Me, Oliver, and and two anonymous fans at the Minneapolis Airport

Hello, dear fans and loved ones,

I must be getting (sshhh!) along in years. Actually it is almost my twelfth birthday. I am in terrific shape for a boy my age. Still handsome. Still smart. I admit I sleep more and give in more to what is expected of me, but I still steal socks and shoes. I prance in front of you to make sure I am garnering all the attention and adoration I so richly deserve. (I know it’s been awhile, but just to remind you, I do have a large vocabulary and you may have to use a dictionary…this is an interactive blog.)

Let me tell you how wise I am. As Biscuit’s elder I let him eat from my food bowl and eat from my drinking bowl after I am sated. I also let him follow me at a couple of my therapy animal jaunts. He loves it but he gets very excited when people pet him. He licks some chosen people and sometimes gives a little bark of joy. Neither one of those things is my style. I am dignified. He is not. I forgot to say that Biscuit is now a fully licensed therapy animal through Pet Partners, USA. I try to set an example for him, and I admit he is an excellent student. We went together to Methodist Hospital and most everyone we met loved us.

Above you see us in one of our favorite spots: The Porch at Old Pines. I honestly don’t know of anyplace I would rather be. I can watch you swimming from here, but I wish you would let us swim with you. It tangles our coat terribly and you have to spend a very long time fixing our fur, but we are truly worth it, don’t you think?

I love you and I love Biscuit and I love everyone else too. Well, everyone except people who smoke and smell like sweat and other unpleasant things. Thank you for being loyal readers. I like to be petted and talked to and admired. I may seem reserved, but I really wish everyone would play with me…all the time.

Advice from Oliver: Even the most aloof-seeming creatures are much in need of love.

Today you and I got my special scarf and special leash on and we got in the car and drove to a great big parking lot and went up in an elevator to the 24^th floor and I lay down and waited a very long time before we could see anyone. A lot of people were sitting down on folding chairs facing other people sitting behind a long curvy desk with their names in front of them and they sat very stiffly on bigger chairs. The desk said Hennepin County Government Center. There were cameras around and a lot of people took my picture.

After a very long snooze, we heard our names and we walked in to greet everyone in their dressed up clothes smelling like they needed me to make them smile and stand up over their long desk with my paws waiting for them to give me a treat. They didn’t. You told me I was a very good boy for being so patient and that no one should have to wait as long as we did to come in to receive a piece of paper and take our picture and tell us what we already knew, which is that we make people smile and feel happy. My favorite person was the one who was typing. Her pockets smelled delicious. I knew she had a dog. I smelled her pockets.

It was kindof sad. Everyone looked stiff and unhappy until we came in and I wagged my tail to let them know I was friendly. We should have come in before they started their very long sitdown. They were called Hennepin County Commissioners and they proclaimed yesterday May First Animal Therapy Animal Day.

Wow.

We are so cool.

Then I sniffed our way back to the elevator and the parking lot and our car and we drove home to see Biscuit. I needed another nap. I’m glad we don’t have to do that again soon.

Advice from Oliver: When you see a lot of people sitting down for a long time on folding chairs, get ready for a nap. 

Biscuit and I are on our favorite perch…our window sill. We see the lake, the trees, and people like you running, walking, or riding their bikes. Inside, we are protected from loud skeet shooting, something that makes me want to run and hide. These sounds happen every Saturday between 10 am and 3 pm. You try to take us for walks before and after these times. Never during. 

If we forget and try to walk during that time, I dig in all four paws, with every bit of strength I have, and in no uncertain terms, make it clear I am not walking any direction except home. Some sounds make my skin hurt, my fur quiver, my heart race, and my legs shiver. Guns really hurt the pink shells of my ears. Other bad sounds are rollerblades, skateboards, and other strange, not-walking types of wheeled animals. What hurts Biscuit’s ears are fire engines and ambulances. When he hears them, he howls like a wolf. People think it’s funny, but I don’t laugh because I’m a dog and his mother was my sister. I know how he feels. When he howls, you open the door and let him inside. He is happy to get away from siren sounds. Thank you for helping me take care of him.

On our deck, which is outside, we feel the wind and listen to the birds. The birds from all around the southern continent are coming home to Minnesota now. Today we heard sandhill cranes. In Wisconsin, they settle down for the summer on our lakeshore. Sandhills rattle-ratttle-rattle like no other bird voice. It’s a good loud, not a bad loud.

When we’re free on the deck, we can bark hello to other dogs. If our hello turns into a fugue, you bring us back inside. Sometimes I go in and out, in and out, in and out. You don’t like opening and shutting the door. You understand my two-bark “Let me in!” Once I’m inside, I let you alone for awhile and then I come to find you with a stolen sock or shoe in my teeth which you and I both know means, “Let me out!” Biscuit can stay outside much longer than I can. He has the heaviest coat of any Beardie our groomer has ever seen. It keeps him very warm in inclement weather (Remember I have an extensive vocabulary). I think it makes him very hot in the summer too. Poor little Biscuit. We have to love who we are and how we were born. You help us with that.

The world as we feel it is usually very satisfying. In the morning, we fight over who gets the paper. We get a treat if we bring it in. Daddy takes us for our very first walk. We eat our breakfast. We go for a big long walk with you. Sometimes we see our friends like Tom or Johannes. You like them and they like us. Town has treats and Johannes says, “Hi, guys!” We might get more treats from you. You let us smell all around the bottoms of trees, the grass, park benches and sometimes people’s shoes and pant legs. We come in and take a nap after all our nose work. We follow you around the house. We take another walk. We have dinner. We take one last leg lift at our closest tree and we all go to bed. I let Biscuit take his position next to you, and when he’s not looking, I hop up. We are both very agile when we sail over your legs. Actually, I am graceful as a gazelle and Biscuit is more of a galoomph. Both styles are gorgeous. But you know that already.

Advice from Oliver: Sometimes we need to be outside where we can sniff trees and sometimes we feel safer inside. We’re our own expert feelers.