The Adventures of Verbier..March 1999

The Adventures of Verbier

(the Frustratingly Amazing Toy Poodle
and now official Puppy School Graduate)

The official puppy school graduate (15737 bytes)

Hi! My name is Verbier Napoleon Goddard. Mom and Dad call me Verbi for short. This is a diary of my adventures. I'll try to keep it fairly up to date...but sometimes it's hard 'cause Mom is a computer hog and I only get computer time if she's not working. If you missed last month's adventures, click here. If you want to talk to me, my Mom, or Dad, just email us at whapow@hotmail.com . While you are here, check out my recommendations for dog training books, cool puppy toys, and dog related web sites.

Verbi, the amazing black toy poodle and Mom on a beautiful spring day walk(21783 bytes)

It's finally getting to be spring in St. Louis. Mom has been taking me outside on walks around the neighborhood on nice afternoons when she gets tired of the office. I'm not a big fan of our neighborhood walks. Mom walks too fast and way too far. I get pooped about halfway and like to sit down for a rest. A few houses down from our house lives an enormous black standard poodle. Dad says he's a giant replica of me. He's very scary. The other day when Dad, Mom, and I walked by that big dog yapped at us and tried to eat me. YIKES!

As promised, here are my newest pics. In the first picture, you can see me with my funnel. I was not a happy poochie with the funnel. Mom and Dad called me Funnelhead. Mostly, I slept the first couple of days with my funnel. By the end of the ordeal, I was back to my old self. I had figured out how to do most of the things I was doing before (i.e. playing with socks and chewing on stuff).

Verbi the pathetic black toy poodle (11514 bytes)

Verbi the odd looking black toy poodle in the mirror (23283 bytes)

On the left, you can see me in Mom's office. I must admit I thought I looked pretty odd with that funnel around my neck. I just couldn't stop looking at that goofy dog in the mirror. The other picture is of my Uncle Nick and Aunt Carolyn. They came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time. Mom and Dad took them to see the Arch and I had extra socks and shoes to chew on.

Nick & Carolyn at the Arch (16278 bytes)

The good news is that my stitches are out. Dad took them out the other day. It's been awesome to roam around funnel-free.

Whoa! This has been a stressful couple weeks for me! I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get any of my pictures developed yet. Hopefully, there will be some new pics up by next week. First and foremost...the traumatic news...Mom took me to the vet and YIKES...they NEUTERED ME! I couldn't believe it! There was no warning or anything. One minute I'm minding my own business...the next minute I'm off to the vet and they take my parts! I was not pleased when I got home. Not only that...Mom's been making me wear a funnel on my head. She says it's cause I can't leave my stitches alone, but I look like a goof with it on. Mom says that I'll get the stitches out tomorrow and then I won't have to wear this silly funnel on my head all the time. I can't believe that Dad didn't try to rescue me. I'm certain I would have helped him if Mom had suggested such a dire event for Dad.

Update from the vet....I'm now an amazing 5.6 pounds. Got my last set of shots for this year. Hip hip hooray.

Dad and Mom claim that I have been going through a "rotten" phase lately. I don't know why. Just 'cause I've gotten big enough to do some really cool things (like unrolling toilet paper and pulling Dad's socks and underwear out of the laundry basket when we have company) is no reason to call me "rotten." Of course, I also really enjoy chewing up newspapers. And I have recently learned how to unzip the zipper of my new dog bed so I can chew on the inside lining. Of course, there is still my love of nipping feet AND I am big enough to jump on the couch. Did I mention that I'm big enough to pull lots of papers out of Mom's trashcan in the office? Plus, I've learned that Mom and Dad can't "Alpha Dog" me if I run really fast and hide under their bed. Isn't life grand?! I love being me.

February was such an exciting month for me. I'm really excited about getting started into March. So much has happened that I don't even know where to start. First of all, I have really grown up. The last time I went to the vet, I weighed a whopping 4.6 lbs. Because I've gotten so big, I can now reach the toilet paper in the bathroom (my favorite room in the house) without any problem.

I LOVE to unroll the toilet paper and carry it all over the house! (Mom's not too please about that). Second, I've found a thursday night girlfriend. Her name is Jennifer Aniston. She's on tv. I only get to see her on Thursday nights, but what a Thursday night it is! I talk to her and she talks back. It is way cool. Ellie is still my primary gal (afterall, we are buds every day), but Jennifer is up there on my list. Finally, the most important thing that happened to me in February was that I graduated puppy school on Saturday. Hip hip hooray. Everyone clapped for me. Mom said it was because no one thought I would graduate. My certificate is hanging on the fridge. I've got about a month off before I start Beginner's School. My brain is busting at the seams with all of this learning!