Boscoe is royally pissed off

he points out that this blog is losing its focus. it's a dog blog, and here i've "girlified it up" (his phrase) by writing about book clubs and clothes and women bonding over dinner.

you're losing your audience! he said. when's the last time willowtree posted here, huh? gone, baby! he's gone! and so are a lot of other people! your comments drop off any more and you're gonna have to return your breakout blogger award!

excellent point. (but i'm not returning nothing, by the way.)

he also complains that when i do write about dogs, i focus too much on riley.

gimme a break. the little guy craps all over the porch and you put it on the blog like it's some kind of achievement! he said to me just this morning.

yesterday i found him curled up winsomely amongst the blankets and pillows of the couch. he had one eye open, though, watching to see if i grabbed the camera.

(i didn't. i know a set-up photo op when i see one.)

poor boscoe. he's not usually this cranky. still, the guy has a point. so here's a Boscoe story that you might not already have heard. i found it in an old email doug sent me a few years back:

Boscoe found a twizzler this morning. that red licorice. when i told him to drop it he just stood there. i told him to drop it in a stern tone. he started to panic. then i realized it was stuck to his teeth and he couldn't drop it.

(here boscoe protests: that's not the kind of story i had in mind! to which i say, tough.)

Meanwhile, boscoe noticed this on the wires yesterday and wanted me to call it to your attention:

Dog Saves Family From Fire Blamed on Cat

GREENVILLE, Maine (AP)-- Thumper, a black Labrador retriever, is getting credit for saving a Greenville man when a fire swept through his home.

Roland Cote said his wife and their 7-year-old grandson were away when the blaze started early Sunday in a converted two-story garage. He said Thumper grabbed him by the arm to wake him, leaving just enough time for him to dial 911 before fleeing the fast-moving fire.

Cote said the fire marshal investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern. Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the flames.

boscoe says, "it figures. the cat makes the mess, the dog cleans it up."