It's my BIRTHDAY!

Georgia here. Today is my first birthday. Here I am in my best doggie pose. Don't I look like one of those fancy show dogs?

Compulsory puppy pic:

It has been a very exciting weekend. Yesterday we went to see my brother Ben. His mom owns a pet shop, so mom and dad took me there to see Ben and buy my birthday present. Here it is:

I have (okay, had) a couple of puppy Kongs, but this week I let mom and dad know that I wasn't a puppy anymore and destroyed both of them:

The bad cousins came by today for a play date, and Storm took our plastic bones and hid them in the garden, so mom had to buy new ones:

Here I am having some quiet time with my new bone. Of course Dakota came by a few minutes later and stole it. (Notice the stuffed toy on the left. It's the only one we haven't destroyed. Do we treat it nicely because it's a dog?)

The only thing missing from my day is cake.

Georgia's Turn

Yep, I can see why Dakota likes it here.

Dakota's Sunday Evening

A well-earned snooze after a lazy day of doing nothing at all.

Christmas in January?

Hello all. Today we got a package from our Uncle Pat in the USA. He sent us pupperoos some fancy American doggie stuff.

We got two tug toy animals--a fox and a racoon (there aren't foxes and racoons in New Zealand, so we're not really sure what they are). They have squeakers in the nose and tail, so they're DOUBLE FUN! As soon as mom squeaked them, Dakota jumped up and got very excited.

She grabbed both of them and jealously guarded them from Georgia.

Finally Georgia got her greedy paws on the fox, and outside we went with it.

We also got a couple of bottles of doggie beer. We enjoyed an apertif of Beefy Brown Ale before dinner tonight. Eight paws up!

The Walk

Hello everyone, Dakota here. I thought I would share with you some photos of today's walk (you know, that thing I was sulking about the other day) and the area by our new house.

Georgia and I get our walks together. We have a combined weight of about 60 kg (over 130 lbs) and that husky pulling power, so needless to say sometimes mom has a difficult time walking us. When we see other doggies we want to run up and say hello, and we usually end up dragging her along. But usually we walk very nicely. We even have a system--I walk on the left and Georgia walks on the right. Here I am in perfect walking form with a loose leash.

Mom and dad have a clever way of getting us to walk nicely. When we walk at their sides and look up at them, they give us a treat. It keeps us from pulling and sniffing everything constantly. A treat in the mouth is better than a sniff in the grass (hee hee). Here I am, showing what a good dog I am (treat, please).

And here's Georgia asking for her treat. Her golden retriever ears flap and fly about when she walks, so she looks pretty silly.

When we're in a tight spot and can't walk on the side, we go out front in formation. Won't we make a great sled dog team?

This is the path we have been walking along. It runs a couple of miles along the edge of the harbour, and it's a nice safe place for us without too many distractions (except for the occasional seagull).

And finally here we are posing for a nice portrait.

The Siberian Sulk

Dakota here. Have you heard of the Siberian swirl, where huskies curl up in a ball when they sleep? Well, I have perfected my own variation, the "Siberian sulk". This is what I do when I'm in a grumpy mood and want everyone to leave me alone. Like now, because I want to go for my walk.

See, I'm even ignoring Georgia, who just doesn't understand me and my moods.

Rediscovered Toy

Mom unpacked more boxes today (she's been pretty lazy about doing this), and she found a frisbee that they bought for us ages ago but packed away and forgot about. She gave it to Dakota, and Dakota instantly made it clear that it was hers.

Of course, Georgia was too tempted and couldn't resist it.

She goes in to investigate, but Dakota stands her ground.

Dakota defends her new possession (note the paw).

And it's game on! They spent the next half hour chasing it and each other around the back yard.

Happy New Year everyone!