Thunder Dog

“Thunder Dog” – that’s totally an awesome superdog name if you ask me. I was actually thinking maybe I could use it. Ammo, The Thunder Dog or Ammo, Dog of Thunder – has a nice little ring to it, especially since the sky has been giving me lots of it lately.

thunder and lightning

After a nasty dry spell this summer mother nature has decided to play a cruel trick on us and let all of the summer rain come at once. Thunder so loud it shakes the ground and skies so dark I need a flashlight mid-day to hunt my groundhogs.

thunder and lightning

It’s actually sort of peaceful out on the farm as the ominous clouds start rolling in.

ammo the dachshund thunder and lightning

*wince* But, the THUNDER is out of this World!

ammo the dachshund thunder and lightning

Then the sky opens up and buckets upon buckets of water begin to blanket the ground. And really, there is only one thing to do when that happens….

ammo the dachshund thunder and lightning

….scream your head off and run around like crazy! (rain is fun, didn’t you know?)

chesapeake Lightning

Even the ponies are super excited about the rain, especially Chesapeake Lightning aka Blitz (see he was MADE for the rain) – because with rain, comes grass, and those ponies LOVE to eat!

Me, I love the rain, but sometimes what happens after the rain is even better.

rainbow

Hello Mr. Rainbow, did you come to brighten up my day?

double rainbow

But, holey moley, I must have the luck of a leprechaun, because it’s a Double Rainbow (do you see it?). Time to run around screaming my head off again – because I’m sure this is gonna bring me a whole bunch of luck!

What about you? Is mother nature storming on your parade too? Or are you puddle jumping and running around like crazy because you’ve been seeing Double Rainbows too? Do tell!

Artsy Fartsy

Don’t worry this isn’t a stinky post – although if they invented scratch-n-sniff computer monitors I’d totally be able to share all my favorite stinky smells with all of you! Now wouldn’t that be fun!

No, instead I’m going to share with you my new rubber stamp! (the unscented version at least)

ammo the dachshund stamp

How great is that! My mom helped me make it, and even though she thinks it’s a little rough around the edges still, I think it’s fabulous! You better believe I’ve been stamping all of my toys so Trooper can’t steal them!

Me and mom have been on an artsy fartsy kick lately – so much so that we rearranged my little corner in the shop that I share with the ponies.

ammo the dachshund and painting pony

Isn’t it cool, we now have walls to hang up all of our artwork (nevermind the fact that we had to drive 2 hours to get them!). Mom says we even get to test out our new walls when we set up our booth at the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show (and the Chadds Ford Dog Days of Summer Event) in a couple of weeks.

I can’t wait, because when we travel it means one thing and one thing alone……

…..WAY MORE COOKIES!

 

You can check out all of my artwork here.

Rainbows and Sunshine

My recent camping trip wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine as you might have guessed. See, I had a very important job to do on the camping trip. I was in charge of training Blitz (or young Blitzen as I like to call him) how to tie properly.

blitz and ammo

He looks pretty good right? You would have never guessed he started out like this:

blitz

Naughty ponies don’t get sugar cubes later on! Don’t worry though, I had a little talk with him. He has so much to learn about the World.

blitz and ammo

And we were just in the midst of really making some progress on Blitz’s training when the nasty thunderstorms came and cancelled the second day of competition for my pony friends.

ammo the dachshund camping

I might have had to hide under a towel in the tent on Saturday night – but I swear I wasn’t scared…..It was just cozy in there, honest!

ammo

But even though the rain put a damper on my fun, the ponies still won me a second place ribbon – they’re pretty sweet like that.

fallen tree

Mother nature wasn’t done having her little fun with me though, because on the way home (5 minutes from the farm to boot) we got stuck at a fallen tree. Luckily the nice electric company came to save me, although I did tell them that my teeth are razor sharp and I could have easily hacked that log to bits in no time!

But even without my rainbows and sunshine I still had a pretty awesome adventure!

 

Camping 101

I’m pretty much the king of camping.

ammo the dachshund camping

I’m so good at camping, that I even bring along my pony when I go camping.

ammo the dachshund camping with pony

ammo the dachshund camping

Want to see inside my tent? It’s pretty cool.

ammo the dachshund camping

I unrolled the sleeping bags all by myself.

ammo the dachshund camping

Want to come see how I collect sticks for the campfire?

ammo the dachshund camping

ammo the dachshund camping

ammo the dachshund camping

ammo the dachshund camping

It’s key to whittle your sticks down to the right size – something they probably don’t tell you in the boy scouts, and I know, because I’m a stick collecting expert.

But as much as I’m an expert in all of the camping ways, could someone please do me a favor….

ammo the dachshund camping

Can you tell the tent manufacturers that they really need to start making built in doggie-doors.

ammo the dachshund camping

This is really cramping my style!

Morning

Mornings on the farm can be pretty peaceful.

spider the kitten

I’m usually greeted at the door by my partner in crime, Spider the kitten.

spider the kitten

Most mornings she yells at my mom to feed her – while I dart inside to figure out what new adventures there are to be had.

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

Sometimes the only “adventure” to be had is sunbathing in the morning sun. And that’s ok.

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

But other days, you just itch for something more exciting. Something that makes you want to shout from the roof tops your groundhog hole. And just when you think that there might not be any “adventures” to have – the heavens shine down and your day becomes glorious again – because you found a DEAD SNAKE!

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

And the only reasonable thing you can think of to do……

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

……roll on top of that sucker until you smell just as stinky as it does.

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

It really turned out to be a glorious morning on the farm, don’t you think?

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

But don’t worry, even if you didn’t find a “dead snake” this morning the day is not lost…..

ammo the dachshund morning on the farm

…..because I’m more than happy to mail you my dead snake – so you can also have a glorious morning too!

We Have a Weinner!

My giveaway for one of my very own pieces of scratch art has come to an end! I made this piece with my very own paws! This particular piece is called White Dachshund No. 11 and I created it by scratching onto a specially prepared surface that my mom helped me make. It’s on a mauve acid free matboard background – matted in blue to fit an 11×14 frame. Trust me, this thing is a beauty in person! It comes signed by me and includes a certificate of authenticity – so you know it’s not a fake!

ammo the dachshund giveaway - free

The winner was drawn at random, using random.org. Congrats to Jane who says “Oscar’s favorite summer spot is on his snuggle pad in the golf cart. He likes to ride out in the pasture for potty breaks. That way he doesn’t over exert himself in the heat.” Sounds like Oscar’s a farm dog just like me! Be sure to look for an e-mail from me with details on how to claim your prize.

And since not everyone can be a weinner, I thought I’d still give everyone a little gift. If you use the coupon code AMMOPAL during checkout in my online shop you will get 10% off your entire order! And don’t forget with every piece of artwork me and the ponies sell we donate money to animal rescues!

Happy Shopping!

 

The Dog Days of Summer

I have some exciting news! Next month I’m going to be making some very special public appearances. First up I will be at the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show on September 3rd – 4th with my best pal Minnow the Painting Pony. We’re going to be parked out at my booth all day where we will have artwork for sale (by both me and the pony!) and we’ll be showing everyone some of our favorite tricks all day long. We also might be performing some of our acts in the main arena – when I have more details I will let everyone know! And as always the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show is a dog friendly event – so bring along all of your furry friends!

dog paddling over to chincoteague

"Dog Paddling Over to Chincoteague" painting by Minnow and Ammo - 2009

Also I will be at the Chadds Ford Historical Society Dog Days of Summer Event. The event is on September 10th -11th from 10am – 5pm – and the best part is….it’s a DOG FRIENDLY event too!

I’m going to have a booth set up where I’ll be selling some of my great artwork along with the Painting Ponies’ artwork too. Minnow the Painting Pony might also be in attendance – but we have to wait and see if they can make room for him (he is kinda hefty! hehe).

ludwigs corner horse show

I hope I’ll get to see some of my facebook and blog friends at these events! Pretty soon I’m going to need a date book to keep track of all my appearances!

You can see a list of all the events I will be attending this year on the Painting Pony Calendar page!

Super Dog vs. Super Pony – School Addition

***UPDATE*** we realize this video is being blocked for some people – as soon as possible we will upload another version. Thanks for baring with these technical difficulties!

Do you remember when I made my first Elementary School Visit with my pal Minnow back in May? Well, the day has finally come – my live performance video with Minnow is complete! My Uncle Taylor (the filmmaker) shot and edited this whole video – and it turned out really cool! Not that it wouldn’t, considering I’m the star of the show.

P.S. Minnow may have won the trophy this time, but there is no way I’ll let him beat me next time!

***UPDATE*** if you are having trouble watching the video above, try this version (without the super cool super hero music) – ON YOUTUBE

Check out Depthink Productions and Envision Event Media for all of your movie making needs!

 

Say What?

Ammo the dachshund

Rumor has it that mom’s recapping all of Minnow’s adventures on Chincoteague Island last week on his blog. Which also means she’s hogging all my computer time….jeesh!

ammo the dachshund

So while I patiently (or not so patiently depending on how you look at it) wait my turn on the computer – you can head on over to Minnow’s blog to check out all the fun I missed when they went to Chincoteague. And don’t forget, there is one more day to enter my giveaway for a FREE Scratch Art Painting! It just might be your lucky day!

Chincoteague Fries

If you haven’t heard…..My mom is back! After spending the week on Chincoteague Island with my best pony pal, Minnow, she returned on Friday – bringing gifts for me of course!

In my case, my beach fries didn’t come from the Fireman’s Carnival – but instead, this cute little shop, Howl Naturale, down mainstreet. (UPDATE, this company is no longer in business unfortunately)

It would of been way sweeter had I been there in person – and able to sample their wares myself, but either way I was more than happy to dive into my bucket of fries in the comfort of my own home.

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

chincoteague dog fries

Mmmmmm, it tastes just like if I was at the beach too!