Liesl Grounds (2025)

11/04/2025

Please keep Jade and her family in your thoughts.

07/02/2025

Hello everyone! Today was my sister Delilah's 6th birthday!

Mom and dad took her out tonight for a double burger and a pup cup. This year I talked them into taking her in mom's van instead of my truck. She is kind of a messy eater and I don't like my truck getting dirty.

She said she enjoyed the food but really doesn't understand why the floor moves around. She said it can be hard to stand up when the van turns or stops. I don't really think about it since I do it so much, but I guess I can see why a rookie of her size could have an issue. She would hate riding with me and dad when we have to turn the flashy lights on.

Unfortunately I had to stay home. For some reason mom and dad thought it was important for her to get a special trip. Unfortunately that means I have not received any special treats today. But tomorrow is work, so I will get an early pup cup when dad has to get his coffee. He can't survive without at least one cup of coffee, so I am pretty confident.

I hope you are having a great week.

Love,

Zena

02/01/2025

Happy New Year everyone!!! I started out the year with a pup cup and have the day off. I hope everyone has a GREAT year!

Love,

Zena

18/10/2024

Hello everyone! It is my birthday!!! I am 4 years old!!! I was able to sneak an ipad to make a post since mom and dad aren't watching me like hawks on my special day.

So far today I received a pup cup, an Arby's sandwich (even though I am not as big of a fan as Liesl was), a special birthday dog cookie, and some peanut butter treats. Dad says later he will give me some jerky that my friend Ryder Chase Runaas & Gracie sent to me.

The past couple weeks have been a bit hectic. Dad said he had to help people down in North Carolina because they had a lot of rain and it washed away their stuff. He has been busy coordinating a ton of supply runs and has been going down and back helping get things situated. Unfortunately that means he took off work, so I have been stuck at home.

I also heard he has been hanging out with some SAR K9's (Search and Rescue dogs). I am not quite sure how I feel about that. I guess I shouldn't really worry, because to be a SAR handler you have to be willing to go on super long hikes through the woods. Much longer than the hikes we have to do when we are tracking a bad guy. Dad gets tired and cranky when we do our tracks, so I am not real worried about him deciding he wants to do SAR. Plus I hear there are all kinds of snakes down there, and dad doesn't like snakes.

I have a lot of respect for the SAR dogs though. My liter mate brother is a SAR dog in South Carolina, and my liter mate sister is an avalanche rescue dog in Alaska. I have lots of cousins who also do SAR. I get to see some of their stories and they do an important job.

Anyway, back to me and my day. It is fairly nice weather, so I have been able to play ball a lot. Oh, by the way, I also received a new ball for my birthday. It isn't the one in this picture though. I am not sure I like it to be honest. I really prefer the Jolly Balls, and this one is some sort of fluffy ball thing-a-ma-jig. I thought dad knew I wasn't a fluffy ball girl, so I am going to assume it is because he was so busy he forgot to order me a Jolly Ball and just got me whatever he could find at the store today. I will give him a little slack though, especially since he said we could get my favorite shredded chicken bbq later tonight.

Ok. Enough for now. I really need to get back outside and see if dad can throw this fluff thing a few times.

Hope everyone is safe and having a good week.

Zena

27/08/2024

Hello Everyone!

I know it has been a while since I wrote an update, but mom and dad says it is national dog day, so I figured I better jump back on here and write a quick note.

Everything has been going very well. I have been working and training as always, and still LOVE what I get to do. I especially like riding around in what dad calls my "princess limo".

Dad has been good about making sure he gets me a snack when we work, so I think he is finally getting better trained. It has been very hot lately, but my limo has nice A/C and an alarm to tell dad if he gets too hot when he is out talking to someone. If we have to go out into the field to track someone, he has a special pack he puts around his waist that has my very own water bottle and bowl (along with some treats and some medical gear).

When I am home I try and relax, although I have to make sure Delilah and Augustus both behave. Augustus likes to run around the back yard barking his head off at the wind, and when dad says "enough" I run over to him and es**rt him back to the porch to make sure he understands. He is getting old and hard of hearing (probably from all the barking), so it is important I go remind him dad has had enough. Mom yells at me saying "you are not a cop in the back yard", but I do it just to help.

Delilah doesn't really do anything but walk around the yard not paying attention to anything, so sometimes I put a big ball in my mouth and ram into her side, just to keep her on her toes. I am doing it because I care. She needs to stay sharp. But yet again, this usually gets mom yelling at me. Oh well, I guess I need to make some sacrifices for the safety of others.

Mom has also been pretty good about learning the rules when she rides in my limo. If her and dad stop to get something to eat she now knows she is required to share some of her food with me as a rental fee for the ride. I have figured out she usually just orders an extra hamburger so she doesn't have to give up any of her own food, but I guess that still meets the spirit of the rule.

Dad's coffee shop always knows to serve my pup cup before they give him his coffee. That way I don't have to worry they have forgotten. They even put a little treat on the top for me and ask how my day is going. Very nice place and people.

Anyway, that is pretty much the current update. I hope everyone is having a very fun and safe summer! Talk more asap.

Love,

Zena

P.S. Augustus said I should write and remind his fans to voice their support of mom's "not a backyard cop" saying. I would ask if Delilah has anything to say, but she is asleep and unaware as usual.

P.S.S. This is a pic of me holding one of the balls I use to help remind Delilah to pay attention.

27/05/2024

Hello everyone!!

I have my pink collar on today because we have the day off! Dad says a lot of people are on the lake so the busy ones are the Fish Police. Which got me to thinking...I have never seen a police fish. I know I am a police dog, and I have seen police horses, but fish? How do they even wear a vest? And what do they do? Are they making sure people are swimming safely and save them if they aren't? I really need to meet one and find out more.

Anyways. I hope you are all spending time with family and friends. This is an important day of remembering those who have given their lives. There are lots of human heroes who need remembered. Come to think of it, there are also a bunch of hero dogs and hero horses...but any hero fish?

Love,

Zena

08/04/2024

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a great day! Dad and I have been working a lot since Friday. He says it is because we have thousands of extra people in the area for the total eclipse.

I will be honest, I don't know what a total eclipse is. Dad says it is going to be dark for a few minutes. Again, not sure why that is anything special, it gets dark every night. He even has these ugly special glasses. If he thinks I am going to wear those he is nuts.

If you are out and about, drive safe and have a great eclipse...or great normal period of darkness, or whatever.

Love, Zena

12/02/2024

Dad doesn't usually watch football, but we decided to watch it together tonight. I am making sure he knows I am here ready to catch a ball if he would rather play than watch. Delilah and Augustus aren't as excited.

12/01/2024

Today was a rough day. Dad said he needed to move some boxes of stuff to our classroom and said if I wanted to go I had to ride in mom's truck. I hate to miss out on going somewhere, so I agreed.

Here is the problem: Mom's back seat is tiny. It doesn't have a nice cushy mat in it like my truck. I can't stretch out. It doesn't have my own heat controls so I had to withstand the 72 degrees of heat blasting from the vents. We didn't stop to get any snacks.

And the worst part???....mom drove. Dad just sat in the passenger seat and didn't even give her any tips (he said that always gets him yelled at). Mom doesn't have formal driving training that I know of. She drives the speed limit and goes with the flow of traffic instead of telling people to get out of her way. It took us way longer to get there than when Dad drives. I didn't even hear her yelling about any of the other dumb drivers like Dad does.

Luckily I am home now. I did enjoy spending time with mom and dad, but I really prefer traveling in my vehicle with dad driving.

This picture shows just how incredibly uncomfortable her seat really is.

Anyway...how was your day?

31/12/2023

Happy New Year everyone! Just a reminder to make plans to get home safely before you enjoy any libations tonight. Dad and I are driving around trying to make sure everyone is safe. It is cold, and dad whines if he has to get out in the cold, so hopefully it will be a boring night.

Love, Zena

PS. I am giving this look because dad just said I don't need any snacks until later.

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all having a great day with family and friends.

We have a great day so far. Last night we had family Christmas and we all got fun gifts. I got a new ball (you can see it in the top right of this photo). Augustus got some new brushes for mom to do his hair, and Delilah got a big "Lambi" stuffed animal she loves! We got some other toys and treats as well, but these are our favorites.

We have been getting special treats for a while, so we LOVE this time of year. Our friend Ryder Chase Runaas & Gracie even sent s some special cookies!

Today we each got a beef femur stuffed with peanut butter, cheese, and bacon! They are yummy!

Ok, back to chewing, I will catch up soon!

Love,

Zena

18/10/2023

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great day today. I am, and do you know why?

It's my birthday!!! I am 3 years old today!

It has been great so far. I got new toys when I woke up (Delilah and Augustus did as well, although Augustus is a cranky old man and didn't care). Then mom and dad took me to my favorite smokehouse to get some really good meats! This picture is of me wondering why mom said it had to "cool" before she would give it to me. Then this afternoon we all got raw beef femurs to chew on for a couple hours. Mom said later tonight we all get ice cream!!

Work has been going well, I basically just try to keep dad in line and paying attention to the things he needs to do. Augustus and Delilah are doing fine. The weather is starting to get cooler so we can spend a little more time outside. I still like running into Delilah and trying to knock her over when we play ball. She is a big girl though, so it doesn't usually work. Mom yells at me when I do it to Augustus so I stopped (well, for the most part).

I hope you all have been doing well. I appreciate many of you checking in on me from time to time. It is always great to see all of your puppies!

Ok, I need to get back to my bone. There is still a good bit of meat I need to rip off.

Love,

Zena

22/08/2023

Hello all! Hope you are having a great start to your week! I am relaxing after doing my narcotics recertification. I was able to keep dad straight and we passed. I am ready to keep poison off the streets for another year!

I know some of you might not be familiar with how we get tested on this stuff, so I figured I would explain the process.

We started the day in a huge open floor room. In the room were 25 boxes in a circle about 20 feet in diameter. Each box has a small hole in the top with a screen over it. In 5 of the boxes was a small amount of some type of narcotic. In the other boxes were different things that smell to try and distract me. Some of them have dog food, tennis balls, etc. Dad stands in the middle of the circle and I go to each box to smell what is inside. I had to tell dad which of the boxes had narcotics in them. I would have failed if I missed any of the five, or if I incorrectly told dad to check any of the boxes with the distraction odors.

Then we go to a big office building that dad says is used as a call center. There are over a hundred cubicles with desks in each cubicle. Dad says they are kind of like human kennels where people have to stay 8 hours a day and can only leave for potty breaks and once to eat. Anyway, inside a drawer in 2 of the desks was a very small amount of a narcotic. I had to search every cubicle and find out not only which 2 cubicles had the drugs, but which draw of the desk inside the cubicle had the drugs. It took me about 2 minutes to find them, mainly because dad just stood at the end of the aisle and let me run at my own speed. I had a time limit, and once again I had to show dad the exact drawer. If I was wrong, I failed.

After that, we went to a parking lot with tons of different cars. 2 of the cars had narcotics, and the rest did not. I had to search the outside perimeter of each car and tell dad which two had the narcotics. If I didn't find them, or told him the wrong car, I failed.

Finally, we went to a big open field like where they play that game called football. On the field somewhere was a small bag about 1 inch square that had narcotics. It was under a small board. But there were a BUNCH of boards all over the field. I had to show dad exactly which board it was under, and you guessed it, if I chose the wrong board I failed.

It was a FUN day and luckily dad was paying attention to all my cues and knew when I had found the right spots. It was really hot, so I took dad out for some ice cream afterwards.

Hope that helps some of you know what a test for me is like. I do practice every week, and have to do that big test once a year. It makes sure we find all the bad guys without bugging any of the good guys.

Anyway, I am going to take a nap. Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Zena

26/07/2023

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great week and a wonderful day. I am just riding around with dad trying to get some nasty drugs away from people. It is a hot day, so hopefully nobody decides to go for a run... dad doesn't do well following me in this heat.

Just wanted to check in, but it is about time to go get dad some more water. Can't have him getting dehydrated today.

04/07/2023

Hello everyone! I know I have been horrible about posting since Augustus gave me the account. I will try and do better.

Have you been enjoying the Independence Day Holiday? I know a lot of puppies don't like fireworks. Luckily I don't pay them any attention, it is more important for me to focus on dad giving me my ball.

Delilah and Augustus hate them, so occasionally I need to wrestle with them to get their minds off the booms. Augustus doesn't appreciate my help and just gets upset. Probably because he is old. LOL

Be safe everyone, I will try and post again soon!!

Zena

10/05/2023

Hey all, it's Zena!! Augustus let me post again since today is National German Shepherd Day!!! Of course, I am pretty sure every day is dog day around here, but I guess it is cool to have a day of my own. I hope everyone gets a special day.

Well, I need to get back to training and working, those are my favorite things to do! Have a great day and week everyone!

Liesl Grounds