Shiver Me Timbers!

I must admit that I don't know what the title phrase actually means. It just sounds like a good title for today because it sure is cold outside!!! Don't get me wrong... I love snow. When there is a lot of snow, it's more challenging to find the scents of those rascally wild animals that roam my yard while I'm inside. It makes the humans laugh to see me snorting around with my head down like a plow. They laugh harder when I come up for air with several inches of the fluff balanced between my eyes.

Here is a picture of me today with some fluff stuck to my drooly jowls.

But days like today are so cold that I can barely stand still long enough to do my business before heading back inside. This means I get to hang out with the humans and remind them how much they love me. Most dogs know that chewing up the little humans' toys is a good way to stimulate the economy, but few know that there is a certain way to go about it. Since shredding stuffed animals to bits often causes emotional uproars, the best toys to target are the plastic and wooden sets made up of many pieces. A piece or two can be chewed here and there with no consequence until eventually there are not enough pieces left for the toy to be much fun and another one is purchased in its place. Note to self: this tactic should never ever be used for the biggest human man's puzzle games.

Today I started working on wooden pieces from the smallest human's construction set.

I also chewed the "buds" off of my human's ear buds. She loves those things. This one will stimulate the economy for sure!

I also like to show the humans how caring I am by sharing their food and cleaning their faces so they don't have to go wash up. The little humans especially love this; they squeal with delight when I snatch a half of their sandwich or knock over a glass of milk that they didn't really want to drink. When someone is cooking, I keep them company in the kitchen and remind them that it is my duty to be the taste-tester. If I find that the dish isn't good enough for my humans (you know they only deserve the best) I will eat it all myself or at least knock it to the floor for the cats as soon as the cook steps out of the kitchen. It is amazing to me how much food the humans waste!

Speaking of food, my human changed my rations of kibble. Instead of getting 4 cups at night to eat when I please, I now get 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night. She says that I will appreciate the change later when I "can't handle so much at once". What could that possibly mean? I am pretty sure I'll always have the same size stomach! Also, when she got herself a bowl of ice cream last night, she didn't share it with me like usual! Normally we split it 50/50 which is only fair, but last night she let me sit there while she ate the whole thing and then I only got to lick the bowl!

Something sure is changing alright. The humans have lost their puzzle pieces... er, marbles!!! Maybe they'll go back to normal after this whole "61-day thing" is over, whatever it is. 2 days down and 59 to go. Let's hope the temperatures go up before too many days go by... I have business to do!