Night of the Living Airedale

This morning at the doggie park, there were 3 AIREDALES!!! Plus me!!!!

Dad took me and we met a really nice lady who had 3 Dales.... it was heaven! My first encounter with other Airedales since I've been in Los Angeles.

Fun fun fun!

Love,
Bogart

I'm Not Lovin' It

Today was going to be fun. Mom and dad were puttering around the house, wondering what to do on a relatively nice Saturday afternoon.

Mom suggested going to Melrose Avenue to a cafe, somewhere that we could all sit outside and watch fun people walk by. I was all for it, as long as they were planning to take me along - so we hopped in the car (actually they had to pick me up and push me inside, but that's because I saw Scruffy, the old stray cat that mom feeds, and I was "distracted").

They told me to sit inside while mom fed Scruffy and Yodel (the other stray cat that they feed all the time). So I did. I just wanted to watch, that's all...

So then we drove on the crazy freeway to Melrose. On the way we were listening to the radio and they had a program about Johnny Cash. Mom was singing along to all of the songs (apparently she was tortured by long car rides as a child with her father singing Johnny Cash songs so she knows them all by heart). Then we got to Melrose and parked.

The first choice was the Vienna Cafe, but they were too crowded. Nowhere to sit outside with an Airedale that needs to be admired. So second choice - Johnny Rockets.

My second time here actually, but I was distracted by a cute Pug that wanted nothing to do with me. I thought that dad was going to give me some of his food, but no luck. When mom asked him about it, he said that "today should be Bogie's first hamburger day" and mentioned something about a Mc-place? Ok, dad....

So we got into the car again after walking around for awhile and drove to McDonalds. It's a brightly-colored ghastly place with screaming children and glum-looking parents. I didn't care for the smell, either, which isn't like me (hey, I do eat dog and horse poop after all).

But then mom brought out a bag just for me. Dad was going to do the honors of serving me my first hamburger (ok, it was a cheeseburger technically).

I approached the object tentatively at first, not sure exactly what it was. It smelled like it could be edible, but I wasn't sure, even after biting it cautiously on the side.

Mom and dad concluded from this little experiment that it's true - McDonalds must use absolutely no meat in their hamburgers - because even a dog who will eat anything didn't really want to eat this.

Love,
Bogart

The Pickle

Today mom and dad took me to Corner Bakery in Pasadena... we sat outside and I was feeling rambunctious. I was barking at pigeons (a new obsession), little crying annoying babies, and things blowing in the wind. Just normal stuff.

I didn't want to stop and didn't listen when dad told me to. I even jumped into mom's lap and tried to grab a potato chip off of her plate, just to see how far I could push dad.

So dad thought that he'd be a smartass and feed me a pickle. He was sure that I would hate it and make the most amusing Airedale face ever made. Mom quickly got her camera ready, and here is the result:

Yes of course I like pickles - silly humans - no funny faces for you! Just a slightly X-rated show from me for the locals (remind me to remember that my manhood can be used to effectively embarrass lots of humans, once I can learn to control it a little better - right now it has a mind of its own, and appears at both opportune and inopportune moments).

Love,
Bogart

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