Land's End with Lucca

I have been a good boy, of course, and I now know why it's called Land's End. It's because Lucca and I have pretty much put an end to all vegetation by trampling over the little saplings and whatever. Well, survival of the fittest, as they say.

Today, I got to play with Lucca again and Pa got to meet Lucca's Ma and she pulled out her handy I-Phone and sent my Ma some pics. She also sent a video but it's a little goofy since Lucca and I did a poor job of performing in front of the camera.

Fresh new look -- for Max and the blog

Another good day! Pa decided to give me a haircut -- then he took me over to Seal Rock Beach. A lot of beach today because the tide was quite low...

...which meant we could walk over to Ocean Beach from Seal Rock Beach below the Cliffhouse. This was the first time we've ever done that.
Pretty Cool!...what a good time!

Encounters in the not so wild

I have been a good boy and have learned some useful things, like, I now know to ring the bell when I have to go out. The bell is really that Christmas present from Haupia we had to wear for our holiday photos. Anyway, in general, I have been good, so, my reward was I got to play at Ft. Funston.

These days, I like to play stick.

I also like to enjoy the scenery from up high.

And, today, since I was good, I got to play with my friend, Lucca - he's one of my favorites. I hadn't seen Lucca in a while but we got it on good today. We ran around and tore up the vegetation in Land's End. He's also a big boy but well-behaved. I have to walk nicely with him, his Ma and my Ma. It's hard. Sometimes I try to rile him up but I get scolded straightaway.

We need a better stick thrower.

Notice my new harness? Of course, personally, I prefer no collar or harness - just NAKED!

After we dropped off Lucca and his Ma at the Legion of Honor parking lot, we walked around the golf course to get back to the Land's End trail, and guess what I spotted! Mrs. Wiley Coyote. She's smaller than the other one we've seen who we presume is the Papa. She was not happy to see us, in fact, she snarled. I think there are little ones hiding behind in the bushes.

She's a little hard to see but I could spot her just fine.
She's not the frolicking type, in fact, she's rather ill-mannered. As Ma would say, poorly socialized, but then again, she's not exactly a DOG.

A good week for me!

This week I was a good dog and Pops (my Ma's Pa) turned 91 on Monday. I could not go to dinner with them, instead, it was the first time I was left HOME ALONE, but I was, as usual, a very good dog.

Later in the week I got to go to Ft. Funston where we went to the granite beach. It is a rather odd geological formation but since the tide was high, we couldn't really go very far.

I lay around in the sand and got really dirty.

I engaged in one of my favorite activities -- digging. I also got to supervise some other dogs digging.

Helped them work on their form.

After that, we went to Daly City where I was invited to lunch at BurgerMeister. I got to meet some interesting pugs accompanying a nice lady at the table next to us --you can kinda see them in the background under the table. They were beggars! You know, I don't beg.
I've been to another restaurant two doors down where I was outside alone, but apparently the food here is much better and I loved sitting next to my humans while they enjoyed some juicy burgers. I got to say hello to passerbys and other patrons - one of my favorite activities!

When we got home, another surprise. New kibble for me!! It's always best right out of the bag. All in all, it was a good day and a good week. And, guess what??? Since my bowels have recovered, I've gained some weight and I'm now 61 lbs. However, Pa was a bit nonplussed to find he had a pound or two to lose (you know, he has to subtract his weight from our combined weight since he has to pick me up an stand on the scale.)

Lounging in bed

Today, I was a good boy and we ran into Sunny and his Pa on the Land's End trail. We tore around there demolishing the vegetation that the volunteers so laboriously planted. The humans made plans to do this again soon. I love Sunny - he's a big, blonde retriever that likes to run. I see him on his deck doing his business - we live around the corner from each other and our back yards are adjacent.


When we got home, I decided to roll around in bed. I don't normally get invited to climb up on bed, so it kind of makes me nervous. Ma pulled out her big camera and started with her macro lens again. She's a little sleep deprived having been working on some grant again.

A lovely day at the beach

Yesterday, I was a good boy, as I always am. It was a sad day for our neighbor, Julie, who had to take her kitty to get cremated. Poor Tigger was found nearly dead in my yard two mornings ago. I met her the evening before when she could still get around - I was good - I barked but I didn't lay a paw or a jaw on her. And, I kept her from crawling under the deck which is where she was planning to go. But, after spending a cold night outdoors, I guess it was too much for her. She was 15.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be a glorious day outside and Ma and Pa decided to take a break and take me out for some much needed FUN. We went to Seal Rock Beach which is a step and a stumble from our home.

OK, be honest, do I have a skinny butt?

The tide was down so there was some beach.

They always make me sit for no good reason. Hrrrmpfffff...I'll do it once.

But then the ball came out!!

Note my new leather leash. I chewed up one of the older ones playing tug of war. A glorious day after all! We look forward to more.

Back to blogging!

I have been a very good dog and have grown somewhat, I think. I now weigh in at 58 #. However, my Ma unceremoniously calls me Skinnybutt. Pa hates that name. But then again, he didn't like it when Ma called Stanley other names like Punkin.

In addition to Haupia, I have a number of other lady canines I play with. They include Billie, the Schnauzer and Bella the big Dobie. I actually like Rocco too, but Rocco can be cantankerous. Must be the Napoleon complex when you're a short French male. That's Rocco, above, doing the doggie thing. Notice how I handicap myself since he's so little. He is solid, though. And below is Bella Bella Bella. Actually we know another Bella which is a huge Mastiff that understands French.

February was a tough month for me. My bowels were malfunctioning in a liquid way causing Ma much consternation. After being checked out for Giardia which came back negative, she put me on a fast of chicken broth, rice and tamari that lasted 2 days. She also gave me a concoction of slippery elm and carob qid/po which means 4 times a day by mouth. YUK. She learned this from the Pictairn book. Unbelievably, the stuff seemed to work. After consulting her Pops, Ma will only give me cooked chicken products now. She suspects I might have contracted Salmonella from raw chicken. Apparently, Pops, who is an expert on intestinal microbes, told her dogs can get Salmonella and also Vibrio (as in cholera) - a common species we can get is V. parahemolyticus from raw seafood. She also noticed that the more kibble I get, the less well my stool. Hmmmm. I'm hoping this means I switch to all home cooked food and ad libitum!

March is turning out to be a very good month for me. I had my first snow experience up near Donner pass. That's me - digging. I kind of like the cold.

There was so much of that white stuff. Ma wants to get me eye protection so that I don't get cataracts.

On the way home, we stopped by Mimi's place. That was my fist Ma. I'll be going there to learn how to swim when the weather gets hot. I know, because I heard them talking about it.