Look how big I am!! And I have a bone to chew with regards to politics. .

Check me out - on January 24, I'm going to be four months old! I have to say, I'm becoming quite the sensation in Grafton. . .

I'm currently enrolled in obedience training and having a blast with my cousin Chloe in class. Jeff took me to Petsmart last week to get my nails trimmed and he couldn't believe how many people were there that recognized me. Yeah, fame does have its perks. . . I didn't have to wait for my nails, got right in. . .

Mom and I are having trouble with the training walkabouts in the neighborhood - everybody keeps interrupting us to pat me! I like it!

Check out those front paws, I'm gonna be HUGE! At least that's what everyone that sees me says. All I know is when I leap up onto Mom, I get this great OOOOPPPHHHH sound from her and then she tells me to get those clubs OFF!

Here I am, cranking around my back yard - I have the BEST back yard! There's 2 miniature chihuahuas beyond the fence next door and when I run around like a lunatic and bark at them, it drives them nuts!

But I'm an equal opportunity barker, I was barking at some squirrels in the trees this week and Mom noticed that, well, *ahem* it's squirrel mating season and I alerted her to something she hadn't ever seen before!

Now let's talk about toys. I love toys! I have a gazillion of them.

Yet, I get outdoors and who cares about toys? I pick up leaves, branches are the absolute bomb and once in a while ~ I leap up and snag myself a pine branch!

Oh, pine branch - I love thee so, the entertainment you give me can last for hours and hours!

Time to talk politics. I like to nap during the day and as you can see by my setup, there's this electronic doohickey above my crate. I'm not 100% sure but I think Mom and Dad are calling it "Stop Calling Me, Dammit".

All I know is it keeps yammering - blah, blah, Martha - blah, blah Scott. Can someone please make it stop? I'm losing beauty sleep. . .

Don't forget to VOTE tomorrow (how did I know that?) ~ and ~ CHOW, BABY!

Happy New Year and New Year's Resolutions. . .

Welcome to the New Year of 2010 and I'm joining everybody who's decided to indulge in resolutions, new hobbies and expanding my horizons.

That said, here's my first resolution - I'm expanding my horizons! Aud's big into birdwatching, has feeders and birdhouses all over the yard. She even has made Max and Lucy indoor cats to protect her beloved cardinals, bluejays, junkos, sparrows, etc.

And I like watching them, oh, I surely do. . . Very, very much. .

But, I'm only 3 1/2 months old - who in their right mind expects me to be able to stick to a resolution?

Those birds were meant to be chased and I'm a bird dog, dagnabit!

Just think of it as me training them to take flight - QUICKLY! I will SO be the momma and poppa bird's friend in the spring when they need to motivate those chicks to fly, fly away! Ok, ok, so these dark eyed junkos were so impressed with my charging prowess that they took to those spindly branches to laugh and chatter at me. Wait, that's not good, is it?

Stupid birds - I'll show them. I'll just chew up these bushes so they finally have to fall to the ground.

I like to chew. I'm good at chewing. I can SO do this, those sarcastic birds who keep chirping that I'm much slower than the neighbor's cats will pay. YES, they'll pay. . . Sometime in my lifetime but I will press my bark park pals into service. . .

As far as indoor resolutions? I've decided that I don't like Aud and Bob's television viewing and have launched a campaign to change their program choices. First, and foremost - the Animal Planet must GO. I don't like the lions and that Cesar guy (the one who's fooled all the humans into thinking he's some kind of dog-whisperer?) HAVE TO GO!

Here I'm voicing my displeasure with one of Bob's war flicks. Yeah, the history channel has got to go too. I was calm and happy, chewing my blue sheep with the beepy thing, next thing I know I'm freakin' out and barkin' at the TV.

Sometimes Guy Fieri on the Food Network Channel freaks me out, too. But I'm working on getting over that. I do like Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel and Mike Rowe with Dirty Jobs is OK.

We're working on an acceptable cable channel lineup. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

CHOW BABY!!

See Ya, Christmas - c'mon New Year!

So I survived Christmas. Of course it was preceeded by the Christmas BATH (now THERE's a four letter word, eh?). So what if the back yard leading up to Christmas Eve was all snow/mud and it's not exactly a secret that I like to dig? Jeff, look at my face. Get outta here with that camera or every sock you own is MINE. . .

And here's the end result. Mom and everybody were extremely happy that I've been bathed and don't I look like a deranged cotton ball? Not my best look, methinks! Ugh. . . Bath is truly a four letter word. . .

On the other hand, Christmas Day was pretty cool - everybody liked me except for that 17 month old great granddaughter. Man, some people have to have the spotlight 24/7 and have no tolerance for the tasmanian devils that Chloe and I are when we're together! Gotta give little Haley credit tho, she eventually warmed up to us and was throwing the ball at us. Me and Chloe (cousin cocker spaniel) found the fact that she was chewing on the ball that she was giving us was grossing out her Mom and Dad? BONUS! Now, Mom got a new lens for her camera. You all know what this means - she's going to be peppering unsuspecting facebook friends and emailing folks with new pictures of me. Be honest, does this lense make my nose look huge? CAUTION: Critters viewed through the lense ARE closer than they appear and WILL leave a noseprint on the lense. . .

Happy New Year to All!!!

CHOW, BABY!

Been so busy due to the Holidays!

Wow! What a hectic schedule I've had lately! Finished up puppy school without being clobbered by that goofball Great Dane and Yellow Lab - the last class had a new puppy, being a black lab that wore out the other two dufuses in my class. Me and Chloe had a great time tho!! Looking forward to obedience school starting in January with Chloe and my buddy Levi!

I went to see Santa a few weeks back, it was my second humiliating experience with Jumanji the kennel cat. Jumanji was pretty lucky that she didn't show up at my last puppy socialization class - not only would I have trounced her, that stupid Great Dane and Yellow Lab would've been my homies against her! But, 'nuff said, Jumanji is safe till obedience class. . .

I got the chance to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas - (1) make the world/house/anywhere my bathroom and (2) make everything in creation (including humans) my chew toy. I've been good, I'm pretty sure he's gonna make my Christmas wishes come true!

Speaking of chew toys, Aud kinda freaked me out one day while she was trying to work from home. *snort* - work from home, what's that? She was there to entertain me, I'm pretty sure. But I digress, she gave me this totally gross looking bone thingy.

So, I did what any normal puppy would do and BARKED at it for a really, really long time. I finally figured out that it was safe when it didn't bark back. . .

Turns out I actually liked it!! Who knew?

And, in case you missed it, it SNOWED again. LOTS! I love the snow, it's such great fun and when I'm not filthy, I blend right in!

This photo was selected by the facebook page "Fans of Key West" that Aud is a fan of - out of 576+ photo entries for snow pictures, they chose my butt pic for a caption contest! Over 75 people voted today and the winning caption was posted by Jody McCullough Torok of Holland, OH - "They told me that Key West is down south. How far do I have to dig to get there?"

Jody, I'm still workin' on it! Be there soon! In the meantime, HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

And ~ CHOW, BABY!

Ok, I'm livin' with a Fire Department family, but. . .

Fire trucks scare me. To be fair, all the little kids that I was runnin' around with were used to Station 2, this was my first visit. I was totally stylin' with all the kiddies - they loved me and I learned to make a beeline for any paper plates that were on the floor - PIZZA!!

Then the big guy arrived. I was with my friend Heather when it happened as Mom was taking pictures and the siren and lights frightened me. Heather was pretty cool, she picked me up and didn't drop me when I piddled on her. Sorry, Heather and THANKS!

Another thing that alarmed me was all the guys were suggesting that they spraypaint me with black spots - NO WAY, I'M NO DALMATION!

I've conquered my fear of bully cats, fire trucks are a work in progress and I'll whoop them too!

CHOW, BABY!

Can't wait for puppy class - Jumanji, I'm gonna OWN you!

For those of my friends that track Aud's comments on facebook, you'll know that I had a rough time at puppy class last week. The cat that trounced me when I went to see Santa was back and while it was humiliating enough that SHE trounced me in front of strangers, this time I was mortified to have my butt kicked in front of my classmates. This empowered my classmates to take shots at me - first it was the yellow lab that stomped me, which caused that crazy-arse great dane to repeatedly go after me (and his Mom had NO control over him), the degradation continued to the end of the class when the usually timid miniature aussie came after me and bit me on the nose. Mom, I DON'T want to go back to puppy school, they pick on me. . . :(

Well, it's half a week later and I've grown up a LOT. I'm taking control of my destiny and I'm taking NAMES.

Jumanji (cat who kicked my butt), I've been practicing with my buddy Mad Max (3 year old warror) and you are MINE!

I know the chokehold you put on me, Max taught me how to do it to YOU!

I've learned how to stalk like a cat - it's a big room, Jumanji, but I'll pin you, trust me. . .

Whoops, Jumanji, I have Mad Max the Warrior pinned beneath me- guess what fate awaits YOU?

And as for the yellow lab and the great dane with the ADHD? And the bold miniature aussie? I'm coming to class with ATTITUDE and I strongly recommend you don't mess with me!

CHOW BABY!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

With the holidays fast approaching, Mother Nature introduced me to a really cool new fun thing - SNOW!! I was a little alarmed at first because I was slipping and sliding all over the back yard but once it started to melt a little, it made a nice mud mixture and that's when I discovered I like to roll around in it and dig. Digging's really awesome, I highly recommend it to all my canine friends!

I've decided to offer a new feature to the blog this winter for all my devoted fans - you've heard of "Where's Waldo"? Well, this blog is introducing, for the first time ever (and when it takes off in the main stream media, remember you heard it here first). . . Wait for it. . . . Here it comes. . .

WHERE'S RILEY?!!

Here I am!!!

So, today was "Grafton Celebrates the Holidays", which was a town-wide celebration for the holidays and Aud decided to take me to my puppy socialization class kennel to get my picture taken with Santa. The joke was on her - she thought it would be a cheesy polaroid situation where she could get her own pictures, but it turned out to be a professional photo op where they have "packages" (woof - whatever that is). Since we waited in line, we stuck it out (after all, proceeds went to a local dog shelter) and while we were waiting, I was DA MAN (once again) and everybody was all over me. It was great until the CAT arrived. . . .

Cue in the dramatic standoff music at this point. This cat walked into a 2000 square foot room with a dozen dogs and she OWNED the place. She approached the big dawgs first, they all stepped back. The room got real silent at this point. . . So what do I do? Head goes down, butt goes up and I barked at the foolish feline. . .

BIG mistake. Cattitude (not her name, our encounter didn't include any pleasantries such as introductions) sauntered over to me and I got braver and braver as she approached. She came within range, I made my move and BOOM - I'm pinned down to the floor. What humiliation, the whole room was laughing! She releases me and I've got a rep to uphold, so I go for her again. And again. And again. All with the same result - DOWNED REPEATEDLY by a feline, ohhh, the horror. . .

I'll get over this. I've got two cats to practice on at home. Next time, Cattitude is MINE!

Until then, CHOW BABY!

Fun & Games is a Serious Business Around Here

Now that I'm a whopping 10 weeks old, it's time for me to find my game. So, lately, I've been on a quest and here's some of my favorite activities. First, I set up my humans with cuteness, they can't resist, it's part of my diabolical plan. Bring it on, baby, I'm ready to rumble! This challenge draws Bob in for one of my favorite games, we call it "Great White Shark"! This game consists of me and Bob rolling around on the living room floor to see who can draw first blood. I WIN every time!! Here I'm licking Bob's wounds, nobody can say I'm not a gracious winner. . . Oh, and did I mention that I live with CATS? Who knew how cool they could be? They puff up like the Stay Puft marshmallow man from Ghost Busters and this weird hissing sound comes out of them. All you have to do is lumber towards them and it's a highly amusing chase until they end up at the top of the fridge. .

And as you can see, once again I WIN! He who ends up on top of the fridge loses!! HA, Max! It's embarrasing, isn't it? Bwahahahaa. . .

And fellow canines, have you discovered the absolute best thing ever? SHOES! Find 'em, chew 'em, it'll wake a human out of a dead sleep and is quite amazing to see how quickly they'll try to take 'em away from you. Are you looking for a challenge? Stealth your human and chew them whilst they are on their feet! (and ~ if Dad's sleeping when you do it ~ you can get through half a shoelace before he wakes up)!

Well, I'm quite tired now. All this chewing has worn me out. Stay tuned and as usual ~ CHOW BABY!

**Just a warning from Riley's Mom (Aud) - keep strings, blankets with fringe, ribbons and things like that away from all pets. Max (as pictured on the fridge above), spent the summer unbeknownst to us consuming fringe from a mexican blanket, was critically sick and had to have major surgery at Tufts (to the tune of several thousand dollars and a week's hospitalization) to clear the gastrointestinal blockages that happened as a result of his consumption of string. He was 3 years old when it happened and I had the mexican blankets draped all over the crap furniture in the basement. Max suddenly experienced an almost fatal interest. . :( **

I ROCK at puppy socialization classes!

Sorry, folks, while the paparazzi (Aud Egan) was with me, the chaos known as Puppy Socialization Class prevented her from breaking out the camera.

As usual, I was the life of the party, all the gals were all over me (well, sorta, but if they weren't I was all over them!). Me and Chloe, even though we're "cousins" by our human family, truly stood out in this class of 6 puppies. Chloe - tasmanian devil, fer sure, even I couldn't keep up with her. I was DA MAN! Yeah, there was another guy in the class but he clearly didn't have his eye on the prize, the dufus. . .

I had a heckuva time and Aud made the mistake of leaving the corral open, so I took advantage to update the blog. . .

Most of the time, when Aud and Bob speak all I hear is "blah, blah, blah". But I caught some interesting comments from her with regards to my training. . .

"Training him to sit was interesting. As I held the treat above his head to make his butt go down, if I went too far, he tipped over"

"Training him to sit and then lie down. If I actually got him to sit (which requires the head to go up and the butt to go down), and then tried to make him lie down which required bringing the treat down between his front paws so the front end would go down. That never worked. Head went up, butt went down. Head went down, butt went up. This is going to be a SERIOUS challenge"

"Training him to come to me when called. IF he was paying enough attention to me when I had him sitting and tried to move away, I didn't have the chance to call him to make him come to me, he just followed. IF he wasn't paying any attention to me and I was successful in moving away, he was schmoozing with the closest lady he could and there was no treat that could get his attention"

Mom sez Chloe and I got an A+ in entertainment and loveability, Chloe probably got close to that in her exercises, I'm trailing with a C+ at this point.

But hey - that's passing, right?

CHOW, BABY!

The Dog Days of Thanksgiving. . . .

Thanksgiving Day - we travelled to Wellesley to be with the Grandparents, I was quite a hit with Grammy. . I'm pretty sure my breath is what's responsible for her expression. That's Uncle Dan holding me.

I met all the new cousins, there's 10 year old Yoshi, he's the Shitszu grandpa of us dogs. . Chloe, the cocker spaniel, is 12 weeks old. We had a lot of fun together!

Then, on Sunday, I helped to finish the Riley Egan bark park!

Life is good! Chow, baby!

Homecoming!

I started my Grafton adventure by departing the only home I'd known in my short 8 weeks of age and it was pretty overwhelming. I missed Rhea and Jim (my first human parents), Logan (Dad) and my littermates. Aud and Bob brought me to my new homestead and even though I look really sad in this picture, I've got a nice corral, with a comfy crate and lots of toys. .

On the toys - I had to keep a close eye on them, it turns out there's two cats here and I don't trust a single one of 'em. . .

Look, there's Max - trying to steal my rope toy whilst I'm deep in the throes of depression and anxiety. . .

Good news is, I'm pretty sure I can chew through these bars. It's a work in progress at this point but I'm doing my best. . .

But ~ hey ~ not all is lost. Once I bust through the corral, I've got a nice office setup and that's how I was able to start this blog!

Stay tuned to my adventures! Lots more to come . . .

CHOW, BABY!