Today is traditionally my Follow-up Friday post;  but since Frankie and Sarge are hosting a Labor Blog party, I reluctantly turn my blog over to Sampson and Delilah to teach a class on Pawm Etiquette.

Sampson:  “Thanks mom, let’s get right down to it.”

” We have a lot to cover in a short amount of time.”

“First this class is called, “Pawm Etiquette”  or as Frankie likes to say, ‘Pawm-eat-a-kit.'”

“But there will be no eating of kits or anything else in this class.” 

“Delilah, can you spit out the milkbone please?”

Delilah: “Really?”  “You mean ME?”

Sampson: “Yes, Delilah I said NO EATING and that includes you!”

Delilah: “Hhhhhhmmmmmmppppppffffff!”

Sampson: “By now we hope you have already asked your date to the pawm;  If you haven’t here are a couple of ideas for your pawmposal.”

“Engrave “Will you go to pawm with me?” on a milk bone and bury it in your love’s yard.  If she has a good nose, she will find it.”

Delilah: “I think it’s more romantic if you howl your pawmposal at the moon.”

Sampson: “That’s sweet D but if your love is not close by this is not a good option.”

“The best idea; meet her at the bark-park and ask her nose to nose (no tongues!  Especially if this is your first date!)”

“Now you have THAT out-of-the-way, there are a bunch of things involved in pawm.”

“One of the most important tasks is how will you get to and from Pawm?”

Transportation-“Pawmsonally I like the idea of a dog drawn carriage, such as the one shown here; if you don’t have enough milk bones to pull this one-off, you may have to resort to being driven by your mom.  Totally embarrassing but you will just have to deal…..unless you want to paw it.”

Delilah: “Oooh, that’s really romantic Sam, is that how you are taking me to Pawm?”

Sampson: “Delilah, this is a class, we can discuss our specifics after.”

Attire (what to wear)- “Before you purchase your outfit, consult with your date to determine what color she/he will be wearing.  As you can see, Delilah and I are wearing the same color.”

Delilah: “You look awfully handsome in the tie Sampson.” 😉

Sampson: “Thank you Delilah, can we get back to the lessons now?”

Delilah: “I’m not sure you noticed, so here is a better picture.  Ladies, I have opted out of the traditional Pawm Dress to go a bit more exotic with an exquisite pair of purple wings.  I think they go beautifully with my coloring.”

Sampson: “Ummm Delilah? I think you have the wings on upside down.”

Delilah: “Really?  Maybe I’m just making a fashion statement!”

Sampson: “Try and match as closely as possible the color your date is wearing, this will let others know you are together, plus you’ll look really great for Pawtographs.”

Flowers – “Pawsages -the best flower is pawm pawms, but if you can’t find those you could try dogwood flowers.  Have your flowers arranged so the flowers can be worn on either collar or paw.”

Delilah: “What about a fascinator? I think I would prefer a fascinator.”

“I think this fascinator would look stunning tucked behind my ear, and it would compliment my outfit beautifully.”

Sampson: “Delilah! We are supposed to be teaching a class here!”

Greetings- “When you get to Pawm there will be lots of other dogs there, you must be very careful in your greeting, a 3-second butt sniff is more than enough.  If you go longer then 3 seconds it could be considered cheating.”

Dancing – “The first dance is important, be very careful where you put your paw!  Ideally it should be placed lightly on her back and always make sure it remains in view of the chaperones.  Some of you big guys must be really careful about this, if you have a heavy paw like me, or your nails haven’t been trimmed properly you could hurt or scratch your date.”

Delilah: “Make sure you have groomed yourself BEFORE the Pawm, I don’t want you leaning over me to lick yourself in an inappropriate place! And now that I mention it, “

“No sniffing in inappropriate places.”

“No lifting of leg on band members!”

“And definitely no looking at other pooches!”

Sampson: “Well not quite the way I would have put it Delilah, but you do get the point across.”

Refreshments- “There should be refreshments at the Pawm, be considerate of others and make sure you have no food particles on your mouth that could be dropped in the punch bowl.  Delilah does that to me all the time, leaves her food particles in the water bowl.”

Delilah: “Thanks for rolling me under the bus Sampson, I can’t help it if I’m an enthusiastic eater!”

Sampson: “Shinizzle my whizzle Delilah, you sure do interupt a lot!”

“The last dance is also important, the band will tell you it is last dance and you should make sure to dance the last dance with your date.”

The Good Night- “An appropriate good night token is a little sniff to the ears or a quick touch to the nose, definitely no licking!”

Delilah: “I don’t know, I certainly wouldn’t turn down a little nuzzle to the muzzle, if you know what I mean.” 😉

Sampson: “I think we’ve covered everything.”

“Are there any questions?”

Mom: “Shinizzle my whizzle and a nuzzle to the muzzle? Really?   How do you two come up with these things?”

What was I thinking turning these two loose?

 God help me.

I have a mish-mosh of thoughts running through my mind right now, so this post may seem a bit scattered.

Yesterday’s post about Lady Zabora and some comments resulting from it, really got me thinking.  In the coming weeks/months I am going to begin thinking about how I can help rescue and protect animals.  Whether it be by volunteering with my local Labs 4 Rescue group, Our Companions Animal Sanctuary or whether I will surf around the internet and find dogs like Lady Zabora and contribute to their care.  Who knows maybe I will be working on all of the above!

I also really need to work on my Seven Links challenge presented to me by Just Ramblin’, this seems like a really big challenge to me, going through 275 posts to determine seven of the best!  I hope to get some time this Labor Day weekend to work on this challenge.

Delilah has continued to thwart me with her off-leash behavior.  Last night she ran off from the pack (we were walking with our friends Brady and Kodak) and was gone for at least 10 minutes; I think that is the longest she has been gone yet.  Last night I dreamed I was walking with the dogs and chatting with someone when I realized I hadn’t seen the dogs in about 30 minutes, in the dream I began searching for them and found Sampson in someone’s fenced in yard.  I woke up from the dream before I found Delilah.  I wonder if this is my subconscious telling me something.  In fact, I worry this is my subconscious telling me something!  From now on, when we are in that area she is going on leash, no matter how many dogs we are with.

Today on our walk she ran off again in an entirely different place, this leads me to the conclusion she will have to be leashed all the time. 🙁

Just before she ran off, as we were exiting the woods we had an encounter….I heard it first, then I saw movement on the ground in front of me.  I looked down and every hair on my body stood on end, I broke out in chills, screamed like a girl, grabbed Delilah and said, “Leave it!” pulled my camera out and….

It slithered into the leaves.

I beat feet.

Finally tomorrow **shudders** the dogs will be in control of the blog as they make their Prom Etiquette post in honor of the Labor Blog party.  The blog will be published early in the morning for all of you attending their class.

I apologize now, because who knows what those two will come up with!  I will be back in charge on Saturday and hope to post early again in anticipation of a blog hop.  Does anyone know of anyone hosting a Saturday blog hop?