Inspiring or Perspiring?

June 29, 2012
Richmond, Virginia

Apparently we're doing a bit of both. I, of course, am doing the inspiring.  (Doggies don't perspire, you know.)


As you know, we live in Richmond, Virginia, which is about halfway up the Atlantic Coast of the United States.  Normally our summers are hot, humid, and downright miserable.  When we hike in the summer, it's usually IN the river rather than on our usual trails along the river.  But lately it's been even hotter than usual, setting all kinds of records.  I'm trying to convince the humans that we really need a pool -- and I mean a nice big one with a pool guy or girl who comes along with it who does all the maintenance and plays with me a lot.  Preferably salt water because that's better for dogs than chlorine.  Either that or we should migrate to a more tolerable climate in the summer months.


Since we don't have a pool and the river isn't safe to swim in right now because of the storm which shut down the sewage treatment plant upriver, needless to say, we've been spending a lot of times indoors lately. We are very grateful to have a good puppy cooling system (which humans call air conditioning) in our house, with puppy cooling vents located on the floor of each room.  We're also very grateful we haven't lost power like a lot of people.  I've been spending a lot of time lately lying on the puppy cooling vents.

AC vents are a pup's best friend

When it's this hot (up to 105 degrees F last week, with a heat index of 118 F) (yesterday I think it only went up to 102), we keep ourselves occupied and challenged by practicing old tricks and learning new tricks.  I plan to post some videos of my tricks soon.  


We've also been doing A LOT of blogging lately, and occasionally making the local news with our graffiti.  (See my post Farewell Huguenot Bridge.)

I MADE THE NEWSPAPER

Mom and I have also been very busy with my FIRST EVER Silly Photo Contest, so we're a bit behind on some things, including announcements of recent awards.  But we're trying desperately to catch up . . .


I have been awarded the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by Shiloh, Scout, Teddy, and Ash of Dogs N Pawz AND by Jesse of Berner Tails!
  
Thanks so much Shiloh, Scout, Teddy, Ash and Jesse!  


I LOVE awards!  I'm very flattered, and it makes me feel very good to be a source of inspiration to other pups.  It also makes my mom feel good because she does a lot of the work on my blog (with my supervision and direction, of course).  (That's where the perspiring comes in.)


This is the award, which I now proudly display on my sidebar:

There are three rules for this award:  (I seem to detect a pattern here)
(1) Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.  DONE!
(2) Share 7 things about yourself.
(3) Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you admire.


Okay, so I have to share 7 things about myself.  Hmmmm.


1.  My birthday is August 8, 2007 (so there's still plenty of time to shop for presents).  I will be five years old.  I've been living with my mom and dad since I was 1 and 1/2 years old.


2.  I'm not the complete angel that my photos may lead one to believe.  For example, I am a life-long unrepentant poop-eater.  I will eat the entire kleenex box if mom leaves it on the counter.  I have also been known to chew up books, a salt shaker, kitchen utensils, etc.  Every towel in our house has at least one corner chewed off of it, or a hole chewed in it.  Mom and dad have gotten better about keeping things out of my reach, but they still forget from time to time.


3.  I am the only lab in the history of the world who refuses to jump off a dock.  I LOVE water, of course, but I prefer to wade in, rather than leap.


4.  I used to not really like little dogs, but now I have lots of little dog friends.  (Did you know that little dogs are just like big dogs, only smaller?  And they can keep up with the big dogs on long hikes!  My friend Gauis, a dapple long-haired miniature dachshund, even likes really big sticks too!)


5.  I have a black lab cousin named Sadie and a chocolate lab cousin named Mia.  (see The Best Part of Christmas - Neapolitan Lab)


6.  I have improved my parents' social lives considerably.  Mom and dad are both introverts and would likely be total hermits if they didn't think it was important for me to get out and do things with other dogs and be exposed to all different types of situations.  The great thing is that the people we have met because of my activities are all cool dog people!  We've met some of our favorite humans through hiking, Dog Scouts, therapy dog visits, tricks classes and demonstrations, dog blogging, etc.  My parents have also made great connections with total strangers (see Fire Eating -- and MORE!!!), all because of ME!!!


7.  I'm not much of a barker, but I do make a lot of cute, silly noises.  When I dream, I make this high-pitched whinnying sound, like a horse.  I have perfected the big sigh and pitiful moan, to show my total boredom and exasperation with my humans.  The only time I get really excited is when mom and dad take out the trash, and I jump around and make this excited yipping sound.  And I snore -- boy do I snore!


Now I pass the award on to blogs I admire.  There are so many blogs I admire and that have inspired me, so I'm just going to list a few that I don't think have received this award yet.


floppy tongue joy - Reuben's dogblog (make sure you check out the Disclaimer on this blog)
Reuben is one of the finalists in the 2012 Petties Funniest Blog or Blogger category, so be sure to go to the Petties site and vote for him!


The Dog Who Doesn't Fetch

Gemma's Little Gems

Babka Bars


Bernese Mountain Dogs @ Bertoak

If you don't have time to pass it on, or if you've already received this award, please don't feel obligated to participate.


Don't forget - Friday, June 6 at midnight Eastern Standard Time is the deadline for my FIRST EVER Silly Photo Contest.  We have added some new and exciting prizes, so don't miss out on your chance to win something!