Apologies to the Squirrel King

Tucker would like to take this time to make his apologies to the squirrel kingdom public. Yesterday, Tucker did something not so nice. There was this nice fluffy tailed critter running along the chain link fence. Tucker decided it would be loads of fun to play with him. So the two of them played "hi there, I am a dog and I will chase you, squirrel" back and forth and back and forth. It was a good game.

Until.
All the fun and excitement caught the attention of Tucker's somewhat less than friendly brother, YHP. YHP, it has been noted in the past, will stare for hours at squirrels like Michael Myers of Halloween lore. He can be a ruthless killer like some prohibition era gangster. YHP has in fact asked for a tommy gun and fedora for Christmas in the past.

Anyhow, once mean Mr. Pepper got involved, there were some regrettable fouls made. And if Tucker's dad hadn't grabbed YHP and helped the little squirrel, it could have been worse. All the shouting of his father and mother even raised the attention of the neighbors. Tucker, for his part, didn't understand that the squirrel was not having fun as he previously believed.

Accidents happened. Mistakes were made.

And for this, he is sorry.

Grandmother Uber Alles

Tucker & co. were happy to have their grandmother come visit them recently. They like her a lot. She is very nice and pets them a lot. She also feeds the apples every day -- something his parents can't seem to grasp as a good idea.

They spent almost 2 whole weeks playing with grandma. They played "everyone crowd the bed" and "let's all follow this person around the house" indoors and "let's run like crazy monkeys" and hey, let's bark at the tree" outdoors.

Tucker thinks it would be super nice to go visit his grandmother in California. He remembers her house as a puppy. He visited his cousin Coco there in 2005. He also remembers Mr. Ninja -- the desert tortoise who nipped at his tail and chased him around the yard. Tucker is 50-50 on whether he wants o hang with Mr. Ninja. But that tortoise is a fun guy when he isn't on a mission to eat flowers.

Tucker's brother, Baron von Dachshund has never been to his grandmother's house. Tucker tells him stories of palm trees and lemon trees and other exotic plants. There are lizards, too. Baron just stares at him dubiously, as if Tucker is making all of this up.

"And where is this magical fantasy land you call 'California' meine Tucker?" Baron asks.


"It's not far. Let's get in the car and go see for ourselves," says Tucker.


"Maybe one day, kids, we will move back there and then you all can see or yourselves," says dad.



"What's this maybe? As if there is any doubt," says mom.

The Path Less Taken

Tucker gets a lot of compliments about how he is such a good natured kid. The truth is, Tucker likes being good. This doesn't mean that he is always obedient or always listen to his parents. Sometimes he makes up his own mind.

And this leads to Tucker's personal philosophy -- "Why take the path less taken when this one is paved and has lots of nice new things to smell?"