Fun Times with a Fluffball

Charlie got some new toys today. Some of her old ones had been chewed up so badly the inside stuffing was coming out. Her humans brought this home, as well. It took Charlie a little while to figure out what G-Lo calls the "bobble feeder" but now that Charlie knows how it works, maybe her dinner tonight will be fun as well as filling!

After two or three short lessons, Charlie has learned a new trick. She can now roll over when asked. She gets a gold star and an A+ for her home school learning, don't you think?

For many days now - 16 to be exact - Charlie and her humans have spent most of the time inside their apartment. This is because of a virus that is going around. G-Lo and Zayde want to stay healthy and keep Charlie healthy, too, so they stay at home… just like all their friends are doing. Charlie loves this situation! That’s because she’s with her humans  all day long, every single day . For example, Charlie gets to play many, many games of fetch with her humans now. Sometimes they play two or three games, but sometimes they play as many as ten! (Charlie can’t believe how lucky she is.) She and her humans go for longer walks than usual because they want to get big doses of fresh air. Charlie simply gets lots more attention and especially loves getting her hair brushed, having her belly rubbed, and playing tug of war a lot more than usual. Charlie is a very happy puppy these days. Earlier this week, though, Charlie got bored. She had grown tired of playing with he...

Charlie likes to look at pictures of other dogs, especially those who are very cute and funny. Here are some of her favorites. She hopes you like them, too!

Do you have a favorite stuffy you like to sleep with? Charlie does! And it's a puppy. This puppy is pretty special. It has a pocket on its belly. In that pocket is a small plastic heart that beats!  It helps make Charlie feel warm, safe, and comfy because it reminds her of sleeping next to her Mama, Charlie has gotten so big now that when she cuddles with her stuffy, the two of them take up the whole bed. Does your dog have a favorite stuffed animal or toy that he or she likes to sleep with?

Hi. Charlie here. Every now and then, my humans think I need a bath. That's when they scoop me up and put me in the bathtub of all places! They turn on some warm water, and before I know what's hit me, they're pouring it all over my fur  hair. (*** Fun Fact: Havanese dogs have hair, not fur.) Then out comes some shampoo, and suddenly I'm all sudsy and slippery... and SMALL! When my thick hair gets wet and matted down, I can look pretty scrawny! It's really not so bad getting a bath. It feels kind of nice when my humans massage the shampoo into my hair, and the warm water is soothing. After I get all rinsed off, I get wrapped up in a big, soft towel and G-Lo dries me off. I do my best to wiggle out of her arms and run free, because I actually have my own way of getting dry. Want to see? My humans let me use this method of drying for a few minutes. I scoot across the room, dragging my long coat on the carpet. This gets me pretty dry, but no...

Charlie's most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is play fetch. Several times a day, she brings a fetch toy to G-Lo or Zayde. She lays the toy at their feet if they are sitting down. If they are standing up or sitting on a high stool, Charlie jumps up with the toy in her mouth. Sometimes, of course, G-Lo and Zayde are busy and can't play fetch at that particular moment. When this happens, Charlie does not get sad. She does not get mad. She just plays fetch with herself!

Charlie is now 5 months old! She weighs almost 8 pounds. You can see that she has grown so much from when she was just a pup.  Now that she is a bit older, she's finally found her favorite place to hang out. She's tried a few different places, but it seems that she has settled on just one now. She likes to sit or lay down on the window ledge, which is behind the couch. Sometimes the shades are closed, so she slips behind the shades and makes herself comfortable. She likes it because from there she can watch what's going on outside. Often G-Lo and Zayde look around the house and can't find Charlie. They look in the bedrooms, they look in the bathrooms, they look in the hallway, they look in the kitchen, and they look in the living room. Zayde will call out to G-Lo: Have you seen Charlie? G-Lo answers: No! I can't find her anywhere! Then they remember... oh, maybe she's in her favorite place . If the shades are closed, it's hard to see her, beca...

Charlie's school is called Wonder Puppy. It is closed for now. So... Time for some homeschooling! Zayde starts school by asking Charlie to SIT. Next he asks her to lay DOWN: She's very good at those easy commands. Did you see Zayde give her a treat when she sat and went she went down? That's how we've taught her to do these things. It's like: Clara, would you please practice piano? Oh, you did already? Good girl. Now you can have some ice cream.  Well, life with humans doesn't really work that way, but it sure would be nice if it did!!! Also, Zayde makes  little clicking sound with a special clicker we got from Charlie's school. When she hears the click she knows she is doing a good job. Anyway, the next command is more difficult, and Charlie just started learning it. It's called PARK IT. Can you figure out what that means? Here are some choices A. Run outside and go play at the park B. Climb in the driver's seat...

Playing fetch is one of Charlie's favorite things to do. One day she thought to herself:  I feel like I'm flying when I get  to run after the ball. I wish I could describe that feeling to my humans! She then wondered:  How could I do that? She remembered seeing G-Lo and Zayde watching a video on G-Lo's phone and saying Wow! This is so cool watching mushrooms push their way up out of the ground in slow motion. Aha! Charlie thought. If I could get my humans to film me in slow motion, maybe then they could see that I am FLYING! The very next day, to Charlie's surprise and delight, G-Lo picked up her phone and said to Zayde:  You know, it might be really cool to film Charlie playing fetch. Zayde agreed. Let's do it! A game a fetch then took place in the hallway. Charlie had so much fun. So did G-Lo and Zayde. Toward the end of the game, G-Lo had an idea:  let's see what this looks like in slow motion! So that is how this video came t...

It became apparent that Charlie could barely see what was in front of her because of her long shaggy hair. It hung waaayyyyyyyy down over her eyes. G-Lo: Charlie, how many fingers am I holding up? (She flashes two fingers in front of Charlie's face.) Charlie: NO RESPONSE G-Lo: Charlie, am I wearing a red or blue sweater? Charlie: NO RESPONSE Zayde: Charlie, can you see  me? Charlie: NO RESPONSE After this brief conversation, G-Lo and Zayde decided it was time. A haircut was in order. So, they all walked over to Pup Panache and asked the groomer, Megan, to help. Out came the scissors and soon... TAA DA! A new look for Charlie, who can see everything very clearly now.

A few weeks ago, G-lo and Zayde took Charlie to the vet for a regular check up and some shots. Everyone who works there is so nice, and they shower each dog and cat with a lot of love. Charlie likes going there. On this particular day, the vet's assistant came into Charlie's little room to weigh her and make sure she'd been feeling well and acting healthy. The assistant was so nice, and Charlie stayed close to her as she sat down on a stool (which has wheels on it) at the desk station. The assistant didn't realize that Charlie was so close. When she sat down and then moved the stool back a bit, the wheels of the stool ran over Charlie's foot. It must have hurt a lot, because Charlie (who is usually so quiet) let out a very loud YELP!!! Charlie cried and whimpered and then limped over toward G-Lo and Zayde for a few hugs. She then proceeded to hide underneath the chair by the door. She wanted out of there! Zayde picked her up. Charlie was shivering and couldn...

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled writing from Charlie to bring you words from her cousin named Kobe. In his own words: Hello everybody! My name is Kobe and I am a fluffball who was born on July 7, 2019 and-- wait, where's bone? Oh, here's bone. Now, where were we? Ah yes, when I celebrated my first half-birthday, I moved in with Pooja and Max in New York City, which some people call "The Big Apple." Apples are fine and all but I love bone! Anyways, it's an awfully big city for such a small pooch like me, but this is really where I thrive because there's so much to do and see. Most importantly, there are many canine friends everywhere I go! Since we're just getting to know each other, I want to tell you the top three most important facts about me: 1. My favorite place in the whole wide world is Central Park, which consists of 843 acres of grass, trees, walking paths, bodies of water, gardens, theatres, and sports fields. It's al...

Hello dear readers. Charlie is writing this post today: I live my life as an only child, even though I do have lots of brothers and sisters. This means I get tons of attention from my humans. It also means that when they're busy, I have to find ways to play by myself. One of my favorite games is "fetch." Sometimes I play it alone, which is so much fun! I have a very small tennis ball (just my size) that gives me hours of joy. Well, not hours exactly, a few minutes here and there is probably more like it. Are you wondering what that looks like? Well, wonder no more...

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. How many times have you been told to keep the toilet paper in the bathroom?

Charlie, as you may recall, has several brothers and sisters. All of the puppies in the litter went home to different humans, some in different cities and states. There was one sister called Zoey who ended up living in the same city as Charlie: Portland! G-Lo and Zayde called Zoey's humans to set up a play date. It was a gray and rainy afternoon when the two families met at a tennis court at a nearby park. They figured a tennis court would be a safe and fun place for the puppies to run around. Charlie and Zoey took one sniff of each other, and even though they hadn't seen each other for a couple months, they nodded, "smiled," wagged their little tails and then took off chasing each other around and around the tennis court.  They both can run at warp speed!!! The two puppies look quite a bit alike, though Zoey is bigger and has slightly different markings. As you can see in the pictures, they are both chocolate and white. They were so happy to see each other. I...

Every now and then, this blog will introduce its readers to some pretty cool dogs who are not Charlie. The first one is Olive, whose human is Bobbie. Olive was born on February 20, 2019.  Her mommy’s name is Daisy Mae and her father is called Maverick.  Daisy Mae’s litter was very small for a Golden Retriever. In fact, it was just Olive and one sister! Some Golden Retriever litters have 9 or 12 or even more puppies!  When she was two months old, like her sister, Olive was adopted by a family who wanted to be her “forever home”.  Unfortunately for the family, but  fortunately  for Bobbie, the family decided that they couldn’t give Olive the life she deserved.  Because the mom and dad both worked outside the home and the two girls were very busy with school and sports and other activities, Olive spent most of her time at home alone in a small space called the “mud room”.   Although the family loved Olive very much, when she was 10 and ...

Olive and me Henry and his Mama and their two dogs Here I am getting some lovin' from Lucy Hi. Charlie here again. I have to tell you about one of the most exciting events so far in my life. I still get extra wiggly and wag my tail a lot when I think about it. My humans took me on an AIRPLANE to New Orleans to visit my people there. (I think you might know them.) Well, I have to say it was one of the best times ever. The airplane ride was loud. There were many strange sounds I'd never heard before, especially when we took off. The engines ROARED, so I tried to put my paws over my ears (that was not terribly effective). Speaking of ears, mine popped. That had never happened to me before, so I was a little scared. Once the plane leveled off my ears felt better, it was a smooth ride, and things got a little quieter. I slept most of the way to our first stop, which was in Colorado. I had to pee pretty badly by then, so my humans took me to a "pet ...

Hi. Charlie here. Has anyone ever told you that you look just like someone else? Well, I have. On several occasions, I've been told I look like an Ewok. I looked it up, and here's what I learned:  Ewoks are a fictional species of small, mammaloid bipeds that appear in the  Star Wars  universe. They are hunter gatherers resembling teddy bears that inhabit the forest moon of  Endor  and live in various arboreal huts and other simple dwellings.  Ewoks appear as stocky,  sapient  bipeds which stand about one metre tall. They have flat faces, are completely covered in fur, and have large jewel-like eyes. Both their fur and their eyes come in a variety of colors, primarily brown, white, grey, gold, and black.  Ewoks live high among the trees of their home moon's forests, in villages built on platforms between the closely spaced trees. They are small, but they are very strong. It's true that Ewoks do look like dogs. The man who made Star...

"Are you kidding me?" Ok, let's face it. All animals have to find a place to pee and poop, right? When a puppy goes to a new home, that can be a tricky undertaking. First of all, the puppy still probably pees and poops on newspaper that's been spread out on the floor, or he/she pees and poops in the backyard, or more to the point, he/she pees and poops just about anywhere and everywhere he/she wants! Once a puppy is a little older and goes home with his/her human, everything changes. Agony, misery, oh poor puppy! "Potty training" is on the horizon. Charlie, like all other good doggies, wanted to show her humans that she was a quick learner. She had always thought of herself as being rather smart. G-Lo and Zayde had this crazy idea that she would use a litter box (yep, that's right... think CATS!) and also go for walks outside. The walks outside worked well. Charlie liked the feel of the grass under her paws, and she knew that meant it was time t...

Did you know that some people call Havanese dogs "velcro dogs"? That is because this breed likes to stay very close to their human(s). They follow their humans everywhere, even into the bathroom. One day G-Lo was taking a shower. She heard a funny scratching sound on the glass of the shower stall. When she looked down to see where the noise was coming from, who did she see? CHARLIE the VELCRO DOG! Charlie wanted to come into the shower so she could be close to G-Lo, but G-Lo had other plans. She quickly darted out of the shower, and grabbed her iPhone which was nearby. She got back into the shower and took this picture of Charlie, who by now was not only scratching, but had her cute little paws up against the glass as she stood on her hind legs pleading to get in. G-Lo got the shot, but Charlie did not get her wish. She had to wait until G-Lo's shower was over before she could attach herself once again to G-Lo's side.  *** Fun fact: In the 1800's wh...

Charlie loves to sleep. She goes to bed at 8:00 each night and wakes up at 8:00 the next morning. She takes a two-hour nap each day. Charlie finds some interesting places to sleep and gets herself into some funny positions. Here are just a few examples. Speaking of funny positions, this is how Charlie looked when G-Lo walked down the hall past the bathroom one morning.