Birthday!

Tuesday is my birthday!  I will be eight and feeling great!  The day before I have my annual check up at the vet.  For some reason, I always visit my vet right around my birthday?

Here is my birthday joke for all of you:
     Did you hear about the suspenders that got arrested?
     They held up some pants!  Tee hee!
Mommy and I thought that was really funny.  We do have a unique sense of humor.

I hope the weather will start to warm up again.  It was cool and kind of rainy the last few days.  Another coincidence, I got my hair cut right before the weather got cold!  I've been a chilly dog the last week.  My hair looks really cute though!  Here is a picture of Boomer! and me.

Love,
Rudy the Cute Poodle

A New Video!

Hi Everyone!

Here's a new video that Daddy made.  He worked very hard on it.  I think he did a great job!  Mommy and Daddy said that it was a lot of fun visiting the kids.  It's hard to believe that was almost a year ago.  It was snowing then, and it snowed today!  Coincidence?

Love,
The Proud Poodle

It Feels Great to be Turning Eight!

In two weeks I will be eight years old!  WOW!  Time flies.  I still feel like a young pup.  The weather hasn't been as warm the last few days so our outdoor activities have been limited a bit.

Mommy and Daddy had an event last weekend.  It was for Kidney Education Day.  (Formally called Gift of Life.)  This year they decided to focus on overall kidney health.  It was a smaller audience as it was also a holiday weekend, but very educational and some nice people.  They really liked my books.

We hope to visit a few schools before the end of the school year, we just don't know which ones they will be!  Mommy continues to come up with different marketing ideas.

A very nice young woman used my book (Rudy's Incredible Kidney Machine) to explain dialysis to her first grader's class.  She is a dialysis technician from New York.  She said it went very well and our book was extremely helpful.  I was very happy.  I like to help!

We received a very nice review from a children's librarian for Rudy O'Tooty.  It is posted on our reviews page at www.RudysLittleWorld.com if you care to take a look.

A lot has happened lately.  We just finished five events in five weeks.  We like that!  Mommy said it keeps her feeling well prepared and less nervous because it is easier to keep the momentum when we do them more often.  Daddy made a new video we will post soon.  He's very good at it!  I'll keep you updated!

Love,
Rudy the Mature Poodle

Kidneys

Every April we remind you about the importance of organ donation, especially living donors.  The need continues to expand.  With over 100,000 people waiting for a life saving organ transplant, it is imperative that we keep educating people.

It's too bad that the U.S. doesn't have the same organ donor system as Belgium.  In Belgium you are automatically considered a donor unless you opt out of the program.  Imagine all the lives that could be saved!

This April I thought I would share some interesting statistics about kidney disease.  1 in 9 people are affected with kidney disease.  Over 382,000 are on dialysis.  Dialysis is a process to sustain life, but it is not a cure.  Kidney disease touches many lives.

My family has been affected by kidney disease.  I have kidney disease and my Mommy has been on dialysis twice before her two kidney transplants.  Daddy is a living donor.  These are some of the reasons we feel strongly about our goal.

Some of you may be too young to donate organs, but you can talk to your friends and family to teach them what you have learned.  It's important to share information.

My tip this month is to learn something that interests you and share it with others.  Hopefully they will  continue sharing it and many people will learn.

Love,
Rudy the Never to Old to Learn Poodle

Weather-wise, Business-wise, Puppy-wise and Otherwise

What an absolutely beautiful week!  The weather has been in the 70's all week with a bit of rain at night.  The grass is turning green and trees are blooming.

Mommy and Daddy spent the day Saturday at a writer's festival and book fair.  They hadn't participated in a few years and quickly found out that it had turned into mainly a writer's festival.

Mommy advised many people who wanted to be children's writers and they said they appreciated all her help.  Many people also complimented us on our quality books and said they were great.  That was nice.  Unfortunately we heard lots of people say they purposely didn't bring money so they wouldn't be tempted to buy anything - they were just gathering information.  Maybe Mommy should teach a class about how to be a children's writer!  She wrote an outline of helpful advise over a year ago and people seemed to appreciate it.

At the end of the day, Boomer! and I were very happy to see them.  We went outside to take care of business and play with our friends.  Our neighbor Hobie Baker had friends visiting.  There was another big dog named Bronson and two Yorkies, Miles and Scruffy.  They are little like me.  It was lots of fun!  We ran and barked - PERFECT!

When we were done we ate dinner.  We gobbled it up quickly.  Boomer! was so tired he slept until bedtime.  He woke up long enough to do our nighttime routine and go back to sleep.  What a wonderful weekend, especially for March!

Love,
Rudy-wise

What More Could You Ask For?

The weather has decided to welcome Spring with warmth and awesomeness!  I don't know if that's a real word, but it really fits.

The temps have been between the 60's and 70's all week.  No more snow or ice!  The ground is no longer mushy, so Boomer! and I can run, run, run!

We had a wonderful time visiting the library in Hastings, Minnesota.  We met some new friends and saw a few old ones, too.  It was great.  We read our new story "Rudy O'Tooty," ate cookies and sang our song.  It was fun, fun, fun!

Here are some pictures, if you want to take a look.  Enjoy and have a "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

Love,
Rudy

A Bit O'The Irish

What a crazy week!  Rudy O'Tooty is officially launched.  A Festive party was held at the Heritage Library in Lakeville on Monday March 5th.  The room was decorated with Shamrocks and lace tablecloths, nice Irish music and lots of goodies to eat.  A lot of people had some fun questions.  One I particularly liked was, "Does the real Rudy really wear a kilt?"  The next time I go to the Irish Fair, I will definitely be wearing a kilt - and maybe even have green hair!  The crowd joined in with our little sing-along of my new song, "Rudy O'Tooty."  It was quite fun!  I believe a good time was had by all.

Daddy did an excellent job reading the story.  The children were delightful.  And a little boy named Liam made a sign saying, "Rudy O'Tooty Books For Sale."  It was adorable.  Here is a slide show.  Take a look.  It's a lot of fun!  Share it with your friends.

Love,
Rudy The Kilt Wearing Tooty