Daisy.....Daisy.....

And Dora and Rudy!   They're my buddies!   I really like it when I run into one of my friends when I take a walk.   Some of the other dogs in the neighborhood aren't so friendly.  I don't know why.  I'm an easy going guy.  Lots of them are little dogs and they just bark and growl at me for no reason.  It makes me sad. 

My first friend here was Daisy.  She's little, but she likes me anyway!  She gets excited when she sees me and pulls her Mom over, jumping on her leash.  She looks funny!

That's her in the picture!   Isn't she cute?  

My other friend is Dora.  She is a Basset Hound.  She always wants to play, so she barks because she is happy.  She has really short legs and long ears.  She slobbers a lot, too, but she's still my good friend.

Rudy is a chocolate lab.  He's bigger than I am!  He's a little older, too.  He doesn't want to play so much, but we rub noses and wag our happy meters when we see each other.  I hope I see one of my friends today!

It's true.  A lot of the little dogs here react badly to dogs that are larger than they are.  Sometimes Harry can cause quite a ruckus if several small dogs are out at once.   Daisy is a darling, the friendliest little girl.  She looks rather like a little lamb.  Dora goes into "play mode,"  which means she puts her front arms down and her backside up in the air.  Because of Dora's body type, however, she looks pretty funny when she does it, although she is a very pretty Basset Hound.  And Rudy is getting gray and walks a bit slower than the younger dogs, but he always greets Harry with a happy tail wag and a sniff or two. 

Dogfest2014!!

Off we went in the car!  We got to a place I've never been to before!  Mom and Dad had a table and chairs, and they put out my water bowl and they had a bunch of biscuits.  Then all these people and dogs came by - lots and lots and lots!  There were Dalmatians, and Dobermans and Great Danes and a St. Bernard!  There were poodles and yorkies and bulldogs and terriers and lots of Goldens.

There was a pit bull named Spice Girl.  She was nice, we sniffed and wagged.  She was very gentle and sweet. She needs a home, right now she is in a foster home, MY foster home with the  nice lady.  She has a problem with one eye.  I hope that doesn't mean no one will love her, she's awfully nice.  There were some dogs who sort of looked like me!  HEY, do I know you?  Are we cousins? 

Lots of dogs drank from my water bowl, but that's okay.  I don't mind.  And the people next to us gave me some peanut butter treats!  I saw my foster Mom and other people I used to know a long time ago, before I found my family.  Mom told me what a good boy I am.  She did that a lot. 

We were there all day.  Then everyone packed up and went home.  Yay, suppertime!  I took a shortcut home, though, 'cause I was awful tired.  Big day, but it was fun!

Dogfest2014, in Bergen County, New Jersey.  It was our first time at such an event, so I was a novice trying desperately to learn the ropes.  Harry was a complete angel, as usual and rubbed noses with dozens of dogs in all shapes and sizes. 

We sold a few books (20% of profits go to "Almost Home Dog Rescue of NJ" Harry's alma mater) - I hope those who have a copy enjoy it.  For kids ages nine and up, it is a fun read and a great gift.  Isabella, Julia and Sofia, have a good time with it and keep your happy meters going.  Many, many thanks to all the people, youngsters and adults, because each time you buy a book you are helping a rescue group.  Spread the word and if you have the time, write a review on Amazon.  That will help Harry become more popular. We are very grateful for your support. Jethro, you too!  Let's make Harry Spotter a household name!

I'm a travelling pup....

Wow, so after my Dad made the aliens go away, the next day we went to another place.  This was real close.  And I got out and sniffed around.  Hmmmmm. Rabbits, birds, not too many other dogs here.  We went up a bunch of steps and into an empty place.  But two guys came along and they both pet me and smiled and then they started filling up the place with lots of stuff.  Mom and Dad put out the funny air bed they used when we moved to our new house, so I sat on that.  I was pretty tired from being so scared the night before!  I watched Mom and her puppy put things away.  Then the guys left and everybody was putting stuff away and Dad was putting stuff together.  Hoooooo, mmmmmm, time for a nap.

Then I was getting pretty hungry and the place was looking nice  and Mom and Dad took me back to the hotel for suppertime.  Guess what I saw outside this time!  A snake!  I stepped right on it and Mom screamed!  It was slithering away real fast and I wanted to chase it.  Please, Mom?  She wouldn't let me.  I bet I could have caught it, too!

Then they went out again and left me with music on and lights.  Never turn out the lights, it keeps the outer space aliens away.  And we did, we kept them on all night, but this time we all got some sleep.  We went back to the puppy's place in the morning, and Mom and Dad helped put things up on the walls.  Then their puppy stayed there and we got in the car and went for a long, long, long time.  I really didn't like the car anymore.  After a long, long time we were HOME!!!! YAY!!! Home!!!!  Just in time for supper again!!!!  I'm so happy to be home!  Let's take a big walk all around.  Let's see, Daisy was here, Rudy was over there,  I'll leave them a message so they know I'm home! 

Ahhhh, my bed in my room in my house.  Lights OFF!   Goodnight!

Two strong young men helped move all our daughter's boxes and belongings off the truck and up three flights of stairs.  We spent the day unpacking, breaking up empty boxes and organizing.  We put together a desk, set up lamps and hung curtains and shower curtains and towels.  By five pm we were exhausted. 

Back at the hotel, when Harry took his after dinner walk, he startled a snake, which startled me and I let out a scream.  I am not a fan of snakes.  Harry wanted to catch it.  Oh, no. No, no,
no, no, no.

That evening we had dinner in a lovely Mediterranean restaurant called Laziza.  Being sleep deprived, tired from moving and unpacking and having happy tummies made sleeping with the lights on easy. 

In the morning we helped with some picture hanging.  The place came together pretty quickly so we said goodbye and hit the road for home.  Eight hours later, hurray!  Home, sweet home.  Harry was happy to take a long walk through the neighborhood, smelling the spots where all his friends had visited while we were gone.  This odyssey is officially over.

Aliens from Outer Space!!

Wow, so after everyone took a nap, they all got cleaned up.  Then, just like at home, Mom gave me a special treat - a dental bone, and they left me all alone.  But the TV was on and there was music, so I sat on the bed with my bone and watched TV! 

When everybody came back, Dad took me outside again.  I didn't have any more problems with the funny stairs.  Then it was bedtime.  There was no room for me on the bed.  That's ok, I usually sleep in my own bed anyway, until morning.  Whew, what a long day!  Boy, was I tired!

Then something terrible happened.  There were aliens from outer space!  They got into the room!  They were shining horrible lights everywhere!  I was terrified, so I buried my face into the side of the bed where Dad was.  I was shaking inside.  I didn't want to see those scary lights!

Dad went outside to find the aliens and make them go away and stop frightening me!  He came back and turned on a light.  I was still scared.  Dad kept comforting me, patting me over and over and over until my insides stopped shaking.  I don't think I slept at all.  I don't think Dad did either.  It was a ruff night. 

 

 

Once we were rested and cleaned up, we went into town to find a place to have some dinner before we collapsed.  We found a college hang out called "Panini's" which was fun and had decent enough food.  Harry seemed to be enjoying himself on the bed watching music videos from the sixties when we returned to the  hotel.

 

After his night time walk, it was time for bed.  I fell asleep immediately.  I was awakened by my husband because something on the ceiling was strobing light flashes all over the room.  Harry was curled up in a tight ball on the side of the bed trying desperately to hide his eyes.  What the heck?  How could anyone sleep with this?

 

My husband went down to the desk clerk to see if we could switch rooms.  There were no vacancies and the clerk apparently thought my husband was nuts.  He had no idea what we were talking about and couldn't do a thing about it.  So, we had to sleep with at least one regular light on to make the thing in the ceiling stop the light show.  Oh, my.  Needless to say, no one really got back to sleep.  It was a rough night, indeed.

Road Trip!

Wow!  We went far, far, far away!  My Mom and Dad have a puppy and she had to move to another place and we got in the car and we just kept going and going and going!  Boy, was I excited!  I was safe in the back cargo area - there is a fence that keeps me back there so Mom can drive and I can't jump in front with her.  I want to jump in front with her, but I had my bed and a pillow and an old sock I like to chew, so I was happy. 

The car was going up and down and up and down.  Sometimes I took a nap, sometimes I looked out the window.  Sometimes I got up to stretch and looked at Mom and her puppy up front and Mom would smile at me! 

After a long time we stopped and Mom let me out of the car so I could pee and stretch.  Then she gave me some cool water in my own bowl from home.  Boy, that water was SO good!  Then I had to hop back in the car and we would go and go and go some more. 

Mom stopped again after a long, long time and did the same thing as before.  I was starting not to like the car so much.  But I'm a good boy and I got back in after having more water.  This time Mom put music on.  We still had to go and go and go. 

Then Mom parked the car and let me out, and we were all out of the car and Mom wanted me to go up these steps, but they scared me!  I could see right through them!  I was afraid I would fall out!  Mom went up a couple of the steps and she kept telling me to come.  I was scared, so I did it very slowly.  I made it to the top!  Then she opened a door to a room with beds in it.  Oh, I remember, this is like when we moved!  I can hop up on the beds.  I hopped from bed to bed!  It was fun!  Mom and her puppy were tired.  I guess I was too, so we all took a nap.  Then Mom gave me my supper.  Where's Dad? 

Mom took me outside and down those funny stairs again.  Lots and lots of dogs have been here, I can smell them.   The next time I had to go up the funny stairs I did it faster and it wasn't so scary.  Yay!  Dad is here!  The pack is together!  I feel better now!  This was only the beginning, but I didn't know it yet.   I'm getting tired just telling you about it.  I think I will take a nap right now! I'll tell you more next time!

 



We had to drive all the way to Kent, Ohio - Kent State University.  My daughter (and illustrator of "The Amazing Canine Adventures of Harry Spotter") is starting a PhD program and job at the University.  We had to haul all of her stuff in a U-Haul to get her settled in her new apartment.  We're not so young anymore - it wan not an easy task.  The drive alone took eight hours.  Pennsylvania is 310 miles across and seemed to take FOREVER.  Going up the mountains I could feel the car working a bit harder, going down I didn't even need to step on the pedal. We stopped twice for gas, coffee and to let Harry out to stretch his legs.  He was such a good boy.  Every now and then I could see him in the rearview mirror, standing up and looking at me with his happy meter going. 

Once we got to the "dog hotel" in Kent, though, he was afraid of the slatted stairway up to our room on the second floor.  He was very hesitant and went up s-l-o-w-l-y.  When we got in the room, he was relaxed  again and made a point to visit each bed to evaluate its' comfort.  There were several areas outside where dogs "did their duty" and Harry had lots of sniffing to do.  We were all exhausted and had only just arrived.......