Tess

Couch Potato

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Tess

When Tess came to Asherpark you couldn’t talk her into getting on the couch. Somebody must have taught her it was bad because she’d get real agitated if you asked her up.

After a few months she’d sneak on the couch when she thought mom wasn’t looking. When mom came into the room, Tess would jump off the couch and pretend it wasn’t her that left that white fur on the cushions.

Soon Tess got feeling more comfortable and invited her own self on the couch. Now you can’t keep her off.

Tess was crazy when we brought her home. She ran around in circles foaming at the mouth. She was one nervous nellie. She’s not so much fun now that she has calmed down.

She’ll still chase a goat when she can and I’m not sure I’d let her around the chickens. But mostly, she just wants to hang with her pack.

This is a picture of Tess right after she ate dinner. Notice her eyes are almost closed and she crossed her back paws. Sweet, huh?

Tess is kinda lazy for a border collie. She likes to watch me run the fence but she never joins in. Her favorite pastime is being a couch potato. I hope she doesn’t lose her girlish figure from all that nap time.

I gotta go. I don’t spend much time on the couch. Too much to do. Smells, barks, balls, swiping laundry. See ya!

Codie

Spirits

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Ash

I thought I saw a ghost. There was light and movement. My heart started racing. Not with fear but joy. Codie was back.

Without her fur it takes me a few seconds to recognize her. She has been gone from us nearly two years. Two long years.

She asked to see her spirit weight. I led her to the place where it sits. She admired it from afar and remarked on the brilliant scarlet center.

Codie’s spirit weight was a gift. We didn’t know about Marc Boutte, the wonderful glass artist who makes the Spirit Weights.

Right after Codie passed our friend asked Marc to honor Codie with a spirit weight. Marc was waiting for a tiny bit of Codie’s ashes. He would make a beautiful glass touchstone with her ashes in the center. Marc said it would be a comfort.

When the spirit weight arrived it had a beauty I cannot describe. Mom handled it with great reverence and put it where it would reflect the sun. Us mutts knew it had special meaning.

Codie's Spirit Weight

Codie thought the spirit weight was beautiful. She was pleased with the scarlet center. I told Codie mom chose that color because Codie was a princess. Codie laughed and said she already knew that but it was nice of me to tell her.

Codie said she couldn’t stay. I begged her to wait till mom came home but she said the time was not yet right. Codie reminded me that she chose me to bark for her. She told me to pay attention to my lessons and come when mom calls.

Then she was gone. I felt so lonely when she left. I ran to the gate and howled but Codie didn’t return. Oh how I wish she would have stayed longer. I have so many questions. I miss her so much. Codie! Codie please come back.

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We Were Hacked!

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Asher

If you visited our site over the weekend you probably saw that goofy message. Hackers stuck some nasty code in our files and grabbed our site. Then they bragged about it.

Mom was so mad. She doesn’t know how to write code so she couldn’t fix it herself. We had to wait until Monday to get it repaired.

I was really bummed. There was all this stuff I wanted to bark about and there was no place to put it. It was like my barks were lost in the universe.

I asked mom how come people do mean stuff like hack our site. BarkingProse is just a bunch of mutts barking out loud. We don’t make money off our site or put up silly ads. We just bark about our world.

Mom kept looking in my eyes while I was asking her to explain. She got this sad expression on her face. At first she said she didn’t want to talk about it. Finally she said she would tell me, but I had to do some silly pet tricks to make her laugh.

Mom said there are people in the world who do mean things because they can. Hacking BarkingProse was mean but in the end it didn’t do any real damage other than make us mad. The worst people do mean things to dogs and other humans.

Mom says dog lovers don’t do that stuff. She said think about the good people who support Old Dog Haven. They’re helping make up for the rotten stuff bad people do to old dogs.

I sat real still while mom was talking. I wanted to make sure I understood so I could explain to Tess and Jack. Mom took my paw in her hand and kissed my snout. “You have a kind heart Ash,” she said. “You would never be mean just to hurt somebody.”

Mom called Jack and Tess over. She wrapped her arms around all three of us and told us we’re okay. We have to forget about the mean people who hacked us. BarkingProse is fixed and we’ve got work to do.

Mom told me to get some barks going. She sent Jack and Tess out front to watch for dad. We’re up and running again at Asherpark. See ya!