To Aire is Divine

My greatest dream has now come true.  I have met and have been expertly rubbed by Brooke and Greg, the founders of Dogs With Blogs!!!

I wondered why we were walking across the Burnside Bridge this morning, and it turns out that they were staying at the Jupiter Hotel and we were off to welcome them to Portland.

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had – sitting outside at the Life of Riley tavern and all getting to “know” each other.  I feel like I know these two because we’ve both been around the dog blogging world for so long…

They got my attention instantly when they gave me a fantastic present – a bone-shaped stuffie with the Australian flag on it!  Woo-hoo!

And I got this amazing souvenir of the Dogs With Blogs USA 2010 Tour!

Mama and I just LOVED them from the second we saw them.  We laughed, and laughed, and laughed for hours.

They also both have some amazing tattoos – mama couldn’t resist taking some pix…

We played here for HOURS – the time flew by…

Greg immediately became one of my favorite people in the entire world.  He understands me on a deeper level, and he’s the first person other than mama that I’ve allowed to get up close and personal with me since daddy passed away.

I gave him a couple of kisses to show my appreciation.  He seemed to like it.

Brooke really knows how to give a great booty scratch – much appreciated after a long day!

By the end of the night, Greg and I were lounging on the sidewalk at the bar just like old friends.  I know we will see each other again sometime, and we will always be super-duper friends.  Mama promises to come and visit you in Australia sometime!!!  And I send lots of love and Aire Kisses to Opy & Benson!!!!!

Love,

Bogart

BookmAIREk Me!

Mama started out the day saying that it was going to be special… but I had no idea exactly HOW SPECIAL it would be!

We met up with not one but TWO Airegirls!!!  Sasha and Savannah!

I was smitten immediately, and was ready to be the center of a Bogart sandwich.  I could not resist their charms…

Although I should perhaps apologize for some of my more, um, horndog behavior.  I know that you pretty gals are spayed.  But I JUST COULD NOT RESIST…

We had so much fun getting to know each other, and creating a stir in Laurelhurst park.  Yep, the sight of 3 Airedales together is just too much for the human heart to bear.

I’m pretty sure that the girlies liked me too… we were all flirting up a storm.

It was really hard for mama to get many good photos of us because we were all running around so much.  And of course, because at every opportunity I tried to give those girlies some of my special Bogie-lovin’.

I was really in my glory, running around with these two pretty Airegirls.

And even though I tried and tried, they managed to keep me in check in a very feminine yet direct way.  Oh pretty girls, I’m sorry that we didn’t meet up sooner but I’m so glad we got to spend some time together!  Love and kisses S+S!!!

Even two pretty Airegirls can only distract me for so long from a good pine cone.  That’s right mama, THROW THAT CONE!!!  I’ve got to work of some excess energy now…

Caught it, chewed it, see?

More of my luscious tongue, might want to save some of those cone bits for later in my beard…

And a big kiss for mama for bringing me together with the Airegirls and having such a fun day!  It’s important for us to see things in Portland as much as we can before we head across the country…

Although this isn’t a Bogie-beetle or a Bogcedes (it’s just a rental) there is indeed nothing like driving around with my head out of the window, delighting passers-by.

OH YEAH…

Love,

Bogart

BookmAIREk Me!

I have found the single most wonderful place to crash on a hot day when mama has forgotten to put on my cooling vest because it didn’t seem to be “that hot” outside.

A place where a boy can collect his thoughts, and his pine cones.

Surrounded by lovely blue flowers that provide both shade and an awesome background for photos so that mama will finally put the camera away.

See?  This is what drool looks like before it comes out of my mouth.  I’ll be you won’t forget my vest and thermos next time!

Oh all right, just a few glamour shots…

No need to deprive the world of all of my tongue-y goodness…

Love,

Bogart

BookmAIREk Me!

Of fun, frivolity, and baking hot sun that is.

Continued testing with the cooling vest has been nothing short of a complete success – longer walkies have been accomplished and more precious cones have been gathered.

See?

We also swung through the early Bastille Day celebration here in the Pearl District – not much for doggies to do this time around.

The place was swarming with overly-caffeinated children and slow-moving adults.  Not really my cup of tea, and I didn’t see any dog-related booths so oh well.

Jamison Square – where the Bastille Day celebrations took place – is one of the parks that I visit daily in my quest to pee and poop over everything here in Portland.  On the hot weekends it becomes almost a beach – children running wildly in the fountain, adults variously chasing said children and lying on the grass, lots of weird chalk writing and odd foodstuffs left behind.  So I am just doing my part by “leaving something behind” – I poop here during the week, so you fancy Pearl-people may lay on it during the weekend.  A fair trade, I think.

With all of that ruckus, a boy has to go outside of the park to find a decent stick.  I found three.  And carried them all around NW Portland.  Kind of like recycling – but not.

Love,

Bogart

BookmAIREk Me!

We’ve havin’ a heatwave… an atypical tropical heatwave… And mama has been worried about my ability to keep cool in the face of extreme temperatures (well, extreme for Portland that is).  So a few days ago, she spent almost an hour in the REI store picking out a new cooling vest for me.  First she went online, did lots of research, and even emailed a few companies to ask about their products.  As I am the King of Terriers, not just any vest would do.  Going to REI was a pretty involved thing, as after deciding that she’d invest in one picking out the correct size was a challenge and took her the better part of an hour.   It turns out that since I’m right on the cusp between Medium and Large, she wasn’t sure which was going to provide the right amount of protection against the evil sun and heat without being uncomfy.

We went with the Large and mama is very pleased with the way it fits!  I don’t have any issues putting things on over my head, and then it just clips on both sides of my shoulders.  A snap to put on.  The thing that mama liked about it the most was that this vest works with just water – there is no freezing of inserts and no possibility of anything hurting me – and after the initial soaking you can reactivate the cooling powers by just pouring more water over it.  Perfect.

And yes, it seems to work!  This covered my entire back – which, being black fuzz, gets very hot in the sun – and the coolness of the vest keeps my skin cool.  Most importantly to me, this vest doesn’t limit my ability to do some of my favorite things, like trampling plants…

Going for long walkies…

Finding interesting things to add to the “Keep Portland Weird” file…

And of course, peeing.

The vest is from Ruff Wear – it’s their Swamp Cooler vest.  It works well with my deep, manly, muscle-y chest, is easy to use, and most importantly, IT WORKS.  I was definitely more comfortable in the 90+ degree heat with this on, and during our hour-long walk mama poured a cup of water over me two times for added refreshment (it’s SO GREAT to not have her pour water directly on me).

And see?  It’s actually quite dashing on me.  And I can wear my favorite harness over it.

Of course we still take it easy on our walkies – mama still has that broken toe and it is going to be 90+ for the next few days – but now I don’t feel the need to plop down in the middle of the walkie because I’m too hot.  I can go back to plopping down for more important things…

Like eating sticks, of course.

Love,

Bogart

BookmAIREk Me!