STRICTLY POSITIVE

Happy Friday, all. No delay, let's get on with the ditties:

Exhibit A:  Doing this Friday post has been fun, but now that I've seen this item (thanks for the full story, Rhonda and Beverley!), I have hit as high as I can go and might as well hang up the spurs. The picture of Bob the Golden Retriever with eight birds standing on his legs has already made the Internet rounds. Well. Apparently Bob and his eight bird friends are also pals with a HAMSTER and the group of them live with their person in Brazil (where I will be departing for shortly with enough empty baggage to bring back 1 dog, 8 birds, and 1 hamster). Bird is going to marry Bob whether she likes it or not. But how could she not, JUST LOOK AT THIS SPLENDOR:

 In his ear. IN HIS EAR.

Birds playing dead. Seriously, look at these little Finch bastards buying into their performances. Total rigor legs on the left and I'd swear the one on the right has his eyes closed. Bird had best up her playing dead game to match these two masters. Bob ain't so bad his own self.

I just died of the diabeetus. Send Wilford Brimley. These birds are so good I'm beginning to wonder if they really did die and the owner figured he'd get some pictures to remember them by. Seriously, that can't be real, can it? (Also, the snot drip coming from Bob's nose? That's real life, baby.)

Damn it, now I need a hamster. Maybe a rat. I know rats better and I wouldn't want to copy this guy's shtick 100%.

Just look at that little hamster bastard holding onto his covers. (I think Bob may be a blanket hog.)

RED ALERT! WE'RE MISSING A FINCH!

Exhibit B: I may as well finish out this post, even though I'll never top Bob and The Gang. Here's a lady doing great things, something all of us pet lovers should think about: rescuing an elderly dog. Nicole went one step further and adopted a dying dog, then took him on some grand adventures. What greater gift could we give to a pet that has been tossed away but a lot of love and attention to round out their days? A tough hoe, but a worthwhile one. Here are just a few of the things Chester and Nicole have been up to. You can see more by following the link or heading to the Instagram account below:

Exhibit C: While we're on the subject of saving things, Bryant Collins was driving down Highway 72 in Madison County, Georgia, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and checked and it's a good thing he did, because that "thing" was a 15-month-old baby crawling right towards the freeway. Collins called the police and thankfully they didn't look askance at a man claiming he found a baby on the side of the freeway (because nothing could go wrong there, right?) and the story had a happy ending. Thanks to Janet for sending this one my way. Here's a cute picture of saver and savee:

Exhibit D: So we all remember this video, right? Tara the cat saving her young owner from a dog attack?




Well, Tara has taken her badass cred one step further and won the Los Angeles SPCA's 33rd Annual Hero Dog Award. Hard to argue with that selection. Just look at her. She's OWNING that dog award. Thanks to Elizabeth for this bit of catnip.

Exhibit E: Kyson Dana and Jeffrey Smith challenged each other to a sketchbook duel.The rules for the competition were that they had to draw one animal per day and post it to Instagram by midnight. The animal had to start with the letter of the day and the composition could be created using any medium. The artists made their way through the alphabet for a full 26 days and never missed a sketch. You can see their alphabet work at their respective sites (linked above), and I encourage you to do so, it's some neat work (though there were a few that stumped me). Here are a few examples:

(EIGHT BIRDS AND A HAMSTER. ON A DOG. Yep, still the greatest thing ever.)

Exhibit F: Glenn is a blind Jack Russell terrier, which could be a problem except he has his own seeing eye dog, Buzz, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The pair was found in a sea tunnel in Northern England and are currently up for adoption as a duo. Glenn follows Buzz around, but Buzz doesn’t seem to mind—he helps his friend find his food bowl, kennel, and bed. (Hat tip to Erin for this gem)

Exhibit G: This is pretty fantastic and if you're a movie buff looking for some artwork for your walls, this could be right up your alley. Artist Federico Babino has created 27 prints of houses imagined as designed by famous directors. You can see all of them at Babino's website, but here are a few of my favorites:

Exhibit H: We haven't had a goat video for a while. Here is a baby goat bound and determined to headbutt a horse. You're welcome.



The good things are starting to pile up in the old blog inbox, but that feels like enough for this week, we're running pretty long. It's also been a quiet week on the Bird front. She continues to be plagued by dysplasia issues, and we had to take it easy after a great day at the park on Saturday. We started injections at home this week which will hopefully help. Of course, she's a trooper and lets me shoot her up with no fuss at all. We did go to our final Tricks class even though we didn't get any practice in, and she graduated without much trouble (phew!). Still lots of work to do before we take our act on the road in the Airstream.

Once at the dog park, B wants nothing to do with walking the paths, taking in the ocean views, greeting other happy dogs. All she wants to do is play ball. I try to compromise. I try to get her to play ON the paths as we walk. She'll have none of it once it takes us away from where she wants to play. I make her walk first before she gets any play time. She drives me nuts. So we are locked in a mortal battle of wills. Last weekend, she actually staged a sit-in, lying down at the side of the path and refusing to keep walking. This picture was taken from a good 30 yards down the path. Oh, how I love this ornery pissant of a dog.

Thanks for stopping by again this week, much appreciated. I hope you all have happy and peaceful weekends.