Whippet Snippets

Paw camp

A top competitor must train hard to get into peak condition. Tonight Ribsy was running lap after lap in an effort to chisel his physique to its finest whippet calibre before the dog show this weekend.

Watch his workout with his personal trainer Boy! Download the routine that would humble most Olympians.

Ribsy's First Halloween, Part III

Ribsy's not going to be the only pet sporting a costume on Halloween. Apparently, lot of his pooch pals are getting into the craze, courtesy of their doting people. Click here to read the growing phenonmenon on Vancouver Island.

Of course, really pampered paws might be seen in any of the fancy, extravagant duds from Trixie & Peanut . Think Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell. Wedding gown, shown at left, is $179 US, and the tux is $129.

As for the progress on Ribsy's costume? It's getting there.

Pearls of wisdom

Ribsy's been chuckling along with Boy and Girl over Pearls Before Swine. He especially likes the ones about pets & dogs.

Ribys's first Halloween, part II

Ribsy hung out at the UVic dog park and later snuggled in the pet bed as Boy and Girl got the house cleaned up & readied for Halloween, and dug out the winter clothes in anticipation of chilly weather in Japan.

Because in Victoria, people like to decorate their houses.

One of these guys is not like the others. Unidentified squash from the garden turns jack-o-lantern.

To all the dogs out there that bring so much joy to the lives of those two-legged creatures.

October Fest

A sunny October day in Victoria, and Boy and Girl checked out the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Festival and then took Ribsy out to Macaulay Point, an old battery that was built to defend the coast. Here Ribsy checks out the bunker.

Overlooking the fancy homes off Saxe Point. Boy calls them 'Miami Vice Specials.'

That Ribsy, always searching for the sun. And that's the way it should be.

Ribsy's first Halloween

Preparations are underway for Ribsy's first Halloween, and for Boy and Girl's first Halloween at their new house.

Bought supplies for Ribsy's costume - grey duct tape and silver metallic spray paint. Anyone got a guess as to what he's gonna be?

Spook-erized the house.

Picked up two pumpkins, and Boy gutted them for carving tomorrow. Click here to see Girl's ambitious pattern for one. Ribsy thinks it doesn't look anything like him, and he's right. Girl would have NO idea how to carve a whippet!

Stocked up on a big 90-piece bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. As of 8:57pm tonight, the count is down to 79. Let's see, it'll be 30 for the kids, and 60 for the Boy and Girl...

Tea-z

Ribsy's training and diet regiment is now fine-tuned in preparation for his big show Halloween weekend. His workouts include exercises that target his hindquarter and gluteal muscles, exercises such as The Two-Legged Dance with Girl and windsprints. This will encourage a stronger posture in the ring. His nutritional intake has been souped up by a new muscle-enhancing, protein-packin' dog stimulant. Here, at left, Ribsy is slurping it up. It's chicken-flavoured.

Just kidding! He's actually sneaking a couple of licks at Boy's finished cup of tea. He is NOT, Girl stresses, NOT taking any drugs!

Who Links to Whippet Snippets? Ribsy had to know how bad the news was.

Dog Pageant Update

Pick up that cuppa Tim Horton's. Ribsy's Lower Mainland dog show debut will be at 8am Saturday morning (Oct. 30) in Abbotsford. He's also back in the ring on Sunday at 8am. Boy and Girl will be there Saturday. Ribsy plans to be back home in Victoria by Sunday afternoon, so that Boy and Girl can outfit him in his super duper Halloween costume. That is, if they get around to making it this weekend.

That's what dogs are for

Another reason why Ribsy is such a great pooch. Girl tried to make tuna casserole tonight. She placed all the ingredients in a crock pot and within moments it started to burn. Eeeeww. Attempts to rescue the food were futile, as the tune casserole quickly transformed into tuna charcoal. Boy and Girl ate what they could and started to load the dishwasher.

Ribsy followed, because Ribsy's learned from Bailey that good things often happen when you follow the people to the dishwasher: dropped remnants, unguarded plates, generosity at the end of the meal that usually doesn't happen at the beginning of the meal. He put on his best bulbous puppy eyes, and Girl thought, why not. It's not as if Ribsy would even want to eat this gruel.

But he did! Ribsy eagerly ate the remaining noodle fragments and tuna, and licked the sauce off the plates. When he was all done, he smacked his lips and looked up for more.

"Thanks, Ribsy." Girl hugged her pooch.

No prob, thought Ribsy. That's exactly what dogs are for.

Ribbon me this, ribbon me that

Ribsy came home today! He got back just in time for Sunday night dinner, and this time Linda, Shohei and Bailey were the guests. Just the audience for him to show off his slew of ribbons.

For his first-ever dog show Boy and Girl were proud of their pooch. Ribsy got to see his pop Lord Henry's other kids, so it was kind of a family gathering, with his half-bro's and sis's competing alongside him. Plus of course, his full sister Fawn made the trip up to Port Alberni with him. Overall, he did pretty well against his kind, earning: First in Class, Best Puppy in Breed, Best of Winners and Best of Breed -- which means, Ribsy figures, that he was the best of the whippets there. He also claimed top dog in the Puppy Sweepstakes.

So he's got his next dog show in Abbotsford Halloween weekend and Ribsy invites you all to come watch and cheer if you're interested. It's the biggest dog show in Canada, plus there will be tons of exhibitors with all sorts of pet supply products and food, and entertainment.

But back to tonight. He was also rewarded (by Boy and Girl) with a new coat, but unfortunately it wasn't too flattering nor fitting on him.

He also got prime dibs on some prime rib.

It was great to welcome a winner home, but most especially it was great to welcome our little special 3 Dots home.