Zoe's Observations

Being the garden helper is not as much fun as it sounds.  I do get to go in the garden and not be stuck outside, waiting while Cindi pays a lot of attention to plants.  But the attention I get while inside is not the kind I really want.  There's a lot of fussing about stepping on plants and not a lot of back scratching and treats.  Green beans are NOT treats, unless they have bacon grease on them.  And green beans are one of the tastier things in the garden!  Most of the other stuff is not actually edible, so I don't know why everybody freaks out when I step on or bump into the plants.  Really, tomatoes and peppers are not food.

Rabbits, now, that is different!  Sometimes I can smell that a rabbit has been in the garden, which means that I have to do a lot of scouting around for it.  I've never caught one myself, but the one that big bird dropped was pretty tasty!  So, I will keep looking.  They can't be too hard to catch, if a bird can do it, right?

That is me in the picture on the right.  Not exactly an action shot, but I don't look too bad.

At the Kinnickinnic River

Here's a picture when I was awake.  It was a little hard to find an awake shot - why do they only take pictures of me when I am asleep?  Anyway, this picture makes me happy.  I mean, what is better than a wet Golden Retriever!  Except maybe a wet Golden with a rabbit... Mmmmmm.



25 August, 2010

The garden seems to take up a lot of Cindi's time, which leaves me pretty bored.  I've asked very nicely for some of the obviously tasty garden things she has been working on in the kitchen, but have only gotten vegetables.  Ick.

I made my own entertainment the other night and took a little trip down to the lake for a swim.  It was really nice!  Cool water, fishy smells, some mud... Mmmm.  Unfortunately, I got a bath back at the house, so now I smell like a green apple.  Not a real dog smell at all and very embarrassing.  Hopefully it will wear off before I see any other dogs.

Off for a nap.  'Night! 



11 September, 2010

We had a huge adventure!  The people piled lots of stuff in the car, which made me pretty anxious.  But then they loaded me and my bed into the back seat and off we went.  Now, I like to ride in the car.  A lot.  In fact, I'd rather be in the car than almost anywhere else.  But we rode in that thing for 2 whole days, only stopping for occasional  potty breaks and a little water.  At night we stayed in a  room that I could tell had had a lot of people stay there already, and a few dogs, which wasn't so bad.

Bartok and Zoe

In the end, though, it was worth it!  We got to this great house with another dog that I have smelled but not met and he was really nice and shared his water and his pool and his toys.  He has a wall around his yard, so he can just wander around as much as he wants.

I met lots of nice people there who all seemed to like dogs.  They were at least polite enough to pet me when I asked.    And I got to see Katherine!  I've missed her.  I got to meet some of her friends who I could tell are very nice, because they smelled right and they petted me.

The good thing about living up north is that it is cool, not like Arizona, which is hotter than anything.  I'm not so good with heat, but the tile floor was nice and cool, as was the pool.  The pool was a lot deeper than my wading pool and I could only touch if I stood on my back legs with my front ones up on the side.  It was impossible to get out that way, but Mom showed me where there were steps.  They were a little hard to see since they were under the water, but I found them.  Since I am a wading retriever, not a swimming one, I tried to stay on the top step.  It is safest if you can touch the bottom when you are in water.

We didn't stay there as long as I would have liked.   It was just a minute and we got back in the car and drove 2 more days, back to Minnesota.   I mostly slept, so it wasn't too bad.

Now it is back to my very boring life, with no pool or lizards.  Maybe Bartok and his people can come visit me.  He would probably like our squirrels and the lake., but our squirrels are meaner than his lizards and playing in the lake gets you a bath afterward.

Until later, sleep well and eat all your dinner.    - Zoe