A Day in the Life of a Boxador

The Harper Chronicles: How I Keep Cool On a Hot Day

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Wow! Summer started out with some major heat here this year. All last week, temperatures were in the low to mid 90s! This week, Monday was awesome — temperature was in the mid 80s and there was a blustery breeze all day! Nice relief from last week. But then yesterday and today, we’re back in the 90s. We’re supposed to get rain and/or thunder showers today, which is supposed to put us back into the 80s.

No, this entire post isn’t going to be about the weather, but it is about how the weather affects my life. So, how do those hot days affect my life? Well, I only get two walks a day on those days. Mom takes me out in the morning before the sun is too high in the sky and heating things up, and then again in the evening when the sun has gone below our house roofs and tree lines and the pavements, roads, and driveways have cooled down enough so that they don’t burn my paws.

So, how do I do my potty the rest of the day? Well, Mom goes out and scans the entire backyard, shovel in hand, to clean up any dirt the stray cats leave in our yard. Thankfully, she usually only finds one pile. Then she pours bleach on that area and puts the lid to our fire pit over it so that I know not to get near it. Then she takes me out in the backyard. She takes me out in there once or twice while it’s really hot, and once again in the early evening, when most of our yard is in shade.

Mom hates this heat, and I don’t really like it either. I’m usually panting in no time, so even though I enjoy the freedom of running around the backyard without a leash, I like to get back into the air-conditioned house in a short amount of time. When we get inside, I go straight to my water bowl for a drink. But did you know if a dog is hot and panting and drinks too much water too quickly, it can cause them to vomit? Yeah, so Mom always makes sure she has ice cubes in the freezer during the summer months, and she’ll get one out and give it to me. I hold it in my mouth a few moments, then bite it into smaller pieces to eat. It’s a nice refreshing summertime treat!

The Harper Chronicles: A Special Gift (My Look-alike?)

/ kellyfbarr / 2 Comments

Hello, it’s me, Harper. I come from a family with three boys. Well, I guess I should say men. Anyway, one of them no longer lives with the rest of us. He lives in an apartment building in another city, and he really misses having a dog. He hasn’t lived here, since I’ve been in this home. My family had two Labrador Retrievers before me, and he moved out while the second one was still living.

Mom and Dad have taken me to visit their oldest son a couple times, and I think they’re going to take me again sometime. This son had a birthday a little while ago. Mom felt bad that, based on certain circumstances, he decided not to get a dog yet. But, some days he misses having a dog more than others. Mom wanted to get him a stuffed Labrador Retriever. She thought it might help if he, at least, had a stuffed Labrador Retriever that looked like me. She thought he couldt hug it when he was really missing having a dog.

Mom searched three stores to no avail. However, she did find the Labrador Retriever in the picture below. She decided to settle for it, even though it wasn’t soft for hugging, because of the “Welcome” sign around its neck. She thought he could sit this dog inside the apartment near the entry door, so that he sees it anytime he comes home. She hoped seeing the dog “welcome” him, everytime he comes in, might help a little.

Well, he liked it, and he does have it sitting where he can see it when he comes home. Mom suggested he give it a name and talk to it, when he misses a dog too. After all, she talks to me all the time. I’m not sure a grown man would do this. I don’t even know if he gave it a name, but I do hope he gets some comfort from this little greeter.

The above picture is me, sitting on the arm of the loveseat. I can see out the window from there. There are also two other places I can go to look out the window. So, what do you think? Does the little “Welcome” Labrador Retriever look like me?

The Harper Chronicles: My Chewy Delivery

/ kellyfbarr / 2 Comments

Hi Everyone!

My mom orders all my stuff from Chewy! Mom likes their selection of healthy treats. She also likes the shampoo, paw care, and ear wipes she gets for me from Chewy, not to mention it’s so easy for her to order and it comes right to our door!

As you can see in the pictures above, I get very excited when the Chewy box comes! I usually bark at the Chewy delivery guy, then I eagerly wait till Mom opens the box and shows me what she ordered. We only get a box every other month. The item I have in the photos above is a new treat by Paul Newman’s company — healthy natural treats that have peanut butter flavor, probably have peanut butter in them too! I love peanut butter!

Do you like peanut butter too?

Have a good week! I’ll be back next Wednesday.

The Harper Chronicles

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Can you see the spider on the screen? I’m watching it. It’s on the outside, so I can’t get it, and that is driving me nuts! I push my nose into the screen and try to get it with my mouth to no avail. Mom likes to have the patio door open when the weather is nice. I like it too, except for the spiders and other bugs that think they can just hang out on our screen.

The Harper Chronicles — Bath?!

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

So, nothing real exciting to write about this week, so I’ll tell you how I often surprise my Mommy with the level of my intelligence.

In the above photo, I’m sitting on the only piece of furniture I’m allowed on, just relaxing. That’s where I can be found while Mommy is working on her writing at the dining room table. When Mommy needs a break, or just needs to get up and move around a bit, she’ll often come into the living room and talk to me and pet me, and occasionally, she’ll sit down next to me for a couple minutes.

Well, last week one day, she came in, perched next to me, talked to me and petted me. One of the things she said to me was, “In two weeks, you have your checkup with Dr. Hockenberry, so I think you need a bath before that.” I don’t like to get baths, so my ears perked up and I thought, “Oh no! Not that.” Then I lifted my front paws, placed them on Mommy’s chest and gave her a push to let her know I wanted no parts of that.

Mommy looked at me and said, “Are you trying to tell me you don’t want a bath? I know you don’t like baths, but you have to have them sometimes. I can’t believe you pushed me away because I said you have to have a bath soon.”

I thought, “Yep, I’m smarter than you think I am.”

The Harper Chronicles — Harper Visits Kevin

/ kellyfbarr / 2 Comments

This past weekend, Mommy took me for a walk around our neighborhood. (She does that four or five times a day.) When we got to Kevin’s house, Mommy saw a pick-up truck parked in the grass. She recognized it as belonging to Kevin’s brother. Mommy is close friends with Kevin’s brother’s wife.

As we walked by, Kevin called out to Mommy, then her close friend stuck her head out the door. She shouted, “Can you bring Harper up? I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

So Mommy took me up to Kevin’s doorstep. Then Kevin’s brother came out and wanted to meet me, but I was nervous. The red step up to the stoop scared me because we don’t have one of those at our house. Our stoop isn’t as high as Kevin’s. Also, in the little flower bed next to the stoop, Kevin has one of those small banner/decorative flag things and there was a light wind that was blowing it, and that scared me too.

Well, Mommy told Kevin and her closest friend about her website, and that she lets me post here on Wednesdays. So Kevin said, “So this week’s post is going to be ‘A Visit to Kevin’s House’.”

Mommy said, “Only if we get a picture because every post includes a picture.”

So, the picture at the top of this post is me with Kevin, and this is my post about my visit to Kevin’s house.