Best Day Ever!

I had a great walk yesterday! It was very chilly, but I was snug in my coat.

I love my morning walks. I get to see all my friends. Our usual pack is me, Shorty, and Star, along with our people--Steven for me, Mark for Shorty and Jeanne for Star. Dale and Mary Alice also walk with us but they don't have puppies. I think Dale should get a Shih-Tzu too! She likes me a lot, and I like her too.

On the way down to Red Oak, you'll never guess who we saw! Two of my other puppy buddies--J.R. and Buster! Shorty and I stopped and we had a big puppy rumpus. We jumped, we wrestled, we wagged tails. It was great!

The others kept walking but Shorty and I decided that this was far enough for us, so we just kept playing for a good long time. I wish J.R. and Buster could come out and walk with us. Still, it was great to see them because they don't get out of the house very often.

It was the Best Day Ever!

A Sad Day

Almost all my days are happy ones. As I like to say, "Today is the best day ever!" Do you know why? Because it's true!

But there was one day a few weeks ago that wasn't that happy. My cat buddy Tobias had been getting sicker and sicker. Steven had to take him to the vet, and I couldn't go this time. When he came back with Tobias, Tobias wasn't really there anymore, and Steven was very sad.

We buried him in the front-yard at one of his favorite outdoor snoozing spots. I miss him and sometimes I look around for him, but he's not here anymore. Steven says that in heaven we will have all those things that we need to be happy, so I think that means that we'll all be together again some day. That sounds good to me.

For now, I spend even more time with Steven than I did before before, and I will always be a cat-dog thanks to Tobias' lessons on how to be a cat.

We're Famous!

This has for sure been the best summer ever! I've done a lot of romping and playing with my friends, I've gone for lots of long walks, and I've even gotten to go to the airport a few times. One of the most exciting things, 'though, is that Steven and I got our picture in the newspaper! Steven and BookGirl always talk a lot about me, of course -- I am a Shih Tzu, after all -- but mostly to their friends. Now, though, I bet that EVERYBODY knows about me, don't you think?

For a while there was a note in the newspaper that asked people who thought that they looked like their pets to send in their photos. BG always says that Steven and I look alike, and she showed us a picture of us that she wanted to send to the paper. I said OK! right away, but Steven had to think about it a little before he said 'yes.' But finally he did (thank goodness) and BG sent in the picture. I asked Steven to look for our picture every day, because I was sure that the people at the newspaper would love it as much as we did.

Finally -- we had to wait a long time, but I didn't forget -- there was a big story called "Look-alike Pals" in the newspaper. And guess whose picture was in the story? Yes, you guessed it! It was our picture! There were pictures of other people and their pets, but I thought that we looked the most alike, and we were the best looking pair for sure. Everybody in the neighborhood told us they'd seen the story, and BG's art friends mentioned it, and I told my dog friends -- Shorty, and Bella, and Star, and Zoe, and Trixie, and Buster, and J.R. -- all about it. BG says we're famous now.

The picture at the top is the one that was in the newspaper, and here's another one of me and Steven that I like. And the last one is one of me and BG. She looks only a tiny bit like me, 'though. I think I'll ask Steven and BG to take me downtown soon and see if anybody recognizes me.

My Busy Summer

BookGirl says she's been very busy, so I haven't been able to get her to write for me. But I haven't had much time either. The summer is very busy for a mountain pup. For one thing, all of my friends are out during the day, so we spent a lot of time rumpusing ("rumpusing" is Steven's word. It's a good one, don't you think?).

And there are a lot of nice, big, juicy, twigs around for chewing. I don't like to rush, so I chew my twigs slowly. This takes a good, long time, since I usually make a little pile of them before I start.

Then there's my ice. I found a piece of ice once that fell from the ice dispenser in the refrigerator, and I liked it a lot. So now I like to have ice every night during the summer. BG puts some ice cubes in a little dish for me, and I get them one a time. They're nice and cool when it's been a hot day and I've been rumpusing.

I've been on lots of car trips this summer too. Last week we had a long car ride to pick up BG's mother. Her name is abuela (that's what Alicia called her when she and Alicia were here together last summer). BG says it means "grandmother" in Spanish (whatever that is). She likes to tickle me behind the ears, which I really like. When Alicia was here a few weeks ago (she's back at her other home now), she wanted me to play with her, and I bet abuela will want me to play with her too, so I have to find the time for that somehow.

Sometimes I get to talk on the telephone. That's the little black brick in the picture that Steven is holding next to my ear. Well, I don't really talk. I listen mostly. Steven is letting me listen to Alicia. When Steven goes away, I get to listen to him when he calls too. I can tell when BG is talking to him, so I run up onto her lap. And when BG goes away, I do the same thing with Steven when he talks to her. I'm not always sure what they're saying, but I like to hear the sounds of their voices.

I hope the fall is a little quieter, but I don't know...

Twiggy as Art

I don't know where this picture is (BookGirl says it's too complicated to explain and that she found it here), but I hope I can go there to see it -- and take my friends. Maybe it's all filled with pictures of dogs! (I look pretty cute, don't you think?)

Summer Naps

I've been taking a lot of naps lately. It's been very warm, and Shih Tzus don't do well AT ALL in hot weather. By the time I get back from my walk with Steven in the morning, I'm hot and tired, so I have have a big drink of water, eat my breakfast, then take a nap on the window seat. When it gets too hot there, I go into the laundry room and nap. The tile floor in there is nice and cool.

I haven't been bringing in many twigs in the past week. It's way too hot to go outside, except when I go out on the deck to bark -- that's how I say hello -- at the neighbors and their dogs walking by, and the UPS man in his truck. In the mornings, if we eat on the deck with the big overhead fan, I lay under the table.

Steven and BookGirl's bedroom is cool at night -- cool enough for a blanket. It's my bedroom too, since that's where I sleep. Sometimes when one of them gets out of bed, I jump up and snuggle under the covers. I have my own bed, of course, but theirs is so much bigger! That's me having a good snooze in the big bed.

I'd Rather Have a Chew Toy

BookGirl says she found this toy on the Internet (whatever that is). It doesn't look like a toy to me. It doesn't squeak, or squeeze, or bounce or roll. But BG thinks it's fun anyway. Sometimes I don't understand her at all. She found it here.

Left Behind

BookGirl used to go away a lot (she called it 'business travel,' whatever that is). I knew she was going to leave because she brought out a big black box (she calls it a suitcase) and put her clothes and other things in it. Then she put it in the car and Steven drove us to a place called the airport. Steven used to take me with him to pick up BG when she came home too. I made a lot of friends there.

This time, Steven went away. I wanted to go with him, so when he wasn't looking, I jumped up on the bed and then into his suitcase. BG thought it was funny, so she took some pictures, but I was serious. I put my chew toy in there too so I'd have something to play with during the trip. Steven wouldn't let me stay, though. But he let me go with him and BG to the airport and held me on his lap instead of making me sit in my car seat in the back. I couldn't go in this time to say goodbye to Steven because BG was in a rush. I really miss Steven when he goes away. I have a lot of friends, but Steven is my very favorite person.

Baby Twiggy

BookGirl says I should ask Steven to carry a camera when he takes me for my morning walk, 'cause I have a lot of adventures in the morning. Yesterday was very exciting, since I saw Sonja. She lives far away now, but she and T.L. are visiting. She was walking with her friends when I saw her. I was so excited that I stood up on my hind legs and walked all around her and wagged my tail. She was happy to see me too. She petted me a lot and rubbed my tummy. She and T.L. don't have a dog -- I feel sorry for them, but they seem to be okay with it. We didn't have a camera, 'though, so you can't see how glad she was to see me.

And we don't have a picture of the fun I had with Shorty this morning when Steven and I ran into Shorty and Lorraine. Usually Mark walks Shorty, or Lorraine and Mark walk him together, but today Shorty and Lorraine were on their own. Shorty's my best pal, you know. We walk together whenever we can, but it's hard to get Steven and Mark out in the mornings at the same time.


But even though I don't have any pictures of my latest adventures, I wanted to write in my blog anyway. All my friends read BookPuppy now, and I don't want to let them down. So BG said I could write about Sonja and Shorty and Lorraine, and she'd put up the pictures of me as a little puppy when I first came to live here. I didn't know then how much fun it would be and how many friends I would have, and how many twigs and leaves I would be able to bring in the house! Here we are on our back porch on a Sunday morning. I'm pretty adorable, as always, but you can tell that I'm a little unsure about things. BG and Steven are smiling, 'though, because I'm here to stay.

Bella

My friend -- well, really, my girlfriend -- Bella lives across the street. BookGirl says she's a Labrador, but to me she's just blond and beautiful. Bella has a big front yard. We love to run and romp and wrestle all over. Bella's mom, Kathie, is really nice too. Sometimes she throws toys for me and Bella to chase. And she always gives me a treat.

Whenever I see Bella , I run up our driveway and across the road and right up to her front yard. BG and Steven don't like it when I do that. They worry that I might get hurt by a car crossing the road. It's true that I don't come when I'm called. I just get too excited. Especially when there's a chance to play with one of my friends. I bet you do the same thing when you see your friends.

Here are some pictures of me and Bella. Isn't she beautiful? There's a nice up-close one of Bella, and you can see me on the side. Kathie is giving me a treat. It's always the best day ever when I see Bella.

P.S. I have another friend named Bella too. She's in another place far away, BG says. I hope I can meet her some day. She's cute and smart and she has a blog too. BG met her mom, Riverlark, at a class at a place called Penland. She likes to do book and art stuff too, like BG. Whatever that is.

Cat Dog

My window seat is my favorite place to hang out. But I have other places too. Tobias, Steven's cat, sits on the back of the sofa in the living room. He always looks very comfortable, and I thought it might be a good spot for me too. So now I sit like this on the sofa and on BookGirl's chair. Steven says that I think I'm a "cat dog." I don't know what that means, but it's fun to sit here. I especially like it when Steven is sitting on the sofa and I can lean over and lick his ear. And it's high up off the ground, so I can look down and all around.

Sometimes I sit with my paws on either side of the sofa back. I sit like that when I'm tired or sleepy. Sometimes Tobias and I sit on the back of the sofa together. When this happens, I'm very still, because I don't want to scare him. If I move, he thinks I'm trying to play with him and he jumps off. Tobias doesn't like to play as much as I do. That's okay. He's my friend anyway.

Street Party

BookGirl finally got around to putting the pictures on her computer. I don't understand why it takes her so long, since I'm a lot busier than she is. After all, I have to make sure I see everybody who goes by our house and bark at them.

These are my pals, Trixie and Shorty. Trixie lives next door, but she only lives here half the year. BG says she's in Florida the rest of the time. What's Florida? Trixie used to be very barky when she saw me, and wouldn't play with me, but she's a lot better now. I think she just needed to know me better.

Shorty lives down the road, and he's my best bud. Sometimes we take walks together, with Steven and Mark. Mostly, we like to jump and wrestle. You can see that Trixie doesn't like to wrestle, and when we're all together, she tries to stop me and Shorty from playing rough. I don't think it's because she's a girl, because Bella, who lives across the street (she's my girlfriend) likes to romp and wrestle. I think Trixie is just a quieter pup. And that's okay too.

Busy, Busy

I've been very busy over the past few days, so I haven't had time to write. I've been helping Steven and BookGirl weed the garden and clean up the front yard (they say I'm a good supervisor). I've also been walking around the neighborhood a lot with Steven, and yesterday he took me on a car ride to pick up a pizza (I don't get to eat it, 'though. Sigh.). And I had to guard the house yesterday when both Steven and BG were out. And, of course, I have to spend a lot of time at my usual spot on the window seat to make sure that I see everybody who walks by. It's a big job, and it takes up a big part of my day.

But I had a big adventure this morning, so I had to write about it. When I went on my morning walk, who did we run into but my next door neighbor Trixie and my best buddy Shorty! BG took some pictures and she promised to put them up soon. I can't wait!

In the Movies

BookGirl has a toy that makes these cards. She types stuff into her laptop and this is what comes out. This one is about a movie called Twiggy's Big Adventure, starring... me! I have big adventures all the time, and I like baby turkeys, so I'm ready.

Hangin' Out

Sometimes when BookGirl goes out on the deck with her laptop, I go out too and explore. I look through the railing to see if there are any deer in the back yard. I check to see if there are any squirrels eating the corn that falls from the bird feeder; and sometimes I just sun myself. Life is good.

A Big Adventure

BookGirl (BG) had to return some books to the library this week, and she took me along (I love car rides). When we go in BG's little red two-seater car, I sit in the passenger seat at first, then I climb over into the driver's seat so that I can sit on BG's lap. BG says that's it's dangerous to drive that way, so she puts me back on the passenger seat. (When I'm with BG and Steven together, we take the car that has my car seat hooked up to the back seat. I can see out the window better from there, and it's also comfy for snoozing when I get tired. Car rides can be very tiring).

We had a big adventure on our car ride! We saw two deer and a turkey! Sometimes I see them when I go walking with Steven, but they run away when I chase them. This time they didn't run away -- I think it was because they couldn't see that I was in the car. The turkey was a mama turkey and had some little turkeys with her. I wouldn't have chased them anyway, because even though I can be pretty ferocious, I wouldn't have wanted to scare the baby turkeys.

Our neighborhood is just one big adventure after another. I love living here.

My Pal Toby

When I came to live here, Tobias was already here. He's Steven's cat and he'd lived with Steven for a long time -- even before he met BookGirl. Because Tobias was here first, he gets to be the leader of the pack, and gets to eat his breakfast first from our joint food bowl. Sometimes I'll have a drink out of the water bowl right next to it while he's eating, and he doesn't seem to mind.

Tobias is not a very friendly cat, but I know he likes me. When Steven and I take a walk, he follows us at a distance. Every once in a while he walks with us a little ways. And sometimes, when we're outside, he gives me a little head bump; Steven says that's one of the ways he shows affection. Tobias goes outside by himself whenever he wants, which I'm not allowed to do (and which I wouldn't want to do anyway, because I like staying close to BG and Steven). I like to welcome him back, so I stand right inside the door and wag my tail. Then when he comes in, I chase him around a little bit. He acts like that he doesn't like that, but I know he's just playing hard to get.

BG took this picture. Tobias and I are talking (that's Steven encouraging us to talk). See, Tobias is really close to me! I know he likes me.

Bears

BookGirl took this picture when she was leaving to go to Penland. We live on the road that's mentioned on the sign, so Steven (a/k/a Head Pup) has been taking in the bird feeders every night since then.

I'm very friendly, as you can probably tell from my picture, but HP says that bears are not friendly and I should stay away from them. That's very confusing. Everyone I've ever met has been friendly and nice to me (except for the nose-bump lady, but BG says that's a story for another time), so I don't see why a bear wouldn't be. It's a mystery.

New Friends

BookGirl's friend sent her this picture. It's her friend and her friend's two pups. Aren't they beautiful? BG's friend seems very nice -- she must be, because she takes her pups on car rides. I like her car too -- BG has a red car, and I love going for car rides in it. If I were her friend, though, I would get car seats in a color that shows off her pretty black poodles -- yellow, I think, or pink, or the color of the cabinets next to my windowseat that BG calls turquoise. Maybe BG will tell her friend. And maybe she'll ask if the pups can come for a playdate.

A Trend?

I can already tell that this blog stuff is going to cut into my twig-gathering time, but BookGirl says that's the price you have to pay for social networking (whatever that is). Anyway, she showed me Barky Lark, written by her friend's dog, Bella. She said it gave her the idea for BookPuppy. BG says Bella has attitude (whatever that is). I like the pictures, and Bella looks nice.

Now I know TWO Bellas (maybe the other Bella, who lives across the road, will start a blog too)!

BG's friend's site is RiverLark.

My First Post

My name is Twiggy, but the name of the blog is BookPuppy because BookGirl liked it. She's big on books, which you already know if you've visited her blog. I thought there were better names, like Mountain Shih Tzu or Wild Shih Tzu at Large, or Twiggy The Barbarian, or Twiggy Deerstalker, but BG wasn't very excited about those. I do like paper, so I guess BookPuppy is okay. In fact, chewing paper is one of my favorite things (I have a lot of favorite things, as you'll find out).

I like chewing all kinds of paper: post cards, ad flyers, letters, paper towels, and toilet paper are all excellent. BG and Steven (a/k/a, Head Pup) sometimes take my chew-paper away, but mostly they're glad that I like chewing paper instead of shoes, which I hear some other dogs like to do. What's up with that? I have upstairs chew toys and downstairs chew toys, and my blankie, and all the paper I can find around the house. What more could a discerning Shih Tzu want? For a while, I chewed the windowsill at my windowseat in the kitchen (that's me at the windowseat in the blog photo), but that was only because I was a little puppy and I didn't know any better. I don't do that anymore (well, hardly ever).

Anyway, I don't know how much time I'll have to post here because my days are very, very full, but I'll do my best. BG and HP said they will help me.