Tatum Tot Spice

The Bed is Too Small! May 14, 2008

Yeah.. so the Mum went into a store without me and bought this bed and it’s just too small. But it’s comfy and I wish I fit in it better. I like the raised sides and sometimes let my head flop over because it’s very comfortable.

The Mum took me and Chase to a place called Colorado last weekend. It took a really long time to get there, and a really long time to get home, so I was kinda stressed. Plus, I got to play with Kiwi and Cor, my Aussie friends from there! They were so much fun! I wish the Mum would have taken a picture of me playing with them… we ran around and around and around and around and around… until I get tired and stressed and wandered through an agility course looking for my crate.

I wouldn’t go to the Mum.. I got kinda in my old fearful mode that someone would catch me and hurt me.. so I trotted around, but I followed her to the crate area then slipped inside, I was happy to be back in my crate, in this tiny bed!

Me in the Hotel on the Bed April 2, 2008

The Mum dragged Chase and me to a hotel again.. this one was different. It was only me and Chase and the Mum in the hotel this time. I missed having all the other dogs around. But it was fun to play with Chase, and it was safe in that room, though it smelled kinda funny.

The Mum and Chase did a flyball tournament. I got to stay in my crate where it’s cozy a lot of the time, but sometimes the Mum would bring me out and we would walk around. I have a new best boyfriend! His name is Oreo and he’s a border collie. He’s very handsome! We had a great time playing!

There was some really scary stuff and I tucked my tail, but then there was mostly fun stuff and so I was okay. The Mum said she was very proud of me for being so brave!

Levi is Braver than Me February 13, 2008

The Mum’s been taking me to a scary place the last little while, it’s called Ma and Paw’s Dog Bakery. The good thing is whenever we get home we get super yummy treats that we all love. That are home made and great!

Well I’ve been going there just with the Mum and I get scared. I tuck my tail and I try to do scary dog darting out the door. The Mum says she hasn’t seen me get any better… and she hasn’t! I’ve gotten even more scared. Just a little, but not too much.

So today the Mum brought Levi with us. Levi is such a great older brother. He wasn’t scared at all and I followed him around to all the fun stuff and guess what? There is really yummy stuff there! I ate treats for the first time and they were really good. I was able to relax with Levi there and really check stuff out. The Mum is great and all but if she were a dog she’d be better.

Levi even jumped up on the counter and the lady back there gave him a treat ball. He swallowed it whole! Then I got one and I ate it slowly and enjoyed it. There was even a strange man there shopping and guess what? He had Livers! Wow! So I ate some Livers from him and they were good.

Then we got home and the Mum gave us what she bought, some heart shaped valentine dog cookies. Oh boy they were great and all 7 of us got one! I want more!

My Weekend February 10, 2008

Yesterday me, the Mum, Chase and Levi got to go to an agility trial. It was fun. I checked every human out to see if they had Livers. And guess what? They did! Amazing. People are not so bad when they have yummy Livers. The Mum said Chase and Levi had lots of fun too and did really well. She also said I did well too!

It got scary when we walked to the car because stupid Mum dropped my flexi leash. And I dragged it behind me and I panicked! Oh man! It was scary. I tried to run back into the big building but hit my head on the glass and then Aunt Astrid caught me up. I was pretty afraid for the rest of the night, but when we got home I just wanted to play with Chase and then eat dinner then sleep ’cause I was tired.

This morning the Mum took me and Tony out for a walk. It was fun at first but then got stressful ’cause of all the cars going around. I wanted to go home so the Mum took us home, and when we got home I wanted to play with Chase again. The Mum says play relieves stress but duh, I already knew that!

It was a fun couple of days. The Mum says that I won’t be as nervous the more i do stuff. I sure hope so. I don’t like being nervous.

The Mum gave me a bath today (because Chase peed on me yesterday), and it royally sucked. But then the Mum says how gorgeous I am and she brushes me and scratches me. But I already know I’m gorgeous. But I kinda like the Mum too, and the rest of the pack. It’s a pretty good life here.

Scary Place Fun Place February 8, 2008

Today the Mum took me to a scary place. It had strange noises and people and smelled really funny. Tomorrow I get to go with to an agility trial, and when there are lots of dogs around I have fun!

The place today the Mum called a store.. and had weird things for sale. We only walked in one door, then out the other door, and then went home. And I’m fine when I’m home or back in the car. I only tried to bolt from the Mum once, right after we went out the door. It probably wasn’t more than one minute we were in the store. And no one bothered us, so that was good. I wish there were more dogs around.

The Mum said she wants me to do Therapy someday. Well, I don’t know what Therapy is, but it’s supposed to help people to feel better. But I need to feel better first! So the Mum wants to do this lots, almost every day (she said we were going to do it every day but we haven’t, dorky Mum).

I’m excited for Tomorrow.

Oh, and I have some sad news.. or the Mum says it’s sad. She says my big sister Lucy might have Cancer. And the Mum was crying today because of it. But Lucy is my big sister, so she’ll be around forever, right? I think so.

Dog Park is Fun! December 26, 2007

I’ve only been to the dog park twice. This was my second time. The Mum took me and Tony and Angel a few weeks ago but I was a bit nervous then. This time, I wasn’t nervous at all!

Today she took me, Levi, Chase and Tony. The Dad took Lucy and Levi for a walk around the house ’cause they don’t like to run run run like we do! I got to meet a ton of new dogs and we even saw Kibu from flyball! I wanted to go with all the other dogs too, and I kinda lost track of the Mum and Levi and Tony. Usually Chase would come to get me though, but then he’d just play with me and the other dogs and the Mum would have to come get us both!

Boy I’m tired now. I ran and ran and leaped and ran and plowed through the snow. Collies love the snow!

Now it’s nap time!

The Mum Keeps me Busy! December 13, 2007

This is me eating my yummer dinner… oh wait, actually, it’s me licking out Tony’s bowl, his is green and mine is yellow. Because he leaves lots behind and I can finish it up (if Lucy or Levi doesn’t get to it first!).

Yesterday I was really tired all day long. I didn’t want to play much and just slept most of the day. It’s because Tuesday night when the Mum took me to that lesson with the really nice lady who gives me treats, she made me work hard! They want me to learn how to sit closer to the Mum (this kinda bugs me because I’m not used to hoomans that much). They want me to gather up my back feet in when I sit, so I kinda sit forward. And then when I stand up, they want me to push my back feet behind me. They calls it a ‘kick back stand’ and I guess if I get in the practice of doing it now it’ll become so natural that I’ll do it when we go do obedience whatever that is.

Then last night The Mum made me do it all over again! Except last night there were really fun puppies there, too. There was a little brown and black puppy that someone said a dumb person thought was a Labrador Doberman mix.. but she’s really a Rottweiler and she’s so cute I loved to play with her! Then there was a bigger fuzzy puppy who everyone was giggling at her butt when she walked. He he. She’s called a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy and I wanted to play with her too!

But anyway I thought hard about the up sitz and the kick back standz and I think I got it pretty good, in just a day, and I got lots of treat and they told me I’m so smart (which I already knew, thank you very much) because I was getting it so good already.

The people get amazed at how quick I learn but duh, I’m a collie you know, and they don’t have to teach me things too much more than a couple of times before I know what they mean! And the people aren’t so bad. They are actually kinda fun to get treats from and play with. Though I still look away from the Mum when she tries to give me those silly monkey hugs. What does she think I am, a monkey! Duh, I’m a collie!

(The Mum just told me not to call anyone dumb. They are just uneducated on doggies. Whatever!)

Oh Boy What a Day! December 10, 2007

Well even though the Mum didn’t take me out at all yesterday, she sure made up for it today! I was going to have the Mum show a picture but she says the camera is all the way upstairs, and we are all sitting on the couch blogging or sleeping and no one wants to go aaaalll the way upstairs for it.

Anyway the Mum checked her email this morning and her trainer said that obedience lessons start at 9am today. So! She fed us and showered and off we went. Oh, but before that I had to wake her up, because she was sleeping in the morning and sleeping is no fun in the morning, playing is! And so I jumped on her when she was in bed and it was just the exact minute she sat up and BAMB my forehead hit her forehead and ouch it hurt both of us! But she just laughed and got out of bed.

So we got up and had breakfast and then went out for obedience. I didn’t get to do much but watch Chase and the Mum practice their weird things they do. At the end, though, I got to get out and play with my new border collie friend! He is 9 months old and man he liked running around! And then I got to go to the fun mat the Mum has set up, and do our sits and downs and stuff. And I even ran around and played with her some, and walked next to her following a treat. She said it’s called ‘heeling’ but I only did it for a couple seconds at a time and boy those treats are good!

Then me and Angel went to the flyball captain’s house ’cause she does an icky thing.. she gives dogs baths and brushes and makes them pretty… and that’s not so bad but we didn’t have that done. We had our toenails clipped! It was awful! But the Captain lady said we were not so bad and I have to admit it does feel better to have shorter toenails. Even though I hate my feet touched! The Mum says she wants to me to get used to a thing called dremmel but the noise is so loud…

Then we stopped by PetCo which is scary but Angel came so it wasn’t so bad. Then we got to go home and take a big long nap before dinner.

Whew! It was a long day and the laptop hasn’t been on until now so I can blog about my day. And now I just want to sleep! Tomorrow the Mum says we are going to go to our super nice obedience instructor for something called a Private Lesson so she can make sure she teaches me all the right stuff right from the beginning so she doesn’t have to fix anything later. But I don’t know why she would have to fix anything because I’m pretty perfect just the way I am!

Sleeping on my Back December 9, 2007

Sometimes I like to sleep in the wire crate the Mum has set up in the basement. It’s cozy and safe in there. I came from a place that didn’t really have any cozy and safe spots. Some of the dogs weren’t very nice to be around, either. But some were fun. I didn’t really have enough food to eat, though, and here I get a lot of food and I really like to eat.

Sleeping on my back is super comfy. Do you like to sleep on your back? Do you have a safe cozy place you like to sleep? The Mum says I can find lots of friends to play with through this blog and if I read other dog blogs so I’m looking for fun friends. I love to run around in the backyard.

People are still kinda scary to me but I really do love dogs. Though most people that I meet now do have yummy treats in their pockets and I like to eat them. But when I get too nervous then I don’t want to eat anything I just kinda want to run and hide but the Mum says if I get out and see lots of things they won’t be so scary anymore.

I like it at home, where I can sleep on my back.