Road Trip! Cinnamon needs a vacation

Guess where I'm going!

I need a vacation. I need to get my mind off "things." So I was excited when we began packing and my stuff was included. My Food. My Bed. My Leash. My Harness. My Shot Records. Yay! ROAD TRIP!

I'll bet I know where we are going... to the land of Maple Leaves, Bears and Totems.... Back to Canada. I am stoked! I am already forgetting my S*a*s. You see, in the backwoods of Canada, everyone looks like me. They don't expect me to be perfect after tangles with bears, moose, geese and the like. Tough dogs hang out in Canada. And in Canada, females are tough too!

There is a bit of a downside to travel. I had to have a BATH. I pretend I don't like my baths and only jump in the tub when I know I am trapped in the bathroom. But between you and me, I really like the attention and the towel rub after my bath. It feels good and I look pretty. I have been told I an a stinky coonie in the car if I don't have a bath. So I endured one (see how good I am?).

So we'll head out early and make it through Seattle and then to the border. Since I have everything in order, the border crossing should be a piece of cake (or dog biscuit?).

Here I am watching out the window on my last road trip.

I'll look out the window and watch for things. That will keep my mind off my personal appearance. I need that. I NEED A VACATION! I need to sit in a pub, sip a Kokanee and enjoy some fish and chips. (Mind you, I didn't get to do that last trip. Maybe this one will be better). A dog can dream, right?

The first night we'll make it to Cache Creek. That's where I stayed before. They have a grassy area and I can stay on the front porch if I am tied to a post. That's OK because I like to watch what the people are doing, especially if they are cooking.

Here I am at the motel in Cache Creek.
I look tired because, if you remember, I had an encounter with a bear!

The nice Korean family that owns the Sage Hills Motel petted me and were happy I had come to visit. And, they had a nice grassy place for me to romp a bit and eat grass, of course. I hope it is still there. I liked that place. They are "certified pet friendly."

So after a good sleep, it will be off for more of my Canadian Vacation Adventure. I'll be sure and write about it and send pictures, s*ar or not!

Love, Cinnamon, eh?

Is my modeling career over?

Here I am modeling a tiger eye Guatemalan necklace

I have received some supportive and thoughtful advice about the scars on my nose. Notice I said "scars." There are some short scars and then the big one you saw in the picture.

I know I am beautiful on the inside but I enjoyed looking young.

People thought I was a puppy. And, I am over five years old!

I spent some time on the streets, had a litter of puppies and came out of that without a scratch. So why now?

You know? I am worried about my modeling career. I had something going there... modeling necklaces in Santa Fe. I was muy guapa. I was a model. But now.... I don't know. Perhaps I will retire?

Here I am in my favorite turquoise necklace

Do they hire models that have scars on their faces? I guess I should ask Tyra Banks. Maybe she has some advice.

Love, Cinnamon, the former model

Jewelry by Santa Fe Rose

Wordless Wednesday: What am I looking for?

What do you think is hiding in here?

I Demand Plastic Surgery!

Here's what my nose used to look like

OK, I'll bet you wondered how long it would take me to start obsessing about my nose. If you have been reading my blog you know I received a scar during "paw to paw" combat at the Survival Camp where my owner left me.

While, initially, I thought it was cool and would help me fit in with those biker dogs, I have found that people no longer comment on how pretty I am. I AM NOT PRETTY!

It always made me happy when people said I was pretty. I'd prance around showing off my beautiful  perfect black and tan coat. I had a BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NOSE too and people would comment on how my facial fur looked like make up.

But no more. My scar hasn't disappeared and it MAKES ME LOOK OLD! I am just an OLD SCARRED HOUND DOG. Jeesh, it's now like I was from the back woods or something... not from the toney arts town of Santa Fe.

Here's what my nose looks like now. UGH!

I have a solution. I WANT PLASTIC SURGERY. It can't take much to remove the scar and implant some hair where the scar was. I, cinnamon, am worth it.

Until that time, I am not so keen about being seen in public. I am now embarrassed. 

If you agree, please leave a comment below.

Signed, Cinnamon with the RUINED NOSE!

A Houndy Day at the Dog Park

Here I am eating grass and
dutifully wearing my dog tags.

Well, I am close to rested up after my week at "survival camp." So today I decided to go to the dog park and see what was happening.

The first thing I noticed was that there were quite a few dogs gathered around the notice board. They were discussing the license issue. The issue is that dogs are being checked at the dog park to see if they have a license tag. And, of course, I had already heard about that from Facebook and was there with my tags on for all to see!

After that, I noticed that there were some hounds there. Of course I love hounds. But these were hounds of a different color... and size! 

There was a skinny Treeing Walker Coonhound running around. I think she was skinny because she's hyperactive. I went up to meet her and thought she was pretty nice. She ran too fast for me, though. I was more interested in sniffing around and eating grass.

Here's that Treeing Walker Coonhound and one of her friends.

As I walked up the hill I noticed a cute little Beagle. Some of the big dogs were ganging up on her. I was worried that she'd be scared. But she seemed to take it rather well.

I was low energy today. Part of it was because the sun was out and I was turned into a "solar collection device" and some of it was because I was still resting up. Besides, my camp scar was still healing. I need TLC and a great deal of sympathy because of that!

But it was fun to go to the dog park and run into the hounds, even if they didn't look exactly like me!

Here's those big dogs bugging the Beagle.

Favorite Dog Toys: The Squeaky Nubby Blue Ball

Here I am with my Bouncy Squeaky Ball

I showed you a couple of my toys before but left out one of my favorites... the Squeaky Biteable Nubby Blue Ball. This ball gets so noisy that I worry that the neighbors will report me. So, I mostly play with it in the house.

I like this ball because it squeaks when I bounce it and really, REALLY squeaks when I bite on it. So far I haven't been able to destroy it so it is around when I want to play. It's not all that good for tug-o-war, but really good for chewing and chasing.

Mostly I like to tease my owner by running around squeaking it in my mouth. Sometimes I even play with it by myself and bounce it down the stairs.

You can get 5 inch ones on Amazon.com.

Should Cinnamon Go to the Pooch Plunge?

Here I am wading in the creek. Does this count as swimming?

As a dog blogger, I get some interesting press releases coming across my desk. This one really caught my eye because it was different. Imagine, a day at the pool for dogs! Now I love wading in the Columbia River and fording creeks, but would I jump in the pool? Probably not. If they have wading, I'd do that. I might go watch and take pictures for my blog... we'll see. It looks like the doggie social event of the season!

Here's the Press Release:

Dive into the Labor Day Pooch Plunge at the Marshall Center pool in Vancouver, WA

Bring your four-legged friend to the Marshall Community Center pool for the inaugural Pooch Plunge from 1-4 p.m. on Labor Day (Sept. 2).

Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation will drain and clean the pool that week, but before they do please join us for an afternoon of dog paddling and contests. This special event is sponsored by Canine Utopia, 2309 Main St., Vancouver, which will provide great toys, prize baskets, goodie bags and more.

Lifeguards will be provided to help keep your best friend safe. All dogs must be current on shots, dog and people friendly, and be willing to swim (no tossing your dog in). Human companions are not allowed in the pool during this event.

Admission to the Pooch Plunge is $5 per dog. The community center will be closed for maintenance on this date, so participants will need to enter through the rear pool patio doors. The Marshall Community Center is located at 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., near the Clark College campus.

For more information, please call the Marshall Community Center at (360) 487-7100.

Wordless Wednesday: Dogs and Their Toys

Got Toys?

Home from Survival Camp: Dirty, Scarred and Tough as They Come!

Here's the big gate and the
van that picks up the Day Campers.

Well, I'm at my computer after almost a week away! I wonder if I can still spell? I hope I don't write like those cats over at I can has Cheezburger or Lolcats.

You see, I think I was sent to Survival Camp because some dogs at the dog park were scaring me. Never mind that some of them were as big as horses and others had the temperament of wolves. I just got scared and needed to toughen up.

So I was dropped off at the big camp gate with just my name collar and my food. The camp counselor took me in and introduced me to the other campers. He called me "Cinny." So that is now my official camp name.

It was mid-day so there was still plenty of exercise to come. We went down in the woods and I ran the paths with the other dogs. They were faster than me but I vowed to TOUGHEN UP! (I lagged behind on purpose because I was a little afraid of those dogs that looked like wolves.)

By dinner time, I was pooped! I was given my rations and so were the other dogs. But there was NO LOUNGE area for us to rest... it was just back to the woods until bed time. I thought that, at least, they would let us play poker or something. And bed time at dog camp was pretty bare bones (pun intended). It was just mattresses on the floor. During the day they aired out the mattresses but they still smelled like CAMP DOGS!

I learned to go to sleep and ignore those dogs that stayed up telling ghost stories. I was missing my naps so had plenty of sleeping to do!

Each day we had special conditioning exercises. We ran, played tug-o-war and chased balls. There were acres of trails and I ran each and every one of them. I was getting pretty tough... muscular even.

Here's my combat scar and I am proud of it!

One day we were having "paw-to-paw combat" training and something happened. I got in the way of a really big dog and OUCH! The dog took a chunk out of my nose. I was bleeding.... and no one felt sorry for me. We kept on with our training. Blood ran down the side of my nose. Finally it stopped and I felt like a real COMBAT VETERAN. Over the days the sore healed and, to this day, I have a battle scar to show my friends at the dog park.

I am tough. I am Camper Cinny!

Well, I was glad to see my owner (finally) arrive to pick me up from camp today. I jumped into the car, scar and all and even laid down a little on the way home.

After we got home I was ready to go out in the back yard and hunt squirrels. It was then that I got a rude awakening. I was back in suburbia and dirty dogs aren't permitted on the wall to wall carpeting.

Here I am drying off after my bath.

I HAD A BATH! All my camper dirt
was washed down the drain.

But you know what? I am tough. I am Camper Cinny. And, my scar still shows... for all to see. No one better mess with ME!

I think I'll go take a nap on my cushy bed now.

Semper Fi,
Camper Cinny

First Images from Cinnamon's Survival Camp

Cinnamon at Survival Camp: I am one strong puppy!

Away at Dog Camp

Here's my Survival Camp and the other Campers

Hi, this is Cinnamon. I'm going to Dog Camp until early next week. If you've been reading about Camp, you'll know why I won't be blogging.

All I get to take is me and my food... no cell phone, no computer, no iPad, no bed, no cooler, no rucksack, no toys. It's all just about the bare necessities. This is a SURVIVAL camp.

See you next week!

Signed,
Camper Cinnamon

Exploring Vancouver USA - History, Scares and Bouncy Water

Here I am on the Land Bridge

I had a great morning exploring Vancouver USA. We started at the Red Lion at the Quay right on the Columbia River. There was a jet excursion boat going by. I don't think I'd like all that spray!

So we headed out along the Waterfront Renaissance Trail, one of my favorites, but turned in toward the railroad tracks at the Old Apple Tree. We were going to explore the Land Bridge.

It is a bridge that took me from the present day back into the past. If you ask me, the person who made this bridge had to be a little, well... tipsy. It was kind of wavy, you see. I did like stopping at the sculptures and sniffing around them. I even jumped up on one of the walls and looked out to see the Columbia River. 

The Land Bridge was interesting and sniffable

Soon we saw the Fort! Fort Vancouver, a relic of the past, looked like a great place for ME! 

There were mowed fields, orchards and shade from very tall trees. We didn't go into the fort (I hear they don't like dogs hanging out in their heirloom garden) but we did walk around the fields and trees. I especially like the shade trees because by then it was getting warm. I wonder if they had dogs at that fort in the old days.  I know they had furs and pelts there and thought it would be great to have some for a bed!

Here I am at Fort Vancouver.
Soon we were under Shade Trees.

So then we headed up to Officer's Row and more shade trees. I got really excited because there were some squirrels in some of the trees. As we walked along the sidewalk with the huge houses, I imagined myself lying on one of those big porches on a hot day sipping mint juleps.  There's my southern heritage coming out!

But alas, we kept walking. Soon we were downtown. I had a bit of a scare as I walked across the street. There was a hot dog stand that smelled mighty good but something took me by surprise. A HUGE GIGANTIC HOT DOG SCULPTURE stood in front of the stand. I WAS SCARED and pulled toward the street... cars or not! But soon we left all that behind and kept walking on Main Street. 

I stopped to check out a huge heart. There are a lot of them downtown. They are called art. But I just thought I'd sniff them and keep walking. By then I was getting really interested in having some water.

Here's that heart. They are all over the place.

We wound our way through downtown and soon we came upon Esther Short Park. There were fountains there where I hoped to have a drink. It was a beautiful shady park and first I stopped at the fountain that looked like a creek. But the water was spraying and bouncing. Not for me! So then I spied the Salmon Clock fountain and thought there might be a pool of water there.  But NOOO! The water was bouncing and splashing there too. I pulled away. I don't like that type of water. I'd just wait 'til I got home.

Soon we were back down to the Red Lion parking lot. By then it was getting rather warm. My black coonie fur was soaking up the sun. I was happy to go home to my BIG BOWL OF WATER!

It was a good walk mainly because of all the shade trees. I think I'd like to do it again and skip the scary hot dog cart!

Thank you to the Vancouver Volkssporters Walking Club for the Great Walking Map.