Herbie and Ruby

I’m Cute, Too!!

fabricpile — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53:43 +0000

Herbie’s feeling a bit grouchy this morning. He discovered that Ruby had made it on Cute Overload for the third time, and he’s a little jealous.

Herbie: I’ve got a haiku for you, Cute Overload!

Hey, look over here!

I’m way cuter than Ruby.

And I was here first.

Mom: A nice long walk and some Chuck-It and he’ll get over it.

Herbie: DID SOMEBODY SAY, “CHUCK-IT?!”

My Friend The Wild Whippet

fabricpile — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:12:22 +0000

Herbie: My friend Bentley has such a story to tell! He’s my best buddy (besides Ruby, of course) in the whole world. We like to hang out together at his house and have lots of fun. So I was really excited when he came to stay at our house for the week prior to Labor Day.

He’s kind of shy except with his own dad, John, so my mom was a little nervous about watching him–especially since the last time she watched him, he ran away from her and was gone for 12 whole hours!

We were having so much fun together at my house, but on the day his dad was coming to get him, Bentley got kinda nervous, pushed out our front door, and ran really fast to try and find his dad. He’s way faster than we are, and really hard to catch. My family was really upset because they couldn’t get him back. He just kept running and running. I helped look for him because he likes me, but we just couldn’t find him. John and my mom called everyone around, put up flyers, got Amber Pet Alert, contacted the rescue organizations, shelters, and nice people at Caring Paws. For days no one heard or saw Bentley. Then my mom and John started getting phone calls because a lot of different people saw Bentley (who was very, very scared) running around about 5 miles from our house! We all went to try and find him, but after a few days, we couldn’t get him to come out.

We kept looking and looking, but no one reported seeing Bentley for the next six weeks. We were all really sad. John got a tiny little puppy named Ernie to help cheer him up and to be Bentley’s friend when we could find him. Ernie is a really smart Type A Rat Terrier. We love him a lot, too.

This is Ernie helping my mom study.

And after 7 long weeks of Bentley being missing, John got a phone call that there was a “small greyhound” (he’s a whippet, but a lot of people don’t know what that is) hanging around a farm about 7 miles away from our house. They local greyhound rescue angels were trying to get him to come to them, but he was just so scared, he didn’t know what to do. Luckily, the people who owned the farm had been feeding him and he had been going under their gazebo for some shelter.

My mom and John, and I drove right out there as quickly as we could! They saw a ghost-like doggie running across the dirt road from one corn field to another. It was Bentley! John called to him, but he was just so lost and confused, he turned and ran away again. The greyhound ladies told us that we had to be patient, don’t call him, and come back tomorrow.

Well, we waited for about an hour and I fell asleep on John’s lap in the car. Then my mom saw Bentley in the farmer’s yard! He was so close to us! She put her window down and I barked to him. He turned and looked at us, but didn’t run away. Then John whistled and Bentley finally realized that his dad had found him! He came running to our car and leaped up in John’s arms! We were all so excited to see him! And boy, was he excited to see us!

So Bentley is at home now, he had a few icky bugs living in his stomach and he lost some weight , but other than that, he’s just fine. He had quite an adventure–seven weeks living outside on his own. He is very happy to be back in his warm house! And we get to keep Ernie while Bentley gets better. Ernie’s still a little puppy, and not the kind of dog to run away; but I know that my mom is extra, extra careful, anyway!

Did Somebody Say, “Chuck-It?!”

fabricpile — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:43:25 +0000

Herbie: I used to think I couldn’t live without my purple Jolly Ball. Mom or the kids would kick it and I would bring it back until I collapsed. Mom liked it because I couldn’t demolish it in 10 minutes like all of my old favorite soccer balls. I still like Purple Ball, but now I have a CHUCK-IT!

Oh, my gosh is playing Chuck-it fun! Mom takes us out to a big field where we can pretend that we are greyhounds when we run after the ball.

Ruby: I love to play, too, but even though I’m faster than Herbie and always get to the ball before he does, I’m polite and let him bring the ball back to mom. It makes him feel big and tough. Mom had been keeping the Chuck-It in her utility cupboard, but Herbie figured out how to open the cupboard and was making everybody crazy sticking his nose in there, talking to the Chuck-It, and always wanting to play. Now I’m not sure where she keeps it.

Did you notice? I’m getting to be a big girl now! I had my first birthday last month. I’m still a petite little girl, but mom says that’s what my real mom and dad were like, so I’ll probably be skinny as well as short. I sure love to exercise. I wonder if I could teach aerobics when I’m a grown-up.

Hey, Mom . . . . helloooooooo?!!!

fabricpile — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:06:14 +0000

You know, if I had opposable thumbs, I could do my own blogging, but I’m counting on you to jump start this thing and get posting again!

Ruby and I have plenty to talk about!

Training and training and . . .

fabricpile — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:33:09 +0000

Herbie: My (sister/buddy) Kira and I have been practicing hard to become a Pet Partners team in the Delta Society, an organization for therapy animals and their humans. I’m trying my hardest to learn and practice all of the tricks and commands she tells me to do–but gosh, I get so bored of “sit” and “stay” and “come!” I learned those when I was a puppy! I still like all of the attention. I even get to go to PetSmart with her sometimes!

Even though it’s a lot of fun, Kira says I still have to work on some things. I learned that people think I can be really grumpy! I never stopped to consider it, but now that they mentioned it…I don’t have much patience with hugging and snuggling. I’m getting better at behaving myself, but really, when I want to sleep, I don’t want to be bothered! Is that so wrong? Kira is helping me fix it by giving me lots of hugs and cuddling me when I’m sleeping. I have to say, if this is what I get for being such a grump, maybe I should act like a crotchety old-man-dog more often!

The one thing I really didn’t like about this whole therapy dog was that trip to the dog park. All of those big dogs rushing at me was just too much! I freaked out and we had to leave. I tried really hard to behave, I did! But when you’ve got a lab and a german shepherd and a pit bull running up to you wanting to play chase like a bunch of oversized puppies, it’s intimidating to be such a shortie. I’m going to try to keep my cool next time.

Because of the problems at the dog park, we decided not to take the therapy dog test as soon as we were planning, but I know we’ll make it! Kira and I just have to keep working hard, and I have to work on not getting so scared around bigger dogs. Hopefully Ruby will join our training soon!

Soft Core-gi

fabricpile — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:32:39 +0000

I never know what I’m going to find when I dump pictures from my camera onto my computer. I don’t ever expect to see anything inappropriate, though! Imagine my surprise when I found this:

Ruby: What?! My boyfriend on MyCorgi wanted to see my picture! Geez, mom! It’s not like I’m naked or anything!! You’re such an old lady!

It’s Just a Phase

fabricpile — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Ruby: Mom, could you please tell everyone to stop calling me Weasel Dog? I know I’m a bit disproportionate right now, but I’ll grow through it!

Herbie: Don’t even think about calling me Sushi Roll again!

Herbie Baby!

fabricpile — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:37:15 +0000

Herbie: Oh, mom! NO! Not the baby album! It’s so embarrassing!

Oh, man! Have I always had that look on my face? Well, at least you know I’m happy.

I’ve always been a bit of a schmoozer, haven’t I? Helllllooooo, ladies!

Oh, geeeeeez, mom! Not that picture! I know I didn’t quite get the hang of the crate idea, but you wanted me to sleep in the cat’s crate! Ewwwww!

Okay, now that’s just plain embarrassing.

I love my boy Henry.

Being a puppy was exhausting! I remember. Heh. I really was am kinda cute.

Meeting Mr. Tumnus

fabricpile — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:49:36 +0000

Herbie: I’m so glad the weather is nicer and we can get out and walk for a few miles each day. I love seeing all my friends again. Ruby’s getting to be a really good heeler, too, so I can find my stride and enjoy.

I’m still not sure about that doggie water fountain thing. I’ll have to work on that.

Ruby: I think I figured out what they want me to do when we go out. I’m a big girl now! So this morning we were walking down the street when we saw another corgi headed our way. He looked kinda familiar . . .

It was my brother, Mr. Tumnus! He doesn’t even live here anymore, but was visiting his grand-family. He was very excited to see us, and it was tough for my mom to get a picture of us together.

Of course, he wasn’t called Mr. Tumnus when we were little. And I’m sure that since I was the runt, he probably picked on me a lot back then.

He’s really cute, though. And I like his ruff markings a lot! Hope to see you again next time we come through the wardrobe, Mr. Tumnus!

Lady Wallis

fabricpile — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:37:27 +0000

This is Lady Wallis (as in Simpson). She was our neighbor’s dog when we lived way out in the country. She roamed free and no one was home for weeks at a time at her house. We were home all of the time, so she lived with us for the better part of three years.

Of course, seeing how she wasn’t our dog, we didn’t have much to say when the neighbor’s son decided to take her into town to live. And when she ran away from her town life, we were heart-broken.

She was our introduction to this wonderful breed. Talkative, friendly, eager to walk with us for miles and miles. We didn’t hesitate too long before we knew we had to have our own corgi. But we think of Wallis often. And now that we have also moved into town, we keep hoping to catch a glimpse of her. We hope somebody loves her and appreciates her as much as we did!

It turns out that Ruby is related to her! So there is a little bit of Wallis still living with us after all.