Bill

Bill, this bright-as-a-button 2 year old Yorkie was sitting by his owner's shopping basket whilst she took a coffee break near to the market in Menton.

Sunday...A Day of Rest

Well, actually, naps are good any ol' day of the week, not just on a Sunday... and even better when curled up with a favorite friend or family member.

What a terrific day for a nap.

Lady

Meet Lady, the Sheltland Sheepdog. I saw her lying by one of the tables at a Bric a Brac fair in Menton. Her owner wasn't there but a nearby stall holder told me her name.

Hearts are breaking...

With sadness,
we just found out from Astrid, Kashim & Othello
that Upsie is no longer with us.
Upsie was one of the first cats my Food Lady knew from Weekend Cat Blogging
and we have enjoyed the pictures and the stories of Upsie
for the past two years. Sundance also left us too soon
but now Upsie and Sundance are together again. From August 11, 2007 on Sher's Blog: What Did You Eat?

A Prayer for Animals

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

(Possibly written by the great Albert Schweitzer)

Snowy

I first spied this little dog asleep under a table alongside the Port of Monaco. A little bundle of fluff, you couldn't tell which end was which - see the small photograph.

Later I saw her walking along with her owners and asked if I might photograph her. She's a little bichon maltais (Maltese Terrier) only 4 months old and so well behaved. After I'd told them about this blog, her nice English owners mentioned it was their daughter's 9th birthday today and how thrilled she'd be to see Snowy featured. So here she is, Happy Birthday Emily! You've got a beautiful little puppy.

Catnip in my toes!

Look!
My Food Lady brought home a live catnip bush!
Oh, how I love the live catnip! See how I can hold it in my toes to eat it! I don't sit up for much
but I'll sit up for live catnip in my toes! I can also eat it right off of the catnip bush!
Yum, yum, yummy!

Ristick

This is Ristick, a fine looking 8-year old Pyrenean Shepherd Dog. His owners were surprised I knew the breed as they say most people don't. This is because I lived for a year in the Pyrenées and saw many - and also my neighbour has a bitch of this breed. At the same table, sitting by the sea, was a lady - a friend of the couple who own Ristick. You'll find her adorable little dog Chico, on Menton Daily Photo. Please click on the link.

Frends make it all gud

Dis pic is me wen I wus fraid of dat leetle shiney box wit one eye starrin at me. WOH! SCARY!



Da best part of califernia is dat all dem dawgs are nice too me an helps me haf fun. Wen Iz wit my frends I not scared no more of dat box. My peeps tell me pawsitive speriences makes me grow up strong. Lookit me buddies here. Dez reel nice to me.




Dis one dawg in da house namez Lola acts like Iz inbizable. Butt ONE day jus da udder day, she likez me! Da man snuk in and sawz us playin an laffs an got dis muvie. I had to try reel hard to do da rite thing so Lola wuld think I'z ok. Mmmm. Shez so pritty an ROLY POLY!

Muvie: My frend Lola

Happy Easter!

(background graphic by Kim Liddiard - www.digitalscrapbookplace.com)

Sub woofer

Crap action shot of crap dog in park. Notice the shadow revealing a pert tail.

Smudge Saturday

Rest in Peace Smudge

picture by Not The Mama

Copy Cat

Since the Wonderful People came and broke me out of that yucky jail cell, I have experienced lots of new things.  

All the new things are really great but it gets kind of overwhelming at times.  There is just so much to see and hear that sometimes I get all mixed up and scared and my body gets stuck. My people help me a lot and remind me that I should look at them instead of trying to see everything, but my biggest help of all is my big sister, Lulu. When I'm not sure what to do I look at her, and she makes me feel much better.  

Lulu is very clever and knows lots of things and never seems scared.  My people tell me she is a Canine Good Citizen, and that they hope I will be one someday, too. I'm going to study very hard because once I’m a Canine Good Citizen, I will be smart and brave, just like Lulu.

I love to copy Lulu, because everything she does is the best. She has shown me lots of things like how to lie on the couch with style, 

 

how to chew toys, 

and how to sunbathe.

If I keep copying her, I know I will be brave one day.

Thank you, Lulu, for being the best big sister any little dog could ever want.

Did You Say Ball ???

I Learned to play this new game.

Its called fetch.

Although, I'm not really sure what a fetch quite is.

But, I sure do like to Play.

Play Play Play.

I sure do like to play.

Jonny-

Black eyes

Waiting in the queue to buy some bread, I couldn't miss this little bichon staring at me with his big black eyes. I don't know his name, just he was happy to gaze at the camera with so much trust. Aren't dogs wonderful!

Another Road Trip!

Only this time we weren’t on the road for nearly as long as that time when we headed out west from Virginia. This road trip was much shorter. My foster mom told me that she was taking me on my very first family vacation. Hmmm…”vacation”…what does that mean?

So, mom loaded up the car and piled us all in, and we drove to a really fun place in the mountains of Northern California. Personally, I like road trips, but I found out that big sister Maxine does not like long car rides nearly as much as me. She spends most of the time squishing herself into some remote corner of the car, doing her best impression of an ostrich, and/or plopping herself on top of the grocery bags, reducing the potato chips and loaf of bread to mere crumbs. If you ask me, I think she’s being kinda silly.

So, as it turns out, “vacation” is one of my very favorite new vocabulary words! Woof!

Just like my buddy Uba said, it is soooooo much fun to play and bounce and wrestle in the snow…

And after all of that excitement, it is very important to find a perfect place to take a nap…










I think I need to ask mom to take me on another vacation very soon!

S.O.S.

I dint know how to swim yet, but my peeps trew me in dis big box of wader called a baff an den covered me wit bubbles. It wus warm an nice an the man tawked nice to me but - GEEZ! - Iz glad itz over.

I hope I dunt hafta do dat agin! Herz da movie: Baff Time!

Wordless Wednesday Watching TV

Ciappi

This handsome dog caught my eye. Look at him in the small photograph with his Italian family, sitting by the sea in Menton. What a fine looking dog. He is a mix of German Shepherd and Italian Spinone and he lives in Bordighera which is just beyond Ventimiglia across the border in Italy. I don't speak Italian so just as well this lovely family spoke perfect English.

I usually tell owners that they will find a photograph of their dog on 'Riviera Dogs' although sometimes, when I quickly grab a shot, it's not possible. In Ciappi's case, I did and received an email and some photos of Ciappi at home. I'm posting my favourite below - thank you, Stefano, Elena and Luca - and of course, Ciappi.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2008!

Mew-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra, Mew-ra-loo-ra-li
~~~~~
May your days be touched by
a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song
in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles of
the people you love!

Gribouille

A hot day in Menton yesterday, and one hot pug. I didn't ask why his owner was carrying him but presumably cos he'd got hot - and pugs can have breathing problems if they get overheated. Look at that lovely lolling tongue! Gribouille, 4 years of age, lives in Castellar - a beautiful old village above Menton. Gribouille looks heavy for his nice owner to carry. Pugs are small but very solid little dogs. What wonderful characters they are.

I've not seen a dog lead like that before - have you?

Happy dogs come from California

Lemme tell ya. This California livin' is really all people say it is.

After I got settled in -- I hear people calling it my "foster home," whatever the heck that is -- these cool people started taking me out for a jog just about every morning. In fact, Nice Mister said I was doing so good that he brought Lucy, their ornery dog, on the run with us. That was fun!

I really love our jogs. I've found my favorite places to *ahem* relieve myself, and Nice Mister and Nice Lady have finally learned to get out of the way so I can FLING dirt as far as I can afterward. They think I'm marking, but I'm really trying to get that dirt across the street! I've almost perfected it, too. Just . . . one . . . more . . . FLING!!

Nice Lady brings me to a big building every week where there were a LOT of other dogs, and we would heel and sit, heel and lie down, and circle around heeling. These people sure do like to play the heel game. Eh, it makes Nice Lady happy, so I do it. Plus, every once in a while, she surprises me with treats. Now, I've trimmed down a bit since living in California, but I can never say no to those treats! Where DOES she get those things from?!




And, I have to tell you -- remember that Nice Kid? The one who came up with my name? Dog love him because when he and Nice Lady are going out, he wants me to come, too, and man oh MAN is it fun.




Yup. Stoked. I could really get used to this California place.

Angelita & Ayala & Ayar 8 months