My New Friend...And We Wanna Tell You About a Challenge!

Hewwwow!  Finn here.  Now that I have had a full day to spend with Momma and Pops, I thought I would show you what they brought back for me.  Now, I did make them feel really really guilty about leaving me behind.  After jumping all over them when they came to get me from Lynne's house, I pouted.  I gave them the sad eyes.  But, we went for a long walk and Momma told me about where they went.  And then I came home and I got a new friend!

So, they were forgiven.

Isn't he cute?  Momma said she bought him for me in Amsterdam.  She said they had a really nice time there.  And apparently, they went in the middle of a heat wave, so now she is a lovely shade of pink!

Now, to the second part of my post.  Can you do this?

Remember Momma did a post a while back where I was sitting and she put the treats all around me like she saw my friend Gopher do.  Now Gopher is having a challenge for dogs who can command this much restraint without both killing the peep who is placing the treats down AND without eating them (the treats, that is).  If you think you've got the skillz, check out his post here and join in the challenge!

They're Home!

That's right, they left me again! Momma and Pops had been away for a week, and dropped me off again at the dog sitter while they were off galavanting! Now, I have a great time there! Lynne watches me, and every day, she sends Momma and Pops a text or a pic so they know what kinds of havoc I have been making playtime activities I have been up to!

So this is what she said about me:
"Finn loves life! Right now she is enjoying just being able to go in and out of my back door. She taps on the door, I let her in. She taps on the door, I let her out!"

"Today, Finn dragged one of my pillows off my bed and placed it by the back door so she could sit on it and watch what was going on in the backyard!"

"Where is Brumby?" we ask (Brumby is Lynne's dog).  Brumby was enjoying a much-needed nap after playing with me for a while! Ha ha ha! 

Lynne sent them pics of me playing with an ice cube and jumping on Brumby while he was sitting just scratching himself! Yep, I have a great time there! Now, they are gonna take me for a nice long walk, but they will be back to tell you about their trip next time!

Finn's Momma here - thanks for all of your great tips on conducting our business. We are going to try to use one consistent word and we will let you know how it goes!

The Cost of Doing Business

I am beginning to notice a pattern.  When my husband walks Finn, she won't do her business for him.  She barks to let us know she needs to go out at night, and when he takes her, it's playtime.  It's outdoor tug-o-war, it's jumping around, it's madness and chaos.  When I take her, it's strictly business.  We walk to our location and she does what she has to do and then we come back.  There's some jumping and playing on the way back, it's not at the same level as with my husband.

* Disclaimer - when my husband walks Finn in the morning or during the day, she has no problem doing her business.  This is strictly a nighttime ritual.  

Any reasoning?

Shrine of Our Lady of the Island

I was feeling a little, I don't know, out of touch with the world one Saturday, and I had remembered that I had driven past this shrine about a year ago.  When I had past it, I thought I had remembered being there in the 8th grade, or something like that, and I had made a mental note to head back there.  This Saturday became that day.  I needed a little, I don't know, something extra.  I called ahead to the office, "Are dogs allowed?"  "Yes, as long as they don't step in the planted gardens and you bring an extra baggie."  DEAL.

Just beautiful.

We walked around the Stations of the Cross.

We looked at beautiful statues.

We said a prayer to the saints.

And this is the part I remembered from elementary school - this is a Rosary.  Every bush is a bead of the rosary.  You can see the crucifix which hangs at the end of the beads and then the tall bush would be the first Our Father, the three little bushes are the first three Hail Marys.  I was working on a "I Live My Faith" badge as a Girl Scout back in the 8th grade, and our troop leader brought us here and we said the entire rosary.

We walked up to see the the Crucifixion.

I wonder sometimes when Finn is looking out like this if she is planning to run off!

I felt so much better about myself and the state of my world when we left.  

And I have to say, Finn did a pretty good job there.  

A lot of sniffing and walking, and one tired dog when we left.

Frankie Day

Hey Frankie!  Enjoy your special special Blogville Day!!

You deserve it dear fur-end!  Enjoy, enjoy!

I have a funny story to share with you and I hope it makes you laugh real hard!

See how I am laying right next to this rug and it is right by the front door?  And how the rug is getting all rolled up?  So sometimes during the day, it gets even more rolled up and stuffs, because I am laying near it, and you know, it gets all in my way.  When Momma and Pops come home, sometimes it gets squished under the door and they have to push real hard to get in!  And then the alarm is going off, and I run around in circles cause I am so glad to see them, and they are trying to get in.  Trust me, it's a scene!

All because I like to lay on this rug.

HA HA HA!

Now if there is anybody in Blogville who can appreciate that story, it is YOU!  Enjoy your day!

Love, Finnackles!

True Color Thursday - Tutti Frutti

This week's challenge:

How I normally see tutti-frutti:

How I would always like to see tutti-frutti:

PeeMail

Momma!

Cody wants to take me to the dog park on Friday night.

Sprinkles' chis say they are having a bbq at her house on Saturday.

And Sunday Reilly and Denny want to go for a nice long walkie.  Ok?

Got all that?

New Leash

A couple of weeks ago, Taryn over at A Tail of Two Cardis had a contest!  She visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had some trivia questions for folks to answer.  Momma knew that Yasgur Dairy Farm in Bethel, NY was the location of Woodstock and because of that...we won a new leash!  It arrived this week!  Woohoo!!

Now, Taryn, I know this is unorthodox, but Finn, oops Finnackles, likes to inspect her new things before using them, so we spent a few minutes letting her sniff, roll around with and inspecting her new leash!  We know it isn't a toy, but we didn't want to scare her when we placed the loop over her head.  When we first tried that, she backed up and whined a little bit, so we let her play.

I should explain, Finnackles also likes to play with my oven mitt, 

so that's why that is on the floor as well.

  We got in on and tried it out!  Thank you Taryn for our cool new leash!  We love it!

The Nickname Game

And the votes are in from The Nickname Game!  Drum roll, please... This week, please call me.....

FINNACKLES!!

Don't I look like a Finnackles?!?

True Color Thursday - Silver and Small

This week's challenge was to find something silver and miniature and then tell a story behind it.  Now, I looked in my curio cabinets, I looked in with my china and my silverware, and I didn't have anything silver and miniature.

So then I looked at Finn.  She had a little silver on her!

I have already reported on Finn's bling.  I couldn't believe how much bling this gal was packing when she was a wee pup.  But I like her name tag especially.  The fake rhinestones, the pink bone, she's a little princess all right!

And the story that goes along with it - - remember the first time you tried to put the collar on your dog? My husband would put it on Finn and she would go wild, trying to catch the bling in her mouth, try to wriggle out of it.  It was funny.  We would put it on, take it off, put it on.

Then I put the collar on.  And from there it stayed.  No real problems at all :)

I Won an Award!

Head on over to the Destructive Puppy - they think I am cool! :)

AND

a half a day later, I received another award from the Ruled by Paws Posse!  That's two, count 'em TWO awards in one day.  Thank you, thank you!

Little Trick

I really enjoy reading the adventures of Gopher, a therapy dog.  He is making such a difference in the lives of those he visits, it always brings a smile to my face when I read about him.  In one of his recent posts, he showed off a little trick he could do - he lays down and is surrounded by little treats.  He stays still until released and then he can enjoy them all.  I wanted to see if Finn could handle it.

So, I had Finn sit and stay and I started to place the treats around her.  At first, she jumped up and wanted to eat them all.  I got her to stay again, and then realized something.  As I asked her to stay, and said, "Good girl" she would jump up as if released.  So we tried again.  At about the fifth try or so, she got the idea.

Not too bad!  Nice work Finn!

The Nick Name Game

Hewwwow!  It's me, Finn.  Are you playing The Nickname Game this week??  Here's how it goes.  I am gonna tell you all the nicknames the peeps call me.  You vote for your favorite one.  Then next week, you can only call me by the name that gets the most votes.  Okay?  Ready....

My nicknames are...

THE Finn
Finnie
Finnackles
FinnFinn
Top Pup
And finally.. Baby (please don't stick me in the corner)

Ok, so leave your comment and let me know your favorite!

True Color Thursday, Bear Style

This week's True Color Thursday Challenge was to take a brown teddy bear and place it outside in a place which involves height.

Now sometimes I feel bad about doing posts which don't involve Finn, since this is a dog blog, so I decided to include her on the action.

But she seemed a little more interested in seeing if our neighbor's cat was out, so I tried a different tactic.

Here's our little bear (his name is Jay) on top of that green thingy which brings the cable into our house, and learning against the electric reader!  Much lower....

Ah, yes, much better...

Confusion. By Finn's Peeps.

Which...

ball...

to...

chase?

Visiting the Art Gallery

One Sunday, Momma took me to visit her at a small art gallery where she works part-time on the weekends.  They were in between shows, and it was a rainy day, so I got to sniff around for a while and keep her company!

Art exhibit?  Where??

The gallery is housed in a building that was erected in the 1860s!  Very cool!  So the exhibits hang in the every day living rooms which the family used during that time.

Hello beautiful!

I got to hang around the office where Momma takes care of the phones and helps the artists when they drop off and pick up their work!  Momma was asking me to model the proper way to prepare your frame for hanging, as you can see mounted behind me.  I am doing such a good job.

When do I get a raise?

I even got to climb on up to the attic, but it was closed...

And I got to weave in and out of the rooms.  It was a lot of fun.  Some of you might recall, I used to keep Momma company at her job every single day, so I really enjoyed this visit. 

We miss each other during the day!

Go Check Us Out!

Attention, attention!  You have to head over to PBU today and see my picture of the day, which is live now!

Now, my older readers know, Momma's a Yankees fan, Pops is a Red Sox fan.  Baseball RULES in this house.  So, you know who prepped that picture of me.  I didn't mind it since I got a bunch of treats for sitting so nicely with that hat on!  Enjoy and have a good weekend!

More of Seein' the Sites

Everyone has such positive responses to my NYC photos.  Since we're entering spring, and that's prime walking weather, that means you all get to see more photos!

So, there are days when I cannot escape that I work near the WTC.  Sometimes I wander around at lunch time, and I am reminded that this tragedy happened so close to where I work.  One day, I found my way into St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway, and it has a small exhibit inside of it of the memorials which were created for the rescuers that day.  

I then wandered into the 9/11 Memorial Preview Center.  The preview center is small, just one room on a crowded street where you can buy some books and things and purchase tickets to the memorial  I saw this photo and was just struck by it. 

On to something lighter!  Pretty gardens near the base of...

...the Brooklyn Bridge!

I have no idea what those folks are looking at!

And now, I know this is a little old, but back on last Friday at 7:30am, I received a call from my Momma.  "Don't forget to look outside at 10:30 this morning to see the Space Shuttle go by."

Thanks Mom!  

That's it for now!  Maybe some more sites next month!

Where There's a Will...

Tomorrow night, my husband and I are signing our wills.  We've made plans for Finn, or any other future canine member of the family.  We've asked the future caretaker, and he has agreed.  I wonder how many other folks out there have plans like this?  Or have we completely lost our minds?