The centerfold photo for Dog World magazine

Jinx is an extremely earnest, serious young man, but occasionally I catch him in a silly pose like this. I especially love the upside down smile.

Meg's thinking, "Yeah, whatever."

Color Trends

Black is in, I tell you. I've got a year at JC Penney under my belt, and am on my way to becoming a fashionista. So, pay attention, black is IN!

Isn't it Polly's glossy coat amazing?

Cheesecake a la Blackie

Listen, Mom, you need to take my picture, not Trudy's. I'm big, black and bee-yoo-tee-ful. No one wants to see a photo of that scrrawny, mangey mutt. They want to see a photo of me, Blackie, and my movie-star smile!

Trudy blows a photo opp

Jean: Look at Grammy now, Trudy.
Trudy: What was that?
Jean: Please look at me, Trudy girl.
Trudy: I think it was a cat parade.
Jean: Gertrude, pay attention to me!
Trudy: But it was cats! Hundreds of cats!
Jean: I just want to take a picture of your smiling face. One measly picture!
Trudy: Sorry, gotta go. I got places to go, things to do, cats to chase.

Another danger of dog ownership

I can't recall if I've mentioned before that our dogs treat me like a large chew toy. A beloved, favorite chew toy. I'm always covered with bruises and scratches, arousing the suspicion of medical professionals who have never met our dogs and are worried that Mr. P. is abusing me. I freely admit that I am terrible at discipline. I am fair skinned and have always bruised easily, only more so as I get older (and acquire more dogs). One of the more spectacular injuries resulted from the collision of Goober's cement skull with my left shin. That produced a bump the size and shape of a jumbo chicken egg, shown here. The bump has been replaced by a bruise about 4" in diameter. Thanks, Goob.

Trudy's Creeping Crud

Here's a picture of the creeping crud on Trudy's legs. No, not the white leg wearing black sandals. The black leg wearing creeping crud. Anyone care to offer a preliminary diagnosis?

Good news, bad news

This has been a week of ups and downs here at 9 Dogs Howling. Mostly downs. But there is good news. Mr. P. figured out why our clothes dryer wouldn’t start (a little actuator arm broke off) and fixed it with Superglue and a popsicle stick (we do live in the South, after all), thereby saving us a $129 service charge. But there's still bad news. Trudy (Goober’s sister) now has these strange bumps, like brown moss growing in spots all over all 4 legs. I have never seen anything like it before. It could be a reaction to insect bites, but maybe not, and we don’t want it to spread to the other dogs, so she’s off to the vet on Friday. She’s not in pain or scratching at the bumps, and the other day had enough energy to steal the foam pad out of one of the cat crates and shred it all over the back yard. Let me tell you, if that ever happens to you, don’t laugh out loud. Husbands who have to clean up the mess don’t think it’s nearly as funny as their wives do!