Hello Peaches!

Like my dad, I'm a huge Bryan Adams fan. Bryan is coming to Switzerland in December for his Shine A Light tour and we can't wait! In addition to being a fabulous musician, Bryan is also an advocate for the ethical treatment of animals and a great dog dad. At the end of October, Bryan posted a photo of his fur-kid Peaches to his Instagram account. I'm taking the liberty to post the picture here on my blog so you can all say hi to Peaches! Look how happy he is with his dad. What a sweetie!

Paws & Books: "Alphabetique" by Molly Peacock

Alphabetique

by Molly Peacock

(McClelland & Stewart)
Special thanks to Moira for giving us this book!

Greatest Hits for the Holidays

With a SantaBear in Bozeman, Montana.

 

With holiday paraphenalia.

My holiday card available at my Bicontinental Dachshund Zazzle store, Tootsie's Shoppe.

The year Mom shoved my head through every wreath she could find in Switzerland.

It's an existential time of year.

Another wreath photo. Thanks, Mom.

Boxing Day. (And who is the bright person who included the bag of recycling there in the background? Tacky!)

My Italian greeting.

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Love from all of us,
Tootsie & her humans

P.s. We will post the winner of our great calendar giveaway on Tootsie Tuesday, tomorrow!

Zack's Reply

Dear Tootsie,

Thank you so much for the travelogue of my mom and dad's Euro adventure. I was happy to welcome my dad home with mustache kisses!

It's also super nice to cuddle Mom. She said you get doggie jet lag when you travel between continents; is that true?

I have big news. Since I came home from doggie daycare, I'm able to snuffle in Dad's sock drawer again. Bliss! Do you think Dachshund Daddy would let me snuffle his socks someday?

I know you agree that we have very imPAWtent work as doggies. We help our humans to learn Doggie Buddha mind. My parents have been resting, but I'd like one of them to throw the ball for me!

Do you fetch?

Thanks again for your letter!

Paws forward,
Zack

Tootsie Thank You Tuesday

Dear Zack,

Thank you for sending your parents on a Euro adventure and to visit us. We missed you!

Dachshund Daddy took a selfie of all of us in Sils, Switzerland.

We took your parents on a few road trips and on walkies (of course). We went to the Grand Canyon of Switzerland. Your mom and my mom were super dubious about the designation, but then when we drove along a one-lane road above the canyon, they agreed it was pretty grand.

Before that drive, I supervised rock walkies along the Rhine River, which winds through the gorge (the "Swiss Grand Canyon"). Here's a photo of Mom with your parents -- Mom's uncle and aunt.

When we went to Sils, Switzerland, near St. Moritz, I tried to fly.

While at Sils, we took your dad on a hike up into the Fez Valley.

The drive from Sils to Samnaun, where we stayed, felt epic, but Dachshund Daddy assured everyone it would all work out. Can you believe that your dad visited Samnaun and skied there many dog years ago? Such a neat life-circle moment. Here's a picture of where we stayed.

Mom was super excited about the coffee the next morning.

Dachshund Daddy, Mom, Aunt Mary, and Uncle Doug were pretty excited about the breakfast; it was spectacular: muesli, fresh bread, cheese, fresh yogurt, freshly squeezed juice, eggs many ways, including an egg-it-yourself pan, croissants... but wait! I was under the table the whole time inside my EuroContinentalHouse, waiting for high-alpine walkies!

We took a gondola up to the mountains for walkies...

and I had a come-to-Jesus moment.

Here are your parents in the mountains.

Mom got barky barfy on the winding Swiss mountain rode home. She was carsick, so I donated my doggie poop bags to her cause. Mom was mortified, but I told Mom that "there are much worse things in the world than barking barfing in the backseat of a car."

I hope your parents had a wotten-waven Euro adventure, Zack. I'm sure you're wagging to have them home. Wags to all.

Love,
Tootsie

Cousin Bailey

Hi, Cousin Tootsie,

Here's a recent photo!

I've finished my swimming for the season, but I still ask to go in. Soon we'll be able to cross-country ski.

Are you still barking at big dogs? Are you going to bark, bark, bark at me when we see each other next time?

Love from Canada,
Cousin Bailey

Photo credit Brenda.

Power of the Paw for Sweet Sir Yugi

Dear Readers and Kindred Spirits,

My Canadian friend Yugi is not well.

Sweet Sir Yugi has been vomiting and his beautiful face got all swollen. He's now at the vet, on precautionary IV fluids. His blood work looks good.

Yugi has been my guest blogger and co-starred in Shakespeare in the Bark. You've also met little Felt Yugi.

We would be grateful if you could keep Yugi and his mom in your thoughts and prayers. Yugi has doggy super-powers and will feel the warmth of your kind thoughts.

Thank you!

Love,
Tootsie

UPDATE (Wednesday night, Vancouver time):

Yugi's Mom wrote us that Yugi is back from the vet. They still don't know what happened, though perhaps it may have been a spider bite or an allergic reaction. The IV fluids helped a lot. Yugi seemed in good spirits, was happy to eat a half meal of kibble and rice, and was pepped up for a walk to the park with his frisbee. Then he zonked out on the bed to rest.

Thanks so much for all your good thoughts and for the Power of the Paw.

Love,
Tootsie

Happy Boxing Day!

Giving Currency

Another postcard from Pog for Truffle and me!

Dear Tootsie and Truffle,

Check this out, Dog Lake! I telepogted myself over here after Dad refused to increase my allowance. I just spent the whole afternoon at the Alberta/British Columbia provincial border dressed as a cop, pulling people over and getting them to change their Canadian Dollars to British Pounds. It's British Columbia, right? I charged no commission fees, but applied a creative exchange rate of ten pence to a Loonie. I think I made enough money to buy enough ginger candy for the rest of 2012. The real cops did eventually show up, but I don't have a body in the human sense, so... no body of evidence!

Poggy wishes,
Pog

P.S.: Not having a body also comes in handy when the grizzly bears are looking for dinner :)

Happy Boxing Day!

Keep on wagging!

Love, Tootsie

Dadpad

I’m a great big fan of all things nautical.

I do spend the majority of my time in the mountains, but I love the ocean and I love boats.

This is partly because my human uncle is a wotten-waven sailor and fisherman in Alaska and in Puget Sound. Last summer he took us on a super fun sailing trip.

My uncle is now living on a boat called the “Dadpad,” which I had the privilege of visiting.

My human cousins love being on the water with their dad. On the “Dadpad,” they formally introduced me to Yugi, who was visiting from Canada.

Yugi is a top-notch canine athlete. He excels at dog sports, particularly Frisbee fetching. He even has a special cape he wears that brings him extra super powers. Yugi is both an outdoor enthusiast and a sophisticated urbanite who carries his own leash while promenading on downtown sidewalks.

Yugi and I are very upset about Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. As we discussed Canadian environmental policy on the “Dadpad,” I expressed my disappointment by barking while Yugi growled.