Happy 11 month birthday Charlie!

This past weekend was Charlie's 11th (month) birthday! Boy does time ever fly! It doesn't seem like he's grown an inch (well, until you go to pick him up, ohmygosh!), but the pictures clearly show that he has indeed grown. He started out so afraid of everything, noise, people, dogs, ugh... going to the dog park has helped him so much, he loves nothing more than to visit with other dogs! He's so gentle and sweet, never unkind, but he does stick up for himself, so don't mess with him, ha ha... He had a birthday weekend of the dog park each day, so today he is quite exhausted! Tomorrow is a pedicure, then Wednesday Dolittles gets more antlers in, woohoooo! A very busy week indeed! This picture was taken when we first went to pick him up, it's the first we had held him and he was very skittish, to think how he was and how he is now, wow, it's a great feeling! In this picture he was a little over three months old - here's wishing you have a wonderful week!

Stay cool my friend!

Whew! With a heat index of 110 today and a heat advisory from noon till 8PM we hope you find a way to stay cool! Charlie does, ha ha... Nothing like a sprinkler unless you're in the water at the dog park! Stay cool and have a great weekend!

Just hangin' out!

Well Charlie has mellowed a great deal in his old age... if he's not curled up in a ball sleeping, he's humped over the sofa arm just hangin' out... there is some construction going on in the neighborhood and that provides him ample entertainment, after all, he's just trying to keep me safe, ha ha... growl......
He does help around the house, he knows how I feel about bugs, inside or out, so he picks them up (and occasionally comes at me with them, omg!), he went to the garage with me today (omg SPIDERS, I swear there is a tarantula living out there somewhere!)... he's very brave. I am... NOT. I hope you get a chance to just hang out today as well! We're going to keep up Charlie's blog until 6/26/10 when he officially becomes a year old. At that time I will incorporate him into my (almost) every day blog... (http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com/) It's been fun! But don't go yet, we still have a little over a month left! Happy trails to you... until we meet again...

Nice day to relax!

Charlie sure has done a lot of growing up since we first got him in November! He used to stay awake ALL DAY, boy have things changed! Now he likes to nap during the day and stay awake at night (heavy sigh)! Today I made Charlie a pillow... he was trying to nap, but with nearby construction, he just had to keep an eye on things... now he's just waiting for Fred to come home... basically, that's what he does for 12+ hours each day... he'll be so happy in a few hours!

A collection of my favorite things...

I discovered the other day, while in the studio trying to paint, that Charlie is a collector... I put his bed out there with me, and one by one he brought his favorite things... his blue chewy from Dolittles, his green doughnut from Hairy Winston, the remains of his bully stick and two antlers... it keeps him very busy... yippeeee!

Happy Memorial Day!

We wish you all a very Happy Memorial Day! Remember what it's all about. Thank you to those who have given their lives (and those who still continue to do so), as well as all the other people who work daily to make this a great place to live!
Life is good... especially if you're Charlie... a picture from James Island County Park dog park, his favorite place... hee hee

The green doughnut!

We went to this waaaaay cool dog store called HAIRY WINSTON in Mt P Town Center. OMG, it was like a kids toy store. Staff had great recommendations including this green doughnut looking thing. It has a guarantee, if it gets chewed through to the red (it's green, inside is red) the company will replace it! AND they will analyze the chewing pattern; if a certain pattern is seen they replace it with their ultra tough one. Though, so far, this owner has not seen one be returned yet! Charlie is working hard to become the first, he LOVES a challenge! After all, he went through a Kong and an Extreme Kong in one day, both about 10 minutes... This was a pricy toy, but if it will be replaced, it's worth it!

OMG he really is part human??

Charlie went on a field trip to Camp Bow Wow... he spent the day there and then Fred and I picked him up... he was very excited to see us. By the time he got to the car (a few steps away), he was utterly exhuasted! He didn't have his normal naps throughout the day (no possible way!)... Later that night we were sitting in the library and I got a photo of Charlie sitting up like a human. Fred was also sitting on the loveseat. He had propped himself up like a human and sat there for a good long while. It was a crazy sight, ha ha... I think he was exhausted and couldn't remember if he was a dog or a human. He is the best entertainment!

Charlie goes to the Farmer's Market...

Here we are last Saturday, well, I should say here are Fred and Charlie... Charlie hasn't been to the Farmer's Market before, and let me say... HE LOVED IT! There were so many people, and it seemed that most had dogs. It got a little tough to navigate through that many people trying to hold the dog, the many bags of good stuff (i.e. strawberries, fresh pasta and sauces, corn, radishes, cucumbers, etc etc... ) He had an absolute blast. We'll have to make another run on Saturday morning... here's hoping we get up a little earlier! Have a good (almost) weekend and if you get a chance on Saturday head to the Farmer's Market downtown!

Life is good when your name is Charlie!

The past few weeks we've decided to see how Charlie does on his own while we're gone... 'on his own' as in not in the sunroom... Hmmmm... first try, we left him and walked to EarthFare... we were gone about 30 minutes... there he was sitting on the arm of the couch looking out the window. I think he thought maybe we forgot to put him in the sunroom... he did great. Nothing wrong at all.. Then each time we left we'd be gone a little longer, so far A-OK! WOOHOO! I did Meals On Wheels yesterday was gone about 2 hours and yipeeeeee the beast did great! So good for Charlie! Today was a trip to Whole Foods, I told him if he was good I would take him shopping... so I did. We walked over to Dolittles and I got him another toy (egads, not cheap, but more durable so hopefully will last a little longer than most toys). He's been trying to put a dent in it since we got back, he is now asleep on the floor. Woohoo, this toy is so worth it! Have a happy day!

Happy Birthday Charlie! Nine months old today...

HAPPY NINE MONTHS CHARLIE! Another picture from the beach, we haven't made it back yet, but soon we will! Starting May 1 no dogs on the beach from 10AM until 6PM, so we'll have to see how the tides work out. High tide no beach at all on Folly, so we need to go closer to low tide... I expect we'll have a happy day filled with walks, chewies, playing in the yard and maybe even with the hose, ha ha... Hope you all have a great day! Treat every day like it's your birthday... celebrate!

Charlie is a star!!

Picture taken by Dolittles pet store in South Windermere and posted on their Facebook page, ha ha... (www.facebook/dolittles), it's hilarious... He loves his new water bottle cruncher toy, brilliant!! Very cool photo btw!

Carrots and ice cubes, carrots and ice cubes...

Another carefree image of Charlie and his trip to the beach. He had the best time! He loved the retractable leash, good for the beach! On our walk today he started with his beasty ways... biting on the leash stopping and trying to drag me towards Doolittles (dog store w/treats)... jumping up and biting at my sleeve... I said CARROTS AND ICE CUBES and woohoo... it's like magic, I told him, when we go home we'll have CARROTS AND ICE CUBES and darn if he didn't start walking like a park horse! With all his big hair he gets hot easy (hence, the ice cubes) and the dog loves carrots! Instead of treats each time he goes out and does his thing, we give him carrots or frozen haricot verts (thin green beans), once in a while he gets a cookie, but runs to the fridge because he prefers a carrot! Ha ha... Have a good day and come back to visit us soon!

Charlie's first trip to a beach... Folly Beach, SC

Ahhhh, Charlie's first footsteps on the beach! We took him to Folly Beach which is closest to our house. He had the best time ever. We weren't sure how he'd react to the water, at first he was hesitant and then SPLLLOOOOOOOOOSH, he plunged right in! He especially liked the tidal pools, warmer for one thing and most aren't deep, there was one that was over his head... he wasn't big on that, but it was good, it let him know that all water you can't touch the bottom (i.e. the pool!)...

He was really lovin it at this point! It was a great day! Was cooler at the beach, just below 70. Low tide was 5:30'ish last night, so that was sweet! We got there a little before 5... came home, gave the dog a bath, the bread had just come out of the bread machine, threw some fresh shrimp in a pot of boiling water and tada... DINNER! Too good! Hope you had a great weekend as well!

Helping to water the yard??!! I LOVE IT!

Hi everyone, this is Charlie... the coolest thing happened today... big daddy put out this thing called a SPRINKLER... and whooooaaaa did I ever want a piece of it! I tried with all my might to take it down but it just WOULD NOT GIVE UP... It made me crazy! I ran around the yard like I was nuts trying to gain a little more oomph to come back and try to take it... finally it gave in HA... I love this crazy thing called a sprinkler! And to me, there is nothing better than helping to water the yard... one way or another hee hee...
Have a good weekend everyone... charlie!