Definition

July 31, 2007: Tennis ball: n. God's gift to dogs.

Riding in Cars

July 30, 2007: When it gets dark, it usually means it's time for bed, but my leader and his mate decided to go for a ride. Suddenly I heard, "Sheba, let's go for a ride!" I love riding in cars! On the way, I stuck my head out the window (like my cousin in England above) and the cool, night air blew my ears straight back. We went to pretty little store and I got out and walked around while they ate something they called "ice cream." My reward for the night was another ride in the car to go home!

"Rat"atouille

July 29, 2007: What an exciting day! One of my responsibilities as the family dog is to protect the property. This morning while I was outside in the back yard, I smelled something strange. It was in the bushes trying to hide from me, but I was determined to find out what this peculiar animal was. I watched for a long time and then I saw it! It was about 12 inches long with a long, skinny tail. I pounced on it and grabbed it with my big, sharp teeth. I pulled it out of the bushes and away from the house. I dispatched the ugly critter and barked with pride at what I had done. My leader was proud of me, too.

The Tables Are Turned

July 28, 2007: I have told you before that I love to play ball and especially "keep-away." Today, I found out that it's not nearly as much fun when I'm "it." My leader and I were playing keep away with my favorite tennis ball. When I got the ball, I tried to keep it and let my leader try to take it away from me. But when he got the ball, he wouldn't give back! How frustrating! I pawed, snarfled and nuzzled him to get the ball back. He kept laughing at me saying, "Ha, ha! Now it's different, isn't it?" He finally tossed it away and I got it again. It's a great game.

Tastes Better, Less Filling

July 27, 2007: What do you do when you go to a new place? Maybe you look at new things. Maybe you touch things. Certainly you would smell new things. I do something different. I taste things! On my walk today I kept finding delicious-looking grass. I tasted one patch of grass, then I went a little farther and tasted some more. Umm. Then, I tried something my leader called a "weed." It didn't taste very good. Echhhhh!

Door to Door

July 26, 2007: Doors can be confusing. When I first moved here, I had to learn where the doors were and which way they opened. Now, I know which doors to go in and out or at least I thought I did until today. I went for a walk with my leader, but when we came back I passed a door I thought was the right one, so I sat down to wait for my leader to open it. But, it was the wrong door! Funny!

Morning Joy

July 25, 2007: Morning is my favorite time of the day. I wake up early, usually when my leader's mate gets up. But I don't understand why my leader isn't awake. This morning I decided to wake him up so he could enjoy the morning, too. At 6:26AM I licked his arm and breathed in his face, but I finally had to bark three times! Woof! Woof! Woof! That did it! I went for a walk, ate breakfast and played ball, all before eight-o'clock.

Games Dogs Play

July 24, 2007: The other day I told you that I got some new toys when we went to Petsmart. One was a small rubber tire (it actually looks like a blue doughnut) and the other was a ball on a rope. I like the little tire very much, but I wasn't sure about the ball on the rope. Today, I think I got it! It's like playing tug-of-war with my leader. I also like to play another game called "keep away" with tennis balls. I'm so anxious to play with tennis balls that if I can't find one, I play with the plastic can they come in! It's great fun!

The Nose Knows

July 22, 2007: I have discovered that my mouth and nose are exactly the same height as my leader's face when he is sleeping, so when I want to wake him up, I just go in his room and blow a few puffs of my hot breath right in his face! He wakes up laughing and pats my head. I also use my big, black nose to find chipmunks in their tunnels in the back yard. When I stick my nose in the tunnel entrance it gets red mud all over it. When I push the door open to go inside, I leave a big, muddy nose print!

One Whole Week

July 21, 2007: Today makes a whole week I've been living with the Hughes family and I love them! Today, I also wore my new red bandana and, I must say, I looked pretty! I met some new people today that spoke Spanish! I didn't understand what they said, but my leader did. I made friends with them anyway. Well, I gotta go, but I wanted to give an extra wag of my tail to Zach Johnson who wrote me a nice note the other day.

A Shopping Trip

July 20, 2007: What a great adventure I had today! I went to the local Petsmart store with my leader and his mate. There were several other dogs there; some little, some big. There was even one that looked like me. I walked through the store and smelled everything and everybody. (There were some nice humans there, too.) I got a couple of new toys to chew on, a new water bowl and a brush for my fur. I'm looking forward to going again!

To Bark or Not to Bark

July 19, 2007: Some of my dog friends like to bark a lot, but I'm not like them. I only bark when I really need to. Well, I've been here for six days and I haven't needed to bark until this morning. A neighbor dog barked to say said, "Hello," and welcomed me to the neighborhood. I returned the greeting in my deep, throaty voice. There are several other dogs in the area that I will meet soon. WOOF!

Bed in the Grass

July 18, 2007: In my new home, there is a nice, fenced yard. On one side there is some long, green grass so I decided to make a bed in it. (Can you see it in the photo?) Now when I go out on a hot day, I can rest in a nice, cool place. I keep finding interesting things here!

Chasing Rabbits

July17, 2007: I've gotten comfortable with my new home. There's lots of places to take my naps during the day. This afternoon, I was dreaming that I was in a big field chasing rabbits. I nearly woke myself up making funny noises and moving my legs. After my nap, I got a drink from my water bowl: "slurp...slurp...slurp...(swallow) slurp...slurp...slurp (swallow)."

Taking a Walk

July 16, 2007: Today I took my first walk with my leader. I get so excited when he snaps the leash on my collar! He knows that I know how to "sit" very well, so now he's trying to teach me to walk beside him. "Heal!" he says. I'm starting to realize what "heal" means, so I'll keep trying. I think my leader has a problem walking because he walks slowly and sometimes he stumbles, so maybe I can help him someday. By the way, I am not yet over my picture shyness, so my leader found this photo (above) of a distant cousin of mine who looks exactly like me!

Visit to the Vet

July 15, 2007: I have to take medicine every day, but by foster leader forgot to bring them when I moved to my new home. So I had to go to the vet. Of course, to get to the vet’s office the leader and his mate put me in their car. I love to ride in cars! It was pretty exciting at the vet’s office because there were so many different smells and sounds. I really wanted to play with the other dogs, even a poor little puppy who was very sick. But they took me to a smaller room where we waited for the vet. While I was there to get my medicine, I got a booster shot and some tests. The vet said I was “good to go.” We came home and played ball, I even tried catching a Frisbee! My leader tried to take my photo, but I am very shy, so he never got a good shot of my face. (See me hiding my face in the photo above?) Maybe I’ll feel a little more brave later. Well, I found a really comfortable spot in the dining room, so I’m going to say, “Good night!”

My First Day

July 14, 2007: Today I came to live with the Hughes family. My name is Sheba and I am a black Labrador. I weigh 58 pounds and have big brown eyes. I arrived about 4:00PM with my foster leader with whom I lived about 10 months. I spent the first hour or so sniffing around the yard and checking out the house room by room. The pack leader (Carlton) was very anxious to play ball with me so we played about a half an hour. I’m not very good at giving up a ball that I worked hard to fetch, but he’s teaching me to share. The leader’s mate (Cheryl) went to buy food for all of us and when she returned I got to spend some time with her. She even fixed me a nice soft bed. I’m not afraid of much, but if I had to list my number one fear, it would be thunderstorms. (I don’t like the noise. I guess it comes from being chained outside all the time when I was a puppy.) Wouldn’t you know I was hardly in my new home when a storm came over. Fortunately, it wasn’t too severe and the leader patted me a lot to reassure me that I was safe. I had my first supper of kibble and Alpo…um, delicious! The leader checked out the commands I knew so far, like “sit,” “down” and coming to my name. He seemed pleased. When it got dark, the mate went to bed and the leader stayed up with me, but I got tired a little while later and found a nice, soft spot in the office and went to sleep. I think I’m going to like it here.