Monday Mischief: Such a Great Helper

I posted before about how "helpful" Rita is with projects around the house. This past week was no different, when I was doing some spring cleaning on our patio chairs. I laid the chair cushions out in a row so I could give them a quick scrubbing, and guess who immediately popped over to "help":

"Thanks, Momma! This is comfy."

Monday Mischief: Caught Cheating!

I was caught cheating this weekend - cheating on Rita, that is.

"Would you like to explain why you smell like Weimaraner?"

Monday Mischief: What a Tease

Hi all - Rita here. After Momma wrote about my special Valentine guy last week, well I have to admit I was a little worried when Valentine's came and went with no special package or card arriving.

I checked in with my special guy, Rocket, just to be sure we were still okay - after all, he did send me photos agreeing he'd be mine! But still... I thought maybe he was being fickle. Or maybe he was being a tease. Not to worry - it was just that his Daddy forgot to put the package in the mail. Phew!

Anyway, my package arrived on Friday:

"Look, it says right here it's for me!"

"Oooo, it smells so good in here!"

I got to unwrap stuff!

Oh man, there's ALL kinds of stuff in here!

He sent me a lock of his hair!

Isn't he the cutest?

Look at all the good stuff he sent! There's a bunny box filled with yummy treats, bunny straws, a treat wrapped up in a monkey bag, (monkeys and bunnies are kind of a thing with us...) a bunny-head Pez, a stuffy, a card, AND 2 boxes of chocolates for my Momma and Daddy. How thoughtful is that? As you can see in the picture, I look a little guilty - cuz all I sent him was a card. But Rocket says that's okay - the girls are supposed to get the gifts on Valentine's. I like the way he thinks.

All I sent was a card...

Can I have this one right now?

These chocolates here say they are for Daddy. Good luck, Daddy.

This is my favorite part - a very special, smoochy card, and a monkey-ear wearing doggy:

The doggy says "some bunny loves me." Hee!

Oh, wait, this is my other favorite part - a bully stick! (Pizzle! What every girl wants for Valentine's!)

It smells so good!

Hope you all had as good a Valentine's Day (or belated one) as I did. Happy Monday Mischief!

Monday Mischief: Rita's Valentine

I saw on the news today that the National Retail Federation estimates that American's will spend $850 million on their pets this Valentine's Day. Just for fun, I looked up what the NRF estimated last year for pet spending and it was a mere $562M. Holy Woof, that's  BIG jump - more than a 50% increase (63% to be exact).

Since I spent zero on Rita last year for Valentine's Day, I guess I'll spend 63% more on her this year too. Yep, still zero.

But don't worry, Rita has her very own Valentine, Rocket, and he looks out for her on Valentine's Day. Last year he sent her this fine monkey hat:

And you can see how much she loved it!

Monday Mischief: The Case of the Missing Bone

Rita's Nylabone had been missing for weeks.

This is said bone:

Rita's well-loved Nylabone

Monday Mischief: The Three-Legged Thief

If you've been following the blog for a while, you know we love the three-legged pups, having had an amazing one ourselves. So, of course, when I saw this video I knew it was perfect for Monday Mischief . (Rita really needs to get up to more mischief! We're having to post about dogs from other countries for Pete's sake because she's such an exemplary pup!)

Here he is, Oscar, the famous 3-legged dog from New Zealand caught on surveillance video stealing pet food from the store:

Monday Mischief: 'Bout Time!

It's been really cold here lately in San Diego. Which is a relative thing, of course.

After all, a cold day here looks a lot like this:

Look how bundled up we are!

While a cold day in other parts of the country looks a lot more like this:

Just another January day in Chicago...

Monday Mischief: Take This Tiara & ...

Today, January 14th, is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. Or, as dogs and cats like to think of it, National Complete Humiliation Day. (Dogs everywhere today are thinking, "Why can't there just be a National Double Your Treat Intake Day!?")

I have known/seen some dogs that seem to get a kick out of dressing up, because of all the extra attention it brings to them. They're affection whores hounds, so they dig it. And I also know there are fine-coated pups out there in colder climates who need to don a coat now and again.

But, in my experience, most dogs who are subjected to playing dress-up, tend to end up making a face like this:

"This is humiliating. Especially since it's The Chargers. I hope this isn't going on Facebook."

Monday Mischief: What's That They Say About Beggars?

We decided to make popcorn this weekend. Rita loves popcorn... but only the buttery pieces.

Not sure you can see it all that well, but there's a perfectly good piece of popcorn on the ground at her feet. (Sorry about the picture quality. I took these with my iPad, so had to hold out the popcorn with one hand, and then try to both hold the iPad and take the picture at the same time with my other hand.)

"Don't try to slip me a non-buttery one, Momma!"

Monday Mischief: Rita's Top Ten of 2012

The mischief today is that I, Rita, am taking over the blog so I can list my Top Ten for 2012. (This recapping the year seems to be a big thing with you humans, so I wanted to get in on the fun.)

10. I made a best friend! (Dakota was my sister Angel Abby's best friend too. Momma is so glad that we are friends!)

Dakota has taught me how to be an excellent boxer! I punch Momma all the time!

Monday Mischief: The Ghost of Christmas Past

We really miss our beautiful Abby, but I miss her in a special way on Mondays because she was one heck of a mischief-maker. You could always count on her for counter-surfing, underwear-thieving, and sock-sucking. (The sock-sucking was kinda sweet... every time we'd come home we'd find her with one of our socks next to her. She liked to carry them around when we were gone. Luckily she never ate one, but she did enjoy nibbling them a bit.)

Thankfully, I don't have photos of her chewing our underwear, but here's an example of her mischief, as she cruises through the living room, flaunting her disregard for the "No Sticks in the House" Rule.

"It's not a stick. It's a big cigar."

Monday Mischief: Slobber-fest

Today, for Monday Mischief, I wanted to do a belated shout-out and offer some camaraderie to Jen at My Brown Newfies, who recently did a hysterical post on National Slobber Appreciation Day. As you probably guessed from her blog name, she has two Newfies who are master craftsmen in drool production.

Of course, I immediately thought of my "nephew", Leo the mastiff and shared the link with my sister-in-law. (She was very happy to learn the tip that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are great for cleaning dried drool off walls.)

I don't actually have a picture of Leo drooling (sorry, I know you'd love to see that) but I do have one of him sleeping.

I think he's dreaming that he's a Lipizzaner Stallion.

Monday Mischief: Rita Loves Lucy

Or does she?

We went away this past weekend with Rita to visit my mom. My brother and his family were there as well, with my brother's mastiff, Leo, and my nephew's Lab-mix, Lucy.

Big boy, Leo, licking the ice-ring that formed in the birdbath

Lucy enjoying (?) a bit of ice from the birdbath

Monday Mischief: Pixie Sticks Her Nose Where She Shouldn't

Today, we have a guest mischief-maker that we're featuring - the delightful Pixie. (Rita's just been such an angel, we had to go hunting for mischief.) Doesn't she look sweet?

Pixie at the beach

Monday Mischief: Underwear Everywhere

Around here, we can't resist an underwear snatching pooch. (If you don't already know what the dog ate, well, he ate some panties that didn't belong to his momma. This is no spoiler, since it's revealed in the opening line of the book: The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers.)

So, of course we fell in love with Ecco, the underwear thief, when we first met him a few months ago. Ecco is the "nawty dawg" with a big heart. His mom contacted me about spreading the word for Ecco's 2012 "Underwear Everywhere" Drive.

The flyer is a bit hard to read on my blog (I couldn't post it full size or it wouldn't fit), but below the image I've typed up the text.

"Please help Ecco, the naughty dog with a big heart, collect NEW socks, hats, gloves and underwear for the 300 plus homeless served by the Union Mission Ministries. Every year, Ecco tries to redeem himself by donating more underwear than he has destroyed over the past year. It's never too late to turn your negatives into positives! Thank you for helping Ecco with his goal of collecting over 1000 pairs of socks and undies! Please send all items to p.o. box below. If you are local (Hampton Roads), we will be happy to provide pick up! Donations can also be made via our web site, www.nawtydawgbigheart.com under the "BIG HEART" tab. Please write "Mission" in the comments to ensure the proper allocation of your gift."

P.O. Box 1007, Smithfield, VA 23430-1007

Rita is, amazingly, the first dog we've had that doesn't steal our undies. It never occurred to me to take a photo of Bailey or Abby scampering around with our undies (probably a good thing), but luckily we have the adorable photo of undie-thief Ecco to enjoy for Monday Mischief.

Is your dog an undie thief?

Happy Monday Mischief!

Monday Mischief: Playing Dentist

Usually on the weekends, we like to take Rita to Fiesta Island and we go for a long walk with her while she plays with the other dogs and romps in and out of the bay. But, since Mike's double knee surgery, it's too crazy down there for him. (I've seen lots of people - and I've been one of the people - bowled over by charging dogs not watching where they're running.) So, to protect his knees, we've been going to the much calmer Kate Sessions Park, which has a lovely view of the bay.

Technically it's not an off-leash park, but it's got a huge lawn, so there are usually some dogs playing off leash in one corner. Every time we've been there, Rita has found a buddy to play with, like this cute Golden mix pup. She invited him to play "dentist":

"I'm opening as wide as I can. How do they look?"

Monday Mischief: Frosty Mayhem

If you saw my post on Friday, you know we are having a Frosty Paws giveaway (enter and win some Frosty Paws for your pup!). You also remember I put all the stuffed Frosty dogs in the guest bedroom for their safety and comfort. I shut the door behind me, and figured they'd be in there resting and getting ready for their voyages to their new homes.

Well, later that night I was soaking in the tub with a book, and the hubs hears Rita in the back of the house romping around a little too happily. He goes to investigate and finds this:

Look how they're all trying to shield their eyes. Oh, the humanity!

Monday Mischief: No Ordinary Rabbit

We are getting ready to have some work done in our backyard, so the other day I was gathering up all the small little animal sculptures that inhabit our yard that I wanted to keep out of harm's way.

Well, moving them all into a pile brought a certain one of them to Rita's attention: the evil bunny.

"What is this thing??"

This little stone bunny has been in our yard the entire time she has lived with us. In fact, she walks past it on her way out the back door several times a day. But she only noticed it once I moved it.

Monday Mischief: The Coyote in the "Window"

Sometimes on Sunday mornings, we like to watch CBS Sunday Morning while we sip our coffees and read the paper. And sometimes the segments are boring (which is why we read the paper while we watch). But there's one segment we always enjoy (and even stop reading the paper to watch): the "Moment in Nature" at the end.

As soon as good ol' Charles Osgood said yesterday morning that they were going to "leave us" with some coyotes in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, I knew Rita would come over to watch, so I grabbed my iPad to record it.

Monday Mischief: Not So Much

Poor Rita! Her Pop had meniscus surgery on both knees on Thursday, so she has not been getting her usual amount of attention. She's been a very good girl through it all, although not shy about letting us know how bored she is. (A lotta heavy sighing going on around here!)

We gave her a bone to try to keep her entertained this afternoon. You can see how put-out she is. (Those are the hubby's knees strapped up to his super-duper ice machine in the foreground.)

"Most boring weekend, evar!"