Sleeping as Art

There is a subtle but important difference between Sleeping as Art and the Art of Sleeping.  If you're more interested in the Art of Sleeping, please check out this great article by Henri Hound.  Henri mostly talks about how and where to sleep for some of the best experiences.  He does touch on Sleeping as Art a bit as well.

Sleeping as Art...

I love sleeping, but I think it's important to sleep with style.  I want my sleep to properly accent the room. 

When I see a pattern on a rug, I see how I can best add to the overall look of it.  I think I did that well here.

Accenting the Accent RugChairs can be a little tricky.  They can be a little short for showing off my long, lean lines.  However, I've found that if I let my body follow the natural contour of the angles, it makes for a nice effect. 

I once heard a person say, "I'd rather look good than feel good."  That makes a lot of sense to me.

Fine LinesSpeaking of showing off my long lines, I've found that the Downward Dog position is an excellent way to show off those lines.  I imagine my body as a natural waterfall flowing gracefully among the hills of green.  The blue blanket helps add to the illusion of flowing water, don't you think?

Inspiring Yoga MovesRecently, I came up with a wonderful inspiration.  If I take the Fine Lines chair position but do it on the couch, I can show off the full length of my body while complementing the angles on the couch.  It's one of my finest works yet. 

Experimental ArtI thought it would be interesting to work with a monochromatic palette just to see how it turned out.  So, I asked my people to buy a piece that was similar in color to my coat.  I like how using this palette takes the focus off of me and makes people pay close attention to the richness of hues within a narrow range of colors.  (Also, this bed is very, very comfortable so I look good AND feel good!) CamouflagedFor my last work today, I decided to take the concept of removing me from the focus to it's logical conclusion.  I've heard people say that "less is more".  When I saw the sun shining in through the window in just the right way, I was inspired to create one of my most artistic works.  Let me know if you agree. MysteriousI hope you enjoyed my little gallery of Sleeping as Art.  I know that I'll be working on more pieces over the next several months and I will display them in another show once I feel that I have a collection that is up to my standards.  Thank you for supporting the arts! 

First Day of School

Remembering about my adoption day made me think about my first day of school.  After living in my new home and getting comfortable for about a month, my people announced that it was time for me to start going to school.

I wasn't really sure what to think.  I had just dealt with a lot of change moving to this new house, and I wasn't really ready for more change.  On the other hand, my people were so nice to me and played with me and gave me good food and so much love that I figured if they wanted to send me to school, it would be a good thing... I hoped!

They gave me a backpack full of everything I'd need for my first day of school and we drove off.

Nervously awaiting my new adventure

On the way to school, I wondered what it would be like.  Would the other puppies be nice to me?  Would they play with me?  Would they be as fast as me?  I was also scared that I'd have to play with dogs that were too big and strong for me.

Finally, we arrived at school.  The sign said "Taurus Training and Doggie Play Day".  I wasn't sure what "Taurus Training" was, but "Doggie Play Day" sounded awesome!  When I arrived, the people were so, so nice and told me that I'd make a lot of friends today.  They were right!  I played with friendly dogs that were just my size!

I even got to be on TV for a few seconds, which was really cool!

When I left, I knew that I had a lot of fun.  However, I wasn't sure that I did everything I was supposed to do because everything was so new.  I didn't have to worry anymore when my people read my report card to me.  They even put it on the fridge when we got home.  I was so proud!

Here it is!

My Report CardAddy, Yoshi, Lulu, and Kimberly were so nice to me that first day.  They made me feel comfortable and made sure I had fun.  Now that I've been going to school for 3 years, I try to return the favor for any new puppies.  I hope that I help them feel as good about their first day of school as I felt about mine.

Adoption Day!

Sunday was exactly 3 years since my adoption day!  That got me thinking about my adoption day.  It was scary and exciting and unexpected and it turned out to be the happiest day of my life.  I wasn't so sure at the time, though.

I was living with my wonderful foster family and spending my days at Doggie Deli.  Doggie Deli is the best place on earth for puppies to spend their day.  There are great treats and toys everywhere, and other friendly puppies were coming in all day.  My foster family was very nice to me.  The only very minor problem was that there was so much excitement all the time.  I'm a calm pup by nature and it could be a little overwhelming at times.  I was very, very, very happy, though!

One day, two people came in who I had met once before.  They were very nice, but they didn't have a puppy with them.  This time, though, they bought a whole bunch of great stuff for puppies like food, treats, and toys.  I thought that they were going to make some puppy very happy. 

I was very surprised when they put a collar and leash on me and took me to their car!  This didn't really seem right since nobody else took me to their car before.  My bed was in their car, which was even weirder.  They put me in my bed and then started driving.  Yikes!  I think they made a mistake.

However, while one of the people was driving, the other kept talking to me softly and calmly and told me how happy I was going to be.  There was something soothing about the voice that made me believe that it was true.

Finally, we got to the house and went inside.  It was nice, but I was feeling pretty worried.

I was pretty worried at first...Would these people treat me nice like my foster family, or would they treat me mean like the people I met when I was born?  Would they remember to play with me, walk me, and most importantly, would they remember to feed me?

Guess what!?  They remembered all of those things and more.  When they saw how worried I was, the first thing they did was give me a cookie from Doggie Deli.  Once they did that, I knew that I was in a loving, happy home!

I knew I was loved (and would be fed)I was very happy the rest of the evening until nighttime.  At night, my people put me in my bed in the food room and then went to the sleeping room without me!  I was so sad to sleep by myself.  I'm supposed to sleep in the sleeping room with my pack!

I cried and cried.  I cried and cried and cried and cried so the people would know that they forgot me.  After many hours, they finally heard me and then moved my bed to the sleeping room. 

And that is where I have happily slept every night since!

A Hike!

Today, we did one of my favorite things.  We took a hike!

There are so many great smells on a hike.  It's impossible for me to smell them all.  My people don't seem to really appreciate all of the smells because they keep telling me to keep moving.  People can be pretty strange sometimes.

There were other people who were really strange and scary on the hike.  These people were moving very fast on wheels.  Most people were on 2 wheels, but there was one especially scary person on just one wheel.  He looked like he was out of control!  Luckily, none of these wheel-people hit me, but they always scare me a little.

On alert for danger!

I was surprised at how dry the trail was.  Even the river didn't have any water.  The only water was in a black bag carried by my people.  I was glad they had some water to share with me.  They may act strange at times, but my people always think ahead!

After the hike, my people went to a place that smelled really good!  They call the place "Tacodeli".  I like the smells, but my people always forget to give me food when we go there.  My people eat, but they don't share with me.  I think they're just distracted by all of the good smells, too.

Just out of reach!To make things worse, my people won't even let me reach all of the good food that's on the ground!  *Sigh*

Despite the issues with the food, today was a great, great day with great smells and a lot of activity.  Now, I'll have to rest up for the next great adventure.  I'm pretty tired!

Resting up for a new adventure