Back to the Scene

We've mentioned Cooper's incredible stagefright, right?  Well, if you can believe this, Mom & Dad took him back to the scene of his humiliation yesterday!  Thank goodness they didn't torture him by trying to get him to perform!  Each year the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition comes to Charleston in February bringing all sorts of critters and stuff with it - Birds of Prey, tons of wildlife art, etc.  But, the only thing Mom & Dad really care about anymore is seeing DOCK DOGS!  We have to admit, they are something else and we're sure if the Coop could control his stagefright, he would be AWESOME at it and LOVE it.  But, he has his very own docks and ponds to jump in and Mom & Dad to throw the tennis balls, so we're not really sure why he would even want to join the organized Dock Dogs where you have to wait your turn and have manners and rules and such.  But, on to the competition ~

We would like to present some of Dock Dogs finest speed retrievers.  This part of the competition is judged by fastest retrieving time.  There are other competitions, like Big Air that are judged on distance jumped.  You can learn more about Dock Dogs here.   Lots of pics coming up . . .

Okay, we're gonna pause here for a moment and just prepare you to be AMAZED . . .

Yeah, baby, that's a German Shepherd!

Different Shepherd . . .



We think a black lab won, but who cares ~ all these guys are AMAZING, don'tcha think?

The Road Dogs (ringside at Dock Dogs)

How's This for Stylish

Okay, we wanna DESERVE that Stylish Award! So, when we came across this in Mom's email box this morning, we decided we had to share it with all of you! Now, we know this look isn't for everyone, but we do know some of you who would totally rock this hat ~ you know who you are!

This is Bean ~ spokesmodel and inspiration for Beantown Handmade

If you have a minute, go visit Bean and see his new spring line of accessories. BONUS POINTS and PAWS UP to Bean for donating a portion of his sales to rescues. Plus, he's been featured in more magazines and blogs than Paris Hilton.

How's that for stylish???

The Road Dogs (stylin' in SC)

Catchin Up . . . Again

Whew!  That MangoMinster was really something, huh?!  Very exciting stuff all around - on the front stage, behind the scenes, on the sidelines - EVERYWHERE!  We just want to congratulate all the WINNERS and PARTICIPANTS right here, right now.  We are slowly trying to get to everyone's blog to congratulate you personally, but, well, if you know us Road Dogs at all, you know we are notoriously slow in doing stuff.  But, we hope you forgive us and accept our public congrats!  And huge thanks to all the JUDGES for all your hard work and the fortitude to resist enticing "gifts."  You made us all proud!  And most especially - thanks to Mango and his Momma for putting on this colossal event for all of us to ENJOY!

We sponsored a couple of prizes and will be coordinating with Mango and the winners to get them to you BEFORE the next MangoMinster. 


Next up, we want to send out a big THANK YOU to Cyndie over at This is My Place for awarding us the Stylish Blogger Award! 

We were a little bowled over by this award since we've never really thought of ourselves as "stylish" but we sure like the way it sounds and we'll just put our own spin on "stylish."  If you haven't already, go visit This is My Place and see all the fun goings on over there with her adorable chihuahuas, Mike and Chaps, and some gorgeous birds!  Now, you know there are some duties that come with these awards ~ and you know how slack we are.  So, we'll tell you something you might not know about us and then we're gonna offer this award to all of you Stylish Bloggers ~ you know who you are!

So ~ here is something about us you might not know:

Gracie & Aspen don't always show sisterly love toward one another.  Mostly, they get along fine and can even be found giving each other kisses and laying close on occasion.  But, more than once these German girls have taken it to the streets which resulted in vet visits, antibiotics and hardware.  Here's a pic of Gracie after the latest bout between them.

Can you see that hardware?  Gracie's going punk!

But, just so we don't leave you with the wrong impression, here's a pic of them just today cozying up on their futon in the garage. 

That wasn't a very stylish confession, was it?  Well, we warned you that we'd put our spin on "stylish"!

Oh, yeah, just one last thing we wanted to mention.  This is about an issue that we seem to be having with blogger, but we just wanted to let you know.  For some reason, when we came back from our "holiday break" and visited your blogs, it appeared that we weren't following you.  You know, the section that says "Followers"?  Well, instead of showing our avatar, it showed the button that said "Follow" as if we weren't already following.  NOW, when we went to our Google Reader list of blogs we follow, you ARE listed there.  So, we don't know what's going on or if we still show up as Followers on YOUR side of the blog.  But, we just wanted everyone to know that we haven't UNFOLLOWED anyone.  Not sure what the glitch is.  We started trying to RE-FOLLOW, and that seemed to work, but then sometimes showed a duplicate follow.  Have no idea what happened or what it means. 

The Road Dogs (slacking in SC)

Wordless Wednesday



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For the Pitties

Pittie Painting by Artsy Bullies

This isn't the post we had planned today.  In fact, we were just going to sit back and relax and eat Cheetos and drink Kool-Aid after that exciting race between Pip and Bunny!  We're a little tired from all that cheering!

But, after learning of some recent events, we decided that today's post should go out to the Pitties!  Many of you may have heard or read the horrifying story of the pittie who was hanged and burned by a Spartanburg, SC (insert appropriate adjective) woman.  We are ashamed she lives in SC!  If you haven't read about it, here are a couple of links to the story:   Huffington Post Article            (SC) Post and Courier Article

Also, here are a couple of links to online petitions calling for the maximum punishment for this killer.  It's the least we can do for this poor dog.  And, unfortunately, right now it's the only thing, too. 
Petition at Change.org        Petition at The Petition Site

It makes us so sad that it's too late to save this dog whose name we don't even know BUT, we were visiting Mr. B and Miss M over at their Two Pitties in the City blog and read about Shy - another pittie who is in desperate need of help.  So, we thought:  What better way to honor a pittie that we cannot help than to try to put the word out about one that we CAN.  If you haven't read about Shy, go visit the Two Pitties blog and have a look at this pretty girl. 

Now, we know that everyone's got their hands full and their pockets nearly empty these days, but if Shy's story strikes a chord with you and you happen to have a couple bucks in your donation jar, maybe you would consider sending it her way.  All the details are over at Two Pitties.

We're sure Shy would appreciate it if you could spread the word to other dog lovers.  You never know who might be willing to lend a paw or help her find a furever home.  

Now we're off to the Saturday Blog Hop!

The Road Dogs

Dog Rescues Drunken Monkeys

Mom & Dad spied these guys at a local watering hole.  We use that term literally because all they do is drink iced tea, eat nachos and look at the water hole aka creek that runs by the place.  But they seem to enjoy it, so we let them have their fun.  Anyway, they were a little concerned because these guys seemed well into their cups and didn't know if they would be able to find their way home.

As it turns out, they had brought their own designated driver - Brindle.  Lucky for them, Brindle knows how to dog paddle in case things get rowdy and the monkeys fall overboard!

Hey Sock Monkeys and Brindle!  This Bud's for you!

The Road Dogs - (thank you for drinking responsibly)

Many of you may be wondering why - with a multi-dog household - we couldn't find among us ONE who had the nerve to enter MangoMinster.  Okay - so you're not wondering, BUT we're gonna tell you anyway! 

Here's how it played out.  We got an email from Frankie during our brief holiday hiatus saying "hi" and telling us to check out MangoMinster for some laughs.  So we trotted on over and got totally caught up in the excitement that is MangoMinster.  (Thank you Frankie from raising us out of our eggnog-induced stupor.)  It looked like a fun time and we starting discussing among ourselves who to serve up as a sacrifice enter and what category would suit best.  Well, as with all things around here, no one could make a decision. 

Aspen and Gracie declared that they were WAAAY too old mature for any such shenanigans. 

Kayla would be a great Diva, actually IS a great diva, but will rarely show her DIVANESS in front of the camera, so we would have no real proof, just hearsay and conjecture.  Plus, we didn't really think she could compete with the current Diva contestant pool. 

Now, we all know and have incontrovertable proof, that Taz is a BAD SPORT.  Aside from the destuffing scenario,

he has regular bouts of "questionable potty habits" but is rarely caught in the act, much less on camera.  He also has been known to detroy and strew about the contents of trash cans that he can reach, but again, never caught in the act on camera. So, once more, no real proof - just circumstantial evidence.  Not to mention the fact that MOM won't hear of her little prince being held up as a BAD SPORT.

He's also a total DIVA - LOVES clothes, eats ON the dining room table, has his own CHAIRS, sleeps WHEREVER he wants, but we just didn't have enough proof on camera and, um, Mom doesn't know how to use Photoshop.

SO - that left Cooper, who - as you know - is younger and more easily manipulated flexible in body and mind.  Then, of course, we were torn between GOOD OLE BOY and CRACKER DOG. 

GOOD OLE BOY QUALITIES -

Coop was found in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot in South Carolina - the Good Ole Boy capital of the USofA. 

He loves a good tractor pull.

We think he has some pointer/hunter dog in him 'cause he does a version of that crazy pointing stance, um, mostly at tennis balls, but whatever.    Um, no pic of this move.

Then, we were like, yeah, TENNIS BALLS = CRACKER DOG.  That's it - Coop's a CRACKER DOG.  So, we set about getting his entry form all filled out with fine examples of his CRACKER DOGMANSHIP.  

CRACKER DOG QUALITIES -

Spring-loaded hind legs

Spazzes out over tennis balls

Then, it hit us - we remembered his debiliating STAGE FRIGHT.  Oh, yeah, the Coop suffers extreme stage fright in public. 

Witness this embarrassing display at a local charity dog show event.  Coop was SUPPOSED to be doing a trick - any trick at all AND the lovely College of Charleston women's tennis team supplied TONS of tennis balls - a contest tailor-made for Cooper.  BUT, what did he do?  Did he catch those balls in rapid-fire succession like he does at home???  Well, see for yourself. 

READY. . .SET. . .

Um, DON'T GO?  Hey, Coop, over here - the ball's over here!

So - while THIS dog was becoming the STAR of the show . . .

Cooper was doing this . . .

Even that lab looks a little embarrassed for him!

This all brings to mind ANOTHER embarrassment Cooper brought on our family at the local Dock Dogs event a couple years ago.  One could not have THOUGHT of a better sport for Cooper than jumping in the water to fetch tennis balls.  PERFECT!  But, at the tryouts - STAGE FRIGHT!  He got to the end of the dock and FROZE!  Acted like he had never seen water OR tennis balls.  Everyone laughed.  Mom curtsied and, thankfully, refrained from shoving Cooper into the pool, um, 'cause that's against the rules and we think the SPCA was there.

So, while we know he has stellar CRACKER DOG qualities, we just couldn't be cruel enough to subject him to public humiliation. 

It's probably all for the best, though.  Mom is soooooo over protective.  She would never have let us go to the Mango Mansion and have FUN!  And it probably would have turned out just like the time we wanted to ride the wild mustangs.  We were all ready for the ride with our boots and bandannas.

The mustangs were psyched - so were we - then Mom pulled the plug!  What if you get hurt?  What if you fall off?  What if they step on you?  What if they don't come back?  All silly questions in our opinion.  But, hey, she buys the food - know what we're saying?

SO - we guess we will just have to be satisfied with SPONSORING a couple of prizes for the WINNERS!  A cool t-shirt from Furry Twang for Reader's Choice Shameless and Diva Dogs and treats from Never Spoiled, Just Well Loved for Best in Show First Runner Up!

 We're looking forward to the excitement of MangoMinster 2011!  Good luck to the contestants!

(Stay tuned for MORE highlights from the charity dog show later in the week!)

The Road Dogs