I think I like this place

Sorry for not posting much in the last month, it's been pretty hectic around here. First, I have yet to meet Katrina, the cat who allegedly lives here. My parents even put up a second baby gate in the hallway to keep me from where she is. I don't know why they did that, as I try to greet her with barking, yelping and jumping whenever I hear her meow. Maybe 2010 will be the year we get together.

Second, the big news is that my skin seems to be getting better. I still have this spot on my front paw that I REALLY like to chew on, but my mommy is really diligent about putting socks and boots on that paw to keep me from enjoying the sublime delights of obsessive sore licking. I bet if she tried it she wouldn't be so dead set against it...but I do still have that very stylish and warm Woolrich jacket that my daddy bought over a month ago. I think it makes me look jaunty, even though it does keep me from chewing on my side.

Third, and this is the big news, I think I have come to terms with my big brother, Remsen. For the past month I've been yapping at him and sometimes even growling and snapping (I still do snap at strangers, but that's to protect the ones I love, including myself) when he's around, especially when he tries to get near my bones or the bed, when I'm on it first. But yesterday my parents went away for the day to some place called Sackramenthol (I think that's what they called it) and Remsen and I stayed home (though our second mother, Julie, came by a few times to play with us, take us out and feed us). They were gone until late at night and Remsen and I had a blast running the household. Don't tell my parents, but we found some kongs filled with treats and ate them all up!

My parents were all excited when they got home, saying something about how good we were and how neither Remsen nor I appeared to be wound up, as we usually are when they leave during the day (they just don't understand that we expect them to go to work so we can live the life of luxury we deserve, but if they stay home past 10 am we expect them to pay attention to us all day). They also noticed that we were interacting a lot more than usual (Remsen had been ignoring me, which I chalked up to him being jealous of my amazing wardrobe and my insanely curly and flappy ears).

It's true, Remsen and I made a pact yesterday to be a pack of two (Katrina can be an honorary pack mate, but until she learns to pee against a tree she can't be inducted into the pack as a true member). To you humans, that means that we're officially buddies. Don't believe it? A picture is worth a thousands barks (you can see even bigger versions of the pictures by clicking on them):




HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE (especially my buddies at Camp Cocker)!

Things are still looking bright, even on Black Friday...

Kyle here, reporting from my new home where everything is going really well.

I learned some important things this week. Here are some highlights:

1. How to get up on the couch so I can sleep next to my brother, Remsen
2. That I LOVE LOVE LOVE turkey
3. I (still) have to be nice to the cat (I promise to be nice to her, just as soon as I catch her!)

My Daddy put some turkey in my food this morning. Wow, did I ever enjoy it. I liked it so much that I spent quite a bit of time picking out all of the yummy turkey pieces and left all the other stuff behind. Mommy told Daddy that we may have a problem if I start demanding turkey everyday. She made me some new food without turkey and I ate it up just to prove that I'm not that spoiled already.

Mommy gave me a bath yesterday. I won't go so far as to say that it was fun, but it wasn't awful. I have special shampoo to help my skin problems and after a vigorous lathering, we had to leave it on for 10 minutes. Mommy sat right next to the tub so I wouldn't be alone while I waited; she was reading a book and I decided to lay down right there in the tub and take a quick nap. My favorite part was after I was all rinsed off, Mommy gave me an all-over massage with nice, soft towels. She's waiting anxiously for my skin to get better and my coat to come back to its natural shine and handsome curl.

I hope everyone had a good Thursday holiday and an opportunity to share a great meal with family and friends.

-- Kyle (fka Ben)

p.s. Mommy is leaving for India on Monday for 11 days. Daddy is going to be a single dog-parent for almost two weeks. Mommy asked me to be a really good boy while she's gone and not to give Daddy any trouble. That's my plan.

Settling in...

(With all apologies for any change in tone, I'm having my new daddy write this post, and he's not as eloquent as my new mommy, who penned my initial blog post)


So about a week into my new home and I'm settling in pretty well. The only downside, from my new parents' perspective, is that I still want to chase that thing they call a "cat". I don't know why, but I just get this urge to run after whatever a cat is. I don't mean any harm with it, but my new parents do not seem to think it's very cute (everything else about me, however, seems to elicit a lot of "he's so cute" from them).


Last weekend, my new parents and my new big brother, Remsen, took me out for something they called "pheasant hunting." I had no idea what that was about but it involved taking a ride in the truck with my new big brother, so I figured it had to be fun. I still don't understand what pheasant hunting is other than a run through a corn field (I heard my new daddy say something about a pheasant being a type of bird and we were going to try to get some for dinner), but HOLY COW, DO I LOVE IT!


First thing that happened is Remsen and I got out of the truck and we took off together into this corn field. At first I didn't understand what Remsen was doing, as he seemed to have a strong interest in sniffing and zig zagging around. Then I had a religous experience...something caught my nose, unlike anything I've ever smelled, and these long dormant instincts took over. Next thing I know, my new daddy is praising me as I worked the field, going up and down the corn rows and doing a thorough job of checking out the field edges and ditches. Don't ask me how I knew what to do, I guess I'm just a natural!


There were a few comical moments, like when I didn't realize that there was a little ditch in the field and I fell into it, up to my chest, and had a hard time crawling up and out of it (note to self: cut down on the carbs), and man, was I tired after we got home, but it was the best two hours of my life! I was out in nature with my new parents and my new big brother, running and sniffing.


I think I might stick around for a bit...

Here's some pictures of the action. If you click on each picture you can see a larger image.

My favorite picture of them all...Me and my big brother Remsen, running together through the fields.










Look, Ma, I'm a working dog!










Hmmm...corn cobs.....










Me and my big brother!











And if you'd like to see a video of the action, click on the picture below!

A new start...

Let me introduce myself; my name is Kyle. Kyle is my new name, for my new life. I am FKA Gentle Ben. I liked that name, but I really needed a fresh start. Here's my story...

Just a month ago I found myself being dumped off at a shelter in South Central Los Angeles. This was not my first time there either. I'm not a bad dog, in fact, I'm pretty mellow. This was not exactly what I had hoped for in my life. I'm not ashamed to admit this, but I was feeling really depressed and resigned to living a pretty awful life. I know I sound like a whiner, but I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that my life really has been tough.

Just when my head couldn't hang any lower, someone wonderful named Cathy Stanley from Camp Cocker (www.campcocker.com) came along to rescue me. She didn't have to do it either; I'm not even a Cocker Spaniel. Fortunately for me, I am in the spaniel family! All I know is that one of Cathy's helpers, Victor (who I really really like a lot), came to get me from the shelter and bring me somewhere safe. Cathy took me to the vet to get me checked out. I'm not kidding, she didn't even know me and she took me to the vet! Things seemed to be looking up. I've got a few little health issues and I need to improve my diet so I can shed a few pounds, but all in all, I'm pretty healthy. Cathy also took me to get a bath and a haircut ,and for the first time in ages I actually felt like wagging my tail! I stayed in a dog hotel (they called it "boarding", but I wasn't really that bored). I had a pretty cool roomie and we got along OK. I was starting to feel relieved, but still have a LOT of trust issues because I've been disappointed so often in my life.

But, earlier this week Victor came to get me and said we were going on a long drive. I said to myself, "..here we go again", but as I mentiond before, I like Victor, so I was happy to go with him and tried to keep a positive attitude. I snoozed in the back seat for almost 6 hours while Victor drove. When I woke up, you wouldn't believe it, but Victor told me I was at my new home. Whoa!

It's true...I was home. Stay tuned for more on how my new life is going...