My Ethereal Presence

See that angelic glow? That's because I'm an angelic dog. Really. Cindy laughed at me when I told jc to type that, but I don't get the joke. And the halo didn't show up, for *some* reason. I suspect it's that stupid Giggle Phone camera at work.

The only real excitement I had lately was seeing Tonia. I had been getting kinda of itchy and scratchy. In fact, my haunches look a little ragged, because I either pulled some fur out chewing, or it fell out. Honestly, I don't remember which. Maybe I did it in my sleep, but I couldn't find any signs of the missing fur.

So, at my insistence, jc and Cindy took me to see Tonia. Turner, Tonia's 5 year old daughter was there. Although I hadn't met her before, she immediately took to me (I'm a GSD! What self-respecting kid *wouldn't* love me? I mean, seriously...) She had on a white doctors coat, like Tonias. With a little prompting, Turner decided I had a 'Prednisone deficiency', which was confirmed by her mom. The gave me some Predisone and some medicated shampoo to try.

So the next day, jc and Cindy gave me a bath. Last time I had one, the people at Petsmart did it, and also cut some mats and stuff out (you may recall that from an earlier post). I think they were expecting the worst from me, but I was a good sport, and basically stood there. I think I only tried to get out of the tub once or twice, but I didn't really put my heart into it. I figured if the bath would keep me from being itchy, I could tolerate it. Besides, I'd really like that fur to come back, because I'm not at my best looking without it.

And best of all? It seems to work. I haven't been itching or scratching hardly any for a week. I'm supposed to get another bath tommorrow, but I'm told this will be the last one. As some of you may know, GSD's shouldn't be bathed frequently because it dries out our skin. jc suspects I got the dry skin itchies and scratchies from when the heater was turned on for the winter. Sleeping on top of the vent probably doesn't help, but it does keep my butt warm.

I continue to try to teach jc to howl, and I think he's getting the idea. I get him to play a YouTube video of a dog howling, and encourage him to howl along. Once I get going good, he'll howl along with me. [jc: Nice try, Sherman. It's YOU who's supposed to howl on command, and you're slowly getting the idea.]

So this Christmas thing sounds interesting. I think this will be my second one, but I was pretty young for the last one, and don't recall it. It was explained to me that if I was 'good', Santa Paws would bring some goodies for me. I'd really like a new Nylabone, since I've chewed the one I have down to a nub. I'm not sure what all I could ask for, since I have a furever home, people that love me, I eat well, and have Makeeta and Moon to play with/harass.

Now would be a good time to remind everyone that there's a lot of dogs (and cats) out there that have been abandoned because their people couldn't afford to keep them anymore. I don't know much about economics and housing markets and such, but I do know it's not cool when people give up their furry friends. If you have some extra cash, consider giving it to a local shelter to help feed those who aren't as lucky as us. Even $5 helps a lot! Shelters often have arrangements to buy food at discounted prices, so while $5 is only part of a bag of dog food for me, it's a lot of food for the shelter animals. [jc: Seriously. Skip that 6 pack of beer, that pack of cigarettes, or that DVD you'll watch one time, and give the money to a shelter.]

Well, from me, Makeeta, Moon, Cindy and jc, happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that stuff. Bark at you soon!

*woof*

I Am Neglected And Woeful

OK, it's not actually quite that bad. It's just with this time change I'm not getting out and about like we did in the summer. And nothing particularly exciting has happened in the last couple weeks, either.

To make matters worse, jc has been "in the zone" working on an application for his Giggle Phone. I'll get him through this, though. I sleep in the couch in his office while he's working, bring my tug toy in to distract him, and occasionally stick my nose in his side to make him jump.

To be fair, we did go out Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and then Thursday. We wanted to get out every day, but the weather was pretty miserable. This Saturday we didn't get out either, as it was a balmy 48, but heavily overcast and somewhat windy. And I don't really like having my ears pinned back by the wind...

But! We did get out Sunday, and walked 5 laps, or about 4 miles through the park. I went out on the tennis court with a ball I found. jc found another ball, and I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I kept trying to pick both up. I can't do what this guy does, but I like to think it's because a GSD is too classy, and I just don't want to... yeah, that's the ticket!

I'm trying to decide if I want jc and Cindy to take me to Petsmart to have my picture taken with Santa Paws. I'm pretty sure I'd get along with the old guy, but I might have to open a can of whupass on any other dogs around, and I'd probably get yelled at. I like that the money goes to a good cause, namely the shelter that took me off the streets, and cut my nads off found me my furever home. Instead, I think I'll just forge a check in jc and Cindys name and send it off.

What else has happened that's interesting... Lots of sleeping, lots of harassing Moon, and playing with Makeeta. Have I mentioned I really like ice cubes? jc goes through a lot of iced tea, and when he fills his glass, he gives us all a cube. But last time I had one, I promptly barfed on the carpet. Carpet is better to puke on, 'cause it's a lot more like grass than the linoleum in the kitchen. Besides, I might slip on the linoleum while I'm hurling, and hurt myself. Luckily, I hadn't had any treats, otherwise tossing my cookies would've been messy. [jc: Sherman, I think they get the idea...]

Well, jc is muttering about me taking too long to go on about nothing, and he's ready to "get back in the zone", so I guess I'll let y'all get back to the more mundane things in life, instead of reading about the exciting things that've been happening lately. Maybe I'll go see if I can find some more ice cubes...

Or maybe I'll go bury that damned Giggle Phone.

*woof!*

Strange Things Are Afoot Today!

OK, not really, but it's Thursday, I'm bored, and I haven't had a good walk since Sunday, and probably won't until Saturday. jc was right, this time change thing is stupid. I am going to petition to go bite whomever is in charge of this nonsense.

This is a picture of my footprints from the second time we went walking in Van Pugh Park. You can tell jc took it with his Gigglephone because one of the prints is chopped off :)

Having nothing better to do than lay around the house and occasionally provoking Makeeta or Moon into playing with me, I will let you get back to whatever it was you were doing before.

*woof*

Hiking In Elachee And Hiking My Leg

Sunday, as promised, jc took me to Elachee Nature Science Center, along with Cindy and Moon, where we went hiking.

It was a beautiful day for walking, with the sun out, and the temperature around 60 degrees. The trails were dry, and there was a nice breeze.

Cindy and Moon walked part of the Mathis Trail, shown in blue on the right side of the map. Moon's not as spry as I am (she's at least 8), so they stuck to the shorter, easier trail for her benefit.

jc and I took the long route. We took the Elachee Trail to the Mathis Trail, then picked up the East Lake Trail, around to the Aquatic Studies Center, then took the West Lake Trail back up to the Lake Trailhead, took that short cut-over back to Mathis, and then left back on to Elachee.

jc added up the distance we walked, and it looks like it was about 5.25 miles. My feet claim it's longer! It seemed a lot further to me than the 6 times around the park, which is 5 miles. I wasn't sore, 'cause I'm in pretty good shape with all the walking we do, but it was a haul.

There were lots of cool smells, and I think I tried to pee on just about everything. jc was getting tired of waiting for me, so sometimes I'd suddenly be dragged by my neck 10 feet up the trail before I caught up. You humans just don't appreciate that we dogs need to tell everyone else we've been here!

We're all supposed to wear leashes while we're in the park, but some people aren't as responsible as mine. I got sorta charged at by an old, mostly black German Shepherd, but luckily he pulled up short before I had to pull out a can of whoopass and let him have it. I think jc was pretty proud of me, because you know how I can be around other dogs, and I just kinda stood there. Didn't even bark! His people were real apologetic that he wasn't on his leash, and we all talked for a couple minutes.

We went on our way and ran into a Springer Spaniel (those are dumb looking dogs. I'm embarrassed they're of the same species), but he/she/it didn't get close enough for me to have to protect jc.

A little further on there was a golden lab that I had to bark at. At first I thought it might be Beckett, because he looked similar. If I knew what Beckett smelled like, I'd have known right away, but I've only seen pictures. jc told me to hush, and then I realized that the odds of Beckett being 600 miles away from home on the weekend we happened to go to Elachee were pretty slim. I saw some other dogs here and there, but we all pretty much ignored each other.

This picture is of the Aquatic Studies Center. I don't know what all exactly goes on there, but it's an artificial wetlands of some sort. I heard someone saying they have educational programs there for kids.

We didn't go down to the water, but circled around the lake. The picture is taken from an earthen dam that forms one edge of the lake. There's lots of tall grass there, and some really good smelling things.

You probably know we dogs don't see in color very well, but jc said the trees were really bright and colorful. He was happy, so I was happy.

OK, this thing on the right is a suspension bridge, and quite frankly, it scared the pee out of me. Well, not literally, because after marking 45,682 trees and bushes, I was dry.

It's narrow, 150 feet long, and when you walk on it, it starts bouncing. jc says it's sturdy and safe, and I crossed it, but the first time we crossed it, I stopped in the middle, and was thinking about not going any further.

But I'm a Brave German Shepherd(tm), so after jc petted me and told me I'd be fine, I went all the way across, and then back again. I don't really like it, but I need to get over any fears of the unknown if I'm going to set a good example for other GSDs.

While none of the trails were hard (I've got 4-paw drive!), the West Lake Trail seems to not be maintained as well. There were a lot more trees down across the trail, and some I had to go under, and some I jumped over.

There were some ditches that had logs cut in half and laid across them to walk on, but I went through the ditches. jc said if I ever want to do agility work, I'm going to have to learn to walk on them. I think next time he's going to try to get me to walk across the boards. If he has some treats with him, I'd be more inclined to give it a shot, I think. *grin*

We had a really nice day, and when we got home, I was ready for a nap. Oh, I forgot to mention, since Moon went with us, Makeeta had to stay home. And, boy, was she mad! She was making all sorts of racket when we left, and when we got back she gave me a 200% inspection, to see where I'd been and what I'd been doing. Maybe next time we'll leave Moon at home, and Makeeta will get to go with me.

Bark at you later!

I Cause Grevious Injury; There Are Reprecussions

Today, I injured jc, although to listen to him, you'd think he should be in the trauma center at the hospital. Here's what I did:

How did I do this? Well, jc took me out this morning for my usual tour of the back yard to take care of business (you know, make sure all the trees are still there, eat some grass, whiz on 6 or 7 trees, maybe finally get around to #2). Now, you've probably not seen any pictures of our yard, but we live on a sloped lot of 2.2 acres. Here's a picture to get the idea of the slope of the wooded area:

If you read my previous posts, you know I kinda have a slightly high prey drive [jc: On a scale of 1 to 10, it would be 12]. So I was standing there, getting ready to finally take care of business, when who should I see at the bottom of the hill (even further down than you can see in the picture), but my arch enemy, Mr. Squirrel:

I started to chase his fuzzy butt, nearly yanking jc off his feet. jc grabbed a tree to keep me from dragging him down the hill (I kinda forgot he was still holding the leash), and scraped his hand on the tree. He held on tight, and after a couple seconds I realized I should have thought this through a little better. Result? The hoosegow!

OK, not really. That's just a picture jc had of me in my crate. I got fussed at, and threatened with going back to the prong collar when I go out. At least I didn't eat the stupid squirrel. And I tried to tell jc pain is just sickness leaving the body, but I don't think he was buying that. Especially about the time soap got into the scrape.

Anyways, on a more positive note, jc said today we're going to go to a place called Elachee Nature Science Center where they have a bunch of trails. I think we're going to walk the 4 mile trail today. Maybe I'll see some squirrels!

*woof*

Walking The Shores Of Lake Lanier

Sunday I took jc for a walk around some of the islands of Lake Lanier. This handsome dog sitting on the rocks is me (in case you didn't know!).

Usually we go to a little park up the street, where we walk around the edge of the park 3 times, which is about 2.5 miles. I decided we should go somewhere different, so I loaded jc up in the car and had him drive me to Van Pugh Park.

When the lake is full, the islands are not connected. However, with the lake down over 18 feet, you almost can't tell they're separate islands. I included a little map of our walk at the bottom, but the imagery is obviously from when the lake is up.

There were lots of interesting things to smell. I found all sorts of little pockets in the rocks that were neat, too many beer cans (you dumb humans just have to leave your trash everywhere, don't you?), lots of burnt wood from campfires, and other stuff I couldn't really identify.

This is a tree I saw on a rock, so I got jc to take a picture of it for me. He got one those new T-Mobile G1 Giggle Phones he's always messing with [jc: It's a 'GooglePhone', Sherman. I keep telling you that]. It turned out OK, and at least my feet weren't lopped in this picture (mostly, I suppose, because I am not in it) [jc: YOU try holding a leash, and taking a picture with the sun reflecting off the LCD, and see if YOU can do any better, Sherman].

Maybe next time I'll get him to bring the big camera that takes much better pictures of me. Because I am *always* photography-worthy and picture-ready.

On a different note, I had a flash-back this weekend. Some people came over to get some firewood that my friend William had cut up in the back yard. I slipped out the door to talk to the two guys, when I saw their pick-up truck. I ran around to the back of it and jumped in. It seemed so natural, and jc kinda had to drag me out of it. I'm pretty sure I used to ride in the back of a truck all the time. While the pick-up is cool, I think I'll stick to the station wagon. No wind in my ears, but it's safer.

Here's that picture of the path we walked. We started at the southern most point of the connected dots.

If we keep doing this, my footpads are going to be tough as nails. That sand and those shells are rough on the paws of a dog who leads an easy life.

Speaking of doing this again, apparently there's some idiotic twice-yearly ordeal about changing the time. As I understand it, it's now going to be too dark most days when jc gets home to take me to the park for a proper walk. He seems pretty pissed off about this, muttering about how having to work for a living really sucks, and that stupid little kids can go to school in the dark perfectly well, because when he was a kid, they had to walk to school up hill both ways, in 7 feet of snow (what's snow?) while it was pitch-black dark, and THEY had to worry about being attacked by wild mooses, something these soft, weak, pampered brats of today have no concept of, and how without a cellphone to keep their ears warm, they'd probably freeze to death.

I dunno much about this, but I do know I enjoy my walks, and I'm going to miss them if that's the case. Plus, my humans need the exercise to keep them from getting fat (me, I'm a mean, lean, chipmunk chasing machine!).

*woof*

Today, We Dine On Chipmunk!

Yesterday was fun! Cindy took me out for my afternoon yard patrol/duty walk, and I saw a squirrel. Even though I'm not supposed to, I went after it, yanking the leash I keep Cindy on (so she doesn't get lost) out of her hand. I chased the stupid squirrel up the tree, then sat under it, barking like a mad dog.

I saw Cindy getting closer and decided she needed some play-time, so I ran off a ways so she could chase me. Every time she got close, I'd run off again. We went up and down the backyard, back and forth, and I was having a great old time.

Then I saw the chipmunk. I chased that little rodent and caught him. I was busy getting ready to have lunch, when Cindy caught up (I guess I wasn't paying attention closely enough to my human). She grabbed me and made me drop it.

It ran off a couple feet, turned around, and RAN RIGHT BACK INTO MY MOUTH! Oh, I was so ready for that taste of warm fresh-killed meat. Then Cindy made me drop it again. That sucker was just about down my throat, and just the tail was hanging out of my mouth. And she made me drop it... sigh. It's so hard to have fun.

After she made me drop it, it didn't move again. I'm pretty sure I killed the little guy, at least if the ripped throat and blood everywhere was any indication. Oh well, while I didn't get to eat it, at least some lucky hawk will have a free lunch. [jc's note: Hawk taking a squirrel video].

[cindy's note: It's not the eating of the chipmunk I really object to, it's the cleaning up after Sherman when a digestive system used to kibble is suddenly fed something radically out of the norm. If you get my drift...]

Picture Of A Lazy Monday Afternoon

Because being Sherman 24/7 is tiring...

What I Learned At Camp Diana

So earlier I mentioned that I got sent to Camp Diana after I acted like a complete ass at Petsmart. This is what happened...

When I got adopted, one of the agreements was that I'd get some training. I don't know why I need training, I know how to act like a dog. I run around, I grab things off counters, I bark at other dogs, and I pull on the leash. What else do I need to know?

Well, according to jc and Cindy, I shouldn't grab things from counters, bark at other dogs, or pull on the leash. Running around is apparently OK, at least most of the time.

They signed me up for a basic training course at Petsmart, and I was supposed to start about two weeks after that. jc mentioned to the trainer that I have "issues" with other dogs when I'm on a leash. By "issues", I think they mean when I bark, snarl, jump and act like an idiot towards the other dog. I'm just telling them that I'm in charge, and they need to respect my authority! (jc's note: What Sherman Says (mp3)) The trainer said she could "fix" this, although I still fail to see a problem.

So two weeks roll by, and we all jump in the car to go to Petsmart for the first class. We went early so jc and Cindy could discuss some things with the trainer a little more. We get up there, and there's a large glassed-off area, so jc took me in there and was throwing the ball around while we waited for the trainer to show up. After a while, some lady comes over and tells us that class was canceled because the trainer had to help her daughter move into the dorm, and she should have called us. Turns out she didn't call anyone.

So we left the glassed in area, and were sitting around just outside of it. Some nice people came by, patted me on the head, told me I was a handsome dog (I am!), and fussed over me a little bit. Then some other people came in the store, and had a dog with them, and I used my best "This is *my* turf!" bark. They looked scared, so I figured I had gotten the message across. jc said something about "Yea-ah. He's here for class for this." and the people looked sorta like "Uh oh".

Those people went down an isle, and some more people came by, patted me on the head, told me I was a nice looking guy (I am!) and stuff. Then another dog came in, and I had to tell him this was *my* turf! And jc said, "Yea-ah. He's here for training." They didn't look too impressed either.

They went down and isle, and some other people came by, looked at me and said "Was that the dog that was barking? We were at the back of the store, and we thought someone was fixing to get massacred." They didn't pet me or tell me how pretty I am (I am!).

At this point, jc said to Cindy "We need to call Diana." and Cindy agreed. So we got home a little after that, and jc called Diana. I could sorta hear both sides of the conversation, and she said "Oh yea, I can fix him." At first I thought she meant like what happened at the vet when I got "fixed" (and wasn't broke!), but then I realized she was talking about me having to tell other dogs I was large and in charge. She and jc talked for a good hour or so, and some arrangements were made for me to spend two weeks with Diana.

Now I keep referring to it as Camp Diana, but it's really DogStar Training Academy. Diana has been working with aggressive dogs for years (I'm not!) and jc and Cindy knew her from when they boarded Anvil and Sunshine (two dogs I've never met) several years ago.

A few days went by, and on a Sunday morning we all got in the car and went for a ride to her place. I jumped out of the car and Diana petted me and told me I was a nice looking guy (I am!), and what not. She and jc and Cindy started talking about what I should be learning, but at that point it was sorta "blah blah blah Sherman blah blah blah". Diana stuck me in the backyard for a bit, and they went back to talking. I kinda started digging under the gate, but someone noticed and I got scolded. So I went back to pacing around the backyard. I smelled other dogs, and some chickens that were off aways, and some cats and stuff.

Next thing I hear is the car starting and jc and Cindy left. Without me!! *arrrooooooo*

The next two weeks were kind of a blur. Diana spent a lot of time with me making me sit, lay down, walk next to her, sit, lay down, walk next to her, sit... you get the idea. At one point, I did manage to bust out of the crate and eat $30 worth of high-end dog treats. I had some beef jerky, and gluten free stuff, and a couple pawfuls of other stuff. It was good! I also dragged out the towels from under the bench and laid down for a nap. Diana was surprised when she found me all sacked out there.

At the end of two weeks, jc and Cindy came back, and I showed them what I learned. Diana taught jc and Cindy the tricks and words she used on me, and I walked around (tried to chase the cat, but I wasn't allowed), and sat, and laid down, and stuff. Then we got in the car and headed home.

I was really glad to be home and see Makeeta and Moon (although she didn't seem to feel the same way), and be with my people. I was almost starting to think they had abandoned me. But I was pretty sure jc wouldn't do that, 'cause I know they had to pay money to bring me home, and they seemed to like me.

So all in all, when it was an intense two weeks, I think I learned some stuff, and I'm better off now. jc says it's a lot more pleasant to take me on walks. I'm still not so good with other dogs, but I'm learning some self control.

Oh, I almost forgot! Diana did a "psych evaluation" on me. Apparently I have a low defense drive (which means I'm not likely to bite someone. I already knew that), a high prey drive (chase the birdies! chase the kitties! chase the squirrels!), and a virtually non-existent pack drive (I am "independent"). This means I do the things I want to, when I want to, for my own reasons.

*bark!*

jc's So Busy...

jc has been too busy to post my stories for me, but I at least wanted him to post this picture of me with my favorite ball.

Diana is supposed to come over to tomorrow, and we're going to the park. I keep having trouble getting ahead while we're walking, and sometimes I get stepped on. Apparently Diana is going to help me see what I'm doing wrong. So NOT looking forward to this...

*bark*

I Have A Thing About Cellphones

(I thought I'd take this opportunity to share what I did last night, even though I haven't finished bringing everyone up to date on everything else that's happened).

As you know from my previous posts, I have this "thing" about cellphones. Last night I tried to bring the cellphone to jc so I could call Cesar Millan ('The Dog Whisperer' guy), 'cause I had a question about training my humans. I couldn't get the charging plug loose from the phone, so I just bit through the cord.

I had left the phone by the basement door, because something else shiny caught my attention for a moment, and then I went out for walkies, and then jc went to bed, and I laid down in the bedroom.

A few minutes later Cindy comes in and says "Guess what Junior (she calls me that sometimes) did this time?" I don't think jc really wanted to know, but she told him anyway. I had completely forgotten about it at this point, so I jumped up and suggested they call Cesar, but they ignored me.

jc took the charger to work on Thursday and spliced the cord back together. I was admonished not to do that again, and if I wanted to make a call, please just come and tell them, don't try to bring the phone.

I'm not supposed to play with the remote, mess with the cellphones, read the books... How's a guy supposed to be a hip, modern, technologically-ept pup if I can't play with the cool toys?!?

Bark!

I Am Houndini!

Or Sherman-dini... See the picture on the right here? That's me, in my crate. I stay in here when neither jc or Cindy are home. They say it's because I steal dish towels, tear up magazines, destroy library books, and chew on cellphones (of course, if she actually TOOK IT WITH HER, it wouldn't be there for me to make calls on, right?), and it's for my own safety. Personally, I think it's so Makeeta gets the toys to herself.

The crate was given to me by some friends of theirs. It didn't have the tray on the bottom, and the botton has 3 bars running across and 2 bars running the length. Cindy made me go in when she went out, but I figured out something neat. If I stand up, my back presses against the top of the crate, but my feet will stick out the bottom, so I can walk the crate around. So I walked it into the living room, tipped it over, and escaped through the bottom.

Imagine how surprised Cindy was when she got home, and all three of us greeted her at the top of the stairs. She wasn't sure how I did it, since the crate was still upright (I only tipped it over far enough to crawl out, not all the way over), and the door was still locked. Pretty smart, huh?

When jc got home, he just started laughing. Then he went downstairs and made a bunch of noise, and a bit later, brought up a sheet of 3/4" plywood that just fits into the bottom. Now I can't do my Shermandini trick anymore. Looks like when I go in, I'm in to stay. But I'm practicing using my psychic dog mind rays to make them *think* they've locked the doors. It hasn't worked yet, but I'm still trying.

The picture at the top is grainy because it came from a "web cam". jc set one up in his office that watches the crate and hallway, and one in the living room. I think he wanted to see if I could do my Shermandini trick again. I know a couple of times he's called Cindy on the Nextel to have her check on me. I only had the dish towel to keep it away from Moon. Yea, thaaaat's the ticket!

I gotta say, though, I think the plywood is a bit more comfortable then laying on the bars. After jc cut it down to size, he sanded the whole thing with 200 grit paper, so it's nice and smooth, and I won't get splinters in my butt. They're always looking out for me, and I do have it pretty good here. Fresh water, a lot of food twice a day, cookies, and every Friday we get Greenies! Yumm.

Ok, that's it for now. Next time I'll tell you about going to Petsmart and how I acted like a complete ass, and wound up for 2 weeks at Camp Diana.

Woof!

I Learn To Use A Cellphone And Try To Learn Reading

(This is the picture of me that Yvonne put up on the web to help me find my forever home.)

OK, so jc is home from work, we went outside and practiced sitting, laying down, and walking nice, so now he's ready to type for me some more.

When I got to my new home, for the first few nights they made me sleep in a crate. I guess they were worried I'd try to start something with Makeeta or Moon. Although I ate the hot dog bits they tried to bait me with, I made it really difficult and put up a pretty good fight about going in. Once or twice they tricked me when I went to the back of the crate to grab the hot dog. They gave me a shove and locked me in! I caught on to that pretty quick.

On the fourth night, after 45 minutes of me being smarter than them, they gave up and let me sleep outside the crate. I'm pretty good at sleeping, and I stayed in one of two spots, either right on top of this hole that blows cold air ['air conditioning vent' --jc] or next to the edge of the bed. I think this pleased them because I haven't had to sleep in the crate since then. I think the real reason I don't like the crate much is because I can't see out except for the front, and I like to know what's going on.

Unfortunately, I was still being forced into a crate when they went out during day. Usually Cindy is home with me, but sometimes she goes shopping, to the gym, or whatever. She'd try to bribe me with treats, but I really don't like the crate. She'd end up grabbing me and making me go in, which I really don't like. But I kinda got even...

One night they went out to dinner with some friends, and I was in the crate (I put up quite an argument!). jc had flipped the crate door over so it opened the other way. There's some holes in one side for the hinge, and some slots in the other for the locking bars. With the door flipped over, you have to carefully align the locking bars into the holes. Well, he didn't notice the bars weren't locked properly, and I didn't say anything. After they left, I waited for a little bit to make sure they weren't coming right back.

I pushed on the door, and as I expected, it opened right up. I was free, Free, FREE! Woo hoo! I charged around the house, Makeeta and me wrestled a bit. I found some magazines on the floor and tried to look at the pictures, but they got all shredded.

Then I discovered Cindy left her cell phone on the table. They've got that Nextel service with that push-button thing that makes the phone make a weird little noise. I figured since they went out to dinner, I'd call them and tell them to bring us back a doggy bag. I bit on the phone and it made the Nextel noise. But when I tried to bark my order, the button wasn't pressed, so they didn't hear what I wanted. I tried a couple more times, but without "opposable thumbs", I couldn't make it work (I heard later they were confused then worried when the phone beeped and no one was there). I think I bit a little hard, because there were some extra holes in the phone. And I sort of gnawed on the antenna some...

Then I found a couple books from the library, and opened them up looking for pictures and trying to make sense of the words. I pulled some pages out to see them better, but got kinda frustrated so I took it out on the books. This reading thing is overrated, so I gave up.

A little bit later they came home, and me, Makeeta and Moon all greeted them at the top of the stairs. I don't think they were expecting me to be there, though. I ran into the living room to show them my work, and they were all "ooooh noooo....".

I sort of expected to be yelled at for getting out of my crate and using the phone without permission, but nothing happened. jc said something it being his own fault not making sure the door was securely locked.

A couple days later I got another crate, this one made of wire that I can see out of. It's a lot better, and I really don't mind going it into it. jc leaves it in his office, since I only have to go in it when they both aren't home.

Next time I'll tell you how I got out of it. *grin*

Bark!

Hi, I'm Sherman (part II)

In my last post, I told you how I wound up with jc, Cindy, Makeeta and Moon.

The first couple weeks after I was in my new home, Makeeta pretty much ignored me. I'd try to get her to play, but she'd just kinda lift her lip and snarl. Then she warmed up, and we're like best-buds now. On a normal day, we wrestle quite a bit, and chase each other in a loop through the living room and kitchen.

We've got some toys we play with. There's a loop of rope with a handle, and I'll get her or one of the humans to play tug with me. I think they're surprised just how strong I am, even though I only weigh about 70 pounds. Makeeta is a little bigger than me, about 85 pounds or so, and man, can she pull! I put all my weight and strength into it, and she STILL drags me backwards.

There's also some plastic bones I like to chew on. On the ride home, we stopped at some place called Petsmart that had a lot of food and toys and stuff. I got a bath there, and they cut some mats out of my ears and back end. Yvonne and her friends gave me a bath before I left, but some of those mats were pretty tough, and I think they didn't want to make me look too stupid with a bunch of fur missing. I feel a lot better without them, and I look more handsome (*grin*). Anyways, at Petsmart, they got me a Nylabone. It kinda tastes like ham, but not really. I've chewed it down about half-way now.

Sometimes I'll be chewing on the bone and leave it for a minute to go check something out, and Makeeta will run over and grab it, and then lay on it. She's not even chewing it! I think she's doing that to tell me she's the boss. She's older, bigger, and a girl, so I guess it's true. I don't really care, as long as she likes me.

I keep trying to get Moon to play, but I think she's a lost cause. I overheard the humans saying something about she may have been owned by an older couple or something and never learned how. Moon either ignores me, or just growls. Makeeta says she's tried to get her to play the last couple years with the same results. Oh well, her loss! It's fun to charge through the house, chase the ball, play tug, or whatever.

I think she might know how to fight, though. A couple times while Makeeta and I were learning to play nice together, we got into some fights. Then Moon tried to jump in. I don't know if she was trying to help me, help Makeeta, or just bite one of us. We all got yelled at real bad. jc can shout"NO!" so loudly it nearly scares the pee out of me. He'll wade in between us and yank us apart. I'm pretty sure if I bit him, even accidentally, my furry little butt would be in deep, deep trouble. Luckily, I'm a lover, not a biter.

jc says he has to go to work, and he'll finish typing for me later. Next time I'll tell you about how I tried to learn to read.

Hi, I'm Sherman

[I can't type, so I'm dictating to my human. Any typo's, mispellings, incorrect grammar, etc are all his fault.]

I'm Sherman, a male German Shepherd Dog. They say I'm about 2 years old, but no-one knows for sure. I don't remember much from before my new humans adopted me. I was having a good time roaming around Walton county when someone called Animal Control and claimed I was vicious. That is *so* not true...

Anyways, after doing some time in the animal control lock-up, someone there called Alcovy Pet Rescue. A nice lady came down, grabbed my ears, pulled my tail, stuck her hand in my mouth, grabbed my paws and generally tried to piss me off. But I'm a friendly sort, so I let her, especially since I thought it might get me out of this place. And it must have worked, because then...

I went to a boarding facility that Alcovy uses, and I met this nice lady Yvonne who thought I was the cat's meow (you know what cats are good for? A snack! Hee hee hee), and she was pretty sure she could find me a forever home. She took my picture, fed me, found a comfortable place for me to sleep. It all seemed pretty good, then she got mean. She took me to the vet. I'm pretty sure I've been to a vet before, but it wasn't anything like this!

They jabbed me with some needles, poked and prodded me, fussed over me, and then I got real sleepy. When I woke up, my 'nads were gone! And I had stitches. It was the weekend, and no one was around, so I ripped them out. It probably wasn't a good idea, but, hell, I was BORED. There was just me, a few barking dogs, and I was cooped up in the crate, and the stitches hurt. What else was I gonna do?

So I got sleepy again, and when I woke up, I had MORE stitches. Something about "damn, he was lucky we didn't have to remove his pee-pee." Not sure what that meant, but it didn't sound good. So anyways, I go back to the boarding facility and hung out there.

The picture she took of me must have been really good, because it was only up on the computer for a half a day before some humans called and wanted to meet me. Yvonne said we could all meet at Petsmart, but they veto'ed that idea, saying it would be too distracting for me. They decided to come out to the boarding facility and meet me here.

They arrived Saturday morning, and I was wound up, let me tell you! We went into a large fenced off area, and they petted me and I charged around and kinda acted like an idiot. It was a lot of fun, and they must really like me, because an hour later, I was in their car, and we were going to my forever home! I also met a lady named Becky, who is real cute.

We rode for a bit, and got to my new home. Turns out these humans (jc and Cindy) have two other dogs, so that was cool. One of them, the old Golden Retriever named Moon won't play with me (she gets all growly). Makeeta, the Shiloh Shepherd was sorta stand-offish, but she warmed up to me, and we play all the time now.

That's me, and what happened up to getting to my new home. I'll get jc to take some more dictation about the first couple weeks and bring everything up to date. I wish someone had told me about this 'blogging' thing when I first got home. I gotta lot to say!