My Best Friend is Grey- Book One
Laundry Delight-Courtesy of our friend Halamos
Fog Gets Wet n Wild at a Birthday Party in Central Park
Let's hear YOUR scary story that ended happily! Here is Fog's story........
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Fog has a Chicken Little Moment (The Sky is Falling)
Fog is getting a lump of coal for Christmas
7/8/1999
I had some German friends
visiting me recently. While they were having breakfast, my sweet Weim,
Fog, was begging for goodies from the table. The guests had just come from
visiting a family whose dog, Phillip, begged also. They family would say,
"Phillip, go get your Teddy!" and the dog would leave. Not
knowing what else to do, and having a limited English vocabulary, the
XO Gail & Fog
Subject: Laundry Delight-Courtesy of our friend
Halamos
10/31/1999
It
was time to wash the dog bedding. I give my dogs multi-folded quilted
bedspreads (twin size) for their crates & they really seem to like
them. They can lie on multi-thick layers or bury in. I took my male,
Saber's, first because it fills a whole machine by itself. He always seems
to enjoy freshly washed bedding.
I wash & dry the quilted bedspread. (I forget to get it out of the
dryer.) We go up for bed. His bedding is missing & he is horrified
as he goes to get in his crate! I quickly yell down to my spouse to
bring it up. We try to fold his bedding to put it back in the crate. (A
little dance of excitement starts...)
I walk over & get on my knees to place this 6-time folded bedspread into the
crate. My frame fills most of the crate door opening but lo, there is
Saber frantically trying to push his way past me into the crate (he is SO
excited!) I wondered if he was afraid I would want to sleep in his crate
(LOL) if he did not push his way in & get on the bed first. I could
not get out of the crate, because he was wedging me in, as he tried to pass by
me. I begin to laugh so hard, I could not stop. Every time I moved,
Saber moved. DH had to finally intervene (when he could stop laughing) by
pulling Saber out by the collar until I could dislodge myself. You've
never seen a dog move faster to get on a bed (or in a crate)! May your
next laundry load be 1/2 as fun!
Hal
11/29/1999
Dear
Friends:
This group really knows how to do its research- imagine being on a Weim
board and getting an education in fish!!!! I think that's great!
My dog Fog looks so cute when I feed him a grape or a cherry. He opens his
mouth every so gently, just wide enough to take the fruit, and handles it so
delicately, like it's a fine confection. (All other foods he grabs for
greedily.) Then he looks a little puzzled, as if he's not sure if he
should bite down. It's so cute!! A friend that also has a Weims
tells me that Fog feels the texture of the fruit, the thin skin over the flesh,
and that he interprets this as human skin, which he knows not to bite- My
friends says that's why Fog gets the puzzled look. I guess I shouldn't
give him fruit anymore- I don't want him to unlearn his good manners, but is
sure is a funny thing to see.
XO Gail and Fog
7/2/2000
Dear Friends,
When Fog sees me blow drying my hair and putting on makeup, he knows that I'm
going out and will be gone for awhile, certainly longer than a trip to the
basement laundry or the deli on the corner. This makes him a little sad,
and then that's when he does the Puppy Pancake. He flattens out onto the
floor near me, puts his head on the floor between his oversized front feet and
gazes up at me with a look of complete sorrow. It's a heartbreaker. Does
anyone else have Weim behaviors that they have named?
I
think that it's amazing how well they communicate their feelings with gestures
and expressions!!
XO Gail & Fog
Subject: Fog Gets Wet n Wild at a Birthday Party in Central Park
7/12/2000
Last week Fog was invited to a Doggy
Birthday Party in Central Park. The party was at 7:30am, under a big shady
tree across from the small fountain in the Park. The hostess had decorated
the tree with crepe paper streamers, and there were birthday hats hanging on the
bushes by their elastics- enough for dogs and owners, about 15 of us. Fog
loved his hat. There were Kazoos to play "Happy Birthday" on, and of
course treat bags with doggy cookies for all the guests. Fog made a real
oinker of himself and ate some that belonged to the other guests. The
highlight of the party was the piñata, a big round yellow smiley face filled
with rubber toys like rubber frogs and chicken feet. and dog treats. The
Birthday dog's name is Messhuggeneh, which is Yiddish for "crazy".
As we were all signing the guest book, New York's Finest came rolling by in
their cruiser. I'd imagine that the NY cops have seen just about
everything in that Park, but they sure took a good look at us!! A
few minutes later, Fog and Cisco ran off to splash in the fountain. From
behinds the bushes we heard the bullhorn, "GET OUT OF THE FOUNTAIN" Oh
no, Fog and Cisco were BUSTED!!! The two of them raised their heads and
stared in the direction of The Voice, stayed frozen for a second or two, and
then came bounding out of the fountain and across the plaza. to rejoin our
group. We all roared with laughter!!! Thank goodness there were no arrests
for disorderly conduct, and the cops graciously signed the guest book,
"Happy Birthday, Shugg, and remember to clean up after your party"!
XOXO Gail & Fog
Subject: New York City Cow Parade
8/3/2000
Dear Friends,
All around New York this summer there has been a city wide art exhibit that is
very whimsical, but has been causing a lot of tumult among the dog population.
The Exhibit is of larger than life size fiberglass cows that have been
decorated, each in their own unique style, by various artists. The cows
are all over, from Central Park to Greenwich Village. They are very fun
and colorful, and you can imagine how "foreign" they look in the city.
The first morning the cows were out, Fog went nuts. There is one statue in
the Park that he doesn't like, and he barks and growls at it, but the cows
provoked a different reaction. He was VERY cautious, sneaking up on the
cow and circling it, moo-ving in carefully and slowly (sorry, that was too
easy) sniffing and keeping his head down. When the cow wouldn't move, he
started to bark at it. It was so cute!! He so rarely shows any displeasure
with
anything, I find it really funny when he does dislike something. And that
was it, he went on his way and hasn't paid any attention to any of the cows
since! Check out this link if you'd like to see the cows-
Official
CowParade Website
ALSO- here's a question for our country cousins- The
cows in the Parade have both horns AND udders. That's not biologically
right, is it? Bulls have horns and female cows have udders, right? (Mother
would be so proud of me- she grew up on an 80 acre farm!)
XO Gail & Fog
8/19/2000
I'm sure everyone has a funny story to share about their dog
getting himself very dirty. Usually this occurs within days of a bath.
Here are two of Fog's specialties:
The Black & White cookie-(I don't know if bakeries in other parts of
the country have these, but in NYC we have these big sugar cookies that are
frosted half with white frosting and half with chocolate frosting- that's what a
Black & White is) At the leaky drinking fountain in the park, Fog
flops down in the mud puddle surrounding the fountain, getting his entire
underside coated with mud. Then he runs off to the bridle path that is
made of
that really black loose dirt that is good for the horses' hooves. Once
there, he looks to make sure I'm watching. That is very important!!!
Then he flops down in the black dirt and wiggles around. Of course the
dirt sticks to the mud "undercoating" and voila, Black & White
cookie!
The Moldy piece of Bread- This is a new one that Fog invented just this
morning. We were on our morning walk, past the boat pond where people race
their toy boats on the weekends. It is very large, and the water llevel in
very low compared to the edge of the pool. Fog took a flying leap and
belly flopped into the pond, forgetting that he can't climb out. His only
way out is to swim across the pond to the staircase that leads into the
water. But he panics and forgets, so instead of swimming straight across
to the stairs, he swims all along the perimeter of the pool, so that he stays as
close to me as possible. This takes twice as long. (He doesn't get
the concept that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line!)
The whole time I have to coach him to continue to the stairs!!! Today the
pond was extra thick with Super
green algae. by the time Fog got out of the pond, EEWW!! He had
traveled through quite a bit of the green stuff. Once
he clambered out of the pond, the water ran off him, but for some odd reason,
the green algae clung to the edges of his ears, his mouth and jaw ,
the fronts of his legs and his feet. He looked like a peice of moldy
bread!!!
Okay, who else has a recipe for a Dirty Weim???
XO Gail & Fog
Subject: Let's hear YOUR scary story that ended happily! Here is Fog's story...................
8/17/2000
Fog is my first dog. Before I got him, I read
everything I could get my hands on about Weims, training, adopting, etc. I
had lots o' "book learnin'" but no real practical experience.
And we all know that experience is the best teacher.
One night, after I had Fog for only about a week or two, I was up very late
reading in bed. Fog was lying on the bed next to me, quietly. A very
peaceful and serene pair we were. Suddenly, the bed shook for just a
second. Then it stopped just as abruptly. A pause. Then a
shake. I looked at Fog. To my horror, it was he that was shaking!
The "fit" shook his entire body, but lasted only an instant, and then
he was quiet. Then a pause, and
another tremble that shook him just a bit. OMG!!!! What to do??
It was 2 am!!! Who to call?? What could be happening to him?
Was this the beginning of epilepsy? Having read so much, I knew that there
were many terrible diseases that could befall a dog, so I had plenty of material
to scare myself with. My mind was racing, but I tried to remain calm, so
that I could observe the "fit " with my full concentration, so that I
would be able to
describe it in accurate detail to whoever I would call for help. As I was
fighting extreme panic, (and tears...what could be wrong with my beautiful boy?)
Fog turned his sweet face to me, looked me straight in the eyes with a very
gentle look and opened his mouth the slightest bit, and said.................
scroll down.....
"Hic!"
He had the Hiccups!! Who knew that a dog could get the hiccups? It
wasn't in any of the books! I burst into tears from relief and gave him a
big hug! Poor Fog must have wondered what kind of crazy woman he had
gotten stuck with! I smile every time I remember the look on his face when
he hiccupped at me.
XO Gail & Fog
Subject: I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
10/14/2000
Dear Friends,
Several weeks ago I took Fog to Central Park for his morning run and playtime.
I was throwing his Kong for him, and he was doing a good job
retrieving until something captured his attention. He picked The Thing up
with his mouth, and at first I couldn't tell what it was, except that it was
brown, and hairy............What could it be? Scroll down to find out that
in his teeth, Fog was proudly displaying ..........
A COCONUT!!!!!!
Being the indulgent Mom that I am, I let him bring it home- he had a fine time
playing with it, and it kept him entertained for 3 hours straight- an excellent
"babysitting" toy! He held onto it with his front paws and tried
chewing the narrow end with his back teeth. This was hilarious to watch,
because no matter how wide he opened those Alligator Jaws, he couldn't fit the
coconut into his mouth to crush it. He finally realized that he should
drop it onto the wood floor, and it developed a hairline crack and started to
leak. I poked an awl into it and drained the coconut milk and gave it back
to him. After a lot of very determined effort, Fog finally cracked
it open. He certainly had to work hard at it, though. That's where I
see the breed's stubbornness- he just won't give up!! He was delighted with his
achievement and trotted around the apartment swinging his tail, with 3/4 of a
coconut in his mouth. He ate all of the coconut and crunched on about half
the shell. Boy was his coat SHINY the next day! I got a few pictures
of this, so when I get my web page up, I'll post them.
Fog has found a lot of strange things to play with in the Park. What weird
thing has YOUR dog used as a toy???? Tell us about it!
XO Gail & Fog
PS- Have been unable to locate the coconut palm in Central Park!
Subject:
Fog has a Chicken Little Moment (The Sky is Falling)
11/8/2000
Yesterday morning I took Fog to the park where we met out friends Robin the
Human and Shugg the Poodle. We were having a nice stroll when Fog scooted
off onto the lawn to make a Big Giant Pooper. As he squatted on the grass,
with the gears in his little pointed head turning, focusing on the matter at
hand, we heard a dry snapping sound overhead. To our amazement, it seemed
that the sky opened up and a SQUIRREL fell out of it!! The poor terrified
animal landed about ten feet away from Fog. He fell from such a height it
was a wonder he didn't break his ankles. The squirrel recovered instantly
and shot off in a blur for the nearest tree. You should have seen the face
on Fog- He thought it was raining Squirrels!!!! He went after it in a
flash, but the squirrel's speed was to much for him. I think if Fog hadn't
been squatting, he might have caught the squirrel.
Can you imagine if the Squirrel had fallen on TOP of him?!?!? YEEE DAWGIES!!!!
XO Gail & Fog
Subject:
Fog is getting a lump of coal for Christmas
11/29/2000
Dear
Friends,
Fog has really been on a tear this past week. There must be something in
the air, because he has been BAD, BAD, BAD!!!!
Right before Thanksgiving he found a whole round rye bread in the Park, under
one of the benches. I swear it was nearly the size of a bowling ball and
he had to open his mouth so wide to grab it he could hardly see around it.
That was a job getting that away from him! (But he did look really
hilarious!!)
Thanksgiving night I came home from our friends with a foil package of turkey.
The minute I was in the door he seized it out of my hands and took a huge Weim
sized bite out of it, foil and all. Later that evening we had to make an
unscheduled walk because Fog had to make an aluminum pooper.
The following day I took him to the park when he was running and playing with
his friend Shugg the poodle. We passed one of the Central Park volunteers,
Lilypad, who was working near the carousel. She drives around in a Parks
department golf cart filled with gardening tools and weeds and tidies the ivy
and flowerbeds. Her gentlemen friend who does the same is named Frogman.
(New York is full of characters like these two, but they are very sweet.)
Anyway, Lilypad had left her lunch in a plastic Ziploc bag I guess on the
dashboard of the golf cart, and You-Know-Who helped himself. Fog ate the
entire sandwich and the plastic bag in one bite, but only after I went chasing
him all over the hollow in front of the carousel. He will run with something in
his mouth and not eat it as long as I chase him, but once I run out of steam, he
stops and chomps away and the snack is gone is 2 bites. How
embarrassing!!! So my friend and I tried to give Lilypad money so that she
could buy some lunch and not go hungry, but she wouldn't take it. My
friend is very clever and stuffed the money in Lilypad's pocket and then we ran
away so that she would be forced to accept it. Fog puts me in some
difficult social situations!!
Fog has also been tipping over the kitchen garbage as his new hobby. He
does it even when there is nothing in the can. So I started putting it on
the kitchen counter when I went out. That worked okay for a few days, but
then he decided that he really wanted it, and pushed the can off the counter
with his nose and feet. The metal can fell on the floor and the flip up
lid snapped off, and broke, so now i must ask Santa for a new Kitchen
garbage
can. GRRRR!!!!!
Is anyone else's Weim striving for a Lump of Coal in their stocking??
XO Gail & Fog