IN THE BEGINNING - By Freddy

         Once upon a time I lived with many other puppies who were called 'litter mates'. The other puppies had little collars around their necks but I was very special so I didn't need one. I could be told apart from the others without a coloured collar because I was the only boy who was in the litter who didn't have a ridge.

      That's me you see at the bottom right eating away with the others.
   When I became a bit bigger a lady came to visit. She stroked me and held me. Then she came again and played with me and my brothers and sisters. Then I started to like her and she 'chose' me. That meant that I was going to go and live with her.

      Aren't I just the cutest. Well, she thought so.
      When she took me home with her I got to meet the other pets in the household. First there was HarryBoy. He was older and really didn't like me much. I think I was there a long time before he would let me touch him. In fact, my owner took a picture so that the occasion was set down in history.

      There, that's him. This is the first time I was allowed to touch him. He pretty much stuck like glue to our lady owner and let us youngsters play away our days. In the corner of the picture you can see Kaede. Kaede was pretty cool. She is older than me by six months but anyone would think she's my mother the way she used to boss me around. When I lay quietly sleeping in my crate, the second I opened my eyes what did I see? Kaede's face with the weird blue eye staring at me. The second my owner let me out of the crate Kaede lunged for my back leg and held on to me while I went outside to pee. I liked her though. Here are some pictures of me and Kaede playing.

 We always had so much fun wrestling and chasing each other around the yard where we lived. It was warm there. Usually Kaede won the wrestling matches.

This time though, she didn't. That's me on top winning the battle. We had a rope that we pulled and tugged. Kaede is still my friend.
     Next time I am going to tell you about the move we made from southern California, where it was always warm, to Canada where sometimes it is very, very, cold.
     Until next time. Yours truly, Freddy

The Beginning

     I was born in a place called an animal shelter. My mother was a very beautiful black dog, called a Lab, and she also was part Rhodesian Ridgeback because she had a ridge down her back. She was a most beautiful and unusual girl. I don't know where she came from but she was found walking around the streets in a place called San Diego. That's in California.
     When I was very tiny, just days old, a very nice couple of people came to see me. They scooped me and my brothers and sisters up and my mother and took us to live with them. They had a place attached to their house called a garage and that's where we stayed.
     I don't really remember those people and I don't remember my mother or my brothers and sisters very well. I think I remember a warm pile of puppies but not much else.

         I was actually pretty cute. Anyway, after a certain amount of time in the garage with my family, a very nice lady came to see me. She cuddled me and held me and kissed me. I really liked her too. Then one day my brothers and my sister and I were taken to a place called a Vet's office. We were given shots. Ouch. They hurt. Then they gave me a needle that put me to sleep and when I woke up I had stitches on my belly.
       That very evening the woman who had come to see me so many times met me and my brothers and my sister. There were lots of people there that evening. I learned that we were going 'home'. I didn't quite know what it meant. Anyway, the lady who cuddled me carried me gently, because of my stitches, and put me in a crate in the back of her car. I was still very tired from the operation.

     When we stopped at her house I was amazed to see other dogs already there. One was named Simba. She was an old dog. Something called a Rhodesian Ridgeback. She was extremely beautiful and very kind. She cuddled me and licked me and lay next to me. She let me play with her toys. I really loved her a lot. There is a picture of her coming up.

      She was beautiful. Simba wasn't with me for very long. She was old and one day she got sick and our human woman took her to a place to make her better but she didn't get better. She didn't come back. My human cried but I comforted her.
     There was another dog there too. He was a boy Rhodesian Ridgeback named HarryBoy. He hated me. He didn't let me go near him. He liked Simba but he sure didn't like me much.
     I will show you a picture of him too but not now. I will write next about my first little while living with my new human woman and her two dogs, Simba and HarryBoy.
      That's it for now.
                                        From Kaede

Kaede Tells a Lie

     Well, well, well. What do you know. A funny thing happened the other day. I got my human woman up. The human man had already gone downstairs and left me and Freddy in the room on our beds to sleep. So, anyway. I got my human woman up by standing next to the bed and staring at her until she opened her eyes. That's what I always do. She got up and opened the door so Freddy and I could go downstairs.
     Our human man was laying on the couch and no one seemed to be very interested in feeding us so I went over to him and stared. That got his attention. He got up and fed us and then let us outside to our private backyard toilet area.
     As is our usual custom, we all go back to bed together so upstairs I go but the bedroom door is closed. Now, how's a dog to get back in there if the door's closed? I pace up and down in front of the door.
     Finally, the door opens up. But, instead of letting us in our human woman goes downstairs where Freddy is sitting at the bottom of the stairs and takes us into the room that has the magic cupboard with the food. When we get fed I sit like the good dog I am. Freddy doesn't sit until the food is in his bowl and ready to be put down in front of him. But not me, no siree, not me. The second we go into the room with the magic closet of food I sit. It works every time. And today was no different. I sat and sure enough she reaches into the magic cupboard and I hear the wonderful tinkle of the food hitting the metal bowl.
     Suddenly, and without warning, the male human comes out and says, "They've already been fed." Imagine my disappointment when I hear the food being dropped from the bowl back into the magic cupboard.
     Then they laughed. I heard my woman human say, "I can't believe Kaede sat there waiting for her food as if she hasn't eaten yet. What a little liar she is."

     Well I beg to differ. I'm not a little liar. An opportunist perhaps but certainly not a liar.
 

Freddy Has a Good Day

      I went for a ride with my man human. He drove for a very long time looking out the window. Then he would stop the car and write stuff down. Every now and then he would turn around and pat me on the head and say hello to me.

      When it was human lunch time he found a park and I sat next to him while he ate. He slipped me a little morsel of cheese. It was delicious. 

      We walked around the park then we got in the car and drove some more. We drove around for eight hours. He seemed to like being with me. I slept.


     

Kaede has a Better Day

      What a great day I had. It started off with me being a little upset because Freddy trotted off on the end of the leash with our man. I don't like when Freddy goes places without me because I always worry that he will get in trouble if I'm not there to look out for him.
      Anyway, off he goes, as pleased with himself as can be. I ran to the window and watched them drive off.

      The next thing I know my woman human is getting on the 'dog clothes'. Yippee, we're going somewhere too. She clips on the no-nonsense leash. That's the one that is very short so that I can trot along beside her. Off we go. 


      First we walk toward the park and on the way we greet our neighbour, Molly, who is a black beauty with some blond highlights. She is on leash too so we kind of play bow while the humans talk. Boy, they sure can talk. There is some yummy tall stalks of grass, you know the good kind that is sweet and juicy. Turns out Molly likes to chew on them too so we did that.


      Finally the human women stop talking and off we go again. We go through the streets of our town, the usual route, then suddenly we go a different way. We go along roads that I don't know and we walk at a pretty fair clip. That pleases me because I may not have mentioned this before but I am pretty energetic. I may be six and a half but I have plenty of get up and go.


     We walk for a long time when I start to notice things that are familiar. Well, what do you know? We have walked all the way to dog park, one of my very favourite places in the world. I can't believe it. There are only a couple of dogs there but I play a bit with them and wander around taking in all the wonderful new smells.


      My human sits on the bench and talks to another human woman. A black lab lunges at me but I just turn the other cheek. Guess that lab doesn't know that I'm allowed on the bench even if his human is there too. Oh, well. Sometimes these dogs think they own the place. I trot off by myself. It's the first time I have been to dog park without Freddy but it's okay. He's a bit of a stick in the mud anyway. All he wants to do is lay on the benches and sunbathe.

      (Me resting after a long fun day)

      My human clips my leash on again and we walk back home. It's been wonderful. Just her and me, very long walks and playing at the park. But, it doesn't end there. When we get back home she makes some human food and we sit outside in the sunshine while she eats and I watch the world go by. Then she slips me a treat. It's crunchy and orange and I kind of like it, I think humans call it a carrot.


      I don't think about Freddy all day because I've had so much fun with my woman human. Don't you just love her? I sure do!!!
 

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD DOGS

   

     Our human lady holds onto my leash and guides me out of the car, telling Kaede to stay. Kaede jumps out of the car anyway and is scolded because she has no leash on and is put back into the car to wait. I'm going first. I'm going first. I'm happy about that.
     She leads me into a room with steps that go up to a thingy where I guess I am supposed to stand. Sure enough, it's like the table they make me stand on when they clip my nails, which, by the way, I hate.
      I stand there, tail between my legs because I'm not liking this one little bit. Suddenly water comes down on me. Water!! I hate water!! I hate water a lot!! It comes down on me and she is making suds all over me. My fur is wet. I hate wet fur. I shake and the water and soap goes all over her. That'll teach her but, no, she just laughs.
     More water comes. I think it will never stop. Suds are everywhere. Then comes the water without the suds. I smell awful. I stink, as a matter of fact. It's like flowers. I am grateful when the water finally stops and wait to be unleashed so I can get off that table and run down the stairs and away from there. I've never in my life been so humiliated or unhappy. Then.....without any warning it gets worse. It get a lot worse. It gets so worse that I try to jump off the table. Suddenly, without warning and ON PURPOSE, I might add, hot air is suddenly blowing on me. A huge big round hose with air is coming on me. All over my legs, my belly, my back my fur is being dried. I was so scared, I tell you, I nearly fainted. I think she knew because she kept saying, in that nice voice of hers that she uses when she tortures me, "It's okay Freddy. There isn't that nice." Well, it wasn't nice. It was horrible.
     Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, I am finished and I am allowed to get off that horrible table and out of the horrible room. I get back to the car and hop in almost before the door is completely opened. I'm a big guy too but I jumped right in there. 
     Kaede took one look at me, smelled the awful flower smell on me and decided she was not getting out of the car. She planted herself firmly in the seat and held on for dear life. But, to no avail. Kaede was taken away to that place. 
     That was the best part of the whole horrible ordeal actually. I got to sit in the car and watch Kaede being taken to the chamber of horrors to be BATHED.

Freddy's Horrible Day

     I had a very bad day. A very bad day indeed. My owners, who swear they love me more than anything, threw me to the wolves. They abandoned me, left me out in the cold, turned their backs on me in my darkest hour. They tricked me terribly and I think that you, the readers, will take my part in all this. I think you will rush to Southern Ontario, find me, and take me home with you so I no longer have to endure this wickedness.
     First of all - the trick. They pretended we were going to have a nice day. They enticed me into the car, all smiles and happiness. We drove, the windows were down so I could stick my head out and let my ears flap in the wind. It was wonderful.
     Suddenly, and without warning, I might add, they stopped the car. Well, I knew immediately there was trouble. I had been here before and I didn't like it at all. I watched in horror as the car door opened and Kaede, that rotten little turn-coat, jumped out all smiles trotting around like we were at the beach or something.
     I knew better. I hid in the car but I guess they must have seen me because next thing I know they are calling me, "Freddy. Come on Freddy." In that sweet friendly voice of theirs.
     What's a boy to do. I slunk out of the car and let the lady hold on to my leash while she walked me to the gallows. Kaede just leaped along beside us, happy in her stupid way.

     Of course I knew it.  Slam. I was confined. I was in a KENNEL. They were leaving me. I saw the tops of their heads as they turned around and left me in that awful place. I went into the corner and that's where I stayed for the remainder of the seven whole hours I was there.
     It was awful and I think you would agree with me - it's no way to treat a wonderful boy like me.

HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED by Kaede

      

     For a few hours we were allowed to play with some very fun German Shephard Dogs. We had a very large yard to play in and when we were tired we got to go and lay down in our own private room. Freddy chose to sit in the kennel and not play with us because he is a big fat baby who misses his Mommy and Daddy. The very nice lady who looked after us kept stroking him and making sure he was alright. Hmmm. Perhaps he's not so stupid after all.

My Day In a Nutshell by Freddy

I pretty much go with the flow around here. I'm a pretty mellow guy who enjoys sleeping and snoozing. Every morning Kaede gets up first. We sleep on beds on the floor next to our people who are in their bed. Kaede stands next to our lady and stares and licks her until she gets up. On the third try I get up so the day really only starts when I say so. However, don't tell Kaede. She thinks she runs the show and that's fine with me.

When we've eaten and had our morning nap Kaede will ask to go out so she can check out what is going on in the back yard. Sometimes she just lays on the balcony. I prefer to stay inside and maybe look out the window. The humans will open the door for me and say, "Freddy. Do you want to go outside?" but when I hear the word 'outside' I run into another room. 

I like when our man human plays his trumpet. Something happens inside of me and I put my head up toward the sky and I let loose with a howl. It's quite a nice howl, if I do say so myself. In tune and everything. I close my eyes and I feel like I am the king of the world, just me and my howl. Once I start Kaede comes running into the room and begins her singing. She has a very bad voice actually and she never sings unless I do. She never sings alone. That's another thing that I am the boss of, just don't tell her.

I like going for walks and I like going to the dog park but not as much as Kaede. She just loves to run around and jump and play and she has a lot of energy. I'm more of a lap dog kind of guy but I'm pretty big to be a lap dog. I love following my lady or my man around the house. No matter what room they go to or how long they go for I follow them.

My favourite time of day is after breakfast when we all go back to bed for a few hours. My second favourite time of day is after dinner when I am sleepy and I can go to bed. Some times I sneak upstairs and get up onto the human bed. It's so comfortable and cozy and I don't understand why they always make me get off. When I hear them coming up the stairs I try to quickly get off their bed and pretend I wasn't doing anything wrong but they always seem to know. 

At dog park I like one or two of the dogs and those guys I follow around and play with. My favourite dog to play with, though, is Kaede. We run into each other and thump our chests. I also like it when my human does tricks with me. Sometimes she makes me sit and I get a treat. Sometimes she makes me go down and I get a treat. Sometimes she makes me stay and I get a treat. It's a pretty good life when you can get a treat for doing nothing, right? 

When the humans go out at night and Kaede and I have to stay alone I get very sad. They put a gate across the stairs and put our beds in a hallway and close all the doors. Once when they left us alone but didn't shut the bathroom door we got the toilet paper and ripped it to shreds. Oh yes, we chewed the toilet brush to bits and we knocked over the soaps. We also ate some books another time when they left a door to their office open. I guess they shouldn't have left us alone!!! But when they leave us in the hallway I shake and they give me a pat and tell me it will be fine, but still I am frightened.

The only time I am bad is when I get on the human bed or when we are outside and I see a squirrel. My human tugs on my leash and makes me stop trying to catch the squirrel but I can't stop myself. I am in a doggy frenzy.

Other than that, I guess I lead quite a slow paced and sheltered life. My humans stroke me a lot and they feed me every day and take me for walks and they never make me go outside if I don't want to except to the outdoor private toilet. I think they are very good people. They tell me I am great but don't tell Kaede. She thinks she is pretty special and runs things around here so maybe we should just let her go on thinking that.
The End.

My Day in a Nutshell - by Kaede

I like to think of myself as the spokesdog around our house. I let our people know when it's time to eat, when it's time to go for a walk and when it's time to get up. I take my role very seriously and I know that Freddy thanks me for it.

Each morning when it just begins to get light I walk over to the bed my humans sleep in and I stare into the sleeping face. If that doesn't wake anyone up I plant a kiss on the face closest to me. Usually that does the trick.  I hear the words, "Kaede, go lay down." and that's what I do. I go and lay down and wait for a decent interval. Sometimes I wait an entire five minutes, sometimes more. When five minutes are up I stand once more staring at a sleeping face which usually is enough this time to wake someone and I again hear the words, "Kaede, go lay down." So I do.

The third time it works like a charm. The third time Freddy gets up with me and shakes his big body and he comes with me to stand at the bed of the humans. That's it. They're up and my day has begun. I'm eager to start another day and I always get up in a very good and happy mood. Freddy and I rub up against our human and each other and play, both excited about breakfast!!

We bound down the stairs, me, Freddy and one of our humans and go straight to the magic cupboard. When the door of the magic cupboard is opened wonderful things happen. Sometimes food comes out. Sometimes leashes come out for walks but first thing in the morning, food comes out.

I stay in the room with the magic cupboard to eat and Freddy goes into another room. My human saunters off to the kitchen where she makes coffee, a dark brown liquid she drinks. Personally, I think it smells funny and I much prefer good old water.

When we have finished eating a door to the outside is opened and Freddy and I run out to use our own personal toilets. It's green now that the snow is gone and quite a large place. Freddy finds his own spot away from me and I find mine. When our toilet is finished we race into the house because first one in gets the best bed. Our human takes her coffee upstairs and Freddy and I go back to sleep while she sits up in bed and reads books.

Most days we go on long walks or we go to dog park. I can't decide what I like best. I can tell when we are going out because our human puts on special clothes that smell just like us and she put on shoes that she doesn't care if they get dirty. That's when I start to get excited. We go out to where the magic cupboard is and sure enough out comes the leash. Yippee. It's either a walk or the dog park. I sit like a good girl so that the leash can be attached to my collar and I try really, really hard not to but I can't help it. I always have to put the leash in my mouth and chew on it and that's when I get told not to do that. Bad girl.

When we leave the house with me and Freddy clipped together our human will say, "To the car. Good dogs." That means dog park. Freddy and I jump into the back of the car and we drive through town. Our human always opens up the back windows so we can stick our heads out unless it is very, very cold with lots of snow on the ground then the windows stay up. When we get to the dog park all the dogs who are already there run to the gate to greet us. I run in barking and jumping around, Freddy doesn't. I look to see if any of my friends are there but mostly I like to go and say hi to the humans. They always stroke me and the ones who I don't know tell me how cute I am and comment on my blue eye. They seem to think it's quite unusual although I don't know what the big deal is. It's just a blue eye.

I like it when there are lots of dogs running and I can run with them and bark and bark and bark and chase them and they chase me. It's a lot of fun and I'm pretty fast still even if I am six years old. My favourite thing, though, at dog park is to play with the puppies or the little tiny dogs. I love to follow the puppies and play with them and I am very gentle. The little dogs run very fast but sometimes the humans who have these little dogs think I will hurt them but I don't but they pick the little dog up anyway and that makes it hard for me to smell if it's a boy or a girl dog. I like to know these things.

If we don't go to the car then it's a walk with Freddy and I clipped together. We walk for a very long time. On these walks we sometimes see squirrels and that's when our human gets frustrated with us. I can't help it. When I see them I want to chase them. Freddy is worse and he is really big and strong and pulls so our human sometimes makes us face her so we can't see the squirrels. But, we can still smell them!!

When we are not going for a walk or playing at dog park we get to hang out with our humans. Our man human plays something called a trumpet and when he does Freddy and I howl along with him, sometimes for up to five minutes, non-stop. It's quite a lot of fun, we can't help it. It's something in us dogs that we just have to howl. Now that sprintime is getting here I like to lay out on the balcony in the sun and snooze or watch the world go by. We live downtown and there is always someone going by and we can see a park where kids and dogs play and I like to watch them. Sometimes I see a squirrel in the tree in our backyard but he is always too high up to catch but I will watch him all afternoon if I have to.

When it is time for our dinner I alert our humans to that fact. I find them in whatever room they are and I sit in front of them and stare with all my might. If that doesn't alert them I put my paw on them and whine a sad and very hungry sounding whine. Once in a while they will say something like, "It's too early Kaede, it's not time." and make me wait but it's hard. When a girl is hungry a girl is hungry and that's all there is to it.

When finally it is dinner time we go back out to the room with the magic cupboard and out comes the two bowls of food, one for Freddy and one for me. I sit like a good girl and wait for the food to be put down. When we have finished our dinner we go back outside again to our personal toilet. By this time, we are both quite tired, especially Freddy, and we find a nice place to settle down. Our humans are now in their kitchen making their food and they often ask us to go to another room. I like to go to the family room where the television is because I can sit in the doorway and see them in the kitchen. I shouldn't tell on him but sometimes Freddy sneaks away and gets up on the human's bed, which he is NOT allowed to do. He gets caught though most of the time. He's pretty big so it's not like they can't see him.

When the evening is really here and the humans have eaten their dinner I say good night to them and go upstairs to the bedroom where our beds are next to the human bed and go to sleep, ready to start another day.  When I am fast asleep I get a gentle nudge from my human who tells me and Freddy that it's time to go outside. I get up, half asleep, and go outside with Freddy one last time to our private toilet then back to bed. This is my favourite time of the day because the humans come to bed too and we are altogether in one room, me and Freddy on our beds next to our humans in their bed. Good night.

DOG PARK - by KAEDE

My name is Kaede. I am a dog with one blue eye and very dark brown fur with bits of white. Humans think I am pretty but they also think I have something wrong with me because of my blue eye. Sometimes they think I am blind. Sometimes they think I am mean. I am not mean. I love everyone and want them to love me.

Freddy is my best friend. He lives with us and he is a Rhodesian Ridgeback and very gentle. Sometimes when I play too rough Freddy whines even though he is much bigger than I am. Once I accidentally tugged at his ear and it bled and he had to have stitches and wear a lamp shade on his head. The humans called it a 'cone' but it looked just like a lamp shade.

Anyway, about the dog park. When we go to the dog park I bark at all the dogs who are running around. It keeps the humans guessing. They wonder why I do it because I never bark at home. They think I bark because I am bossy. Some of them think that I want to make all the other dogs play with just me. I think I bark because I just like to. Being around all the other dogs is exciting.

I don't have a special friend at the dog park the way Freddy does. I play with lots of dogs but my favourites are the puppies. I love the puppies. I hang around when there is a puppy and look out for it. Some times they hide under the bench but I get down and give them my face so they can see that I am gentle. Sometimes I want to pick them up but I never do. I also like to chase the fast dogs or have them chase me. That's an awful lot of fun. I'm pretty quick but not as quick as Freddy. One dog starts to run then another one will chase him and then another one until there are lots of us.

Dog park is a lot of fun but I like it better when we go for walks around the town. Maybe I will write about that next time.

MY FRIEND - BY FREDDY

My name is Freddy. I am a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog and people tell me I am beautiful. I live with my people in a town in Ontario called Brockville. Kaede lives with us too. She is my best friend in the entire world. She is not a Rhodesian Ridgeback. She is a mutt but she is very, very pretty and she has one blue eye. People comment about her blue eye all the time. 

I go to a place called dog park; Kaede comes too. It's a place where lots of people stand around while dogs run and play and jump on each other. We go to dogpark when there is no snow left. When there is snow we go to watch our humans cross country ski but Kaede and I have so much fun running fast and jumping on each other that we forget, sometimes, to watch the skiing. 

The first time we went to dog park after the snow I saw my old friend. He is a Husky dog and I love him a lot. His name is Niko and he wears a purple collar that has turned his fur around his neck purple too. There is another Husky who looks just like Niko but I don't love him at all. I love Niko. When I see Niko I run over to him and we run beside each other and then we jump into the air and we bump each others chest. I think Kaede gets a little jealous because she runs along beside us and barks and barks and barks. Kaede never barks at home. Not even when she is outside too long and wants to come in. She sits at the door and waits for the humans to let her in. I don't. I bark my head off and they always let me in right away.

Anyway, Niko is the only dog at the dog park that I play with. I like to be around the other dogs but I don't like them as much. As soon as I saw Niko I knew that I wanted to be his friend. Last summer and fall I played with him a lot but didn't see him when there was snow on the ground. When we went back to dog park I saw Niko coming into the park and I ran, excitedly, to the fence. Even before I smelled him I knew it was him. He knew me too, after all that time, he knew it was me, Freddy, and we threw our paws around each other and hugged. Except for Kaede, Niko is my very best friend in the world.