My Grandma

I am a very lucky doggie that I have such a good family. Even though I'm my owner's dog, I really became the family dog because I spend so much time with them. My grandma and grandpa, Christopher and Elaine, The Other Guy and even my Uncle Johnny who, when I visited and sat by the refrigerator, would always give me a piece of cheese.

But my grandma is special. When my owner is away she takes care of me like a baby. She lets me lay on her lap when she reads the New York Times every night, makes sure I get special treats, walks me every morning and night when I stay with her and makes sure I always have a good view out the window.
Thank you grandma.

Our Favorite Neighbor

This is Bill. He lives across the street from my grandparents and one of the nicest men we ever met. He always greets me with a big "MONTY!" so it's always nice to see him. When my owner travels I stay with my grandparents. One time it happened that my owner had to travel for work and my grandparents were going out of town on vacation. Thank God for Bill. He took good care of me. He walked me and fed me and played with me - it was like I had a mini vacation, too!
Thank you Bill!

The Best Friends a New York City Doggie Could Have...

Jamil is our head doorman at home. I don't think people outside city living can understand how important a relationship is with your doormen. They are your friends, sounding board, security guards, partners in crime and sometimes confidants. 

This was Jamil watching me last year. From the looks of it, I was probably trying to get away with something.

This is Hector. He always gives me and the other dogs in the building treats. He is kind and helpful and everyone loves him.

Brian is another favorite. He always asks how I'm doing. Brian works nights and is always in a good mood!

Justin helps me with my wheelchair arriving and leaving the building. He has a crazy sneaker collection. We talk with him a lot, too.

We have the best doormen in the city. It would be hard to imagine New York life without them. They are our eyes and ears of the neighborhood - they give us the daily gossip, call us when a parking spot opens up out front, save us treats when the bakery drops off extras and all-around take care of us.

A big THANK YOU to the doormen!!

My Pal Lola

Lola lives in my building on the floor below me. Isn't she a looker! She usually doesn't give me the time of day...maybe that's why I have a crush on her. *sigh*

Porter House Gift

Tonight my owner and The Other Guy went downtown to have dinner. On their way back they stopped at the Time Warner Center up the block at one of their favorite restaurants, Porter House.

You're probably thinking the same thing I did - why would they stop at a steakhouse after dinner?

This is David. He works at Porter House. He met my owner and The Other Guy to give me a wrapped gift!

A BIG FAT BONE! From Porter House! For me!

YUM

YUM

YUMMY!!

Monty Art

Throughout our apartment is a lot of art - paintings, prints, photos, etc. - and looking around I seem to make my way into a few of them. The one above was a Warhol-like gift from my owner's brother and is in the bedroom.

Groovy Monty!

This watercolor is in the hallway. It's a picture of my owner walking off the Ponte Vecchio by a local artist she got on her visit to Italy. I didn't make the trip but take a look at the lower left hand corner...

Ciao Monty!

This is our photo wall. And me, right in the middle!

This painting is our favorite one. It was a gift last Christmas from The Other Guy by one of my owner's favorite British artists, Ollie Lett. It's a scene of us taking a walk in our neighborhood, Columbus Circle. Again, I point you to the lower left hand corner...

Wassup Monty!

Test Results

A few weeks ago I posted about sending my blood sample for DNA testing to the University of Missouri. Well, we got the results today...

It pretty much confirms what we already knew; I tested positive for the mutated gene for degenerative myelopathy. I feel a little better now because even though I accepted my diagnosis of DM, you could never be 100% sure. But now we have tests results and are 100% sure.

New York Snow

I'm sure you heard, we got a lot of snow today in NYC. Not as much as the last crazy storm a few weeks ago but enough to make my life difficult.

But it's not as bad as you'd think...it's actually easier to find good pee spots where dogs have already been (the whole yellow snow thing). And another great thing about city living - thanks to the doormen, all the sidewalks were clear before my morning walk!

Even the plows were out this time. Thanks Bloomberg!

The Holidays Are Official Over

It's sad to see all the Christmas trees line the block waiting for the garbage men with the rest of the trash.

It's a visual confirmation that the holidays are finished and a new year started.
But it's good for me because I have a whole bunch of new smells on my walk!

...which make it easier to do my business.

Some of you have asked how my owner knows when I'm peeing. It's very easy -

When I smell something interesting I start wagging my tail - that's how she knows to stay in the area.

Then, for some reason, when I start peeing my tail stiffens and goes straight up. It stays there until I'm finished.
Here's some video of me doing just that below...

The video quality isn't the best (it was pretty bright out) but you get the idea.

Biggest Dog Ever

The other day I met Baron, a mastiff. This guy is H-U-G-E! I have never seen any dog this big.

He lives a few blocks away and just moved here with his owner Debbie and her husband. They also have Delilah, a frenchie (and more my size).

Baron and I bonded - he was very interested in my wheels and very gentle. He had back surgery so understood where I was coming from with my condition.

I'm glad they moved into the neighborhood and hope to see them around more!

Taking Care Of My Paws

Lately, I've been dragging my front right paw when we go for our walks. My owner said my condition is spreading so I'm not really able to use my front legs the way I'm supposed to. You can see above, my wrist and two toes are rubbing on the ground leaving me with little raw patches.

My owner put some salve on my boo-boos and made them feel better.

Then she wrapped them up so it wouldn't bother me when we go out today.

Holiday Houses

I wrote yesterday that we visited friends in Jersey for New Years, well, my New Year's Day walk was nice because the weather was great and we got to see all the pretty houses decorated for the holidays. Wreaths were aplenty.

It's nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while.