The Beggar Royale

and

Friends

Of course he shouldn't do that - you tell him. Buster is the master of this game. Particularly intent on a plate of beans on this occasion ... "He's leaning on me like I'm a bar," sez Bub.

Belly on up to TheBub boys!

Poor starving doggie, you ain't seen nuthin' yet ...

Round one, target: cheese cake

Maybe if I pray ...

This series, in itself, is a testament to Buster's tenacity. He had to have been seeing spots after all those flashes in a row.

Does it get any more pitiful than that?

Boo-Boo, "Preparing to moo for food."

Ooh you haven't met Budkin. That dog hoards cookies (dog biscuits) and guards them with his life. He has to have a certain amount in his stash. If he runs out, he begs til he gets exactly five. At bedtime, he stuffs all five cookies in his mouth (and that ain't easy in the mouth of a Pomeranian) and takes them to wherever he is going to sleep.

Piles them next to him and sleeps - doesn't eat them. If he eats one, then he has to have another one to replace it ... you know just in case civilization ends and he needs a supply.

If any of the other dogs come within five feet of his stash he turns into the Tasmanian devil!

Buddy, a.k.a. the Budkin

Excuse me, I have a question ...

LADDDDY, I said, I have a question.

Oh, steak~?

 Look at this!!!!

I can't believe I ate the whole thing.

Dudley, a.k.a., Dudley the Menace, or "Proof baaaaaad little dogs happen to good people" will soon have an exclusive series of pages and quite possibly his own book. The beagle/basset = bagel spends his off-begging hours harassing cats and harmonizing with Ed the parrot.

He doesn't want anybody sitting in his chair, of course ALL chairs are Dudley's.

JoJo, going after Holiday's food. Had to start feeding Holiday on a cat post to keep JoJo out of it. JoJo thinks she'll starve if she doesn't get everyone else's food, too. Not nearly so neurotic about "wet food" as she was when we first got her. She was a fatty, couldn't make it over the top of the post. Finally, Holiday gave up on getting any wet food and won't eat it anymore. Amazingly, once JoJo realized Holiday had forfeited the wet stuff, isn't as insane about her food. Will even leave some for later. Holiday is the real hero of this story. Good Scorpio gal, she deserves a few accolades for giving up the *real* stuff!

Aria, 10-month-old Dalmatian/English bulldog, and her Christmas present, two-year-old Nancy, Jack Russell mix rescued from humane society. The gal pals are guarding ... make that ... blocking the kitchen exit, just in case something good should be forthcoming.

Doofus prefers the direct, eye-contact approach.

Currently polishing up his Eskimo smooch skills, Doofus will be going nose to nose with all comers at the Furkids Funfair Critter Kissing Booth: http://www.therealmartha.com/DogKissers/index.htm

Aaaaaaahhh ... what better place to sleep off - and show off - a full belly? Molly, a rescue, who's "loving and protective, fits in well" with her new family's lifestyle. She's mostly English pointer (plus ???), approximately seven years old. "She can be a 'relaxed' dog. That is, until she gets her tail moving ... then it moves her whole body. She, of course, thinks it is us who fit well into her lifestyle. After all, this is her house and we are here to maintain it for her and give her the best possible care."

What are you eating?

Oscar can hear someone opening a food wrapper a mile away and make it to you to see what you are eating before you have the wrapper off! :) He does not wait for you to ask him do a trick for a treat, he just starts right in and will sit, speak, lay, play dead, roll over, offer his paw, cover his eyes and jump up to give you a high five faster than you can toss him a biscuit! http://yours-truli.com/oscar/index.htm

Be sure to check all of Oscar's pages - lots of pics, animal welfare info, great links and free graphics.

Spike and Lady, double-tongue teamin' friends from Amsterdam

Patience pays ~ Aní Reneé lives in Texas

One smart cookie,

cuttin' out the middle man!

Found the two above on list posts, will be happy to credit - just let me know.

This is pretty stiff competition, and there ain't no prize, but please do submit the pathetic, desperate faces you can't refuse. I've often thought of renting Buster out to dieters - could be a whole new biz :) Fridge posters! That's the ticket.

Once, just to prove he was wasting his time while I was tearing up lettuce, I gave him a romaine rib. Ran off with it like it was a hunk of prime rib. Radishes, cucumbers, carrots, even goes goo-goo for canned veggie "juice." There are very few things he won't scarf, including Mandarin oranges and grapefruit - but not grapes, which were a fave of Lib's. Go figure ... UPDATE: Good thing Buster rejected grapes. I've since learned they can be lethal. Didn't remember to edit until a reader brought to my attention. As few as seven grapes/raisins have killed dogs by causing kidneys to shut down. Do a search for more info. Makes me wonder if grapes contributed to Lib's death. She had liver problems for quite a while. Did not have an autopsy done, I'll never know. Always keep an eye out for new info. Some nuts are also bad. Saw something about avocados a while back but nothing since.

Bostons are often said to be more human than other breeds. While I don't consider attributing peopleness necessarily complimentary, Buster have does an agenda operating. He's the only Boston I've ever known, however, according to all I read, their wheels are never at rest. You can, indeed, see the thought process twinkling in those eyes.

Worse, the "Eureka" light up for every morsel won - be it one measly bean or a true goodie - tends to weaken our hardest resolve. Oh hell, how bad can licking a ladle be? Cheers to a cheap thrill, people should be so easy.

Our wee-hours snack routine features a hard dental bone - the only thing that keeps Buster busy long enough to forget about pestering* me, if I can sneak past him. For the eternity it takes to build a proper ice cream pig out, the face he puts on can only be described as angelic, "See what a good and patient boy I am." When he takes his chewie, oh-so-delicately, almost like a kiss, I almost feel bad about the one trick I'm occasionally able to pull.

Most activities on the manipulation agenda can be filed under cookie mongering, revved into high gear after dinner. It would be nice to couch potato in peace, not getting up every 15 minutes to hang him out the back door for a quickie whiz, but that's that cookie deal.

He knows exactly when movies or TV shows are about to be over, the part not to miss ... and he times the real emergencies for whenever both of us are in the middle of whatever is distinctly inconvenient to drop. Watches for the car to be gone - not that we're just on a trash run or some such short trip - before taking up the recliner.

He is his own little trip, completely in charge, and all is right with the world. We wouldn't have it any other way.

*I do say on his main page (link below) that he isn't truly a pain about begging. When I'm cooking, he's more the ever-ready sentinel. Patience can be stretched only so far though, huffy kicks in after due time, "C'mon, what is the hold-up here?"

Right now we're so happy he's nearly back up to full pester power, everything he does tickles us no end. Poor old guy was having a hard way to go falling and stiffening up til we put him on glucosamine.

Buster never ceases to amaze. Once he likes/approves something we happen to do, he will, by gawd, make sure, that is the way it will be from now on. He's quite patient but persistent while making his demands/preferences known until we "get" it.

I started an ear warm-up and all-over quick rubdown routine recently. If I get distracted after a walk - he stands in position until I remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Once the old blood is properly circulating again, he does his happy shake, then it's cookie time. DUH :)

Tell your tales, please no sweets/chocolate though. I've also recently learned onions are bad for dogs. Subject line: Beggar, LibbyK9@aol.com or MarthaJones1@aol.com

No need to limit stories to dogs, knew a horse that was nutty about Milk Bones (vet OKed - ask yours to be sure).

Handy side tip: peanut butter is one of the best tricks to pull on canine pill-popper-outers. Especially crunchy, makes it hard to detect the "evil" between the chunks. Cream cheese is also quite irresistible. Have no idea how either works on cats or other animals, sorry.

Please keep this in mind ... animals get fat the same way people do - too many munchies and not enough exercise. Excess weight causes the same problems people suffer, especially in later life.

Check out what Buster is doing to support our troops: http://www.therealmartha.com/toottoot/index.htm

More from the critter department: http://www.therealmartha.com/WARK9/index.htm - Our "adopted" Army K9 unit (almost all WAR pages feature dogs, for one reason or another): http://www.therealmartha.com/WAR/index.htm

http://www.therealmartha.com/spayneuter/index.htm - Spay/neuter graphics on printable pages, telling it like it is

http://www.therealmartha.com/rescue/index.htm - What rescue is all about

http://www.therealmartha.com/Smile/index.htm - Name that smile ... friendliest, most beautiful, goofiest, mischievous ... show off your best buddy's pearly whites

http://www.therealmartha.com/patriotcritters/index.htm - Special Red, White and Blue celebration for and by our four-legged family members

http://www.therealmartha.com/justmydog/index.htm - (S)he's not just a dog - must read appreciation (Lib's links there)

http://www.therealmartha.com/PianoDog/index.htm - Christmas Angel 

http://www.therealmartha.com/Watchmy6/index.htm - SEAL pups? It's a cutie

http://www.therealmartha.com/LPNs/index.htm - Licensed Practical Noogiests - therapy dogs

http://www.therealmartha.com/PLUS%20Syndrome/index.htm - Pets Love Unconditionally

http://www.therealmartha.com/adopt/index.htm - Meet the Shelter Sweeties (busted! now Buster knows about those other dogs I've been seeing)

More critter pages, from pure silly to tackling the serious issues: http://www.therealmartha.com/CritterIndex/index.htm

Speaking of busted ... I don't think that's Buster, although he may have a past we don't know about. In any case, that's exactly what he, and quite probably any other Boston, would do - beggin' to be one of the guys.

Hmmm, the knee looks familiar ... Buster has moved on to the big smorgasbord in the sky. Little bugger left a huge spot to fill, Scoopy's doing his best. The passive stance, chin firmly planted and nose twitching, does have its merits.

Sure is nice having help with the dishes again!

http://www.therealmartha.com/ScoopPoster/index.htm
Just a start ...

Check out the toy Scoop inspired: http://www.therealmartha.com/Chewapalooza3/index.htm ~ sales benefit animal welfare

http://www.therealmartha.com/brightspots/index.htm - Inspired by a great fooled-me, wit and wisdom gathered from everyday goings-on, special events, occasions, critters, friends ... real people what-have-yous - includes something for everyone, with special attention paid to the sneakin'-up-on-50 crowd

Come back soon, I'm always messin' with improvements

If Lib's box is full, try MarthaJones1@aol.com

Notes

Subject lines like "Hey there, hi, this is great ... " do not cut it, spammers do that. Due to at least 10 tons of junk arriving every day - when I don't recognize sender name and subject line is not clearly defined, I delete. Downloads, from anyone, even you my friend, also have to be automatic deletions. Most people don't realize scanners can't catch the latest virus/worms.

Embedded images or copies of doc. files are welcome. Typing in all caps is not. It's extremely irritating and should never be used unless you mean to be screaming, which is even more irritating. I will not read, no matter the subject. If you have a great article or essay you haven't seen everywhere, go ahead and send the first few lines. I will ask you to retype the whole thing if I don't already have it in proper form. BTW, double spaces between sentences, broken lines or any sloppy spacing are also major editing pains. Don't even think about forwarding with << >> marks. If you do not know about copy and paste into a new mail and blind copy courtesy, check http://www.rrudder.com/safe/bcc.html.

Please attach your credit on personal submissions - full name, initials or however you're comfortable. Also let me know if you'd like e-mail addy published for direct contact. Pen names OK too, I'm the only one who needs to know who are if for any reason your own name would cause difficulty.

I do try to answer all mail within 24 hours. If you do not hear from me in two or three days, it's likely the mail was lost - please try again. If you check and find your mail deleted, it could be because you saved me the trouble of opening one of many duplicates by using a clear subject line - thanks.