Still alive...as of now.

Bruno and I are still living and trying to let others live without getting in the way. So far, not so bad. We are still exercising and I am still loosing weight, slowly. We did a little yard work the other morning and it looks nice out back. We worked until I grew tired of tripping over damned souls and finally ask one what the hell was going on. It replied that Satan was tossing the damned up to Texas, it was hotter up here! Then came the wonderful little thunderstorm and rain that cooled and watered us. And apparently was the signal for the mosquitoes to come out and devour humans. I suppose they have to eat too. Diet seems such a small thing to dislike one creature over. I try to let them be, in return they offer me malaria. But even in the full-on daytime, the buzzing vampires stay hidden. Texas can burn the wings off a vulture in the summer. B stays cool by laying on the couch in front of the fan, not a bad idea, if I could get him to scooch over!
Big B is a full-fledged service pooch now, with badges and all. He does still dislike the vest though, but he is realising that it means he can go anywhere that I go and that helps us both.
Do you think that snakes ever get a back ache?
Can worms get worms?
I don't want to be anywhere near an elephant with a cold. When it blows it's nose it will be nuclear.
Dog heaven is, in fact, also cat hell.
What do termites use to pick their teeth with?
Keep cool and try to share a fan, it's cooler that way.

Living in the Moment

Hey everyone, tis I, Bruno, your four legged traveler and protector of yards from those sneaky turtles! My human and I have been as busy as a one-legged cat trying to bury turds on a marble floor! He is loosing the weight, slowly so he says, and dragging me along with him. Ok, I'll admit that most mornings it is I who does the dragging, at the begging of the walk anyways. That guy always seems to be in a hurry on these walks! He should slow down and enjoy it. I try to show him how but you know what they say, you can't teach an old human new tricks. This morning though, it was a BIRD that taught him a lesson on being where you are, when you are.
It was during our mile three break and he had been rushing along like the trail would disappear if he didn't hurry, as usual, and we stopped to pant for a minuet and lap some water. Now , I could just see those tiny, broken wheels trying to spin and I just knew his small mind was elsewhere, worrying about such things as was and is out of his control. Boy, was he gone! Then, I saw him snap to, as if someone had opened the marro bones bag, and he took notice of a mocking bird just going off! This thing was really going at it, just singing like crazy. It would change songs then go back, then switch again. I must say, even a reserved and worldly dog as myself was impressed. I could see the light come back into his eyes and he took a look around and for the first time all morning, he SAW where he was. He took note of the ducklings that had hatched over the weekend, of the goslings following their mother. He felt the lovely breeze, blowing the cool morning air on his sweating, stinking body. (Really, he stinks after a walk!) He took note of the way the morning sun made it seem as if he were inside a giant green kaleidoscope as it shone through the leaves. For the first time all morning, he was AT the park. He looked down at me and said as much. I replied "duh", but I'm not sure he caught that, he is rather slow at times. It showed him that he should slow down and BE were he was. Enjoy it, live in it, just BE!
As for the turtles! HOW DARE THEY!! To think that one would try to INVADE my back yard! Hmph! Well, I showed that one that did dare to tread in my domain! I gave her a right barking at. Yes sir! I bet she'll think twice before venturing into MY lair again! The nerve! My human said that it was a red-eared slider. HA! Trespasser, that's what she was! Unfortunately the humans rescued it from my mighty mandibles of doom and released it into the river at the park with the rest of those things. She had damn well better tell the others what to expect in MY empire!
All in all things are good. Rain falls, heat rises, but we keep trotting along, one paw in front of the other. Pups are born and grow up to have whelps of their own. The wheels turn and the wind, well, she blows new and exciting scents our way every day. It is up to us to take the time to sniff them.....

Shedding the pounds!

I have been dieting as of late and I must admit that it is going better than I thought it would. I have dropped several pounds, lost two inches off of my waist, and I am eating a LOT better. My energy is great! We, Bruno and I, are walking and jogging four to five miles five times a week and I have started a dumbbell routine. The more I do, the more I feel like doing. My secret is sparkpeople.com. It is a free sight with all kinds of great stuff. There is a nutrition tracker for keeping up will all the food intake, menus, if you choose to use them, for each meal and day. Exercise suggestions and a feature for keeping track of the calories you burn. It is a real nice site with lots of help, suggestions from other members and groups you can join if you wish. I hate dieting, but this site really helps me. It keeps me on track and motivated to do better. I can't see a difference physically yet, except for the loose clothes and a smaller belt size, but I can sure as hell FEEL it! Heck, I'm wearing Bruno out now rather than him tiring my ass out. I still have to want to loose weight and better myself, but this site helps me to do so. On another note, Bruno has let me type this web log this morning. He's such a great guy. He is doing great health-wise by the way. He has had no stomach problems in a great many weeks and has not missed a meal at all. He is looking fantastic! And he is back up to over 80 pounds and 70 pounds of that is teeth! Just kidding, it's appetite! We have a busy month ahead with lots of travel plans. My youngest brother is getting married, again, so there is a trip for several days to his place as well as a visit to an exotic animal ranch while we are there. Then there is the trip to the coast. We will be staying in a hotel like pansies. LaQuinta allows pets and has a discount program through Petsmart's pet pals program. (Wow, that's a lot of "p"s!) We may camp on the beach for a night just to enjoy the Gulf a bit more. We are also going to visit a lot of local parks in and around the area we will be staying. I do enjoy traveling with B. His demands are few, except when it comes to his food, and he is always up to checking out new things on foot. I have also decided to take a bit of the Continental Divide Trail on our trip to the Canadian border. We strolled a bit of it in Colorado and while the elevation will take a bit to get acclimated, it is well worth the huffing and puffing. The views we saw were once-in-a-lifetime sort of things. Independence Day is approaching and we've a party planned for here. The usual, grilling, blowing crap up, and fun. I am also buying a lot of ice for the dog pool and making frozen meat flavored treats for the dogs. Have fun, hug a soldier or veteran, and be civil to each other.

Back in Texas.

My human and I have traveled back to uncivilization and rested up. We are walking like mad humans and he comments that he is sore. I tire after the walks but spring right back after a good nap. The mountains were as expected, beautiful. The wildlife did not let us down and we explored out wagging tails off. No worries, my human sewed mine back on. He still lacks a tail, poor human. We hiked starting before sunrise and rested at noon until about five-ish, or at least we tried. There were a great many things to stick our noses into and scents that begged to be followed! At nights we would lay listening to the sounds of wildlife and the wind. NOT the sounds of traffic and noises man-made! We could also see stars, stars like most humans never get to see. My pet human thought this to be of some importance and pointed it out to me. I'm not sure why, if you can't smell it, you can't catch it. If you can't catch it, you can't eat it, so what's the importance of it? The dogs may never fully understand you human-types. Good thing he's not exactly from this planet! In short, we had a wonderful time just being what we are, the best of friends, brothers in the chase.
The trip back was nice. He took his time and that was fine with me. We put a lot of miles behind us with our heads out the windows and our tongues flapping in the wind. We rested up in a motel before the ride back. Good thing too, we stank! "Bathing" in the steams did us little good as SOMEONE forgot the soap..... Not saying who, but he walks upright on two legs.
The 11th of next month we are planning on going to the coast. I've never been but my human assures me there will be new and great smells to explore. Plus lots of sand to trot on. We will see how well he does, you can never tell with humans........
Sniff you later! Follow your noses!

MMM fresh air and stars!

My human and I are just south of the Wyoming border near the Laramie River in Colorado and it is amazing. We have been here for over four days now in the "bush" on and near the mountains. At first, the elevation was kicking our fat asses but we have gotten a little better at hiking...a little. The air up here is clean and cooler than the lowlands and we have had to adjust to lower levels of pollution. No problem there! There were some clouds at night at first but the stars have been out and he stayed up most of two nights just gawking at the sky. Silly human, the sky is too high for him to reach and it never gets very close. He can't catch it so I don't know why he stares at it so. We have fished some, allegedly ,as he needs a permit to do so and hasn't one. I don't know why, you can't take a fish for a walk and They don't chase cars or cats. I can't see what the big deal is, I've never heard of a fish with rabies either. Stupid humans. I flushed out a furry, fast, long-eared thing that my pet human stunned by lobbing a small branch at and then I caught it. He called it a "rabbit" and we ate it. I guess it should have brought the stick back to us. Oh well, it was very tasty and I have chased more but haven't caught any. They are like squirrels without the trees. My human says the battery on this lap-top is about dry so I must stop now. We are in the motel resting up for the trip home and he didn't bring a charger for it. If not for me, he wouldn't remember to even feed me! I have to keep an eye on this one. Keep you tails waging and go chase something! B.

To the hills!!

I, and my human, are headed to the lower Rockies for a few days to help prepare for the Big Stroll we are to take next year. We are going to climb, or crawl, up a short-ish mountain and take in some wildlife as we test some gear in the field. And he wants to fish a bit. Personally,I hope he catches something as I am a fan of the eating! The weather will be cooler by all reports, but humans seldom get prophesying weather correct. It should be fun. We are going at it alone in a rented s.u.v. and I plan to hang my head out the window most of the way there!
We had an awesome time in Fort Worth the other day. He took me to Petsmart and loaded up on goodies!!!! I've been chewing ever since! We then took a stroll in a shaded park with lots of smells and then, and THEN.... the LUNCH!!! Meat, sweet, yummy MEAT!!!! Oh how the animals are cute but they are made of meat, so I must eat them. Keep those squirrels in the trees and your tails waging, B.

up again .

It's about that time of the morning and I'm bored-ish. Too bad for you! This form that I perceive to inhabit was invaded by an alien life several days ago. I know it was alien because this body tried to rid itself of said invading life, violently. Out of both ends. At the same time. I am so glad for the invention of trash cans as a waste basket would have been too small. As would have been a bucket. After this body catapulted the contents of bowel and stomach I realized..this form is SORE. I may have damaged this body and may have to get another. When one is vomiting at super sonic speeds, one does little in the way of philosophical thinking, or any thinking other than prayers to deities and even those are short. Usually just calling out of names in hope of salvation. I am a Buddhist so I usually didn't get the whole name out before another bout of intestinal porcelain removal. I did however think about karma and what I could have eaten to bring this upon myself. Turns out it was not karma so much as a lesson on impermanence, an important Buddhist teaching. This lesson was on the impermanence of things inside the body apparently. I shall spare you the colorful sounds and densities of evacuates from this system and move on to far more pleasant things.
Bruno, my canine guide on this trip is doing well. During the last visit he was found to have developed an ear infection after the mite had left and just a small spot of demodetic mange under one eye. The ear infection has cleared up great with medication as has the little mange-causing mites under the eye. He is still being treated for both. The mange was a result of stress of the treatment for heart worms that caused the mites to multiply faster. Something about taking advantage of stress and illness to kick their hosts' ass, or under-eye in this case. He will be at full capacity for activity in a few days. We are BOTH looking forward to that!
The walk from central Texas to the border of Canada is still in the planning phase. I do hope to be able to leave by early next year, this body does not reverse age unfortunately and is currently at 37 Earth years. It will be at 38 later this year so a need for urgency is on the planning table.
My tree is uprooting and moving with the saplings to the state of New York. It has to be better than the state of chaos and ignorance in which they are planted now. I wish them all the best and will miss them. I hope to try to help with the migration. Some will depend on funding as we, Bruno and I, may have to hike back. I think it will be a good practice run for us, although we will be ill prepared. It should be interesting to say the least. Maybe a Gypsy abduction is in our future! That could be great! Who knows?
Until next time, get plenty of rest, drink enough water, and give a hug to someone, they just may need it. Later humans!