Sometimes Trooper comes to visit me at the shop. When we were both younger Trooper and I both used to come to the shop together everyday, but then Trooper got a new job. Now Trooper visits the nursing home and rounds up the ponies on the farm almost daily – making his visits to the shop a little less frequent.
So when he does come to visit, I’m even more enthusiastic to see him.
“OMG It’s you! I can’t believe you came to visit!”
“I’m so excited I could kiss you!”
“Now that we’ve got that awkwardness out of the way, want to play tug-o-war?”
Today I thought I’d share some snapshots of my life via Instagram. You know, the super-cool retro photo app for iphone…..because I’m totally up on “what’s hot”. So, here’s a little glimpse into my life….
***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
We’re having a heatwave in Pennsylvania right now. Which means that Trooper and I (and the kitties) can be found trotting around the farm with our tongues hanging out….it’s that hot!
It’s so hot in fact, that our wrestling/play matches have mellowed greatly. Normally Trooper would give me this look and I’d make a B-line for his ankles – you know, to take him down for giving me dirty looks.
Instead I’ve had to resort to name calling, because wrestling in this heat just isn’t going to happen. Nana-a-boo-boo, stick you’re head in doo-doo!
P.S. a word to the wise, don’t resort to name calling unless you are fast as lightning like me – or it could end very very badly.
Today I thought I’d share a few images from my evening on the farm – shot yesterday. Everyday is an adventure, and there is no shortage of things to do on the farm in the Summer. Arguably it’s not your average farm, especially when it’s run by a bunch of Super Heroes with an active imagination. You’re never to old to play dress-up, catch bugs, or in my case – build underground forts. I don’t plan on ever growing up. How about you?
The Painting Ponies that I live with are a special breed (according to my mom). They are all Chincoteague Ponies, which means they were either born wild on Assateague Island in Virginia or they are related to the wild ponies from the island. My best pony friend Minnow was born wild on Assateague 18 years ago – how cool is that – technically I’m friends with a wild animal! Mom says Boomerang and Blitz are not directly from the island, but their parents are.
Since I learned that to get off the island, Minnow had to join in on the annual Pony Swim, I decided that Blitz and Boomerang should probably learn to swim too. It was time for initiation!
I of course watched safely from the sidelines.
Blitz and Boomerang are on the left, and my other pony friend Jet is on the right. Jet is not a Chincoteague Pony so she was exempt from initiation, but chose to participate – well, because she’s an overachiever.
The ponies we’re just taking too long to get to the swimming part, so I had to send in my assistant to get them moving.
It’s Super Trooper, assistant swim coach!
I like to make Trooper think he’s important.
And we have a swimmer! Boomerang has passed initiation! Now he can call himself a real Chincoteague Pony. I’m like the best swim coach ever!
Being a horse show dog is a VERY tough job. We don’t get the glory of winning the fancy ribbons and trophies like the ponies do, instead we are behind the scenes taking over the jobs that no one else wants to do.
Take my job for example. I’m usually on patrol duty, in charge of guarding all of the tack and the trailer.
The hours are long, and usually it’s hot. But someone has to keep away the chickens….
…and the cows!
Stop giving me the stink eye cow! I’m watching you!
It could be worse though, I could be stuck on ribbon rack duty like my pal Trooper.
Last year I was invited to perform at the Keystone Dachshund Races during their lunch break, it was my very first performance ever as a young and inexperienced 1 year old! I thought I did ok, considering I was new to the game and had only learned most of my tricks in a matter of a few weeks. You can watch my performance from last year here. (I’m WAY better at my tricks now!)
Well this year when they invited me back to perform, I knew I had to up the anti a little. So since my bestest performing pony pal, Minnow, couldn’t come with me – I asked my pal Trooper to fill in for him. Now Trooper is new to the whole performing thing, and I told him he had to learn a whole bunch of new tricks if he wanted to perform with me.
In the end we put on a Super entertaining duel between two friends. Here’s a taste of how it all went down:
(P.S. if you want the full effect – with my super awesome hero music – you’ll have to catch one of my live performances! Apparently youtube isn’t super music friendly!)
Performing at the Dachshund Races is very hard. Because not only does the stage smell like a bazillion other doxies (butt sniffing heaven!), but it is also littered with dropped treats. Talk about hitting the jackpot, bacon bits, hot dogs, cookies and more! It’s super hard to concentrate on your super tricks when working for treats seems pointless since free ones are on the floor!
But, me and Trooper pulled it off, and I’m sure we made a few people giggle!
Better luck winning the trophy next year Trooper! This super doxie is unstoppable!
Yes, you read that right. I was in the Heavy Weight division at the Keystone Dachshund Races this year. You might not be able to tell by looking at me, but I’m a hefty 20lb “tweenie”. (and no, that does not mean I’m fat). It just means that I’m too big to be a mini dachshund and too small to be a standard dachshund, and it puts me in the weight class with the big dogs!
In my 5 Qualifying heats I earned three first places and two third places, which earned me three racing spots in the semi-finals.
In my semi-final runs I was up against some stiff competition, but in my final race I narrowly beat my fellow heavy weight competitor, earning me the coveted spot to run in the FINAL RACE!
Basically I beat out all of the heavy weights in my division, now it was time to run against the lean, mean, mini-dachshund, Dudley!
I raced my little heart out, but in the end, Dudley had a narrow edge on me – beating me to the line by a nose!
Mom and Dad were proud of me no matter what my finish. And I’m just glad I redeemed myself from my horrible racing skills from the past 2 years (in my defense I was just trying to play with all the other puppies – I’m a friendly guy!).
You can watch my previous racing escapades here and here.
And now, here’s my montage of all of my racing fun this year:
Stay tuned for more details about my big performance with my pal Trooper!
P.S. I guess this means I AM faster than a speeding bullet! huh?
