Deck the halls!

It's December! December means Christmas stockings that get filled up with doggy treats. December means advent calendars that dish out one tasty doggy treat a DAY! December means lots and lots of food around the hotel and the house, and lots and lots of opportunities for extra snacks. December means shiny sparkly decorations strung up all over the place. December means gifts in all shapes and sizes! December is one giant buffet. Next to my birthday month, December is my favourite month of the year.

So I was cruising by Haro's last Thursday and the most melodic of sounds touched my sensitive ears. I pawsed - and listened - and recognized the smooth singing voice of none other than Tom Watson, king of the Honeycrooners, floating out into the lobby. I swear that Tom is the living equivalent of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley combined into one seriously suave character. I tell ya, his voice could melt butter.

And then I smelled some fantastic new aromas also coming from Haro's. What was going on? It was the middle of the day, after all.

Well for all of you who may have missed it, take note: Haro's is holding a Festive Luncheon Buffet every Thursday and Friday from 11 AM - 2 PM with a special menu and live Christmas music featuring Tom and the rest of the Honeycrooners. Almost makes me wish I was a human so I could head in there and enjoy it myself. Almost. I do love a good buffet. And just think of how much I could pack away for a mere $20! The mind reels at the possibilities....

But then I remembered how awesome it is to be a dog. So for those of you who happen to be humans and are reading this blog, I strongly suggest you take some time out from your hectic December schedules to paws for a bit and rest, rejuvenate, and refuel every Thursday and Friday afternoon for a festive lunch with friends and family in Haro's until December 17th. And for those of you who happen to be dogs, come on over for a visit with me in the lobby. You know where to find me - I'm the quiet one watching the sparkly shiny December world go by.

Brrrr.....

It's getting cold outside. I can feel it in my bones. I was born in California and it's right about this time of year that I'd like to head on back for a few months. Summer can get a little hot what with my coat of black hair under the sun, but man I'd like to head down there now.

But really, we have it pretty good in Sidney. Sure it gets a little cold but when it comes to Canada we certainly tip the scales for one of the warmest places! For example, did you know that up in Prince George it is snowing (more like a blizzard) and fifteen degrees below zero? Here we are sitting at a balmy 10 degrees and the sun is shining too - and it's already mid-November! Some places in BC only get three months of the year that don't have SNOW. That is pretty extreme, and I think about some of my other canine companions who don't have the luxury of a nice thick black lab's coat, nor a healthy layer of muffin fat to protect themselves. Brrr.... you can always come and cuddle up with me!

And what about those dogs that live waaaay up north and have to mush through snow for their jobs?? Have you heard about these dogs? I thought it was a joke the first time that I found out - I mean, that is so crazy that some dogs would actually consent to DO that. I thought I had a pretty cushy job here at the hotel, but what these poor guys have to do makes my job not even seem like work at all. (I hope my bosses aren't reading this - I was going to ask for a raise soon!)

I hope everyone has been supporting the Movember cause and buying up those cheesecakes and cookies to do their part! Now it's time for me to warm up by the fire...

Movember at the Mo-Tel

It's Movember again! That month where moustaches reign supreme all the world over in support of finding a cure for prostate cancer. The humans here have gotten into the spirit and have changed the name to the Sidney Pier Mo-tel and Spa, and the scruffy faces are already beginning to be shown by the Mo bros. Have no idea what I'm going on about? Check this out:

http://ca.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs

And here's a message from Tim Panagrot, the head Mo bro here at the Pier:

This Movember, the month formerly known as November I’ve decided to donate my face to raising awareness about prostate cancer. My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

I’m doing this because 4,400 men die of prostate cancer in Canada each year and one in six men will be diagnosed during his lifetime. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to Prostate Cancer Canada.

To help, you can either:

* Click this link https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/your-details/team_id/110126 and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account

* Write a cheque payable to Prostate Cancer Canada, referencing my name or Registration Number 23461 and mailing it to: Prostate Cancer Canada, Suite 306 145 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3, Canada.

All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

I thought that I could be a Mo-dog and get on board but apparently they aren't so enlightened as to include dogs yet. So I hope you humans will come on out and donate a few bucks here and there to support the cause, and don't forget to come by the Mo-tel plenty of times this month to see the progression of the hairy faces of all the Pier's Mo bros. Some of them are already beginning to complain about itchiness. Ha! Try having your entire body covered in hair, you weak humans!!!

I also heard that there's cheesecake available on the dessert menu in Haro's with the proceeds going to the Movember foundation too. The best part, though, is that the kitchen crew are going to be baking some moustache-shaped cookies for sale in Georgia Cafe with proceeds going to the cause. I hope some of those cookies 'proceed' to make their way down into Lo-Geo where I can have a sample....

Go Mo bros!

OK OK so I made a mistake....

I'm a big dog. I can admit when I'm wrong.

I have an apology to make. It's to John. John the first, John Junior, and Johns the 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

Remember in my last post when I said that I was the first hotel dog on the island? Well, that was a lie. Not really a lie, I didn't actually know that at the time, but I have learned through the woofvine that John the 5th who lives at the Waddling Dog near Saanichton, wasn't the first dog to do so. That honour belongs to John the first, the basset hound who was the resident dog from way back in 1990 until 1998. See, how could I have known? That was way before I was born!

It turns out that their hotel has had five basset hounds working for them over the last 20 years, all of them named John. Anyways, I'm sorry for saying that I was the first. But there's a big difference between John and his successors and me. They all lived at their hotel full-time, 24 hours a day. Not me, oh no siree. I work regular 40 hour weeks and then I go home in the evenings and on weekends. So I'm the first dog to do that, anyways, work like a human.

And work it is, I tell ya. Here I was, feeling all bad for slighting the basset hounds up the road and trying to stay on my best behaviour. Well, this female human came into lower Georgia and sat at one of the tables and proceeded to pull out an apple-bran muffin and place it on one of the tables. Right in my face.

I could have snatched it when she wasn't looking. I was torn with the devil dog on one shoulder just saying to go for it and the angel dog on the other shoulder saying that I should just walk away. So I compromised. I casually wandered over to the human and ever-so-gently put my chin on her lap, my beautiful brown eyes gazing up at her longingly. Please, just a bite, that's all I ask...

Did it work? Um, no. She ate the ENTIRE thing, breaking tiny pieces off and passing each one past my nose for me to catch a whiff before popping them into her mouth. I left my chin on that silly human's lap for nearly 30 minutes of agonizing pain and all for nothing!

Karma, is this your way of getting back at me?

Turkey Bones and the Times-Colonist

Do you know what is great about being a dog around holidays?

Everybody is running around trying to arrange all sorts of things, planning big meals or trips to visit friends and family, cleaning their houses to impress visitors, and other human nonsense like that. The kids are home from school which of course means more chances for playing fetch outside or a bit of roughhousing or ear scratching indoors. Just having more humans around the house is always fun, as humans can provide endless entertainment with their silly goings-on, and I get to eavesdrop on lots of conversations.

But the absolute best part of holidays is that humans are so easily distracted. This means that we dogs are provided with the perfect opportunities to get away with things that we couldn't do otherwise (unless you are super sly like me) like, oh, nick a few sweets from the coffee table when nobody is in the room. Or score a couple of bones - ham bones yum! turkey bones extra yum! and head on out to the backyard to hide them away for the upcoming leaner weeks. And of course when people get sick of all the extra turkey, I always get to sample a few more bites, totally legit.

I think humans should invent more holidays.

What else has been going on in my world, you ask? Well, did you see me in the newspaper a week ago? OK, OK, I wasn't actually the one in the picture, that was some juvenile other lab from some other hotel, but they did come and interview us too! This was of course great for stroking my ego, but at the same time it made me wonder if I'm getting old. Am I getting old? Or are humans just a bunch of suckers for a photo of a puppy? Maybe the cameraman forgot to bring his camera when they came to interview us? Yeah, come to think of it, that must be it...

Here is the story in case you missed it:

http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/Cliff+finds+hotel+work+life/3607882/story.html

At least they got the part about me being the first one correct. Hey there Cliff, if you need any pointers then just howl.

Contest winners announced!

Good afternoon humans! It's pretty quiet in the lobby right now and I can't see any muffins within sight so I thought I would take a minute to let you all know that the winners of my fabulous photo contest have been announced. We decided to send the judging duties to the professionals at BK Photography since I wouldn't know a film roll from a pixel, and besides, if it were up to me I would have given every single photo entry a prize. So here they are:

In first place we have the beautiful "Bella at the Spa", who wins a free night's stay in the hotel for herself and her lucky guardian. She also wins a doggie photo session at BK Photography, the confirmed dog-lovers with cameras!

In second place is the sunny picture of the adorable Ruby in "Now that's a cup of coffee" who wins a $100 gift certificate to buy lots and lots of coffee with.

In third place is "Rocco" who proved that he can stand up to any whale's tail and wins a $50 gift certificate for his efforts.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who entered the contest! Now if you'll excuse me, I think I smell some freshly baked muffins that greatly need my attention.....

Last chance to enter the photo contest!

Hey there humans, this is your warning that there is only another day or so to get your pictures of your pooches in to christine.ball@sidneypier.com to enter the fun and fabulous photo contest and win fantastic prizes! Here are some of the pictures that have come my way so far, featuring the likes of Bella at the Spa, me with Jessica, Ruffles on the sofa (hey, how come I'm not allowed on the sofa????), and others. As luck would have it, the promised picture of Star came in the form of an old-fashioned paper photo instead of email, so I am keeping that one close by my bedside for now.... I just knew Star was a girl with old-fashioned, respectable values! I hope to see a lot of you faithful readers out with your canines and your cameras at the hotel tomorrow - and good luck to everyone who entered!

What's so great about a poodle in Beijing, anyways?

I just love being the resident dog at the Sidney Pier Hotel & Spa. I look forward to the regulars coming in every morning for their coffee and muffins (and hopefully not noticing when I steal said muffins!) and I like checking out the new people visiting from all over the world. When my fellow canine friends visit me it really makes my day. Sounds like I have a great life, right?

Well, something has gotten my goat. Since I’ve become all blog-savvy and had a chance to explore this internet thingy a bit more, I came across an article in the latest issue of Traveler magazine the other day. It was about pet-friendly hotels around North America that also have resident canines on staff. Naturally, I expected to see my picture in the article. I figured that enough people take my picture in a given week that one of them must have been from the magazine, and that maybe everyone was just keeping things quiet and not telling me about my sudden leap of fame. I don’t know why, maybe to keep me so humble?

I clicked through the ten or so photos, getting more excited with each one as I anticipated seeing my own gorgeous face on the next page. Hollywood, New York, Atlanta and Boston all went by, each featuring an animal that worked at the hotel.

But where was I? Not in this article! Who are these people from Traveler magazine? Have they never been to this awesome hotel? Have they never even heard of beautiful little Sidney-by-the-Sea? Probably not. So I guess I can’t blame them for not putting me in their silly ol’ magazine after all. We all know that Sidney is a special secret spot that only the really smart people know about, right? And besides, if the rest of the world found out about Sidney, the town might do something drastic like start charging for street parking, which I know would drive my guardian absolutely bananas. So I guess I’ll leave it alone. Here’s the link to the article if you want to check it out and send me your thoughts in the comments below:

http://www.concierge.com/ideas/hotels/tours/501883

Don’t forget that the great photo contest ends in two weeks! I just heard that the Star I wrote about a few weeks ago is submitting a photo, so I’m going to put some of the contest pictures up next week. Make sure you check back then. Oh... is that an unattended muffin I see over there?

Maybe I'm ready to stop playing the field

TODAY A 'STAR' WALKED INTO MY LIFE - FOR REAL!


Sooooo.... I had this nice long nap in the sun and before you knew it another couple of weeks had passed. I woke up all disoriented and it took me a while to remember that I have a photo contest on the go! The thing that tipped me off was when this super hot mama of a German Shepherd strolled in from the elevator and right past my bed. Yowza! My ears perked right up (well, OK, they twitched at least) and she glanced over at me and told me her name was Star and also that she was too young for me - only 23 years old (I think that's four human years??? Humans - can you help me out on this?)


I played it Dave cool and told her I wasn't no dirty old dog, I just thought she would be very photogenic and that she should get her human to snap some pics of her around the hotel so they could enter the contest. She didn't answer but I could tell by the way her gorgeous brown eyes lit up that she took a liking to the idea. Now that's the kind of girl I could see coming around the hotel more often!


I know I'm being selfish here but I want to make sure everybody gets a good look at this dame and so I've decided to extend the deadline of the contest to September 15th for entry submissions in hopes she and her human can get it together and send in an entry. The submissions we've received so far have been fantastic and I love every single one - I've got a new human helper who is going to post them up on the site soon for you all to look at, and hopefully it gets you motivated to come on down to the hotel and take a few pictures of yourselves. And while you're here, don't forget to come by my bed near the concierge desk and fill me in on all the gossip!


Oh yeah - email your pics to christine.ball@sidneypier.com before September 15th to enter to win some fine fine prizes for you and your humans! Hotel stays, spa and restaurant gift certificates.... and, Star, if you don't have any plans later on tonight maybe we can go for a moonlight stroll....? Really, I'm only 25!

Well August long weekend is over and the best dog-walking weather has just begun. For those of you who weren’t aware, I also celebrated my birthday on July 16th and had a woofing good time. I’ve already begun daydreaming about what next year’s birthday will be like....

My dream birthday would first begin with a nice long belly rub, followed by a morning snack of peanut butter cookies. Failing that last request, maybe Iams or Science Diet will come up with a peanut butter flavoured “healthy” dog food that they’d like me to sample and give my feedback on. Yum! Then I could go for a long walk along the pier with one of my usual morning human companions. When I came back from my walk, I’d be delighted to find presents waiting for me on my bed. I’d tear into the wrappers to find some new uniforms for me! I’m a stylish sort of dog and like to mix it up a bit. Maybe some tweed styles for when I’m feeling nostalgic and some surf patterns for when I’m California dreaming.

Then I’d have a nice long nap. When I woke up, there would be more belly rubs waiting for me and a birthday cake in my favourite flavour - carrot cake! All the humans would sing happy birthday to me and then fight over who gets to take me for another walk. Since nobody can decide, I get to go on several more walks, each time with more hugs and scratches behind the ears. All this love and attention tires me out and so I decide to rest for another nap.

Ahhh, birthdays. Don’t you just love ‘em?

I’ve got exciting news about my photo contest! All you doggy lovers out there please send in your photo entries to be featured right here on my blog. Pictures of your favourite pooch, please, inside or outside of the Sidney Pier Hotel and Spa ~ and the more creative the better! I can’t wait to see all my canine buddies getting ready for their ‘close-ups’ and posing around the hotel!

Email your entries to my human helper’s inbox at christine.ball@sidneypier.com before September 15th and we’ll have our winners announced on September 30th. Grand prize is a free night in the hotel, second prize is $100 gift certificate and third prize is $50 gift certificate. Now get those cameras clicking

Hello and Welcome to Dave's First Blog

Dave’s World

Well, here it goes, this is my first attempt to communicate to humans. I’m Dave, yes you guessed it, a dog. But I am not just any dog, I am part of the staff at The Sidney Pier Hotel and Spa, and I love my job. (really what dog would not love my job)

I decided to start this blog because I hear all day long, “I wonder what he is thinking”, “Wouldn’t you love to be inside his head”, etc…… Most humans have always had an innate curiosity about what goes through a dog’s mind and rightly so, we are fascinating animals.

Maybe I need to start by answering a few of the most commonly asked questions I hear. ( I think I need to make this a regular section in my blog because I think you humans have a lot of questions……)

Q:
Why do I steal muffins?

A:
Why not, I am a dog, hello, we are always hungry (actually don’t ever think I am not hungry) and sweet yummy, Georgia Café muffins, really hit the spot. ( I am trying to cut down though because although I am addicted to them they are not so easy on my stomach lately )

Q:
Why do I look sad?

A:
I am not sad, really are you kidding me how can I be sad when I get to sleep 8 hours every night, and nap for 10 hours, nothing sad about that.

Q:
I wonder if he knows how cute he is?

A:
Really, this is a great question, of course I know how cute I am, I am a dog and we are all cute! I happen to be a bit cuter than most and I suppose I do work that angle a bit and it is working for me.

Ok enough Q & A for now, lets get down to why I started this blog. I plan on keeping my followers and canine counterparts educated and informed on my daily routine. I see the world from not only a 2ft vantage point, but from the perspective of well, for the lack of a better term, a dog.. I hear conversations all day long and sometimes hear way more than I ever want to. If it is a good conversation I will just flop and at the humans feet and assume my cute position. Now when it is a conversation I do not want to hear I will try to distract the humans with some drooling and maybe a bit of begging or lie on my back and hope I get an awesome belly rub from them. Obviously this serves a couple of purposes. I don’t need to explain how much I LOVE getting my belly rubbed because I think it is pretty straight forward. I think most humans would love to lie on their back during the middle of their busy day and have someone rub their tummy. I don’t see humans doing this not sure why?

Next week I will be posting details of an incredible photo contest I hope everyone will participate; it is going to be great!

Hey the weather this week in Sunny Sidney by the Sea is awesome and I hope some of you will come out to see me and maybe even have a play date in the park. Don’t forget to check out some of my favorite book suggestions and coming soon I will post some of my favorite recipes’. Well I have to go now, I have been awake for almost 30 minutes, this blogging is tiring and I think I need another nap.