jump already you little punk." Dem cud sayed it all day long and I wud sit liyk gud dawg and waited for dem to do da trik I wuz teeched dem. Dis trik iz to said "OK, Buddy!" As soon as dem sayed da trik word "OK" zooooom!!! up I go!!!

See?

Now I haz to figyur owt wut dem next trik shud be. I haz narrow down da opshun to "Hyoman, karried me all da playces I wants to go" and "Hyoman, bring me da wormies wut I cud rolled in".

Well wud see how kwik dem lerns da next one!!

Kisses & Snuggles - Buddy Dawg

I am back...again, for real this time. :)

Sorry I haz been em-iy-ay! Dem holudayz keeped us so very bizee! And den mom did turned owldur (I maked promus not to telled you dat she did turned thurtee, so be bestest if you din't asked how oldur kay, my muzzul is seeled!) She had minur brakedowned, somefin abowt be so owld dat she haz to yuse rinkul kreem and wared da glassus.

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I finully telled her "Mom, we iz owld. I taked it graysfully - but you iz not be gud sport. No one did taked your eyestuffs and maked you fiyt dem stayr monsturs, so git ovur it!!! PFFFFT"

PFFFFT

So, now dat we had dis littul talk and she gotted ovur da oldies and da holudayz and da hanged ovurs I iz shore dat she wud letted me updayt my bloggy more often.
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We did goed to lots of partee dis holuday seezun, even da big dawg got inviyted to Gigi's dis tiym. We gotted lots of prezunts from da fambily and da Santa Pawz. My fayvorit prezunt is da nommies, Maxim fayvorit iz da stuffy dat is sposeda be miyn. Him waz such gud dawg at da partees...until da end, den him did is faymus trik of steel da uder dawg bed. Him do not fitted on cuzin dawg bed tho, see?

WUT? Iz dis not miyn??!!

Do not worreee tho, I getted him bak and steeled his bed wen we goed home!!

Ha, taked dat big dawg!!

I haz most eksiyting news for you! I iz almost faymus liyk Lassie dawg!! My Meemaw is teechur and her telled her skewl abowt dis blindy dawg. Dis is skewl dat is inner-citee skewl wif trubled kids. Dis skewl did heer abowt wut gud dawg I iz, and how I haz overcommed lots of obstakul (well, da stayr monstur still wins but dat is a wurk in progressed). Dem did asked me to be gest speekur! Mom wud haz to tranzlayted for me of korse. So we iz gunna talked about how liyf is wut you maked of it, and also abowt puppee millz and how dem iz bad and can maked more dawgs liyk me or badder den me evun, so peepul shud reskew dawgs liyk big dawg. Mom haz nevur done dis publik tranzlayting for a littul dawg dat is pulik speekur. She sed we haz lots of reesurch to do so we do dis rite.

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We iz sooper nervus but eksiyted too!! Dis wud be my furst tiym I talk to uder peepul abowt how to be da gud blindy dawg. Mom iz gunna teeched me to do wut she sed is "bow" for dis most speshul okazshun. Look for funnee vidyo of her wen she do teeched me, it takes long tiym to lerned da new triks for me-so we wud get lots of bloopur for dis blog kay? Don't telled her I sayed so, but I getted a feeling dat she do not reely knowed wut she is do wif me. Seemz liyk sometiym she maked it up as she goed alowng. But dat is okay wif me cuz it just meened more yummy treets!!!

Awww, mom. You iz try to be gud teecher, more treets pleeze?

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Ok, dat iz enuf for me today. I wud see you tomorrow!!

Kisses & Snuggles-Buddy Dawg

Vintage Pics

Mom did finded some old pikshure films and gotted it develupped. Enjoy!

I did helped install da new carputs wif Gman. I tested da soft on evry part.

Even wen we first gotted Maxim, I alredy knowed him had da best beds for shayring.

Maxim wuz not awayr of da rool dat only littul dawgs be on da cowch.

Maxim on his very furst hike trip wif us, him waz abowt 2 yeers old.

I did loved hiyking wen I was two eyed dawg. See my smiyl?

Kisses & Snuggles-Buddy Dawg

Party on!!

I is now gonna telled you da story of my Gigi's birfday partee. Gigi had birfday and did invite all of da frends dat waz hyoman to dis partee for mahrteenys and snacked foods. Since I gets to worked on my soshulizations lots mom sed I wuz invited too. Not big dawg tho, him has party skillz dat iz a work in progress. Him does haz wut mom did call da bull in chiyna shop sindrowm during partees - dis iz ok for adult hyoman partee so he cud worked on sit-stays. Not so gud for partee wut haz little hyomans too wif da running and skreeming and wrastling cuz dat is wut big dawg does loves to joyn in wif.

We gotted to dis partee early so I cud aklimayt to da new surrowndings, getted re-akwaynted wif da cuzin dawgs, and mom cud helped Gigi prepayr. Well, da cuzin dawgs do agreed wif Maxim dat MY bed wuz bested bed in whole howse and did steeled it too!!! Even after mom did filled my bed up wif uder stuff, dey still wanted dis playce over all da soft cowches and laps.
How roode. I iz jentulman tho and letted da notty girl dawgs steeled da bed. I had more important works to do, and dis wuz be gard dawg over cuzin Jazz wut was napping liyk all teenaygur hyomans do.
Well, whiyl I taked on dis most important responsubilitee da cuzin dawgs did konspiyr agenst me and did started to steel my kibbul foods. I is gentulman and wayt until dem girls waz done eated wifout any notty mouf noyses, so mom sed dis day she wud turn blind eye to all da hyoman nommies dat wud mebbe "aksidentully" ended up in my mouf, on akownt of selubrashun tiym. Whew, I taked full advantij-thanx mom!

My fayvorit part of dis partee wuz to visut my cuzin Mimi. She is most sweetest cuzin and does loved me lots. She is da best and knowed blind dawg rools and do always telled me she is gonna picked me up and does petted me lots. Da best part waz dat since my gard dawg Maxim did stayed home she wud be my gard hyoman all nite. She gived all da littul hyomans an oreiuntashun on wut da rools was for behayving niyc to littul blind dawg, and she teeched dem how to petted me niyc and everything. She wud be gud V.E.T. someday. If she is V.E.T., I bet she is kind dat gives you lots of nommies. NOT da kind dat gived chiken pills dat maked you sleepy den steels all your rownd things wen you sleeping.

Her wanted to helped my mom trayned me rite, so mom teeched her how to give my commands. Waz hard to konsuntrayt cuz da girl cuzin dawgs was wanted to play too - but we did it pretty gud.

Dem girl cuzin dawgs finully wented to sleep-dem wuz exhawsted from be da krazy dawgs dat runs arownd liyk dem gotted katnips. Mom sed dis behayvyor from da cuzin dawgs is reezon dat in dikshonary der is notty word by wut hyomans call girl dawgs. I kan't tell you notty word, cuz I is gud dawg - you wud have to look it up by yourself kay?

Since dem did exhawsted me too, I went on dek to see if I cud get some of da winestuff dat hyomans wuz drinked, it seem to maked dem happy. Da lids waz on tho, so all I cud do was sniffed.

Dat is da partee - wuz most graytest selubrashun! I had fun tiym and hope I gets inviyted to da next one too!

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Kisses & Snuggles-Buddy Dawg

Note from my house sitter.

Hi! This is The Mom. As Buddy told you I recently spent a week in lovely Mexico with Gman and gaggle of friends...ahhh, paradise.

It was my first time leaving the disabled dog alone, so as you can imagine I was a little nervous. Ok, I'll be honest - I freaked out!!! What if Buddy goes on a hunger strike? What if Maxim eats...well...anything (blanket, pillows, couch, TV). What if they get sick and no one notices? The stairs, too many stairs!! What if he leaves the stove on? Gasp, gasp, gasp.

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The dog sitter did amazing though, the boys are happy, healthy, and a little chunkier than when we left (how many treats did they get a day, I wonder?). Buddy has learned a new trick. While we were gone I put all treats/bones/toys on the window ledge for easy access for dog sitter. Buddy will now go and stand with his nose to the wall, chirp the most pitiful little chirps, and "stare" up at the treats. Some might call this begging, I just call it adorable. Of course, we will be nipping this little trick in the bud soon. But for now I just bask in the joy that my blind dog can position himself exactly where the tasty treats are, even though there is a 4 foot upwards distance between them and him.

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Our sitter was excellent, he texted me updates every day so I wouldn't worry (actually, probably so I wouldn't call him constantly - but whatever, it worked). The texts usually included some kind of "both tails are wagging" comment, which warmed my heart every time. I think the boys miss him now, we might have to arrange play dates ;)

Here is the letter from our sitter:

Hope you guys had a great time! Everything was and is fine here. I put the pillow on the stairs so Buddy wouldn't try to climb up. Buddy said he likes it better down there so he can hear more stuff. We had a loooong talk about it.

Hope the dogs seem normal, everything was cool the entire time! They ate, played, wagged and bathroomed outside the entire time. It was fun! See yall soon.

Dog Sitter

Awww! YAY! My boys get an A+! Bravo guys, I am so proud of you. And yes, Buddy, you can stay downstairs now instead of being locked in the bedroom. You earned it.

Til tomorrow-A

I'm baaaack.

Hi frends! Is me, da Buddy Dawg. I is back now. Mom gotted very busee wif da work stuffs, den she wented to Meksikow and leaved me here wif da big dawg. Mom sed littul dawgs liyk me is not 'posed to use da internez wifout adult supurvishuns - so I kud not updated my bloggy. She sed her liyf is bak to normul now so I cud update lots (wif supervishuns of korse). I will haf to reed all my frends bloggy's too, cuz I haz lots of katched up works to do-mebbe dat is wut I wud does wen Gman watches dat futbol stuffs tomorrow.

So, I haz lots to telled you about all da new stuffs I is tryed to lern - but for today I wud just liyk to showed you some pikshures.... Cuz I wud getted so lownly wifout mom arownd I did cuddled my big dawg lots. He even letted me shared his bed - as you cud see him gived me da biggest part of da bed. Him sed dat I is a bed hawg - but I is not feeled liyk a hawg, I feeled nice and comfy. He gotted sik of me takin dis much of da bed and did steeled my bed insted. Did not fitted so gud, see?

Well, dat is enuf for today, sorry iz so short (liyk me!!) but I iz promise tomorrow wud be much more katched up stuff kay?

Hugs & Kisses - Buddy Dawg

Top 5 things to know before your dog goes blind...

1. Be very wary when a blind dog goes on a hunger strike. This problem is probably caused by depression. But coming up with creative ways to entice the appetite will inevitably create a monster.

My monster varies between demanding much higher quality foods than pure kibble, he has a refined pallet now.....and neurosis. There must be at least 3 and no more than 5 pieces of kibbles scattered around the bowl. Failure to comply causes secondary hunger strike.

2. If your dog is currently sighted, decide now what you want your house to look like. If you like change, redecorate weekly. Hell, if you have time redecorate daily. Trust me, they don't consult you prior to going blind-and moving anything can be disastrous. This includes placing items on your lap. Blind dogs often take a leap of faith (the couch was there, it will be there again) and land on a laptop, or worse-spaghetti.

3. Three is the new number. Multiply everything by it. If it used to take 5 minutes to do the deed outside, it will now take 15. If your walk around the block used to take 15 minutes, plan for 45. If the walk from the bedroom to the basement used to take 3 minutes....well, it's sometimes better if you just don't time it.

4. Get a thick skin. Petsmart and the likes are your best friends. Take your dog frequently to work leash skills and socialization-two very important skills. Plus...it's fun to see the faces as you randomly announce commands such as "right, left, slowly, backup, army crawl" as you walk down the aisles.

Just because your dog has no eyes doesn't mean he/she is diseased. I know that. But the designer dog moms at Petsmart doesn't realize that, and will think your dog carries leprosy or worse....the swine flu. What comes out of their mouths will astonish you, so have a list of quick-witted comebacks. .... If you don't think of a comeback until after she leaves, write it down! It will come in handy later. If you never think of a comeback, well....pie in the face might work too.

5. Don't think that you must give all pets equal attention. Not only will your arms become extremely sore from overpetting and fetching with the "normal" dog-but once your blind dog is acclimated, your sighted one will still demand constant attention, as this is the new normal for him/her. This is known as the "Love Whore" syndrome. (See photo below) LWS can be the most difficult of all to work around, as having a 75 lbs dog under foot as you do mundane tasks such as shower, brush your teeth, or do sit-ups is an extreme obstacle.

Most important things to know about owning a blind dog....no one will appreciate you more than a dog who fully trusts you to make their life better. Nothing is more rewarding than knowing your dog trusts you to make his dark world safe and fill it with light. A kiss and cuddle from a blind dog on a bad day is quite possibly the most wonderful feeling. The first time your blind dog exhibits true independence again after losing his/her sight is quite possibly more rewarding than anything else you have ever done. A blind dog will not judge you for your faults, and appreciates you overlooking theirs....they weren't aware they had faults in the first place!

Buddy's mom-A