Guest blogger - Skoobi!

Auf Auf! In English I think that’s “woof woof” - but anyways, hi! I’m Skoobi. Mommy LeAnne thought it might be good to get a dog’s perspective of “the move” and all.

I was quite stressed the last few months... boxes and suitcases, mommy leaving and coming back and leaving... she left me so much! But then one day she brought this thing with her. She calls it “the crate.” I call it my own personal hell. I don’t like to be confined and so when she was getting me used to it, being in there was hard. Too make matters worse, about a week ago, mommy starved me for a whole day, gave me some cheese laced with drugs, and then made me go in the crate which was put in a van! I thought she was nuts. I cried almost the whole way... I think I was supposed to sleep from the conversation I overheard - “150mg! How is that dog still awake!?”

But anyways, mommy says we now live in a different country... some place called Croatia or Zagreb or something like that. All I know is that we aren’t in Bosnia any more. Our living place is a lot smaller, but I like it. I REALLY like our morning walks... we go for an hour around a lake every morning. I love it! There are BILLIONS of blades of grass to sniff and pee on! Heaven! I’m learning to walk on a leash. It sucks, but I know I don’t have enough self control to be let loose. I actually played with another dog a little this morning instead of trying to kill it. It stresses mommy out. I just don’t understand why the other dogs don’t realize that I am THE alpha dog and that I basically own the world. I can’t believe that I actually have to share that massive park with the billions of blades of grass to sniff with other puppies. Life’s just not fair.

I’ve been nice to all the people I’ve meet, and I’ve only lunged at one biker... mommy yanked me back and got in my face and said something like “If you ever do that again I’m going to throw your leash over a branch, string you up like a pinata, and beat you with a stick!” i have no idea what that means... I understand leash and stick, but from the tone of mom’s voice and the pop on the butt I got, I’m thinking it’s not a good thing.

Today mommy took me with her to buy tickets for the tram. It was so exciting... there is this place.. um... it’s called a mesnica and in English it’s called a butcher... and in dog it’s called “holy lord of the puppies, heaven is a place on earth!” We’ve walked by this glorious place one time before, but today the door was open! What heavenly smells! I about pulled mommy over trying to get into the door. She was laughing and the butcher people were laughing, but she would not let me into the doggy holy of holies... I never knew a place like this existed... you humans - what a life you live!

I’m getting better at not barking in the house... I have a collar that squirts lemon scented spray up my nose when I bark... that’s worse than the crate. Mommy is happy she hasn’t gotten any nasty notes from the neighbors yet saying that i bark when she’s not home... I think it will be a very unpleasant day for me if that ever happens. Mommy's trick seems to be not letting me sleep... she won't let me sleep till she leaves the house! I get so tired... I fall asleep and the next thing I know, mom is throwing something at me, or sneaking up on me, or yelling my name. But if I'm so tired and fall asleep when she leaves, then I don't bark... my mommy is the smart one...

I think mommy and I are starting to feel at home. I know mommy is glad to be here, and I’m just glad to be with my mommy.