Rocky - Mad Dog of the People - at your service!

Whoa, it's been a while since we last talked.  I've grown 6 inches and put on 14 pounds since my last update!  JUST KIDDING!  This has been a few weeks of growth and learning on several new frontiers, though.  First, my nose continues to tingle with new and exciting sensations every time we go for a walk.  I've been putting two and two together and figuring out what some of these scents mean.  I discovered the other day that sniffing a bush on a prominent street corner is kind of like my pet people reading a newspaper.  I can tell who was there and how long ago they passed by.  The only problem I'm having is trying to figure out how all these other dogs get their information up so high on the bush.  The other day I tried something new - I stood real close to the bush and lifted one of my back legs up as high as I could, and I fell over.  I mean completely over.  I ended up laying on my side wiggling and squirming like a total fool.  It was TOTALLY embarrassing.  I doubt I'll ever try that again.  I'm so lucky no other dogs were watching.  My pet lady politely looked the other way, but a block later she still had this goofy grin on her face.  I've never been so humiliated!

I've been putting quite a lot of thought about what kind of dog I want to be when I grow up.  Now, there are these dogs that call themselves 'watch dogs.'  They're really cool, 'cause they make lots of noise and get rewarded for it.  I kind of like that idea.  So, just yesterday afternoon I saw something in my yard that I had never seen before.  It was standing over by one corner of the house.  It was leaning kind of sneaky like against the side of the house, crouched over like it didn't want to be noticed.  Well, I noticed.  I immediately took up station a safe distance, about 10 feet away.  Then I started in.  I used my biggest, deepest, most ferocious bark.  I yelled and hollered at this thing and it wouldn't budge.  So I made bigger, meaner noises.  Pretty soon I could see people peeking out windows and doors to see what was going on.  Figuring this was an opportunity to really show what I'm made of, I moved in a little closer, barking and growling all the time.

Now, this creature, or whatever it was, made no attempt to run, but it didn't seem too aggressive toward me either, so I moved in a little closer.  When I finally got right up next to it, I took a quick sniff and it didn't smell much like anything I should be too concerned about.  By now I could hear people talking and laughing in the house, so I made one more gallant effort to roust the offending creature from my yard, but to no avail.  Then, one of my pet people came and picked the thing up and hung it up in the shed.  What's a shovel, anyway?   Well, if I'm going to be a watch dog, I'd better figure out some of these things.

The weather has been beautiful.  I spend hours every day just laying in the sun, then moving into the shade when I get warm.  I like my new yellow ball.  It squeaks when I bite it.  I like that.  I've taught my people to feed me treats now when bring them the yellow ball.  They like that a lot, for some reason.  I've also taught them to just throw treats at me, and I catch them in the air.

Anyway, that's about the extent of the fun I've been having.  I hope your summer has been as delightful!  More later...

Rocky!

Time out...	Stealth dog looking for an unguarded shoe or glove.

Hmmm... how do they do that?	Amazing....

I only allow myself to be photographed from my good side!