We're on Westminster break

While we're already pretty honked off about the Hound Group finals, we're still hoping for better in later rounds. Right now, we're blogging during the Poodle, Pug and Strange Dog Group -- ok, Non-Sporting Group -- whatever. We do like Dalmatians OK, since our friend Yuki seems to be a very stand-up customer. But what kind of group is it when you mix chows, bulldogs and bichon frises with the pugs and poodles? And the standard poodles always win. Why do the others bother to show up? (It's got to be the stupid ball of fur on his tail.)

Tomorrow night, we root for those dogs with dreadlocks....if they're still in.
Now that the wieners are out, we've to find a kindred spirit somewhere.

Saturday notes

(sing along with us....) IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE -- we don't wear any clothes: Summer heat is here, and we've been stuck in the Stupid Pen most of the day. Staffer Mom got out the pressure washer again to wash the porch, so we were probably safer there anyway. She did manage to get Green Pillow wet, so we're sitting on a damp nest.

GRIPE SOMEWHERE ELSE: We are slightly annoyed at all the folks who complain about the weather -- specifically the warm temperatures. We have fur, and we don't gripe about it. The humans had a choice. If they don't like it here, they should just move to Alaska or somewhere. If you move to Savannah, you're just asking for heat and humidity.

GOOD AND BAD NEWS: From Aunt Laurie: Yuki the Dalmation has graduated from kindergarten. We're pretty impressed with that. Apparently she got a diploma for her wall (Yuki, not Aunt Laurie) and some special treats. As for the bad news: Cool cat Xerxes, at right, died this week. He'd been with Aunt Laurie since he was found trying to rob a Long Beach ATM back in 1993. Oh wait....Staffer Mom says he wasn't trying to rob an ATM, he was only trying to find an owner with cash. ....Anyway, he was a fierce cat who fought bigger animals and his own diabetes for years. He was a good friend to his staffers. We know he'll be missed here on Earth.

BIG BROWN MISSES A DELIVERY: We watched the Belmont today and we were very sad Big Brown didn't win. However, the shameless pitching for UPS drove us nuts -- we know the delivery service or someone close to it has financial interest in the horse, but it was way too much. Next thing you know, they'll be shipping him in a cardboard box for fun. Is it possible the horse got tired of it, too, and said "I'll deliver when I get good and ready, and dang, it's hot out here. Let's go in and get a beer..."?? Horses are smart that way....

WE'VE BEEN BANNED: We mentioned that Staffer Mom has been washing the porch. She's planning on painting it tomorrow, and we've been banned from playing out there for now. Staffer Dad can't go out there, either, so we aren't taking it personally, but we think he might be. We'll let you know how that goes. We have a bad feeling the new porch paint may get a few foot and paw prints before it's over.

Welcome Yuki!

Yuki the Spotted Dog has joined the blog world. Careful readers may remember Yuki helped her valet, Aunt Laurie, win the Bandit Challenge during the NCAA basketball tournament. And Yuki did it with a broken paw...from jumping up and down stairs. We see that as an admirable way to break something, so we feel bad about her current stint in "time out."
The staff keeps saying to quit calling Yuki a Spotted Dog, but that's what she is. They call her a Dalmation or "fire truck dog" or "beer truck dog." But to us, she's got polka dots and we think that's fun. (We have a spotted dachshund on the wall in our house, so dots are very cool.)

Welcome Yuki!
(We've linked her blog on our blog faves on the left of our page. It's a fine collection, and you should check each one out.)

Bandit Challenge ends abruptly!

With the fall of UCLA and UNC last night, the Challenge ended a bit early since no one picked Memphis or Kansas to win. So Aunt Laurie wins it all!

And that's good, because she's had a rough week. She's a staffer for Yuki, a great Dalmatian puppy...Laurie works at UCLA, yet is a Tar Heel. Yuki, right, was jumping up and down stairs early in the week and broke her toe, and now has to spend 2 weeks in confinement. (Yuki tells us she's eaten all of her toys and is now eyeing her staffer's new leather pumps.)

As for the results, Laurie's real surge came in the early rounds where it was smart to pick underdogs -- we gave more points to lower seeds since, as lowdogs, we're committed to the underdog. We're not sure if Yuki helped with Laurie's picks or not, so we'll give the cheers for both of them.

And the rest of you: Staffer Dad and Buddy Gale finished just behind Aunt Laurie. Uncle Brad pulled himself out of the cellar but still managed to finish tied with Sturm, who picked her winners based on which coach was hotter and if she'd look good wearing the team colors.

Career sports person Troy and one-time sports person Amanda did ok. They were probably one decent pick away from doing really, really well. Staffer Mom came out looking really bad, in general. (and she's pretty bummed out about the Heels....we gave her an extra lick this morning.)

We do give major kudos to FosterMom Ellen for making picks so great she managed to finish mid-pack even though she picked Georgia to go all the way. And it's the first time ever Bandit's finished bottom of the pack in any bracket pool, which says we've finally found some humans who seem to know what they are doing.

Overall Standings
Group Standings
Rank Team Name Score Correct Best Score Best Correct Champion
1 Aunt Laurie/Yuki's mom 222 39 222 39 North Carolina (138)
2 Staffer Dad 220 43 220 43 UCLA (143)
3 Buddy Gale 211 43 211 43 North Carolina (151)
4 FosterMom Ellen 209 41 209 41 Georgia (137)
5 Amanda Anthony 208 39 208 39 Louisville (120)
6 Troy Johnson 193 39 193 39 North Carolina (154)
7 Staffer Mom 185 39 185 39 North Carolina (159)
8 Uncle Brad 172 35 172 35 North Carolina (154)
8 Jennifer Sturm 172 34 172 34 Drake (159)
10 Bandit 158 31 158 31 UCLA (148)

Thanks to all who made the first lowdogworld.blogspot.com Bandit Challenge so much fun!
Let's play again next year!!!