March 30, 2008
I just wanted to write home and tell you that I miss my Azzuma family very much. I love my new home and Susan and Phil are great as Mom and Dad. Susan is teaching me to walk well on a leash. We go for walks 3 times a day! I love it. There are so many new sounds and smells around here. Early in the morning all the birds sing hello to me and I stop and listen to each one. With all that stopping, it takes a while to go around the block but Mom doesn't seem to mind. She really likes the birds. I help her fill the feeders every morning. Then I watch out the window as the birds come for breakfast. And then this really cool squirrel named "Squeaky" comes for a snack too. I am behaving myself pretty well. I've had a few accidents in the house but mostly I go potty outside and I have never made a mess in my "house". I like it pretty good. It has one of your towels in it and Elsie the cow is there too. I use her as a pillow when I take my naps. I'm eating real good and Mom wanted me to tell you that I weighed 32 lbs when I got here! I'm a big boy now!
This is me yesterday sunning myself on the deck. It is really neat. It is up high so I can see into the trees and down to the road. They put a gate up so I can't go down the steps. Oh, speaking of steps. They have a lot. I didn't like them at first but now I just walk right up and down like I've been doing it forever!
There is this great big snow area in the back that is lots of fun though. I ran and ran in there today and it just wore me out. So now I have to take another nap. I hope you don't miss me too bad. I just wanted to write and let you know that I am doing great. I will write more soon.
April 18, 2008
Hi Grand Mama,
You'll never guess what I did today! I swam across a river! Well, okay, it wasn't exactly a river. It wasn't even a stream. Actually, it was just a little wash about 3" deep and 18" wide but it was big and scary. My first water crossing! I feel like a big boy now. Mom & Dad said they were really proud of me!
I'm having big fun here. Almost getting the hang of house breaking now (but I had an accident this week - maybe next week I'll be perfect). I'm even "ringing the bells" on the door sometimes. I'm also sleeping until about 4am now before needing to go out. I might could hold it a little longer but Mom & Dad don't want to me to burst. Hopefully next week I can sleep the whole night through so Mom & Dad don't have to get up special for me.
Hey, Mom & Dad say I'm a sweet boy most of the time. Every now and then they say I'm something called a "holy terror with teeth". That's a good thing, right? Sometimes I just feel the need to just run around with my mouth wide open. That's usually when I hear Mom & Dad say that. It seems to also end up in me having to go take a nap in my crate - but that's okay. I like my naps.
I've met lots of people and even some other doggies. This Sunday I'm going to meet some doggies and watch them train on something called an "agility course" here in Pagosa. I'm not big enough to do it with them but maybe one day. At least I'll get to watch and meet them.
Well, tell everybody "howdy from Ranger".
Love,
Ranger
July 11, 2008
Dear Granmama and Granpapa,
I saw my first deer in the yard yesterday. Mom said she was proud cuz' I just sat on the porch and looked at him. Then he ran off and wow! was he fast. I don't think I could ever catch a deer. I do like that they come to visit us though.
We were all in the Pagosa 4th of July parade. Mom works for the library and her boss just loves me...I don't know why except that maybe I'm so cute! Well, she wanted me in the parade so I was the library mascot. I walked the entire parade route and I did so good. All the people didn't scare me and I just walked along proud as could be. People kept calling my name out and saying how cute I was. Some lady wanted to adopt me! But Dad so, "No way".
Well, I just wanted to share my latest adventure with you. Hope you liked the photos.
September 16, 2008
Hi Grandmamma and Grandpappa,
Look at me! I'm on top of the wooooooooooooorld! I'm living up to my name - Mountain Ranger! We're up at almost 12,000 feet in that picture! This was a 6 mile hike up to well over 11,000 feet this past weekend. It's the farthest and highest I've been yet. There are some serious views up here. Oh, I learned what a Pica was. They're the little animals that live up in high places like this in the rocks. They're fun to chase.
I'm looking gooooooood don't you think? Oh yeah! The babes are gonna be going wild for me. I'll have to get a secretary just to book appointments. Just dates though - no hanky panky. Well, I might sneak a sniff or two - what can I say? I wear that red backpack when I go hiking. I think it's very striking against my black coat if I do say so myself! Mom and Dad put a water bottle and my bowl in it for me. Sometimes cookies too! They say if I'm going to drink like a camel then I need to carry some of my own water.
I can't help it, I love to drink water. After drinking nearly all of it, I get my whole face down in the bowl with as much of my beard in there as possible. Then I swish it around really good making sure every hair has water on it. Then I yank my head up and sling it everywhere. Oh, it's big fun even if Mom & Dad don't enjoy it as much as I do. They're usually standing in the doorway with a towel to dry me and wipe up the floor.
Well, I'm just over 9 months old now and about 63 pounds. Mom & Dad think I'm probably going to shoot up a little taller and start "filling out" soon. They're not sure whether I'll make it to the big "hundo" mark or not since I started out a little small. But I'm already pretty big. When I stand up on my back legs I'm really tall. Surely there's an NBA scout around here somewhere - I think I could dunk for sure. I've got quite the reach too. Even though I'm not allowed up on the bed, I jump up on Mom's side keeping my back legs on the ground. She rolls all the way to middle of the bed to get away but "there's nowhere to hide from the Mountain Ranger"! I crack myself up. <g>
Everyone tells what a beautiful dog I am Actually I prefer "handsome" since that's more manly sounding. I tell them it's due to genetics and clean mountain living! Well, just wanted to drop you a line. Tell everybody "Howdy" from me. You never know - I might just be at the top of that mountain you're looking at!
Love,
Mountain Ranger!!!!!
August 26, 2009
Hi Grandmamma and Grandpappa!
It's me Ranger! Sorry I haven't written in a long time but I've been pretty busy this summer. Mom & Dad say howdy too. Dad's been really busy with work and having to travel some so he makes me the "man of the house" while he's gone and tells me to protect Mom. I do that by crawling up in her lap and sleeping - I figure nobody will get to her with a big ole black bear in her lap! She says I'm really too big to be a lap dog but secretly I think she likes it!
Of course when Dad comes back it takes me a day or so to switch out of "man of the house" mode sometimes and Dad has to have a "who's the big dog" talk with me. It's all just play but I've got to test him, it's my job - you never know when he'll be too old and decrepit to be the big dog anymore and I'll need to take over for him. But he outweighs me by a 3 to 1 margin so it's really no contest..... at least yet <g>. I'm just kidding though - I love Dad and sleep in his lap too even though he doesn't need protecting. I'm an equal opportunity lap dog - why I could probably fill up 3 or 4 laps if they'd all line up on the couch next to each other!
I still go on walks twice a day and lots of time one of them is a little hike in the forest close by. I love going there because I can just run and go anywhere I want. There are so many great smells out there that sometimes I kind of lose track of where Mom or Dad are and run down the trail a little too far ahead. When that happens Mom & Dad play "hide and seek". They hide behind a tree then call me. I love playing hide and seek even in the house. I always find them though - don’t tell them but they're really not that good at hiding. A blind squirrel could probably find them!
Speaking of squirrels, I have lots of friends named Squeaky out here. That's what Mom & Dad call the Abert's squirrels. They're so funny. I chase them around a little and they run up a tree and just sit there jabbering at me. I'm not sure what they're saying - kind of sounds like Chinese or something. Anyway, I'm not really trying to catch them. They just look a little portly from eating so much and I thought they might need a little exercise. I try to do my part to keep the forest animals in shape.
Mom took me down to the Library yesterday to see my fan club. Being a mascot is hard work you know - people always clamoring for you to show up and then they want to rub all over you. Well, the rubbing is okay because it usually results in me getting a cookie! And they have big cookies down at the library too. But can you believe what one of them told me - they said they were going to need to get some mint flavored cookies next time because I had doggie breath. I'm thinking, well duh, I'm a dog - what kind of breath did you think I'd have?
Mom & Dad did a little grooming on me a week or two ago. The lady that normally grooms me moved away so they decided to give it a try. They had tried it when I was a puppy and they said it was just a total disaster so they've been taking me to the groomer since. But this time I actually came out looking pretty good. They seemed to have a good time - they were laughing so hard at one point Dad nearly fell out of his chair! They said they should have filmed it and put it on America's Funniest Videos because they could have won big money with it. I try to be a good sport when they do stuff like that.
Well, time to go take a nap on top of Dad's feet as he works on the computer. I'm not sure what it is about feet but I like to lay on top of them.
Tell everybody there howdy from Ranger!
Love and big wet sloppy Ranger kisses,
Ranger
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