The Exciting Life of Balu

Today I tried to drink from the pond. It didn't go well. But check out my fancy elephant blanket!

Today we went shopping. Look what I got! A fancy new leash and a harness! Going on a walk is even more fun now.

My first time at a restaurant! We went to the restaurant called Bauernhof (that's German for farm). But it wasn't like the farm I grew up on. No animals, only humans. Still, it was very nice. The humans ate ice cream, I got snackies and fresh water. Will go again.

On this picture you can see how independent I am: I can carry my own poop. If they would let me I'd also make my own breakfast, lunch and dinner. No more small portions!

I mean come on, some of my siblings might be smaller than me, but none of them were ever THAT small.

I tell you, my dear followers and especially fellow dogs: They are fun to bite on, they might even taste good, but do not eat the wood pieces. I repeat: DO NOT EAT THE WOOD PIECES. Humans told me not to, but I did it anyway. Now I saw the same wood pieces again, and it wasn't nice. But let me share some unrelated, random pictures with you. That's me sitting in the garden, thinking of my future career as a big dog.

You know the drill: Friday is school day! I played with the dudes, awed at bubbles and trained. Training, training, training. I guess I'll go to the Olympics one day.

Today we went to Brunnen, to chill at the lake. The weather was great, it kept all the other tourists away. It was just me and the humans. See the pictures of my first tourist trip in Switzerland.

Hello dear fellow fans & investors. I'd like to announce to you my fabulous returns to convince you to also get a Bernese mountain dog: In only 30 days I grew massively from around 8 kg to 17.5 kg. All I had to do for this is eat and sleep. This means an annualised return of a staggering 2424%. Please see the attached pictures as proof of gains. They are all taken exactly 1 month apart.

Dear visitors and fans, today I'd like to introduce you to another of my best friends: Bip. As you can see, he is also a Bernese mountain dog! He's even a bit bigger than I. But a lot slower. We often wrestle, and as you can see in the pictures, most of the time I win. Actually always.

Today I stole my human's voting ballot. After an intense discussion and research, I came to the conclusion that he has to vote NO on the Individual Besteuerung, because there would be less money for snackies for me and many other families with kids and/or dogs. Who wants less snackies?

Same for the TV thingy. My recommendation is to go outside and throw your TV away.

"This is a man's world

But it would be nothing, nothing

Without a woman or a girl."

I'm exaggerating. But the boss — Mum — was gone today, so it was just the two of us. Together with Teddy, I stole his shoe. Then we went exploring in the woods, and at home, we discussed the hardships of being a man. Like only eating Chicken Nuggets all day.

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day everyone! 🥰 Today was full of romance, love, and cuddles! I stayed alone with my mum, the centre of my universe 💖💕💗, and we went on several romantic walks! We sat in front of the beautiful lake and watched the birds while contemplating a breathtaking mountain view. In the evening, we went together on an adventure in nature and went veeeery far. We played in the grass and ran home for five minutes straight without a pause, in the rain, enjoying every second of our time together! What a day ❤️ I will keep it in my heart forever 🥰

I love Fridays so much because it means puppy classes! In fact, I’m one of the best in the group 🤓 Today I made so many new doggo friends! Too bad they are all too small for me, so I can just sit on them during the game and easily win hehe. My super-specialty is the obstacle course – no snackies needed, it's just too much fun! But the absolute best? Tube games and the ball pit, of course! 🔴🔵🟡🟣 So many balls, so little time!

Guess what?! My humans gave me the coolest 3-month birthday gifts! Since I'm a big boy now, I get to eat and drink from new bowls for serious doggos like me! 😎 And my sniffing carpet got a major upgrade – it's now a giant carrot garden! 🥕So many new smells, so many carrots to discover and "grow"! I'm totally in love with these carrots, especially the ones that make funny squishy sounds when I put them in my mouth!

Woof woof! I'm 3 months old today! I'm big, I'm strong, and I can finally break free from my spot! My amazing humans gave me the best gift ever: FULL FREEDOM to roam the living room and kitchen! So much to discover! Now I can stick to my favourite humans like glue, 24/7! ❤️

Dear Diary, today I had so much fun at puppy school again. I made friends with a Labrador Retriever puppy, and we played a veeeeeery long game. Uff, so exhausting! It was magical because I saw my first rainbow! 🌈

Today I learned how to greet the human way by shaking paws. Humans say “Pfötli” to me; I shake their hand and then get a snack. It’s a really tasty way of greeting others.

Since it's nice and sunny outside, we decided to do some early spring cleaning. I'm sharing pictures so you can see how hard-working I was.

First day of my life in February! It’s pretty much the same as January, so I don’t understand why they gave it another name. Anyway, we also had visitors! I was clearly the star, as the guests weren’t half as interested in the humans as in me. I guess it’s because of my charm?

Dear visitors and fans, today I’d like to introduce you to one of my best friends: Teddy the Bear. He’s fluffy, not very talkative, never complains, is always there and often visits me in my box.

Thank God it’s Friday, which means I can see my doggo friends from puppy school again and play! Such fun! But it’s not as exciting as going through all the challenges on the road – I’ve become a real expert at this and I’m not scared of any obstacles! The funny tubes are especially cool! I can’t wait to go back and run through them again!

Today was my first visit to the vet. I heard a dog whining from a far-away room, which made me confused. But a vet is fun! They put you in the centre of a room and everyone touches and cuddles you – I will totally come again. I was a big star (already 13 kg!) even at the entrance; no one could resist petting me. And they have a shelf full of food! I tried to show my human parents which bag we need to take home, but they didn’t get it… Maybe next time they will be smarter.

I like flowers. Not to look at, but to eat. Especially the yellow ones that grow snackies inside, but also whatever I find in the garden.

Today on one of my walks, I met Sir Grey, the noble cat who likes to come by for snackies and tea. He informed me that the two cats behind him are not related to him and are, in fact, rivals. He said he has to fight them off to defend his lands. Now, I never back down from a fight to help my friends, humans and cats alike. I got ready to show off my skills, but my muscles scared them when they saw me and they turned around. Once again, I, Balu, saved the day.

I like to nibble, chew, and bite on everything I find. The humans don't always like it, but then again, they also give me things to chew on; therefore, chewing must be good, right? Understanding human logic is difficult.

"Balu has no time to write today; he's busy chilling," – Balu's human.

We had a visitor. Human parent said he's a very successful business guy. I don't understand what this means. He smelled like any other human.

Today we went to the puppy school in Ibach. The drive there was a bit scary. I don't like travelling by car. Why drive when you can walk? There were many funny-looking dogs, most of them smaller than me. I guess I'll easily be the best at this. At least my humans think so. The games we played were fun!

Today I was brushed. It was OK, because I received snacks during and a bone afterwards. And I look fresh now, which humans care about. I think smell is more important though.

There are no big cows here like on the farm I was born. But lots of cats from the neighbours. So far, they only look. One came particularly close. The humans called him “Sir Grey”. Considering the name, he might be nobility – I will ask him next time. He’s certainly Grey, so that part makes sense.

Today we sang "The Bare Necessities" from the bear Baloo. It's my new favourite song and very calming. It's also the only song I know, but I doubt there can be better songs.

Today, for the first time in my life, I crossed a bridge—twice! It was a bit scary the first time, but on the way back it was all right. I explored the countryside and looked for fish. There was an odd sign saying I’m not allowed to poop here, but why would I bother? The humans pick it up and carry it away for me anyway.

First night at the new place. It's warm, but I miss my ten siblings. The female human also sleeps here, it seems. I got to go outside about three times during the night. This morning I met the neighbour and explored their garden. I also pooped there, but the human took the poop and brought it to our place. I guess pooping at home is better. I also ate a bone. A very eventful day!

My human parents picked me up today and drove me to Lauerz. I was a bit scared, but the female is very cuddly; I think it will be all right. I explored part of the house and the garden. The garden is lovely. I also learned that when the humans say “Chum” and I walk to them, they give me a treat. I don’t want to do that every time, though, because I get fed anyway.

Today it wasn't just the two of them but also some tiny humans! Tiny humans are fun. They find everything funny. As always, their shoes tasted great.

Today they brought gifts! It was very exciting. So much action. It's exhausting! So exhausting that after 1 hour me and my siblings went back to sleep.

I'm a very popular model in the WhatsApp status. In these pictures, I'm the first in the row and first from the left. I guess I like to be first.

Today I met my future human-parents for the first time. It was quite exciting.

Today I was born on the Red Valley Ranch in Ruswil, Luzern, together with my 10 siblings. In this picture, I'm the first from the left.