These paws are made for walkin'

Yesterday, we took Claire on her very first walk around the neighborhood. Although, I'm a bit confused as to why we call it a "walk" if Claire gets to sit back and sleep the whole time while Momma pushes her in this big, crazy thing called a stroller. I don't much like the stroller, and I'm strongly considering placing it on my Axis of Evil list with cats, mail carriers and vacuum cleaners. I can't decide if I should bark at it or run away from it as fast as possible. So, I simply keep my distance from it by hovering behind Stew and giving it the occasional "woof." I have learned that if I act afraid enough of the stroller, Stew will give me a delicious Charlee Bear snack (the equivalent of a liver-flavored oyster cracker to you humans). And who doesn't like an oyster cracker? I'll bet you can't eat just one. Anyway, we had Claire strapped in there pretty good, and I just hope she wasn't as frightened as I was of the stroller. If she was, she was playing it real cool. She's a keeper!

In other news yesterday, I received a text message and picture from my South Dakota cousin, Dakota. She's coming to visit next January, and I'm looking forward to annoying the heck out of her. She's a prize hunting dog who retired within the last couple years to become a house dog (like me). So, I'm hopeful that she'll put up with my playful ear chewing and pawing. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure she could kick my tail across the room if she so chooses. Dakota belongs to Uncle Doug (aka StewCat). Back in the late 1980's, Uncle Doug visited Stew at the University of SD for homecoming weekend. Despite Stew's attempts to organize a Scrabble tournament at his house - complete with milk and cookies - Doug forced Stew and his buddies to go party-hopping in search of beer. So, while attending a party on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex, Doug was found climbing a tree from the groundfloor up to the balcony of the apartment hosting the party. To this day, nobody is saying why Doug didn't simply use the stairs. Although, rumor has it that Doug actually fell from the balcony, and it was his stubborn pride that made him decide to re-enter the party from the same location from which he so abruptly exited... Regardless, Doug was given the nickname, StewCat, because of his climbing prowess. Uncle Doug is the only cat that I consider "cool", and he has lifetime immunity from our house rule that all visiting cats will be tossed on the roof. (see http://stay-at-home-dog.blogspot.com/2006/10/undisputable-fact-that-all-cats-are_18.html for more info on our house rules)