Kitty Spliff

OK, mom thinks this is HILARIOUS. Since I'm immune to catnip, I guess I just don't get it.

This was the other gift from her artist friend, David Remfry. The gift for the cats (I still enjoy my Sniffers stuffed toy daily, but I just had to destroy the squeaker, I know he'll understand...).

It's the Kitty Spliff - and my buddies Kafka (he's the fat orange tabby) and Behemoth (he's the gray spotted guy) just LOVED it.

And mom was laughing like an idiot. Humans can be soooo easily amused...

Love,

Bogart

Bogart and the Chinese Beauty Queens

So how did YOU celebrate the Lunar New Year?

I spent my day surrounded by the local Miss Chinatown and her Royal Court of Chinese Beauty Queens at a Lunar New Year festival in Pasadena!

I just walked over to where they were standing and sat down right in front. Everyone was taking pictures of me, I felt like such a STAR...

Turning for my fans as they cried out my name - "Bogart over here!", "Look over here Doggie!"

I mean, anyone can be a human beauty queen, but not just any dog can be as gorgeous as me!

It's tough being soooo pretty.... but someone has to do it!

Love,
Bogart

Bogart Does the Old LA Zoo

The new LA Zoo looks fabulous... not that I'll ever get to find out, being a dog and all. Believe it or not, they don't allow dogs in with all the other animals! I guess that just confirms my belief that we're a superior species...

So we took a long walk today by the "old" LA Zoo.

It's the abandoned zoo that opened in 1912. It's incredibly cool to walk around and see the old cages and enclosures that were probably state of the art at the time, but now look all crumbled. I'm sure those animals weren't happy in those small cages (I just think about how much I hate my crate and I can sympathize).

Now it seems more like an area where teenagers go to drink cheap beer. In a few of the cages and buildings that are still open (not covered by fences) there are a lot of empty beer bottles and packaging. That's a shame - at least take your garbage with you kids!

So first we started out with some stick-work - the humans seem to really like to watch me jump high in the air to grab a yummy stick then slightly pull it away so that I have to jump yet again. I don't really mind... I've got easily 10x the amount of energy of the two of them combined, so all I can say is, "Bring it On"....

Then it was time to do some exploring. It's pretty nice up here, not nearly as hot and sunny as when we go into the canyons up by the Observatory. Lots of pretty shade and greenery. Here I am posing with dad just after running away to grab a drink from a stinky pool of water (mom and dad said they were mad, but I'm pretty sure that they meant to say they were proud).

I'm always meeting new cool dogs, and today was a canine bonanza! And for the first time in awhile, they were all friendly and wanted to play! Yippee!

This is Lucky, a German Shepherd, about 2 years old. He was really fun, and I'm almost as tall as he is!

He gave me quite a workout, but I think I surprised him with my patented running in a circle trick where I just run around and around and around until the other doggie gets tired of watching me, then I pounce!

He also had an amazing trick, it was called the "Butt Blaster". I heard his mom and dad talking about it, then he did it to me! While I was running around him he got into just the right position and then smacked me with his butt! I thought it was hysterical, and tried to jump on top of him to show him how much I appreciated his great mind - You the Man, Lucky!!!


On top of all of that, I got to meet two Bedlington Terriers! They're so cute, they look like little lambs. One of them was named Henri, and he and I decided to burn off a little puppy energy and chase each other around and around. It was so much fun! I'm always excited when I meet other dogs, especially terriers, as there are so many different kinds!!!

Then for some reason, mom and dad thought it would be funny to lock me into one of the old lion cages. I found this to be less than pleasing. Mom was laughing a lot and dad was pushing me into the cage. I must remember this injustice and find a quick way to remedy their behavior (pooping on the terrace tonight should do the trick).

So now I'm tired - time for puppy sleep - in between all of the fireworks going off in our neighborhood! We do live right next to Chinatown, so Happy New Year of the Dog to everyone!!!

Love,
Bogart, Dog of Culture

Happy Chinese New Year!

Year of the DOG!!!!

Love,
Bogart

Bye Bye Aibo

The Sony mechanical dog, Aibo, will cease production in March of this year.

I say good riddance. Even tho I would have liked to have been involved in the card game above (I think I could have taken 'em), it's time to get back to the basics - REAL DOGS!

Like me...

Love,
Bogart

The Silverlake Dog Park & Sweet Sadie

Ah Los Angeles... the land of fruits, nuts, and flakes.

Today we're exploring the flaky end of that spectrum at the Silverlake Dog Park. Yes, it's a hipster hangout, full of scruffy upper-middle-class white people and their scruffy dogs of inexplicable breed (see my previous post "The California Avocado Dog). Running with abandon, the owners always seem to forget that their dogs either don't like other dogs or don't like people - what a great idea then to take them to an enclosed, fenced area chock full of other dogs and people!!!

It's so funny to listen to them explain for their dogs - "Oh, he just doesn't like other dogs" or "Sorry, he's not into people". Then listen as they explain their dog's allergies. And their dogs psychiatric problems.

Actually they're explaining their own mental shortcomings and their own imagined food allergies. It must be something other than themselves, otherwise they wouldn't be too fat/skinny, shy/flamboyant, out of work/working too much, etc.

Blah blah blah.

The dogs and I look at each other and just shrug. Sometimes the canines are a little too far gone in that they've been brainwashed by their flaky owners that they really have these issues. And they develop matching attitudes. That's a shame, and me and the "cool" dogs just laugh behind their exposed butts.

I like meeting new dogs and new people - mom and dad see to that. They drag my butt everywhere and put me into all sorts of situations so that I'll be comfortable. My only mental issue is that the cats have been brainwashing me at night when the humans are asleep. Making me do things that I shouldn't do. Making it look like it was all my idea.

But that doesn't mean I need therapy (ohmygosh some of these dogs have been to therapy! and probably all of the owners)...

And then I got a sweet dose of rough-housing with my new friend Sadie... check her out! A real cutie with a body to match.... Rrrrrrrrrruff!!!

Love,
Bogart Freud

The California Avocado Dog

I've noticed something.

Most of the dogs that I've encountered here in Los Angeles look like giant, furry avocados.

The shape, I mean. Not necessarily the creamy green avocado goodness.

Most doggies are of indeterminate breed (although it's hilarious when their owners try to tell me what the possibilties are) and a generic size - medium. Skinny legs. Weight, which generally falls into the large to extra large category. I call them "The Avocado Dogs".

And they're all shaped like avocados - small head, slim shoulders, then giant fat furry ass. With a big tail that wags their giant posterior whenever they walk or wag. Their owners usually tell me that they got them from an animal shelter which is a really really great thing, and that they're really sweet dogs.

There is a great story that my mom and dad tell that helped me to formulate my California Avocado Dog theory. A friend of theirs had a dog named Sneaky. Sneaky was your classic Avocado Dog. He had short, stiff black fur like a big black kiwi. He was a sweet dog, with a large-sized belly and skinny legs.

Sneaky lived in a beautiful house in Echo Park where they had lots of fruit trees - lemons, oranges, and avocados. Lots of wildlife up there too that would enjoy running through the trees and snacking on fruit. Each summer, Sneaky would get very very fat, and then in the winter he'd go back to his standard avocado size. Now Sneaky wasn't particularly agile - as all avocado dogs are not - so it wasn't that he was exercising or yo-yo dieting. Mom and dad commented many times on how fat Sneaky would get in the summer, then relatively slim in the winter. Nobody knew why.

Well one day they saw something. Sneaky was stomping around the grounds, just being a happy avocado dog. They noticed that there were lots of almost-fully-eaten avocados on the ground and Sneaky was slurping on one. Ah, they thought, Sneaky must somehow be getting to the avocados each summer. But Sneaky, being a chubby pup, had no way to climb up those big trees, and he was too fat to just wait for any crumbs that fell off the tree on their own.

What was happening? Sneaky had a lot of time on his hands. He figured out when the squirrels would be most active in the avocado trees. Squirrels apparently like avocados too - just not as much as avocado dogs. In their eating of the avocados, Sneaky would wait for just the right moment to bark - thus startling the squirrels in mid-eating and allowing the tasty avocado to fall to the ground. Then the eating could commence in earnest. He would do this over and over until he was literally full of avocado.

Thus the shape of the great California Avocado Dog was secure. And it's a great story.

Avocado dogs are usually really nice to me. This post isn't a complaint or a slam or anything. Just something that I've noticed...

Love,
Bogart

Running on the Weekend

(can you believe this is me? I look like some sort of weird creature, not the extraordinary Airedale that I am...)

Lots of walking again - it is the weekend, so I usually get dragged somewhere.

Bring on the cell phone pictures!!!

The big doggie with me is Zeus - he was up for just a little playing before I became too obnoxious for him.

Grass is still my favorite...

Love,

Bogart

Dem Bones

Today dad took me to the butcher shop - he's been raving for the last two days about making me homemade food (I'm just not a big fan of the canned dog food - how do you all eat that stuff?) and yesterday he made me a "chicken soup for the airedale soul"... chicken pieces with pasta in a soupy sauce. Yum yum yum. I think it's my favorite food so far, outside of treats.

So of course we needed more meat, and dad thought that the butcher would be the right place to go - back when he lived in Vienna he used to go to the butcher all the time to get stuff for his German Shepherd named Schnuff, and would make him homemade food with all sorts of goodies in it. But mom is vegetarian, she doesn't really like the smell of homemade dog food cooking or sitting around, so dad has to make it during the day while she's at work.

At the butcher dad asked if he had any bones for me - and he came out with the biggest bone I've ever seen. I was in absolute doggie heaven. The butcher cut it up into smaller pieces (I was willing to take it on full size, but dad rightly assumed that it would be better if cut into doggie-mouth-sized pieces) and then I got some. Mmmmmmmmmm.

We thought we might share some of our bounty with my girl - Ferocious. So we drove over and she and I did a little fighting, then we did a little bone crunching together. She's still as full of oil and grease as ever, and she's still my girl.

Ah, life is GOOD! (except for the grainy pictures from dad's cell phone....)

Love,
Bogart

Sniffers!

My mom has a great friend in New York, he's an artist named David Remfry. He's one of her very favorite people in the whole world - whenever she talks with him on the phone, they laugh like hyaenas. She used to be one of his models too, I've seen the pictures that he drew of her and the paintings and they look just like her so he must be good.... The funny thing too is that when mom was telling David that she had just gotten me, he told her that he had a dog named Bogey when he was little! So now they both have Bogeys.... (the other Bogart was a Scottish Terrier).

I like him even more now - he sent me a present! It's a Sniffers bar - just like the ones that mom eats, except that mine is bigger and furrier (and of course, no chocolate for me). It's got a great squeaker and I insisted on bringing it to work with mom and me today.

He also sent a present for the kitties - a Kitty Spliff! You should have seen Kafka the orange tabby with that fattie hanging out of his mouth, all hopped up on catnip... we'll try to get a picture of him with it, it's hilarious!!!

We love you David!!!! Thanks for the great presents!!!! Mom says HI!!!!!!

Love,
Bogart

Fur Kills

http://www.furkills.org

My mom just made a donation to this organization (endorsed by the HSUS) - people who do good work in trying to halt the massive fur trade, especially coming out of China, that causes so much anguish to so many animals. Every little piece of real fur adorning your clothing is a little piece too much.

Please do whatever you can - there is an action area where you can write letters, attend rallys, donate money, or just get stickers and materials to show the world you care.

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi

Love,

Bogart

Bogie Back in the Drivers Seat

OK, I think I have mom properly "educated" now.

She'd gotten waaaaaay too lazy lately about updating my blog. And she actually has some pictures that she didn't post! No more excuses mom, I know you finally figured out how to work that silly new camera.

Bogie back in the drivers seat where I belong!

Love,
Bogart

Kicking Butt & Taking Names...

I'm gonna have to kick mom's butt...

She got a new camera and has been fussing with it for a few days now. It seems like she never has the right cable with her, or the right picture card, or whatever the excuse is today to post any new pictures...

I apologize for her impudence. She will be punished severely.

Love,
Bogart

Bogie vs. the Pacific Ocean

Today I got my first taste (literally and figuratively) of the Pacific Ocean. Mom isn't really a beach kind of girl, so she doesn't like it that much, but dad loves to swim. Dad kept insisting that I was going to love it, being a "fowl dog" and all. That water was in my blood. That I come from a long line of water-lovin' dogs, and that I would take to it quite naturally.

Mom and dad were ridiculously excited this morning about something... I should have known that they were planning something that involved a lot of walking...

Well, let me tell ya.

Walking down the steps was a little weird - they're not like any steps I've seen before, but, ok dad here I come - and then we had to walk over all of these really big stones. It wasn't that easy for me, even with 4 legs, and I occasionally did a little dip onto my belly but it was a challenge, that was fine.

I kept looking out at the "ocean" wondering what the hell that was. It was making a lot of noise, smelled funny, and people were running into it.

Just as dad was about to show me I used the moment of opportunity to let nature take it's course. Yes, I took my first dump on the beach. Rather undignified, I know, but I was in the back of the car for over an hour...

Then it was time to try out my water-dog instincts. Dad went running toward the water with me on my leash, I ran as fast as I could beside him, wanting to be the best dog I could be, my ears flapping in the cool ocean breeze, just getting to the very waters edge as a wave slowly spent its energy on the shore...

And I ran like a scared baby.

That water wasn't coming anywhere near this fine Airedale fur. No siree Bob. Just the paws and the underbelly got a little soaking. I quickly convinced mom (took a little longer with dad) that there were so many other fun things to explore in this new environment, so they didn't push it. Whew.

I met these two adorable Bulldogs, I'm so sorry I didn't get their names! They came running like little furry bullets toward me, but they were really friendly and just wanted to play.


They kind of smile, don't they?

I had a lot of fun with them, I wish we could have played more, except that dad was kind of determined about my getting a good dunk in the Pacific. So we did the running thing again, except this time I let him run further than me, I stopped just before the water touched my toes, and dad got all wet. Ha ha!

I did get to meet another really furry dog on the way out of the beach, so many doggies today!

I did discover that rolling in sand is quite fun, especially as now so much of it stuck to my damp fur. Now destroying the back of moms car will be a snap!

It was really pretty tho, and I'm glad they took me. I'm also glad that mom drives so I don't have to, and could sleep in the back seat.



Love,
Bogart