When we first got there, Razz got to run around off-leash too but she’s not as good off-leash so she eventually had to get leashed again. She still seemed to have fun though. Her she is with David.

And here we are together with David. Can you tell how happy I am? I LOVED running around in the woods.

We also got to go over to the water. I really wanted to swim but Amy wouldn’t let me. She only let me get as far as my paws because I might have gotten them a little muddy during our hike.

After our long hike, I was quite pooped and needed a nap!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the video evidence.

Does this give you a clue?

Or this?

That’s right, Bethany Beach! Well, sort of, we were at a private beach in between Bethany and South Bethany called Middlesex Beach in Delaware. These pictures were taken at the house that we stayed at. The house didn’t technically allow dogs but, shhhh, I won’t tell if you won’t.

So like many of the beaches in Delaware during the summer, dogs aren’t allowed on the beach But there is one, it’s the same one that Amy took me to last year, Dewey Beach! For two mornings in a row, we all woke up early and drove to Dewey so Razz and I could enjoy some fun in the surf.

I was a little timid at first because it had been a year since my last beach visit but after a little while I felt comfortable and was jumping in the water. This was Razz’s first time at the beach and while she didn’t buck at the water like I did, she didn’t dive right either. I’ll post a video of me jumping into the water and riding in the waves as soon as I can post it on YouTube.

We went to the beach the day after Hurricane Irene struck the Mid-Atlantic so the first morning we were at Dewey, there was hardly anyone on the beach. On the second day, people started trickling in so at one point I had to be tethered to the life guard chair to let some other dogs passed. As you can see from this picture, I am not happy about this. Um…hello…the beach is that way.

Oh and in case you were wondering about those Bethany cookies, Amy and David bought those for us at a doggie boutique in Bethany Beach. We did eventually get to eat them and they were yummy!

As I type (yes I type, quite amazing), Hurricane Irene is making her way up the East Coast and as you can see, I wanted to stay in bed but Amy told me to get up and update my blog since we’re stuck inside.

So let’s see, where to start? Um, well, spring brought the warmer weather and some new toys! Now, I have plenty of regular tennis balls but Amy splurged and got me this, a gigantic Kong Air Dog Squeakair

When she brought it home, I was super happy, I had never had such a huge tennis ball!

So I squeaked and squeaked and squeaked it. I walked around the house with it and I made Amy throw it down the hall for me to fetch. In fact, I loved it so much…

…I broke it

That was back in April, she ended up buying me one replacement but when I broke that too, she refused to get me another. BUT I did get another amazing toy. So in May I returned to flyball racing in my team’s tournament over Memorial Day weekend. I did pretty well and had a lot of fun. Amy’s cousins Kathy and Mary and her niece Kaitlyn all came to help out. On the second day of racing Amy’s sisters came to watch me race. Everyone bought raffle tickets and Kathy and Amy’s sister Vicki won baskets! Vicki’s basket included what has become one of my favorite toys, a rubber squeaky chicken!

Of course, while I do love my rubber chicken (this past week I finally managed to break the squeaker), it will never replace my beloved frisbees. In the past few months I have taken to grabbing them as soon as I know that Amy is awake and bringing them into her bedroom. I let her know, not to subtlety, that I would like to play right now.

What else, what else? Oh! There is some big news to report. First, Amy’s sister Terrie, her niece Ariya and brother-in-law Long all moved to Laos, their next State Department post. We had a big going away/Ariya’s 2nd birthday party for them at the end of July. It was a circus theme, here they are as silly circus performers.

Amy was pretty sad to see them go but hopefully time will fly by quickly and before we know it, they’ll be back! Oh and did I mention when they’d be back next? For Amy and David’s wedding. Wedding? What? Oh yeah, the next big piece of news is that in May, Amy and David got engaged! This picture was taken on the day they got engaged down at UVA where Amy went to college and where David proposed. They are planning a wedding for late 2012.

So with this engagement brings my last piece of big news in the form of David’s dog Razzmatazz. Amy and David were apart for a few years and during that time, he adopted Razz, who is also a border collie. Last summer, us dogs were introduced to one another. When we first met, we were usually separated, either by leashes or just put in separate rooms, but gradually we were exposed to one another more often. And now, look at us! Here we are sitting next to each other in the kitchen

It took a while but we now get along. I don’t usually play with her but I do tolerate her pretty well. For a dog who isn’t very fond of other dogs, I think this is quite a feat. For the 4th of July holiday, Amy, David, Razz and I all went to Amy’s Uncle John’s cabin and had a great time! Here we are with Amy at the little bridge crossing the stream.

And we got to go swimming too! She was a little cautious but she did get in the water eventually.

And for a little while, we were swimming buddies.

Other than that, we usually see each other on the weekends when we go on long walks with Amy and David or go to the park to play frisbee. Sometimes after those walks and play sessions, we’re both pooped.

And when we’re done napping, we just hop right up and demand to play frisbee.

Amy also started bringing Razz with us to her parents house. It didn’t take her long to learn that the backyard is one of the most wonderful places in the world. Here we are practicing a lot of self control by staying while Amy opens the door to the backyard.

It also didn’t take her long to learn that if Amy’s mom is in the kitchen, we should be too. Amy’s mom makes the best food and sometimes will sneak us some.

So yeah, things are going so far with Razz. We’ve got different personalities so it works well. She’s like my little sister, she can be annoying sometimes but I like her. Sometimes I’ll even let her touch my paw.

I’ve got my frisbees and even though I do love snow frisbee, catching frisbees outside in the sun is pretty darn good too. Anyone? Anyone? I’ve got them and am ready to go.

But the one down side of spring? Spring showers and muddy paws which equals getting toweled off. Although I guess it’s worth it when you consider all of the fun I have getting muddy in the first place.

She came back with this bag! Do you see what is says? And do you know why it says this?!

Because a mini doggie cupcake was inside! And I for one could not wait to eat it. After seeing Amy consume so many cupcakes (and believe me, it’s a lot), it was finally my turn! Of course, she made me wait first, which was very, very hard, as you can see.

Even though she didn’t release me yet to eat it, I just had to take a little lick and see what it tasted like.

And when she finally said okay, I went in for a bite.

But before you knew it, poof, it was gone. It was quite delicious though.

And even though I was less than happy with her putting this on my head, I agreed to let her do it because yes, “Doggies do love cupcakes too.” This had better mean that I will be getting more of these doggie cupcakes in the future.

First, the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 brought with it very, very cold weather. Amy got worried that it was getting too cold even for me! So, she went out and bought me this sweater to wear. It was okay, I’m not sure how warm it kept me, but it wasn’t the worse thing in the world, so I endured.

The big news of 2011 is that Amy got a new job. In between her last day at her old job and her first day at her new job, she took a week off so we spent that week visiting our favorite parks. One day we went to Occoquan Regional Park. We visited all of the four picnic shelters (she insisted that I take pictures at each one) so here I am at the Loudoun County one.

On another day, we went to Hidden Pond Nature Park. Since it was the middle of the week, there weren’t as many people around so we got to explore all of the nature trails, it was great! I got to run around off leash and sniff everything! Here I am on one of the little boardwalks that they’ve set out along some of the trails.

And FYI, after my incident last fall, Amy did not allow me anywhere near the pond. If you don’t remember, click here to read what happened when we went in September.

Okay, getting back to fun at the park. We have also been taking weekend walks through Douglas Park in Arlington, okay, it’s not much of a park, but there’s this funny V shaped tree where she insisted that we take some photos.

Amy, why are we doing this again?

360 Panorama of AAD Level 3 dogs in an over 1 minute sit.