Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We all wish you a Happy Holiday and a wonderful 2008!!  Chris, Tim, & Pepper!

My Only Trick

OK, so I'm not big on the tricks, but I find I get treats when I do this one.  I get confused sometimes, though, and start thinking about how great the treat is going to be, so I forget to listen to what they're asking me.  So, sometimes they'll say, "Down," and I'll do the "paw" thing... Oh, well, like I said, I'm not much of a "tricks" dog... just a "treats" dog.

Vet Visit

Today, I have to go to the vet to get an ultrasound on my heart. Apparently, I have a murmur, and in order to determine how bad it is, they need to do an ultrasound! After they do the test, they'll be able to determine whether I qualify for health insurance or not. Plus, I need to get a tooth pulled (it's cracked!), so in order to do that, they need to knock me out, but only if my heart can handle it, which the ultrasound test should be able to tell.

Ack, they shaved me!!! I now have this patch of my skirt missing! Argh!!

Well, no medication required yet, but I will need it someday. I can go ahead and get my tooth pulled and teeth cleaned, though.

Crissy Field

This weekend was beautiful, so we went with our friends Peter, Donnie, and Jake to Crissy Field near the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge. Here are some pictures of us!

Me!
Jake Tim, me, and Chris
Donnie Peter

Memorial day at Lake Tahoe

This weekend, we all took a trip up to Lake Tahoe. Tim and Chris have lots of friends up there. Their friend Sumner from Hawaii came with us, too. We left early Saturday morning and made it up to Truckee, where we spent the day with Karl and his dog Noni (Karl's wife, Erin, had to work). Noni is a big 4 year-old black Lab, and all she wants to do is play. We had a few moments of aggressive adjustment to figure out one another's boundaries (yes, I probably started it and shouldn't have...Noni is MUCH bigger than me!!). Don't let this somewhat chummy picture of us fool you... we tolerated each other...but I did end up kicking her out of her bed Sunday night and made her sleep on the floor!

Saturday afternoon, we went to a reservoir and Noni played fetch with Karl while I barked at Noni. I did get a little wet and really dirty. I guess it was fun...






So, what no one told me was that I was going to spend the night at this place with this big dog! Eek! Chris, Tim, Sumner, and Karl all left me Saturday night and went somewhere... they said they were going to see their other friends, John and Bruce. Whatever! I was left behind with this big dog I wasn't sure I liked so much! Well, we made the best of it.

The next morning, Karl took us for a long walk and then to his office, where Chris and Tim picked me up for our day's outing. We drove to pick up their other friends and then were off to do a little hike and play at the beach. We went to 'Secret Harbor' on Lake Tahoe and did a short hike down to the water. This is me getting right in, with Tim and Sumner looking on.

This place was fun... I went into the water a bit, met some other dogs, and everyone just relaxed...

Sumner, Bruce, John, and Tim







Me, Chris, and Tim kicking back...







Bruce and John...







Me and my new friend Joe the Shitsu...

Back to McLaren Park

Love McLaren Park!!








I went for a 1-hr walk this morning with Chris. This is me hunting ducks in the lake.









And this is me hunting gophers! I almost caught one!









So, after this morning, we went to some friends house for lunch and I got to tramp around and explore their backyard! THEN, we went with some other friends a Jake to the beach at Fort Funston! Yay!!!! I love the beach! And, it turns out, I CAN play ball after all! Maybe I just need another dog to play with and steal the ball from now and again! I love running at the beach, and going into the ocean to get the ball was fun, too! Of course, Chris forgot the battery for his camera at home, so there's no evidence of my ball-playing prowess! Next time!

Me in the backyard

Chris took this of me tonight. I'm so photogenic!

McLaren Park

Sure enough, we went up to McLaren Park this morning. We had some light rain last night, so everything was wet, including me by the end of it.





There's a lake at the top of the park in the Dog Play Area, but I don't think I'm much for swimming. Even going in after the ducks didn't sound that appealing. We walked around for about an hour and then at the end, Chris and I ran around until we were both tired out. There was lots to sniff, some other dogs, too, but it wasn't too busy. I think I maybe like this park better than that one on Bernal Heights. There's more tall grass, trees, trails, etc.

We had a lot of fun, and hopefully we'll go back soon! Tim said we would alternate between Bernal and McLaren. I think that's a good idea!

Things are getting into a nice routine

Well, at least Chris and Tim think so... went to work with Chris this week, but found I was barking a little bit more than usual at people in the office whenever Chris wasn't there... Not sure what that's about.

Also not sure about the Bernal park Chris has been taking me to... I like it alright, but I'm not used to playing with other dogs, or something. Maybe I'm just a bit of a primadona... A couple of times I got a little too bossy for my own good and actually got into a bit of a tussle with another dog... who did she think she was? Bitch! Anyway, hopefully, if I can keep going to the park to play with other dogs, I'll get better.

No pictures of me this week... although we might be going to another park tomorrow, so maybe Chris will bring his camera along.

Pepper By the Sea

Yesterday, Chris and I got up really early and drove south to a conference that he wanted to go to in Pacific Grove, which is near Carmel. During the afternoon break in the conference, and after I'd been sitting really patiently in the car, we drove to Carmel and walked down to the beach. Here we are before hitting the sand.









Once out in the sand, Chris let me off my leash to play with the other dogs. Carmel doesn't have any leash laws, so dogs run pretty free here. It's great!











After running around all afternoon, I was pooped, but we walked around town for a couple more hours and then Chris went back to his conference while I slept. What a great day!

Oh, here's another picture of me at the beach.

Bernal Hill and my Day at the Spa

Last weekend, we all went up to Bernal Hill, the largest off-leash dog park in the city... do you see me off leash? I sure don't. Hmmmm.... Well, I did get to meet lots of other dogs who were off their leashes, but I guess they know their humans a little better and are more likely to respond to them than I am. I'm still testing the waters and my limits with these guys... They're trying to be pretty strict with me, but I'm wearing them down with my cuteness! :D



The view from Bernal Hill was fantastic. We could see all the way around, from downtown and the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate bridge, to Sutro Tower, and down to Candlestick point. It was great! After the park, we went for ice cream, but I didn't get any. Bummer.


Well, this was my week to get all prettied up!! Debbie from the Scottie Rescue committee came and got me Thursday night for my spa day down in Cupertino. My human, Tim, came down the next day to get me, and all the ladies at the spa were impressed that after only two weeks with him and Chris, I recognized him and treated him like he was mine! That's because he is! I love my new humans! Oh, and the day at the spa, well, I think the results speak for themselves! I'm beautiful!!

Saturday, my humans left me at home for a bit, but when they came back, they were with some other people and they planted a new tree in front of our house. They told me that it was Arbor Day and that they were planting the tree for me to sniff and mark. How thoughtful! My humans planted six other trees in the neighborhood, and the entire group of people planted close to 100 trees in this part of the city! Wow! That's a lot of trees to sniff!

After they planted the trees and had a well deserved nap, we went to another part of the city in Chris' convertible! I got to sit in the back and sniff all the great smells while the air was blowing through my eyebrows! It was great! Then we spent hours just walking around, going into stores. One store had all kinds of treats and toys for dogs, and Chris & Tim got me some tasty treats!

I was pooped when we finally got home, so I slept really well!

OK, that's it for now! Talk to you soon! - P

My First Week

Well, I guess it's not really my first week on the planet. I'm seven, you know. But, it was my first week with these humans. I'm a dog. A Scottie dog to be exact. My name is Pepper. Pepper Duck. Yes, I know I don't look entirely like a Scottie, but that's because I need a haircut. Badly! I can't wait.

I used to live in Santa Cruz with a family, but they had to give me up to a shelter because they weren't allowed to have dogs anymore. We were all very sad. But, some nice people at the San Francisco Bay Scottish Terrier Rescue Committee took care of me, got me all checked out, and found these two wonderful humans to live with in San Francisco!

Sunday was my first day with them, and I was pretty scared. I didn't know where I was or who they were. But, they fed me, gave me a nice bed, although it's in a cage, and best of all, they took me on long walks.

The first couple of days with them, I had to stay home while they went to work. When they came home, I was very happy to see them. Then, yesterday, I got to go to work with one of them! It was scary! But, Chris, that's his name (the other one is Tim) made his office as comfy as possible, and lots of his friends came to say 'hello'. I even got to go for a walk with my new friend, Macchia, and her human, Luke. Macchia is only 3-months old, so she was a little too much energy for me, but it was fun to show off how good I am at walking on a leash.

It ended up being a fun day, and when I got home, I wanted to play, which I hadn't much felt like doing up until then! I think I'm going to like it here....