Visiting Family on Christmas Eve

I have been really enjoying my Winter Break. My mom has been home more, and we have been going on some mini-adventures. On Christmas Eve, mom and I went to visit my great Granny. She was asleep when we got there, but I woke her up by hoping on her chair and she woke right up with a smile.



We then played a licking game. I am hoping my video uploads so that everyone can see and hear everyone laughing at our great game.



We have been taking care of my aunts and uncles while Gramma and Grandad are visiting my Uncle Tim and family in Florida. We haven't seen my uncle Orion in several days and mom and I are both getting a little worried, but he's part of the yellow animal club so he has to turn up eventually, right?

Mom and I are still dealing with mice in our house. We only see one at a time, but I got annoyed last night. There was one of the silly mice trying to get into my dog treats. I could hear it rustling around trying to get into my dog treat bags. So I barked at it and it ran away and into a little hole. Those things can squeeze into some tiney tiny places. Mom and I did catch one by luring it into my toys and then dumping them outside.



Mom says starting next week, I have to start practicing my dog school skills again. I am glad. I like routine, and showing off how smart I am. I hear that Gramma and Granddad are coming back to town on Tuesday. I helped mom come up with the best Christmas gift for them and my Aunts and Uncles...I can't wait to share.

I hope all my 2-legged and 4-legged friends have a great Christmas. I spotted my stocking and it has some new toys sticking out of it...so although I have other stuff I could share...it will have to wait!!



Merry Christmas!!

My Very First Mouse Hunt

It was a pretty boring week, with a few exceptions...


My mom said something about having mice in our house. At first, I had no idea what this meant. And then on Wednesday night, mom and I were getting ready to call a day and I spotted a little critter hiding behind the bathroom door. I barked and barked, but the critter seemed to be frozen in time. Mom finally came to see what I was barking at, and gave an "aha" there is a mouse. We then called for reinforcements. Mom put some white looking trap things, and gramma brought over my 2 uncles and 1 of my aunts. They are cats. Gramma says that my feline aunts and uncles like to catch and eat mice. So we had a sleep over!!! It was sooo cool having my aunt and uncles at my house. They were a little freaked out at first, and did a lot of exploring around my house. While they adapted to my house, mom and I went for a walk with the Runners World group. My mom was so out of it, she forgot to put on some shoes she can run in, but it was a nice walk. When we got home, it was time for KU basketball to play on TV. We all settled in and watched the game. Here's a picture of my uncle Orion, who took over the huge recliner, and my aunt Hannah, who took over my window seat.




Here is a great picture of me hanging out with my Uncle Orion!! We have a little club called the "yellow and white" animal club. Can you guess why?




My mom took me to hang out at the Dog Agility Trial on Saturday and Sunday for a couple of hours. It looked like so much fun jumping over stuff and running around in the dirt. At first I was really nervous, but once I figured out how it all worked I just sat on my mom's lap and took it all in.




I had to cheer on the little Pomeranian as she ran through the course. If I could put a little vision bubble above my head that would show me acing the course!!



I hope to spend the rest of this Sunday unwinding and hanging out. Of course as soon as I typed this, my mom and I just heard a weird sound...Mom says we caught a mouse in one of those white things...Wonder if my aunt and uncles are coming over again....

Thanksgiving Coma

Wow...have I ever had a busy 2 weeks. It all started with my mom leaving to go to some state called Pennsylvania. I got to stay with my Gramma and Granddad. I love hanging out at their house. They have 4 cats (my aunts and uncles). My Uncle Marcel kinda runs the roost there. He says he's top cat and I believe him, so does my granddad. I spent 5 days at my Gramma and Granddad's. As much fun as it is to be there, I don't follow my normal sleep schedule, so when my mom came to pick me up I was exhausted! I love to play. My Gramma likes to work out in her yard, and I love to be outside...so I helped gramma a lot!! Once I got back to my house, I decided it was time to rest and recouperate. Mom went to work for a bit and I took advantage of the peace and quiet.



I typically like going out to run with my running friends, but Monday I was still recovering so I didn't go. Once Tuesday came around I was ready to head out for a walk, so I decided to take my mom for a walk.



It was a nice day on Tuesday, so mom and I hung up our Christmas lights on the house. We were a little bummed that the colors of the lights didn't match, even though the packages looked exactly the same. I loved hanging out in the front yard, barking at squirrels and people walking by. I don't get to hang out in the front yard very often, mom says something about cars driving too fast. It didn't take as long to get the lights up as either one of us expected. I guess having done it last year, mom had a plan.



Mom went to work for part of Wednesday, I took advantage of that and slept and slept and slept. A dog's life can be quite hectic ya know...

Thursday morning...Thanksgiving...so excited I got to go to Gramma's for turkey. Mom said first we were gonna go walk/run at the Von Franken Food Run. All the people were saying it's cold, but I thought the weather was perfect.



I really wanted to run fast, but mom said she was walking because her body hurts. I don't get it, but I was happy to be out. There were lots of other dogs there. At first, I was a bit nervous but once we started moving with the group I just enjoyed the wind in my face. Mom and I only did 3 miles, but had a great time.



After our walk, mom and I went to Gramma and Granddad's for Thanksgiving. I had fun playing with Gramma and licking Granddad and hanging with my aunts and uncles. The turkey was super yummy. Then mom took me to visit my Great Granny. She lives in a place with a lot of other people. Mom said because I passed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test it was okay for me to be around all those people. Mommy, Gramma,and Granddad were so proud of how well I behaved. I sat on my Great Granny's lap for a long time. She hugged me and petted on me...we had good bonding time. Great Granny is cool.



Here's 4 generations of my family: Me, my mom, my granddad, and my great granny.



Here's me and my great granny.

I thought I would include the Christmas portraits my mom had made too. I kinda liked being a star..

I'm A Novice I Graduate!!

Well today was "final exam" day. At least that's what mom said. She said something about how if I couldn't pass the test this time, then I wouldn't get to go to dog school anymore. Have I mentioned how much I love dog school! I had to spend all weekend sitting and staying in random places. I thought my mom had lost her marbles, but it paid off today as I looked and felt quite confident in both the sit and down positions. We got to school, and you could tell all the two-leggeds were nervous. They were all chattery and walking in circles and all that. All of us four-leggeds were just trying to figure out why they were all freaked out. It was entertaining. Mr. Jerry had us all go into the ring and walked through what the test was going to be: I bet my mom doesn't tell her class the test questions before the test. Then I got to go first. Nothing like first up...time to set the bar high. Of course I am a seasoned pro at taking this Novice I test, as this was my third time. I did great at the heeling pattern. Seriously, I stuck close to mom's side and went extra slow on the slow part: which is hard for a dog. I made sure to give a wink of the eye to the judge as we did the fast part while heading towards the judges table. The only thing that I did where I lost focus was my "finish" after my mom told me to come from across the room. There was a dog that was interesting to look at in the other ring, and well I did...I broke focus. Oh well...it was only one exercise and I did do the finish kinda. Then it was out of the ring we went and onto get ready for the stays. Mom stopped by a table and picked up some sort of two-legged treat (they were saying peppermint, but I don't know what that means). We then walked around a practice ring and mom had me do a couple of short stays. Then, I watched some of my four-legged friends go through their heeling exercises. Everyone was doing great. We have to be the best Novice I class of dogs at TDTC. Then it came for the stays...I was cool...tongue hanging out, sideways head turn as we walk by the judges to butter them up a little. Around the ring we went and then in a line. I was ready. To make my mom a little nervous, I decided to just lift up my right front paw just a little...once she got across the ring I put it down and laughed a little on the inside. That 1-minute sit-stay went by really fast. I saw Mr. Jerry give my mom a thumbs up when it was over, so I thought I would just sweeten the pot. I knew that since I had passed the sit/stay I would pass Novice I which meant my mom would give me cheese, which is my all time favorite thing! So onto the down stay. At first I didn't really want to be in the sit position and I thought about not doing it, but I thought wow...what will I get if I do both stays on the same test...so 3-minutes down/stay here I come. It was great. Although there was some entertainment in the ring across the way and all of us dogs were watching. It was like being at home and watching "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet. When the time was up, I thought my mom was gonna cry. It was so cool to see. I did the best I possibly could and wound up tying for "High" score in the class with a 95 out of 100. As a reward my mom says I get to go out with the run group tonight to brag and maybe can pick out a new toy from dog.com. I am so happy to be out of that Novice I class. Mom signed me up for Novice II with Mr. Jerry again, but it doesn't start until January. Can you say Winter Break!!!???

See some of my pictures below

The best part about riding in the car is getting to hang your head out the window...




This is my friend Winston and his mom. We stuck together a lot, as we were the only two dogs in class under 50 pounds. Us little dogs gotta stick together.




While some of my friends were going through their evaluation my mom made me practice a sit/stay in another ring. I thought okay why not?



Some of my school friends, Thor (black New Foundland) and Winston (Spaniel) decided that we would practice our heeling together before the evaluations started. I love these 2 guys. We have been buds since the first day of class. I am hoping that they will be in my Novice II class with me too.



I got to do my sit/stay and down/stay next to Sing...she's a pretty cool boxer. She likes to play tricks on her mom sometimes too and pretend like she doesn't know what to do while at school. We get along pretty well.



I had to get a photo with my favorite teacher, Mister Jerry. Without his help, my mom wouldn't have known tricks to teach me!!

I did it with a Blinking Light!!!

Dr. Boca got to make an appearance. After my not-so-fun trip to the groomer, I got to sneak into my mom's Neurology and Aphasia class. I love going to school with mom. All the students think I am so cute and funny. I don't really know what makes me funny, when they talk to me I try really hard to pay attention and pick out words I know. I am after all only 3. So sometimes I tilt my head from side-to-side to show that I am interested and engaged. I then try to follow up with a quick smile that seems to make everyone happy. Well my mom said she actually had to teach the students something, so I told her I would assist.

I got to take my spot on the lectern and stare down the students to make sure they were paying attention. For some reason when they are listening, they don't tilt their heads from side-to-side but they seemed to talk when my mom asked a question, so I would have given them all an "A". Of course "B's" are better because Boca starts with "B".



I hate the time change, so hard for a dog to get used to when you are supposed to wake mom up. I keep getting worried that she is oversleeping, but she keeps saying 1 more hour Boc. What's a dog to do? But the cool part is it is nice and cool in the evenings now so I can go out with the run group and not die. In case you haven't noticed I do have quite the fur coat on me. The cool part about driving to run group is there are some really cool sky lines, and it just gets me so riled up!!




Mom says before heading out for a run it's important to carbo-load. I love when mom puts my food in the car. I like to pretend that I'm eating "drive-through".



I would have had mom take some pictures of me with my running people, but it was too dark and she already had too much to carry. I got to hang out with some other four-leggeds, Max, Ruby, and Mia. Boomer used to be king of the run club, but he has retired from running. There is a canine rank order to the run group, right now I'm 3rd, but if I keep getting to go with mom, maybe I'll move up. Mia is currently the queen of the group, followed by Ruby then me. Max was the new kid last night and I was sure to tell him how it goes. I even barked in the store. Everyone thought it was cute, but I was being serious. Why does no one take a cute little dog seriously?

The Inspiration

I (Boca) provide a lot of inspiration for fun stories for my mom to keep her college students entertained. Many of them graduate and move on, but often wonder what I am up to. I hear I am a canine with quite a large personality, so my mom thought it would be fun to tell my stories and adventures and probably share a picture or two.

On Monday November 8, 2010 I celebrated my 3rd birthday. I love being 3!! I have been attending dog school since I was 1 1/2. My mom says something about "agility" and I don't know what that means, but man do I love going to dog school! Some of the reason I love dog school is because I get to ride in the car!! I also get to hang out with other dogs, which for the most part I like. I am currently in a class called "Novice I" at Tulsa Dog Training Club. I love my teacher Mister Jerry. My mom says that I have to take a test next Monday to determine if I get to go on to the next class "Novice II" or if I have to retake "Novice I" again. I want my mom to be happy, but sometimes I just go to class in a goofy mood. Gramma and Granddad also tell me that I need to do an excellent job at school, I want to make them proud.

My mommy took me to get groomed today. I hate it. Well I love all the attention I get with how handsome I am, but I get so nervous about all that girly stuff. I often get mistaken for being a girl dog already, take me and put smelly powder on me and ughh it's hard to be a boy dog.