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!