Category Archives: Pet

In a Spot

Yes, his name is Spot. A Lhasa Apso. For over 40 years I’ve had and known and cared for dogs. Never have I been so thoroughly disliked.

Spot and his buddy Tony, a delightful creature, live downstairs. Their folks had to go away for the weekend and couldn’t find a place to take them at the last minute. Therefore it fell to Aunt Dee.

Aunt Dee is used to being greeted heartily at the door, possibly with leash in mouth and always with tail wagging. One of my favorites of all time, Woody, wasn’t the brightest but got an A+ for effort – he was so pleased so see me that he dragged me all the way to my house to call on … me. That’s a Golden Retriever for you.

Makai was a gorgeous tri-colored Collie who attacked my vacuum cleaner, and brought me all my dog Chani’s tennis balls from her toy basket and dumped them into the bathtub, one by one, while I was in it.

Gus taught me how dogs bisect an area to assure that Jim and I never left his sight, a good thing to know because Zoe does it now. Sunnegga was indeed her own little ray of sunshine who just brought love. When I was little, the neighbor’s elderly Beagle Tory would set out one day on our 1/4 mile dirt driveway and get to our house at the end of the day, stay the week (we fed her) then meander home.

On to Spot. I walk in the door. He goes and guards the food and water, growling and snapping at me. Yes, he wants to go out for a walk, but he doesn’t want me to touch his collar to add the leash. We’ve attempted to come to an understanding, which means get him out of the house asap and he’s fine on neutral territory, even friendly.

But in the mornings when we return from our walk I keep him on leash while I refill the water and food bowls, then he’s given full run of the place. I’m afraid he doesn’t let little Tony very near the food bowl either, but that’s something for the folks to work out.

I’m used to the Tony’s of the world who haven’t a care and would rather thump a tail and roll over for a belly rub. The Spots of the world are challenging, however, and deserve a place in a temporary dog-sitter’s heart. Dee

Taxpayers

As we spend more and more to bail out CitiGroup and probably now the Big Three auto manufacturers, I have a home-related issue to rant about.

Since we’re talking billions every day, I never thought that “b” word would ever come out of my mouth and as I see our investments tanking, it never will except in terms of our government using our money and our children’s and grandchildren’s money to bail out banks and insurance companies who all got red Ferraris as a bonus a couple of years ago.  Yes, please keep these people in their $20 million homes with their cars and country clubs.

I’m talking about dog owners.  There are 72 million pet dogs in the USA (AVMA, 2007) and we pay taxes.  Every year parks are allocated, ball fields and playgrounds are built, but there is no awareness of the needs of responsible dog owners to legally let their dogs off leash.  Socialization and exercise are necessary for owners and their dogs.  But while athletes and toddlers are paid for, dog owners are told to buy their own land and build and maintain their own parks.

Why is this?  We pay for the ball parks and tot lots and mowing the grass.  Many of us don’t have kids and would like to share our local parks legally, in whatever way works for each community and each park.  We’re talking about responsible dog owners with well-behaved dogs, rules etc.

Bed Dog

Bed Dog

Many cities do not have space for new parks.  In San Diego, four Council Districts were targeted.  Of the other four, one was taken care of and the others were in areas in the City not conducive to off-leash activity.  Only Districts 2 and 5 tried, after six years!  My dog died awaiting legality of her park.

District 1 was a disaster, thanks Scott Peters, for whom I campaigned and who lied to us about being open on this issue.  I can say this because I haven’t lived there for five years.  On May 2, 2001 instead of bringing a ball, for the first and only time my dog brought a huge teddy bear to the park, ironically purchased at a yard sale from leash-free opponents.

She wagged her tail and said hello to everyone.  The next day she was gone.  I spent all my evenings and weekends at community meetings, to get my dog a leash-free area and she died awaiting it.  Over forty friends and neighbors donated a tree to the City in her honor.  We had a brief ceremony and everyone poured a cup of water on the tree.  Last I saw it, it was doing well.

Chani’s ashes are in the teddy bear she took to the park that fateful day.  They are in a plastic bag behind a felt heart with lace borders and about fifty microscopic red and white beads our dear friend Joan sewed on.  She also asked me for photos and made a montage that is displayed in our home today, with the bear.

A few years ago when we moved, friend helping out asked if our new dog (who is not new as she’ll be five in January) Zoe could have a stuffed animal.  I said OK, most of them are Chani’s old ones and she’s been eating through them one by one.  Then I remembered and asked what it looked like.  NOT THAT ONE!!!!!

Responsible dog owners who have legal leash-free areas make parks safe and clean.  They spawn user groups that utilize informal peer enforcement to encourage other dog owners to be responsible.  Here with Zoe and at our former park with Chani, toddlers and their parents ask if they can pet my dog.  My rule is that child asks, asks parent, asks dog owner, OK to pet.

We just want to be treated like other citizens and park users, especially as we pay for our parks but are only allowed partial use of them.  Ten million would do wonders nationwide, in the right hands.  But we’re not asking for money, only sanity.  Billions more to bail out people who ran off with our money in the first place and are about to do so again is foolish.  For the Big Three to not have their act together at a Congressional hearing, while holding out their hands for money, is a disgrace.

I’m just trying to put things into perspective.  Dee

Good Groomed Dog = OK Dog Mom

Good Zoe!

Good Zoe!

She stayed in the back all the way home and got to walk home off-leash.  Note the lovely orange bows on each ear that I’ll remove as soon as Jim comes home and sees her.  She certainly was groomed and trimmed and probably had a few pounds of undercoat taken out.  She looks gorgeous and is sleeping the afternoon away after having spent the morning with her new buddies playing ball, her favorite sport.

Bad Dog = Bad Dog Mom

Jim keeps telling me that we don’t need the barrier to keep Zoe in the back third of our “new” SUV.  Today she did great en route to the groomer.  I arranged it so she could play in daycare for two hours to tire her out before the nail trim, bath and undercoat grooming.  She knew something was up as she was breathing heavily and her heart was pounding.

So she got her first ride in the car.  I took her favorite sheepskin liner from the trunk of the Honda and shook most of the fur off of it, then lined the back of the SUV.  Then I went back and got her and lifted her in.  She seemed fine, was looking out the windows and I kept telling her she was good.

Then I parked, told her to stay and went around back to get her.  She vaulted into the back seat, no doubt scratching the leather.  Told her to stay again and she went up front.

My drycleaner is right around the corner so I asked if I could leave the car there as it’s an impossible (not to mention ridiculous) drive.  As I brought Jim’s shirts in, Zoe was outside with friend Peaches and others.  I said hi as I purposefully strode by.  En route back to the car several minutes later, Zoe looked for me and followed me along the fence and sat there looking for me.

In a car she doesn’t yet recognize, I drove by her and she was still there, the lonely girl looking for her mother.  It felt like that first day of kindergarten all over again, when the big kids wouldn’t let me off the school bus so I sat alone in the back seat while the driver took the bus back to the lot.  When he got to the lot my mother was on the phone and the dispatcher said “there’s the bus now.  Yes, there’s a little girl sitting there.”  Today, I drove around the block and Zoe was still there looking for me.  Heart wrenching.

A while ago I called to see if she was OK.  They brought her inside and put a ball in play and there she was, literally “belle of the b-a-l-l.”  And I was afraid I raised a sissy dog!  I do miss her when she’s not here with me, tripping me while I take laundry out to fold or getting underfoot in the kitchen.

Hope to pick her up soon but am waiting for the cable guy to come as we’ve had no cable for over 24 hours.  I had to depend upon email and blogs to give me the Alaska Senate results!

I’ll try to let Zoe get out more with her friends, and be a better dog mom.  Hope y’all are having a great day.  Dee

My Name is Pup

Mama, where are you?  Just because I can eat solid foods doesn’t mean I can’t miss you!

They took me in a big black car to a machine that whirred and twirled.  It was very loud and frightened me.  They say it’s called Marine One.

Then the machine landed on this great yard.  Is this mine?  I have a rose garden to dig up, and everything?  Wow!

Two young ladies take me by the leash and lead me to my new home, something called a white house.  From then on I hope I’ll be:

– loved;

– trained;

– fed.

Fed is first, of course.

It appears I have an appropriate home.  Now I need the right name.

Sincerely, the new White House puppy

Hiding in Plain Sight

So, my younger sister called from California and while we were talking, Zoe took out her rawhide she’s had for about a week (taken from Trish’s stash, thanks Trish) and walked around with it for five minutes.

Sneaky Zoe

Sneaky Zoe

When she was a pup she’d spend six hours devouring one of these. But as an “adult” she now plays tricks to keep me from taking it from her and placing it back in the laundry room.
So here we are on the phone and she’s walking around with this in her mouth from place to place in our loft.
All of a sudden I hear a thud on the wood floors. OK she only has 1,028 sf of space to hide this thing. There it is, behind the fan, 12 feet from my desk!
Well, Jim and I find it hilarious when we find it behind a rocking chair, under the dining room table, and in other quite obvious places.
Quite proud of herself now, she’s settled down to nap. But I’d better take her out as it appears a storm is coming in.

Zoe and the Goats

Zoe’s instincts as a herder kicked in and she went in looking like a scared pup, barked fiercely a couple of times, ran around the goats with no purpose and was sent out of the gate scared once again by baby goats.

Last night she saw the goats through the fence in the pen, and barked fiercely, once.

This morning we packed up to go home and she hates being left behind. Our car was right in front of the goats. Even for a couple of days we pack heavy to go to the farm, with extra clothes in case of a business trip, food and other items.

Well, before we had the car packed, Zoe zoomed out of the door, and ran to the car, no goats in mind at all though she was running right to them. She jumped into the back seat, paws in between the driver and passenger seats with her tongue out. She stood there and would not be moved for anything.

It’s good to know that she gave up her 20 second career as a goat herder to herd her family back home. As to that, it took us all day to get back home. It’s all work from here.

Jim’s Mom is growing tomatoes and many herbs. I made Boursin (this post) also Cuke Salad (same) with her herbs, and pickling cukes with my grandmother’s recipe. There’s nothing like fresh cukes.

I love picking out fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden, so that’s what I did with my FIVE year-old nephew (I was corrected as to his age), picking tomatoes and cucumbers together with a basket to catch all the goodies. Joseph is such a joy to spend time with, and a handful!

Where we live, we can go to a farmer’s market but on the farm one uses what one has. That is a philosophy unknown to urban wanna-be growers.

My heart goes out to all farmers for what you do to feed this country. Not to mention other countries. If you want to have an eco-tourism adventure ask about going to a farm. Before you book at a picturesque one in Tuscany, consider your own country.

Learn how they live, because they’re making you breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every day.

Eat low on the hog,
Dee

Our street is closed…

as is a main route into the City, as of last night. Police are present to keep “looky-loos” at bay. Luckily I’ve got the food and may have to run out for a couple of extra things including ice, in the morning.

Prep menu, ice beverages, straighten home. Dinner for six here, dessert at a neighbors then everyone outside to be underneath the greatest fireworks show I’ve ever seen. NYC is great, on both sides of Manhattan as viewed from a couple miles away in a high rise.

Being right underneath them is a treat, however, and something I’ll always remember. Like nephew Joseph, age 3, on Grandpa Joe’s shoulders last year, mesmerized. It wasn’t a good shot but I’ll try better this year with the new digital SLR.

Our girl is ready to go, too. As you can see she’s had a bath and is ready to entertain. Might even do tricks.

Enjoy your Fourth. We’ve no place for a flagpole so a Texas Star on the door will have to do. We thank the Police, Pyros and Fire Marshall and staff for everything!

Cheers, Dee

Greek for Life

Our Zoe is barking, just once, to go out before we finally see Wall-E. Wrong dog

Whoops, that’s the wrong dog. Here’s our girl, the happiest dog in the world, Zoe, which is Greek for life.

Zoe and friend

All the kids love her. More later – I have to go to a robot movie.

Cheers, Dee

PBK’s

In a recent post I stated that I didn’t cook for the dog. This isn’t exactly “cooking.” Kongs are wonderful things. They have red ones for moderate chewers, and black ones for serious chewers. Zoe eats frozen solid raw food so is of the serious variety.

She now has five Kongs. With a knife, I insert about 1T peanut butter into the large hole in the bottom, and freeze solid. When we both leave the house, Zoe gets fresh water and a frozen Kong in her crate.

On weekends, she waits impatiently for us to leave to go to lunch and a movie. She runs into her crate eager to eat her peanut butter Kong or what we call a “doggie popsicle.”

She used to be left with full run of the place, but a couple of years ago, she had a friend over. I took them out for a walk, then left them for eight minutes while I walked the neighbor’s dog.

During my brief absence. they flipped the privacy deadbolt (no key on the outside) and locked me out. No cell phone…. I went down to the office to tell them I was locked out and they offered me a key. Then I said “no, you don’t understand” and awaited the inevitable laugh.

It took a maintence man three hours to get me back in, finally drilling a three-inch hole and inserting an extra deadbolt with a key on the outside. We’re the only unit with two-keyed entry.

That’s why Zoe is crated, but the PBK’s assure that crating is not doggie jail.

Hope you’re having a great weekend. Dee