Suburban Span

Well, when I first introduced myself in this dog-blog, I was telling you that I was a city dog, a Suburban Span really. What exactly is that? City dogs are happy walking on sidewalks, they come from a wonderland of well manicured lawns with flowers that smell good, trees that shade you, and other dogs have manners. In the burbs, sidewalks were designed so dogs could take their pets (humans) for a walk, and I rarely have to touch grass. Sidewalks feel so good on my puppy paws, most of the time they are cool and nice, although they do a get a little hot and burn my pads in the real dog days of summer. They call them dog days, because they are hard on us dogs, we tend to pant a lot and are extra tired and need to nap more. Anyways, back to my favorite dream about my life as a suburban dog... it is the best thing to be a suburban dog. You have a nice lawn to run around in, mark, roll in the bark your Mom puts around her antique roses and snooze in the sun of the concrete porch. I love concrete porches almost as much as I like sidewalks, cool on the puppy paws. There are butterflies and hummingbirds to chase, a big playhouse with a sunny spot for me to lay in. In California, all houses have fences, and so you can hear the other dogs, but they can never come into your yard unless your family lets them in and you are safe and secure in your own little paradise. You have your own spot of green, grassy lawn all to yourself, to do with as you please. It is wonderful! My Mom and my Girl kept it really nice outside, they would garden a lot, and I would sit on the cushioned porch bench and sun myself while they made my yard nice. If I ever felt the urge to put my puppy paws on grass (which I already told you I don't like that much) it was manicured, the gardeners kept the weeds out of it and it was as plush as my spantastic paws. I had my own dog door and I could go in and out as often as I wanted. I was completely in control of my world. And then, one day that changed my puppy world forever, they took me to the spa for the day to get all pretty, and while I was there, this enormous truck came to my big house, and packed up everything my family had, except for my bowls and my cage and brushes and drove off with it. A big diesel truck, oh how it stunk. We were moving from the suburbs, the wonderful land of fences, green grass and big fluffy trees where everything bloomed all the time and life was easy....to the country. Just wait until I tell you about the horrors of the country - oh my paws, my paws, what a story I have to tell you for another day.

My puppy paws are fuzzy and gorgeous and they really do not like rain. Why should a retired show dog have to put all FOUR paws on a rainy surface? Let alone a slimy, grassy surface? Oh no. Not this Spantastic Spaniel. The rain is one of the hard things about leaving California. There it was hot all of the time and we didn't get much rain, so my paws were pretty safe. However, my parents had that awful sprinkler system, which makes some areas just as wet for the puppy paws. Sprinklers aren't as bad as rain, they don't pour down on your back and mess the rest of your coat up.

Well, it is raining today, again. Better go dry my puppy paws, so they fluff properly

The pack traveled all over the United States. We moved from a big, beautiful house in California, where I was a city dog. Actually I was a suburban dog and I loved it. I like sidewalks a lot. I am kind of prissy and don't like grass - yuck. Sidewalks are much better. But my Dad got a bright idea to move to the East Coast, what is that? The East Coast is a place that takes a long time to get to, you have to ride in the pack-mobile for days and days. All Mama did was drive and drive, Dad was in front of her driving too. My girl was in the back seat with me and squished me quite a bit. Mama kept telling her not to squish me, and making her move. Some times, I rode on top of all of the suitcases, because I am truly TOP DOG, whether the rest of the pack will admit it or not. It is all about me, they just forget.

Spantastic Clara

I am a cocker spaniel. I have a girl, she is my pet. I love cookies! Cookies! And more cookies! My humans won't give me very many, they make sure I go potty outside first.

I am the queen of the pack, even though my girl's mama thinks she is the queen of the pack. I am top dog, not my mama.

The pack traveled all over the United States. We moved from a big, beautiful house in California, where I was a city dog. Actually I was a suburban dog and I loved it. I like sidewalks a lot. I am kind of prissy and don't like grass - yuck. Sidewalks are much better. But my Dad got a bright idea to move to the East Coast, what is that? The East Coast is a place that takes a long time to get to, you have to ride in the pack-mobile for days and days. All Mama did was drive and drive, Dad was in front of her driving too. My girl was in the back seat with me and squished me quite a bit. Mama kept telling her not to squish me, and making her move. Some times, I rode on top of all of the suitcases, because I am truly TOP DOG, whether the rest of the pack will admit it or not. It is all about me, they just forget.

We stayed in lots of places called hotels. I am so special, I caused them to pay lots of extra money for something called a "pet fee." Hello! Humans are the pets! I am Spantastic Span, Clara the Wonder Dog, I am nobody's pet. But these hotels are pretty cranky about taking "pets" and they charged my Dad a lot of money. That is okay, I still got to sleep on the bed with my girl, I sleep on the top of the pillow and push her off! I like to do that. But I don't like hotels, they have too many smells in them, they are different every night and I like my own bed that I share with my girl.



Well, tomorrow I will tell you more about the trip, and my girl.