The video was about helping your cat learn to love his carrier. My little partner was adorable if a little squirmy, so I started out the clip holding him as I talked about the basics. I let him nibble on a little salmon treat I was holding as I talked (and forgot my lines, as always) … everything was going fine …squirm … nibble … nibble … CHOMP! He missed the treat and took the first knuckle off my finger!

This was only the second video of five we had to film, so see if you can spot my co-star, a bloody bandage, in the rest of the vids when they come out next month. (Oh, and yes, the bite is infected now. No improvement by Friday and it’s off to the doc I go. )

Penny tucked in and didn’t look up until the cup was licked clean.

The “homemade” part? Yeah, that would be me. I’m making Peanut Butter, Fruit Smoothie, and Pumpkin Banana. Rather than buy commercially made stuff, I wanted to do it myself to make sure that the blends were delicious yet mild enough to prevent intestinal upset. Sum has ice cream every day (any flavor, he’s not picky), and he swears his poos are perfect!

He’s a new shopper, but he already understands that the cushion under the table is the best seat in the house, and the “library bone” is his for the taking:

He gets a little bossy when other dogs invade “his” turf, as in, “Bark, bark, get outta MAH STORE!”

We’re working on it …

Sumner visits during “recess.” He does some consensual sniffing with the student-dog, then gets to begging. And drooling.

The poor red chair!

Here’s the story … years ago I trained Gene Weingarten’s dog. He mentioned me a few times in his popular online chat, and one of his readers, Abby, a Foreign Service Officer stationed in Albania, got in touch with me to ask for advice about her Albanian street dog, Cooper. We started a friendly correspondence (Cooper, you have very dedicated people!), and a year later when Abby and her husband Paul were passing through DC, they invited me to meet for drinks.

Was I a tad worried about meeting these two strangers? Uh, a little, sure. Turned out they were ridiculously nice, and they didn’t try to roofie me once! And they brought me a present – a beautiful pendant from Albania that nets me compliments every time I wear it. Drinks turned into dinner, and we parted as friends.

Cut to another year later and our move to PA … Abby and Paul were about to embark on their new assignment in India and they were connecting with friends and family on the East Coast before leaving. And you know what that means …

Cooper visited the red chair!

I loved meeting him after hearing about him for so long. He was adorable, curious, and willing to eat anything I offered him. I totally bribed him to like me.

Abby and Paul treated him to a LOTL shopping spree, then he joined us for dinner.

They gave me another gift, making sure to note that the bottle referenced my dog connection, not my temperament:

(Those who know me well might think it fits on both levels.)

Abby, Paul and Coop – best of luck to you in your new home. Thanks for visiting … Namaste!

Can you guess what he is? (Hint: he’s a mix of two unique breeds.)

(My Facebook friends were already introduced to Yoda, so don’t cheat, y’all! Speaking of Facebook … have you been wondering why my blog posts are so infrequent these days? That’s because 90% of my cute pix are ending up there – join the fun!)

Even better, he’s now greeting many of our canine shoppers out on the floor! Without incident, I should add. If the visiting dog makes him uneasy he’ll take a sniff and then head right back to his bed behind the counter.

He was curious and gentle with these wee pups:

We wound up with a total of four dogs (the puppies, Polo and Daisy) plus a free-ranging Sum in here, and everyone did great.

That play bow I’ve been hoping for? He did two with a Goldendoodle pup a few weeks ago. It was magical! Quite proud of my old man’s new tricks.

“I’m pretty swoon-worthy … everybody thinks I’m adorable”

“Tell that Sumner of yours that he’s got some competition.”

I brought a gift, but sadly it was consumed before I could bribe a few good pics. I discovered that the “hold a treat above the camera and make funny noises” trick doesn’t work with livestock. At all.

The pygmy goats were charmers … the kept crowding my camera so it was tough to get a decent picture.

We can hear our fuzzy neighbors when we’re outside, so now Tom and I can do pretty convincing bleating and baaing imitations. Those sounds are lovely … the neighbor who leaves the dog out in the yard to bark for 30 minutes at a clip? No thanks.

Sure she’s cute, but she’s also a badass. She went right up to a bigger dog and gave him what-for. Then she got to work killing this big pink ball:

“Don’t be fooled by my fluffy exterior. Inside me beats the heart of Big Dog.”