Happy Halloween!

Halloween is Meredith's favorite holiday. As a tribute to this day I agreed to try on all her costumes before they went into storage.

Here are a few examples:



Click here for the whole show!

She has a lot of costumes. Seriously. I had to be very patient and wait for my treat. Mmmmmm... yogurt reward for Halloween costume trying-on. Nothing beats that.

MUST. FIND. HOUSE.

We need a place to live! Our stuff is coming on the boat very soon!

Only one place has been seen this week. Argh. I’m feeling Meredith and Mike’s stress about finding a house so I bit my kong in half. Bet you thought that wasn’t possible, huh.

With a doodle-dog, anything is possible.

Let's stay in tonight!

Mike and Meredith have been staying in for dinner almost every night since we arrived at this temporary apartment. Therefore, I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank Albert Heijn, the grocery store guy, for his efforts to make this happen.

Purchased ingredients:
(Kip is Chicken)

End result:

It is so simple to stay in for dinner with your doodle dog!

"Mode" - Dutch Fashion

I’m not really that excited about fashion. Most of the time I don’t even wear clothing, so why should I care? Clothing is for all of the people because they don’t have fabulous fur like me. Even so, I have to admit I’m amazed at the number of boots that exist here. All the women wear boots. Well, at least 75% of them. An example of said boots:

Meredith is so bummed she put all her boots on the boat shipment. She will have to be bootless for another few weeks, I guess. Unless she buys new ones!

Even though Meredith is not all that fashionable either, she has been impressed with the fashion available here:

Did you see those prices? Too bad she can’t grow fur!

Other Dogs Can Do It, Why Can’t I?

I promised a video of another dog bike riding. Here you go:

The bike rider was a little creeped out by my video-making, I think.
Here I am, trying again:


I think our two different styles are pretty clear.

Success!

Again on Thursday Meredith was gone for the entire afternoon, trying to sort out the internet problems. Things were so pathetic that at one point in the day she was explaining to the guy at the mac store in the mall how to use her macbook air. When we were out walking last night I noticed a store with “UPC” on the front of it- the internet service company! I pulled on her pant leg and made her stop in and asked if they could help. They suggested we come back with the modem the next day.

Today, after the dishwasher repair guy left (he said he’d be here between 8am and 12pm and showed up at 11:55am- of course!) we headed over to UPC. She insisted that she bring me with her because, well, I have an excellent cute factor and might be of service.

My cuteness worked. After a couple hours of waiting and a nice cup of tea for her and lots of petting for me we got a new modem and an official internet blessing.

Here I am with my internet hero, Erik:


The internet now works! And it only took one week to get it to work! This is fast by Dutch standards so we are trying to appear pleased. (Don't I look pleased?)

Now we can finally look for a place to live. This apartment, while better than a hotel (even a fabulous hotel), is on the 7th floor and surrounded by brick… not so easy for me to go outside and find a suitable place to do my business. Here you can see Meredith and I walking in from our front door. Not that exciting, but clearly too many doors to go through.

Best Hotel Ever

The last few days Meredith has been trying desperately to get internet in our apartment. This has involved her leaving for hours at a time, and I have to stay in my crate. If I may say so: This Sucks. We went over to our old hotel and used the internet there today around 4pm. The receptionist on duty was our favorite one who lives in Valkensvaard and who tried to convince us to come live in the same apartment building as she does. She is adorable! However, the waiter was not so nice. He kept winking at us while we sat there alone and then when Mike showed up he became rude and gave us dirty looks. I was indignant about it because gosh- what kind of a doodle does he think I am! So Meredith mentioned his bizarre behavior to the sweet receptionist and she said (right in front of him!), “Oh do not pay any attention to him! Only listen to me, we like having you here.”

That’s what I’m talking about. Best Hotel Ever!

A little bit of a move

An apartment was found! And it is not too far from the hotel (and my favorite park!). From what I understand we are only going to be here for a few weeks while we continue to try to find something more permanent. Meredith and Mike have been packing all evening and used some kind of hotel cart to transport most of the luggage the few blocks over to the new place tonight. Tomorrow morning we have to be out of the hotel by noon, so we’ll finish up before Mike goes to work. Fortunately, the bus stop is next to the apartment, so it will be very close for him to ride to work. Too bad he can’t borrow hotel bikes anymore to take to work or to teach me to run next to!
The view south from our new place: (the bus stop is not visible because of the large tree)


This new place is all black and white. Literally. A huge canvas photo of some American city in the 1900’s adorns the living room wall.


Let’s list the myriad of good things about the apartment:
• It isn’t a hotel
• Cheese is available in the fridge
• My rug came with us and I get to play with my toys in a bigger space
• Meredith and Mike are with me for dinner instead of gone every evening to a restaurant
• We have a balcony!

And the not so good things:
• In order to get to our 7th floor apartment we have to use an elevator (scary!!)
• The balcony makes it tough to look out the window from the living room at the people below
• The internet isn’t working (how the heck do I blog?)
• I’m still not allowed to bark at will

Exploring... without me. :(

What a lame day. I spent the a lot of the day in the crate while Meredith and Mike biked to a neighboring town, Veldhoven, to see if it might be suitable to live there.



They found a town square complete with a band. See how long it takes you to name that tune. I couldn’t, but hey- I’m a dog. That’s not my job.

I wish I could have gone with them, but you see, I’m just learning how to behave on a leash next to a bike.


Mike tried to take me for a walk next to his bike today.

It is very common here for dogs to run next to their owners while they bike. I’ll post a video of some other dog biking in a future post. Suffice it to say it looks very different from my technique.

I’m not sure that I get the concept. Aren’t bikes for chasing? And isn’t the leash for biting?

Proof of the Torture

Here is my picture before the torture (spa day):

And afterwards:

And this is what I do anytime my face gets wet:

Spa Day

Our hotel has a courtyard surrounded by wall or a wall of greenery. I’ve noticed that many yards here are ‘fenced’ in by greenery. It is usually so thick you can’t see or smell through it at all. A fine example of said greenery:


Meredith and I decided to explore the hotel yard because it is completely inescapable for me and she thought she could let me off leash for a bit. I love being off leash. Most of the time I just want to run in circles really fast:


Occasionally, however, I get a little bit of the devil in me and try to do something naughty like dig. The grass was covered with colorful fall leaves and I decided it would be great to grab a leaf during my mad dash. Meredith thought that was cute and clapped her hands. Next, I noticed little piles of pellets here and there. They smelled vaguely of bunnies, one of my most favorite things. I stopped to get a better sniff. Meredith came toward me, warning me to ‘Leave it!’. Ohhhh no, not this time!! I grabbed a mouthful. Next, I found some other dog’s poo. Yum!!! I kept running as fast as I could go while Meredith was screaming for me to quit eating shit. It was truly a beautiful morning.

Once I got sufficiently tired she grabbed me and marched me to the door. She said, “You’re having a spa day, little shit eater” and next thing I knew I was being doused in the hotel shower. It was horrible. I thought I was going to drown. Maybe I’ve mentioned before that I HATE water? Argh. I tried to escape, but the doors on the stupid shower actually close completely. Meredith was locked in there with me, armed with the shower hose thing and gallons of dog shampoo.

Next, she spent time trimming my nose and paws. They tend to get unruly rather quickly, causing me to obsessively lick my chops after meals and such, so, although I hate the process of trimming, I do like the end result. However, she didn’t stop there: all the lovely bunny smell on my breath was completely obliterated after she brushed my teeth with toothpaste for dogs. What a morning.

Work has begun for Mike

Today is Mike’s first day of work here. While I’m happy for him to start work, I’m also a little bit sad that he left. Check out how fancy he looks:



Once he left I spent time sleeping by his shoes and by his side of the bed. I guess I’ll have to get used to it- someone has to earn the money to buy me my treats.

A Farm within the City

What the heck are these things?? Meredith and Mike said they are ‘cows’ but I tell you, they look like overfed Dalmatians. They move so slowly, but they still scare me.


And check out these chickens! We walked over to the fence and they all came running! I thought they were coming to see me, but I guess the reason for the royal greeting is that people feed them and they thought Meredith and Mike might have some tasty treats. Believe me, they didn’t. I’d know if they did!

Food

Meredith and Mike have been eating really well at the hotel restaurant. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:


Wish I could say the same for me! But they did buy me a new dog food. Of course the dog food I eat isn’t available here, but they found some that is wheat-free and doesn’t have scary ingredients. The pet shop is amazing and really close by the hotel.
Here's my new food:

Smells...

I met a Dalmatian dog in the park today. It was a blast to play with her for a bit. You wouldn’t believe the smells they have here. Everything is so pretty with the fall colors all around- oak leaves, maple leaves- they are all here. They have some artwork in this park and it all has interesting smells too.



We went for a ride in the car and I got to smell everything out the window!!! Weeeeeee!!!!

Marathon in Eindhoven

On Sunday we also saw a race! The people of Eindhoven hosted a marathon, which drew 16,000 racers! Some videos of the festivities:

Sandwich Willy

Well, I feel quite normal again! Here I am, in all my glory:


Today and yesterday were loads of fun here in Eindhoven! A fantastic park full of dogs is right outside our hotel door.
Here is the front door to our hotel:

Everyone has been so nice to me, petting me, asking what kind of dog I am in Dutch, which of course I don’t understand. Once we explain that we don’t speak Dutch they launch into perfect English! It was so amazing how I was allowed to go into the sandwich shop yesterday.

We saw a place with tables outside and asked if we could sit there for lunch. The shop-keeper explained that the season for ‘outside table sitting’ had now ended and the tables were only ‘decoration’. Meredith explained that she had me with her, and they said, that is fine- bring her in! So I got to lie at Meredith’s feet while she and Mike had sandwiches. I had never been in a restaurant before!

Mike and Meredith had little drinks!

Notice where her feet are positioned- it seems the Dutch are a bit taller than her- so far whenever she has been sitting, her feet haven’t quite touched the floor. Interesting…

They even brought me a bowl of water! Now, if I could only get that kind of service everywhere I go.

We made it to Eindhoven

Today was “travel-day”. We got in a rented SUV and drove to Canada, eh! The border people didn’t even care about me, Meredith had all my papers ready to show and all they wanted to know was if “Graham” was her maiden name. She kept saying, “It is my only name.” and they kept asking is it her “maiden name”. It was rather comical, in retrospect.

We stopped at a nice park where I could stretch my legs and enjoy the sunshine.

Mike and I found a great stick to chew on!


I’d really rather not discuss the plane ride. Traumatic, strange, scary… it was all of the above. And embarrassing. I had to go so bad I couldn’t hold it. I thought I’d never see my people again… but a nice man finally got me and brought me to Meredith and Mike. They let me right out of the crate and hugged me and loved me. I was so glad to see them I wagged and wagged. Meredith cleaned out my stinky crate and my stinky paws (yes, I stepped in it, did you have to ask?) and things seemed better. The scary part continued, however, as Meredith walked me outside the airport where there was no grass and loud machines cleaning the sidewalks. I was so freaked out that I couldn’t go to the bathroom. Eventually, Mike came outside too and he walked me around until finally I consented to pee.

We rented a car and they let me ride in the passenger foot-well on the way to the hotel. It was either that or ride in the crate because the crate and luggage took up the entire back seat and way back of the station-wagon. I sat up a few times to look at the farm animals Meredith pointed out on the way. But admittedly, both she and I did quite a bit of snoozing. Traffic was bad and poor Mike had to navigate on his own to Eindhoven.

When we arrived at the hotel, Meredith and I crashed almost immediately.


Mike did some stuff and then he slept too for an hour or so. They were all up again in the afternoon and out seeing apartments and then eating dinner. The time difference is 6 hours and so it will take some getting used to, I think.

It is going to be interesting ‘camping’ here in the hotel!

Home away from Home

Yesterday, after the movers left, we drove to Brockport to stay with Barb and Sal. Mandy had told me about their dog, Skunky, whom Mandy used to play with. Skunky passed away a few years back and it was very sad. Here is a video of Mandy (on the left), Ceasar, Moby and Skunky during Christmas time. It totally cracks me up.



Barb and Sal are so nice to me. They treat me like one of the family. Their house is fantastic for squirrel-watching. From the living room to the family room to the hallway, I’ve got tabs on all the windows. It’s nice to have a job to do for a couple of days here, and I know they appreciate my watchful eye.

Meredith and Mike have said we are traveling tomorrow. They are telling me not to be scared. Scared of what, I wonder? Well, for now there is relaxing with Sal. I’m great at it.

Boxes! Boxes! Boxes!

Oh My Bunnies, this week has been crazy. First, Meredith’s parent’s showed up with the van and loaded it full of stuff out of our house. Then, Mike loaded our car full. We get to the lake and unload everything into the basement. We only hung around there for the day and then came back to Rochester and Meredith and Mike worked like mad sorting and throwing things away. I kept hearing, “Keep it? VOA it? Toss it? Plane or boat?” I felt like I was in the way, but did get a couple of good walks.

Then, on Monday people came to the house with boxes. I’ve never smelled so many boxes!! I had to stay in my crate for almost the whole day while they wrapped everything left in the house into paper and then put it into a box. Soon, the entire house was full of boxes. Meredith and Mike let me sleep on the floor next to their bed that night because I was a little bit freaked out by the whole experience.

Tuesday, the same people came back and did the same thing with the rest of the house and other people came and took the boxes outside into a big truck. The truck was only filled up half way but I guess that is standard procedure. The people said they ordered a 20 ft truck and got a 40 ft one. So they use what they have, I guess. Which is what I do- if there is only rocks to play with, I play with rocks.