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!

Spending New Year's With Friends

Last night we headed to Jersey to spend New Year's Eve with some friends. I was very excited because I love the twins, Sloane and Delaney.

And also my friend Sox. Sox has a lot of energy and I can't keep up with him anymore!

While the grown-ups celebrated I got a lot of attention and TLC.

We took a lot of pictures...

And got a lot of treats - we really had a nice time! There's nothing better than spending time with close friends who love you...

...and Sloane and Delaney love me :-)

We slept over and had a nice morning walk in the neighborhood. The houses were beautifully done up for the holidays and I enjoyed the new smells! We took pictures on the way of all the pretty decorations that I'll post later.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Shoes

One of our favorite neighborhood places is the shoe shop around the corner.

Lorenzo runs the place and we sometimes stop in and say hi on our walk. He's so nice and one of the favorites on the block. One day my owner was running out and her belt broke - she ran into Lorenzo's and he fixed it right on the spot - for free! And he lets me hang out with the guys getting their shoes shined.

Today we went in to pick up some "very important shoes" - some old boots from some designer, blah, blah, blah...what do I know, I'm a guy, but my owner seemed very excited.

She said Lorenzo was a "miracle worker." He's a great guy but, geez, it's only shoes! (Don't tell my owner I said that.)

Friends, Part 5

I met this little girl outside walking one day. I'm really upset because I cannot remember her name and she's probably my favorite person I met so far. She actually came over to pet me twice and she was so gentle and caring and asked if I was ok. Every time she pet me my tail wagged - she had the special touch. I have a feeling working with animals is in her future and she could be a very good vet some day.

I met this group visiting from Maine while wheeling through the Time Warner building. They wanted to know all about my condition and were very kind.

This is Ebony and Harmony. The little girl kept reaching over to pet my nose! I made her smile :-)

While in the Time Warner building I had to take a picture by the Botero sculptures (like the lady next to me is doing). They always have these two huge Botero pieces but for the holidays they have some special Dali pieces there, also.

I know, I know, very touristy. Sue me.

Friends, Part 4

In the last week I've met...

Wendy is visiting from Dallas for Thanksgiving. She has a pug at home named Jubei. She showed us a picture. Isn't he cute??

Sarah lives in Queens and works on the Upper East Side. She was visiting the neighborhood when she stopped to admire my wheels.

This guy was visiting from Baltimore. He asked if he could take my picture. I told him, of course, I'm used to it now.

This is Susan. She lives around the corner and has a cat she rescued. Her friend had a dog that had back leg problems and she stopped to ask about my cart.

The Kindness Of Strangers

On my morning walk today there was a man unloading restaurant uniforms from a truck and as we went by he said, "God bless you." We stopped to talk - his name is Alejandro and he had a poodle a few years back that had problems with its hind legs but there weren't the types of doggie carts they have now. He said he still hurts about it all this time later.

He wanted to pick me up for the photo and before I could do anything he scooped me up to pose! As you can see from my expression I wasn't too sure about this. Luckily I landed back on the ground in one piece.

Before we left, Alejandro jumped back into his truck and said he had a gift for me...

He gave us a bunch of hand towels we might need to clean my paws, dry me off, cushion my wheelchair or whatever! It was so nice of him! I really liked Alejandro. I hope we bump into him again. (And he keeps me on the ground next time.)

Friends, Part 3

I met a bunch more dogs in the neighborhood these past few days...

Charlie and his owner, Koren, live on the next block.

Hudson and his owner, Karen, live around the corner.

This guy was HUGE! We met him on the corner, had a few sniffs and went our separate ways.

Hydrant break.

Maggie Malone and her owner, Catherine. Finally, a babe! Too many guys around our block. Maggie lives down by 43rd Street so we don't see her much around here. But I'm going to keep my eye out for her - you know how I feel about redheads. 

More Friends

The main reason I started this blog was because after I got my wheels we started meeting all these great people in NYC. So many stopped to ask about my situation and gave me love. It makes me feel good.

These guys from Jersey stopped to say hi. While they were petting me this woman from Queens stopped, too.

When I was talking to the Jersey Boys, these guys also stopped to take my picture - they've never seen a dog in a wheelchair before. They were in from Cleveland for a kickboxing tournament. The one on the left is an MMA fighter. He was HUGE...and a little intimidating. But I wasn't scared because they kept petting me and saying how cute I was.

Runners and Wheelers

Today was the New York City Marathon and it's truly one of the great events we have here.

I'm lucky enough to live nearby the race route so for the past few years we've been enjoying the festivities. It's exciting to cheer on the racers - runners and wheelers!

We went into Central Park to watch but this was the only view I could get!

I couldn't see anything so we decided to walk further down the route...

But everyone kept staring and stopping to take my picture.

Even this professional looking guy. Maybe I'll be on the cover of Bark Magazine!...Or even Dog Fancy! Gasp!

These two ladies called me over as we headed further up the route. They're from Italy and just finished racing. The one on the left, I believe, is big-time in the wheelchair racing world. When they asked what was wrong with me my owner told them my back legs were paralyzed and the one on the right responded, "Well, then he is our comrade."

We ended up at the reception area for the wheelchair racers post race where they invited us in and we could watch the racers wheel right in after crossing the finish line. It was so exciting and we met so many people! Everyone was so nice; they kept petting me and offering me water. 

But it was cool just to sit back and watch all the finishers come in. You could tell they were so happy with what they just accomplished.

What a classic New York City day. Congratulations to all the racers!

Watch Out Back There!

It's been a rainy couple of days here in NYC so I haven't been out much but we got a break so I'm on the move again!

I generally walk once around the block twice a day but that's sometimes extended depending on my...ahem..."business." I like the extra walk time, though, because it gives me more opportunities to meet people.

This is Ebi. He's a dog lover with a mixed breed dog at home so he stopped to ask about my legs and we got to talking - he's Nigerian, born in Ireland and lived in London. I noticed Ebi was very stylish - a sharp raincoat with nice shoes and cool, cuffed jeans all topped off with a super red velvet bow tie - and for good reason. He is a fashion stylist who was coming from an interview at a big hip-hop company. He's excited because they asked him to come back the next day for a follow up. We got his info - maybe he can stylize my wheels!
Good luck Ebi!!

We also met Eric who lives nearby. He had a collie about ten years ago who had the same problem as me. He didn't know about doggie wheelchairs back then but after seeing me he said he wish he did.
While talking to Eric I had to "excuse myself" but my owner was too busy talking to notice - which resulted in this......

You snooze, you loose.