phil-ibusted!!!!

hey, you know you would have done the same thing.

mom was sitting on the comfy deck chair in a sunbeam & alas, her coffee cup was empty. i was laying on the cold, hard, wood decking wishing i was a lap dog. mom will not tolerate an empty coffee cup & since she does not have a waitstaff at her beck & call, she was inside in a flash.

problem was, she *stayed* in there a bit longer than usual (problem with L.? Little Man in need?), who knew why.

after awhile, her comfy chair that was being warmed by the sunbeam started whisper my name. as the minutes tic-toc'd away the whisper became a scream. hmmmmm...no sign of mom returning & i was up!!!...oh yes i was...on people furniture! loving the sun on my fur....Zzzzzzzzzz, when suddenly creeeeeeeek...my ear caught a subtle door movement. i settled lower in the cushion, trying to blend. no such luck! the boss returned, fresh cuppa in hand - i was phil-ibusted!!!...no amount of cute-face or sad-eyes would cut it & i was back on the deck where she says i belong. hummmmphffff.

dog tag!

somewhere in the recesses of mom's bookmarks, she found a meme just for me...oh yes she did!! since i am such a ham, you get to indulge in yet a bit more 'o me as i answer profound questions that certainly plague your deepest thoughts. ready? here goes...

What breed are you? full-blown yellow lab, baby!!!How old are you? today i am officially 8 years old. yes, i was born on *thee* 9/11...not a day i would have chosen, but that's the way it is.

What is your full name? high flyin' phil. tre cool, huh?!? it's a name i take very seriously!

Do you have any nicknames? as a matter of fact i do...waaaaaaay too many of them. for starters, there's philip, philibuster, felipe, filippo, philly, big guy, BG, big white dog (yeah, my peeps aren't very original, but they are prolific!) this list is not exhaustive by any stretch, but it is all i am willing to share & still keep a public persona!Where do you usually sleep? do you mean when my peeps are home or away?!? because that is significant...;-) let's just keep things cool for me & say on the downstairs dog bed during the day or on the one by mom's side of the bed at night (i am her bodyguard, you know!)...now if there are fireworks or thunder involved i will sleep in the shower or bathtub~ true!

What is your favorite thing to do? eat/sleep/chase balls/eat/sleep/chase balls...repeat ad nauseum... throw in an occasional foray into a body of water & my life is golden!What is something unusual/interesting about you? people, EVERYTHING about me is interesting!!! unusual...not much~~ i'm just a regular guy!

Who is your best friend? well, some would say the elusive L., but really, she's more like the alpha dog than a peer....soooooo...i'm gonna go with mom (she controls all things food!)

Did you go to obedience school? If yes, were you Top Dog or did you flunk out? really, i could have done without this question. i did indeed flunk out of duck-hunting school. am i proud of that fact?! eh, whatever! it actually is why i am now comfortably living a life as a family dog as opposed to rambling around in nearly frozen water fetching dead ducks. (go here & scroll down for the nitty gritty details!)

Can you do any tricks? ha! i may have failed duck-hunting school but i'm no trick-fool! for evidence go here, here & here!

Any last comments? yes...i am hoping that miss liza, auntie K., & michelle will take on this meme so that i am not the only dog out there revealing embarrassing secrets! consider yourselves dog-tagged!!!!!

just grape!

i've dealt with biscuits, doggy Christmas cookies, even an apple core (i know it's gross, but i am addicted to these...will raid trash for apples)...but today takes it all...grapes!!!...my new love...yes, i will even pose just to get one...or two (please send grapes!)

look ma, no cavities!

help...

something is wrong with the dog bed. i was only looking for L.'s hidden biscuits, i swear. somebody, please...

BOW wow!!

my favorite place in the world...

super dog!!

hey.what's all this fuss about a super bowl?? so some guy can catch a football. big deal.i do that every single day. i have a quarterback-type throwing perfect long passes for me...i even catch some!but...no one is standing on the sidelines screaming their lungs out for me.no one is offering me big money commercial spots. what gives?wanna play some football??

resolutions...

what is a dog to do?? i thought i might jump on the new year bandwagon & do some of my own resolutionsbut mom was not impressed. maybe you can help me understand why...

i resolved:

to eat at least one biscuit during every waking hour (they're doggy 'health food,' right??)...to run the entire loop of my neighborhood-unleashed! at least 3 times each week (exercise is good, right??)...to empty the trash for mom every single day (pulling my weight around here with the chores, right??)...& to help out with every holiday clean-up for the whole year (special, seasonal help is good too, right??).

mom said no. to every single one. can you believe it???she was more into resolutions such as...no more barking at my reflection in the window.no sneaking up onto the new couch.& no more stealing things that do not belong to me for chewing

awwwww, c'mon mom, you take all the fun out of this new year thing! would somebody please toss me a biscuit!

howl-oween antics...

no, i absolutely did *not* spill that candy corn all over the floor.

no, i really didn't.

nope. not me.

but i would be happy to clean it up for you!

serious biscuit action!

beauty sleep?

it might help.

just sayin'.

(caught on film & brought to you by the elusive L.)

phil blogging - NOT

this is the blog...

this is phil at my feet dreaming about the blog...

any questions?

introductions

zzzzzzzz....

...well, i was comfortably napping, but since there is no peace when my peeps have the camera, i guess i will introduce my photogenic self. i am phil, the yellow lab. the above photo is me in my most natural state. notice my cushy dog bed - a very cool place indeed!

i am even kind enough to share it with my canine sister L. she is quite shy about expressing herself, so i am not sure when or if i will get her to post here, but she occasionally poses for photos...

L. was around before me (an older woman!) & she is quite sure that she is the alpha female in this house. (i'm sure my human mom thinks differently!) eh, i just let her go...whatever...i get more peace that way, but really - i could clobber her if i wanted to.

frankly i would rather chase a ball...or take a nap...or eat everything! L. is not all that bad - she is a terrific helper in my stalking of the birds & squirrels that frequent our deck - we are quite the canine pest control team!

my life started out in a most complex way...i was born on THE 9/11 to a family of very professional duck hunters. it was all business there. not my style, at all. i basically became a hired gun for some hunter-type. he didn't want to play one iota. it was all training, all the time. heck, he even sent me to some college-for-duck-dogs type place. i had more frequent flyer miles (literally!) than my current peeps. i was miserable! everyone thought i was sick, or possibly, gasp(!), slow. but really, i'm just a fun family guy. the hunter wanted me to fetch a duck; i wanted to roll in the grass. i'm not meant to climb the corporate ladder of duckdom. eventually, the hunter had had enough of my antics.

so after becoming a duckhunting school dropout, i found myself at one of those megapetwarehouse chains, up for adoption. it was mass chaos, i tell ya. every kind of bark & growl you could imagine. people everywhere. i was an oasis of calm in a sea of wacko dogs, sitting regally at the hunter's feet...waiting for? how would i know? oh, but soon i did! in walked a human mom-type with with her boy & girl - how very cool. they came straight to me (Whew!) & spoke to the hunter.

next thing i know i am on a short road trip, following the mom & her brood. at the end of the ride i was introduced to the dad & the other boy & girl - & L.

they loved me, gushed all over me. heck, they didn't even say a word when i dropped a bomb in their dining room! L. did a lot of sniffing you-know-where. she brought out her tugging rope. and she confidently displayed her dominance, just to be safe. and the location - water everywhere! very cool indeed!

i was so glad the hunter left me with these peeps. now my life is full of just what i wanted...good food (if it falls on the floor, it's mine), cushy spots to sleep,doggy snacks, chasing balls, & fun in the water!they even overlook my strangest habits - like licking the air when they use pan sprayor hiding in the bathtub when i'm afraid!oh, i still get a healthy dose of humiliation every morning when they perch a biscuit on my nose and make me sit still before i eat it, but occasionally the mom will just give me a freebie without all the fanfare.

yeah, i'm a happy guy! and i hope my stories make you happy too...see you around here again soon. thanks for stopping by! ...now go out there & chase a ball!!