June: 5 on the Fifth

It's Post Time

Hi everyone!

I know I missed this last month.  Sorry about that.  I was busy and didn't have time to take pictures to share with you.  Please forgive me.  I hope you enjoy my pictures for this month.

We were supposed to look at new things.  Since the weather was getting warmer, my Daddy and Papa have been outside more often.  They don't take me out all the time, so sometimes I have to watch from the windows.  I don't know why they don't want me outside with them.  They say I get in the way sometimes when II follow them around.  They say my pee pee kills anything and everything it touches.  I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think it sounds very nice.  I don't try to kill things.  I just have to pee sometimes.

But I did get to walk around and see some new things growing.  Baby plants.  So I thought I would feature some new babies that I found in our yard.  I'll try to remember not to pee on them, so Daddy won't get mad at me.

This is a picture of what Papa calls a Spirea.  He says it grew from seed in the middle of a wall.  There are lots of them around the yard.  Papa says that's lucky because that means the plants are happy when they have babies.  I can see them from the lower part of the yard where I usually go poo poo.  Papa told me not to pee on these plants.  They are in a wall, so I can't go poo poo on them.  I don't think I'd want to do it anyway.  I like their color.

Spirea plant growing out of a brick wall.

This is one of Papa's favorite plants.  He says I almost killed it last year because both my brother and I peed on it.  Apparently, it was a favorite spot for both of us.  I can't really remember that, but I suppose Papa would not lie.  Anyway, he says that it used to be a much larger plant but we kept peeing on it.  Then some of the leaves started to disappear.  Papa got angry and dug it out of the ground.  He moved it to a flower bed that neither of us can pee on anymore.  This spring, it came up like this.  Papa was very happy.

Hosta growing in a garden bed.

Here is a picture of ferns that grew wild in the yard.  Papa says that the ferns in the fern garden have something he calls spores.  I guess they are different from seeds.  These spores have to have a lot of water in order to grow into a plant somehow.  I guess we have a spot that is wet at the right times because all these little ferns grew from these spores right in the middle of the yard.  Well, not really int he middle.  Now, Daddy is protecting them and he gets angry if I go over there.  Papa let me take a picture of them.  But I am not supposed to pee on them.

Ferns growing in the yard.

 Now these little plants grew from seeds that Daddy planted in the garden with the vegetables.  It's a raised garden to keep my brother and I out of it.  But both of us can get in there.  The other day Nicky was in there and Daddy yelled at him about it.  I can very easily jump in there, and it really looks like a nice place to pee.  But I won't because I know I am not supposed to be in there, or pee in there.  Papa says these little plants are called Marigolds.

Marigolds growing from seed in the garden.

This last picture is of flower seeds Daddy planted in these little plastic dish or cup things.  They are very wierd and make a really strange noise when you touch them.  Daddy filled each little hole with some dirt and put seeds in them.  And these are what grew.  Daddy called them Morning Glories.  What a cool name.  They are not in a place where I can pee, even if I wanted to do it.  It's tempting, because the plastic boxes smell funny.  But I won't do it.  Papa wouldn't like it.

Morning glories growing from seeds.

Those are my 5 pictures for this month.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Keep your tail up and wagging!

-Katie

February 5 on the 5th

It's Post Time

Things that make me go, "HMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

This month's 5 on the 5th was a general Reflection of things that are important to us.  I thought I would share with you some news stories that made me happy and sad, and talk a little bit about the relationships between animals and humans.  I have a great life and a happy home, but not all dogs do.  There are a lot of bad people who don't think of us as being living creatures with feelings or intelligence.  It makes me sad to think that there are people in the world who don't respect or appreciate all that dogs can do.  My Papa says that those people are stupid and selfish and I should feel sorry for them because they don't know any better.  They have to torture something else to make themselves feel better.  But I don't want to feel sorry for them.  If you ask me, I think that these people should not be allowed to interact or be in contact with animals.  Papa says they don't allow people who abuse children to be near children, and it makes sense to me that if people abuse animals, they should not be allowed to be near animals.

But anyway, it is not all bad.  So here are 5 stories that Papa read to me this week from the news that made me stop and think about how humans and animals are connected.  I will select my pictures from the web because they will show how I feel about the articles.

ONE

Unilever Ends Animal Testing On Lipton Tea Products After PETA Threatens Major Campaign

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/03/unilever-ends-animal-test_n_818225.html

This was a good thing.  For many years this company that makes Tea was looking for some reason to promote the healthiness of drinking tea.  So they made pigs and rabbits sick , made them drink tea to see if they got better.

What a terrible thing to do.  With all the problems in the world and people and animals suffering for no reason, to do it on purpose is horrible.

I chose this picture because it really shows how I feel about all this animal testing stuff.  You should test on yourself and leave innocent animals alone.   It would be a better world if the CEOs of companies had to do the testing on themselves.  They might actually earn all the money they make, instead of making decisions that affect the lives of animals they don't even know anything about.

I am glad they stopped.  I only hope they realize what terrible people they are.


TWO

100 Sled Dogs Killed In British Columbia Due To Slump In Tourism

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/31/100-sled-dogs-slaughtered_n_816462.html

 I wanted to use a picture of beautiful dogs, but this one really got my attention.  Sled dogs are hard working dogs and many suffer and die to protect their humans.  But a corporation, like the last one, felt that they didn't want to keep the dogs alive with no one to buy sledding trips.  All of a sudden the lives of those hard working dogs were worthless in their eyes.  And what is worse, is they told the employees to shoot them.  They wouldn't even spend the money on a humane way to try to get the dogs adopted or even put them to sleep humanely.  They were shot, in cold blood.
More terrible corporations.

THREE

Pet Owners: Can Sleeping With Your Pet Make You Sick?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophia-yin/pet-owners-sleeping-with-your-pet-can-make-_b_816138.html

 For a long time people thought that sleeping with your companion animals can make you sick.  But this new research study shows it isn't true!

My brother sleeps with my humans all the time..  I get to sometimes.  Papa says it is because I am so big and take up so much room.  I chose this picture because I think that we can work out an arrangement that would make everyone happy.  The dog in this picture is obviously a bigger dog, like myself.  Oh, I am not fat, I am just big boned.  But still, even though I have long legs, I think that we all can fit in the bed safely and maintain our health.  As long as no one has a cold.  I mean, if you are sick or have fleas, it isn't good to sleep with humans or dogs, because some things just can transmit.

FOUR

Michael Vick's Dogs: Pit Bulls Make Slow And Painful Recovery

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/31/michael-vick-dogs-pit-bulls_n_816246.html#s232910

Using dogs for sports is never a good idea.  You all know that I was a racer and didn't really like it.  And racing dogs are not treated badly, when they are racing.  But afterward, it really depends on how bad the owner is.  Once again, it is easy for some corporation to just dispose of the dogs.  Dog fighting is very different.  It takes a really bad person to train dogs to be violent and make them fight other dogs.  No dog ever wins in that situation.

I didn't want to bring in a bad picture, but I chose this one because even though it's horrible, you can see how loving the dog is, just by looking into his eyes.  He didn't want to hurt another dog, and really doesn't want to be hurt himself.  It's just that bad people make slaves of animals for their own pleasure.  It's disgusting.

FIVE

Cancer-Sniffing Dog Trained By Scientists

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/cancer-sniffing-dog_n_816961.html
  

I wanted to end on a happy note.  We can be useful to humans in more ways than just unwillingly helping them make money.  We do have talents that can be used to help improve the human condition. 
Dogs have really great senses of smell.  We can smell many things.  It's how we communicate with each other and understand our surroundings.  We can smell all kinds of things, including the presence of cancer cells in your breath or urine!  You see, it is not that we don't want to be working dogs, or that we don't want to help you.  We do.  Many dogs are not happy unless they have something to do. Personally, I am not one of those dogs.  I want a nice place to lay down and I want to be able to see my humans and know what's going on.  But I don't want to work.  But there are dogs that do.  And we can be helpful to humans, if you let us.  It's just that you shouldn't have to torture, hurt, or kill us to make us useful.  I chose this picture because this is a proud dog who should get the recognition he or she deserves.


And that's what I have been thinking about this month for 5 of the 5th!

Keep your tail up and wagging!

-Katie

December 5 on the 5th

It's Post Time

Wow!  It's been two whole months since I wrote something.  My family has been very busy with all kinds of things, so Papa hasn't had a lot of time to help me write any stories for you.  Plus, I have been so busy moving from comfy places on my couches and beds, that I just can't seem to find the time to do anything, let alone write.

from Stephen's Blog: State of the Nation: UK

But I do like to take pictures, so I try to have something on the fifth for pictures.  papa was able to help me reach the higher places, but I was able to choose the pictures I wanted to show you.  This month's theme is faces, I remember.  And Daddy put up some of the holiday trees with all the shiny ornaments.  I decided to share some of the holiday ornaments that had faces on them.  Sometimes I did not understand what I was looking at, but Papa helped me out and told me what they were. 

So here are my 5 pictures of faces on the 5th of December.  Hope you like them.

Here is #1.   I like this ornament the best because it was a little doggy like me.  Papa told me his name is Snoopy.  Papa used to hang Snoopy in his car when he was in school. Snoopy and Papa have been together for a very long time.  Now, he hangs on one of the trees each year for the holidays.

This is #2.  I liked this little man.  He has glasses like Papa and se sort of reminded me of my Papa.  Papa says he's been around for a very long time, too.  He never was hanging in the car, but he has been on the holiday trees for many seasons.

This is #3.  This is a strange little man that Daddy says is called Santa Claus.  Santa brings toys to good girls and boys during the holidays.  If I am a good girl, then Santa will bring me a good present that I can enjoy.  I hope it's a chewy bone, or a new squeaky toy.  I bit all my squeak toys too hard and Papa says that's why they don't make noise anymore.  So I hope I get squeaky toy for Christmas.

This one is #4.  He's a soldier man.  Papa says he's a representation of a nutcracker.  Papa says people can't just bite their nuts open like I can.  They have to use tools to get them open.  I don't know why they don't just bite down really hard.  I can break lots of things if I do that, even nuts.  But Papa says that nuts are too hard for humans.  He says these nutcracker machines are used around the holidays because people serve nuts to guests as a special treat.  I guess nuts were not always as easy to get as they seem to be now.  Daddy even can get them without any shells at all.  So this nutcracker ornament sort of confuses me...just a bit.

For #5, my last picture, I took another picture of Santa.  I chose this one because it's completely different from the other Santa picture I took.  That was strange.  Both Santa's have white fur on their head and face, and that's where the similarities end.  One Santa is very thin, the other is fatter.  This Santa is wearing green, while the other is wearing red.  I don't know how you can tell they are both Santa.  I guess maybe Santa doesn't wear a uniform of some kind.  I used to have to wear a uniform when I raced.  But they weren't always the same colors or numbers on them.  So I guess I understand that you just have to know who Santa is.  You can't tell by his uniform.

Well, that's all the pictures I have for faces.  Maybe I will share one picture of me, so you can see me.  This is one of my favorite places.  I am on my couch in the living room. 

Hope you all have a nice holiday season and get plenty of squeaky toys to play with.

Keep your tail up and wagging!

-Katie

My Five on the Fifth

It's Post Time

Papa asked me to take pictures of round things.  I found 5 round things around the house that I love.  Here they are for you.

First, I love my food dish.  This is a picture of the dish when it doesn't look so good.  It looks way better when it is full with food.

The next thing I love is my Moo Moo Cow ball.  It is soft and fuzzy and I love to carry it around with me.

My next picture is also of a favorite toy.  I love my orange squeaky ball.  It has funny ears and feet, too. And it makes great noises when I bite it.

The next round thing I love is Papa's coffee.  Papa doesn't like it when I love his coffee, but it's yummy!

Finally, I love this cool looking thing on the counter.  It makes pretty music and I see it when I counter surf.  I can't quite reach it, but I owuld very much like to take it to my bed and keep it there.  I guess the whole thing isn't really round, but I like the round part of it the best.

Hope you enjoyed looking at the five round things I love.

Keep your tail up and wagging!

-Katie

5 on the 5th

It's Post Time

This is a post I orginally did on my Papa's blog on September 5th.

Walking with my family

Hi, I'm Katie and my Papa asked me to find five blue things on my walk today, and take pictures of them.  So I am going to tell you all about our walk and the blue things I found.  I hope that you find my pictures interesting and you like them.  I worked really hard to find things you would like to see and to take good pictures of them.

The very first thing I noticed when we were leaving was that Papa has a blue car.  This is our blue car in the driveway as we left for the walk.

Then we passed a blue butterfly that was so pretty, but I couldn't get the picture in time.  It was too sunny and the butterfly flew away.  We also passed a blue swimming pool and a blue cover over some stuff, but I didn't take the picture because my brother was pulling and Daddy was yelling at him.

Then we passed our friend's house.  She has some smelly red fruits in a blue pot.  I think the pot is pretty.

Then I saw a blue metal thing on the ground.  I don't know what it is, but the humans throw them all over the place.  Yuck!  I chewed one once and it wasn't very tasty.

Then we took the long way and crossed the place where all the cars go by really fast.  Some of them stop for us, but sometimes they don't stop for us.  Papa gets angry because he says they are supposed to stop for people in crosswalks, whatever they are.

After the cars, I saw a small animal that had a ball on its nose.  The ball had all kinds of colors, but I noticed it did have a blue stripe.  This picture was hard to get because the ball was spinning in the wind on the animal's nose.  That looks like fun.  I want to try that.

We walked for a long time before we saw anything blue.  I was starting to get disappointed, but then I noticed that my brother has a blue leash and Daddy has a blue thing around his wrist.

After that we got home and I didn't see any more blue things.  If I didn't notice my brother's leash, I would have been sad that I didn't take a picture of the blue swimming pool.  But it all worked out.

Now, I am going into the house and lay in front of the fan to cool off.

Walking is hard work.

Keep your tail up and wagging!
-Katie