Tuesday, August 02, 2016

This blog is going to the dogs, Day 2



The little brown ShihTzu is named Whiskey. When we picked him up, my ten-year-old and I were singing "whiskey for my men and beer for my horses" along with Toby Keith and driving through whiskey country in Kentucky. The ten-year-old chose the name. I never anticipated any problems until the six-year-old's teacher commented that she always talked about how much she loved her whiskey.

The little white guy is Gotti, and he's a sweetie!

Here are their favorite things to say:

Whiskey:
"I didn't do it."
"I have no idea who pulled that out of the garbage can."
"Oops"

"That was not me dancing on the dining room table."
"Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I have a quick zoom around the neighborhood."
"Gotti did it."

"Come on. We can play throw at least 200 more times. Come on, come on."
"Was that your food?"
"But I love dirty laundry."

"I thought that was my toy. See, you can still use them."
"You walked away. I thought you were finished."
"Sure, I'll take you out for a walk, but keep up, will you?"
"Gotti did it."

"How was I supposed to know you just paid $75 to clean that bedspread?"
"I didn't know that leather showed dig scratches."
"That squirrel wanted to play."

"He was holding our pizzas. Of course I had to jump all over him. He knew I meant thank you. Anyway, you gave him a nice tip."
"The mailman invited me to ride with him."
"Gotti did it."


Gotti:
"May I just cuddle on your lap? Please and thank you?"

48 comments:

Kitty said...

I never anticipated any problems until the six-year-old's teacher commented that she always talked about how much she loved her whiskey.

HA HA HA !!!! Kids say the darndest things :~)

DLM said...

I can't say I prefer the pet posts to Janet's patented brand of splendidness, but this IS enjoyable.

Loving the pet-by-pet commentary.

Donnaeve said...

Love this and the things "they say!"

Our neighbors have a boxer named Gotti. Who'd have ever thought another dog would have that name?!?! I sure didn't.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

Ha! Love the pet voices. Espcially Whiskey's, "Gotti did it."

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Is it ironic that Gotti is the good one? They're adorable and I want to smoosh their faces (in the gentles and most dog appreciated way possible, of course. I know not every dog enjoys a face smooshing). Does Whiskey often get to take a spin with the mailman? ^^

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Adorable! So dang precious. And Whisky is the best name for a mischievous pup. I want to cuddle them both.

Colin Smith said...

Awww... now I feel bad for comparing Trumps "hair" to a Shih Tzu. Sorry, Whiskey! :(

My wife was originally going to be called Brandy. Thankfully, her paternal grandmother intervened, telling her mom, "You can't name a girl "Brandy"!

Otherwise I'd be going around declaring my love for Brandy... :)

* Not that there's anything wrong with the name Brandy--no offense intended. Indeed, Brandy's a fine girl--what a good wife she would be. Her eyes could steal a sailor from the sea. (Yes, that's a song.)

Donnaeve said...

Hey y'all, I know we're supposed to be blog hopping this month, but everyone needs to drop in on Lucie Witt's blog. She's got a very, very interesting post up!

LUCIE

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Seconding Donna. After adoring the adorable puppies, go read Lucie's blog post. Amazing stuff that. Donna has the link as you might expect of any stbnytbs

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...

Very cute.

I agree with Colin, that dew Drump wears can't hold a candle to these darlings. I wonder if the Queen still has the photo I sent of my dog and her fish head.

I'm listening to A Breif History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. It's unsettling that what happened in 1979 is so close to the current state of affairs. The book is a masterpiece of individual voices. I thought it would be a boring history. Not at all.

Now, back to lurking like a sturgeon.

Lucie Witt said...

Aw, Donnaeve and Em you all are too much.

I'm very happy to say my how I got my agent post is up.

Colin Smith said...

LUCIE!!! Congratulations!!! What an amazing story!!! (Imagine a confetti blast for each !!!) Thank you so much for sharing.

People, you need to read Lucie's post, especially if you're in the query trenches thinking you'll never get out.

!!! :)

Hermina Boyle said...

So very adorable! You can really see the personalities in their faces and the voices are great!

DLM said...

Lucie's post has the hairs standing up on the backs of my arms. Donna, thank you for linking that for us - and Lucie, MANY HAPPY RETURNS!!! All the best in your success ... and gee thanks, says everyone here, for adding to our TBR piles.

Lucie Witt said...

Aw, Donnaeve and Em you all are too much.

I'm very happy to say my how I got my agent post is up.

Megan V said...

OP: Your Shih-Tzus are too much. I love the things they say. And I snorted out my morning OJ reading your daughters proclamation about her whiskey.

Canine names are something to think about, that's for sure. My paternal grandmother used to breed and raise (and occasionally show) cattle dogs, blue heelers, and shepherds. There's an old tale in the family that she named one of the pups Beep. Turned out, that was the pup who, like Whiskey, enjoyed taking a spin around the neighborhood. She'd just take off. It pretty much meant that half the time, my gran was forced to run around town shouting BEEEEP! BEEEP!


Now onto other news:
CONGRATULATIONS LUCIE!!!! *Happy Dance* You did it!

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

Beautiful pups... "Gotti did it." HA!

And Lucie, WOW! Congratulations. Your hard work, perseverance and dedication is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story. I actually got a little teary-eyed for you.

Donnaeve said...

Lucie provided such a compelling read about her agent, I can only imagine how good her book must be! Again, Lucie - congratulations!

Bethany Elizabeth said...

Congratulations Lucie!!!! That's so exciting - I'm so excited for you! Thanks for posting your story; it's very encouraging. :)

Also, these dogs are pretty adorable.

Sherry Howard said...

Congratulations Lucie! BTW, after I commented on your blog I read that you live in Kentucky. I'm in Middletwon, Ky. So, if we meet for lunch, you can meet the rotten dogs in today's post because they are mine.

Megan's comment reminded me of the morning Whiskey jumped out the window of my car. I hadn't cleaned up (at all) and I'd let the little one who proclaimed her love for whiskey talk me into letting the dogs ride along to take her to school. The window was still down from her goodbye kisses and Whiskey needed to stretch his legs so he leaped out the window. He's stealthy, so I didn't realize it until I thought, "Aw, that dog looks just like Whiskey, and he's gotten out." Whiskey was probably thinking, "She left the window down. She must want to play chase in this fancy neighborhood where people get dressed in the morning and brush their hair before they go out." So I met about fifty people who were afraid to let me out of their sight while I wandered their neighborhood screaming for whiskey.

I hope my dogs and I have made you smile a little today!

Adib Khorram said...

Congrats Lucie!!

Dena Pawling said...


Cute dogs Sherry! Love your whiskey stories =)

When my mother was growing up in CT, her neighbor frequently stood on her porch and yelled "Stupid!" while looking in the general direction of my mother's house. One day my mother asked her "Why do you always call me stupid?" The neighbor told her she was calling her cat in for dinner.

As it turns out, the cat was deaf, which is why it never came when it was called, and why the lady named her Stupid.

Congrats Lucie!

Lennon Faris said...

Love these pics!

Lucie congratulations!! I can't wait to read.

Lucie Witt said...

Im overwhelmed by the congrats, so much so that I neglected to comment on the ridiculously cute pups in the photo.

Sherry, we should email because I suspect we live pretty near each other!

Claire Bobrow said...

Is Gotti the "Teflon Don" of dogs? No charges ever stick with that cute face!

Whiskey is equally adorable. Love his name, but what about that 1st grade teacher? Time to take a peek in the old lunchbox thermos :-)

Karen McCoy said...

Congrats, Lucie!

Claire Bobrow said...

Lucie - what an inspiring post!! Congratulations and I cannot wait to read your book! Donna - thank you so much for directing us to Lucie's blog.

Steve Stubbs said...

I have to say, the dog pictures from yesterday and today are really cute. I would rather read about some bonehead querying a series in which nothing happens at all except the characters freeze to death at the North Pole. Especially when all the characters in the whole series are dead by the end of the first book and there are twelve more books to go. That really makes me want to read the eleventh sequel first. I wish I were an agent so I could sign those authors. But those dogs cannot compete with these dogs. These dogs are so precious they almost persuade me that kind of literary genius is not everything. It may not be much of anything, but it for sure is not everything. I look forward to tomorrow’s critter snaps.

Julie Weathers said...

Those dogs are so cute. I love the kid comment and the different personalities of the two. Poor Gage does nothing but Lie under the desk at my feet unless I'm going to the bathroom then he clicks down the hall so I can pet him while I'm peeing. He's terribly disappointed when he finds out I'm taking a bath. No pets.

I wish he'd do more Whiskey stuff, but he's in a funk since we moved to town.

Bless little Gotti's heart. How sweet.

CynthiaMc said...

So cute!

Barbara Etlin said...

Hmmm... I wonder whether the blame should be shared more evenly between these two cuties.

LD Masterson said...

Gotti needs to throw Whiskey under the bus. Just once.

BJ Muntain said...

Shih Tzus are my favourite dog! Koko was (probably) a Shih Tzu. Little Girl Dog is a Shih Tzu/Bichon cross.

Whiskey and Gotti are both so beautiful, but after Koko, I've got a real soft spot for the brown ones. (LGD isn't brown, though.) But it sounds like both your pups have Shih Tzu personalities - bigger than life, sweet, and smart. They call Shih Tzus the clowns of the dog world, did you know that?

Colin: I love that song. So sad.

Congrats, Lucie!

Joseph S. said...

Sherry,
Beautiful picture of beautiful companions. Your story conveys Whiskey and Gotti’s personalities beautifully. Very entertaining post.

Lucie Witt,
Congratulations on the great news. I love positive news. And a very nice job on your post about the experience.

Unknown said...

Not only are the dog pictures cute -- I learned something new yesterday. I had no idea pomeranians were sled dogs at a point in time!

Gotti and Whiskey are adorable and sound like the perfect pair.

And, CONGRATULATIONS Lucie Witt! :D

Andrea said...

Loving the pet pics! I can't imagine my life without animals and I love hearing about other people's pets. One of my cats decided to come home today after being away for three days and three nights. She's just so independent and strong-willed... like her mum really :-) But I'm so relieved and happy she's back!

Lucie, congratulations! I posted a reply on your blog as well. Amazing story, it gives a woodland creature like me hope.

Beth Carpenter said...

Andrea, glad your cat came home. Lucie, congratulations!

The dogs are so cute. You can see the mischief in Whiskey's eyes.

Donnaeve said...

Hey y'all, a sobering moment.

(not to rain on Lucie's well deserved accolades here)

However, I would like to say, please, please advocate for dogs you see sitting OUTSIDE IN THE HOT SUN WITH NO SHADE. A FB post was just shared by a friend of mine. For the two puppies in that post, they are lucky - despite their 2nd and 3rd degree burns from SITTING IN THE SUN, they are getting care and treatment at an Emergency Animal Hospital. I just can't get over the stupidity.

Like with other matters of our day to day lives - if you seesomething, say something. Call your local humane society. Call the ASPCA. Call the non-emergency police number - I'd say call the emergency one, but I'm sure that's not goign to be acceptable. I've called the non-emergency # for the police when I saw a dog (this was last year) locked in a car with barely enough room to stick his head out. It was a Great Dane - he was panting so hard. I called the Humane Soc on a house down I-95 who had a kennel, with a dog house - and no shade - at all. Anyway.

Back to the pup pics, but since this is August, and it's going to be a month of pet pics...that's (as Colin would say) my [PSA] of the day.

Andrea said...

Thanks Beth, we're especially relieved because we lost one of our cats a few weeks ago. She was run over by a car. For a moment I thought the nightmare was repeating itself.

By the way, I remember people were posting their Twitter handles here. I've been trying to find the Reiders that are on Twitter, but so far I've only found (and followed) about three of you. I'm @andrea_udarach , if anyone's interested in connecting on Twitter.

Craig F said...

Yes Janet is off to a good start for going to the dogs. They are adorable and look like a Christmas card.

The bad thing is that I look a bit like that fellow on the right when I haven't bothered to shave for a couple of days. I hate to shave but I don't want to look as old as my beard would make me look.

Yes, if you live in a hot place keep your eyes open for danger points. Make sure everything around you is safe from the heat. We tied our hottest July on record last month and it is worse this month. The inside of cars can reach 130 degrees F within a half an hour and that can be dangerous. So can dogs left outside with no water.

Colin Smith said...

Andrea: Check the List of Blog Readers and Their Blogs. Some people include their Twitter handles. If you're not on the list, would you like to be?

Everyone: If you haven't included your Twitter handle on the list and would like to, email me, and I'll add it.

Theresa said...

Today belongs to Lucie! Congratulations!

Lucie Witt said...

I've been trying to keep up with thanking everyone today and have failed miserably. Thank you so, so much for all the well wishes here, on Twitter, and over at my blog.

Megan V said...

Sherry OMG I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that spur of the moment whiskey chase.

Anonymous said...

Sherry, what a couple of cuties! One of my sisters has a ShihTzu and he's full of energy and rather hilarious to watch. I laughed at the teacher reaction to the name Whiskey. We got a black lab when my son was about three years old and named the dog Baxter. My son had trouble pronouncing the name, but that didn't stop him. They were best friends and would run all over the back yard together, my son yelling at the dog, "Come here, Baxter." "Get the ball, Baxter." "No, Baxter, that's my stick." One day a neighbour commented that we sure had picked an unusual name for the dog. He said he'd never before heard of a dog named Bastard.

Lucie, I said it on your blog, but congratulations!! I loved your story and am so happy for you. *SQUEEE*

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...

Congratulations Lucie! I teared up as I read your post. 4 kids, law school, bar exam, 7 novels. Wow. What an inspiring post.

AJ Blythe said...

Sherry, sounds like those gorgeous pups are full of personality. Your story reminds me of the time my Mum was out looking for her dog which had managed to slip out the gate with a delivery man. An elderly lady down the street got very concerned when she heard Mum calling, "Tiger. Tiger, here boy". (Mum found Tiger happily sniffing smells a few houses away)

Andrea, I just followed you on twitter (I'm @AussieCozy).

Lucie, how thrilling and wonderful to read your story. You're right, we should never give up. Great advice =)

Unknown said...

Awwwww! Your little brown ShihTzu looks so like one of mine. What dear little dogs they are.

Enjoy your holiday with your furry family members. It looks fun :)