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BUS-TED!!!! 

Thank you everyone! Yea it sucks to be 30 but Jaime got me the perfect present! A ticket to go skydiving this weekend! It will be my first time and its something I've always wanted to do - I can't wait. Should make me feel younger than 30 right?

Thank you everyone!

Happy Birthday Bro!  30th birthdays are the best!  Think of it this way, you are no longer a punk kid, except to 80 year olds.  You have all the expectations of a full fledged adult, yet none of the assumptions of an out of contol twentysomethin g.  Hey, supposedly the 30's are the new 20's, at least that's what people who are 30 say.  Does that mean that the 40's are the new 30's?    Have fun this weekend, skydiving, huh?  Cool, that's one of those things I always thought about doing but probably never will.  That's a really neat gift for Jaime to give you.  Are you ready to have another man strapped to your backside as you're speeding towards the Earth?    I always crack up seeing the pictures of the mansandwich skydive.  Maybe you'll get a female instructor.  Like you'll be worried about that when you're jumping....  Come over to Novato soon and we'll go to Napa and celebrate with lots of wine. 

That is our favorite trick with Drake.  He is so good about that one.  We usually use chicken jerky and we put down about 5 or 6 pieces and make him "LEAVE IT".  This kind of trick really helps when we eat dinner at the coffee table and he is lurking around for freebies.  He isn't drooling because I gave him the "NO DROOL" command.    J/k, I wish there was such a thing.  Those mini burgers are perfect special treats for him, we don't feed him that kind of stuff very much, but it made for a good pic.  He does have pretty big paws, but I think the little burgers make them look that bigger.   An optical illusion maybe?

DSL at home, paid for by my wife's company, SWEET!  FREAKING DIAL UP at work, the cheap b%#$@^$s!  Although I would have preferred Cable at home, DSL works fine and is pretty fast.  I pull my hair out at work waiting for the stupid dial up connection to just load the current page, much less any images.  I guess my boss would rather I get online to do Equipment ordering than be on BPO, what a jerk! 

We had an incredible weekend and gave the Newfs a fun treat.  We drove up to Tomales Bay with Mia and my Mom and it was a typical foggy, October coastal day in Northern California.  After buying 2 dozen Sweetwater Oysters at Hog Island and sucking a few of them down:

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we took Drake and Yogi to the nearest beach to play.  They had a blast and we got a lot of laughs.  Drake was such a turkey because we would throw the kong out into the water and Yogi would swim out to get it, and then Drake would wait until Yogi was halfway back and he would take it from him.  Yogi did all the work and Drake would get all the glory.  Yogi tried to scare Drake with his meanest growls but he is just too nice and just let Drake have the kong.  We went home and had an oyster feast with lots of wine.  Perfect Day!

I have read many good points on this one and I agree with most of you.  I have found that any time food is involved with a pet, it could be good time to train them, at least a little bit.  It sounds like Tonka isn't acclimated yet to responding to your verbal commands.  Tonka will continue to rush the food bowl until you get him to listen to you.  There's a good solution to this...

Most of Drake's training came from his 4 week Family Dog 1 Class at the local Humane Society.  I really encourage all dog owners, especially new dogs, to attend these classes if they are available.  They give you a good base to work with and you're actually working with professionals with your dog rather than trying to do it on your own.  It's not too expensive ($25) and it's only a few nights a week.  We were able to train Drake in the basics and then go to more advanced commands.  We can put food on his paws now and he won't eat it unless we say "OK".  Family Dog 1 is a great investment in your dog and it's really fun too!  I honestly believe any dog, even Tonka, can learn good manners if you are willing to work with them.  Check with your local humane society, you'll be glad you did.

It's good to hear everyone has a good attitude about this.  I know some evil spirited folks that would probably kick their dog for tripping them up in the early hours of the morning.  As startling as it is, I always laugh it off.  Drake has even bonked his head into my chin and made me bite my tongue, REALLY HARD!!  As much as it hurt, I just walked it off and all was OK.  I know he didn't mean to do it, he was just excited to get the ball.  Just like he doesn't mean to trip me up, well....   maybe THAT'S no accident! 

Yeah Nicole, I'm really thinking about renaming him!  Drake is such a TURKEY!!!  It seems as if he likes to sleep in the worst places possible, dark hallways, right next to the front door and he gets all indignant when we make him move.  Grunts, deep breaths, the whole enchilada.  I think that's why he trips me up, REVENGE for making him move. 

After hearing everybody's dog-in-the-bed horror stories, I glad he doesn't like sleeping in our bed.  He snores really loudly too which wakes me up in the next room.  Also, I can just see him stepping on my groin with all of his Newf weight, OUCH!  Or rolling over into a big pool of Newf drool.  YUCK!