Two new photos today. One of Melvin giving me the stink-eye and another of his newest sweater from Our Waldo Bungie!

A few things I’m thankful for (from Melvin)…

Food, in any form. Even the cupcake I found in the field that had ants all over it. Ants are delicious.
The big bed. Not the little bed that she proclaims to be so awesome. The big bed, it’s mine when she’s gone.
My new fenced in backyard. The one I refuse to go out and enjoy unless a human goes with me. I’m no dummy.
The orange ball that dispenses treats when I push it around the room. She calls it crack.
Kongs. Gimme, gimme!
The dish washing apparatus that cleans the orange ball and Kongs of all my crusty slobber.
Acorns. Num, num.
The nice smelling spray she cleans my acorn throw-up with.
The words ‘wanna go for a ride’.
Hitting the open road, windows down, fur blowing. Who cares that I sometimes try to jump from the moving car when I see a squirrel. Or a cat. Or a random man.
The nice smelling spray she scrubs the side of the car with that cleans off my slobber marks.
Dr. Cleeland at Great Falls Animal Hospital. She heals me.
Laura and Vasha, my awesome Wooofies dog walkers.
When Grampy lights his cigar and gives me ‘the look’. Boys only walk, yipppeeee!
Every scent in God’s great earth. Even the gross ones that make her say ‘how can you sniff that, you’re disgusting’.
Cats, num. num.
Other dogs, snarling and growling is fun and foaming at the mouth tickles!
The jars all over the house that magically refill with treats.
Her. The one who saved me. The one who shows me love and forgiveness. She lights up when she see’s me. That’s pretty cool.

Here are some photos of me from Thanksgiving. As you can tell, I’m pretty popular.

Many of you have likely noticed the tremendous amount of range that Melvin’s facial expressions can take on. It’s just SO obvious how he is feeling.

Happy.

Sad.

Tired.

I know, I know they are all so dramatically different.

🙂

There are three things to note about this photo:

1. Melvin’s new Sirius Republic collar – they have 1 to 2 inch widths available and too many awesome patterns to count! They also offer an engraved name plate or you can go with having your dog’s name embroidered. Get yours now!!!

2. Melvin thinks he owns this house, and that chair.

3. Many of you have mentioned that there have been no pics of Melvin’s new, shorter backside. I’m not sure that was on purpose but when I finally set out to snap photos of his bum, it felt… dirty.

When he jumped up on his throne this morning I realized this one photo could cure all three points.

Melvin is a sweater model! Check him out HERE!

Melvin loves people. I have complete faith in his intentions, they are kind and tender. He would never nip or bite anyone that didn’t nip or bite him first; even then I think he would opt for peace. That said, he pretty much views people, especially children, as bowling pins and he is a bowling ball of affection. There are times when he seems to really, really want to make it 100% clear that he is madly in love with someone in his path and to do this he will knock said person down (again, all in the name of love), pin them down (in his opinion standing on top of someone is the best delivery) and lick them and slobber upon them until they beg for mercy. If they pass out from the weight of him, he will lay upon them, just so they know they are not alone. They will still ‘feel the love’ when they come to.

If I hold him back from the above, which I do for anyone under 140 pounds (or anyone dressed nicely), he will moan the likes of Chewbacca. Today, upon him making this noise, I was asked the following question by a six-year-old:

“Is he a dying cow?”

He won.

In our last house, Melvin slept on his bed at the foot of mine. Every once in a while I’d let him sleep with me (mostly on nights when the huge trees by our house were caught up in huge wind gusts and I figured it would be better for us to die together than separately). When we moved to the new house, Melvin wanted nothing to do with his bed and I let him snuggle up on the big bed. My plan was I’d ease him back into the dog bed as soon as he was used to the new house. That was four months ago.

I have no issue with dogs sleeping with their humans. I also don’t judge when folks prefer for their dogs to sleep elsewhere. To each their own. For me personally, I just want everyone to sleep well. If Melvin is nestled towards the bottom of the bed, I sleep more soundly. Lately he has been a little needy (and greedy), and I find that wherever I am on the bed, he has to be no more than one nano-inch away from me. If I’m on the edge about to fall off, he can be found pushed up against my back (with an entire King size bed just beyond him). Suffice it to say, it’s not working out. I’m happy to share the bed but I need my space.

So ‘You love YOUR bed and you’re happiest when sleeping in it’ boot camp has officially begun. I spent today teaching him that if he goes to his bed and lays down, a treat shows up. His expression indicates that the big bed behind him is likely mocking him.

Melvin is the only living creature who may dislike Halloween more than me.

1. I made him wear a puffy, hot-dog costume.
2. I gave candy to 100 children before feeding him dinner.

The end.