Well, they've gone and done it. They piled so much "stuff" into this Japanese Sedan that they reduced the terrier space to NOTHING! Can you see my tiny terrier head in this photo? I'm the white fuzzy spot under the basket and next to the dirty laundry. Sheesh. And they wonder why I want to scamper and run around at the rest stops.

Anyway, after all the talk about packing light and not taking anything back to Arizona that was not absolutely necessary, this is what we ended up with in the car. I ask you...Did muzzer have to hold the dirty laundry on her lap? NOOO.....Did Dad have to sit on his briefcases????NOOOO. Did their big water bowl have to get left behind? NOOOO. This terrier is about to have a tantrum. At least I got a bite of steak and shake original single burger for dinner tonight. They will pay for this in the long run......

your friend
Gus

Stop the Moving!

I have figured out how to stop this packing nonsense! This morning I made a nest out of thing muzzer was sorting for the boxes. That is her favorite sweater hidden under the pillow, and I am not moving until she quits filling those boxes. And they call ME a silly dog!

Gus' mom says: "He is going to see Gail this morning and have a bath and brush. We'll see how long this nest thing lasts.

Welcome New Friends and Neighbors

I just heard that muzzer sent an e-mail to my friends in Lexington, Va and my soon-to-be friends in Arizona and elsewhere about my blog. Welcome to the world of Gus Dagger w.f.t.!

I am a very friendly fellow, and hope you will enjoy my pictures and postings. My sister Emily taught me how to blog, and I have been doing it regularly ever since. Most of my postings are done while muzzer is in the shower, or at her yoga class. Recently though, I have been able to spend more time on the computer without getting caught because muzzer always has her head in a moving box! Anyway, according to the calendar on the wall, we are at D-Day minus 9, and counting.

We are on box number 7 for shipping. We are 2.5 days from when Emily arrives to pick up the things she is taking to Washington D.C., and we are about 300 days from my next birthday! Too soon to start my wish list, huh?

Anyway, it is getting close to time for walkies, and I have to go nudge muzzer.

More Later
your friend
Gus
She'd better not pack my tug in that box!

Lazy Saturday

We cleaned the carpets this morning and the floor is still damp, so me and Dad are watching the Yankees and the Mets on TV. I am glad he is here, because the carpet is still a bit damp, and this way, it isn't my butt that's getting wet!

All this and he gives great butt rubs.
Gus

Retraction

My beloved sister has checked into the Bark Ball! I am sorry I was hyper-critical and said mean things. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, since we are leaving for Arizona (wherever in hell that is!) before the date of the ball, and my muzzer will not fly me back for the occasion. I should have saved my allowance, but I keep spending it all at PetSmart in Charlottesville!
profligately
Gus

Unfair to terriers

I just read on Louis the Pug's blog that he is going to the Bark Ball in DC! He gets to wear a tie and everything, and I'll bet there are lots of great treats there. My sister in DC says she doesn't think that it is my "kind of ball!" Can you believe that???

I ask you, am I not a handsome terrier? Am I not stunning in my beads from Mardi Gras? Would I not look fantastic in a black bow tie? Do I not deserve a little social life????? How am I to practice good doggie manners when no one takes me anywhere?

Is this not unfair to terriers??

My new niece?

Muzzer had an e-mail from my sister Elizabeth this morning. It seems she has acquired a puppy. This is her picture, and her name is Tika. She is a 4 month old Jack Russell. I think this makes her my niece! She sure looks cute, and I am even more anxious to set out for Arizona now that I know she is waiting for me!

I can teach her lots of stuff! Today I learned how to open zip lock bags. Treats are a fabulous motivation, and muzzer did leave the door to the dog cabinet open! Hey...opportunity knocks and rocks, right?

However, right now I am not feeling so well, so I am keeping this short. Who would've thought a few extra treats would upset a guy's stomach like this? Ohhhhhhh

Quiet Time

After all the excitement last week (and a lot of good food) things have been very quiet around here. The washing machine is humming again, and the boxes are piling up in the hall. Muzzer says they are "shipping boxes" to carry stuff back to Arizona. Several of them are terrier sized! You don't think she is going to put me in a box do you? I am such a good dog in the car, and I am very good at keeping the squirrels away. I think I will insist on my right to room service! I will certainly keep you posted on this most important matter.

Tonight after dinner (Mole' again) we walked over to the athletic fields to see how I would behave off lead. What's the big deal here? Are they getting tired of holding on to my leash? Sometimes these adults do not make any sense at all. I fixed them. They took off my leash, and I sat down. They tried to get me to play kickball with them. How many of you have ever watched a 60 year old woman try to play kickball. I watched them kick the ball back and forth for a while, then I tackled muzzer. She really looked more comfortable on the ground than running after my silly green ball. That was obviously not the thing to do. We left quickly for home, with muzzer grumbling all the way. The highlight of the evening, other than my successful tackle on the ground fault line, was running into a Siamese cat on the way home. Now that is an event I would LIKE to be off lead for. Lemme at it dad, come on, just one chance and I'll make it history. But noooo-ooo. Seems muzzer has a soft spot for pussy cats, and dad indulges her. Boy, they have a lot to learn.

Boring trip home after the cat sighting. No squirrels. No Bernese Mountain Dogs. No ice cream cone. Yawnnn. Think I'll hit the sack early tonight.

Til later friends
Gus

I visit Thomas Jefferson

Here I am in the back seat with my new friend Susana! My other new friend Albert is driving the car. We are on our way to see Monticello, which was the home of Thomas Jefferson, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence and also a President of the United States of America. Dogs cannot actually go inside his home, but we are allowed on the grounds as long as we are on a lead. I thought this might be boring, you know....history and all that. But I did not have to sit through any of the tours, I just stayed under the trees with Dad and let all the children and old folks pet me. We stopped in Charlottesville for a (very) lat lunch, then came home where Albert cooked a delicious chicken dish called mole', which we ate with flour tortillas and refried beans. Lest you report my muzzer to the ASPCA, I only got a sliver of chicken, no beans and no bourbon fudge for desert. Someone has been poisoning her mind against me! My people food ration has been drastically reduced! And I am forced to return to the kibble bowl.

Albert and Susana are very good friends. They are sleeping in MY bed. So last night, I snuck into their room and joined them. Were they surprised this morning. Now they say they will be more careful with the door latch. HehHehHeh. They do not yet know that I can work the latch on the outside, and they will have to engage the lock to keep me out. This is a trick I have developed recently due to the fact that muzzer and Dad are ALWAYS closing those doors so that I cannot see out the front windows and bark and bark and bark at the stupid golden retriever who works at the antique shop across the way. They will find out quickly. HehHehHeh! More adventures later.
Your friend Gus.

I am SULKING

We have company coming. Usually that is something to be happy about. But muzzer is letting this company use MY BED! I ask you: Is that fair? Is that just? Is that any way to treat a terrier? Join my crusade and tell my muzzer that she cannot just loan out my bed! Where will I sleep? Where will Dad sleep? How will we know where we are in the morning when we get up?
Does anyone know if there is a displaced terriers club anywhere? And do they have room service?

Sadly
Gus

I think I smell this thing called spring
It's hiding right here in the grass.

I hope that it has come today
To stay with us at last

The furry squirrel who got away
Can rest today up in his tree
I think that I may want to play
The grass smells good, the sunshine's free

I love the little dandelion, so bright, so round, so yellow

I think you will agree with me, he's such a cheerful fellow

The sunshine hits my belly
My feet aren't even wet
I think, you know, that this might be
The very best day yet!

Much Spring to All
Your friend,
Gus

You Call this a Party?

I got very excited yesterday when I heard we had people coming over for dinner. Dinner means lots of opportunities to pick up the tidbits people drop (accidentally, of course!) on the floor. I spend dinner UNDER the table, because that is where the good stuff falls.

I went around and strategically placed my chew bars and chips so that I would always have one to gnaw on while waiting. I hid the toys that people seem to think I want to "play" with, and I took a nice nap while muzzer cooked dinner.

I was fresh eyed and ready to rumble! Imagine my chagrin when there were only eight people here for dinner. I think muzzer is getting lazy. Last time we had 10 or 11, and the time before that we had 14! Plus, my favorite diner was not here. I actually netted fewer scraps than muzzer usually brings home from going out to dinner with Dad. And I had all that prep work to do!

Next time I think I shall just stay home. Oh yeah! this is home. Oh well, maybe the parties will get better when Albert and Susanna get here. Mexican food! Yummy Yummy. Plus, I think we are spending next weekend in Charlottesville. PetSmart, here I come!!!!!!

Gonna get groomed tomorrow. Will post photos!

Gorgeous Gus

What's Going on Here?

I counted this morning and realized that we have slept in the same bed for six days now! We have had no company since Grandpa left! I have hardly even been in the car except for a trip to Charlottesville, and we came back the same day! I ask you, is this any life for a travelling terrier?

Sigh.

I tried to share my concerns with muzzer, who told me to be quiet or she would put me in the washing machine with the rest of the dirty laundry that built up over the past couple of weeks. Then I tried to talk to dad, who muttered something about gasoline being three dollars a gallon and did I care to contribute to the cost of a trip. Since I spent my allowance for the week at Petsmart in Charlottesville, I had to turn down his request for a loan. After all, I needed that spiffy red leather collar and leash. And those new chew bars that promise to whiten your canines. And that rawhide that looks like a pretzel. And......

So, I guess we are stuck here for a while. I will have to find some mischief to make in Lexington, but it is a pretty sleepy town. All this history and not one dog park! I am reduced once again to tearing up the fox that was my present at Christmas. I don't think muzzer can fix it this time. I killed the squeaker good and spread about half of that rascally fox's innards around the living room. Good riddance. Now maybe someone will let me catch a squirrel. They have so far thwarted all my efforts at domination of squirrels on the lawn at Washington and Lee. What is a terrier to do for fun around here? Any ideas appreciated. I may have to join a fraternity for some fun and night life.

Yours in the midst of boredom
Gus

48 Hours!

You may remember I mentioned that my Sister in DeeSee got me some special items for my Easter visit. One of them was a really cool bone. It kinda felt like a tennis ball, but it was blue on one side and green on the other, and quite tasty on both sides though I did enjoy the blue side a bit better.

Muzzer has been worried because I started getting bits of blue and green fuzz off it very early. Acutally, in the car on the ride back to Virginia. Anyway, I am too smart to swallow them, so I have been depositing them on the carpet and bedspread. Oh, yeah and a few times dad has pulled a tuft or two off of my chin. I took a bit of teasing about being a punk terrier, but it was all in good family fun.

Sigh. This morning after breakfast I was gnawing away contentedly under the table. I must've been making a bit too much noise in my total appreciation of the experience. I guess she heard it when I tore the chunk out of the covering. Anyway. She took it away from me very quickly and consigned it to the trash. She is in the shower now, so I grabbed it out and took a photo so I can remember it later. It gave me a lot of fun during the 48 hours I had it, and I will miss it a lot.

Not to worry friends. I have a couple of other toys buried in the back seat of the Honda. Muzzer thinks she is so smart because she "found" one yesterday. Hah! I left the end sticking out between the seat and my blanket because I was tired of that thing always poking me in the rear when I sat down. Someone might want to tell her that she hasn't even come close to finding my stash, which includes several dingo sticks and a rawhide chew. On second thought, keep your mouth shut, or you will be the victim of the revenge of a terrier, and you probably won't last as long as my lovely Easter bone!

Regards
Gus

Hoppy Yeaster

I wish I could tell you that the Easter Rabbit came and left me lots of hard boiled eggs, carrots and a few chocolate eggs. No such luck! We've been on the move so much that the old lapin probably couldn't find me. I mean, it was a nice hotel, but were we registered under my name? NOOOO.

However, we did have a good time in DeeSee after we dropped off Grandpa. There was this park right across from the hotel. Lots of smells. Lots of squirrels. Lots of folk. Lots of compliments. I am clearly the finest specimen of terrierdom around. Maybe it is my winning smile. Perhaps my naturally curious nature? My outstanding behavior? Who knows. We finished the day with a really long walk while muzzer shopped in Filene's Basement. (no dog toys!) and then had an early dinner al fresca at the restaraunt attached to our hotel. I got handouts without begging! I got compliments galore. Dad says we are lucky I didn't get sick.

Anyway, we were up and out early this am and chased a few more squirrels, then Dad took me over to my older sister Emily's studio apartment. Oh boy. That woman knows how to shop. She had a whole bunch of treats and a new type of chew bone waiting, and a bit of my favorite condiment, peanut butter! Things were going well until she and Dad left me! Wait, Wait! How will you meet new people? How will you enjoy this beautiful day without me? Am I being abandoned? .......

Emily said I could use her 'mputer and work on my blog. I tried, but all I could find was that Axel dog and his blog. I gotta get my password from muzzer. Well, as an alternative I just explored my new territory. Lots of soft places to lay down. No one to tell me to get off the couch. A neat set of stairs that doesn't go anywhere, but you can run up and down them to work through the anxiety attack. Nooks and corners, crannies and cupboards, but no rodents, no cats, no other dogs. Took a nap.

They finally came back for me and took me for a walk around this great city block. Then we picked up my new stuff and headed for home. I'm glad to say that muzzer forgot to put me in my "dog safety" belt, so I got to sleep all over the back seat.

Life will be boring for a while. No trips for three days. But lots of laundry to help with, and lots of new smells in my hometown.

See ya soon

Gus

View on a City Sidewalk

Hey, wonder if I can get down there to explore?