It's started.

Living Proof

Not a lap dog

It came from the shadows

Breed People

There is a giant problem with people in my breed. I suppose that there is a giant problem with most people in most breeds. Actually, there are giant problems among most people in general, but all of my anger today is not to be wasted on everyone. There is a giant problem when people have engulfed their lives in a dog, a breed, yet still fail to to appreciate these dogs for the dogs that they are instead of one feature.

Of course, I specifically allude to the Fur Freaks. That's right, all those people are are convinced that the only special thing about a Coton de Tuléar is its hair. "Why do you have this breed if you ruin it by cutting off the hair that makes it amazing?" They demand of me. Why would I get a Coton de Tulear if I did not want to maintain 6 inches of puff? Do I not know anything? Do I not know that the hair on the Coton de Tuléar should never be cut? Or is it that their bodies can be, but never their heads? Something like that. Do you know what I have for that? Who the Hell are you? That's have I've got.

Nothing special my ass. I'm sorry that your dog is nothing but a symbol of hair, and some home ornament for you to shampoo and brush. Dog, brush your own hair all day if you love it that much. Don't waste an awesome dog on your hair fetish. I assure you that there is plenty amazing, and plenty special about my dog. He could be shaved bald, and he'd look like a moron, but he would still be amazing, and still be special, and still be the coolest, most popular dog in the West. So suck it. In addition to being amazing, and special, and awesome, my dogs have their hair cut (one to 1/2 of natural length, and one to 1/4 of natural length or even less... OOOOoooohhhhh TABOO!!!!), and they look great. So Suck. It.

By the way, groomer snobs, the reason that "No groomer knows how to properly groom a Coton" is because there IS no pet clip for your groomer to know. Stop saying that the dog is "groomed like a Bichon" because it isn't. What did they do, crimp it? I doubt it. S/he has to make it up to suit your pet needs, and s/he cannot read your mind. "Puppy cut" and "Summer cut" are universal terms for NOTHING, so stop expecting your groomer to create miracles.

Oh, and by the way, it's Cotons de Tulear, not Coton de Tulears. "Coton" is a noun, and "de Tulear" is the modifier. We don't say that the neighbour has two Germans Shepherd. The Shepherd is the object, so the shepherd gets pluralized. So much for you know everything.

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly.

I got off my human ass, and called around to some facilities yesterday. Why? Because this is what Kirbies do best.

Kirbies are ridiculous, and Kirbies get really bored, and look at you like "Oooohhh I have nothing to live for, let me stare sadly down the stairs until someone fun magically appears." I am currently awaiting reply from anybody. My next plan of action will be the contact the Richmond Animal Protection Society, whom I probably should have contacted to begin with, as I know> that they have a nearly full course, and I know that rescues always need deals/affiliates/cash flow, buuutttt..... I am a city spoiled child, and the idea of driving 40 minutes each way, just hurts my head. I can't even justify the distance by telling myself "It's on the way to work." It is not. It is like a perfect triangle.

Do Kirbies Retrieve?

If by retrieve, you mean "brings to you within no particular time frame, the answer is yes, by all means. We are working on amending the definition of "retrieve" slightly. But if I get it, it counts... I think.

Stay tuned for the debut of some more off-the-way, one-of-a-kind tricks. They're under wraps for now, but you'll be a Kirby fan when they come out, trust me!

Oh so special

Happy September, October, and November, folks. Sorry, I had my computer redone, and time slipped away.

My pivotal purchases during that time (other than the actual car, and an additional gross amount of money that I spent on grooming equipment), were these vinyl decals. You see, I draw this ridiculous Kirby cartoon face on everything that exists; and how else is there to make my car special, than to doodle on it? So I went out and found a seller on Etsy, which is like eBay for the creative and handy type, who is capable of cutting vinyl. Ten days after sending in my drawing, my decals came in the mail, and marked my car. If you see a little Civic motoring down the street with Kirby pictures on it- that's me. Honk and wave. :)

New Career Path

Mr. Kerberos has updated his résumé to now include "Professional Bubble Blower" (of all the ridiculous things.) "Be a Sniffer Dog" I said ro him, but Nooooo... gotta blow bubbles for fun. Like that's ever gonna be an Olympic sport. Anyways since discovering his face to be his central heating system, this wonderfully goofy man has taken to wading around with his entire head under water, all the while blowing bubbles out of his giant black nose holes. Just one more thing that makes Kirby Kirby.

NEW BALL!!!

Nom Nom Nom!

I do not trust your intentions

Last Minute Substitution

No Photo Phriday

Normally, on days like these, I would delve into the archives for an extra photo that I took yesterday, or some blast-from-the-past sable & white KirbyCub. Today, I will leave you a little less whole. I'm sorry.

Kirby is on the fifth day of what appears to be Limber Tail. He is much less depressed looking now, but through the first few days, his normally perpetually curly tail was stuck... dragging on the ground. There was no way to describe it other than sad. Next time you see Kirby, doink on his tail. It will curl itself back up in 0.2 seconds. On Monday, in an act of brilliance, I was frantically trying to manually curl it, in the hopes that it would magically repair his broken wagger. Nothin' doin', unfortunately.

I've been giving SuperKirby the Metacam that I have on hand, and he is looking good- in good spirits, and I am doing significantly less carrying of the Kirby up and down the stairs as the days go on. It's all for the better, because apparently, he is too proud to enjoy a free ride up the stairs. In fact, he stops dead in his tracks entering the foyer before he even gets near the stairs. Apparently, he would rather live in the basement than accept a little assistance. Stubborn Shit. Hmmm... I can't imagine where he gets that from.

Yours Truly,
The Human

I got no eyes!

♫ IIIII.... got no eyes to hold me down,

To make me sit, to make me frown! ♪

I got no eyes, as you can see

♪ I got no eyes on me! ♫

DUCK!

Incoming... COOKIE!

Coated Dogs.... The Cons.

Okay, the con. It's when you go for a walk every day, and have to deal with this.

OMG, can't walk.

SmileyBears

I got 'em

July II - More Kirbily Goodness

We have waited years for this. It came just in time too. As much as I hate to say it, KirbyBear is seven years old now, and if we want to dive into something with all six feet (that's how many we have together, right?), and enjoy it, it better be now.

I have searched high and low, for years, for a Kirby sized pulling-style harness. As you know, Kirby is not only Kirby-sized, Kirby is also Kirby-shaped, and not a lot comes in a Kirby-shape, because Kirby just isn't a universal shape- unfortunately. Kirby has a big chest, and a little neck, and a very slender and attractive tucked up waist; and stuff doesn't come made for Kirbies. Until now. I cannot thank Mandy at Pawsh Companions enough for hand making a Kirby-coloured and Kirby-shaped harness so that Kirby can enjoy all the big dog sports that he's been missing out on, and conquer the world.

Who wants to ride a Kirby-drawn carriage!?

Sorry! I skipped most of July.

Whooops. But I made it back before the little thing that says "July" on the right hand column went away forever, right?

So, what was the big news for July? Other than human being riddled with pneumonia...

This one. Happy belated July!

My very first attempt at a temporary design job was a 40% success. You see, I failed to foresee that my willing subject may not enjoy the blowing-on-through-a-tube-the-skin, and I found myself quite taken aback when I tried to stencil the top of the leaf, and he kept swinging around to look at what I was blowing at on the back of his neck. Unfortunately, the little POS ruined the palms of the leaf. I finished by tipping his ears, and all his toes. Sweet, right? Yeah, except I forgot to take a picture. So thumbs totally down for the human.

The other minus-point is that I assumed "temporary" meant temporary. It is a water colour marker after all. That means it should come off in water, right? Well, mostly. Now I have a dog with pale pink toes, and a pink blob on his back. It's slightly depressing, since I LOVED his tail and ear tips, and I would have had no problem at all if they were permanent. But of course those two bits rinsed away, and I couldn't get the back & toes out if I soaked the little devil in turpentine. Zoinks.

Homegrown = Yeaaahhhhh!!!

Nothing beats fresh from the garden except fresh from the garden and in my mouth.

New Clothes for Coton Kids

Human went and spent a disgusting amount of money on collars for dogs that are so hairy that you can't even see 'em. But when they look like this, who wouldn't? The following were custom made for Bear Dogs via Etsy.

Whoooosh!

Kirby Smiles.

Well, I WOULD...

It's not that I don't like jumping in and out of planters, but you may or may not be interested in knowing that there is a bad H-bomb eating a nasty old banana peel behind me.

You can't always get what you want V. 1

It's a timing OR focus thing. :(

Can't... quite... reaaaccchhh!!!

"This joke is rude."

My World...

It's a little windy inside.

You are sorely mistaken

"This is neither cute nor amusing"

Mine.

I learned that someone took MY dog and let it off lead, and used MY camera to take this photo. I was livid. But guess what. This photo is noisy. Why did you think it was MINE?

OMG! Alien Tongue Sydrome

Today is Hug-a-Kirby Day

There's a Wocket in my Pocket

...and a Ghair squashed between the wall and my chair.

*CHOMP*

Human's got nothing for you today.

So we're going to do one of these things.

.

.

.

.

OMG, BABY KIRBY!!!

That puppy is carrying the luggage!

I wish. I wish the puppy could carry my luggage. It is a wonderful theory, but the well fitting RuffWear Approach Pack II that Kirby wears, is, after all, Kirby sized. How much can a dog with a 10" neck fit inside his saddlebag? Not much. The pockets are unfortunately very small. I can fit one Rubbermaid Juice Box in each pocket, in addition to my keys, wallet, and phone, but that isn't exactly day trip suitable luggage.

The answer to the elusive "What's in Kirby's pack?" question is rocks. Plain old rocks. Sometimes the above listed stuff AND rocks. What are you thinking? Sadistic bitch, right? Kirby carries up the 20% bodyweight in gravel or rocks. How else do you expect me to wear a Kirby Bear down and keep him fit? Especially since he hasn't seen a jump or tunnel in almost 8 months [insert big sad face], he needs all the weight he can get. Call off the strangers with the weird looks.

How do you keep your dogs so white?

Hahahaha. If I got a dollar for every time I heard that.

Apparently, though, I have learned that a vast majority of human beings have never seen a white dog in their lifetime. This must be true, after all, since I can not wash my dogs for a month, not brush my dogs for a week, be hiking up a mountain the morning after a nice rain, and still be stopped by a stranger with their jaw dropped. "How could you bring them up here? You must have just given them a bath!"
"Hmmm... yes... you're right, about 3 hikes, 5 swims in a muddy pond, and 1 trip to the beach ago."
How do I keep them so white? I don't! The joy of knowing how to use a brush, and owning a non-staining dog does that for me. Of course, I use the term non-staining very loosely. I mean, under normal dog circumstances, doing normal dog things. That is, such as running in mud, or eating dirt, or sitting and breathing. These things do not create unsightly stains. Other Holly type things such as getting in the way of a Prego Explosion, yes, that may or may not be a staining scenario.

Your dogs are so white!

What is it that Kirbies do best?

You see, in between episodes of squashing Hollies, Kirbies trample through mud, and tall wet grass at breakneck speeds, while wearing a weighted set of saddlebags (bearing about 20% body weight), and bust over (or through, but never around) whatever may be in a Kirby's path. This is why we love Kirbies. Well, that and the eyes.

Did you say Dirty?

The master approves.

Filthy Pond Water...

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

Is there anything in the world that Holly gravitates towards that isn't dirty? Human hasn't found it yet!