Hi everyone, it’s me Nina! First I want to say thank you to all of you for welcoming my mom and I to blogville. Especially the lovely comments about how sweet I am {blushing}.
The purpose of this post is to throw my hat in the ring of the prestigious Mango Minster in the Working Stiffs category. At first I thought I might enter into the Too Darn Cute category, but seeing the competition I would be up against I thought I might have a better chance as a working stiff.
My credentials might not be as impressive as Clive or even Bert (who recently retired from his search dog duties), but it takes a lot of work to keep this house safe and running smoothly. I’m not much of an alarm clock as many of my fellow canines often are, but once the day gets started I make sure that the day progresses without missing any regular scheduled event. Mainly these are the parents meals, my meals and my regularly scheduled snacks.
Here is the schedule I like to stick to on a daily basis. After the breakfast routine is completed there is the 10 a.m. peanut butter stuffed kong snack. If this doesn’t happen automatically I usually go tell Dad what time it is and he yells down to Mom to tell her what time it is and she prepares the kong for me. Around Noon, but no later than 1 p.m. the parents must have lunch and I get a Dentastix to chew. If they are getting behind on the schedule I start pacing back and forth between them until they realize it is time to get to it. Mind you I don’t get fed, but there is always food prep assistance and plate licking when the meal is done. At 4 p.m. it is time for my dinner. No matter what is going on (and usually it is an afternoon nap for all of us) I make sure everyone is aware that it is time for my dinner. About an hour later it is time for the parents dinner. Here I do the same pacing routine as earlier at lunch. Once dinner is completed I make sure that the dinner prep dishes have been properly pre-cleaned before they get put in the dishwasher. That is how I keep the meals flowing throughout the day. You might think that would be enough of a job, but there is more to my duties to keep this home running.
When I am not directing meal prep I am on guard duty. Our house sits on 5 acres and is about 300 feet from the road so it isn’t often we see traffic up our driveway. If anything comes up the driveway I make sure Mom and Dad know about it. These intruders range from feral neighborhood cats, deer, a leaf blowing across the yard, or any number of dangerous beasts. Most of the time by the time my parents get to the front door to see what all the fuss is about the danger has passed.
My protection duties also are needed outside as well especially when the weather is nice and my Dad is doing his gardening. As you can see in this video I have to make sure nothing sneaks up on him while he is busy planting and weeding.
But wait there is more! As I previously stated our home is a long way from the road so every day I help my Dad (or Mom, but usually Dad) go get the mail or newspaper. Just like the mail delivery goes on through rain, snow, sleet or hail, so does my retrieval duties as you can see in this picture from yesterday.
I also like to help Mom when she is working in her sewing room. I am no Dave as my Mom isn’t color blind like his is, but just like protecting Dad when he is working in the yard, I keep Mom safe from anyone trying to sneak up behind her. When that sewing machine gets humming, especially when she is running the embroidery unit, anyone could sneak up behind her and surprise her. I make sure that never happens.
Um…I know it doesn’t look like I am doing a very good job of protecting her, but I am situated right at the door so nobody could get into the room without getting past me. Of course since I am a senior doggie and my hearing isn’t so good if I am sound asleep I guess Mom is on her own.
Oh yeah, just one more thing to add to my working duties. When Mom gets in bed I am usually laying on her side of the bed at the foot of the bed. Since she is not very tall this is ok since we both fit, but she also likes it because she slips her toes underneath me and I warm up her feet for her.
I am telling you it is no wonder I sleep so well at night. It is hard work to keep this house running and safe. I am honored to be part of this year’s Mango Minster and competing against so many worthy opponents. May the best dog (or cat) win!
Nina….you have a really tough job there. I think you deserve a raise….more treats should do it!
Hi Nina, again, I am a judge and am not supposed to show any favoritism. So this is not favoritism when I say….well done……
Nina, you are a beauty! Thanks for sharing your story – vey inspiring by your attention to detail. Have a great day.
Hi Nina — love the pics! I checked out some of your others posts….beautiful quilts!
Hey Nina! It’s great to meet you! Thanks for visiting our blog!
It’s true! You are gorgeous. And it’s great that you are entering MM 2012. #1 is still dithering about whether any of us should enter. We still have a few days, I guess.
Woofs,
Tommy
You truly are a hard worker, Nina! We like how you keep your peeps on the rigid snackie schedule!
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
You are one very dedicated working stiff, Nina. We think this is a wonderful entry.
You have a beautiful yard, the grounds are so pretty. Good luck in MM ’12.
Woos – Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
You sure are a good worker. Best of luck to you. 🙂
Pawesome entry, Nina!
You sure work very hard!
Good luck!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Wow Nina! You sure are one lucky dog. That yard looks Beautiful!!! Mommy is so jealous. We entered the contest too — it’s so nice to meet you and getting to see a little bit about all the hard work you do. Us dogs sure do a lot around our households! I like the part in your post where you said you get the dental stick at noon butt not later than 1. That was funny! Have a great day!
Nina!! How would they get along without you?? Good luck!!
-Bart and Ruby
BTW, ate you a rottie with a tail? We think you are gorgeous!!
Hi Bart and Ruby,
It is hard work keeping my peeps safe and on schedule. Thanks for the compliment. I am not a pure rottie, but I am pretty sure that I have a lot of rott in my dna. We think I also have some chow in me as my coat is the softest in the world (or so my parents tell me).
Nina
WHEW, Nina! I am POOPED just reading abouts all the things you have to do to keeps your house in order and everything running on schedule.
And are you SURE you’re a senior doggie? You most definitely don’t look like one. What IS the secret to your shiny furs? Is it the peanut butter kong? I bet it’s the peanut butter kong.
Good luck in Mango Minster!
Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie
Hi I came to say hello and thank you for visiting me. I love getting visitors and hey I have two woofie cousins that look a lot like you.. Hugs GJ xx
Nina, not only are you a very hard worker you are really cute. We are very pleased to meet you. Fetching the mail in all that snow looks very tiring we are pooped just looking at the picture.
Woo! Good luck, Nina! And way to hold that quilt down, too! What if a strong wind kicked up in the sewing room?!?! You’ve got it COVERED!
Luv,
Dave
Hey, Nina! It is a pleasure to meet you. You are one hard-working senior doggie and we are most impressed with your steady, dependable work ethic. We are also most envious of your yard, and mama is envious of your mama’s nice, roomy sewing room. Good luck in the contest.
Jed & Abby
No wonder you snooze every now and then. You have a tight schedule to keep. How do you know what time it is? Do you have a watch on your collar? I think that you are a serious “working stiff” so I hope that Mango takes notice!
How on earth did your peoples evers survive withouts you? I’m already tired just from seeing what and all you do…whew! You do realize theres only 24 hrs. in a day right? It would takes me like a week to do all dat stuffs…mostly cuz I gets distracted.
Anyways, you is a very luverly Rott mix.
Puddles
Hello theres, Nina!! Pleased to make your acquaintance…….it will be fun hanging out with you in Blogville!!
I, fur one, am totally impressed by all your hard work…..especially keeping the daily meals on schedule!! That is the most impawtent job of all!!!
Whew! That’s a lot of responsibility! Nina, you seem like a very serious keeper of time! My sister Morgan is like that, too! I think I’d like being the sous chef in the kitchen a great deal!
Bunny
You sure are a good worker. Good luck in the contest.
Hello Nina!
We are happy to meet you through the Dachies with Moxie. So excited to know that you’ve joined Mango Minster and yes, we certainly agree that your are a hard working pup!
We look forward to sharing fun adventures with you here in the bloggie world. Hope that it’ll be ok for you to add you on our side bar to stay updated with you.
Thankies!
Love,
Piappies Fudgie, Princess, Frappie, Mocha, Sugar, Wai-Pai, Wai-Max & Forgie
Sounds like you have a very demanding job. Best of luck to you!