Even though this video was posted on my Youtube Page last year, I’m pretty certain I never shared it on the blog. Mostly because it’s embarrassing for certain Dachshunds involved. I will not mention any names.
Either way, I hope it gave you a good chuckle today.
Last year I made my list of New Year Goals, so I thought it would be fun to check back and see how far I got with them – and also come up with a few new ones for 2012!
P.S. this may look like my Birthday hat, but right now it’s doubling as my new years party hat!
LAST YEARS GOALS:
1. Take another agility class or maybe even COMPETE in agility. Sadly since my last agility class at the Dog Training Club of Chester County I haven’t been able to attend any new classes. Not because I didn’t want to, but because the training center hasn’t been offering any new agility classes that fit my busy schedule, so mom’s been looking into finding a new place for me to test out my agility skills this year, like this place. But I did try my hand at an agility course while I was at the Dog Days of Summer Event and I even tested out some moves at the dog park this year.
2. Actually win a race at the Dachshund Races this year. I did even better than win just one race this year, I won 3! and I even qualified for the Championship race, bringing home a respectable reserve champ ribbon! Go me!
3. Make MORE artwork. This year I created and shipped all over the World nearly 20 original pieces of art. Not bad for my first full year of being a real life artist!
4. Visit some nursing homes. I made several trips this year to visit the nursing home – HERE, HERE, and HERE. I even made some undocumented trips too! It’s great when I can make someone’s day a little bit happier with my happy wagging tail.
5. Perform more with the Trick Ponies. I added lots of new performances with the Trick Ponies to my calendar this year. I visited a school and made appearances at the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show and The Dog Days of Summer event to name a few.
6. Learn at least 10 new tricks. Ok well I might not have accomplished this “10 new tricks” goal, but I did add a few new ones to my repertoire. Which reminds me….I never shared them with you guys! So that will definitely have to be a future post.
7. Dress up more often. This one I have totally accomplished. I was a dressing up fool this year with my 12 days of Christmas, my rocket dog costume and even my Valentines Day outfit to name a few.
8. Go on vacation. Admittedly I don’t really go on vacation much, it’s hard to get a way when you have such a busy working calendar like me! But I did get to take a special trip this year to Assateague Island to visit the sand and surf (and some new friends) with my pony pals.
9. Try something new. This year I took my first trip on a motor boat at the Marsh Creek State park, I built a super fort while mom was away in Chincoteague, and I even did some relaxing by the pool for the first time. Oh yeah, and I watched a movie in the park this summer!
10. Giggle more. I giggle everyday, what about you?
2012 Goals:
1. Learn a new trick with my favorite pony, Minnow.
2. Compete in my first agility trial or take an agility class with a new club.
3. Make more home movies, featuring me!
4. Get more creative with my costumes.
5. Master some new tricks and share them on the blog.
6. Take pictures every month for my 2013 Calendar!
7. Make more DIY projects.
8. Paint more.
9. Dig more holes in the backyard.
10. Smile everyday!
So what about you? What are your goals for 2012? Do you think I can accomplish everything on my list by this time next year?
P.S. Don’t forget there is still time to enter my giveaway to win my 2012 Calendar!
Oh hey, did you come to play super heroes with me today?
What do you mean you don’t have a super cape?
Well, I guess we can share mine.
Even if it was especially made just for me.
But next time you better bring your own.
Because we need TWO super heroes to save the princess….
…and we both need to be able to fly.
Yes, I know, we haven’t even had Turkey Day yet and already there are Christmas wreaths out, holiday music playing and the smell of pine everywhere.
Even though it does seem a tad bit early for the Holiday Season Fanfare, when you work in a retail shop like I do it’s hard not to be prepared a few weeks early.
So this year I bit the bullet and broke out my Christmas scarf BEFORE Thanksgiving. Don’t judge, you know you think it’s stinkin’ cute.
I even went as far as to practice some of my Holiday looks. I think they pretty much speak for themselves…..
“Thanks for visiting, now please purchase every single item in my shop as a Christmas gift for your loved ones”
“Pretty Please, won’t you purchase that _______.”
“I’m even cuter when you purchase something”
“Don’t make me get ruthless and force you to do some Holiday Shopping”
“P.S. I’m fully prepared to give you the stink eye should you decide to leave empty handed”
Shameless I know, but a shop dogs gotta do what a shop dogs gotta do! hehe.
Make sure you check out My Shop this Holiday Season for some super awesome amazing spectacular gift ideas for everyone you know. I promise not to sing Christmas Carols in your ear. 🙂
Home. Work. Farm. That pretty much describes a good majority of my life. So I thought it would be fun to give you all a little “peek behind the curtain” and show you exactly where I spend my days & nights.
This is home – my quiet little street in the ‘burbs where I have my own doggie door, keep all my favorite toys, and get to take naps on the couch.
This is work, right smack dab in the center of town.
It’s where I spend my Tuesday through Saturday greeting customers.
I take my work very seriously and although sometimes you’ll catch me napping on the job, it’s usually just a ruse to get you to rub my belly. (I’m sneaky like that)
This is the farm – my home away from home. It’s where I help train the trick ponies, do my chores, and play tag with Trooper and the kitties.
And if I’m truly showing you where I REALLY spend most of my time, there is one last photo I must divulge.
These are my groundhog holes. And I’m only showing you this because I KNOW you can keep a secret.
After all, there’s only one Super Dachshund fit to guard these holes, and it’s me!
Things are a little quieter around here now that fall has arrived. The shop slows down a little bit before the Holiday rush, the ponies start growing their winter coats and I don’t have quite as many things booked on my calendar.
So it’s nice to take this little fall break and play in the leaves.
Did you know that you can find buried treasure in fall leaves?
It’s true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
All you gotta do is wiggle your little nose and let it lead you too it.
And if you can’t find the treasure, than I hate to tell you, but those darned squirrels probably took it. Sorry pal, I guess you’re out of luck this year.
Over the Halloween weekend I went on nearly a 400 mile excursion to visit a place that is very special to my pony friends, Assateague Island, Virginia.
See my pal Minnow was born wild on Assateague 18 years ago, and every year he returns to neighboring Chincoteague Island to perform for a week during their annual pony penning. I never get to go because the island isn’t very dog friendly and sitting in the car is not a good idea in the summer heat.
Even dogs need to take advantage of the rest stop!
But this time as all the ponies loaded up for a special trip to Assateague to ride on the beach in the cool fall weather, I was allowed to come! Yipee!
The even better news was that I got to leave behind a rare October snowstorm in PA for the still cold but way less snowy weather in Virginia. Score.
Upon arriving Saturday evening I got to attend a special picnic where mom got to meet up with her Chincoteague Pony Friends from all across the country. I even got to meet a bunch of my facebook fans in person for the very first time, and I wasted no time showing off some of my favorite tricks so that everyone could have a good laugh.
The next day we were up early and headed across the bridge and onto Assateague Island with all my pony friends in tow.
Dogs aren’t allowed on Assateague (seriously?) so I spent my morning snuggled in a pile of blankets. Honestly I can’t complain, from what the ponies tell me it would of been too cold for me anyway.
Meanwhile mom got to live out her dream of riding the ponies on the beach. Boomerang and Blitz were excited to visit the island where their parents were born years earlier. It was a very special trip for everyone.
Naturally mom spent hours on the beach taking pictures of the ponies. She promised me she’d show me all the cool photos once she has time to filter through the nearly 1,000 photos she took (and I thought she took a lot of photos of me!)
But here are a few she showed me last night that I thought were extra special.
I taught those ponies everything they know. Don’t forget that! 🙂
After our beach adventure we headed back to the mainland so the ponies could participate in a fun show. They won me lots of ribbons – but I won the most special one of them all…
The costume contest! Well, ok, Minnow might have helped some.
Then on Halloween morning we made one last drive out to Assateague so the ponies could say goodbye to the ocean before heading home to PA. I told them I had to be back home in time to hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood!
So how about that for a Halloween weekend adventure? Pretty exciting, right? I just might have to spend the rest of the week catching up on my sleep after this weekend fun!
P.S. More fun photos from our amazing adventure will be popping up on the Painting Pony Blog & Facebook page as soon as my mom has a chance to filter through them all! So make sure you check back soon!
Remember how I lost my rocket pack that my mom made me for Halloween? And I suspected that the groundhog in my backyard found it and was rocketing around all over the place? Yeah, well I was pretty sad about not having a Halloween costume this year, but my mom knew just what to do to make me feel better.
It’s Rocket Pack 2.0! My mom made me another one – an UPGRADED one to be exact.
See version 2.0 has wings, which means I can rocket even faster!
I was having so much fun playing Halloween dress up that I even tried out a few different versions for my costume. Rocket Dinosaur? It’s a possibility.
Ultimately I think I decided on just plain Rocket Dog though, it really highlights the rocket pack. Although there is one more thing that would make my costume out of this world…
Mom, can you PLEASE make me a rocket ship out of this cardboard box?
I promise if I end up blasting to the moon that I’ll be back in time for dinner! After all I don’t want to miss tick-or-treating.
Happy Howl-o-weenie Everyone!
We all know dogs are pretty important in the face of history, but artist Sij Sandra of Nobility Dogs takes it one step further. Using historic works from famous artists, she inserts canines to portray them as wealthy noblemen, kings and queens, even dukes and duchesses. And her main inspiration? Her Dachshunds of course!
Not only does Sij create canvas glicee prints from her work, but she also has brooches, shoulder bags, scarves, and watercolor prints. You can even order a commissioned work that includes a picture of your favorite canine pal. I’m thinking I totally need a print of me riding in on a white steed to save the day, what do you think?
You can fetch your own Nobility Dog print here for around $30.
Ever since my mom made me my very own rocket pack I’ve been itching to have some Halloween adventures! So it was just my luck when we hosted a SUPER HERO Halloween party at my house last weekend.
I of course dressed up as Rocket Dog, complete with my led glowdoggie collar too!
And I think mom was jealous of my rocket pack, so she made herself one too and dressed up as the Rocketeer.
Dad on the other hand went the more obscure route and dressed up as Captain Hindsight (honestly no one was really sure who he was). In hindsight he probably should have been something everyone was more familiar with. hehe.
Of course I had to invite my best friend Trooper to the party. And wouldn’t you know he dressed up as his favoritest Super Hero of all…..ME!
I spent most of the evening contemplating when my big adventure might happen and just at the right moment I rocketed out the front door with my rocket pack when mom and dad weren’t looking. hehe.
All the super heroes at my party went running through the neighborhood trying to catch me as I zoomed about with my rocket pack. Mom says thankfully they were able to spot me easily with my glowdoggie collar on and Captain Hindsight (aka dad) jumped in a briar bush after me. Sadly I snagged my rocket pack on something in the woods and my amazing Halloween adventure came to an abrupt end.
I was pretty bummed about losing my rocket pack, but atleast it was fun while it lasted!
I’ll always remember you rocket pack and the fun times we had!