Pupdate from the Crate: I can do it myself, spring snacks, and swirlys

Hello peeps!  It is only 9:30 and already I'm having the best day ever!  I am growing so fast and am so smart that Mom says she doesn't know what she is going to do with me!  I am learning something she calls "perfect timing".  She says Bailey, the Aussie, had perfect timing.  He was almost a genius.  A mad genius, but super smart nonetheless.  Mom told me he was as good as gold until she started to get ready to go away, like work or a date, and then he would sneak into her room, open her dresser drawer and take out her over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders and sneak up behind her and shake them, then run like crazy!  I haven't figured out how to open drawers yet, but now that I've heard about it, I need to work on it.

So today, I helped Mom clean her breakfast plate.  I think she left the chair out to make it easy for me, so I got on there and saw the dirty dish and licked it clean for her!  I am a good boy!  I even got down and went to my bed right after.  Boy was she surprised!  Then, I decided I needed some protein, so I got the peanut butter jar off the counter and took it to the family room but just as I got my first lick mom showed up and said "NONONO ARDIE" and scared me half to death so I didn't get my extra protein for breakfast.  (Sad puppy face icon).

And then today, somehow,the big teddy in my people-sister's room where my crate is, came off the back of the big chair and ended up in the family room right next to raccoon-ball-boy.  I was closely examining it, checking for any missing parts, when Mom came in and said "OH ARDIE"!  And I told Mom that raccoon-ball-boy somehow got that teddy and can't you see, he is right next to the teddy cause he is small and has no legs just a face and tail and can't carry it very far and I was just checking for damage and keeping teddy safe till you got here, MOM!  Sheesh.

I have learned to tell mom things like this by clicking my teeth, in alligator talk.  It is like barking but much quieter, because I've learned that barking my explanation to Mom makes her grumpy and she says it's not explaining, it's being mouthy, and that isn't a good thing.  So I use alligator language and just make my mouth go without the bark....the clicking of my teeth sounds pretty awesome if I do say so myself, plus I get to make weird faces and use my special "explaining-this-to-you-eyes.  Pretty fun and gets the point across too!

And even more fun today, I went into the deep woods in our yard for a hike by myself!  Yeah!  Mom takes me there sometimes cause it is far far from our house and says she is teaching me about our yard, where I can and can't go, and ther is a fence there so it was ok that I did exploring while she stayed far away at the yard watching.  Until I decided to have snacks along the way.

You know, this my first spring ever and I love what it tastes like!  Every day there is a new snack out there!  I love all these new tastes but mom gets all weird and yanks me off of some of the best ones.  That is why I turn my ears off outside when I am exploring.

Right in the middle of a yummy snack, I could hear my  mom shouting "YECH!  ARDIE!!  That's ca-ca!  That's beh-beh!  AAAACCCK!  No!  Don't eat that!"  Well, I think mom is speaking Italian or Polish or something because I was eating things I would call deer and rabbit poop, sprouts, bird poop and maybe some dirt.  I am learning that this language she speaks is some universal, ancient guttural sounds people make to keep their babies in line.  I've seen it stop small human puppies dead in their tracks and it even keeps my dad from eating spoiled stuff he find in the fridge.  Man, mom can smell it from another room, but dad chugs it down and THEN asks mom "smell this, is it rotten?"  My mom gags a lot.

So, my next adventure is figuring out about the swirlys.  The swirlys are in special rooms in our house and sometimes they are quiet but Mom and Dad can wake them up and make them swallow lots of water really really fast.  I can't figure them out, so I'm thinking I need to get in one and see how it works.  I will let you know what I find out.

I'm really tired from doing so many things by myself, using my new perfect timing skills so I need a nap.

Xox Ardie