Getting Away

We went to Karuizawa for a few days and (unfortunately) came home today. Mama and papa took a few well-deserved days off work and took me to a bed and breakfast in Nagano to a place called Caro Foresta. We arrived yesterday around noon and went to my favorite restaurant for lunch, Dog Garden Cafe. Papa wasn't happy that they changed the menu and no longer have the awesome burgers that they had last year but he still enjoyed lunch. As you can see, mama bought me a new toy.

After lunch, we went to Sky Park so I could run around for a while. Mama and papa thought that it would tire me out enough that they could relax and have a nice dinner and a good night's sleep...boy, were they wrong...

After Sky Park, we went to the B&B to check in and I ran around their dog run for a little while and then we went for a walk before dinner. Instead of my regular food, mama and papa ordered me a special dinner of beef with veggies and a risotto. Dessert was one of my favorites - chicken!!! Mama and papa had a good dinner too but I wasn't really paying attention because they wouldn't share with me so I didn't care what they had. During dinner, I was a pain in the butt. Whenever another dog barked, I would bark even louder and pull at my leash which was fastened to a hook in the wall. It really annoyed mama and papa. I think they were really embarrassed because all the other dogs were being good and staying quiet for the most part except for me. There were a lot of poodles there...at least 5...but I managed to be even more yappy than them!

On Monday, we went to Sky Park again and then for a walk at Asama Farm...

...and at Sky Park, I got to play frisbee but I think I wasn't the only one who wanted to play...I had the feeling that I was being followed...
After dinner, mama and papa took a bath and then we went to bed...well, at least they tried to go to bed. Every time I heard a noise or another dog bark, I would bark even louder and longer. This went on throughout the night - at least twice an hour from 11pm to 7am I would suddenly bark really loudly and wake mama and papa from their half-sleep. Sometimes I would do it 3 or 4 times an hour if I thought mama and papa looked too relaxed and comfortable. I couldn't understand everything papa said but he used a lot of words that had 4 letters...and he also called me a lot of new names that I've never been called before..by the way, what does &'$(*%@#+?*$ mean??? It didn't sound very pleasant the way papa said it...

Not sure how this will work, but I thought I'd share a video of me playing with my new favorite toy...

It's a Dog's Life...

This morning was so nice that I decided to lounge around on the roof balcony for a few hours...

Last weekend, papa went golfing for the weekend with 3 friends to Gunma Prefecture. Papa wouldn't tell me what he shot in either round but needless to say it probably wasn't very good. Mama and papa also went golfing last month for a weekend with 2 friends (I got stuck in a pet hotel). In addition to the driver that papa bought a few weeks ago, yesterday he also bought a hybrid iron:

He has a lot of nerve telling me that I'm spoiled...

This afternoon we went to a park near Haneda Airport to run around and play in the sun.

The weather got up to about 24 degrees so after I spent some time running around, I had to cool down in the shade...

(Note: apologies if the formatting or look of the blog is different. The iMac is great except it doesn't seem to play well with Google blogs and HTML. It keeps defaulting to strange fonts and messing up the HTML so that pictures cannot be opened in new windows or even expanded. I still like Apple, but not quite as much as I did yesterday...)

Finally!!!

Papa finally came to his senses and bought me an iMac last weekend! It's about time!!! Now I can do my blog in style.
It's taking a little time to get used to the differences between the iMac and that other inferior operating system but Apple is so intuitive that it's pretty easy to make the transition. The iMac is so slick. It's no wonder that Microsoft copied so many of Apple's ideas when creating Vista. Too bad Microsoft can't copy the absence of blue screens. Papa has been thinking about getting an Apple for months but he got tired of all the blue screens lately which prompted the change. The iMac is so much better and has so many great features that papa is upset at himself for not making the switch sooner.

Last Friday, I decided that mama's stockings looked good so I ate one. Mama and papa were so worried because I wasn't my mischievous self for the past few days. They called the vet but the vet told them to wait a few days to see if it would come back out. If it didn't, they would have to take an x-ray. Fortunately, I threw it up today and luckily papa was home at the time. It came part way out and papa had to pull it all the way out. Now I'm back to my old self, running around and barking at the TV and generally annoying mama and papa!!!

Papa kept the stocking in case mama wants it back...
Anyhow, mama and papa learned a very valuable lesson - don't leave anything within my reach that might be dangerous. I've learned to jump pretty high now so everything has to be over 4 feet high or nailed down...

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!!!

It was Mother's Day today and so mama and papa went to visit mama's parents and took them out for lunch to a really nice Italian restaurant called Paradiso.

Did I mention that I opened my own hair salon?

And created my own coffee?

We went to Komazawa Park a few weeks ago. Seems like there was a wolf there...and boy, but can he pee a lot... Ever get the feeling that you're being followed...
...or that some people have absolutely no taste in homes...
Papa found a great deal on a mango. It was only $100...

Time Goes By

It's been quite a while since my last post. My assistant (papa) has been too busy (lazy???) to type for me so I haven't been able to update my blog.

We had nice cherry blossoms this year...
Mama and papa also took me to Yoyogi Park to meet some of mama's friends for a hanami party. Man, there were so many people there...

The weather has been so nice lately. It's been in the low to mid-20's. I love spending lazy weekends just lounging around in the sun.

Mama and papa went golfing in Tochigi a few weeks ago with some friends. They left at 6am Saturday morning for a tee off time of 11:20. They stayed in Tochigi and played another round of golf on Sunday. I would have loved to go but I was a little tied up at the time...

Last week, papa's aunt and uncle came to visit from Canada. It was a lot of fun. They even came to visit me. Mama and papa took them to places like Akihabara, Ginza, Odaiba, Ebisu Garden Place, Shibuya and Shinjuku. Papa still calls me Shinjuku because there are so many homeless people who live in Shinjuku and he said I look like them...

Last week, papa bought a new driver...and he says I'm spoiled...

Last week, mama bought me a new bone to chew. At first I thought she said it was a phone, not a bone...hello? hello???

A day at the park

Mama and papa took me to a dog run near Haneda Airport today called Ten Ten but there were no dogs there so we left after 10 minutes and went to Komazawa Park! There were plenty of dogs at Komazawa. I met a few other Jack Russell Terriers and had a pow-wow with some new friends.

The weather was pretty good today. It must have been about 15 degrees. I took a few breaks from playing now and then when nature called...

I found this dog to play with and followed him around for a while but he was obviously quite a lot smaller than me so I left him alone after a while...

The forecast for next week is for warmer weather. We can't wait for cherry blossom season to start! Mama and papa are taking the day off tomorrow and plan to go to the driving range. I hope they take me somewhere to play too!!!

Feeling Blue

Mama and papa went to see Blue Man Group this evening. They said the show great and very entertaining. They were 13 rows back but next time, papa says he wants to sit in the first 5 rows in the "Poncho Section" - 'Blue Man Group refers to the area closest to the stage as the "Poncho Section." Blue Man Group provides each person in this section with a poncho just in case some of the materials used on stage go into the audience.'


The show was a mix of music, art and comedy. Most of the music was percussion based so it was pretty loud and papa really enjoyed it. After the show, the 3 members of the Blue Man Group were in the entrance/exit area and papa was able to get a few pictures of them but unfortunately he couldn't get a picture of mama with one of them because there were so many people doing the same thing.

Mama and papa have been so busy for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Mama has been working hard on a deal and coming home between 9pm and 11pm every night so they decided to take Monday off and have an extended weekend! They said they would take me to a park tomorrow and hopefully Monday also! I just hope papa stops calling me Blue Man Roots...

Papa just found this photo he took last year in Shibuya at Hachiko...
Papa has been teaching me a trick called "sit up"...how am I doing?

I'm back!!!

It's been over a month since my last post and as you can see, I am busy helping papa type as usual. Papa was away on business in Rome a few weeks ago and has been a little busy lately so he hasn't had time to help me with my blog...but I think that's just an excuse for him being lazy. I try to type by myself sometimes but when I use my nose to hit the keys, papa gets upset because of my snot on his keyboard. I always lick it off afterwards so what's the problem???

Papa really enjoyed Rome. It was his first time to Europe and so Rome was a good place to start. He saw all the sites and was particularly taken with the food. Papa has always loved Italian food and eating in Rome was everything he thought it would be and more.

They closed down my favorite indoor dog run a few weeks ago. One of the last days we went, the place was full of Chihuahuas. As you know, I am not a Chihuahua fan because I am afraid of them and they yap at me all of the time. How many Chihuahuas were there you ask? Count for yourself...and this was only half of them...is there a Chihuahua boom that I haven't heard about?

My last agility class was today. It was fun class for the last 6 weeks. I am getting better at jumps and running through the tunnel. I am also pretty good at the see-saw, and recently I have been improving at the slalom. Papa thinks my improvement is because I have a great handler (him) but I think we all know it's because of my incredible intelligence and agility!

I have a new hiding place...bet you can't find me!!!
Papa is making stew for dinner tonight (but not for me...I get the usual...). When mama and papa went shopping today for groceries, they found some really great deals on fruits. Check out these cherries. At 1,580 yen per cup, it works out to over US$1 per cherry...
And these strawberries are a bargain at 1,980 yen per pack. That's about US$3 per strawberry...they must be famous strawberries...with gold in the centre...and super magical healing powers...and blessed by the pope himself...
Papa says that pound for pound, they are more valuable than me...whatever the heck that means. I think pound for pound, papa's head is full of strawberries...

Tagged

I was tagged by Erin to share 7 weird things about myself and to tag 7 other dogs. Since I don't have very many friends online yet, I will have to wait to tag others but I will share 7 weird things about myself...

1) I have recently taken to barking at the TV. My favorite things to bark at are golf (I like to try to catch the ball on the screen) and Mino Monta. Mama and papa don't know why I bark at Mino Monta...only I do... :-)

2) I love taking walks but whenever I see papa get my leash to take me for a walk, I hide under the table or in my house.

3) Whenever visitors leave, I have to run around the house 3 times and check every room to make sure that nothing has been left behind, no one is still hiding here and absolutely nothing is out of place.

4) Whenever mama and papa are out and then come home together I am OK but if only one of them comes home first, when the other comes home I bark like crazy as if there is an intruder. It drives mama and papa crazy.

5) I can destroy a dog toy in under 30 seconds but I have yet to defeat the children's toys that mama and papa got me from Ikea. Man, are they tough!!!

6) I am afraid of Chihuahuas.

7) Mama and papa think I am part cat. When they are getting ready for work or to go out (without me), I like to rub against their legs and roll onto my back at their feet like a cat. I like to cuddle with them, but only sometimes...whenever I feel like it...I am finicky and selfish like a cat :-) And when they are standing in one place, I love to sit on top of their feet to make sure they don't move without me knowing!

So that's it...there are probably tons of other things that mama and papa think are weird about me, but if you ask me, they are even more weird than I am!!! :-)

Lately, papa has been complaining about the ineffectiveness and incompetence of police in Japan. BTW, what's a "moron"? He uses that word a lot in the same sentence as "police". They sit around doing nothing while people park illegally, run red lights and commit all kinds of misdemeanors. Papa says the Japanese police are dumber than me...whatever the heck that means...if that's true then I would think that most people in the world would qualify as Japanese police. As you can see, they're not my favorite either...

Mama and papa went to see Planet Earth today. They said it was OK but not as good as Deep Blue, another BBC movie. Mama fell asleep for part of Planet Earth.

And finally, another cute billboard...

Almost Famous

A friend of mine was walking down Broadway in NY and found this billboard...what a handsome puppy!!! Even though my name is Roots, mama and papa call me Pooh-chan...I wonder why...
In fact, the pup on the billboard is so handsome that the Canadian post office made a stamp featuring him!!!

Thanks to all the nice folks (and their humans) who have left comments recently. We were thinking about stopping this blog because we thought no one was reading it!