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*