I'm still trying to figure out how a Tibetan Terrier won the big prize at Crufts and not a Cairn Terrier.

Something doean't smell right to me.

And speaking of technology...

Okay, I wasn't, but this Internet thing is a real boon to pet lovers. There's all kinds of information just a few clicks away.

There's the website of the American Kennel Club (akc.org) with lots of great stuff, especially about dog breeds. Hmmmm, there must be a mistake under the "Cairn Terrier" listing. It says the ideal weight is 14 lbs. Surely they must mean 18 lbs.

For those folks who want lots of healthy recipes, in light of the present unpleasantness regarding commercial dog food, thepoop.com/pooppantry has lots of yummy suggestions. Funny, poop itself isn't on the list. I eat it all the time, even though Mommie yells at me and tried to squirt me with that evil water bottle when I do.

dogfriendly.com contains lots of great info on dog-friendly places to stay. Can't figure out why I'm not allowed in certain places and noisy, unruly kids are.

Looking for a new best friend? Instead of going to one of those yucky pet shops and supporting all those puppy-mills, go to petfinder.com where lots of dogs (and other pets) are up for adoption, just looking someone to love them.

Well, those are just a few great websites for dog lovers. And who isn't?

I always know when Mommie is deserting me to go off and have some fun without me. Out comes the suitcase and then the seemingly never-ending fashion show while she decides what to pack in that suitcase. You should see the dough she spends on clothes. Yeah, sure, every day she leaves the house to go to work and says, "By, Roxie! Be a good girl. I've got to go bring home the biscuits!"

Biscuits, my Auntie. She spends most of her money on clothes and maybe, if I'm lucky I get a bone every now and then. The ol' sad-eyed look always worked on Grandma--which is why I became a very satisfied 18-lb. porker. But Mommie is a tougher nut to crack. Cute doesn't cut it with her. She's a real miser with the cookies.

Anyway, off she went this weekend and left me. I'll give her this...she always promises to come back and she does. And it's always nice to see Joanne from next door, who comes over and lets me out. She's real nice, even if she does have cats. Or sometimes Lorie comes to visit with me and we sit on the coach and watch HGTV and Animal Planet together. Then there's Stephen. and Megan, too. As much as I love my Mommie, it's nice to smell other people for a change. And just in case Mommie reads this, I won't rat out the doggie-sitters who come across like champs during cookie-giving time.

Bow-wow for now! (Bow wow...like I ever make such a stupid sound.)

I just finished reading the autobiography of Toto and I said to myself, "Hey! If he can do it, (actually Toto was really a she, but that's Hollywood for you) so can I. Besides, I'm a blond Cairn Terrier and you know what they say about us blonds: we have more fun!

My name is Roxie. I don't use a stage name like Toto (whose real name was Terry). My mom named me for Roxanne, the heroine of Cyrano de Bergerac. Mom always names her kids after literary characters. My predecessors in the pet department were named Riddley Walker (the title of a book by Russell Hoban) and Enoch Soames, Esq. (a name familiar to anyone who has read the works of Sir Max Beerbohm--and I know you're out there somewhere!

I have my own special perspective on the world around me. You can really tell a lot about a person by their ankles! So, in future posts I will be sharing my thoughts and observations with all my two and four-legged readers.

So, I'll sign off today with this truism: "Scots Rule!"