As Told by Athena: Busy Ladies

Hi Guys!  Athena here.  You're probably wondering where this little brindle butt has been because she has totally been slacking on her blogging duties lately (ok....let's be honest, it's been like a month)!  Well friends, I've been a busy lady and so has my mom.

Mom and I take a second out of our busy schedules to pose for a photo last weekend

Mom comes home every night and says that life is crazy in the garden with her 31 gardeners.  I don't get how gardening could be so difficult, but apparently it's hard when the gardeners are only 5 years old...and when there are 31 of them.  Mom says she's a bad blogger because she promised one blog post a week, but she didn't even succeed at that.  She hopes that you all understand that gardening has taken over her life for the time being.

My mom's busyness means that my social life has soared through the roof!  That's right.  I get to go to my favorite doggie daycare THREE days a week now!  Mom says this makes for one super duper tired Bean every night, but it also makes for lots of cute picture in my mom's inbox.

I'm also still flyballin' regularly at practice and I recently raced in two tournaments.  One of the tournaments was held at a big ole' doggie event where there were agility demos and a lure course set up.  Mom paid $3 for me to give lure coursing a try, but she wasn't sure if I'd be interested in chasing a silly little plastic bag around.  Of course, this Bean thought that lure coursing was the most fun thing in the whole wide world!  After my turn was over I kept trying to pull my mom back to the course for another run, so she gave in and paid another $3 to let me do it again.  Mom says she sees lure coursing in my future.

Flyball is still my most favorite extra curricular activity and I'm getting pretty good at it with all of this practice that I do every week.  I'm even now known as a FDCh-S which stands for "Flyball Dog Champion Silver" because I've won over 1,000 points at tournaments!

So yeah, that's a little update on the life of the Bean.  I really miss all of my doggie friends out there and I'm so sorry that my mom has let gardening take over her life.  As you can see though, I don't mind one bit because it means that I get to play with my doggie friends more often!

What's up with you guys?

As Told by Athena: The 5 Minute Ball

Hi Guys!  Athena here.  So, last weekend we celebrated my one year Gotcha Day and I got a new toy that my mom has been eyeballing for about a year now and FINALLY bought for the Bean.  It's the perfect toy for me for multiple reasons:

1. It's a ball
2. It's a ChuckIt ball
3. It has perfect pickability (because I'm a picker, you know)

Maybe you've seen it around, but it's called an indoor ChuckIt ball!  It's super soft and has little pickers all over for me to grab with my little teethsies.  My mom especially likes this ball because it's big enough that it doesn't get stuck under the couch (apparently one of the main reasons why I'm not allowed to play with normal ChuckIt balls in the house is because I always get them stuck under the couch).

 Now, my mom didn't buy this ball for durability.  She was pretty certain that her little picker (that's me-- Bean!) would destroy this toy in a matter of minutes.  Luckily she only paid $5 for it, because it only lasted about 5 minutes.  Mom says that works out to one dollar a minute which she says is some pricey entertainment (but, of course well worth it for the Bean's Gotcha Day).

Have you ever tried an indoor chucker (did you know they make an indoor ChuckIt launcher too?!)?

As Told by Athena: First Starbucks Puppuccino

Hi guys!  Athena here.  Last week my mom showed you lots of pictures of me laying on my favorite Park It Mat and lots of people especially liked the pictures of me lounging at Starbucks.  A couple very wise people told me on my Facebook page about a special doggie drink that's offered at Starbucks.  Well, I'd never heard of it before, so I begged my mom to let me Googlie this mysterious doggie drink.

What I found on the Googlies is that there's a top-secret menu at Starbucks that includes a very special doggie drink called a PUPPUCCINO!  My mom couldn't believe it that she'd never heard of a puppuccino before because she's a complete and total Starbucks addict.  She's especially shocked that none of the baristas had ever offered this brindle butt a puppuccino after all of the special attentions they give me when I visit.

Well, instead of protesting about not being informed of the secret menu, my mom brought me along to Starbucks yesterday to get a puppuccino of my very own.  Since she had only ever heard of a puppuccino from the internets, she got a little nervous to ask for one.  So, instead of just ordering a puppuccino like a big girl, she said something like, "do you make the special cups of whipped cream for dogs here?"  The kind man behind the register responded with, "a puppuccino?!  Of course we can make one of those!"

Now I bet you're wondering just exactly what a puppuccino is (well, unless we are the only ones on the planet who have never heard of a puppuccino before...then you can go ahead and just totally disregard this post...).  A puppuccino is a cup of delightfully fluffy WHIPPED CREAM!!!!  Yeah, I know it's probably not the best thing for the Bean's sensitive tummy, but a girl's gotta live a little!

The other really cool thing about these puppuccinos is that they are totally free!  Since I loved mine so much, mom said she's going to start ordering them for me for being the best Bean I can be.  She said that I probably can't have one EVERY time that I go to Starbucks with her because she doesn't want the Bean to get chunky (seeing as she goes to Starbucks way too often), but I can have one on occasion.

The only thing that I didn't like about my puppuccino is when there was nothing left in the cup to lick.  That made this Bean very, very sad.  I even begged for another one, but mom said that it would be rude to ask for seconds.  I certainly don't know what's rude about that.  Starbucks should consider it a compliment!

Anywho, I suggest you beg your moms and dads to let you Googlie the puppuccino so that they will take you to Starbucks too to get your very own!

Did you guys all know about the puppuccino before reading this?  If you did, why on earth didn't you ever mention it to the Bean?!  If you didn't already know about it, I'm glad I wasn't the only one.  And now the whole world will know!

You can thank me later for the boost in sales, Starbucks!

Love, the Bean

As Told by Athena: I'm Stuck

Hi Guys!  Athena here.  The other day went a little something like this:

Mom & Dad: We should probably start being responsible dog parents and have Athena wear a seatbelt in the car.  You know, she's super wiggly and we don't want her to fly through the window or anything.

Bean: This Bean is a perfect car rider, what are those crazies talking about?!

Then, the parents went and snapped this new seatbelt thing on me and drove off...

Well, this Bean didn't like that I couldn't do my usually wiggling, so I wound myself up until I was completely stuck...

Then I got mad.  I got REAL mad and I tried to bite the seatbealty thingy right off me so I could get back to my regularly scheduled car wiggling...

But, what's a Bean gonna do when she's stuck for good?

She gives up and takes a stuck car snooze.

Well, apparently my parents are getting a bit frustrated that every time they snap me in my new seatbelt, I just get all stuck.  Then I put on a pouty face for the whole drive and beg for them to help me get unstuck.  My mom says that it's dangerous for her to help me get unstuck when she's the driver, so she has to leave me stuck until we reach our destination!

I'm wondering if any of you have doggies who don't cooperate with the seatbelt and what you've done to get them to stay unstuck.  Thank you in advance for all of your wise advices!

As Told by Athena: My Andy Randy Chair

Hi Guys!  Athena here.  This weekend we had some bee-u-tee-full weather in Portland and I got to spend lots of time outside soaking up the sun.  Since the weather seems to have changed for the better (meaning no more rain for a while), me, my mom, and my dad helped my grandma to set up her balcony for the season.

This Thean Bean was pretty excited about getting the balcony all spiffed up because if you remember from my trip to the beach, I LOVE balconies!  They are the best for watching all of the happenings in the neighborhood.  I especially love to look out at the dogs who live next door to my grandma.  I will give them a few little whines to see if they notice me, but so far they haven't even glanced over.  Rude.

My favorite thing about grandma's balcony is my new Andy Randy chair.  Mom says it's called an adirondack chair, but I can't pronounce that, so I call it my Andy Randy.  Since I am so fond of lounging, my mom decided to put my special outdoor Molly Mutt bed in the Andy Randy chair for extra comforts.  For all of you special doggies out there with your own Molly Mutts,  I highly recommend that your mom or dad smoosh it into your Andy Randy chair.

My mom thinks that grandma's balcony is going to turn into one of my favorite places.  I love being outside, so it's the perfect place to lay out on a warm spring day.  I'm just hoping that nobody tries to steal my Andy Randy when I'm busy flirting with the neighbor boys.

I can't have anybody hogging my Andy Randy when it's time to get my snooze on.  Just as the sun starts to set, I like to cuddle up in my new favorite chair for the night.  Or as mom says, until she starts being eaten by mosquitos and has to go inside.  No bug bites for the Thean.

Do you have your own comfy Andy Randy?  Have you ever tried smooshing your bed into it?  If not, I suggest that you give it a try when your weathers turn for the season!

Dear Doodlebug: My Mom's More Fun Than Dirt!

Hi guys!  Athena here.  If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably saw last week that I requested the very intelligent advices of Sir Doodlebug of Love and a Six-Foot Leash to help me with a very important matter.  He responded ever so wisely to the following question:

Dearest Doodlebug, I think “going on a walk” actually means “go on a sniffing adventure.”  We live in the city, so there are lots of stop signs, mailboxes, bushes, trees, stairs, buildings, and other smelly landmarks. Once my nose is in full sniff, my mom has a really hard time to get my brain to focus on her.  I am wondering if you have any advices on how to help me to keep my nose out of the bushes and focused on my mom. Love, Athena from Pitlandia

Look at my past-self here in full sniff

Basically, I LOVE to go on walks, but only because it involves stopping every 10 seconds to sniff.  There have been many times where my mom has almost fallen right on top of me when I've ran in front of her to get my nose to some smelly stuff.  She was getting quite irritated and threatened to never take me on a walk again! I figured that I better ask the smartest dog I know what to do, and he responded ever so wisely last week on his blog.

In a nutshell, here's the training plan that Doodlebug laid out for me and my mom:

• My mom must always be "More Fun Than Dirt!"during each and every walk which means...
• She must bring all her funs!
• She must bring Athena's favoritist treats
• She must be in her BESTEST mood
• She must have her lovely petting hands ready and available
• She must show her prize winning pearly whites
• She must have her ninja-fast reflexes ready to reward!

And these are Doodlebug's very strict instructions for implementation:

• Start with mastering short distances and then move on to the hard stuff...
• Thean gives full attentions up and down the driveway
• Thean gives full attentions up and down the street
• Thean gives full attentions around the block
• Thean gives full attentions around the neighborhood
• Thean gives full attentions in new locations

So, how's the training going you ask?:

EXCELLENT!  My mom is no longer threatening to cancel my walks.  We have gone on a very fun and exciting walk every-single-day since receiving Doodlebug's brilliant advices!  Who knew my mom could be so fun!  She definitely brings all of the good stuff like chopped up beef roll, her special praising voice, and her mega fast reflexes.  I mastered the driveway in no time at all and am already taking 30 minute walks around the neighborhood.  My mom says she'd like to report that I've only had two sniffing attacks during all of our training time and they were both her fault because her ninja reflexes weren't working correctly.  I seriously think that my mom is now way more exciting than any ole' smelly pole!

Clickity, click:

My mom has also been bringing her handy dandy clicker along on all of our walks.  She usually just pulls this out for our trick training (OMG did you see that I learned how to roll over yesterday?!), but now she brings it on walks so that I know exactly what I'm doing to earn the yummy food.  I get a click for walking right beside her (no pulling), giving eye contact (not scoping out my next sniffing location),  "leaving it" (if I get tempted to check something out without permission), and for just being the bestest Thean Bean that I can be!

Ok, ok, we do some trick training on our walks too!

Presentation of my progress:

Here's a little video showing my new and improved walking skills.  Midway through the video you'll notice a very long stretch of grass and trees on my left.  This is the prime potty location for the many doggies that live in the nearby apartment complex.  There was once a time when my mom couldn't get my nose out of that grass.  Well, look at me now!  Not once did I stop for a sniff.  I'd say that makes my mom More Fun Than Dirt!

Thanks for your assistance with this matter, Doodlebug.  I advise all of my doggie friends out there to submit your pressing questions to be answered in an upcoming Dear Doodlebug column!

Baby Pickin': As Told by Athena

Hi guys!  Athena here.  Today I want to tell you about my love for babies.  Well, not babies like the squishy human ones (even though I do really like those!), but babies like the super fluffy squeaky ones!  "Babies" are what my mom and dad call my stuffed animals.

Did you know that my favorite toys in the world are my ChuckIt balls?  Well, even though they are my favorite, I'm only allowed to play with them outside.  You are probably thinking, "wow Athena, your parents are SO mean.  They don't even let you play with your favorite toys inside the house!"  I think this all of the time too.

Even though I don't get to play with my favoritist balls in the house, I do get to play with my next favorite thing whenever I want: babies!  I have an entire basket full of babies to choose from.  Some of my babies are the really fancy expensive ones that are called something like "indestructible."  They might be indestructible for some dogs, but not for Thean Bean the Baby Picking Machine. That's right, I LOVE to pick at all of my babies with my little front teeth until they pop open and I can pick out all of the white fluffy stuff!

My mom used to get really mad at me when she would buy a $20 "indestructible" baby and I would ruin it in a matter of minutes with my picking.  So, she came up with a new plan.  Now I'm only allowed to have cheap "destructible" babies that my mom buys on clearance after holidays.  Just last week we went to the pet store and got a whole gigantic bag full of new Valentine's babies that were only $2, $3, and $4 each!  Some of my holiday babies have lasted months and months without being picked open, while others only lasted a few minutes.

My mom NEVER gets mad at me when I destroy my holiday clearance babies.  That's why she buys me so many of them!  Usually I get to peak inside the big bag of babies when we get home, and sometimes I even get to play with all of them at the same time.  But, sooner or later, my mom puts most of them in a hiding place.  I only get to have new babies every now and then when I'm extra bored or when I'm not acting naughty and deserve a present.

Even though I LOVE to pick at my babies, I don't ever eat them.  I am very good about spitting out any strings, cloth, squeakers, or white fluffies that come out.  When I'm done picking and destuffing my babies, I will play with their "skin" forever!  Some of my favorite toys are destuffed babies and amputated baby legs.  My mom thinks it's so funny when I zoom around the house with a piece of cloth baby skin!  In fact, one of my all time favorite indoor games to play is the Baby Zoom.  I find a baby in my toy box, zoom around the house with it, put it NEXT to my toy box, and repeat.  Over, and over, and over again until I have to take a nap!

Do any of you guys like your babies as much as I do?  Have you ever played fun games like Baby Pickin' or Baby Zoom?

How Do You Like Your Waters?: As Told by Athena

It was a long, long time ago that my mom wrote about us needing a new water drinking system for on-the-go activities such as trips to the park and long walks.  Because my mom was sick of using the leaky plastic water bottle/bowl from Petsmart, she went on the hunt for a better drinking system for my thirsty self.

This is me trying to drink out of the bowl and bottle at the same time!

Well, I've been testing it for quite some time now, and I'm truly in love with my H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle & Bowl.  Mine is from one of our favorite Portland pet stores, Green Dog Pet Supply, but you can also buy yourself one on the internets here.

This is me just drinking out of the bowl (which is the water bottle's lid)

Whenever I'm done with a long game of ChuckIt ball chasing and launcher grabbing, I am most definitely ready for a big drink of water once we get back to my park taxi (my parents call it the "car"). I wait most patiently next to the car while my mom or dad pours my water into the bowl that attaches to the water bottle.  Actually, the cool thing about my fancy water bottle is that the plastic bowl IS the bottle's lid!

This is me being a frog at the park!

Not only can I slurp my waters from my personal bowl, but my mom and dad can also drink out of the bottle if they get parched after a game of "Throw Thean Her ChuckIt Ball" without too much of my slobberies getting into their waters.  My mom says that the humans might also be interested in knowing that the water bottle is 100% BPA-free and made from recycled materials.

Photo via Wag.com (where you can also buy one!)

I'm very curious as to how my friends like their waters while they are out on the town?  Do you like waters from a human water bottle, a doggy water bottle, a collapsible bowl, or from some other fanciful contraption?  I am thinking next on my wish list might be a collapsible bowl....or, maybe

My ChuckIt Ball Blew Up: As Told by Athena

Hi Guys!  Athena here.  If you follow my mom me on Facebook, you probably already saw this picture of me:

That's me with my blown-up ChuckIt ball

Let me tell you a little bit more about the story behind this picture.  This weekend I was totally shocked when my beloved ChuckIt ball BLEW UP!  That's right.  It went from being a teeny-tiny little orange ball to being a GIGANTIC ball!  I didn't think that my ChuckIt ball could get any better, but it totally did.  Bigger is always better in my book (bigger cookies, bigger scoops of food, bigger pieces of cheese, bigger smooches, etc.)

That's my running with my gigantic ChuckIt ball

So, on Friday when the bright yellow orb in the sky appeared for the first time in for-ever, I went outside thinking that I would get some time to play fetch with my usual ChuckIt ball and launcher.  Little did I know that my mom and dad had a surprise for me.  All of a sudden my mom KICKED the ChuckIt ball and POOF!  It turned into a giant ChuckIt ball!

That's my mom kicking my ball

My new ChuckIt kick ball is made of soft foam and has special grooves in it so that I can easily grab onto it (and never let go).

That's my mom saying 'Drop It' and I'm not dropping it

When I finally give in and drop my big ball, my mom will kick it for me, or my dad will do his fancy soccer keep-away moves.

That's my dad doing fancy soccer keep-away moves

I think it's so fun to run around with my big ChuckIt ball, but I also really love picking at it (because toy picking is my speciality!).  My mom said that I have to tell you that she wasn't paying attention to me for a few minutes and I ended up picking off a little edge of the ball....soooooooo, she doesn't suggest this toy for unsupervised chew time!

That's me pickin'

My favorite part about my big ChuckIt ball is that I also get to play with it inside the house too!  It's soft enough that it can be kicked around without breaking any val-u-a-bulls.  Even if it's no sunshiny outside, I can still get my exercises in the house with this big ball (unlike my little ChuckIt ball that would be dangerous to throw in the house).

That's me with my giant ChuckIt ball inside the house

If you want your mom or dad to work their magic on your little ChuckIt ball to turn it into a gigantic ChuckIt ball, give them the internet link to the magic spell:  click here for the magic spell.

Six Months and Counting: As Told by Athena

Hi guys!  Athena here.  Did you know that this week I celebrated my six-month adopt-a-versay?  Yep, I sure did!  I think six months is a pretty long time especially for a Thean Bean like me who has been bopped around a few times in my short life.  So, you might ask, what's it like to live in a forever home for six months?  Well, I'll tell you!

Hi Bloggyland, it's me, Thean!

I'm Gettin' Trained:

My parental figures seem to only be concerned with one thing: training, training, training!  I always have to sit for my breakfast, sit for an afternoon snack, sit at the door before I can go outside and use the doggy potty.

Sit, sit, sit!  That's all I do!

Then there's the walking training where they use this funny clicky thingy and squeal "GOOD WALK!"  I mean really, these people should know by now that I'm not really that interested in walking.  Walking is for boring dogs.  I'm a dog filled with curiosity, so clearly I'm only interested in sprinting to a bush or a pole and getting my sniff on.

Reporting for sniffing duty!

I would however like to do a little bragging about myself because I've learned a lot of tricks since I got to my forever home (I only knew sit when I came home from the shelter).  Here's what I know now:

• Sit
• Down
• Stay
• Come
• Treat party (emergency recall)
• Wait
• Heel
• Off
• Up
• Leave it
• Let's go
• Spin
• Jump
• Crate
• Bed
• Touch
• Bring it
• Watch
• Find it
• Hup (I'm still workin' on it!)
• Drop (I'm still workin' on it!)

I've completed Basic Obedience, Beginning C.L.A.S.S., tried out Intro to Nosework, and I'm in my beginning flyball class right now.

I'm Kinda Pop-U-Ler:

One of the best things that has happened in the last six months is that I've started to go to "Crazy."  That's what my mom calls it when we get in the car and drive to my daycare.  I get so excited when I hear her say it that I whine and snort all the way there!  The people at "Crazy" are the nicest and I love my doggy friends too.  My mom gets pictures e-mailed to her all the time of me and my friends playing together.

Me and my buddy, Monty!

I've made some other doggy friends too like my little corgi friend Bingley and my cousin Maya the big yellow lab!  Sometimes I get to play with doggies at the dog park too (that's a rare occurrence though).  I'm so glad that everyone finally figured out that I'm not aggressive, I actually LOVE doggies!

I LOVE friends!

I've Been Eating A Lot:

I looooovvveeee food and my mom and dad have been trying hard to find the best kind of food for me. I've tried Blue Buffalo Wilderness (salmon), Natural Balance L.I.D. (fish, duck, bison, chicken), and NutriSource Pure Vita (bison).  Even though I thought the chicken flavored food was delicious, we found out that I'm actually allergic!  Yep, I got the itchies all over and my belly got lots of red bumps on it.  So no more chickens for me!

I've also discovered the world of TREATS!!!!  I really love them all.  My favorites include my mom's homemade dog biscuits, Leanlix, bully sticks, and banana/peanut butter/blueberry/yogurt filled Kongs.

Mom and dad say these stink, but there's no stoppin' me!

Just because I've been eating a lot doesn't mean that my food comes free.  I have to work for every-single-itty-bitty piece of kibble!  But, I think it's pretty fun when I get to play find it or eat out of one of my food dispensing toys like the Contempo Tessa or the Hol-ee Roller.  My newest favorite toy to eat from is the Magic Mushroom.

Carrying my mushroom around

My Toy Box Has Expanded:

Nowadays I have my very own toy box where I get to keep lots of my favorite things to play with like my Loofa Dental Chew, stuffies, balls, and tug toys.  Whenever I have the urge to play (which is pretty much every 20 minutes) all I have to do is find a toy and fling it up to my mom or dad.  Lots of times they will play with me, but sometimes they say "all done" which I think is suppose to mean that I play by myself.  This Thean Bean will get the hint (sometimes) and zoomie around the house with all of my toys until I get exhausted and have to take a nap.

Meet Alvin- he's no longer alive.

I Need Another Closet to Fit All of my Clothes:

Boy have I accumulated some stylish outfits in the past six months!  I've got my Tiennot Knits Sweater, custom Sirius Republic collars, fleece pullovers, rain poncho, winter coat, and loads of other accessories like Doggles, tutus and collar flowers.  I also have two new favorite accessories that I will be sharing with you next week (Hint: they are both somehow connected to my besties at Our Waldo Bungie!).

Stylin' in my Tiennot Knits!

Overall Experience:

I would say that my overall experience at my forever home has been EXCELLENT!  Even though I have to go in my crate sometimes while my parents leave the house, I know now that they are always going to come back home to play with me (I haven't ruined a crate bed in 5 months!).  They must really love me because they even bought me my very own human bed to sleep on!  They call it a daybed, but I call it a "Thean must be a human if she gets to sleep on this bed- bed."  I also think it's pretty cool that there are so many people out there in the bloggyland who read this blog and follow me on Facebook.  Thanks, guys!  Here's to another fabulous six months!