Chubby (the Yorkie) says "Happy Fall" everybody!  He is happy that the weather is getting cooler outside and there are piles of leaves that he can roam through.  He enjoys sitting in PawPaw's lap and watching something called "football" games, and Chubby now knows that yelling "Roll Tide" makes PawPaw very happy!

Chubby says that things smell good nowadays, too.  He likes to nibble a little bit of pumpkin pie every once in a while.  He also says that his human makes really good curried chickpeas, too, and although PawPaw says they are too hot for him, Chubby thinks the international flavor is quite nice.

His human is getting prepared to update some of the merchandise in Pawz To Ponder, her ebay store, so he says to be on the lookout for nice sweaters and jackets.  Chubby says that a sweater feels really nice when it's cold outside!

Chubby says to leave you with a nice quote from Albert Camus for you:  "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

Chubby, the Yorkie, says that he is a very understanding little buddy now that school has started back for his human and her little humans.  He's very proud of the little humans; they are excellent students and have been keeping his human busy busy busy with something called "homework."

Chubby says that his kind of "homework" is keeping an eye on Mabel Alice, the deceptive feline, Merlin, the Ninja Bunny, and Dottie and Walter, the Crazy Turtles.  He also has been busy watching out for PawPaw as PawPaw works in the front yard.

Chubby would like to talk a little about a strange phenomenon that has been occurring at his house.  Ever since school began, his little humans have been bringing home giant shiny things that make deep "TOOT" noises when they blow into them.  Chubby is not very fond of these shiny tooters.  He thinks that the biggest tooter is almost as big as the older of the little humans--it's called a "tuba," he thinks.  She's been bringing this thing around for several years now, but Chubby's always thankful when it disappears for the summer.  He wonders how she can carry it because she's so skinny and the "tuba" is a big, fat tooter?  And now the smaller of the little humans is bringing home what looks like a smaller version of the giant tooter, called a "baritone."  Chubby really doesn't like this tooter because she's just started tooting on it and it sounds a little like a strange forest creature moaning and groaning in pain.  But Chubby is understanding, and the little humans appear to be happy when they are tooting, so he tolerates it (or just goes into the yard to help out PawPaw).

So since his little humans are playing music these days, Chubby thought he'd leave you with this quote:

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."-- Berthold Auerback

Chubby the Yorkie says that his human has been very busy lately with "back to school" stuff 'cuz she's a teacher!  The little humans have started back to school, too, so during the day Chubby is back to quiet time.  He helps PawPaw in the yard, and he naps on the couch, and he watches the deceptive feline Mabel Alice to make sure she doesn't take the teeny tiny turtles, Dottie and Walter, out of their tank and attempt to bat them around like hockey pucks.  He's also busy watching the Olympics; he thinks the runners are fast, but if they'd put some squirrels out in front of them, they'd probably run faster (like Chubby does when he's poised at the back door waiting for PawPaw to open it so that he can clear the back deck of the furry little rodents).

Chubby used to go to his human's school when he was younger; he'd hang out in her classroom and observe her students.  Her students were pretty okay with him; they all had special needs and didn't pick him up and try to treat him like a baby doll.  His human kept saying something about "therapy dog," but she decided against taking Chubby to school for therapy training.  Chubby says it is okay with him, though, because he's not too crazy about really little humans!  (His own two human girls have finally gotten big enough that he likes them just fine.  One of them is even learning how to drive a car!  So Chubby intends to ask her for a little road trip with the windows down!)

But for all the teachers and students out there, Chubby leaves you with a little quote he found while he was surfing the internet:

"We could revolutionize education if we asked every person connected with the education of children, 'Read any good books lately?'--Susan Ohanian"

Chubby's human is forever reading books, books, and more books, and so Chubby says that if you want to give your kids a head start in life, read, read, and read some more: TO them, AROUND them, and hear reading FROM them!

Chubby (the Yorkie) says he's been a little busy these days overseeing PawPaw's working in the yard hand-planting St. Augustine grass.  It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

He'd like to tell you about a new addition to his house--make that two new additions!  Their names are Dottie and Walter, and they are tiny little turtles the size of silver dollars.  Chubby says that they belong to one of the little humans, so he supposes that they are his niece and nephew...but that brings him to a new topic--his cousins!!!

Chubby's human told him about his cousins who live in Atlanta; would you believe there are six of them--all felines!?!?!?!?!?!  He can't understand why his Uncle would acquire six of the deceptive little fur-weasels (living with the deceptive feline Mabel Alice is quite enough for Chubby!).  He agrees that they can be funny when they ninja-jump straight up into the air...and that little motorcycle sound they make inside their necks is kind of cute (but that's a secret).  But six cats to take over your sleeping spots, walk in front of the book your human is trying to read, and sitting in front of the computer screen when you're trying to dictate blog entries to your human...for crying out loud!  Chubby is just thankful that they haven't come to his home to join the deceptive feline Mabel Alice!  And Chubby also can't even keep their names straight--Candy, Copper, Chinta, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen (okay, he's not sure about any of the reindeer names except for Cupid)!

And finally, Chubby wants to remind everyone that having a black cat cross your path--NOT a dog, mind you--is supposed to be bad luck.  So why test your luck?  Canines (and maybe turtles) are much safer bets!

(Chubby says to add this note that he read online: To reverse the bad luck curse of a black cat crossing your path, first walk in a circle, then go backward across the spot where it happened and count to 13.)

Happy ebaying to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chubby (the Yorkie) just wanted to update his readers about a couple of things.  First of all, Merlin the Ninja Bunny has proven to be an elusive character.  Chubby--not having opposable thumbs to help him set up the video camera--has been unable to capture Merlin sneaking out at night to do covert ninja stuff.

Chubby says that he can't believe it, but the deceptive feline Mabel Alice has started mimicking him. She has decided to make chasing squirrels her "thing," too, and whenever PawPaw opens the door to the deck so Chubby can zoom out and clear the deck of squirrels, Mabel Alice zooms too.  But Chubby says that at least HE can bark!  That cat sure has some nerve!

Chubby read a quotation from Seneca: "He that does good to another does good also to himself."  Chubby wanted to tell everyone that PawPaw sure does good to him, and he appreciates it so much.  A few days ago, PawPaw and Chubby's human went out for the day to sell dog clothes.  They left early in the morning and came home that evening.  They both looked red in the face--a condition Chubby soon learned is called "sunburn."  They were hot and sweaty.  But Chubby gave them a big smile when they came home, and PawPaw sat down in the rocker/recliner and cradled Chubby like a baby in his arm and slowly scratched his belly.  Chubby and PawPaw stayed like that for an hour and took a nap together.  So Chubby decided that when PawPaw is that good to him, he's being good to himself, too!

Chubby suggests that we all be a little nicer to each other starting right now!