fridays with asa: summer camp

good evening, fellow friends!

today has been quite a busy day at my abode.  you see, my little brother booker and i are heading to summer camp tomorrow.  we spent a good portion of the day packing our bags and preparing for our adventure.  mom then aided us in loading our items into the car so that we will be ready bright and early tomorrow morning.
now i'm assuming several of you may be thinking how abysmal it is to be separated from your parent(s).  while booker and i do miss our mom and dad when we are apart, we still manage to have a stellar time at camp.  we always cohabit a quaint, air conditioned cabin and bunk side by side.  there is a lovely fenced-in yard attached to our cabin as well.  contrary to popular belief, the camp food is simply delicious.  and the best part about camp is that booker and i get to participate in amazing adventure walks and explore nature!
booker and i will be at camp for just over a week, and we wanted to let you know that we will especially miss all of you, our special friends, while we are gone.  we wish you a safe and wonderful memorial day!  please take a moment to honor our fallen soldiers as you enjoy this long weekend.  we look forward to seeing all of you when we return!
good day!

wordless wednesday: under my mama's desk -- my new fave place to snooze!

this one's for you, miss april and miss daisy!!

hihi dudes and dudettes!
i wanted to tell you about my awesome friendz miss april and miss daisy.  i know some of ya'll already know them, but if you don't, you should totally go visit their bloggie the teacher's pets.  see, miss april has the bestest hooman job evarrr!  she's a way famous pet sitter, so she gets to spend her days going on walkies and giving out foodables and playing fetch and passing out the lovins to a bunch of grrreat doggies and kitties!  now miss daisy is miss april's furkid.  she's a super pretty coonhound, and she is one of the luckiest doggies that i know cuz she gets to go to work with her mama every day!!  isn't that just the coolest?

anywho, a few weeks ago, miss april had a caption contest.  she asked us to help her come up with a caption for this picture of miss daisy and her friend miss sophie taking a rest in the backseat of miss april's car.

well, me and asa and my mama thought 'n thought until our brains had been thinked out.  we came up with a caption, and do you know what?  we actually won miss april's caption contest!  we couldn't believe it cuz there were so many good entries!
our prize pressie came in the mail the other day.  miss april and miss daisy, me and asa and mama want to say THANKS!! for being our friendz and THANKS!! so very very much for your generosity.  ya'll totally made our day!!!

miss daisy even stamped the package with her paw!  how nifty is that?

miss april and miss daisy wrote us a nice letter, and miss daisy even sent us a lovely picture of herself!  (more on that later.)  you see that card thingie i have in between my paws?  that's a barnes and noble gift card!  my daddy's birthday is on sunday, and my mama is going to get daddy the new book he wants with the gift card!  don't tell my daddy, okie dokie?  it's a secret between us.  *wink wink*

we even got super awesome placemats!!  mine has bones and paws and fire hydrants.  asa's has a fire hydrant and big white polka dots.  *squeeee*

me and asa put miss daisy's autographed picture up next to miss sugar's!  we have started a photo wall of our friendz on the laundry room door, kind of like miss ruby and miss penny's.  me and asa would love to have pictures of all our friendz to put up, so if you have a picture you want to send to us, just email me!

in honor of my friend, mr. max

rest in peace, sweet max.  you will be greatly missed.

"I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?"

Sir Walter Scott

hail, my fair bush beans!

good evening, fellow friends!
i realize it is not a friday, but i found myself unable to resist posting spontaneously.  i, asa, am brimming with excitement as i have just finished my first harvest from my dad's garden!  i present to you the first batch of bush beans!  at this very moment, my mom is cleaning the beans so she can sauté them with a little olive oil, pepper, and garlic.  most divine, if i say so myself!

fridays with asa: celebrating my 6th day of acquirement!

hello furry friends!
today is a very special day for me, asa.  on this very day 6 years ago, my mom and dad brought me home!  i can think of no day more momentous than this.  i am filled with immense gratitude that the good Lord has bestowed upon me the most wonderful parents.  i reflect upon the last 6 years of my life, and i am flooded with memories of joy, comfort, love, and adventure.
every year when my family and i fete my day of acquirement, we reminisce on the occasion by reviewing pictures of when i first arrived at my forever abode.  i thought that all of you might enjoy seeing some of these pictures as well.  you will have to excuse the quality of some of these photographs as they are copies.

 enjoying my new bone on the couch

slinking off of the couch and under the coffee table to get to mom

 my first bathing experience

relaxing under the coffee table, which is one of my favorite locations

i believe my eyes reveal how much i adore my new family!

one of my signature poses

(interestingly enough, if you enlarge this picture, you will see my incision on my back from my first lump removal 6 years ago.  it seems everything has come full circle!)

slumbering with my bone on the couch

my dad introducing me to the couch cave.

sleeping in with mom on a saturday morning and enjoying the perks of a glorious bed

now what better way to celebrate my day of acquirement than with an award!  it just so happens that three wonderful comrades of mine and my little brother booker have very kindly given us the versatile blogger award!

booker and i are honored that you would nominate us.  from the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank our beautiful boxer friend maggie mae, who is a very talented jumper; our yellow labrador friends ginger and buddy, who are full of zeal and wisdom; and our sweet little chi mix friend princess luna, who gives excellent fashion advice.  your generosity does not go unnoticed!

with this award, booker and i have been instructed to share seven tidbits about ourselves.  booker suggested that i go ahead and share all seven of the items since he has already done this on a few separate occasions.  (have i mentioned what a selfless little brother i have?)

1.  i am a food connoisseur who can detect scrumptious items anywhere 

     and everywhere.  i have been known to retrieve delectables from the 

     counter when my mom and dad are attending to other issues.

2.  my favorite places to nap are under the coffee table, on the ottoman, 

     or on my parents' bed.

3.  i like to sing along with the harmonica.

4.  i simply adore sunning myself.

5.  tending to my dad's garden is one of my important tasks.

6.  i enjoy going on car rides, especially when the destination is sonic.  

     sometimes, the sonic car hop will reward me with a hot dog.

7.  one of my favorite past times is writing haiku, and i shall share one 

     with you now.

he who loves a dog

has earned a most loyal friend

the bond shall not break.

finally, booker and i were instructed to pass this award on to 15 of our fellow friends.  now we find it quite a conundrum to single out only 15 of our dear friends.  therefore, we have elected to give this award to all of our special friends.  we are immensely thankful for your friendship and  gladly anticipate numerous more years of continued comraderie.  thank you for your solidarity!

good day!

addendum:  the stitches on my front leg shall be removed tomorrow!

wordless wednesday: super big thankies to the nuthatch gang for our awesome GABE prize pressie!!

i call shenanigans!

my mama got home early from work today, which was totally awesome!  when mama got home, she took me and my big sis asa out in the backyard for playtime!  asa and i did some gentle sniffin' and some slow laps around the yard, and then mama started kicking my big green ball for me.  yesssss!  do you know what my mama did, though??  she can't deny it either cuz i've got pictures for evidences.

what, you can't see anythingie?  allow me to explain.  my mama kicked my big green ball into the tree!!  and she says i have pent up energies?  holy cow!

then mama tried to tell me she wasn't gonna be able to get my big green ball out of the tree until daddy got home.  whatevs!!!  i told her i wasn't leaving that tree until i got my ball back.  mama kinda gave me the hairy eyeball, but she knew deep down that it was totally her fault.  so she went and got my baseball and threw it up into the tree until she knocked my big green ball out.  it took like 50 gazillion years, but at least i got my ball back!!  good thingie, too, cuz now it's pouring rain and thundering like crazy!

fridays with asa: the results are in.

good evening, my furry friends!

i apologize for the delay of my friday post, but as most of you know, i had surgery on tuesday and have been recovering in the comfort of my home.  as it so happened, i decided to take a late afternoon nap only to wake up and discover that i had slumbered for a solid 3 hours. goodness gracious!
i am quite thankful for all of the love and support that you have given to my mom over the past week.  your kindness has been a comfort to my mom, which in turn has put me at ease.  now i did want to let you know that my mom spoke with madame vet this afternoon concerning my pathology results.  the mass on my thigh is a mast cell tumor, but i shall choose to dwell on the positive!  the MCT is only a stage 2 (out of 4), and the margins came back clear, meaning the entire tumor was excised and nothing was left behind on me.  i am very thankful to report that at this time, i do not require any further treatments.  my parents will be quite conscientious in examining me for any new masses in the future.  if i do develop a new MCT or the MCT reappears on my thigh, then i will be referred to a surgeon and an oncologist for re-excision and chemotherapy treatments. 
there is one other small item for which i would appreciate your good thoughts and prayers.  you see, my mom has been quite kind by not subjecting me to the cone of humiliation.  i am ashamed to admit that i had a moment of weakness thursday morning when i had to rest alone in my crate for a few hours, and i licked my incision on my thigh.  as a result, it has become red and hot, a sign of infection.  i commenced on a regimen of antibiotic treatment this evening, which i surely hope will remedy the infection.
in closing, my mom requested that i mention how lamentable it is that we have only been able to visit a pawful of your blogs this week.  please forgive us as this past week has been quite trying.  we anticipate our schedule returning to its normal pace over the next week, and we hope to resume visiting all of you in the near future!
good day!

wordless wednesday: in honor of my friend, mr. digby

pupdate on my big sis asa

hihi everybuddy!
i just wanted to let ya'll know that asa is home and comfy cozy.  my mama went and picked up asa after work, and they got home right around supper time.  mama said the car ride was pretty funny cuz she had the windows open to give asa some fresh air.  asa was just staring into space with big googly eyes and her ears were flappin' in the wind.  teehee.

asa is acting way loopy like, but mama said that was to be expected since the vet had given asa meddies to make her take a looong nap.  i wanted to wrestle and play bitey face cuz i was so so happy to see asa, but i couldn't since she has 3 booboos with stitches.  right now, she is snoozin' like a champ in one of her favorite spots -- under the coffee table.  you can see her biggest booboo on her right thigh.

asa only had 2 lumps at first, but the vet found another little bitty one on her right front leg this morning, so asa had 3 lumps removed.  the bigger one on her right thigh:

and then the 2 smaller ones on her right front leggie:

mama says the vet sent asa's thigh lump off for an analyzification and that we should know by friday what kind of lump it is.  me and mama and daddy are all crossing our paws 'n fingers 'n toesies for good news. 
thanks bunches 'n tons to ya'll for thinking good thoughts and sayin' prayers for my big sis asa!!!  she is the bestest big sis evarrr, and i want her to be happy and okie dokie!

happy mother's day!

i just wanted to woof happy mother's day to all of you grrreat mamas out there!!!  thanks for always feeding us our favorite treatsies, and scratching that itchy we can't reach, and snugglin' in the blankies with us, and taking us on super duper adventures, and giving us tons of lovins!!

everybuddy, make sure you woof to your mama how special she is and give her lots 'n lots of gooey nose kisses and cuddles today!

i'm kinda cheating cuz this picture is from when i was a little dude, but you get the idea.  now go cuddle with your mama!!  heehee.

fridays with asa: an outing to my vet

hello furry friends!
i apologize for the delay of my post today.  you see, my mom and i had several errands to run this morning, and then we proceeded to met up with my dad this afternoon before arriving at my vet's for my annual wellness exam.  visiting the vet is not one of my favorite past times, and i like to have my mom and my dad with me for moral support.  at any rate, we arrived at my vet's office, signed in, and made ourselves comfortable in the waiting room.

i find it important to distract myself whilst i wait for my name to be called.  this aids me in not becoming too anxious.  first, i decided to examine the fish pond.

after a satisfactory inspection of the pond, i positioned myself at the front door where i could peruse the parking lot for new visitors and invading squirrels.  i was pleased to make the acquaintance of two ladies and a male boxer.  however, i was not in the slightest pleased to make the acquaintance of the three squirrels just beyond the front door.

shortly thereafter, the vet tech summoned me to my room.  a brief stop at the scale revealed that i, asa, was of proper size and stature.  (a true lady never reveals her weight.)  i then relegated myself to the examination table, not without a few longing glances at the ground below me.

my amicable vet lady arrived a few minutes later.  after a most unpleasant prodding in my nether regions, it was determined that my temperature was normal.  i was unable to have a fecal exam because i was, and i quote, "empty back there".  i have to admit, this gave me a slight chuckle.  my heart, ears, teeth, and joints were in fine form.  a quick prick to my front right leg allowed for a collection of blood to check for those dastardly heart worms.  fortunately, i was heart worm negative.  next, i was administered a vaccination against the parvo virus, followed by a nasal spray to protect against bordetella.
my mom took the opportunity to show my vet two masses on my skin that she had just noticed on wednesday evening.  the first one is pea-sized and is at the top of my front right leg, where my leg transitions into my arm pit.  the second one is a bit larger (nickle-sized) and is on my thigh on my right back leg.  allow me to segue for a moment and explain to you that i, asa, have a propensity for developing skin tags, cysts, and the like.  i have had a few benign masses removed in the past.  as a result, my mom and dad weren't too concerned about them, but just to be safe, my vet did a fine needle aspiration on the largest mass on my thigh.  (the other mass was too small to needle biopsy.)  well, unfortunately, when my vet looked at my specimen under the microscope, she spotted a mast cell...just one...but still, a mast cell...mingled with a bunch of other benign cells.  needless to say, my vet and my parents were concerned.  as a result, i have been scheduled to have surgery this coming tuesday, may 11th.  i will have both the mass on my thigh and the smaller mass on my front right leg removed (just in case).
now, i am a strong woman, and i know that i am going to be just fine, but please, would you offer some encouragement and kind words to my mom?  she loves me and my brother booker so very much.  she won't admit it to me, but i can tell that she is really worried.  all this evening i have been giving her reassuring kisses that i will indeed be alright, but i know she would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.  i am thanking you in advance for your thoughtfulness.
now if i could just discover some kind of alternative to that blasted collar i am going to be subjected to wearing.  sigh.
good day!

wordless wednesday: from the puppy vault!

bark to the park!

okie dokie, so i know bark to the park was like 2 saturdays ago, but my mama has been super duper busy, and she just now got all the pictures off of her flashy camera.  fiiiiiinally, i can show you all about this totally awesome sauce event!
bark to the park happens every spring and is sponsored by one of our favorite local shelters, project pet.  it starts off with a fun hooman and doggie walkie.  the walkie ends at an uber awesome park where all of these booths 'n tents are set up with tons of stuff to check out!  most important like, are the various rescue groups that bring some of their doggies available for adoption or fostering.  then there are local doggie vendors, and lots of them give out free foodables 'n treatsies!  also, there are some agilities groups doing flyball and frisbee.  oh, i almost forgot that there are costume contests, too.  and of course there is a music stage and food for the hoomans.
i've been to two bark to the parks now, and every year i just have so much funsies!  bestest of all is knowing that everyone there is helping to raise money and awareness for homeless doggies (and even the kitties, too)!
now i'm gonna show you the pictures!
(you're gonna notice that my big sis asa isn't in any of the pictures.  unfortunately, she hasn't been able to come to bark in the park cuz she gets really really anxious around large groups of people and doggies.  boohoo.  i wish she could come, but i don't want her to feel uncomfortable.  i brought her home a bandanna so we can be matchy matchy at least.)

modeling my bark to the park bandanna!

frisbee agilities!

doesn't this lovely lady look like miss emma rose?

more frisbee agilities!

i totally think this is mr. ranger!

now it's time for flyball!

look at her go!  so speedy gonzales like!

i meet bunches 'n tons of new friendz!

mr. pittie, i <3 your black speckles!

4 month old great dane puppy with way cool face markings!

american bulldoggie!

dog pile!

my mama loooved this cute little puppy dude!

a pretty little wiener dog lady!

every time we saw this boxer puppy, he was trying to eat his daddy's shoelaces.  teeheehee.

oh, i almost forgot to tell you about the pool zone!!!

hey, lookies!  it's mr. b's twin!

the booker man is way thirsty and super pooped after a way fab day at bark to the park!

i can't wait to go again next year!!