Bowser Bash 2014

I had fun this weekend! I attended Bowser Bash 2014! Bowser Bash was one of the first events I ever attended in my life and I remember being terrified! It was my first time being around other dogs and a ton of people, and I didn't know what to think. Of course this all took place in 2011, and I have been out and about since then. This time around, I did so much better.

I've been wanting to go for the past couple of years but something always got in the way. In 2012, my man human purposely failed to inform me that this event was taking place. Maybe he didn't think I could handle all of the doggies, but I was willing to give it a try. I was so disappointed, I made sure to do my own research and find out ahead of time when it will take place. Well, I lucked out again last year because my man human decided to attend a home and garden show instead! Well, this year I was determined not to let anything stop me! By June I was checking the internet for information, and to my surprise, Bowser Bash was being pushed to October. It is normally a summer event. Lucky for me. I mean, what do my people do during this time of year? Nothing.

Many familiar names were there. There was the Inland Valley Human Society, and other rescue groups. There were 2 cute maltipoo puppies on sale for a very good price! What's so cute about those fluff balls? I knew they would probably be snatched up by the time the event was over. But there was another dog from a rescue group that caught my attention. He looked so much like me. His name is Angelo. Even the people who ran the event commented on the fact that we looked so much alike. It's like we are long lost brothers! I wish right then and there that we could take him out of his cage and take him home. I never say things like that! I don't like to share my home, but I liked this guy. But I must move on to the next event.

I stopped by the San Dimas dog park and looked at the dogs hanging out. This was the very first dog park I visited and I remember how afraid I was. I'm not a dog park lover. In fact, I kind of dread it. I was pleading for my people not to make me go in, but what did they do? They made me go in.

Turns out, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, I loved it! I never had so much fun at the dog park! I couldn't help but run around on my own away from my people. 

I found a neat little friend to chase around

After my brief dog park visit, I decided to check out everyone setting things up. Looks like they are setting up the agility course. 

There were several games being played too. I didn't participate. I was much too scared. The lady who was leading the games had such a loud voice! She's a dog trainer, so I guess she needed to be loud. But goodness! They played games like musical towels, Fido says, and doggie tic tac toe. Here are some doggies and their hoomans playing musical towels. 

We visited more booths and got free goodies! That's the best part! They were samples of dog food. A lot of them were promoting Blue Buffalo. I tried that food once. It's too hard for my little teeth. I wanted to give it another try though. Please take it out of the bag!

Time went by, and we were ready to go. But I wanted to do one more thing first:

I wanted to visit Angelo one last time. He is from a rescue group/no-kill shelter that my people and I would love to visit when the time is right. I really wish the time was right right now. I never wanted a brother so much. Of course I hope he gets adopted, but I also hope that he will wait for awhile until I am able to come and get him hehe. At least I know that he is in a no kill shelter who will take good care of him if he doesn't find a forever home right away. This is Angelo, don't we kind of look alike?

October Is Here!

October is here! I've been looking forward to this month! I'm a bit disappawnted about the Summer sun still sticking around, but I guess I have no choice but to use my imagination. That didn't stop me from getting into the spirit of the season!

I'm even looking forward to Halloween this year! I was given this silly penguin costume as a gift 2 years ago. 2 years ago is such a long time in a doggie's life. I was much smaller and thinner then and had a hard time moving about. Fast forward to today, and you have a much chubbier dog. But gaining weight has it's perks. I can now fit into this costume without it falling off.

What do you think? How do I look?

Looking forward to a great Hallowoof! Why does it have to be at the end of the month? That's so far away!

Dakota at the Dog Park

Get ready Whiskers, I think Dakota is coming back for a visit

That's right, Dakota is back for another week. We have been getting along a little better. I still get paranoid when she gets really excited. Something about really talkative and excited dogs scare the living poops out of me. I do like her...but I'll only start trusting her once she calms down! 

Saturday is Dog Park Day. We brought Dakota for the first time. She seemed to get attention right away. Louie was really digging her!

And so was this gentle giant.

She did a lot of socializing and met so many great dogs. But not me, I was my usual anti-social self. I thought it would be better if I just sat and enjoyed the view.

Dakota came back several times to check up on me.

Drooling with excitement

When we got home we were pooped as ever, but at least we were able to be in the same room without the urge to snack on the other. 

It was great until my master decided to give us treats. Dogs should never go near me when I have food. Dakota didn't seem to get the memo. It resulted in a little spat. Maybe next time?

Making Strides

I got my life back this weekend. A friendship didn't bloom between Dakota and me like everyone hoped it would. We are too much alike in the fact that we don't really like to share hehe. I was even more insulted when I tried to make peace and she decided that she didn't want to share my humans with me. I was unhappy. I hope I can stay an only baby forever.

On the bright side, her family brought me some gifts from their trip to Hawaii.

I'm NOT digging this look. Too girly.

Now, this is more like it. Ukulele time. P.S. I was distracting my people from wanting to clip my nails. Not going to happen.

My mood has been extra chipper. I stayed home for 3 days straight! I was going crazy. I was so happy when my people harnessed me up. The harness means that I'm going somewhere. I didn't know where, and I didn't even care,  I was just happy to go somewhere. "Somewhere" ended up being the dog park, but I didn't mind. You know, I secretly want to make friends. I'd rather make friends with dogs who aren't in my house if you know what I mean. What better place than the dog park?

Hello doggies!

My girl took off my harness the moment I stepped foot in the dog park. I admit, I get a bit nervous when this happens. I feel so...naked, but people have advised her to do that thinking that it would make me feel more at ease. Well, it worked a little. I stayed with the man and the lady for a bit, but I decided to explore the park with the girl. I was taking advantage of my adventurousness. I even went up to a few dogs! It was a moment in Alfie history. 

I met a friendly beagle. I don't think he's ever been to this park. His family was setting up for a party at the park and let him hang out with us for a bit. He was cool. I liked him.I didn't even think of biting his nose off, either. 

I'm still a bit scared, but...anyone wanna play ball? It's bigger than my head, but still.

More friendly dogs. This is "Johnny Cash" and his mom. I don't know his mom's name but she's pretty. The three of us played a game of butt sniff.

Just Johnny Cash's mom and me

Here are three dog park regulars: The Chiweenie trio. Well, little Riley is a Dachshund, his 2 brothers Winston and Chiween are ChiWeenies. I wanted to join them in their fun, but I was still too shy.

Time for some dog park solitude

The fun is over, can I go home now?

Overall, I did great. My people were so proud of me. 

Dakota's Visit

She's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

This is Dakota, my dog cousin. We've met a few times before but we haven't been the best of friends. When I first saw her, I saw how much attention she was getting from my people, and I began to feel left out. I was determined to keep my place in the family. She stopped by my house a few times but it was always for a few hours only. When I found out that her pawrents were going to Hawaii for almost a week and that she'd have to stay with me, I went nuts. 

While our humans think that we have been getting along better than we have in the past, they still aren't quite ready to put us in the same room. Good idea. We are separated by a baby gate. She gets the lower part of the house, I get the upper part. Not fair. I wanted every part of the house. Oh well...it's just 5 or 6 days right? I hope. She is quite the trickster. She knows how to jump that gate with grace, so I put a barrier between us. That doesn't stop her from trying to take over the whole house. 

HERE'S JOHNNY!

She arrived Sunday morning and was a bit anxious throughout the day. I couldn't bear to see my people going out of their way to comfort her, so I hid in the room and lay there in agony. Can I have my life back?!

Everyone thought it was cute that I was jealous. I call it doggy depression. I'm an only child and I like it that way. I was pretty much stand offish for the rest of the night. I lay on the couch watching Disney movies and eventually fell asleep drowning out the noise

Dakota eventually calmed down and began to enjoy the same movies I was watching, but from the other room...my room, actually. 

She got to sleep on the floor in one of the rooms on the bottom part of the house, while I got to sleep in my room with the door closed. We were only one room away from one another. The closest we've been all day. This is just the first night, and all I could hear was her constant snoring throughout the night. 

Monday (Day 2) we went out for a little adventure. We always go to my favorite park to take walks around the block. I love looking at the scenery. I'm not much of a dog park doggy, but the way my body is going, I'd benefit from walks much more. It was strange taking Dakota along with us. I don't know if she's ever been to a park before. All I know is that she was excited. In fact, she couldn't contain herself. I let her use my camera to take a selfie. Looks like she doesn't quite have the selfie thing down yet.

She somehow got out of her harness while we were in the car, so she had to be double-leashed. Look at her face. It was as if she had never seen a park before. It's a beautiful park, isn't it, Dakota?

Dakota is quite the sniffer. She felt the need to sniff EVERYTHING she passed by. I cut her some slack since this was her first time at the park. I never was too interested in sniffing. Is that normal? While she made several stops to smell the trees, I had to stop and wait for her every so often.

She got tired real quick

At our rest stop, we took a pic together. This is the closest we've gotten so far. 

And back to our walk!

Dakota had to sniff one more thing before we left. A hydrant! What's with dogs and their fascination for hydrants?

When we got home, we were both exhausted. I think Dakota was down right pooped out. We slept for 3 hours straight. I was given the chance to venture out in my backyard unleashed. To everyone's surprise, Dakota and I were civil. We were making progress! We were in the same backyard but we still kept our distance

So poopered out

Today is day 3, and we went to the park again. The adventure was pretty much the same. Dakota went on her bouts of sniffing the same trees again

I even watched her stop to take a poo. Don't worry, we pick up.

She drank out of my water bowl

Another pic together...kind of 

She has two and a half more days here.