Enough Already!

La Nina Spring!  Really?  Are you kidding me!

This picure is from a neighborhood about 5 miles from my house.  Today.  Yes, today!

So, I picked up the Barkberry and made a call.



From KomoNews.com

*Ring Ring* *Ring Ring*

"Hello, Mother Nature? I have bone to pick with you... I got a super sweet ride-along basket for Diana's bike and we would like to try it out SOON!"

"Uhm hum...You don't say...WHAT?!"

Voice on other end of phone line.

"Hello.  Thank you for calling Mother Nature. Your call is important to me. However, at this time, and until further notice, I am on holiday. In Hawaii. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I return. Thanks and have a nice day."

^ . . ^

Woof

Sylish (?) Blogger Award

Thanks for the wonderful acknowledgement and nomination as a Stylish Blogger, dear Oz The Terrier. Now, I’m supposed to tell you 7 things about me:

1. I lived the majority of my first years in a cat travel carrier. Yep, a hard plastic travel carrier. The kind someone would use to transport a cat to the vet. I don’t live with those people anymore;  (If you have to ask why I don't live with them anymore, I don't want to know you or explain anything to you...)

2. I bark a lot, but have been physically debarked (see #1 above…). Lesson to be learned? Barking is an emotional outlet as much, or more, than a physical behavior;

3. Last September I went to the ocean for a vacation and I heard coyotes every evening. I never saw them. They are very stealthy. I didn’t bark at them. I hid under a blankie and refused to go out for a walk for hours after hearing them yip and howl;

4. I don’t like to play ball. I have two tennis balls that have only been played with by my best friend @HankBacon. We keep them at my house just for him;

5. I do like to play with rope toys and stuffy toys. I bring Rope Octopus to bed almost every night. I started #destructogang on Twitter to document my “retirements” and to give Diana an outlet to complain about how shoddily made dog toys really are. If they can’t stand up to my wimpy jaws…

6. I love to sit in the rocking chair with Diana in the evenings and watch baseball or a movie on TV. I really do watch TV. I whine, wag my tail and look back at Diana and bang my head against her hands until she stops crocheting and looks at the screen. I guess I’m not supposed to be able to see what’s on the screen, but I do.

7. I have a therapist. I worry a lot – about most everything. I have terrible separation anxiety from Diana. When I am on a leash I also worry that about other dogs, garbage pails, motorbikes, kids on bikes, leaves, babies, the wind, large trucks, small trucks (ok, you get the picture) and bark at them as soon as I see them. Barking at them is a classic understatement. I go berserk, actually. I'm working with animal behavior specialist, Jeff Tinsely of Sound Animals. I’m getting better. I’ve learned not to bark at babies, kids on bikes and big trucks.

Ok, that’s it about me.

Now, the next step is I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15 bloggers that I enjoy, respect and would like to highlight.  I am excited to share the following blogs and to shout out about their hard and joyful work blogging and to learn about them in the process.  I don't have 15 that I follow that I directly know haven't already participated, but I do follow these:

Terrier Ted
Fido and Wino

Coco The Puggle

Johann The Agility Dog

Stacy And Her Dog Ellie

Cosmolitious
Poppy Dog Tails
Miss Jada Kiss

Hank Bacon And His Mom
Blind Maximus

Teenys Friends

Koda (and other cool stuff)

If you've already participated - please don't feel like you have to again, just say so. 

If you don't want to participate - rats.  I would definitely learn amazing, fun or interesting things from you. 

^ . . ^

Woof!

Dog Parks Aren’t For Me (Sorry Hank)

The concept of Off-Leash Doggie Parks is appealing. A reasonably well maintained, fenced in place where I can run around really fast with my ears flat against my skull, sniffing pee mail and chasing after my best buddy, Hank Bacon, while he plays flingyball.

The reality of a Doggie Park is not appealing. Case in point – My Sunday Morning.

Diana and I went with Hank Bacon and his Mom, Kristina. We went to a well-known park in a largish city east of Seattle around 10:00 am on a lovely, sunny morning.

We always go to the Small Dog area. I’m little. I’m only 11 inches at the shoulder and weigh about 13 lbs. Hank Bacon is taller – and weighs more, but he’s not that big either. The rule at the dog park is for dogs under 16 inches at the shoulder and not more than 20-25 lbs.

Seems reasonable. But if you do a quick calculation – dogs 2x my size are allowed. That calculation is considerable.

We had the place to ourselves for almost ½ hour. Soon two Shi Tzu’s came to play. They were really nice and friendly. After the prerequisite sniff greeting, they ran around and played with their human and Hank and I went back to flingyball and flingyball player chasing. No big deal.

Next, two standard American Eskimo dogs arrived. Their owner left them on leash while in the pen area. They growled low in their throats, their fur was up all and their tails were in the extremely confident position, way up on their backs.

We sniffed each other and they growled louder. I started to bark nervously and ran back to stand by Diana. Hank Bacon stopped paying attention to flingyball and came to see what was going on. His ears went back and he very stiffly greeted them.

As soon as the Eskimo’s were released from leash, they went for me. They chased me and I started to run because it seemed like fun - at first. I didn't know.  I'd never been attacked before.

Diana and Kristina saw immediately what was happening and intervened. Diana called me and I came back quickly. She grabbed my harness and clipped my leash on. Hank Bacon came right away - back to Kristina's side - and sat down while she clipped his leash on too.

The two white dogs kept coming and tried to run me over - even though I was standing still. One blocked my left, one my right.

In a flash of an eye, Hank Bacon stepped between them and barked. He barked so loudly and intensely they backed off, backed off for a second. Just enough time for Diana and Kristina to take complete control of the situation and rescue me.

The whole encounter took less than 30 seconds. Diana and Kristina scooped us up and we were out of there. Out of the enclosure that had seemed such a good idea, but had turned into a space I couldn’t escape from. Out of the reach of two dogs that should not have been there, should not have remained on leash becoming more and more aggitated, exhibiting aggressive behavior towards others, and out of the once perceived fun zone.

I’m probably never going to get to go back. Hank rescued me and I thank him deeply. I thank Diana and Kristina for having done their research and knowing the danger signs, for being so aware of our surroundings that they saw trouble immediately. I thank my lucky stars that things turned out as well as they did.

I, however, am still growling. I do not like the choice foisted upon me. Go to the off leash doggie park and risk possible injury or go to my local park and remain on leash, limited but safe.

Not fair. Not fair at all.

^ . . ^

Woof!