More Matt

Man
of the
Hour














Proud Papas















Caroline practicing her snaps


















Papa-razzi, again!







































Happy Gram.


















Brother and Sister shenannigans

Matthew Martin Nelson

This weekend I began sharing my secrets with Baby Matt. He was so small and squishy, but I was very good. When mom was holding him, I only got a little jealous. I smelled him and his bum, then smelled his toys and realized he wasn't a squeaker toy at all but a little man. He sure is cute... When will he be able to run and play with me???

A Family of FOUR!

Here are the first ever published photos of my new cousin Matthew. He looks so squishy, like my squeaker toy. Does he squeak too?












squeak.























squeak. squeak.

Regal Beagle

Well, really a vizsla, but it's HARD to rhyme with Vizsla.

Go ahead. Try it. And send me what you come up with!

Welcome, Little Man

Happy Birthday to my new cousin, Matthew Martin Nelson!

He was born today, weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long.

Ms. Laura and Matthew are doing fine and I can't wait to see him this weekend!

da Met

This weekend mom thought I could use some cultural and art education, so we walked through Central Park (once the rain clouds parted Sunday afternoon) to see what we could see.




A man and his poodle.

















Lunch.


















The longest slide I have ever seen...











No wait - mom says this is the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



















Dessert.




Let's go in!



















Let's visit Egypt!









Here I am listening to a lecture on Modern Art.













Now it's on to support the economy!

Double Bubble Trouble

Mom and I spent the whole day with Caroline and Ms. Laura today. We made chalk drawings (chalk tastes great, but it left me thirsty!), played in the park, and blew some bubbles!


I never saw bubbles before today, so their transparent, iridescent nature was quite attention grabbing.
I wanted to take one to show mom, but each time I put one in my mouth it disappeared! What magic is this?!?!

I kept at it, trying to catch them, but it was no use. The bubbles just weren't cooperating.

Luckily, mom was taking some photos of me so in the end they were "caught" on film after all!

Birds of a Different Feather

This past weekend was Easter so mom and I went to Bethlehem, PA to visit Mutti, Pappa-Dino, Christine, Caroline, Laura and Kevin. We had a great time on Saturday, and I stayed outside for the entire day! Mom and I even went to the new Dog Park in Bethlehem. It's right behind Memorial Pool and is similar to the Dog Runs at home. The pups in Bethlehem's park aren't as street savvy as my friends in the Big Apple but I was able to show them a thing or two. I even went through the large plastic tunnel!







On Sunday, mom and Christine set up a bird hunting test for Caroline and me. The funny thing was -- the birds weren't even born yet! And who knew their shells were so pretty! They were pink, pale blue, bright green. Some were striped, and some were spotted. It was amazing!






























Caroline and I began the hunt, she looking high, and I looking low. I sniffed the wind. I sniffed the ground. And I began to find those little suckers. Caroline searched too, with help from her dad, Mr. Kevin. She found more than I did! Perhaps it was because once I found an egg, I grabbed it and ran around the yard! What fun it was to have mom chase me!






























Look at me, mom!

























These birds don't fly away!

Hannah Ba-nana!

Whoop! Whoop! Word to the Banana! My good friend Hannah Green just had show success at the Chambersburg Kennel Club, winning Best of Breed and then making the final six cut for the Sporting Group.


















Here she is in show form with Ms. Melissa! Go Hannah!

Vizsla Herding

It's so much fun to walk in the park each morning, especially now since the trees are in bloom, the air is warm, and Laika's herding instincts are in full effect. Belgian Tervuren were bred to herd and protect flocks of sheep, and have even earned a place in history during World War I as messenger carriers.

Laika, being a very well bred Belgian Tervuren has herding instincts, as well. She's now about 9 months old (approaching double digits) those instincts are kicking in!

There is only one problem.

In Riverside Drive Park there are no flocks of sheep just yet, so she herds the next best thing: Vizslas!

And since I am the only Vizsla she knows, she herds her flock of a single Vizsla. Each morning, as I graze on sticks, dirt and other organic matter, she stands guard, ever alert for an approaching threat be it man, machine or fowl (those pecking pigeons really can be a bother!).

Mom and Ms. Jane think it's "cute" and "funny" as Laika follows me, but sometimes I get annoyed. Since I am older, and therefore more patient, I do try to humor her but when she gets rammy - WATCH OUT! We can get into a scuffle. I bet real sheep don't fight back!

Happy Birthday to Me...

Happy birthday to me!
I'm an 11 month ol' puppy!

Who Else but Elsa!

I would just like to give a shout-out to Elsa and Ms. Mia.


Elsa is a young pup also making her way on the tough streets of New York. Just look at the grafitti!

You can tell her mom works in advertising and is in touch with the "Scene!"

Reunited...

... and it feels so goo-ood!

Since I have been back in the city I haven't seen my best friend Laika. Does she think I am too good for her now? Does she think I am a prima donna since I am almost a champion?

These were the thoughts that have raced through my head each morning that I didn't see her. But TODAY was different, just as mom and I were heading out of the park to go home, I caught a glimpse of a fluffy, pointy eared pooch. I wasn't sure at first, but as she stood at attention with the patience only a herding dog could have I was convinced! It was Laika! She and Ms. Jane were in the park! Mom and I had just been in the wrong part, staying in the larger off leash area too long.

We ran towards each other and greeted the other with neck-nips and tail chasing. It was just like old times. I was so happy to see her!

The Final Huntin' Scores

Here are my final hunting scores!







These are Saturday's scores













Quite an improvement from that very first test wouldn't you say?? Mom has really come a long way! She can now fire the blank pistol without getting flustered, and knows that she actaully needs to keep moving in the bird field instead of standing still watching me work. Nice improvement, mom!





















For the test on Saturday, I had a couple really nice finds. The first one was right at the begining of the tree line, but mom didn't go far enough into the bushes where it was hiding and she thought there was nothing there so we moved on. I found a second bird a little farther up, but this time, just to make sure it counted, I decided to go in and flush it myself. Once I heard mom fire, I knew we were set and came out ready to find more!

Later, mom found a bird on her own! I guess she was trying to make up for letting the first one go, and she kept trying to show me where it was, but since she already stumbled upon it (quite literally), I never pointed it. Silly mom, I need a challenge and want to find them on my own!























And to finsh my title... my Sunday scores!







Sunday was even better than Saturday. The judges were very nice to me and mom, and let me drink some water before we got to the bird field. I was thirsty because it was so HOT. My bracemate, Mannie the Weimeranner, was the same one as Saturday and we both went to work right away. The bird field was shaped like an "L" this time and followed some very tall brush.







I caught scent far away from my bird, so the judge told mom that the he was actually about 50 feet upfield. Mom told me to move up, so I went in and pointed the little guy again. He was actually to my right so mom came around my side and I held point the entire time she went in to flush the bird (20 seconds because the lil' guy wouldn't fly up and mom had to chase him a bit!!). Once he flew away and I pursued him, mom fired her gun!

That was it! I made it to my JH title! The judge told mom she could collar me and we went over to the Gallerie to wait for Mannie to finish. Unfortunately he didn't find any birds and so we returned to the main staging area. I felt bad for him, because he was really trying hard. Maybe the Hawks poached them all??? I hope he goes to the next test to try again!