Connecticut LoveFest

Okay. I am now reporting to you from GooberStan where Merv is getting used to sharing the house with me, my girl, and Princess Stella again. Stella is chomping at the bit to post about her FABULOUS time at Herc's house, and how they treated her like the princess she is, and how they even got her her very own hooman pup to play with, and how Herc played with her whenever she wanted! But that will have to wait. I have TONS more to tell you about my roadtrip.

On Memorial Day we left Boston and headed to the home of my Airebuds Maggie & Mitch. As you can tell from our initial greetings it was quite the lovefest. See how interested Maggie is in Sophie?

Maggie & Mitch already knew Asta, and they were excited to welcome her back to their bootiful home!

Mitch made sure to fill me in on how to sweet talk Maggie so I'd be ready when she came over to say hi.

Maggie told me all about how much Mitch was looking forward to having another guy around with so many females running about.

I hit it off with Mitch from the start. He and Maggie suggested we take a walk around their place.




Their yard is SO HUGE, and it has a pond and this very cool stream that Mitch's dad said I could play in. I didn't waste any time getting myself into that bootifully cold water.





Sophie also took some time to splash around and explore.

Sweet Maggsie was all concerned I'd catch cold roaching around in the water.

To put her at ease I got up and prepared to get out of the stream...

... only to find that Asta was thinking about getting in for a dip.

Maggsie & Mitch share their pond with a very special lady ~ I don't remember her name but she swam around like she owned the place.

I had been loving my time in the city, but was really enjoying getting back in touch with nature again.

Once we got into the barn my mind was made up! I was going to find a way to move in with Maggie and Mitch or get my girl to move us to their barn! It is cooler than my digs in GooberStan ~ no offense to my girl.

We tried to get a photo of my two new buds, Mitch & his dad (who gives great scritches and says the most encouraging things to a big goober such as myself), but Mitch was really digging his role as host and wanted to check on everydog there to make sure they were having a good time.

While the hoomans talked and ate the gooberiffic lunch Maggie & Mitch's mama made, Asta & I were wondering what had happened to our traveling cohort, Ms. Sophie La Brador.

Asta discovered Sophie hanging out by the big table where all the food was. She had been most successful at snagging some tasty morsels from the hoomans.

After a short discussion with her divabud, Asta decided to go and see if she could entice Mitch to a little game of bitey face.

We even got to see a diva demonstration of how to "be the ball," as Sophie calls it. (She's so zen.) We just usually call it "fetch."

Eventually, what with all the running around, exploring, wrasslin', and eating, we could have all used a nice snooze, but settled for a little rest instead, as demonstrated here by the bootiful Maggie.

Sophie actually snuck in a little power nap in between all the mutual admiration that was going on between her & Maggie.

That was not the only lovefest happening. Asta got some good lovin' from her daddi (but didn't let that distract her from the photo op).

Even though we got to Maggie & Mitch's house too late to go hike up Sleeping Giant, we still had a BLAST getting to hang out with Maggie & Mitch, getting to meet their parents George and Sue (who absolutely love me, by the way), and getting to run around their barn and yard! It was a great way to top off our weekend getaway. Maggie, Mitch, Sue, & George, thanks for all the great food and the fun, but most of all thanks for making us all feel at home! You're completely gooberlicious and we LOVE YOU!

Let me leave you with a couple of photos of MitchMan. He's the one Aireboy I've actually met who comes closest to me in size. His dad said that my bark makes me sound like a killer but that I'm really just a big baby of an Airedale (my girl completely agrees). If I'm a baby Dale then Mitch is a Goth dale. Check out his extra thick eyeliner!

We all had a hard time leaving Maggie & Mitch's house. I hope I get a chance to go back again someday! We all had quite the lovefest! If you want to see more photos from our time at Maggie & Mitch's, go to Asta's blog and check them out!

Goober Love,

Stanley

More of my roadtrip adventures yet to come. My girl is trying to rest up from her "vacation" as she calls it. We're all a bit pooped around here.

Tripping OUT

We here in GooberStan are all trippin'... in the best way possible. We're getting ready to trip way out in a couple of weeks to...

NEW YORK CITY!

That's right. In just two weeks my girl and I will be road-tripping our way out to NYC to visit my lovepup, Asta, and her mommi & daddi! (THAT is where we're going to celebrate my birthday.)

WoOOooHoOOOoo!

My girl wanted to do something special to celebrate her graduation, and she's been promising me a trip to New York, so we're combining the two into our Roadtrip of Triumph!




We are STINKIN' excited! On the way out we're stopping to stay with Scruffy, Lacie & BabyStan in Pittsburgh, and we might even get to meet our buddy Sherman while we're there!

Asta and I will rendezvous with our diva friend, Sophie La Brador, who is also going to NYC with her mama. From there, we hope to take a couple of daytrips. We're going to go hiking with Maggie & Mitch in Connecticut, meeting Agatha & Archie (and any other pup friends we can) in Boston, and maybe even heading to Delaware to visit my favorite Corgador, Wally, and his peppy sheppy siblings!

I can hardly contain my goober essence ~ I'm all wiggly with anticipation!




What of my goobette sissy, Stella, you ask?

As much as we'd LOVE to take her with us, my girl said this roadtrip is going to be some one-on-one goober time for the two of us. So, we have made arrangements for Stella to stay with her honorary brother and my friend, Hercules the Aireboy! She says she's treated like a princess at his house. (As if she's not here.)

While my girl and I are finalizing everything for our roadtrip, Stella also wanted to prepare for her stay at Casa de Hercules. She was ready to get her summer airecut!

Here she is "in process." All she asked was that she got a seat with a view while she had to endure the indignities of grooming. (Doesn't her head look freakishly large in this photo?)

She doesn't look too happy right here, but as soon as she was done, she ran around like a maniac so she could feel the breeze against her skin.

After seeing Stella maintain this sad, pathetic look for several minutes, my girl decided to do Stella's head and furninshings another day.

This pile is just the fuzz from her body and fuzz butt. Can you believe she carried all of this around?

From this angle we think she looks like a bare-booty biker chic who is wearing fuzzy chaps. We've since trimmed her chaps down to a more manageable level, and her head and face look more normal too.

We aren't leaving until the 17th, and we'll be on the road for a little over 2 weeks. Don't worry, though. We'll definitely be blogging from the road. And Merv? Well, let's just say he's looking forward to some much-needed solitude here in GooberStan!

Goober love,

Stanley

Beard Competition Winners

Welcome to the Finals of the 2nd Annual GooberStanian Beard Growing Competition! Since Stella & I are your hosts, and therefore ineligible to compete, we wanted to start things rolling with the beards of GooberStan.

We had a little trouble getting a photo of my official measurement ceremony, so you're just going to have to take my word that my beard is a whole 2 3/4 inches of lusciousness.

Stella, on the other hand, proudly displayed her beard...

until she found out she was going to have to get measured. Then it was a wrasslin' match between her & our girl. Our girl won. Stella's golden beard weighs in at 3 1/4 inches, and she's going to keep growing it (so she says).

Now, let's get started with announcing our competitors and the winners! We have quite an international contingent this year!

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Our first award tonight is in the Muddiest Face Division. Here are our competitors.







Faya from Switzerland







Finni from England






Petey from New York City

(He asked if he could enter a snowy-face photo, and we said, "Sure.")








and Eric Square Dog from England.

An independent panel of GooberStanian aunties served as our judges.

(Drum Roll Please....)

And the winner of the first Muddiest Face Division of the 2nd Annual GooberStanian Beard Competition is...

Eric Square Dog!!!

(The crowd goes WILD!!!)

Congratulations, Eric! That is one very juicy face!!

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Our next award goes to the pup with the Most Improved Beard. This year, it wasn't a tough one to figure out. With an initial measurement of 2 1/4 inches, a final measurement of 3 1/2 inches, the winner of this year's Most Improved Beard Division, with a net gain of 1 1/4 inches in 4 months is...

Mitch the Airedale!!!

The initial measurement - 2 1/4 inches

The final measurement - 3 1/2 inches

(The crowd rushes the stage...)

Congratulations, Mitch! Your apple treatment really did the trick, man!

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Our next prize is for the Overall Longest Beard for pups 25 pounds and under. We had two fierce competitors this year. First is Miss Nelly the Airedale pup (sister of Finni the Airedale).

Her sweet little puppy beard came in at a respectable 1 1/2 inches.

Our other competitor is Moe, the Welsh Terrier from right here in the Kansas City area. Moe and his mama read my blog, and decided to enter the contest this year.

Moe's beard came in at 2 1/4 inches, which makes him our winner!!!

Congratulations, Moe!!! Way to Go, bud!

(Moe starts crowd surfing as they body pass him around the auditorium!)

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Now for our last award for Overall Longest Beard! We had several competitors this year, and the ladies made quite a showing.

All 3 Leuradale competitors suffered from SBS (Shrinking Beard Syndrome). Here's Lucy from Australia. Her beard came in at 3/16 of an inch.

Willow, her sissy, had a beard measuring in at 1/4 of an inch.

And Noah, their brother, came in with a beard that's 3/8 of an inch.

Our only non-Terrier competitor this year is Mama Pajamas from the Whippet Waggle. Her whisker beard, which is very full for a Whippet, measures in at a hearty 1 inch. (Major props to Mama Pajamas for going up against the Terriers!)

Miss Molly the Airedale (our only female Brit entry) also suffered from Shrinking Beard Syndrome. Her final measurement came in at 2 3/4 inches.

Speaking of Brits, next is Finni the Airedale. He was a double competitor this year, having also entered the muddiest face competition! Here he is proudly displaying his 3 inch beard.

Now we come to seasoned American competitor, Bogart Handsome Devil the Airedale.

As you can see, he too had some difficulty with the measuring of his beard.

A very respectable showing for Bogart at 3 inches.

You will all recognize this next competitor, weighing in with 3 1/2 inches, it's the winner of our Most Improved Beard, Mitch the Airedale!

Now, our next competitor is where this competition began. She's a sweet Airegirl who did a little trash talking with me about our beard lengths over a year ago, which prompted a little friendly beard-growing competition between the two of us. Then, we decided to open it up to all the pups we knew. Here she is weighing in with a bootifully full 4 1/2 inch beard, this year's 3rd place winner, Maggie the Airedale!

These last two competitors brought it down to the wire. They come from the same bloodline, so it's no wonder they are beard-growing phenoms! It was a close call, but 2nd place goes to the magnificent Kerry Blue Terrier, Ms. Blue, with an amazingly gorgeous ebony beard of 5 3/8 inches.

Which brings us to the winner of the Overall Longest Beard, weighing in with 5 1/2 inches of lusciously dark curls, Kerry Blue Terrier extraordinAire and daughter of our 2nd place winner Ms. Blue and sister of last year's winner Buster... Persephone the Kerry Blue Terrier!!!

WAY TO GO, Persephone!!! Looks like we're keeping this award in the family! You're an even more gorgeous winner than Buster was last year!

(Persephone prances her way up to the stage & takes a bow with her proud mama Ms. Blue.)

I guess it IS true ~ Chicks with beards ROCK!

Now for a recap of our winners:

Muddiest Face ~ Eric Square Dog

Most Improved Beard ~ Mitch the Airedale

Longest Beard (25 lb & under division) ~ Moe the Welshie

Overall Longest Beard ~ Persephone the Kerry Blue

(The prize committee will be contacting each of you to ensure you receive your awards.)

We will leave you with a photo of my dearly departed buddy, and the inspiration for this competition, Dovah Doo! We miss you and that magnificent beard, man!

Congratulations to all of our competitors! GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!!!