Washington Bark Day and other news

Last Sunday was Washington Bark Dog Day at Washington Park.

Last year we got tons of free stuff: treats, samples, balls, can lids, a dog coloring book, a bandanna, etc. It was well worth the $6 admission. But that was last year....

This year it cost $11 admission (two dogs with Teagan now) and we got just about nothing to show for it. We were really disappointed. I told Keeley that it must be because of the economy. Boy, that economy is really reeking havoc on our lives.

The only good thing about Washington Bark Day this year was that we met Keeley's friend Oliver there with his mom and his new dad (they just got married last month). And then we all came back to our house for a visit.

I thought Teagan would love Oliver because he's so sweet like Keeley. But no, she seemed to absolutely hate him and I have no idea why. She growled at him almost the whole time. They kept staring at each other with stink eyes.

Maybe Teagan thought she was defending our house and yard even though I explained to her that Oliver is our friend. Anyhow, I don't know what their problem was. Keeley is smart, so he just kept his distance from all their shenanigans.

Sorry, no pictures since my camera is still lost. I'm beginning to think it is gone for good. Bummer.

Later that same day, Keeley and Teagan were rough-housing in the backyard and they injured Keeley's bad leg. He's been walking around on 3 legs. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it so I think he just needs to rest it. We sent Teagan away to daycare twice this week so that Keeley could get some rest.

Also, yesterday Keeley threw up 6 times and had diarrhea. I was just going to ride it out but then I got a little freaked and decided to take him to the vet afterall. They gave him fluids and some pills. He seems to be doing much better already now.


Well, it's almost lunch time here so Keeley and I are going to go sit out on the porch. He loves to watch all the people walking around on their lunch hour. We live right next to Miller Brewery so I figure they are Miller employees.

Party Time!

Keeley's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day but since that is a Tuesday this year, we had his birthday party today. Here's Keeley waiting patiently for his guests to arrive.Keeley's best bud, Romare, came down from Madison to be here for the party.
He brought his pal, Arnie, too.
Keeley was so thrilled to have his neighbor dogs over in his yard. This is River.
And this is Abby. Keeley loves them! We've got really great neighbors.
Keeley's pal, Oliver, was here too.
And Keeley finally got to meet his first DWB live in the fur! Kirby came up from Chicago just for the party. They got along great together!
The one and only, Tara Tru, was in attendance also.
Here's a photo of some of our decorations. Notice the Irish Terriers on the plates and napkins.
When the humans had cake, the dogs each got a doggie cookie. And each doggie guest also got a couple of cookies to take home for later. One cookie was a cheesy bone and the other was a slice of doggie pizza.
There were also human guests at the party, though less than in years past. This year the human party goers were: Christopher, Mark, Bao, Chou, Susan, Kristin, Rebecca, Kara, Rob, Keeley's grandma, and myself.
Here's Keeley and Romare getting into some bitey-face action.
Keeley usually sleeps all day long. Here he's looking like he's about to fall asleep right in the middle of his party! What a goof!
Kirby and Arnie played a little bitey-face too.
Bitey-face was the name of the game. Here's Kirby and Oliver getting into it. Oliver usually doesn't like this game but he was really lively today.
Including Keeley, there were 8 dogs total. That's the most dogs that Keeley's ever had over all at one time!
After all the guest left, here's Keeley posing with all his loot.
He got a cute elephant stuffie and green tennis ball from Romare. Tara gave Keeley a Hol-ee Roller, and some liver treats. (She also gave me an Irish Terrier decal for the car, and an Irish Terrier purse... and it wasn't even my birthday!) And from Kirby, Keeley got this really cool weird purple puppet thingy, a bag of Grandma Lucy honey treats, and a bunch of delicious looking irish themed doggie cookies. Keeley's grandma also got him some shamrock doggie cookies and a cool "Bark Knight" card.
Keeley is such a lucky birthday boy. He had a great party. As soon as the last guest left, Keeley went right to sleep. He's still sleeping it off now as I blog.

Memorial Day Cookout

We had our normal memorial day cookout today. Keeley got to invite some doggies this year but the only one who could come was Keeley's good friend, Oliver.
Keeley is so social that he would have been content to have just human visitors but having Oliver there too made Keeley's day fantastic.
The two of them are really well suited for each other. They never bark and are both very laid back and submissive. It was so hot (the hottest day of the year so far!) that they both just wanted to find a nice shady spot to lay down. Keeley was very happy just to have another dog near him.

Oliver visits again

This afternoon Keeley had another play-date with Oliver. Keeley pretty much made Oliver play Keeley's favorite games, bitey-face and play-wrestle. I think Oliver would have preferred just to be petted but Keeley was pretty insistent. Keeley likes people plenty but he is wild about his doggie friends! (Sorry, no pictures.... the digital camera is still in NY with Keeley's grandma.)

Oliver Visits

Keeley had a playdate with Oliver today. They did a lot of wrestling with each other and got a lot of petting from the humans. Oliver put up with all of Keeley's silliness and seemed to take it all in stride.
We met Oliver and his owner, Rebecca at Washington Bark Day last month. He's about the same age as Keeley and is very friendly towards both people and dogs.
Keeley just loves having other dogs over. They had so much fun together.
When it was time for Oliver to leave, Keeley watched him from the sunroom window. Three minutes later, Keeley was sound asleep.