Life of Miss Sunshade - The Vancouver SuperDALE

Story of a SUPER SmartDALE

2009-11-13T10:47:00.002-08:00

Let me tell you a story about a SUPER SmartDALE, and hopefully, you will all learn something from her. It is a story about survival.

Once upon a time, there lived a DALE. She was SUPER, and extremely smart, hence, she was known as the SUPER SmartDALE or SSD for short. Here is a picture of her,

Yes, she was all that AND bootiful.

The SSD had worked out a way of communicating with her hooman. If she needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she would whine from where she was. However, often times, that would not be enough to wake up the sleepy head hooman. So she would then move to where her hooman was sleeping, position her nose directly into the hooman's ear and whine as loud as she could. This usually would do the trick to wake the hooman up. Then the SSD would walk to the back door and proceed to hitting the door with her SUPER-paw. This would result in the hooman opening the door and letting her out.

One particular morning, the SSD heard something. It came from the side door. However, she did not give out her alarming SUPER-bark. She knew whatever she heard outside was not threatening.

In fact, it was good. After thoroughly investigating the side door with her SUPER-nose, she made up her SUPER-mind that she was gonna get out there. So once again, she communicated with her well trained hooman who was, at the time ...... *ahem* still sleeping. She asked to be let out, and she was let out. The LAZY-hooman went about her daily chores.

It is also worth mentioning that the SSD shared her home with a SUPER STINKY-dale, who unfortunately did not share the same size of brain or sharpness as the SSD.

This is him, and we will just call him "STINKY" for short.

He did not asked to be out. Only the SSD did.

After surveying and patrolling the perimeter of the yard, the SSD went around to the side door.

It was there, that she discovered MAGIC!!

Someone or something of greater power, power over the Universe knew the SSD was not being taken care of.

It knew she hadn't eaten for days, (mum: for THAT morning!!!!!)

It knew she needed nourishment,

It knew she was neglected and needed entertainment,

So "IT" delivered MAGIC right outside the SSD's door!!!

Now the SSD (SUPER SmartDALE) did not get her name for no reason, she knew the proper way to open the MAGIC-packages,

She also knew that chocolates were poisonous for her specie, and left anything resembling the scent of chocolate UN-TOUCHED,

(mum: Those cookies had their names written on with carob. Sunshade doesn't like chocolate smelling treats!)

After the SSD finished with her MAGIC-packages, she gathered up what's left of it,

And took a picture with the pile for memory sake. Afterall, MAGIC-packages don't just land on your side porch all the time!!

The SSD knew then it was time for her to stay SUPER-still,

Allowing her body sufficient time to....SUPER-

SSD knew about SUPER-discipline. She set high SUPER-standards for herself to follow, this day was no different.

And she made herself follow through,

This, is a story about SUPER-survival, survival of the FITTEST! (mum: that certainly would not be you Miss Piggy!!)

He, the STINKY-dale was let out of the house (note: he did not ask to be let out) for the aftermath. All he got was the left over wreckage.

Under natural circumstances, he, the STINKY-dale would not have survived like the SSD. Natural selection would not have selected him. (mum: That's because of you!!!)

The SSD rested comfortably on a SUPER-full tummy the rest of the day and lived happily ever after.

The End

(mum: Today was Jaffa and his sister Stella's 3rd birthday. Stella's mom, Maureen, so graciously packed two surprise birthday bags full of goodies for Sunshade, Jaffa and me. I should mention, all three of us have November birthdays with Jaffa leading the way. The goodie bags were left on our side porch, and well..... Miss Sunshade got to them before any of us even knew they existed!!!

THANK YOU so much Maureen, I'm sorry I didn't check up on Sunshade earlier..... Poor Jaffa will get extra cake for the treats he missed out on.)

STINKY-ness is EVERYWHERE.......

2009-11-09T02:21:00.002-08:00

Once again........ there's the original.....one I'm stuck with forever and everrrrr.....

And now...his accomplice has once again RE-APPEARED!!!

So what do you get when you put......

YOU GET.......

Poooor pooooooooor me......, the Perfect Poor ME..... I'd rather stay out in the rain than inside.....*sniff sniff*

(mum: ok drama Queen!! Sunshade LOVES the yard, the fresh Aire. She asks to be let out to the yard a lot, especially to do yard patrol (squirrels, crows, mailman, etc)!!)

I don't want to have anything to do with them, they just stinkify EVERYTHING.....

AND..... STINNNNNNNNKIESSSSSSSSSS

Sigh.....
SIGH.......
SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

Look at the poor me, still outside even when its dark.....

Calling all you Johnny Depp fans!!!!

2009-11-01T11:51:00.009-08:00

I'm sure all you ladies out there just looooove, and can't wait to get your hands on Johnny Depp aka. Captain Jack Sparrow right??

Well here is your best chance!!

(you can click on the picture to enlarge and take a better look at the hot actor)

This is an almost exact replicate of Captain Jack Sparrow. He acts the same, his ever moving mouth actions are almost the same, and he can do crazy eye ball rolling actions like Captain Jack Sparrow!

SOOOO?? What are you waiting for?? You will never come across another Johnny Depp lookalike like this!!!

Please contact me, Captain Jaffy's poor little assistant if you are interested,

I'm no Angelina Jolie, so I'm not available unfortunately....

Oh and I almost forgot, he is very sweet as well. He will buy you glamorous costumes that you can umm....wear to the Oscars..!

What I got STINKY for Halloween

2009-10-31T01:00:00.013-07:00

I brought STINKY's Halloween costume home,

Can you tell what it is?

If you remember what he's known as because of his ADHJD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Jaw Disorder), then you will know exactly what I got him,

Yup, he STILL suffers from the disorder 3 years later! My poor poor face....

Mum wanted us to take a picture of the costumes we got each other. That was the first time I saw what he got me, and.....yea.. I'm complaining alright..

(if you want to see what exactly he got me, check his blog, I DON'T want to talk about it. HMMMMPH!)

Anyway, this is STINKY with his "Land Shark" costume,

How does it feel STINKY when your head is inside another stinky mouth??

Its not so much fun anymore is it when it is you being land sharked at??

Maybe you can stop land sharking my booootiful, perfect face from now on???

Halloween Shopping

2009-10-31T00:42:00.011-07:00

So its almost Halloween, and as usual, my EV-- mum came up with the greatest idea..EVER..

She decided to get me and STINKY to shop for costumes for each other.

Mum took me to the Three Dog Bakery since they have a lot of selections,

I got a little distracted by all the yummy smelling things,

Shopping was never my thing, nevermind shopping for costumes just so I can be dressed up!! I would much rather be shopping for flavoured raw hides.....

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, mum said I had to pick a costume for STINKY!!! So I looked around, and ...VOILA!

Couldn't have found something more errrr...appropriate...

I was happy with my buy, can't wait to see STINKY in it ... HEHEHE!

Sigh...on the other hand, I'm dreading what I'll be wearing....

STINKY and I will be cross posting, I will post what I got him, and he will post what he got me on his blog.

Recent Pictures of ME - The Bootiful ME!!

2009-09-15T04:54:00.044-07:00

Dearest Friends,

After TWO lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng years, I finally managed to wake myself up in the middle of the night while mum was sound asleep and got on her computer. She has been hogging the computer for TWO lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng years, and I just couldn't bear the thought of my friends forgetting what the booootiful Miss Sunshade looked like, acted like, and more importantly, what my muscle butt looked like!!

So here it is....

This is what I look like in case you have forgotten,

(UBC 01/29/09)

My big happy SMILESSSSSS,

(Ambleside Beach 04/30/09)

(Run Free Pool 05/28/09)

You can see my missing front tooth in this picture. That was my battle scar from going through my fence to go after raccoons few years back.

(Yard 08/11/09)

ME and MY favouritest RING!!!

(Buntzen Lake 07/03/09)

Anywhere where there is water, MY ring is with ME!!!

(Jericho Beach 07/23/09)

I am BOOOTIFUL even at the young age of 9.5 years (all the pictures you see in this post were taken after my 9th B-Day. I will soon be 10, in November!)

These are the ways I act if you have forgotten,

This is how I eat snooooooooow!

(UBC 12/15/08)

This is what beaches do to me - the urges of uncontrollable happiness makes me prance like a stinky. So many people have asked mum if I was a stinky because of the way I was prancing and bouncing around on the beach. (mum: stinky = puppy)

(Ambleside Beach 04/30/09)

This is how I act when I'm NOT at the beach aka. being bored......

(PW High School 04/30/09)

This is how I dare you to come chase me - with my eyes.

Looooooook innnnnntoooooo them, you will feel the pressure. Keep away is MY favouritest game in the whole wide world cause I always win!

(White Rock 07/11/09)

Yes that's sand/mud on my head, I gave myself a mud facial treatment. (mum: don't ask.......LOL)

This is how I sunbath on the beach, (mum: yup, she decided it was time for a nap!)

(Jericho Beach 07/23/09)

This is how I keep myself from being sun burnt! I'm a SuperDALE remember?? Lots of brain!

(Jericho Beach 07/23/09)

These are ways I use to demand to get what I want!

Technique #1: The PAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

(Buntzen Lake 07/03/09)

Technique #2: The BARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK

(Cannon Beach, Oregon, US 09/05/09)

Result: FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD being delivered

(Home 11/25/08)

This is how I claim MINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE,

MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY stick!

(Cannon Beach, Oregon, US 09/05/09)

MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY rockieeeeees!!

(Ambleside Beach 04/30/09)

This is how I keep things in order at home.

This is how I keep the alpha b*tch status.

This is how I keep STINKY from taking over.

Can you see MY power through his eyes???

(PW High School 04/30/09)

Remember THE Miss Sunshade now?? (mum: I doubt anyone can forget Miss Personality...hehehe)

GO BACK TO BED MUM!! What's a gurrrrrrrl without attitude anyway?

Last but not least, this is what my MUSCLE BUTTTTTTT looks like!!!

The elegance, see the crossing behind?

(Kits Beach 04/22/09)

From a different perspective,

(Windsor Park, Victoria BC, 10/10/08)

The attention MY muscle butt draws all the time, 24/7,

(Buntzen Lake 07/03/09)

(mum: she...has a tendency to exaggerate things just a little..hehe)

NO, I DON'T! Even you play with my butt all the time, that alone makes up 18/7!

(mum: that's called grooming and tending to your itchies....)

One of those rare occasions where elegance and masculinity combine so boooootifully together.

(PW High School 04/30/09)

I'm talking about MY butt that is, NOT my butt combined with that ball chewing slobbery ball thief of a monster on the right. Please don't mistaken the meaning of my sentence. (That was a ball The Perfect ME found, and he took it, made it all gross and slimy, so I said forget it, I'm not touching stinky slobber.)

You may think this is a hairy butt instead of muscle butt, but I can assure you that its all Arnold/Sylvester material underneath.

(Buntzen Lake 11/25/08)

BOYZ...you panting yet?

Oh and by the way, this is what my juicy nose looks like,

(Victoria BC, 10/14/08)

Still BIG and juicy!!

(UBC 05/10/09)

So BIG that the Edamame bean shell I spat out got stuck on it.....

(Home 08/04/09)

Yes I peel them, I only eat the beans not the shells. Stinky eats the shells I spit out, and then mum pulls them out of his butt hole when he goes poo poo. It's quite funny really!

Lastly, this is me and MY mummmmmmmmm!

(Sketch done by David Poole, Seaside OR, US, 09/06/09)

I hope by now you have all remembered ME - The BOOOTIFUL Miss Sunshade. If not, I hope I will have more time on the computer soon (listening mum?) in the future to refresh your memories because behind almost every picture you see above, there is a story, or adventure behind it. I'm sure watching videos of me would help too, and I know all my videos on the blog aren't working anymore (my previous video uploader - Videoegg went out of biz...ate all my videos). We are hoping to fix that problem sometime too in the future.

Until next time MY friends.....

Love nibbles,
Miss Sunshade

ps. mum mentioned she will put some pictures of STINKY on his stinky blog too later. Please remember the mantra of this blog - don't go visit the stinky blog, thank you!

This is more like it

2007-12-15T23:20:00.001-08:00

So mum combed out my front legs and groomed them today,

But she couldn't finish combing my hind legs...... so that will be done tomorrow...

But that's okay I guess, enough standing around for one day anyway!

The humiliation continues......

2007-12-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

So today....... mum had time to groom my "head",

I'm not exaggerating.... she had time for the "head" only,

Just LOOOOOK at me, don't I look like I'm wearing some kind of fur collar??

Back view.

See, I'm really NOT over weight!! It's just my type of coat adds sooooo much volume to me!!!

Ohh, and she had time for my MUSCLE butt....... (let your imaginations go WILLLLLLLD BOYZZZZZZ *wink*)

Finally, I begged her to take my fur collar off... and she did.. ... So this is me now..

Is this what you look like now Stanley???

(mum: I had a hard time running the clipper through her body because she was quite matted. So I de-matted her body before trying the clippers again. Her furnishings are long ..... and matted... so I'll have to work through those mats too slowly....before I can start scissoring.....)

Please DON'T laugh

2007-12-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

I am very behind in postings, and not really making any progress due to mum and stoopid STINKY. However, we have taken pictures, saved blog posts so when the woman gets time, she will help me (at least that's what she says). My blog will be a mess with dates all over the place but .... better than nothing I guess..

Now, what you're about to see, you must promise me you will NOT laugh.

You PROMISE????

Ok, so I've been looking quite ummm..... "fluffy".. (NOT over weight OKAYYYY?)

People have been, well I should say those who actually recognize me as an Airedale have been saying things like "WOW, that's a ..... *ahem* well fed Airedale".

One little hooman pup bluntly, and publicly yelled out to his mom, "MOM! Is that a dog???".

Aunty Maureen (STINKY #2's mom) said my muscle butt looked like a "polar bear butt" other than the colour. (mum: that meant you're cute. And I think it's more about the way you sway your big bum when you walk plus the hair I guess....)

My Veronica said to mum, "She doesn't look like Sunshade anymore.".

So finally, the woman got the point.......

Well..... partially.........

She started grooming me alright......

She clipped parts of my body, and the top of my head........

But THAT'S ALL SHE'S GOT TIME FOR!!!! (mum: for that day okay????)

How humiliating! Can you see me rolling my eyes??

(mum: I left her hair growing for too long....... and for anyone who's familiar with these sheepcoats... they get very matted.... I don't want to shave her, so I am working through the mats slowly with my comb.... I don't want Sunshade to have to stand for too long because of her joints, so I'm spreading this grooming job over a few day period.)

Not only was I made fun of by my EVIL mum, she even compared those pictures to these pictures of me when I was a 3 months old pup (the perfect, SuperPUP btw). (mum: you mean when you were a STINKY??)

NOOOOOOOOO! NEVER!

Just look at me, can you tell the abuse started early on??

Will keep you updated on the "grooming process"......

Watch where you hide the treats!

2007-12-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Mum and I have a game where she tells me to "STAY" in the kitchen while she goes and hides treats all over the house. Then she comes back, releases me from my "STAY" and tells me "GO FIND THEM". I, then go sniff all over the house (ie, in the tunnel, up the book shelve, DVD shelve, under my food stand, inside slippers, or UNDER covers!!)

Well, this is what happens when she (who thinks she's so smart) decides to hide treats UNDER quilt covers,

Honestly, did she expect me to find the quilt cover opening, stick my head under, and risk suffocating???

When I can easily get through the cover and get to MY treat!!

YUMMMM-MMMMMY liver bits!!

(mum: she's never been a delicate girl.... LOL)

SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!

2007-12-01T17:28:00.002-08:00

I heard in the forecast that we were gonna get our first snooooooooooooooooooooow today. I LOVE snooooooooooooooooow, so I got up early to wait for snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow,

I looked up to the sky, waiting for snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow to fall....

A little bit of snooooooooooooooooooooooooooow came down.... and I did a big stretch because I waited for so long....

I wondered WHEN will more snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooow come down, enough for me to play???

Finally, more snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow came down, look at my yard!

STINKY was inside because mum said he might get too cold if he stayed out with me since he doesn't have polar bear coat like me. She also worried about his kidneys in the cold, she's always worried nowadays, no fun at all....

Soo I stayed out in MY yard waited for more snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooow,

Then mum ran out and made me get up..... said I couldn't be covered in snoooooooooooooooooow, not good for my kidneys either............... kidney this kidney that... GEEZUS!

So she put my hot pink snooooooooooooooooooooooooow jumper suit on me made by my designers Butchy and Snickers,

I love my hot pink fleece jumper suit,

I do face plants in it,

and have so much fun in it (with the snooooooooooooooooooooow of course)!

Needless to say, I think I look pretty HOT in it (even tho mum called me a woolly mammoth from the prehistoric ice age.. or however she put it! HMMPH!)

Then..... I guess all good things must come to an end..... even in the snoooooooooooooow.......

A STINKY Goofy came..........

and took MY football right away!

Just look at him..... so yes... I had to resort to MY way of doing things towards the end!!!! That's my perfect growl you're listening to throughout the video BTW, doesn't it sound just PERFECT??

I did NOTHING wrong! NOTHING wrong with what I did!

(mum: hehe... there's Jaffa for ya - no worries in the world, always happy. And then there is Miss Sunshade - MYYYYYY way!!

You know Sunshade... if grandpa saw that video, he would say you are very "沒風度" (mei feng du)!! I think if you were to translate into english... it says "no demeanor"..... or something like that.)

My "Cake"

2007-11-26T02:19:00.001-08:00

Ever since mum saw Princess Snowball's birfday cake, she's been wanting to make one for my birfday. Just look at the boooootiful Princess Snowball and her YUMMMMMM-MMMMMY cake!!

However, with all that's been going on lately, mum didn't have time to look for a hollow cake mold like Snowball's,

So she's had to improvise. She made these instead,

Mum made STINKY his own plate too, but he can't have it until his gastric ulcers get better.

Here are the ingredients used as fillings.

Chopped up some garlic, and added some frozen veggies,

Cooked,

Added in the meat to be cooked with the veggies,

When they were done, they were put on paper towels to soak up the oil. Here we had chicken, and beef.

Steamed some potatoes and yams,

Mashed up the potatoes/yam, and added a bit of unsalted butter,

Lined the bottom of the cookie cutter with mashed potatoes,

Added in the meat/veggie filling,

Packed the cookie cutter with more mashed potatoes,

VOILA!!

This was STINKY's,

Mum used canned salmon,

Together with yam,

And made them with the flower mold,

All done! Just needed the decorations.

For the decorations, mum used Bologna, pepperoni sticks and blue berries.

Lastly, mum made a little man for STINKY to eat with his special Gastro canned food as filling so he could eat it.

STINKY can only eat a little bit of food at a time, so he's only gonna get one little man.

Sigh... I feel for ya STINKY........ Can I ummm.... eat your plate for you then???

(mum: NOOOO! I'm freezing them and he can eat them when he's better!)

Mum.. I think you should have made,

M-I-S-S
S-U-N-S-H-A-D-E
t-h-e
S-u-p-e-r-D-A-L-E

Don't you think?? As that is my FULL name.

(mum: nice try Sunshade!)

My 8th B-Day Celebration

2007-11-25T07:18:00.003-08:00

I turned 8 today!!

It's MY 8th B-Day today, today is the 8th year I've been born, I am 2920 days old, I am 70070 hours old (+/- a few)!!

And I was reaaaaaaally hungry!! Mum wouldn't stop taking pictures, and I wanted to EEEEEEEAT! So I told her so!

But EVIL mum said NOT YET! Because... this year is a little different...

You see, I used to celebrate my birfdays this way

With all my Aire-Stuffies, and nodoggie else!

I like it this way because I don't have to worry about somedoggie else eating my food, I don't have to share, and I won't try to EAT somedoggie else.

But I guess..... all good things must come to an end......

And I guess....... I'm stuck with a STINKY from now on.... for like... ever and EVER!

(mum: I took Jaffa off his IV for a bit so he could join in on the fun. He was looking a little worried because I made him sit in the "danger zone"..LOL if you know what I mean.)

FINALLY!

We were set free to eeeeeeeat!

Mum took STINKY's big plate away because he couldn't have those just yet. He is still on a special kind of food and meds for his gastric ulcers that he got from eating those AdEvil pills. He is also only allowed to eat a little bit of food every 3 hours. Boy I felt bad for him! So mum gave him the special one she made with his canned food inside as filling.

He INHALED it in less than 3 seconds. I am NOT joking!! (mum: my shutter speed was apparently too slow!)

It was sooooo good, and there was SOOOOOOO much! It makes me happy to see lots of food you know what I mean??

The yam and salmon patties were good too,

I took a moment to admire the bootifully made patties,

Aren't they bootiful??? (mum: You usually do that BEFORE you start eating....hehe)

I kept eating, and eating, you know, just the usual,

OH, and did I mention? It was sooooooooo super duper GOOOOOOOOOD!

I kept my eyes on a certain shark that was hovering around MY birfday food,

Because........

You just never know when he's gonna.......

Slowly...... moving.......

And before you know it.........

(mum: Jaffa was HILARIOUS!!!! He kept his eyes on Sunshade while he was making his move. He was using me as a shield LOL. As soon as he saw Sunshade bending down after a piece she had dropped on the floor, he took full advantage!!)

THAT'S WHY I WANT TO CELEBRATE WITH THE AIRE-STUFFIES..... HMMMMMMMPH!

See, that's all there was left.......... poor me.... poor birfday gurl.....

(mum: SUNSHADE!!!! I have evidence here why that was all that's left! OH, and everydoggie/body, watch Miss Sunshade's facial expression, especially around the muzzle region. If she weren't so hairy, you would have seen her beautiful Aire-teeth!)

Mum... you need your OWN BLOG, I swear.

(mum: Jaffa really shouldn't have been eating those because of his tummy, but I didn't have the heart to stop him, especially he worked hard to get that close!!)

After MY plate of food was finished, I had a little "chat" with STINKY about his unspeakable, indescribable behaviour around MY plate of MY birfday fooooood.

I know it might appear as tho I was smooching him and stuff, but really, I wasn't! I don't do smooches! (mum: but Sunshade.... I swear I saw you sniffing him while wagging your tail.... as if you were *ahem*.. flirting....HEHEHE!)

Mum, OWN BLOG??

After our little chat, I went to clean my face. I'm a clean gurrrrl you know? I always clean my face after I eat!

I was feeling a little full, a little heavy (in the stomach that is), so I decided to exercise a little before opening my pressies. I demanded STINKY's humpy toy that was put up high (he used to hump this one, and then he started humping STINKY #2, so mum put it away),

Now look at that STINKY..... does he look sick to you AT ALL????? He said he was doing a birfday dance for me .... I guess land sharking here and there was part of the routine.....

(mum: I think Sunshade was too full to move LOL. If I didn't know better, I would have almost believed that Jaffa's blood result was that of another dog, much sicker. His physical appearance does NOT correspond to his blood results.)

I have a question for all my friends out there. Do you guys agree or disagree that we should be able to have *all* the stuffies we want, ESPECIALLY ones that look like us??

Mum lets me have any stuffy I want EXCEPT those Aire-stuffies. That is just sooooooo unfair don't you think?? They are made looking like us because they are obviously meant for US!!

Then, the UNTHINKABLE happened...... (from dancing too hard??)

He PEEEEEEEEED!!

Seriously, who pees at birfday pawties?????

(mum: his first accident since 4 months old.. I think because he was on IV all day until just before the celebration, he was having to go quite frequent. Plus all the running around probably didn't help either.)

OMG!! Do you know how absolutely terrifying and petrifying pee and poop (mum: the dog kind that is....) are to me??????? See, I ran to the furthest end of the room to get away...

(mum: she was pawing the door, trying to get out LOL!)

Thank doG mum cleaned it up fast.

I decided to go down to see if MY Georgie came back. Since it's my birfday you know??

Hmmmm..... he wasn't there.

I don't know where Georgie went, he's been missing for a while now. I hope he comes back because I miss him.

(mum: sigh...... yea... we'll post about that later.... She still goes down there everyday to see if he's come back.....)

Even tho I didn't get to go for a birfday romp today, I guess all that food kind of made it up. I'm SOOOO full....

My lovely pressies will come in another post! Stay tuned!

Because of you STINKY...........

2007-11-25T07:18:00.001-08:00

WHY did you have to eat all those yucky Advil pills STINKY????

BECAUSE OF YOU.........

My house looks like a hospital,

BECAUSE OF YOU........

My living room looks like a prison cell, (I'm the warden BTW)

I'm glad for once I'm not the one in the prison.... I've recovered two knee surgeries and one plate removal surgery, in the prison back in 2003,

(yes..SHE shaved me...)

And the scelerosing of one of my toes in 2006,

BECAUSE OF YOU.........

I haven't been getting my walkies. Mum has to keep an eye on your IV.

(mum: Sunshade won't leave the property without me. You can drag her out, but she'll just drag you right back in. So she hasn't been getting the walks she's used to... Sorry girlie..)

BECAUSE OF YOU.........

Mum is sad & worried all the time, and I'm sad & worried when mum is like that (even tho she can be quite EVIL at times!).

BECAUSE OF YOU.........

For the first time in 8 years, I didn't get to go to a fun place for my birfday.

(mum: Usually, every year on her birthday, I take her somewhere where I know she'd love. Rain or shine or SNOW, we're at the lake, the beach, the river, the pet store, whatever makes her happy. Last year, Vancouver got its first snow on her birthday. It almost never snows this early in Vancouver, but it did. We were on our way to Buntzen Lake when snow flakes started to fall. Sunshade had a great time at the lake even tho it was freezing.

I feel bad I couldn't make her birthday a special one this year, but truth be told, I was tired. Physically and emotionally. Her love to me is unconditional, and that's why I feel so bad...)

BECAUSE OF YOU.........STINKY......

I made all those sacrifices.

But.........

They would all be worth it if you would just GET BETTER!

You better listen to me, because I'm TELLING you NOW to GET BETTER!!!!!!!

Orrrrrrrrr else!

**Last note: we did do something for my B-Day, and I was VERY well fed. In fact, I can still feel food in my stomach..hehe. We'll post them as soon as we could. Mum is a little on the tired side these days.

(mum: Thank you all my friends for your unbelievable support via the blogs and e-mails. It is comforting to have people who understand what I'm going through, because I know, you all love your kids as much as I do. I'm grateful to have you all praying and pulling for the little man. THANK YOU again.)

Making Cakes for Mum

2007-11-16T13:49:00.001-08:00

Mum got older today.

I felt bad that she's no longer 23, she's 24 already, so I decided to get STINKY to help me make cakes for mum to cheer her up. I'm such a gooooooood dogter!! (mum: yes.. just ANNOUNCE it to the world Sunshade............)

STINKY and I each picked four of our favouritest ingredients that we thought would make the perfect cakes. (mum: key words = "they thought"...hehe)

These were my four picks: minced pork meat, rice flour pizza bread, cubed yam, and MARSHMALLOWS!!!!!

These were STINKY's four picks: oat flour, eggs, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese.

ALL SET!

Ready to GO!

First, we poured some oat flour in the mixing bowl,

I don't know what happened, some flour flew onto my face. They FLEW!!

People think we make big messes, but at least we clean up after our messes.

(mum: both of them loved the plain oat flour LOL!)

Next, it was time to pick the perfect eggs,

STINKY wasn't very helpful, so I had to do the picking.

I picked one. To ensure it's freshness, I thought I should taste it with my SuperDALE mouth. But, my EVIL mum said that wasn't necessary.

How ungrateful! There I was putting myself in potential danger should the egg turn out rotten and she didn't appreciate it one bit.

Being the caring dogter that I am, I still used my nose to make sure the eggs were fresh.

Thank doG the eggs were fine.

Here I was tasting to make sure the eggs and the flour were mixed and stirred to perfection.

Then it was time to add in minced pork!!

Mixed thoroughly,

We put the rice flour pizza bread on the oven pan, (see, STINKY never pays attention!)

Here I was spreading the meat on top of the pizza breads,

Now, here is one thing to remember for all you young cooks out there:

The MOST important aspect of being an IRON CANINE-CHEF is to keep "tasting" throughout the entire cooking process. The reason being, it is the only way you can ensure a high standard is being kept.

By now, I'm sure you all have noticed my close relationship with the ingredients I used.

(mum: uh huh.... if I weren't there to supervise, there wouldn't have been *anything* left to cook!! Look at the half eaten pattie on the second pizza bread!)

STINKY picked cheddar cheese as one of his picks even tho he had cream cheese already. So I thought the cheddar cheese was a bit redundant,

So I took it away................

But of course, EVIL mum said STINKY should have the right to use ingredients he picked.

GEEZUS.. was just trying to watch the calorie for you you know mum?

Since we had to use the cheddar, I gave it another taste test,

Sliced it, and placed the slices on our....er... mum's pizza cakes,

All ready for the oven!

Last inspection before the pizza cakes went in the oven,

Last minute, I decided mum really didn't need that many slices of cheddar cheese. I didn't want her to get high cholesterol or fat you know what I mean??

So I, unselfishly, took a slice away, all for mum's good health....

As usual, my efforts and good intentions got over looked. The EVIL, ungrateful mum made me put the slice BAAAAAAAACK!

Shouldn't I be in control of what I wanted on the cakes since "I" was making them for you mum???

(mum: but that was Jaffa's ingredient!!)

HMMMMMMPH!

Finally, the pizza cakes arrived IN the oven. (mum: safely!!)

The wait began......

Being the smart, efficient gurrrrl that I am, I thought I would start to get the decorations ready. So I grabbed MY bag of MARSHMALLOWS!!!!!

I LOVE marshmallows, can you tell?? You want some??

COME GET IT!

OH, and GOOD LUCK!

STINKY failed miserably LOL, but he still tried. He always does, what an easy target!

Yup! It's MINE! Gave up already??

It was time to open MY bag of MARSHMALLOOOOOOOOOOWS!!

FINALLY!! It's opened!! (mum: and half way eaten....)

EVIL mum took the bag away. Said I ate too much already, bad for my teeth, bad for me, blah Blah BLAHHHHHHHHHHH..........

So I said GIMMMMMMMMMMMME!!

The world works according to ME of course!

Pizza cakes were out, they were OUUUUUUT!!

We started to smear cream cheese all over the top of it,

Put MY marshmallows and MY yam cubies on top,

Ready for serving!!

I guess mum felt guilty about all the things she'd denied me earlier, so she decided to reward STINKY and I for our hard work on the pizza cakes.

Mum ate the marshmallows and we got the rest!!!!!

HAPPY BIRFDAY MUM!!

Your cakes were *VERY* yummy BTW...hehehehe!

LEFT OOOOOOOUT!

2007-11-13T13:23:00.001-08:00

Okay... so I know today is STINKY and STINKY #2's B-Day. I get that. What I don't get is, how could I have been LEFT OUT when I was the one who went with mum to pick up the cakes!!!!

Yes, I was left in my SunshadeMOBILE while the STINKIES pawtied on in MY yard. Not only did they eat the super yummy cakes in MY yard without ME, they peed and pooped in MY yard!

This was my first reaction when mum first let me in MY yard AFTER the celebration. Watch how carefully I sniffed every inch of MY yard. They think just because I wasn't there, I wouldn't know what they'd been up to??

Yes.... my nose has NOT failed me yet.. I smelled crumbs of Venison Carrot Cake, and Turkey Chedder Cake... hmmmmph!

Why do they always take over MY yard, MY house????

EVIL mum said the reason why I couldn't be with them while they were eating their cakes was because one growl or bark from me would stop both of them from eating, which meant I would end up eating all THREE cakes. Dogsonally, I don't see ANYTHING wrong with that even tho technically, my birfday is not for another 12 days!

(mum: this girl loves food a little too much....... "food whore" is an understatement LOL!)

Finally, mum brought out a little cake for me......

Now, take a look at the size of MY cake,

and compared it to the sizes of their cakes!!!

Does that seem fair to you??? I'm older, bigger, and yet I get the tiniest cake???

But, I sucked it up. It's better than nothing I guess... I even put a smile on...

Even tho it was small, I can't deny the fact that it was GOOOOOOOOD!

Since the STINKIES celebrated without ME - their perfect Aunt, I taught them another lesson,

I hope there won't be a next time, STINKIES!

I started out by licking the icing off...slowly...

Prolonging the lesson.... while putting up my content face...

Unfortunately, I just couldn't hold back anymore.

I grabbed the entire cake and ate it MY way.

(mum: never been a delicate eater....LOL)

After the cake, I exercised with my soccer ball to burn off the excess calories from the cake.

Then I played my favouritest game in the whole wide world with the coolest hooman pup, Aaron!

Aunty Maureen was asking mum if STINKY dominates me while we're outside of the house because STINKY was biting me, running into me, land sharking me and I wasn't disciplining him. Well, the truth is, I'm still the alpha B*TCH outside. It's just when we're out, I see him as part of my pack, so I'm more tolerant of him. Plus there are so many things to see and sniff, I don't want to waste my energy on a stooopid land shark.

SOOOO.... the STINKIES had a great birfday.... and for the first time in my life, the world was NOT all about ME.....

Does that mean the world is coming to an end??

Last note: For those of you having problems viewing the STINKY video, you need to have Quick Time player installed in your computer in order to see.

From an Aunt to her Nephew on his 1st B-Day

2007-11-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

**This is a BIG file, so it might take a while to load. Please let me know if you have problems viewing the video.

I know mum can sound annoying, but trust me, you want your speakers on for this one!!!

Thank you my dear friends for caring while I was away... you guys are the best! There's LOTS and LOTS to post, including STINKIES' B-Day!! Stay tuned!!

For anyone that wants to save a copy, or view it outside of the browser, right-click and "save link as" (FireFox), or "save target as" (IE):

STINKY's Video

Cates Park

2007-09-19T18:29:00.001-07:00

Mum and I stumbled upon the most BOOOOOOOOTIFUL park last week,

So today, mum decided to take STINKY and me back to this most booooootiful park!! It's called Cates Park, located in North Vancouver (your neck of woods Tobes!!)

Making our way across the parking lot,

We walked the Malcolm Lowry trail,

Went down a flight of stairs off the trail,

And came to the most booootiful beach,

With the most AMAZING panoramic view!!

The crystal clear water was so crisp and refreshing,

I ran around the beach with MY RING,

Swam after MY RING,

And was TOTALLY USED to retrieve toys STINKY failed to retrieve!!!

I am an excellent retriever. Anything mum throws, I'll get.

Anything mum tells me to get, I'll get.

Even if it's a BIG stick, I'll still get, because I'm THAT good!

Now STINKY on the other hand seems to have trouble differentiating the meaning of being "helpful" from being "ANNOYING"!

I swam all the way out to get the BIG stick mum threw while he waited at shore. Upon my return to shore, he proceeded to grabbing the other end of the BIG stick.

He said he was helping, I told him I didn't need his kind of "help" which involved him pulling and jerking the opposite way.

Did he listen???

Of course NOT! He was determined to "help" me with the stick all the way down the beach.

He only stopped "helping" when I decided to just let him have the stick (that I retrieved with my own tiring jaws!).

He is always trying to "help" as he calls it. At times, he even tries to "help" when I'm holding things that obviously don't need to be "helped" with, such as MY RING!

He tries to "help",

And doesn't stop until he gets it.

Just tell me, what kind of "helping" is that??

Not only is STINKY un-helpful, he is always getting himself into trouble.

Today, he decided to ignore mum when she told him NOT to run ALL the way down the beach to see the two black dogs. Well, you guessed it, they hated him. So I had to come out from the water with the BIG stick still in my mouth, run all the way down the beach (with the BIG stick in my mouth) to save his sorry ass! You can read about what happened on STINKY's blog. (No, I didn't eat anypup, I just used my powerful "Sunshade LOOK" to settle things!)

Anyway, after that incident, he was practically glued to me ....

on land.......

And in water......

(mum: he just loves you so much Sunshade!! He has no idea he is bigger than you. He still thinks he's that tiny little puppy who needs your *ahem* firm guidance LOL!)

I took a moment to soak in the sun, breath in the fresh aire, and admire the almost unreal scenery before my eyes. Of course, I managed to recharge my Aire-Zen at the same time.

My moment of undisturbed quietness was short lived......

I turned, and saw the unrelenting woman!!

Out of all the things I've had to put up with, I thought I at least deserved a WHOLE BAG of dehydrated liver treats. Wouldn't you agree??

Well just look at my EVIL mum, see what she made me do to get ONE piece of liver treat?? What kind of "COME" was that anyway?? Can't blame me for complaining. And then....... and then... I did that.. and she said I was bad!! GEEZUS! (video will explain it!)

Look at my EVIL mum!! She was taking MY bag of liver treats AWAY from ME, when I totally deserved the WHOLE bag!!

She made me dropped the WHOLE bag, and made me SIT and be patient just so I could get a teeeeeeny piece...

Here is an enlarged picture of the treats EVIL woman was holding. Look at how teeeeeeeny my piece was on the left compared to STINKY's on the right!

She always uses my weight as an excuse..... I'm am so neglected and mentally abused.... (mum: DRAMA QUEEN!)

I didn't think it was fair I only got a little piece since I was (am always) such a goooood gurrrl so I tried to help myself to some more treats. Well the EVIL woman stopped me AGAIN!!!

HMMMMMMPH!!!

(mum: and she headed right back to the back pack....... LOL)

I COOLED myself for a bit,

Checked out a tree,

And mum said it was time to leave.......

SIGH... I LOVED this place and I really didn't want to go....

But mum and STINKY were already at the top of the stairs.... so I had to follow them..... SIGH...

Walked back to the car,

Got tied to the trunk so we could be wiped down......

I was the first one to be wiped because I was a GOOOOOOD gurrrrl!! (mum: good girl who is a little short in the patience department..hehe)

Mum, you really *should* get your OWN BLOG you know??

ANYWAYZ, I was wiped first because I was a GOOOOOOOOD gurrrrrl, period.

While mum was drying STINKY,

I decided to find MY WHOLE bag of liver treats!

I worked soooooooo hard at it,

From all angles,

While making sure I pointed my sexiest body parts to the camera!

I got the front pouch open, but all I found was a zip lock bag with my vitamin pill in it (red arrow). Yuck, like I was gonna touch that!

Just as I was about to work on the center pouch, EVIL mum told me to "LEEEEEEEEEAVE IT" because that's where the liver treats were!!

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!

So I said FINE! If I can't have it, nobody else can!!! (mum: Sunshade the philosopher LOL)

Mum says my eyes talk, can you tell what my eyes are telling you here??

Am I saying:

Come over please, I don't mind sharing my treats with you.

OR

Try to take MY backpack if you DARE!

Just as I thought mum couldn't get any more EVIL (you know, giving me teeeny bits of liver treats and making me LEEEEEEEEEAVE MY backpack alone), she did.

We drove a little bit, got out of the car,

And walked to THIS place.........

Seriously.... why would anybody advertise dog-torture so publicly??

Where is the SPCA when you need them??

Mum's excuse for taking us there was because SHE SAID we were hitting rush hour traffic (SURRRRRE), and it was gonna take us at least 45 mins or longer to get home. SHE SAID she didn't want salt water to be on us for too long because we might get itchy (uh huh).

Look at stooopid STINKY, he had no idea what was going on. He couldn't wait for his turn!

What were my eyes telling you here??

Thankfully, the torture didn't last very long since I only got rinsed, not the full stinky shampoop treatment.

I waited patiently (who says I have no patiences??) while STINKY was regretting his eagerness to follow me into the tub.

After our torture sessions, mum took us to a park to Aire-dry while we waited for the traffic to ease out a bit. (mum: so NOW you believe about rush hour!!)

Land Shark UPDATE:

Age: 10 months old
Status: STILL HERE............

Thank doG mum is starting to stop him from land sharking me. Last time he land sharked me, his big tooth hit my eye and hurt me. Not only that, he also put some of his disgusting, white foamy slobber IN my eye, which made me go wipe between mum's legs.

On our way back...... view of Lions Gate Bridge ahead. One of the two bridges connecting Vancouver to the North Shore...

Okay... I guess mum didn't purposely put us through the torture... the traffic was still pretty bad even after we waited and waited...

Overall, I had the GREATEST afternoon at Cates Park!

I would LOVE to go back again!! All you pups on the North shore, you've GOTTA check out that place!!

Part II: Rusty's Lake House

2007-09-16T23:02:00.003-07:00

Captain Terry is just the nicest captain ever!!

After our exciting day of whale watching, Captain Terry invited me and STINKY to go to his LAKE house to play!! I LOOOOOOVE water, I was sooo excited!

Rusty showed me his favouritest pee post. I gave it a try, and it was indeed an excellent post.

We all moved down towards the water. Being the curious gurrl that I was, I of course had to check out everything, and *ahem* ... water every pot of plants!

Here, the selfless me was testing the water quality. Wouldn't want STINKY or Rusty to get sick ya know?

I OKAYED the water, and they both came over to have a drink,

I was being my usual self around body of water; I looked for special rockies, and swam for my RING and my stick ball,

STINKY came over to ask me for permission,

He wanted to take MY stick ball to get Rusty to chase him (actually, he already took my ball). So being the generous, un-greedy, un-selfish Aunt that I was, I said he could play with it.

I was afraid he would lose it, so I kept my eyes on him, (mum: Sunshade keeps her eye on Jaffa when we're out. I think that's just the protective instinct in her.)

I know, Rusty had the hots for me. I thought he was pretty STEAMY too since he's still got his lovelies, but I had to pay attention to STINKY and MY stick ball.

BECAUSE, when I don't pay attention, things like this happens!!!!! (Red arrows show where the stick ball was)

STINKY decided he didn't want the stick ball anymore so he just left it floating OUT THERE! Instead, he now wanted MY RING!

So yes, I had to drop my RING, and swim out to get the stick ball. Of course by the time I came back with my stick ball, my RING was in his mouth already........ it's a vicious cycle.

Just as I was wondering if STINKY could EVER do anything properly, he surprised me.

BIG TIME!

For the very first time, he gathered up his courage, and ..........

Yes, STINKY swam for the very FIRST TIME!!! He followed me out. There are couple more videos of him swimming on his blog. (mum: out of no where, Jaffa just decided it was time for him to follow in the footsteps of his Sunshade!)

For a moment I was speechless. I never thought STINKY would have paid enough attention to me or have enough guts to actually take the plunge. But he did. And um... yes, I am a proud Aunt. For the first time, I am proud to say LIKE AUNT, LIKE NEPHEW!!

I stood there motionless as I watched MY nephew swim out on his own.

Now, my STEAMY nephew Rusty seemed to have only one thing on his mind....hehe

When he heard mum say it was time to go, he had some questions for me....

I didn't want mum or STINKY to hear our conversation, so I told him to stop following me and keep his voice down..

He did what he was told,

Boy is he EVER my nephew! He flirts just as bad as me!! Maybe it runs in the blood of the sheep coated??

I had the GREATEST time today from whales to the lake house!

My sincere THANK YOU to Captain Terry and Rusty for this wonderful trip!!! Yes, we will definitely go visit you again, and you might just see your sister aka STINKY #2 next time!

Part I: Double WOW!!

2007-09-16T23:02:00.001-07:00

Early this morning, mum stuffed a couple of bags into MY SunshadeMOBILE, and put STINKY in the back seat of MY SunshadeMOBILE with ME.....

Look at how pleased I was about sharing MY backseat of MY SunshadeMOBILE with STINKY!

I asked mum why in the world would we wake up at 6 on a cold Sunday morning and be piled into the car??

Well my EVIL mum didn't exactly tell me why. She said we were going to Bellingham, Washington, in the USA. She also said we needed to be in Bellingham by 9:30 am, and since she wasn't sure how long the wait at the border was gonna be, we had to leave early.

STINKY and I only got a short walk at the park before we headed for the border. It usually only takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get from our house to Bellingham excluding wait time at the border.

Of course, when we got to the border, there was only a 15 min wait, not 2 hours!!! We could have slept for an extra two hours or played in the park for two hours! But NOOOOOO mum said we had to go at 6 AM!!!

Anywayz.. once we got over the border, and were doing ok time wise, mum kinda made it up to us.

We stopped at Burger King to get breakie. Even tho both STINKY and I had already had our breakfast, we still got some hash browns. I was pleased because I TOTALLY deserved it having to share MY backseat with STINKY on this mystery trip!

After the hoomans had their breakie, they drove a little bit, and stopped at a beach to take us for a walkie!

I couldn't go offleash because there was a sign by the water that says the water there was polluted by chemicals dues to the factories around.... BUMMER! I still took a minute to do some Aire-Zening tho,

I always find time to recharge my powerful Aire-Zens!

We drove a little more after our walk to a place called Squalicum Harbor. There, mum delivered two shocking announcements:

SHOCKER # 1

She told me we were going to meet ANOTHER one of my nephew (not STINKY since he came with us...). I didn't know what to think when mum told me the news. Let me refresh your memory, the last THREE times we were in the US, each time, a new STINKY came back with us.

Need to refresh your memory??

STINKY (mum: brought 8 week old nephew Jaffa home)

stinky (mum: brought 12 week old niece Maggie back for new owner)

STINKY # 2 (mum: brought 6 month old Stella back)

So when mum said ANOTHER nephew, I thought ohhhh grrrrreat.... for sure I was coming back with yet another stinky!

HOWEVER...

the MOMENT I saw him..... MY other nephew...

All my worries were gone!

Not only did he NOT land shark me, he had my kind of coat and looked so much like me!!! Meet my SuperCUTE nephew Rusty - The Navigator,

Have you notice how similar Rusty's colouring is to me?? That's because he and I have sheep coats, whereas STINKY and STINKY # 2 (brother and sister from the same litter to Rusty) have the rich black and tan wiry coat. It must be a recessive gene since my brother Harry (sire) and the dam both had the blk/tan wiry coats.

Here are pictures of ME - the SuperDALE when I was around Rusty's age or a little younger. See my dark ears, and ALL THAT fluffy coat!!

(mum: I swear my heart skipped a beat the moment I saw Rusty. I had not met another sheep coated Airedale in real life until Rusty. He reminded me so much of Sunshade when she was younger, too cute for words!

Even tho a sheep coat is not the desirable coat for an Airedale according to the standard, I gotta admit I personally LOOOOOOVE IT!!)

Technically, Rusty is still young enough to be called STINKY #3, but really, I just couldn't call him that. In fact, I thought he was quite STEAMY!! Mum thought so too I'm pretty sure as she seemed *more* excited than I was....shhhh.... I know, it's embarrassing (but you're all used to it by now right?)..

STINKY of course had to come in interrupt my flirt session with Rusty..HMMMPH! (mum: he's your NEPHEW!!)

SIGH.... the one nephew I actually wanted to bring home, I couldn't......

BECAUSE......

Well, here it is......

SHOCKER #2

Rusty couldn't come home with me because he is the "NAVIGATOR" for The Island Caper - a 110 foot long and 22 foot wide cruise ship!

Rusty's dad is Captain Terry, but guess who sits in the Captain's seat???

A nephew after my own heart!

Oh, and I almost forgot, Rusty's full name is Rusty VII, because he is Captain Terry's 7th Airedale named Rusty!! Does that tell you how addictive Airedales are??

Captain Terry owns the Island Mariner Cruises company, and he takes hoomans out to sea WHALE watching!!

WELL GUESS WHAT??

Captain Terry graciously invited us, YES... ALL of US to go on his last voyage of the season so we could see some WHALES!!!

How coooooool was that??? I was soooooo super duper excited, I thought I might get to see Willy from Free Willy you know??

(take a CLOSE look at this poster)

Unfortunately, mum told me Willy died in 2003.... but she said we might see his cousins! I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get on the cruise boat! You know how I LOVE ferries and boats right??

I think Rusty haD the hots for me too! Look at him staring at my MUSCLE BUTT! (mum: Once again, he's your NEPHEW!!!)

Going ON BOARD The Island Caper!!

Made my round around the deck because I'm a curious gurrrl!

I even went up those super steep, no backing stairs to check out the top deck. STINKY wasn't too sure about those stairs, so he didn't come with us. (mum: I wasn't too sure about those stairs either, but YOU wanted to go up to SEE!!)

This is the top deck where people stand to watch the whales,

STINKY and I watched as the boat pulled away from the harbour,

It was a gloomy day and somewhat windy. As the boat was pulling out, we could feel mists of ocean water against our faces. Watch STINKY's attempt to swim with the WHALES at the end of the video....

HOUR 1 on the Caper:

I stayed on the outside deck to enjoy the scenery of the peaceful sea,

I saw a BIG cargo ship,

My grandpa is a Harbour Pilot for Kaohsiung Harbour - the 6th ranking International Container Terminal in the world (was 3rd...). Before grandpa was licensed to be a harbour pilot, he was Captain for BIG cargo ships like this.

When mum was about three years old, grandpa took mum on one of his cargo runs. It was a three months voyage, and mum had the GREATEST time. Not only did she walk the First Mate on leash (rope around neck, crawling on all four) on a regular basis, she peed in the toilet of a brand new yacht that was to be delivered (pretended she just wanted to "see" the inside), and somehow manage to SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE SHIP (a 50 000 ton ship) - which meant EVERYTHING (coordinates, etc) had to reprogrammed.

There was a very important master button on the control deck, and grandpa made sure he told mum "you can touch anything, just DON'T touch this button ok?" Mum said OK... looking innocently... and the next day, that was the button she pressed!!! She wasn't tall enough to reach the button, so she rolled a chair over, climbed onto the chair, JUST to press that button!!

Boy did grandpa learn his lesson - if you don't want mum to do something, don't tell her DON'T! Grandpa never got mad at mum tho, he's just too gentle that way.

Now do you see WHY mum gets along with Airedales so well??? She IS an Airedale!!! Actually, she was worse than an Airedale pup when she was a STINKY hooman pup. Now that she's older, she has calmed down somewhat, but still has her moments.

(mum: can I talk to you for a moment Sunshade??)

*comes back looking all abused....* (mum: YEAH RIGHT!!!!)

Sticking to my post....

Sucking in the salty ocean breeze,

I posed,

And posed with STINKY,

We waited,

But no signs of WHALES....

Rusty came to say HI. He was with Captain Terry in the control cabin most of the time.

HOUR 2 on the Caper:

We moved inside the Caper since the humid ocean breeze was getting too much for mum,

This is what the inside of the Caper looks like,

I was a good gurrrrl. I behaved calmly unlike someSTINK else,

STINKY wanted to say HI to every passerby, and whomever attempted to pet him got some land sharking. I ignored all the people I didn't know, because, well, that's just me.

Still no signs of any WHALES.......

So I had a snooze,

Captain Terry came down to visit us. Look at what he brought us!!! A plate of Rusty's hot dog treats!!!

That woke me right up!! STINKY was very busy land sharking Captain Terry's chest and chin and face and hand and arms, but Captain Terry didn't seem to mind one bit. I don't understand!!

HOUR 3 on the Caper:

I woke up from my nap, so it was time to eat again. Mum brought STINKY and I each a chewy.

I got a tendon chewy and it was super good!

After I finished my chewy, mum took me for a walk around the outside deck,

I couldn't help it, I was just drawn towards the captain's cabin....

Ohhhh my cute little nephew!!

I think he LOVED me too! Just look at him doing play bows!! He liked me more than he liked STINKY for sure!

What a funny guy my nephew is!

HOUR 4 on the Caper:

FINALLY! We heard from the announcer that there seemed to be some WHALE activities!!! So.... we all headed to the outside deck,

At first, I was a little disappointed, because I didn't see no whales! But sharks?? OH YES.....

Mum told us to not get frustrated, she said to keep our eyes open for any movement in the water,

I did as I was told, I remained calm and waited patiently,

I made sure I covered all angles,

In case the WHALES decided to pop up from the other side,

This was me waiting,

HOUR 5 on the Caper:

The Caper sailed into Canadian waters, and we started seeing other WHALE watching boats. Look at this one, it's from my hometown, Victoria, BC!!

When you see other WHALE watching boats, you know the WHALES are close by!!

AND THEN!

I saw something stick out from below the water,

I SAW THEM!! I SAW THEM!!

Waaaaaaay toooooooo COOOOOOOOOOL!!!

I couldn't take my eyes off them!!!

STINKY was too busy socializing with the hoomans, he paid no attention to the activities in the water.

I was fascinated by the WHALES! Even when I got tired standing, I still made sure I got a good view of them,

(mum: this girl was so focused and intriqued. We were out there for about an hour or an hour and a half. She didn't take her eyes off the whales once they started surfacing.)

Here are some photos we took of the WHALES, (click on photos to enlarge)

HOUR 6-7 on the Caper:

We started our voyage back to Squalicum Harbor. I was exhausted from WHALE watching, I slept most of the way back.

HOUR 8 on the Caper:

We reached Squalicum Harbor. Here I was watching as the Caper pulled in,

Both STINKY and I were anxious to get off. I mean it was fun, but 8 hours was quite enough thank you!

Waiting to get off the boat,

So I survived the WHALES, no attacks. I, however, got many shark attacks......

Going up the ramp onto LAND!

What was the first thing I did?? Well THIS of course!

Both STINKY and I held our pee pee for 8 hours, so yes, we both had to go.

Captain Terry and his crew were extremely pleased with the way STINKY and I behaved, and Captain Terry welcomed us on his cruise boat anytime!

THANK YOU Captain Terry for this wonderful, once in a life time experience!! Now can Rusty come and live with me??

Since we were stuck on the Caper all day, Captain Terry invited us to his lake house for a romp!

A LAKE HOUSE???

How lucky is that Rusty anyway??

Our play at the lake house is coming up.

False Creek Ferries

2007-09-12T22:46:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, mum told me she was taking me to Kits Beach and we will take the False Creek Ferries to English Bay!!!

I couldn't believe it because I LOOOOVE going on those ferries so much, and I have only gone on them once this summer.... (that's my "are you serious?" face)

To get to the ferry stop, we walked across Vanier Park. Well, mum walked, I was just too excited!

Sometimes, when I'm really excited, I get all pumped up you know?

I started playing tug with mum,

Of course, such a booootiful day, so I must be made to pose...., I was too happy tho to complain,

I had to take care of some important business, and yet, I got no privacy from the paparazzi whatsoever,

(mum: but you smiled....hehe)

We walked across the first beach,

Passed by the Doggie Beach,

And headed down the ramp to Heritage Harbour,

I turned right as soon as I came off the ramp,

And B-lined for the ferry stop,

The ferries come every 15 minutes or so, so I waited patiently,

AND THEN!

I watched the ferry intently making sure the driver saw I was waiting,

FINALLY!!!

I'm always so excited to get on, mum has to keep me on a tight leash or I would get on before people on board get the chance to get off!

Did you know I love these ferries so much so that I used to walk all the way down the ramp on my own and sit at the ferry stop to wait for the ferry. I even jumped in the ferry once and then looked back at mum to see she was still UP there watching me. I had to decide between ferry and mum, and well I needed to be fed ya know? So I jumped off the ferry, ran up the ramp and went back to mum. Once I got back to mum, I sort of flung my head and spun around, and ran back down to the ferry stop. I gave mum that "come with me, I really really want to go look", and yes, I got my way! Mum just couldn't deny my ever hopeful face!!!

Getting on the ferry,

Assuming position,

Yes, this is how I prefer to ride the ferry. I love to see the ocean, and have the ocean breeze against my pretty face. That's why my curls are so soft and nice!

The ferry ride,

(The reason I was panting on the ferry was because I was very warm from my walk across Vanier Park, NOT because I was stressed. It is very important you know that because I really LOVE being on those ferries!!)

Five minutes later, we had reached our destination.

Making our way up the ramp,

This is English Bay beach. It is located across the water from MY beach, and only blocks away from Downtown Vancouver.

English Bay is a really cool place to play because there are so many rockies for me to dig, (Is it just me or is there something very MUSCULAR looking in this picture??)

and play with!

Sometimes, I get a little carried away with my rockies.....

I also swam after my RING, and some sticks, and this log - I was getting ready for mum to throw it,

Getting my log!!

Swam for it,

Brought it back in my big jaw,

Then I met a friend,

And another one - this old girl was 15; but don't let age fool you, she was still swimming and quite tough!

More friends,

A BIG Beethoven stinky - His hooman said he will grow up to be 250+ lbs...... I'm glad he is not a land shark.

Now anywhere I go, I seem to be able to manipulate hoomans into playing MY favouritest game with me - The Keep Away Game.

It must be hooman nature or something because they just don't believe they could be outsmart by a SuperDALE!!!

And NOO, he didn't get my RING!

Here I was with all of the new friends I just met, AND a bunch of "bad dog owners" because well, they all broke the - NO DOGS on beach until October - law. But I applaud them, because to me, they are the bestest dog moms & dads!!!

Then, it was time to head back across the water. I again, waited patiently for the ferry to come.

I was very wet, so mum made me wait until everyone else had gone on before letting me aboard the ferry.

Again, I assumed my position,

And enjoyed the boootiful view on the way back.

Back to Heritage Harbour,

Going up the ramp,

What a great STINKY-free afternoon I had!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to take those False Creek Ferries!!!!

A little something to share

2007-09-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

Usually, I don't like to post anything that is not directly related to ME or doesn't have ME in the picture because well, the world is all about ME.

However, I will make one exception this time since some of you may find this useful.

We have another breed of sharks living at home. It's full name is SHARK Portable Steam Cleaner, we call him SHARK for short (yes, I'm surrounded by sharks),

It comes with attachments for cleaning floors, windows, cars, window defroster (or whatever you call it), and a couple others that we don't really know what they're for.

It's easy to use, you basically just have to pour water in and wait for the light to turn green. When the light is orange, it means the water is being heated, but not ready for use yet.

Once it turns green, you are good to go.

The SHARK basically uses hot steam to clean and disinfect instead of chemical household cleaners.

This is a little demonstration of mum cleaning our floor and the puzzle mats. Please note, mum really needed a third arm with the camera and all, but she only had two arms. She looked like an exterminator with the steam cleaner hanging off her side and the long hose - it's quite a funny scene..hehehe!!

Here is the SHARK cleaning the window. Again, mum was struggling with only one arm.

The reason mum uses the SHARK is because STINKY and I are always lying around on the floor/puzzle mats, treats get dropped and we eat them off the floor, and STINKY is always scattering his toys all over the floor. Mum feels better knowing there are no chemical residues in areas we frequent, or may come in contact with our mouths.

Mum usually uses the SHARK on our floors and puzzle mats once a week. But today, she decided it was time for my puzzle mats to get a FULL BATH!!

She took them out to the yard and scrubbed and sprayed them with the EVIL hose,

They were left out in the sun to dry,

Even my tunnel couldn't escape the inevitable....

Don't make MAMA BEES mad......

2007-09-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I did this to MAMA BEE's son,

And this,

In the end, the MAMA BEE's son looked like this,

The bottom half of him was in my stomach already when the picture was taken.

Today while I was walking around at the park, I put my right foot forward, and then my left and as soon as I put my left foot down, I felt the MAMA BEE's sting.... I wasn't even trying to catch more of her sons... I was just walking.... and she just had to fly under my big paw and sting me from under....

I didn't yelp because I'm a super duper stoic gurrrl, but it really really hurt. The pain was so bad I couldn't put my owie foot down. This is what I was doing at the park, (just imagine me in a park since mum didn't have the camera with her)

I started hopping on three legs because of the pain. While I was doing ok, mum was worried. I guess she was worried I was putting too much stress on my right front bad elbow, so guess what??

Mum carried me (with STINKY jerking all over the place on leash) all the way across the park back to the car. She took several breaks, but she wasn't gonna let me hop on three legs. I guess mum can be quite un-EVIL at times...... and she can be quite good to me..... and I guess I can quite love her lots......

On the way home, mum called Aunty Janice to see if she should give me anything. Aunty Janice told mum to ice my poor foot and give me Benadryl at 1 mg/lb.

Since I weighed about 65 lbs, I got two and a half pills.

Mum also went to a Glacier in the Arctics to get me ice, see how far she's willing to go for me??

The ice cubes were dumped in MY pool since I will not hesitate going in MY pool,

I knew exactly what to do,

It felt a lot better after the icing and I was using my poor foot more and more. Once I got inside, the soreness hit me again,

I even drank and ate on three legs....

SIGH....

I'm sorry MAMA BEE, I'll try not to eat your sons, and next time when you see me, try not to sting me ok?

BBQ at Raul's

2007-09-03T18:32:00.001-07:00

Mum took me and only ME (STINKY was home being calm) to Raul's birfday BBQ this afternoon. Look at the brand new cooking machine bought just for the BBQ!!!!

Here are the things I did as soon as I got to Raul's house:

1. I found a tennis ball using my almighty juicy nosey,

2. I wasted no time,

And put my great landscaping ability to work,

But EVIL mum told me NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Made me come out, said it was not MY yard so I couldn't help landscaping it. So ungrateful that woman.

3. I helped Raul inspect the un-cooked food to make sure everything was kept fresh,

4. I watched and wondered why those silly hoomans put nacho chips in a pot, and proceeded to trying to pick up those chips with skewer sticks,

5. I went and got my PINK piggie from the livingroom,

This is my piggie specially for me to play with whenever I go to Raul's house. It's PINK!!

I took a break from playing with my piggie to check out the progress on the cooking machine.

6. I kept hoomans focused.

Take Dave here for example, he was forgetting the important task at hand here,

So I had to give him a gentle reminder, (told you I like un-neutered males!!)

Dave took off his jacket, and got ready to play. HOWEVER, he grabbed a frisbee and got down to position. Now seriously........

Did he really expect me to do what my handsome S'pore fling Kingley can do?

Or what the ever so talented Chester does day after day??

Seriously, I probably carry 20 extra pounds and am much straighter (hence not as fast, not as agile, not as flexible) than those handsome BOYZ, and he expected me to jump like them??

But Dave insisted.....

So I came up with a plan......

LET ME SHOW YOU.......

Dave gave up long ago but got his buddies to come after me because he knew you would never be able to take the frisbee away from the SuperDALE unless you CHEAT!!!

But sometimes, CHEATING still DOESN'T WORK because a SuperDALE is just way too smart!!!

(mum: she hid under the patio with the frisbee LOL)

7. I made sure cooking was on schedule,

We had shrimp, salmon, chicken wings, pork, short ribs, and some veggies,

8. I made sure nobody forgot about my existence,

9. I made sure the table was set correctly - with MY piggie, MY water, and MY bowl of course!

10. I voiced my concern over the freshness of the food being left on the table,

11. Being the selfless girl that I am, I volunteered

to sacrifice myself as the food tester, (see, it was because of me non of you hoomans got upset tummies!!)

12. I put on my most effective begging faces,

13. I did some much needed catching up with my old classmate, Dave.

Dave and mum went to University together. Since I went to most of mum's lectures, Dave and I were practically classmates.

I told my old friend I would always be there for him if he needed support or comfort,

(mum: Sunshade, I think we all know what you were REALLY doing there with Dave!)

I was just being a good friend mum, you know me.... (mum: uh huh..)

Now look at what that mean Dave gave me after our heart to heart comfort talk.....

ZUCCHINI slices!!!!

WHO EATS THAT KIND OF STUFF WHEN THERE'S CHICKEN, SALMON, PORK ETC????

GEEZUS!!

Poor me only got a very very few bites because EVIL mum said the marinating sauce was not good for me................

14. Lastly, I watched an inexplainable event unfold,

Why would anybody waste a perfectly edible mouth watering cup cake on their forehead??

BTW, just so you know, I did NOT get any cup cakes because EVIL mum said they have wheat in them... I was totally starved!

I dogsonally believe, hoomans nowadays are unwell. They cheat (frisbee), they lack compassion (zucchini slices), and they do things they can't even explain themselves (nacho chips in pot & skewer sticks, smashed cupcake).

The Day After Yesterday - Return Of The LAND SHARK

2007-09-01T19:58:00.001-07:00

I have been doing some research, because something very puzzling has happened.

Finally, after hours and hours of flipping through books after books, I found an article which somewhat explains why this annoying phenomenal has happened.

The article explains why the free-living land shark at our house has come back stronger than ever in less than 24 hours post his Lovelie-Detachment Surgery.

(Watch the start of the video carefully - look who came down the stairs ALL BY HER SUPER-SELF!!!) (mum: that's the one of those 30 % times when the ChickenDALE goes missing)

What was I doing you asked mum???

Well, did you forget ... YOU JUST DUMPED ME IN A TUB OF WATER?????

And you didn't want me to dry myself in between your legs, so I was Aire-drying!!!!!