What happend to my cute LITTLE puppy??

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. It's been rather busy around here. It's been nothing but work, rehabbing my knee and taking care of what once was a little 10 lbs fur ball. How many times have you heard someone with a little puppy say this.."I wish I could just give him a pill that would make him stay this size forever". Boy do they have that right. Buster is amazing. He's also getting HUGE!! At his 8 week Dr. checkup he weighed 20 lbs. His next check up is this Monday, I'm betting his weighs over 30. The Vet said "he's going to be a big boy". LOL. Tell me something I don't know. He's already there. In regards to training, it's been going great. He's training US well. He trained me to get me to stand in front of him, say sit and shake while he sits down in front of me, hold his paw out for me to take and then give him a treat. He's very good at it. He loves his treats and I have to admit, I love giving them to him. Bogey and Buster are becoming pretty good friends. Bogey won't admit to liking the "little" guy...keep in mind the "little guy" is actually taller that Bogey now and Bogey walks underneath Buster. As I said..Bogey won't admit to taking a liking to Buster but we've caught him a few times after returning home sitting as close to Buster's cage as possible while we were away. He doesn't growl at him much these days and will actually share a food and water dish with Buster from time to time. Buster's been the best thing to happen to Bogey for a long time. He still misses his best friend Buddy...we all do..but Buster is the next best thing and is making Bogey feel young again. It's pretty funny to see the look on Bogey's face when Buster is doing his "wild and crazy" puppy stuff. Bogey just watches him toss his toys, run after balls, jump, roll, etc... and then looks at me with this "the kid is just plain nuts" look on his face. As far as the rest of us are concerned, we agree with Bogey. Buster has become the center of attention around the Byrne house. To say he's getting a lot of attention would be a huge understatement. Buster seems to like us as well. To see the look on his face and his response when he hears Kathleen walk in the door after a hard day of work is priceless. Buster hears the door open...ears perk up..he hears the door close..he stops what he's doing. He hears foot steps..he runs to the doorway. He see's Kathleen and he runs as fast as his can toward her with his tail wagging a million miles per hour. Here are a few pictures and a video of Buster. As you can see...he's starting to look like a dog!! Not a little puppy. Oh..and by the way. He's found the coolest spot in the house during these hot summer days. The refrigerator. See for yourself..that was a few weeks ago...when he still "fit" in the fridge. He doesn't fit anymore.

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My Wife...dog training....and me

When I started this blog weeks ago, you might have noticed the title was "Dog's, my wife, family and..oh yeah..me". I've been talking mostly about the impact my dogs have had on my life, especially the passing of my Buddy and the recent addition of Buster.

Today, it's my wife's turn in the spotlight. When I brought up getting a new puppy over a month ago, Kathleen said NO WAY!!. I asked again..she said NO..I asked a few days later, she said no. I noticed the NO was not quite a loud. So..I started looking...LOL. I sent her pictures of cute little puppies. She said no again and to stop sending the pictures. So..of course I sent a few more. Keep in mind, she knew at that time in a few short weeks my son Michael and I were going to be having surgery on our knees and both Mike and Tommy were going to be starting college in a few weeks...and she does have a full time job. So..I sent a few more pictures of puppies for sale I found on the Internet. She said.."if we get a new puppy, I'm not going to be the only one getting up in the middle of the night, picking up the back yard full of poop, training him..etc.." Mike, Tommy and I all said "Of course not..We are all going to help". Kathleen knew full well that she was going to be doing most of the puppy work. But she went along with it anyway. She finally gave me the nod to start puppy shopping. HA!! My plan worked. I knew she couldn't resist those cute puppy pictures. So..here we are, two weeks into having Buster at home. I'm still limping around on crutches sitting up stairs since 5:00 am Saturday morning while Kathleen is down stairs taking care of Buster and Bogey. She was up at 3:30 am this morning, took Buster outside..went back to bed for a hour or so and then up again at 5:00 am. She gets up every morning around 4:30 am to let Buster outside. She's picking up the messes the little guy has made...and still doing all the laundry, picking up the house, helping the boys with their college prep, cooking dinners, making lunches, basically making our house a home...and of course working at her full time job. And she's doing it all without complaining. As I type this I hear her downstairs saying "No biting" for about the 5th time in the last 10 minutes. Buster is getting trained by the world's best trainer. I know..she trained me. Buster doesn't stand a chance. LOL. She's amazing. We are all lucky to have her training us. You too Bogey. Nod and say WOOF!!

Buster...attack killer dog

I learned a big lesson yesterday. Never...and I repeat..NEVER attempt to take care of a puppy while you're on crutches. I came home from work yesterday afternoon. Nobody was home. It was just me, Bogey and Buster. I tried my best not to let Buster know I was home since I knew if he saw me I'd have to let him out of his crate and out to the backyard so he could do his business on the grass. His hearing is better than mine and Bogey's. He heard the door and started to whine and bark. I went upstairs, changed my clothes, took my shoes off and tried my best to ignore his pleas but he just sounds so pathetic I just had to let him out. BIG MISTAKE #1. I hopped back down stairs to find this way too cute little fur ball staring at me with this big "PLEASE" look on his face. I had no chance at this point. I opened the cage, opened the back door expecting the little fur ball to be a good little puppy and go outside. Mistake #2. He turned and ran the other way toward the kitchen. Now I have a puppy ready to pee and poop, running around inside the house and I'm chasing him on crutches. I catch him and try my best to round him up using my crutches like a cowboy rounding up his cattle. I'm not going to let a puppy get the best of me. After a few minutes of playing cowboy I had won the battle and Buster was outside being a good boy peeing on the grass. So far, so good. Now all I have to do is round him back up and get him back inside the house. How tough could that be? I go to the door and call Buster, he loves being inside the house so this should be easy. Buster looks at me, looks at the door, looks at the backyard and takes off. The wrong way. Bogey looks at me with this "I warned you, don't look at me, you're the one who wanted a puppy" look on his face. I grab my crutches and give chase. I'm getting pretty fast on these crutches but I have to admit, the kid has better moves than I do. He runs full speed under my utility trailer we keep on the side yard. At this point, I'm not looking too good and I'm thinking I might need help to round up Buster. He comes out...we stare at each other. He has something in his mouth that I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be munching on. I make my move and catch him. I try my best to coax him back toward the door...trying to be nice. He takes a few steps and then bolt toward the trailer again. Time to regroup. Bogey is just sitting there, laughing at me. I have an idea...tease him with food...something the little monster has never seen. (notice how he's gone from a cute little fur ball to a monster at this point). I go back to the kitchen, grab a hot dog and head back to the showdown. I lean down under the trailer and he smells the hot dog. He comes running out to sniff out this new taste treat...it's working!!MISTAKE #3. Suddenly I feel a tug on the hot dog..my bait has been taken...BY BOGEY. He ate my bait, the entire hot dog was gone!! I felt so stupid. I was duped by a Basset Hound once again. Bogey ran off to the safety of the inside of the house. Fat and happy..with my bait. But...being of superior intelligence I quickly realized I still had hot dog juice on my fingers and the little guy didn't know I didn't really have the hot dog. He smelled by fingers and started to follow me back to the house thinking there must be something in this for him when we get back inside the house. Minutes later I'm back inside the house with the door shut. I did it. I won the battle...or so I thought. I gave Buster a puppy treat, not the juicy hot dog he thought he was getting but he seemed happy. I sat down on the floor to play with Buster. MISTAKE #4. Here is some advice. Never sit down on the floor, with a puppy, bare feet and a bad leg. As you all know, Puppies love to use their very sharp teeth on anything they can dig these weapons of mass destruction into. Buster, as cute as he may be...is no different. He went after my uncovered toes. I forgot just how sharp puppies teeth are...he reminded me. I grabbed him and brought him back to my chest. He went for my hands. Now I'm bleeding on my left hand from those little weapons he has in his mouth and my left little toe has teeth marks in it. I put the little devil dog back on the ground to take care of my wounds. My toes starts to get eaten again. Now I know I'm in big trouble. What did I do to deserve this? I'm starting to think he must have heard me call his mother a good looking bitch. I meant that as a compliment. Really, I did! I call Kathleen on my cell phone as I try my best to roll on the ground away from what I'm now calling names I can't print. I beg for mercy as he goes back to the little toe on my bad leg. I warn Kathleen that she should get home ASAP, if not she will just find a pair of crutches and what's left of my left foot when she gets home. We bought a man eater. A little furry fat Piranha with feet. I'm thinking I should have given him a real hot dog at this point, he obviously wants fresh meat and I'm on the menu. Lucky for me I see his favorite chew toy..other than my left foot that is...this long red furry chew thingy. Not really sure what it actually is but I know he likes it. I roll over on the floor, dragging my way slowly across the floor..like I'm avoiding sniper fire on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, bleeding..it was getting ugly... toward his toy fearing my feet would be eaten at any point. I grab the red "whatever it is" thingy...and toss it over to the great white fur ball hoping to get his attention before he comes in for the kill. In my mind, I'm picturing the scene from "Jaws" where the boat captain is slowly being eaten by the Great White Shark as he slides down the sinking boat. One toe at a time. so...I toss the red toy toward the little white man eater. He looks at it...he looks at me..AND?? I know..the suspense is killing you, isn't it? He takes the red toy. The battle is over. I scramble back to the couch for safety. He's happy and I still have a few toes still left untouched. Kathleen came home 30 minutes later to find me sitting on the couch, in the fetal position, with blood stains on my shirt. Kathleen looks at her cute little fur ball and thinks I'm making the whole thing up. Of course Buster immediately goes back into his full cute little puppy mode. Kathleen picks up her little bundle of white fluffy joy and he licks her on the face. Talk about a momma's boy. "He's SO cute" she's thinking. How could this cute little fluffy puppy become "Cujo, attack killer dog"? Bogey just sat and laughed. I told Kathleen I wanted to change his name to Charlie Manson. She wasn't amused. But at least my nightmare was over. I learned my lesson. I told Kathleen I am never coming home again alone until my leg has healed to the point where I won't need crutches. Then, it's game on Buster. I know I'm bigger, faster and smarter than he is. Right? Ok..maybe just bigger...at least for the next year anyway. Thanks for reading.

Why everyone needs a dog

I started this blog with a comment about why I would want to do this again. "This" being get a new puppy. I know my wife Kathleen was wondering the same thing. We're busy, having three son's, ages 20-18-18, our kids are taking care of themselves for the most part so we've got a little more free time these days. Did we really want to get tied down to having to take care of a puppy? Well..it's been 5 days and I can honestly say it's been the most enjoyable 5 days my family has had in many years. Is it a lot of work? You bet. Do we all need some extra sleep about now? Yep..but Buster did make it ALMOST through the night last night so we can't really complain at all. The best part of having a new puppy around the house is seeing the energy of a little puppy. The look on his face when he tries to catch a fly for the first time. His eyes are seeing everything for the first time. It's also very entertaining to see a puppy make everything a toy. You can buy him the most expensive doggy toy in the world only to watch him play for hours with an old sock or try to pull off a tag from Bogey's bed. Don't tell the mattress police. Mike and I were playing with Buster on Thursday. He was is full puppy mode at the time. Non stop action. The world is his playground. Mike made a comment to me about how much energy Buster has. I told Mike that I think Buster is thinking..."hey, I'm a dog, I've got about 12 good years in this world..I'm not wasting a minute". Good advice for us all. We can all learn something from having a puppy full of so much life around us from time to time. We all have a limited about of time in this world. Let's not waste a minute of it. Go out and make the world your playground.

Here is a quick little video of what I am taking about..I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading..

King Buster

Well..here he is.. King Buster. There are things that words just can't describe as well as pictures. So today, my blog is only pictures. Click on the picture above for the full size pictures. And yes..he knows he's cute and uses it to get what he wants. So far the training is going well..we do everything he wants. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

New Baby in the house

Well...he's here....and we all need some sleep. Buster joined the Byrne family yesterday afternoon and he's become the hit of the neighborhood. Everyone loves the little guy...Bogey, isn't so sure just yet. He did what I thought he'd do. Basically ignored him for most of the afternoon and evening. Buster wanted to play, Bogey wanted to sleep. Which is pretty good for their first day together. I think Bogey is expecting to wake up this morning and find the little pest gone. Buster bounced off Bogey most of the night as if he was trying to push him into at some sort of reaction. Bogey didn't take the bait..but finally around 9 pm last night Bogey finally wondered over to Buster, sniffed him a few times, barked and walked away. Today's blog is short, my knee hurts and I'm tired from not sleeping much last night thanks to our new baby. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I will say one thing, nothing can put a smile on your face faster than a cute puppy. If you need a quick pick up, you're having a bad day and need something to get a positive attitude back, visit a pet store with a few puppies. It works every time.

Finally...It's time...Buster meets the Ear Monster

Let's get ready to

RUMBLE!!!!

Well, the day is finally here. Time for Buster to meet Bogey. We're not sure what to expect later today when Buster arrives. I don't expect much response from Bogey. I'm pretty sure he will totally ignore the puppy for a few weeks, that's what Basset Hounds do...the fun part is going to see how Buster responds to seeing this funny looking floppy eared Monster. He may go into shock at just the sight of Bogey. I can't wait to see Bogey's reaction the first time Buster gets a hold of those ears and gives them a big tug...or pulls on his tail...or jumps on his back. That "hey kid, can you give an old man a break" look on Bogey's face will be priceless. I hope they become great friends. Buddy will never be replaced but I have a good feeling that Buster will bring new life to Bogey. He still misses his old friend and a young pup might be just what the Dr. ordered to get him back to his old self. His old self...the thought of that send shudders down my spine. As I said on the first day of this blog..I can't believe I am doing this again.

Anyway...it should be an interesting, fun and very long day. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

P.S. For those of you who think I'm just making this stuff up about Basset Hounds...and Bogey. Here is something I cut and pasted from an Internet Dog site. This is honest assessment they make regarding Basset Hounds. I just took the highlights. And these are the good points of a Basset!!!

Basset Hounds are not Golden Retrievers. They are independent thinkers who don't particularly care about pleasing you. Most Basset Hounds are very stubborn and can be manipulative. You must show them, through absolute consistency, that you mean what you say.

Basset Hounds should never be left outside in your yard, unsupervised. Their deep voice carries a LONG way. The mournful baying and howling will have your neighbors calling the cops to report the nuisance -- or quietly letting your Basset Hound out of his yard so he'll wander away. Many Basset Hounds, especially those with massive jowls, slobber and drool, especially after eating and drinking. Gassiness (flatulence) that can send you running for cover.

Basset Hounds cannot be trusted off-leash. They will take off -- oblivious to your frantic shouts -- after anything that emits an odor or runs. Slowness to learn and an independent "what's in it for me?" attitude toward training -- can be very stubborn. Yikes...

Bogey...Democrat or Republican? You tell me...

Sorry..I know..I know..I promised no more mixing dogs and politics. Bogey made me do it.

Ever wonder if your dog was a Republican or a Democrat. I thought about it for a few hours. I took at look at Bogey....He likes laying around a lot letting others take care of him, he makes a lot of noise when he's not happy, he whines a lot, he likes being fed without really doing anything in return for his meal and he poops in my backyard and expects me to pick it up. Hmm...I'll shut up while I'm ahead. I'll let you figure it out. Ok...tomorrow is the big day. Max day. Bogey has no idea what is about to be unleashed in our house. He's been rather happy the past few days, laying around being a "sort of" good dog. He actually slept through the night last night. That all ends tomorrow. Should be fun.

I'll leave you with a bit of humor...if you aren't a total Obama lover that is. If you are...and you don't laugh, lighten up. It's a dog...and it's funny. Go watch this video.. Obviously, this dog voted for McCain/Palin, don't you think?

I'm so confused!!!

While I promised myself I didn't want to bring up politics on my Dog Blog...I can't help myself this morning and hopefully while being "slightly" political this morning, I'll still manage to tie it all back to my dog.

A few years ago while filling up my gas tank I was behind a man buying a small bottle of water. He was complaining about the high cost of gas at the time. I think the gas was around $3.50 per gallon. He was being a rather large jerk to the poor kid working behind the counter, like it was this kids fault that gas was expensive. As he was complaining about the high price of gas, he was also paying for that small bottle of water....the price was well over a dollar for that small bottle of water. I remember chatting with the guy behind the counter about how this guy just complained about paying $3.50 per gallon for the gas, yet he had no problem paying about 5 times that price per gallon for a bottle of WATER!!! So...how does this tie into dogs and politics.

This weekend my wife Kathleen took Bogey to the vet for his shots. He also had a few other problems (mostly mental) that we wanted to take care of before we bring home the new puppy in two days. The bill from the vet was almost $250.00. I haven't received my bill yet from the Dr. that performed my knee surgery but I am expecting my Co-Pay to be less than the bill we paid for that trip to the vet. I'm not complaining about the vet bill. She needs to pay the bills. And Bogey is worth it. He's worth it..isn't he? Anybody? A little help? Ok, back to my point...so where I am going with this? Here is my question for the day. We keep hearing about how bad our health care system is in this country (you won't hear me complaining, I love my medical care) and how we need to totally overhaul our medical care system. It's a CRISIS!!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....yet I wonder how many people who don't feel the need to purchase health care...or want to complain about how expensive their health care is...won't bat an eye to spend just as much or more money on health care for their pets. They also think health care is too expensive but will spend more money on a daily basis for a pack of cigarettes, or a six pack of beer, or a cup of Starbucks coffee, OR A BOTTLE OF WATER...than they spend on their own or their kids health care. The priorities of some people in this country need some serious adjustments. How many poor people in this country don't have health care insurance because they claim they can't afford it.. yet spend money every day on things that at the end of the day, make them sick...such as cigarettes, beer, high fat fast food. Poor people in third world countries are dying because they don't have enough food..while millions of poor people in the USA are over weight, smoke cigarettes and drink beer...and still have enough money to take care of their pets, yet can't afford health care for their kids. I'm I missing something here??? Anyone?? Ok, I'm off my soapbox...tomorrow back to dogs. Talking about dogs is more fun, people are confusing...and complain too much. Bogey just said WOOF....without using a teleprompter....and he writes his own material.

No Dog Sunday

I've woke up this morning thinking about what to write in my Dog Blog today when suddenly at 4:45 am my cell phone rang. Actually, it rang when I was walking down the stairs, crutches in hand, cell phone in my mouth in total darkness, trying my best not to tumble down to the bottom of the stairs. I looked at the phone, it was my son Sean. For those of you reading my blog who aren't part of my family, my son Sean is a proud member of the United States Coast Guard. As I type this, Sean and his shipmates are preparing their ship this Sunday morning to head out for another 8 week voyage. When they take off in a few hours, they are headed directly toward two Hurricanes that are forming in the Atlantic Ocean. I'm going to keep today's blog short and sweet...and I'm not talking about dogs today. When I have the chance to talk with my son Sean on days like today, dogs don't seem very important(don't tell Bogey I said that). It will be the last time I have a chance to talk with him for at least a few weeks. During that time, I won't know what he's doing, where he's doing it or how safe he and his shipmates are..or aren't. We do know he's trained to do his job and he's doing something he loves. I'm proud of my son for the service he's giving our country. My family is full of hero's like Sean. I have two brothers in law (Bob and Bob) that are retired fire fighters. I have another brother in law (Kerry) that is currently a fireman in Utah and I have a nephew (Greg) that is also currently working as a firemen in San Diego. You have to wonder about why someone would want to run toward a fire when everyone else is running away....or drive a ship directly toward the eye of a hurricane when everyone else is driving away from it. The reason is simple. They do it because it needs to be done and lives will be lost if they don't do their jobs. They don't do it for the money, they don't do it for the praise, they don't even expect a thank you at the end of the day. I often wonder if Bob, Bob, Kerry, Greg and Sean even know how many lives their work has saved over the years. and...keep in mind, when they save just one life, they also saved an entire family from the grief and loss of a loved one so at the end of the day, they actually saved an entire family. I remember writing Sean letters during his boot camp, telling him that because of the sacrifice he was making to become a member of the Coast Guard someones life, who he doesn't even know yet, will be saved sometime in the future because of his hard work and sacrifice. As I said...I'm keeping today's blog short and sweet. I'll end today with a big THANK YOU. Thank you Bob, Bob, Kerry, Greg and Sean for being part of my family. We love you guys and you are hero's to us all. And to Sean, stay safe out there and we will talk again in a few weeks. We all love and miss you....and Mom said to remember your sun screen.

The Good, the Bad and the Bogey

Yesterday was day three of my knee surgery recovery time with Bogey. My son Michael had his knee surgery yesterday, everything went well and he should be back as good as new in a few weeks. We make quite the pair sitting around with our left knees wrapped up and our right knees marked with "NO" on them. And of course, Bogey sitting right by our sides all day long. I stepped on Bogey three times today and hit him accidentally with my crutches twice. Bogey also stepped on my foot 3 times himself and almost tripped me down the stairs on more than one occasion. I'm not sure who's more bummed out more about Mike and I having to have knee surgery, us or Bogey. Dogs seem to sense when we feel badly more than even we do with each other. He was a little freaked out when I came home from the operation, I can't imagine what's going through his mind today when Mike came home with the same bandage on the same knee and another person walking around the house with crutches. So...the Good is Mike and I had our surgeries and everything went well, the Bad is I'm already sick and tired of laying around my house...and I still have a few more days of having to totally stay off my feet...and the Bogey. I wrote this original posting around 8:00pm last night. It's now 4:30 am Saturday morning and I've been up with Bogey all night. So has Kathleen. He didn't feel the need to sleep tonight for some reason. Now I'm sitting here typing and he finally is sleeping near my side. I feel bad for him as I know his perfect dog life that was totally turned upside down has still not returned to normal...and it may never again. But he doesn't know what awaits him in just a few short days. Max...or whatever his name will be will be bringing some friendship to Bogey and my family. I can't wait...I hope Bogey feels the same way next Wednesday afternoon. I did find something that Bogey likes that I never knew about until yesterday. He loves popcorn. Who knew dog would eat popcorn.

A day off with Bogey

As you know, Wedneday I had knee surgery, so today I got the day off of work. I stayed home all day today laying on the couch downstairs watching golf, baseball, poker and Bogey. It's been a while since I spend the entire day with the Bogmiester. I layed around and did nothing...while he layed around and did nothing. Laying around doing nothing is the standard day in the life of Bogey. He did try to follow me around when I did make my slow move around the house on crutches. He seemed a bit bothered seeing me struggle to move around. When I walked up and down the stairs he walked with me..one step at a time by my side..as if to make sure I didn't fall. He was my Basset Hound guardian angel today. We we got to the top of the stairs he then stopped right in my tracks which made for a interested move on my part not to step on him. Instead, I walked over him, one leg and one crutch on one side, the other leg and crutch on the other. At least 10 trips upstairs and it was the same every time. If nothing else, Bogey is consistent.

Tomorrow we start the preparations for the new puppy. Build a caged off area in the garage..buy a crate for his indoor training, puppy food, a new leash, collar, etc..you get the picture. Speaking of a new leash, one thing that Buddy used to do that was very funny was with his leash. His leash would hang in the garage on a few hooks. Every time he went into the garage he would go over and pull on his leash until it fell free. Sometimes I wouldn't and he would almost pull the hooks off the wall. Then he would sit in the garage with his leash in his mouth waiting for us to take him for a walk. Talk about feeling guilty if you didn't have time for that walk. Buddy would also pull down Bogey leash. If we did take a walk, Buddy would also take Bogey's leash in his mouth and hold onto Bogey for the entire walk if we didn't take the leash back. He didn't trust Bogey not to take off running if we didn't have complete control over Bogey. It will be interesting to see if we can train the new puppy the leash holding tricks. We didn't teach these to Buddy, he just did it on his own.

So..sorry the blog is so short today, I guess the pain medications are affecting my creativity tonight. Today my son Michael is having knee surgery of his own so it should be rather boring..and also a bit hectic around here at the same time. Bogey will have two sit around the house doing nothing partners for the next few days.

I should take a picture of my knees. Pretty funny, my right knee has a note written on it by the nurse. It says NO..to keep the Dr. from operating on the wrong knee. My left knee is totally covered but it had a X on it before the surgery. I'm wondering it any other body parts have notes on them. I'll check tomorrow when I finally get to take a shower.

In the new puppy name department...it's now Buster, leading Max...leading Corona, followed by Coastie (for my son Sean in the Coast Guard), Putter, and Mike's favorite..Carlos. Don't ask.

Bogey, single dog in the big city...

Well, by now you know the story of my two dogs, one, my best friend Buddy, the other my worst nightmare, Bogey. Ok...he's not really that bad and we do really love the floppy eared Monster but there are still times when I ask my wife Kathleen if she kept her receipt for Bogey just in case we want to get our money back.

So..here is the problem. The day Buddy passed away, Bogey became a totally different dog. He went from being this independent "I don't need you to make me happy" mentality to a dog that NEVER leaves my side....and if I'm not around, he will find someone else and then he won't leave that person, until I get home. When I say "never", I mean "NEVER". Yesterday, I had knee surgery, I wanted to get a good night sleep before the surgery. Well...I woke up yesterday at 3:30 in the morning, rolled over thinking I'd find

my lovely wife (and best nurse in the world)...but instead I found Bogey. Not quite what I had in mind. I mean, ok, he's not a bad kisser but the dog has some serious bad breath. When I walk around my house during the day, he follows about 6 inches behind me ALL DAY LONG. He cries all night, he cries all day. He wonders around the back yard looking for his best friend Buddy. A few weeks ago while we were away he paced around the back yard for so long that he actually wore his back nails down on his paws to the point that his nails were bleeding. My neighbors, the Murray's and my sister Cheryl took him to the emergency vet at 9:00 pm to have the bleeding stopped. On a side note, I want to thank my next door neighbors for helping take care of Bogey while we were away. Bogey thanks you as well. I am sure you didn't sign up for all that drama when we asked you to watch him for the week we were away. Thanks again..and my sister Cheryl might just be the best doggy nurse in the world. Without her taking care of Bogey those 3 days after the trip to the vet a few weeks ago Bogey would have been even more miserable and my vacation would have been totally ruined. Thank you Cheryl!! You're the best. Bogey thinks so also.

So...back to the Bogmeister. Bogey lost his best friend and has become totally miserable which in turn, has turned family life at the Byrne residence totally upside down. He sleeps only during the day, for a few hours at a time...and is up most of the night. Whoever gets the Bogey detail during the day hours ends up kicking poor Bogey at least 5 times a day as you never expect to find him directly behind you at every turn. I've opened the door the refridgerator so many times slamming the door into poor Bogey that I lost count. Try going to the bathroom with a 80 lbs Basset Hound closely on your tail. Yes...he comes in with you. If not, he sits outside the bathroom door barking until you finally surrender and let him in. FYI, if you've never experienced a Basset ound bark, you're in for a shocking surprise. Send a Basset Hound to Gitmo if you want a terrorist to spill the beans....5 minutes of Basset barks will do him in. Waterboarding is for wimps, Basset Hound barking is serious torture. I feel terrible watching poor Bogey long for the good old days with Buddy. He has NEVER been alone since the day he was born...until now and it hurts. When he does get out into the front yard, he just plops on the ground and sits instead of taking off for the river like the old days. And...in what might be the saddest sight of all, he has somehow found the spot on the concrete in my garage where Buddy spend the last few minutes of his life and sits by that spot when he spends time in the garage. Buddy's scent must somehow still be on the spot. Basset Hounds look sad even when they are happy...but Bogey has true sadness in his eyes these days. He looks lost and my family is now paying the price for his sadness through lack of sleep. So..what are we planning on doing to help? Now you know why I started my Dog Blog by saying.."I can't believe I am doing this again".

Yes..We went puppy shopping. After Kathleen and I saying we won't do this ever again...I went to visit some puppies a few weeks ago. White Cream Golden Retriever puppies. What was I thinking. Am I nuts? Well, I walked into the den of 9 puppies....there they were. Trouble..lot's of trouble. I remembered seeing Buddy for the first time almost 12 years to the day. The mother of these 9 puppies came over to see me. She wanted to check me out to see if I was good enough for her babies. Then...it happened. She sat down in front of me...looked at me...and suddenly I had 2 paws in my lap. This was Buddy's favorite move to make me smile....and it worked. I smiled. Life was good again. Somehow for a few seconds, Buddy was there with me again. She looked at me and I was hooked. In my mind I thought..."Ok...who told you about that move being Buddy's move". This had to be a set up. I then checked out the puppies and I saw him. Pudge...Chunk...Buddy Jr?..this little chunky white ball of fur waddled over to me and licked my hand. He was biggest of the 9 puppies...starting to sound familiar again? I was hooked, I had to have "Max" as he was called by the breeder. She only named one of the puppies. It was Max.

She said he was the Alpha Male of the litter and she warned me she would only give Max to a family that was familiar with raising a dog like that. He wasn't just a puppy, he was DogZilla. I brought Kathleen and one of my sons Michael back for a visit a few days later. Max put on his charm once again..as did his mother. They did their best to sell on the new puppy idea and it was working big time. We took a vote and Max won again. The final vote took place a few days ago when I brought out Kathleen, Mike and his twin brother Tommy. Max won again. We sent a picture to our son Sean, who is in the US Coast Guard in Cape Canaveral Florida. Max won again. It official.

Max will be coming home with us next Wednesday the 19th. We're doing it again. Bogey doesn't know yet but he did do something that he hasn't done since his best friend passed away. Bogey has refused to walk inside his dog house since Buddy died. Well, the while visiting Max we took a towel and wrapped it around Max trying to pick up Max's scent on the towel. We brought the towel home and placed it inside the dog house. It worked. Bogey went inside the dog house and sat down. We are hoping Bogey and Max become best friends....Max will never replace Buddy, but we hope at least Bogey finds a new best friend and we hope it's Max. Wish us luck. We're going to need it.

Back to my knee...I had surgery yesterday. It went well although my knee was a bit more messed up than the Dr. originally thought. He cleaned up some cartilage damage and also found a few small cracks in the bones in my knee. He drilled a few holes, filled them with some high tech filler material (probably just some cheap glue from Home Depot) and sent me on my way home after a few hours. I just want to say..My wife Kathleen is a Saint. She now has me to nurse back to full strength, she will taking care of my son Mike who is also having knee surgery on Friday and then taking on the duty of taking care of baby Max starting next Wednesday....and of course..the Bogart, and she never complained about any of it. She makes this house a home everyday. Just so you know, he slept in my son Tommy's room all night. I'm afraid to go inside and look at what was going on in there all night.

So...now you know, stay tuned for the next installment of "Preparing for Max"...or Buster..or Reilly...or whatever the name of the day is. If you have any name choices, sent them my way. We still haven't taken the final name vote yet. Thanks for listening...and Cheryl, thanks again for the help with Bogey and being my sister. You're the best. Love you all.

Buddy and Bogey, partners in crime

So by now you know about my two dogs, Buddy and Bogey. Buddy was the golden child, Bogey, the redheaded step child. Buddy could do no wrong, Bogey could do...well..nothing. He was a door mat with large ears. Buddy tried his best to keep his funny looking younger brother in line and most of the time it worked...until the gate was left open. Then Bogey took over and all bets were off. Bogey was born to run...well make that born to waddle sort of fast. Buddy tried to talk Bogey into returning home before we noticed they were gone but his advice went into big huge floor hanging deaf ears. The first time they got out I found the gate open, Buddy sleeping on the front porch, totally covered in mud but he did return home. Bogey on the other hand went out for the entire night and never let up. I swear he must have gone to a doggy bachelor party. I found him about a mile away, also covered in mud, hanging out with all the other canine juvenile deliquesces down by the river. When I found him he had this look on his face as if he just got caught cheating on his final exam. I don't think he even realized his older brother had returned home, he looked around trying to find someone to blame for his bad behavior. He looked at me as if to say.."what, is there a problem"? But..he was all alone in the world and he knew he was in big trouble. When he returned home Buddy looked at him as if to say "I told you so". Bogey looked back as if to say.."I'm busting out of this place again tonight...Rover has some fine looking poodles coming down to the river tonight, you in?" A larger lock on the gate held them in for a few more years. Then..the big break out happened again. This time they escaped while we were on vacation. The neighbors were looking out for them while we were away. Somehow they (I know it was Bogey but I have no proof) somehow picked the lock and escaped. Bogey didn't make it far and was captured a few blocks away and returned to the back yard. He was heard yelling "you're picking on me only because I'm black...and white...and brown". Buddy somehow got picked up by the man and held captive about 10 miles away until we finally tracked him down 5 days later. I'm sure Buddy was just out looking for Bogey, never figuring he was captured so quickly. Who knew. Bogey barked the entire time he was alone, he was captured but wasn't going down quietly. His voice was almost gone by the time we returned Buddy back home. We beefed up the lock one more time. They did it again. I think Bogey paid off the gardener to leave the gate open but I don't have any real proof. They went as a team this time. I'm sure Buddy tried to keep Bogey from going too far but nothing could stop them. All the neighbors within 6 blocks of our house said they saw them together..Bogey leading the way of course...but nobody knew where they went. Finally after 5 days of searching, we found them again 10 miles from home. Bogey smelled like cheap hound dog perfume and Alpo. Buddy was happy to be home, Bogey was mad that he had to leave the dog prison. Tuesday night was movie night at the big house and they were showing Cujo the night they were returned home. Despite the fact that these two dogs couldn't not be more different, they were inseparable. They slept in the same dog house despite each having their own place. Buddy was Bogey's pillow at night. Buddy wouldn't go inside his dog house at night until Bogey was already inside..as if to tell him "I don't trust you anymore and I'm not going to sleep until I know you're inside so I can keep an eye on you". They were Martin and Lewis...totally opposite but perfect as a team. I could go on and on about the trouble Bogey got Buddy into but I think you get my point. We knew that someday one of them would leave this team. We dreaded the day thinking about how the other half would handle the parting but we had no idea just how traumatic things could get. Stay tuned tomorrow for "Bogey..single dog in the big city"

Bassett Hounds, God's idea of a practical joke

By now you've probably figured out that Buddy wasn't my only dog. Buddy you see, also had a best friend of his own. Bogey the Basset Hound. My fondness for Basset Hounds started many years ago. When I was around 8 years old, the local Exxon gas station in town was giving away a stuffed Basset Hound toy with a fill up of 8 gallons of gas. Imagine that...you got something for free with a fill up of gas...and the gas was only .25 cents a gallon. They also gave away Green Stamps. By the way..if you remember Green Stamps, you're getting old. Anyway...my mother got her tank full of regular gas and I got a stuffed Basset Hound named Axelrod. Such a deal. I still have that stuffed Basset Hound even today. Other than his little black nose almost falling off, he's in pretty good shape. Turn the clock ahead about 30+ years and I decided it was time to get a real Basset Hound. My wife Kathleen came home one day thinking she was buying me the dog of my dreams. A little Basset Hound puppy named Bogey. Actually..he was almost 6 months old, not much a puppy at this point. He was the last of the litter. Most people buy the pick of the litter, we got the other end of the deal. For those of you who have never spent much time around a Basset Hound, honestly....there is nothing else like a Basset Hound. They are 100% totally untrainable...at first I thought it was because they are stupid. Years later I've realized it's because I'm stupid. Basset Hounds might be the smartest dog in the world. You can't train them because they don't see any reason why they would want to do what WE want them to do. You don't train a Basset Hound, they train you. Bogey did a wonderful job of training us to get us to do what HE wanted us to do..for his enjoyment, not ours. I feel so stupid...but at least I found out that I'm trainable..My wife Kathleen doesn't think I am..but Bogey thinks he did a good job of training me. There are nights when I sit around my house looking at Bogey. As a designer myself, I often wonder what was God thinking when he designed a Basset Hound. I mean...really..what's with the ears? Do you really need ears that big? Ears aren't supposed to drag on the ground. Name one other animals who's ears touch the floor? Well??? Were those the only ears left in the ear department the day God was working on Basset Hounds? And what happened to the rest of their legs? And those feet? Don't even get me started on the drool...or those droopy eyes. I can't exactly call him ugly..but now I can imagine what Joan Rivers is going to look like when the Botox wears out. Bogey does make me laugh, I just look at him and laugh. The problem is he doesn't get the joke. He takes it personal. He's like a class clown who gets his feeling hurt if you laugh at him..isn't that the point of being a class clown, making people laugh? Bogey is funny only for his own enjoyment..not mine. If his feeling are hurt, he won't even make eye contact with me for hours. Then I feel bad and try to make up with him. Welcome to my life...trying to make up with a funny looking dog who's feelings are hurt because I laughed because his ears are so big that they actually drag on the ground. He's actually tripped on his own ears. You can't make this stuff up. I won't even get into the other private parts issues of male Basset Hounds that also drag on the ground. It looks painful but at the same time I'm also kinda jealous that he has private parts large enough that they drag on the ground. But as I said..Basset Hounds must be God's idea of a practical joke. I hope God's having a good laugh, just don't let Bogey know you're laughing at him. I think the real problem is Bogey doesn't get the joke because he's never actually seen himself in a mirror. Why couldn't my mother had purchased her gas at the Union 76 station instead...they were giving away cool orange antenna balls..oh well...Tomorrow you'll hear the story of Buddy and Bogey...partners in crime.

Why am I doing this again!!

After 12 years of having the worlds greatest dog in my life, my Golden Retriever Buddy passed away in my arms a month ago. I've had 3 other Golden Retrievers over the past 40 years but Buddy was the best. I knew he was going to be special the first day I saw him. He was a big lug of a dog, the biggest puppy of a litter of 10. He ran over to me while the other puppies were more interested in sleeping, eating and all those other things that puppies love to do. But not Buddy. He ran over to me, jumped on me, licked my hand and I was hooked. He had me at woof. I brought him home that day. My wife and three boys fell in love with Buddy as quickly as I did. A dog like Buddy is something every home needs. When things get tough, Buddy was always there to make us smile. He didn't care if the laundry was done, if the house was a mess, how much money we had or didnt have in the bank, if the kids homework was done or what grades they got on their report card, he didn't care if you had a bad day at work, he didn't care about politics. Buddy was always waiting at the back door when we got home in the afternoon with his tail wagging and a smile on his face....and you couldn't help but to smile back at Buddy. He would walk in, sit in front of you and in a few seconds you had a 100 lbs dog in your lap. Always...even on the day he died in my arms, minutes before he passed away, his tail was still wagging when he saw me walking toward him. We both knew he was probably down to the last few minutes of his life...but that tail was still wagging. He was special. Tomorrow the story continues...and you'll hear more about how our lives changed on that day...and why you should get a few extra days off work every year if you own a Bassett Hound.