Cinnamon's Diet Success Story

See, aren't my paws delicate and pretty?

Remember last year when I had to go on a diet. I was weighing more than Francesca. She is bigger than I am. In fact she has such huge paws that I think they must weigh a pound each. I, on the other hand, am more fine-boned and petite.

Well, that is except for my stomach. So last year I went on a diet to try and get below the 52 pounds that I weighed. I cut out some of my treats and always ate less than Francesca. What happened? I GAINED WEIGHT! I gained weight and Francesca lost weight.

So every meal time I groaned. I just knew I would be shorted food. Francesca got the extra food that wasn't served to me and she didn't gain weight. Months went by and I had just about given up.

So today, we went to the Veterinarian for my check up and 3 year rabies shot. I don't like it there. Well, I like the Vet's assistant but I don't like him because he pokes, prods and sticks me with needles!

So of course the first thing that we did was head for the dreaded scales. Oh No! I got on the scales and obediently sat down. I grimaced. I didn't want to hear how much I weighed. And.... my weight was.... (drum roll, please) 50.8 pounds! I LOST WEIGHT! I lost over a pound!

So then it was time for the dreaded exam. I winced some more. But what the doctor said, was pretty encouraging. I had lost weight, yes... but my heart rate was that of an athlete. And I was very healthy. I, Cinnamon, wasn't looking like an old dog at all.

So now I don't complain about the diet and I don't complain about exercise. I'm a healthy coonhound and I'm a success!

Here I am sleeping all night on the cushy couch cover.

I was so happy with myself I decided to sleep on the new couch cover on the couch all night. What a treat! Francesca had to sleep alone!

Love, Svelte Cinnamon

Super Bowl 2016 Budweiser Commercial: Too little Clydesdales and NO Puppies!

I protest!

I am so disappointed in this year's Budweiser commercial for Super Bowl 50. I was waiting for the puppies. I was waiting for MY Clydesdales. And what did they produce? A loud commercial without a story line and without more than glimpses of the Clydesdales and NO puppies.

Who the heck wants to see self-serving beer production vignettes glorifying Budweiser beer? Not me? And not Francesca. I protest!

Forget the Super Bowl! Watch Puppy Bowl XII on February 7th, 2016

I'm a fan of the puppy bowl... as long as I can watch it from my comfy rug in front of the TV!

Here I am watching the Puppy Bowl with my Puppy Bowl toy!

I'm not big on crowds and yelling so I'll watch from my house. There's a couple of hounds in the starting line-up so I'll be rooting for them!

Here's the Pre-Game Show:

I scared a Great Dane!

So here's what he looked like... huge!

I am feeling so proud of myself. Usually I pick on little dogs that bug me at the dog park but yesterday, I encountered a HUGE young Great Dane. This dog had absolutely no sense of personal space and kept bugging me and sniffing me and pawing at me. I turned around and snapped at him. I growled and scared him away.

So then I was trotting around the path minding my own business and here he comes again. Romping around me and bugging me. THAT WAS IT! I snarled, snapped and CHASED HIM. Then for good measure I CHASED HIM AGAIN! I scared him off that time. You should have seen me scaring that huge dog!

My owner was all apologetic with the dog's owners and they surprised me. They said that it was good for their dog to learn that he couldn't do that. He needed to learn to respect personal space or suffer the consequences.

So that was my brave day at the dog park!

Love, Cinnamon

Wordless Wednesday: Pooped Out!

This is what Francesca looks like after Day Care!

Dog Park Races, Here we come! (video)

Sometimes I appreciate the dog park even more after being holed up in the house during the rainy season. Well, today, I looked outside and saw a bit of blue sky and sunshine. It was a great day for the dog park!

So our owner opened the back of the car and we jumped in... Francesca in her crate and me in the back. Dog park express! Off we went.

When we got there, since it was Sunday and not everyone goes to church, the parking lot was pretty full. As soon as we got out of the car, about five dogs met us at the gate, barking and making annoying aggressive sounds. It's like that at the gate. I hate it! Well, except when I'm the one on the other side annoying the newly arrived dogs!

So we trotted and ran. All of a sudden Francesca spied a friend... it was Suzy! She was in a pack of about four dogs. She high tailed it (easy for her as she has the longest tail in the world) over and started to annoy everyone. Finally Susy took off running. Francesca was in hot pursuit. Now the object of the chase is not to win, but to run like the wind after the first dog. Francesca did a great job, forgetting that she had pneumonia not so long ago!

Here's a video of the chase!

I ran a little bit but stayed out of their way.

Love, Cinnamon

I am NOT Stupid!

Hi. It's me, Francesca. I'm feeling much better now but still have to take antibiotics. I have enough energy to go to the dog park and have fun. We went yesterday and we went today. Today was WILD!

We drove to the dog park at Washougal. I had never been there before so I got really excited. I didn't know what to do first... visit the dogs or find a squirrel tree. Of course, being a mighty hunter, I started with the latter.

At the Washougal dog park there is one huge lone tree. I figured squirrels must be in that tree so I ran like the wind (Cinnamon taught me that saying) over to check it out. As I ran, I imagined what the squirrels would be like. They would be big, furry and grey. And they would be jumping from branch to branch. I visualized one of them falling. I visualized me chasing that squirrel and...

Francesca the mighty hunter.

So by the time I reached the tree, I had worked myself up into a frenzy. I ran all around the tree barking. I looked up into the branches expecting at least 10 squirrels to be frolicking. Then I tried to climb the tree to get a better look.

I barked and jumped and nothing happened. No squirrels! So then I climbed up on a nearby bench figuring I'd be a couple feet closer to seeing a squirrel.... nothing.

At that point I saw some dogs looking at a hole by some berry bushes. So I went over to investigate. I was sure there was something really good in that hole. They gave up but I decided to investigate. I had to go through some berry brambles to get to the hole. My owner said, "Don't do that, Francesca... that's a stupid thing to do!" I listened to her and backed out of the thorny bushes.

All of a sudden I heard a man say, in his booming voice. "If Francesca thinks there are squirrels in that tree she must be STUPID!" Me, stupid? Well, he doesn't know me. I'm very smart. Smarter than Cinnamon, in some ways. I'm manipulative too.

So I decided to go over to the squirrel tree and start barking again to show him how smart of a hunter I was. After that I ran over to a pile of XXXX and rolled in it. I thought I was so smart!

Once we got home, I was invited to take a bath. Now I don't like baths, but after rolling around having such a great time I had earned the bath. I kinda forgot about that when I was rolling around.

I'm not STUPID, but I AM clean! What a day!

I am not sure I want to go back to that dog park. I was called stupid and then earned myself a bath... all in one day.

Love, Smart Francesca