Comet's Blog January to June 2008For past blogs, see For about a week it snowed on us and was very cloudy. The humans used their generator a lot so they could turn on the heater and run their computer. A couple of times we drove over a mountain and then down into a town with a big lake called "Tahoe" to get groceries. The first time we gave a ride to a man who'd been staying in a tent and was afraid he was going to freeze to death. 
After our stay in the big meadow, we drove all day till we came to the same campground we had stayed in all last summer! But it was different because there was quite a bit of snow and the river is higher and faster than last year. The Bipeds had to dig a tunnel through a snowbank to get to our camping spot. (Here's me supervising). I go with the Two Leggers to clean the other campground and pick up trash at a lake. It's fun because I get to ride in the back of the pickup truck and run off leash in some places. We've also been doing some cool uphill hikes after dinner. I realized I don't need to do any kind of man-made agility courses when I am out in the woods and mountains. There are logs to jump over, streams to negotiate, brush to wriggle through, and sometimes I have to figure out how to go a different way than the humans if the rocks are too steep for me. They've never managed to leave me behind!
Say, if you dogs get to do some really fun stuff too, why don't you put it on this website so there's more than just pictures of me? Your humans can go to Share Your Dog Story and create your very own webpage. Then they can enter you in the "Dog of the Month" contest - I'm not eligible but I guess it doesn't matter 'cause I'm all over the place already... Happy wags till next time -Comet May 15, 2008 I tried this with a Great Dane who lives in the apartment complex. He flipped me over on my back and straddled me, then started chewing on me. Luckily not my throat, just one ear which has healed already. Scared the humans, for sure! For the first time ever, I've been getting around a group of dogs regularly. A bunch of neighborhood people show up with their dogs around the same time at a local park (not an official dog park) every day and encourage us to get along with each other off leash.
The first day we went, a young German Shepherd female started snapping and snarling at me when I tried to intimidate her. She was reprimanded, and we now avoid each other. I run after other dogs who're chasing balls instead. I still get nervous when a whole bunch of dogs come up to me at once and sniff me over. My humans tell me it's okay and that helps me be more relaxed. Nothing else to tell except we just got back from a long car ride. We tent camped in a place with sagebrush and sand for the night. I got to run around off leash in the moonlight - yeah!
On the way back we stopped off in some pine forests in the mountains. There was still some snow on the ground and it was nice and cool compared to down here in the valley. The humans are talking about changes coming in June. Wonder what that means? Guess I'll find out and let you know next time. Here's my motto for the month: When in doubt, woof it up! - Comet April 15, 2008 We're back to staying with Gentle Hands in her apartment, although it's a much bigger place than when we stayed with her before. I'm respectful of her cats, Reggie and Onyx. I like Reggie better. He and I seem to end up in the same poses a lot. He has a lot of orange in his fur, like me. The weather's been strange - cold for a few days, then really hot for a couple, now cold again. Makes it tough to have a coat I can't take off. One neat thing about this place is that there are lots of dogs and cats around. Every time I go out the door the sniffing is first class. Sometimes I have fun joining a barking chorus. I get to go in the pickup once in a while to the Tall One's apartment and we walk around where she lives. All kinds of interesting smells there - food, feral cats and dogs I've never met. My legs are doing better and so is my mouth. My human mama has been brushing my teeth almost every day because she saw some blood on the toothbrush one day. I like the taste of the toothpaste so don't fight her too much. I try to chew on the brush as much as possible and sometimes she lets me. Not sure how long we'll be in this place because the humans don't know, and I go where they do. Will keep ya posted next month. Till then, keep your ears pricked and your nose to the ground and you might learn as much as I do - Comet March 15, 2008 Things just keeping getting better for me! We are back near the human daughters in the city but in a much better RV park than the last couple of times. There are lots of dogs in this park as well as three cats that I see almost every day. Although I have to be inside the trailer or on a leash outside, there is lots of open space with trails just outside the park. The trails go a long ways and also go down to the river. I get to run off leash once or twice a day and can wade in the water to cool down. There are also many ground squirrels and jackrabbits for me to chase. Dog heaven, I tell ya! It sure is a change from the desert with it's wind. Once in a while we would get a really windy day and be sitting there wondering if the trailer was going to blow over! I didn't go outside much on those days... It's nice to see the Tall One and Gentle Hands again. I like visiting their apartments. Well, just thought I'd get this out to ya even though it's a little late. Happy St. Paddy's Day and I'll tell you if I got anywhere near the Easter Bunny next month. Keep your tail a-waggin' - Comet February 15, 2008 Every time we move to a new spot (only once this last month) it takes me a couple of days to mark my new territory. At first I just bark if people come right around our trailer. But after a few days my area gets larger. If any other dog gets into that space, I charge out at them, barking as loud as I can! There were many dogs the first place we stayed. They all stayed in RVs, like me, only most of them lived in bigger ones than us. There are more RVs in the desert and in the town than houses! And so many tents with people selling stuff. It sure is weird. The Two Leggers are starting to pamper me a little more ever since they discovered that in people years I'm probably around 72 years old. Since I'm a larger breed dog, you can't just take my age and multiply by 7 after a certain age in dog years. Guess my muzzle is going grey too. They're letting me sleep in more, specially on cold days - I've never liked getting up and going outside when the weather is cold or rainy anyway, unless the humans are willing to suffer that nasty stuff too! Life isn't totally peachy, but then, when is it ever? The ground has a lot of small, sharp rocks - it looks like people put dark red gravel everywhere, but it's actually natural and called "desert pavement." Rather hard on the paws. Then there's those nasty cactus plants. If I go haring off after a rabbit, I sometimes catch the edge of one. If I stop and lift the paw that hurts, one of my humans will come and take the thing out. The new spot we moved to has more sand, fewer prickly things and more critters to chase. But I haven't seen any dogs - most of the other RVs are too far away. Well, I'd better get up now. Talk to you next month - keep your tails wagging - Comet January 15, 2008 During that time, we did some driving back and forth with boxes and furniture to an apartment that the Tall One (the younger human daughter) was moving into. A few days later, a whole bunch of the girls' friends came over and spent hours pushing shopping carts filled with boxes and other stuff back and forth to an apartment in the same complex that Gentle Hands (the older daughter) is now living in. I had to stay in the old apartment and guard the stuff since I couldn't help any other way. Once everything was out of that place, we moved back into the trailer in the RV park we used in September. This was even worse for me as far as walks went. The weather was cold and wet so the humans stayed inside a lot. We experienced a very big storm with winds stronger than Sacramento had seen in many years. When it was over, many big trees and branches were lying on the ground. The humans had planned to leave right before the big storm came, but had car trouble so we stayed. Right after that, Gentle Hands' car had some problems and Papa Stan helped her with that. When he wasn't working on the cars, he was doing a lot of computer stuff, as was Mama Jo. They saw that I was really bored so made sure that I got a bone to chew on every day and taught me a new trick. When they say "Paw," I lift up my leg and give it to them. At first I wasn't sure what they wanted. After they had me sit and then said "Paw," I would throw myself into the "Down-stay" position, which made them laugh. It didn't take me long to learn what they really wanted, though, especially since cheese was used as a reward! I also got to play "Find the Cheese" in the old apartment and our trailer. The humans finally packed everything up and we drove a long way. We stopped at a lot of rest stops. The humans were wondering whether I was recognizing the same dogs when I sniffed at trees. Too bad I can't talk and tell them all that stuff my nose tells me... Now we're back in the desert somewhere. I can be off leash and bask in sunshine. It's rather rocky around here and I haven't seen any furry critters to chase, but you can't have everything - or at least not all at once! Guess it's time to say so long till next month. Remember if you keep things simple, like a dog, life should be a little easier. Chowtime - gotta go! - Comet
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Well, here's a picture of me after I splashed through some mud and got it all over my face! 
