Read All About It

The news is full of negativity, bias, sensationalism, distortion and misrepresentations. That's why we don't watch, read or listen to the news around here. Life is all the more joyous for it. There is one exception to this. There is one news hound who has the nose for truth and optimism. That hound is Bo. He finds the news from all over the globe that matter. He is not species-centric like the regular news, which is full of homosaipiens doing all sorts of trivial things and a dog has to save a persons life to get on.

Lead story today is about Duck Man. He caught little ducklings who fell from the second story because they were following their mother and were too young to fly. There are lots of people like Duck Man who are heroically performing deeds without recognition, and I'm sure they don't mind, while the mainstream news is full of much less worthy subjects. 

Life is great when there is someone to catch you. 

How to Get Rich

We have had a couple of rainy, rainy days here. We got out for just one short walk in that time. So there was nothing for it but to curl up in bed or on the couch. Some of you may think this is a waste of time but not Laut, Combs and Kitter, who wrote Money is My Friend;

"Laziness leads to self-esteem leads to riches. Mastering laziness with self-esteem is an important factor in increasing your income. You can practice this by staying in bed all day at regular intervals until you can do it without feeling ashamed of yourself."

They recommend doing this one day a week. So if you will excuse me, I'm off to create riches. 

Life is great when you are creating riches.  

No Drama

It was yet another beautiful day today. It was mid-morning, about 25 degrees celsius. We were in the dog park after going for a trot around the woods. There were just a few dogs in the park. I went to say "g'day" to a cattle dog cross. She took offence at something and turned on me. She barked and growled and was on top of me. I made a retreat as I am a lover not a fighter. I went over to Tim but I wasn't really scared. It was more noise than anything. The rest of the day consisted of food, lying on the couch, another big walk with Mandy, another small walk to the library with Tim including a few throws of the frisbee and dinner. The altercation in the dog park was the high drama of the day. I wouldn't normally blog about such a thing but it got me thinking that when everything is good and there are no dramas, it doesn't make very interesting blogging. Of course, there are people and dogs who are addicted to drama. I am not one of them. So you will have to be content with sunshine, walks and food, not that we can always avoid drama. I heard it said that there is a Chinese curse which goes, "may you live in interesting times." 

Life is great when you don't have anything interesting to blog about. 

Happy Birthday Mandy!

It is Mandy's first birthday today. Well, it is her first birthday since she has been my person. I believe that she has had a few before this one. One of the purposes of us hounds being on the earth is to influence our people in a positive manner and make the world a better place. I think I have done a good job of this with both of my people and my people have had a great impact on me as well. Just today we were walking through a vacant block of land. Mandy was very happy to be out in the day and gave a spontaneous leap of joy. I was about ten metres but instictively mirrored her action with lots of joy. Mandy is a very happy and joyful person. She has passion and exuberance for life. Her presence fills my heart with glee. She makes the most of every day. In the morning, she comes out full of excitement and gives me a great greeting on the couch. Any dog would be proud of giving this greeting. Her enthusiasm is infectious. I am doing well teaching my people but it is a two-way street and I have learnt a huge amount from Mandy. So a big;

Happy Birthday! I love you Mandy.

Life is great when you have Mandy.

School is in.

"You two have an amazing ability to sleep all afternoon." 

Mandy to Tim and me. 

It has been another great day of sunshine, walks, breakfast, playing with dogs, getting pats, giving licks, lying in the sun, daydreaming, watching the world go by and snoozing on the sofa. When Mandy said that to us I had a great idea. With this amazing ability, we could open a school. "The Ruby School of Relaxation." I think we will have students come here as well as courses by correspondence. I think places will fill up fast so if you are interested you had better let me know quickly. 

Life is great when you are having a nap. 

You Can't Fool Me

"My father would take Rusty's head in his hands and talk with him with real interest- 'So, old mate, what do you think of the snooty new labrador across the street?'- as if he actually expected a reply. It seemed a bit odd at first, probably because I'd never seen anyone else talk to a dog, only at them.

Rusty couldn't get enough of it. He would gaze into Dad's eyes and make odd little groaning noises I'd never heard before. Yet when I tried it, Rusty just looked bored. It was years later before I understood what Dad meant about animals only reacting to 'true voices': if our inflections don't match our feelings, they ignore us."

Lucky for Me Frank Robson

You can't hide your feelings from a dog. I find it interesting that dogs do many jobs from guiding blind people to pulling sleds. Also in the police we do many jobs such as finding drugs and physically apprehending villians. So why don't the police use dogs for lie detection. We have been watching the TV program "Lie to me" and I reckon I could do that job (they pick up on facial expressions to spot someone lying). If anyone from the police force is reading this, consider it a job application. 

Life is great when you know if someone is fair dinkum.