How Can Something So Horrible Feel So Good???

That's a very long title, but there's no other way to describe how I feel right now.

The day started out promising - the guy I live with got up and started the coffee grinder, which woke me up. Then he fed me, and the day was off to just the right start. However, things soon went into a weird direction.

He put the leash on me, IN THE DAYTIME, which is just plain wrong; I normally don't go for a walk until it's almost dark. So right away, I knew something was wrong. I decided the best thing I could do was to not go along with it; instead of moving over to the door like I normally do when it's walk time, I jumped up on the couch and sat down.

But he won - he always does. He picked me up, put me in the car, and soon this lady (the "GROOMER") was in charge of me for the day. Things happened in that place that I really don't care to talk about. But here's the odd thing...

When I got picked up later, I wanted to be angry and to express my extreme frustration. But I couldn't. Instead, I couldn't stop wagging my tail. It's like it took over the rest of my body. When I got in the car, as much as I wanted to pout and just sit there, some strange power took over my body and forced me to stick my head out of the window. Where does this feeling of euphoria come from? Is it just from being home?

No, it's more than that. I'm home almost every day, and while I'm generally in an O.K. mood, I don't often have moments of sheer euphoric pleasure. The last time I felt like this was about 6 weeks ago.... HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!!!! Does all this have something to do with taking a bath? NO, IT CAN'T BE!!!

I can't deal with this. I need to take a nap.

Misunderstandings About My Species

There are a lot of misunderstandings about dogs. I'm going to try to clear up a few of them. I can't deal with all of them right now, because I'm really busy. Although it may look like I'm not doing anything but sleep, I actually have a lot on my plate (until I eat it). But see, this is just the first of many misunderstandings you people have about my kind...

Dogs are lazy.

This is so untrue, and so unfair. You have no idea how hard it is to take care of the emotional needs of a family. I may look like I sleep all day, but you have no idea what's really going on in my head. I have to be ready at a second's notice to get up, yawn and scratch, and follow any one of three different people to any location in our house, for any reason. That's not easy, because I'm extremely old. So what appears to be laziness is just me conserving my strength so I can be there when I need to be there.

Dogs are stupid.

You know, this is something I hear a lot, and I don't think I know what it means.

I'll write more later. Right now I have to conserve my strength, because I'm extremely old and I never know when I'll be needed. Besides, I'm really tired and stressed out because I watched "Open Water" on pay per view last night, and that just confirms the bad feeling I've always had about taking baths.

Happy Easter.

How I Named My Blog

Since it's my site, and I'm "logging" stuff here, it only seems natural to call it "Mabel's Log." Or maybe "Mabel's Dog Log." But the guy I live with thought that was inappropriate, so he suggested "Mabel's DogBlog."

It's o.k., it's cute, but it's not my first choice. It's just one of many examples of how my species is controlled by people. But we get to eat, so it's a fair trade.

Let me introduce myself...

My name is Mabel, and this is my blog.

Before I get started, let me make one thing clear - having my photo taken for this blog was not my idea. I don't like cameras, and I don't believe it's right to take photos. I think there's a strong risk of losing my soul when I'm photographed. That's why I never look directly at the camera. Which brings me to the first rule of this blog (there will be many other rules as we go along)....

DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT MY PICTURE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT IT WON'T BE GOOD. JUST QUICKLY GLANCE AT IT, AND THEN LOOK AWAY. THANK YOU.

There are very few dogblogs in the blogosphere. This may be the only one. Or it may not be. But it might. There's really no way of knowing. But I feel strongly about a lot of things, and I really want my opinions to be heard by someone else besides the people in my house.

Finally, I would just like to say that I'll do my best to post as often as possible. Except for next Tuesday, March 29, 2005 A.D. I'm taking a bath that day, and that's always hard on me. But it's harder on my family if I don't take a bath, so in the spirit of sacrificial duty, I'll do it. I never said I wouldn't take a bath - I just said I don't like it. I think I smell fine.