her dog has a blog

twenty ten

2010-01-01T20:14:00.001-05:00

Hello dear readers. I come to you today to let you know that Buzz is done with blogging. I started this blog as a personal little thing to record my growing puppy. And now Buzz is three, soon to be four. While he still bounces around like a puppy, after a few years of writing about him I feel like I've said it all. And while I will happily repeat myself to him (he gets a lot of "good boy" and "who's my favorite?" every day), I don't want to repeat myself here.

I'll still post pictures of dear Buzz on my Flickr photostream, so if you ever wonder what he's up to, you can check him out there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossiebug/

With sincere thanks,
Rossie

wordless wednesday ~38~

2009-12-30T22:28:00.000-05:00

wordless wednesday ~37~

2009-12-23T14:45:00.001-05:00

wordless wednesday ~36~

2009-12-09T00:40:00.004-05:00

wordless wednesday ~35~

2009-12-02T10:53:00.001-05:00

Castro

2009-11-29T23:30:00.002-05:00

sees what you did there.

wordless wednesday ~34~

2009-11-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

wordless wednesday ~33~

2009-11-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

wordless wedenesday ~32~

2009-11-11T14:21:00.000-05:00

wordless wednesday ~31~

2009-11-04T07:42:00.000-05:00

wordless wednesday ~30~

2009-10-28T07:39:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday ~29~

2009-10-21T08:19:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday ~28~

2009-10-14T07:25:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday ~27~

2009-10-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday ~26~

2009-09-30T08:59:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday ~25~

2009-09-23T09:07:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday ~24~

2009-09-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday ~23~

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday ~22~

2009-09-02T07:08:00.002-04:00

oh dear

2009-08-28T19:19:00.000-04:00

well, I've just made a list of all the things I need to do by December 31st and I've realized that I don't have time for all of them! In order to make sure that I have enough time to finish all my work and keep Buzz exercised and happy, I'm planning on cutting my dog blogging down to Wordless Wednesdays only. Hopefully, I'll be able to return to story telling and regular posting in the new year. Until then, I'll look forward to reading your comments!

With gratititude,
R0ssie

p.s. new banner!

wordless wednesday ~21~

2009-08-26T08:22:00.000-04:00

Live and Let Mud

2009-08-21T14:11:00.006-04:00

Today at the park, Buzz lost his head

No not literally, but figuratively. You see, I have always let Buzz play in the mud pools on this particular hike because there is a lake where he can rinse off. He really likes to play in the mud and I like to see him happy, plus, a little mud isn’t going to hurt him.

Well today, Buzz did more than his typical stroll through the mud pool. He…well…just look…

Here’s a close up on that last image:

Can you see his collar there? Towards the bottom of the image? Yeah? Still need help figuring out what is going on? Well, he’s laying on his side in the mud and pushing his head under the mud. Let me repeat that: HE’S LYING ON HIS SIDE IN THE MUD AND PUSHING HIS HEAD UNDER THE MUD.

That mud is farm mud, by the way, so it smells like manure. And while I, as a good Wisconsin girl, think of manure as a good honest smell (vastly preferable to sewage or bacteria-riddled swamp water) it is not a very *nice* smell.

The beast emerges.

The beast shakes.

The beast looks about his beastly domain.

Seriously, he was like the Golem’s dog or something, created entirely of cow poo. I was ready to deny he was mine to anyone coming up the path “no, that’s not my dog, that’s a creature that emerged from the muck!”

I was worried that my “live and let mud” philosophy may have served me poorly. Being this dirty does present something of a problem because as you may recall, Buzz does not swim, he wades. Usually, this works out fine because he also only wades in the mud. But, today he snorkled in it. So, um, was he going to dip his head in the lake?

No.
How to solve this problem?

Plan A:
Since it looks like this…

when Buzz fetches sticks out of the lake, I did a lot of throwing sticks into the lake.

After five minutes, we still had this:

So, more fetching ensued (by the way, I LOVE that image, so happy and gross! see it larger by clicking *here*)

More fetching:

Then finally I put Plan B into effect:
I put down the camera, took off my socks & shoes, rolled up my pants, and waded in with him to splash some water on his head and top line.

In short order, we were ready to go! Have a great weekend everyone, and remember: live and let mud!
Worst case scenario: you've a wee golem to do your bidding!

wordless wednesday ~20~

2009-08-19T14:02:00.000-04:00

Fetch

2009-08-18T13:51:00.004-04:00

I've been back from Wisconsin for a few weeks now, but because I'm so busy and I got a lot of fun shots of the dogs there, I still have stories to tell. Today, the subject is fetch.

Now, Buzz will play fetch. He understands the game well enough. However, it is not as much fun as hiking things, so lots of times when Buzz gets the ball, he will hike it a few times before returning it. This is fine by me as it is less work on my end. And let's face it, Buzz is way to social to play flyball (he'd be sailing across those lanes to say hi to all the lovely doggies) so there is no need for him to have a disciplined return. One thing I do wish he’d figure out is to watch where I’m throwing the ball…sometimes he just takes off in a random direction at full speed for no good reason. Really, so many loose screws in that one’s head!

Pete the Pirate is the consummate fetcher. I really do think he’s mostly either a Golden or Labrador Retriever because he lives for that tennis ball! Pete would happily play fetch all day every day. Like Buzz, however, Pete doesn’t watch you throw the ball. Pete just takes off in the direction you last threw it. He’s probably compensating for his eyesight on that one, because if you say his name and point in a different direction he knows to go that way instead.

Ned, who has to stay in his room if Mabel or Buzz is at the house, has no idea what fetch is about. He just runs alongside Pete as Pete fetches. Sometimes Ned takes the ball, but then doesn’t know what to do with it. Then we have to throw a different ball for Pete, but that doesn’t always make Pete happy…he wants to use the same ball the whole game.

Sophie and Castro both kind of fetch. I think Castro knows the game but isn’t always interested and Sophie doesn’t really get it, but likes to join in sometimes.

One day Uncle Scary was playing fetch with all the dogs except Ned (who was locked in his room).

Buzz stopped playing pretty quickly. Maybe because I was far from the action trying to take pictures, maybe because it was an overwhelming amount of barking/running/fetching. Buzz lay down at my feet and started chewing a stick.

Pete was consistently getting the ball. He was cracking me up because the back yard is flat for about 20 feet, but is then quite steep and wooded and Pete comes charging out of the woods with great awkwardness. I even caught it on film when he did a face plant stumbling out of the brush.

I think it was shortly after this that Mabel decided that she’d rather join Buzz in stick chewing than play with the big dogs and their ball.

Eventually the games ended and Mabel got the ball to chew on.

Buzz says “hey, who let the air out of the puppy?”

The next day, I played fetch with just Buzz and Pete and they were pretty evenly matched (Buzz being much faster but less smart about fetch). Buzz was doing his #1 annoying fetch thing, though: he brings the ball most of the way back and then drops it. Now, at home this just means the game is over. I don’t kick the soccer ball unless he brings it to my feet and I don’t throw the tennis ball unless he drops it in my hands. So, consistently, Buzz was bringing the ball to within 4 feet of me and then dropping it. And then we would both stand there. Then darling Pete would swoop in and bring the ball those last few steps and drop it into my hands. That Pete, he’s serious about fetch and he’ll do what it takes to have the ball thrown again!

Houseguests

2009-08-15T13:26:00.002-04:00

Houseguests can expect Buzz to forget they are there and then bark at them as if they are intruders.

Houseguests can expect Buzz to give lots of cuddles once he realizes his mistake.

wordless wednesday ~19~

2009-08-12T12:38:00.002-04:00

wordless wednesday ~18~

2009-08-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

Buzz likes Mabel

2009-07-31T22:18:00.003-04:00

even though she sat on his face.

And tried to steal his cardboard.

Buzz has been sweet with Mabel all week. I mean how can you not?

Seriously...

wordless wednesday ~17~

2009-07-29T06:41:00.001-04:00

a break

2009-07-26T18:37:00.004-04:00

Buzz and I are taking a break for a week. I've set up a wordless wednesday post, but other than that, don't expect to hear from us. We'll be back...with pictures!

Also, I've been meaning to mention that while I know some bloggers respond to comments with questions by email, I just reply in the comments section, so check there if you left a question!

wordless wedensday ~16~

2009-07-22T05:28:00.001-04:00

Curly

2009-07-17T22:19:00.001-04:00

Curly is the mayor of my street. A great big malamute with a heart of gold, she loves to hang out in her yard and smile at everyone who walks past her fence.

If you bring her treats...

or if you have your dog for her to say hello to, Curly comes to the fence for a sniff and a scratch.

I've learned that when neighbors are confused about where I live, if I say "across from Curly" they know the exact spot.

I hadn't seen Curly in a week or so and had started to worry (she's an old girl), so when I saw her outside yesterday, I ran inside for treats and the camera. I would miss my Culry girly if she went away. Such a sweetie.

wordless wednesday ~15~

2009-07-15T09:02:00.001-04:00

The Heckler

2009-07-12T11:43:00.003-04:00

I live on the first floor of a house. On the second floor, there lives a wee doggie named Bella. I think she's a Yorkie mix; she's ridiculously small and cute. Poor Bella doesn't get out much. I think she's more than a little bit bored up there. So, sometimes, she watches Buzz TV.

She looks down out of the window at Buzz in his yard. She watches him carefully. And if he gets too crazy, she starts barking at him. Buzz then tries to find Bella. But he can't seem to figure out where she is. I don't know if maybe it is just that he can't see through the screen? I tried to point her out to Buzz since he was so puzzled, but he only seemed to get that she was in the house. He wouldn't look up to the second floor. Uh, Buzz, that's *our* window.

wordless wednesday ~14~

2009-07-08T12:23:00.001-04:00

Mabel: so far, so good.

2009-07-07T00:07:00.002-04:00

Happy Indy Day!

2009-07-04T16:33:00.007-04:00

It is a perfect day for photos so Buzz and I decided to celebrate our bad British-American selves by taking a picture together. Well, actually, I decided.

Buzz was not cooperating. He wanted to play with his ball.

And watch squirrels (an activity I find boring!)

So I amused myself by trying to imitate him.

Some takes were better than others.

His expressions are quicksilver.

So sometimes I was a little off.

And sometimes I was dead on.

Then he seemed to realize I might want something.

Yes, Buzz, look at the camera and smile!

Happy Independence Day Americanos! Happy Saturday to the rest of you!

wordless wednesday ~13~

2009-07-01T08:48:00.002-04:00

Operation Kiddie Pool

2009-06-27T19:07:00.003-04:00

Phase 1 is complete!
I have a pool.
Cost was $0 as a neighbor was giving it away!

Now I just need a hose.
:::yawn::: "Where's the wet stuff?"

In other news, Tessa is cute.

Really, really cute!

Uncle Scary swears.

2009-06-26T14:18:00.003-04:00

That's just a warning, because he sent me the Mabel update I asked for, but it has swear words in it. It's our mom's fault, really, my older brother and I were not allowed to swear but Scary was because he "is so good at it!" Really. Oh, that quote is much better if you do it in an English accent (Granny has one). You can imagine how pleased my older brother and I were that the baby got to swear and we couldn't.

From Uncle Scary:
"Okay Mabel update:

A: She is very, very, very, smart
B: She is currently sitting on top of Sophie's head
C: She has mad social skills.
D: The devil lives inside her, DO NOT PISS HER OFF
F: she knows many commands, but not her name
E: She loves Castro and when he growls she wags her tail faster and faster
F: She learned about cats in one meeting. Yep, don't fuck with cats.Check.
G: she is very quiet but if she growls, well, there is satan again.
H: She has a huge mouth: Tennis balls easily fit there.
I: She is afraid of cars, joggers and bikers and will run in the opposite direction, sit and watch them.
J: She is going to see T.B.G. this week and going to the farm.
K, I gotta walk these fuckers."

Thanks dude. You really are good at swearing. : )

T.B.G. = "the big Grandma," who is really quite small. Not sure why we call her that. I think it has something to do with a Christmas stocking? Huh.

And the farm, well, you can read about that here.

No pictures, Castro doesn't like cameras. Remember?

Until next time!

wordless wednesday ~12~

2009-06-24T09:45:00.000-04:00

Updates, updates

2009-06-21T10:32:00.011-04:00

1. The food lady is busy. Working, working, quilting, watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and then working some more.

2. Mabel the wee puppy is doing well: potty training nicely and already knows the basic commands and a couple of tricks. According to Granny, Mabel was such a wee baby at first that she mostly reminded her of a guinea pig. Can't say I'd recommend getting such a young pup, but the people giving Mabel away insisted that she was weaned and wanted the puppies gone.
(old picture)

Pirate Pete (reminder: Pete is my mom and dad's dog, but my parents live a few miles from my brother and my dad is the best cook in the world, so Scary is over there all the time), is apparently born to nurture the young'uns; Uncle Scary says that when Mabel visits Pete he has "unreal amounts of love flowing out of his eye."

You know, I think Uncle Scary might just be the funniest person I know. Maybe I could get him to write a little guest blog about how Mabel is doing now.

3. Not only does Scary have a third dog now, my mom has had an extra dog at her house! Granny's third dog is a wee little doggy named "Buttons." Buttons's lady had to go in hospital for a spell and so my mom has been keeping Buttons busy.

As you may recall, Granny's dog Ned is dog aggressive, so Ned and Buttons are out in shifts, which works just fine in the short term. I've told my mom, though, that if Buttons's lady has to go into a nursing home that I will take Miss Buttons. Because something tells me that Buzz would like a little sidecar. A teeny tiny sidecar.

4. Buzz and the rainbow ball. The white ball was only fun for one day. Buzz is back to the rainbow. He doesn't even see the white ball.

5. The fence.
The fence is working! No more fantastic leaps to the outside world.
However, we have now learned that Buzz can scrabble up and over the gate if given sufficient motive.

He only did this once, because his buddy Tessa was on the other side and Buzz loves that Tessa!

6. Buzz's coat. Notice the nice full tail in the above picture? Well, enjoy it while you can because the burrs are starting to come out and Buzz tends to lose a lot of fur when I have to pull those suckers out of his coat.

7. Summer. Ah, it is getting to be in the 80s now, so we have to be extra-careful about not overheating when hiking. This means carrying a lot of water and, ideally, going places where there is a spot for Buzz to swim.

Ideally, NOT the typical Michigan swampland water picture above, but something moving and sweet smelling!

Given the weight and bother of carrying drinking water, I haven't been taking my camera with me as much. Yesterday, Buzz and I met up with Tessa and her people and went for a long hike at a spot with a lake and a creek! I love creeks, good clean spring water running over sand. Buzz loves them too...he splashed around, laid down, rolled over and really enjoyed the heck out of that creek. Tessa was a bit mystified as she hasn't quite learned to love water yet. I bet she'll catch on soon!

Until next time....!

wordless wednesday ~11~

2009-06-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

Migraines

2009-06-13T16:35:00.001-04:00

I've only had migraines for a few years. Before I got them, I think I had a romantic sense of what they are--I didn't realize that they aren't just headaches. Mine involve a lot of throwing up and sweating and sleeping. I get totally and completely sick from them. I lay down on the futon and don't get up for 8, 10, 12 hours at a time. And you know what? Buzz is an angel when I'm sick. I sometimes can only get him one meal: he deals with it fine. And I might only make it outside with him twice in 24 hours, and he doesn't complain. In fact not only is he not a pain when I've got a migraine, he's a help. Buzz cuddles up with me and keeps me warm and gives me space the second I ask. Such a good pup.

wordless wednesday ~10~

2009-06-10T09:40:00.002-04:00

wordless wednesday ~9~

2009-06-03T10:38:00.001-04:00

Uncle Scary got a puppy.

2009-05-30T19:00:00.005-04:00

She is called Mabel.

I wish I had a vacation coming up so that I could go see her!

Lookit' that fuzzy butt!!!

She's tiny! Apparently, only 7 weeks old and being given away for free through the paper. That's very young to be separated from her littermates, but she's got Sophie and Castro to keep her company.

Aw, lookit that face!

She is half border collie, half red heeler. Which, if my memory of border collie mixes is correct, means she's going to be an absolute terror when she grows up!

It will be interesting to see how she looks as she grows because Buzz's slip from the shelter says he is border collie and blue heeler, but that has never seemed right.

Ah, I should try to go see her when she is 12 weeks because that is how old Buzz was when I got him.

Woof woof.

Uncle Scary says that Sophie and Castro seem just fine with Mabel so far, though she's hardly big enough to be an annoyance.

wordless wednesday ~8~

2009-05-27T11:06:00.001-04:00

t h r e e

2009-05-24T10:48:00.002-04:00

Buzz is three.
Yes he is!
My happy smiley boy.

My silly nutjob doggy.

I am going to get Buzz a kiddie pool for his birthday, but right now I cannot because the stores don't have them. Soon , soon, my boy. And then I will videotape you and the world will see the craziness!

"What craziness? I just lounge about all day thinking deep thoughts?"

Ha ha ha Buzz, you fool no one.
Also, I might make you a special treat to eat.
Does that sound good?
"Serve it up!"

And then, we go forward! Onward, into the future!

Happy birthday Buzz Buzz Full of Fuzz! I love you!

I think it would probably be best...

2009-05-22T08:11:00.003-04:00

if we didn't tell the rainbow ball about this.

wordless wednesday ~7~

2009-05-20T08:05:00.000-04:00

Reason #7 Buzz is a supermodel

2009-05-19T09:39:00.004-04:00

If asked, Buzz will climb on anything,

then pose his butt off.

**cheese!**

(I have yet to discover who builds the stick houses, there are several in the park, always changing.)

wordless wednesday ~6~

2009-05-13T10:16:00.002-04:00

Ha Ha Ho Ho & Hee Hee

2009-05-10T15:11:00.010-04:00

A few weeks ago, Mary at The Dogfathers blog tagged us to participate in "Five Things I Laugh At, But Shouldn't."

Now, this assignment presents something of a challenge. It's not that Buzz is perfect, no flaws to speak of...its that his flaws are serious. Buzz is 99% a good, steady boy, but that outside 1% bit of bad, anxious dog-ness is directed at people, has teeth, and I have never found it funny. It something to work on, think about, help him with, not something to laugh at or dismiss.

Then of course, there are all the laughs I get out of harmless things...the way Buzz loves his rainbow ball, the way he and Tessa lick each other's tongues, the way his butt wiggles when the neighbor's girls circle him and pet him and call him a pretty boy. I laugh at these and I should!

Well, I finally think I cracked it. A list of things I laugh at that I probably shouldn't.

1. Lauren and Buzz.

Buzz loves her. He kisses her. He jumps on her. He runs across the yard, leaps in the air, and licks her face as he sails by. He doesn't listen to her. He knocks into her. He invades her space totally and completely. According to Buzz, Lauren has no boundaries. We've tried to sort out why Lauren gets treated this way...it is probably partly her size (she's 5'1" with an itty bitty build), partly that she loves him back and is almost sort of okay with this treatment, partly that I have no idea how to effectively intercede. It's really unfair. And funny.

2. Buzz raids the trash bin.
Why is this funny? Because he's just looking for Puffs Plus to eat. They are like some kind of delicacy to him. Gross. And funny.

3. Booty-ful greeting of other dogs.

Do you see what is happening here? Buzz's butt is as high as he can get it and his shoulder is on the ground. He greets most dogs either this way or by laying down. It's really pathetic, and also misleading, since Buzz's play-style is not submissive.

4. Is this new? Let me smell it.

Buzz loves to smell the groceries, the mail, anything new that comes in the house. I think he thinks he's the inspector general of the household, needing to approve of all additions.

5. You give Buzz an inch, he takes a yard.
So, Buzz knows he's not allowed on this bench.

But I invited him up there for a photograph.
He then decided that all forbidden surfaces were okay and jumped onto the kitchen table.

So naughty. So funny.

Alright, so I'm going to tag The Big Red Dog Blog with this meme. She's got one fabulous dog (with a Buzz Lightyear costume!) and six sassy cats, so I bet she'll be able to think of five things more quickly than I did!

Oh, and my Buzz is not named after Buzz Lightyear, but rather for how he's always buzzing about and also for the astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Though I'm told Buzz Lightyear is also named after Buzz Aldrin. Still, the hegemonic masculinity of that toy plus his imperialistic catchphrase...not what I was going for. Speed, smarts, that's what.

wordless wednesday ~5~

2009-05-06T09:03:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday ~4~

2009-04-29T08:54:00.000-04:00

I think we won.

2009-04-26T10:51:00.003-04:00

I have a friend who says "I think we won" as a sort of general expression of approvingness for things that have just happened. As in, we went to the dollar theater and watched Coraline and ate grapes and as we left he said "I think we won." Because it was a good movie and they were tasty grapes and we only paid 1 dollar each.

This week, Buzz and I won because the fence was fixed.

The fence along the back of the yard was only about 30" high and over the last month Buzz had figured out that he could jump it. Now, Buzz has no interest in running away, so he just jumped the fence to get a closer look at a squirrel. Or, like street-crossing chickens of lore, to see what was on the other side. He would zoom about the four adjacent yards then come to the gate to be let in within a minute. The problem, of course, is that Buzz jumps on people, wants to kill cats, and thinks all bicycles should be stopped. So, if people, cats, or bikes were to appear while he was loose...that would be trouble. For a few weeks now, I've had to leash Buzz while he's in the yard. Which is lame.

This week, with a lot of help from Tessa's food guy (he drove in posts and such), I zip-tied a 4' fence to the back of the 30" fence and now Buzz is contained. It is awesome.

By the way, the worker at Lowe's that helped me find the zip ties told me that what I should do was put a shock collar on my dog and that would teach him to stay in the yard. Yikes! Turns out this guy doesn't have a dog, has never had a dog, has never read a book on dog training, or have a real conversation with a dog trainer. Yet, he feels that he should advise me (a stranger) to use violence to keep my dog (who he knows nothing about) in the yard. I ended up having a somewhat long conversation with him about dogs and training so maybe I changed his thinking a bit. Because really, why solve a problem with pain when you can solve it with $26 of plastic?

Every morning since the fence was fixed, when Buzz and I go out back and I get to sit with my coffee and he gets to run about with his ball, I feel triumphant. I want to pump my fists. Yes, I think we won.

wordless wednesday ~3~

2009-04-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

Giving back

2009-04-18T14:15:00.002-04:00

You know what? Buzz and I really use the heck out of the public parks in our city. We are in a park almost every day. So, a few weeks ago, I finally volunteered my time helping to maintain one of the local parks. It felt so great to go in there and remove the invasive species and put wood chips down on the trails!

That little taste of do-gooding wasn't enough for me, so I made this quilt for a fundraiser (a silent auction for Ann Arbor's Ecology Center.)

The info is here for you locals

But folks, even that wasn't enough. I have decided to donate 10% of the proceeds from my etsy store to a dog rescue. Specifically, to That'll do Border Collie Rescue which is a rescue in Vancouver, Canada. I've chosen this rescue because
(1) They save border collies and Buzz is a border collie and border collies rule!
(2) Sheena, the founder and director of the rescue writes my favorite dog blog Three Woofs and a Woo.
(3) While I have never met her in person, Sheena has often taken the time to help me understand Buzz's behavior (recalls!) and needs (raw feeding!)
(4) Because the shelter I got Buzz from is...how to say...sketchy. In fact I never name it because they gave me Buzz without looking at my ID, calling my vet, or checking my lease. I gave them $40, they gave me Buzz. I'm glad of it, but that's not modern rescue; they could have been putting Buzz into a worse situation than the one from which he came.
(5) When you are British and American...from Wisconsin but living in Michigan...and Seattle is your heart's city...well, then, Vancouver seems local.
(6) The Canine Mafioso are a crime syndicate, not a charity!

So, more bags are in the shop (link is in the sidebar). And some quilts, too. And 10% of the purchase price will be forwarded to That'll Do Border Collie Rescue. You could also, of course, just donate to the rescue directly, if you want to do some unadulterated good. Just go to their website, and click on the "donate!" button on the left-hand side.

If you are in the market for a bag, though, here's some more information:

This is my bag, full of the usual stuff.

All of that stuff fits into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

I don't think you'd want to jam much more than this into the bag or you'd end up not being able to use the front pocket.

Here's what I usually carry around (the bag below is pictured inside out).

(1) using the clip (included!) I have a set of keys attached to the bag.
(2) In one of the inside pockets, I keep a roll of plastic bags for picking up after Buzz.
(3) In the other inside pocket, I keep a photocopy of my driver's license and health insurance card (I don't carry my wallet to walk the dog).
(4) In the main pocket, I have two balls, an extra leash, a bag of treats, a pair of gloves, and a small cloth bag which holds more pick-up bags.

I don't have any plans to make these bags bigger because that would involve adding side panels and at least an hour's more work for each bag; basically, the extra cost in materials and labor would make the bag too pricey. If you need something bigger, I recommend checking out the men's section in Target for their messenger bags; they tend to be a good size and have pockets and places to clip things.

And I hope you are having weather as nice as ours! Buzz is way too hot in his winter coat; I keep telling him to shed!

Bo Obama

2009-04-16T20:24:00.007-04:00

I'm disappointed that the Obama's didn't get a rescue dog.
They got this guy:

(image from people.com)

Who looks totally adorable and seems to be quite a handful, too. :)

(photo from Huffington Post)

Which you know that I love.

I also love this picture. My favorite pictures of families are always these moments with all the unconscious, gentle mingling of limbs and sightlines.

(pic from people.com)

Okay, and as long as we're on it. THIS is amazing.

(pic by Pete Souza) And there is a great essay about the meanings conveyed here on the Huffington Post It reads, in part, "There are all kinds of interesting elements here. Bo running free, though leashed. Obama and the dog clearly relating to one another, Obama looking back -- already creating a bond with the puppy. And especially, the new President at full sprint -- completely off the ground."

I'm glad that Bo a "second chance" dog and not some gooey little two-monther. But here's the thing: he's from a good breeder, which means that he was never in danger of being homeless or dead. "We don’t want any of our dogs to end up homeless," the breeder told People Magazine. "And the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, that we belong to, requires that their breeders take back their dogs if for any reason, any reason at all, the people can’t care for the dog. That’s what responsible breeders do, always."

Over 1.5 million dogs are killed each year in the U.S. just because there aren't homes for them. That number is just the adoptable, healthy dogs. And that number, while HUGE, is also not so very big. If just 35-to-40 percent of dog-owners got their next dog from a shelter or rescue, that would save all of those dogs.

All. of. them.

So, here's my beef with the Obamas:

The allergy thing. I do not have allergies, but people I know that have allergies keep them under control by (a)keeping their house clean, which includes vacuuming daily and buying quality filters for their furnaces. And (b) keeping the animal off of the furniture and out of the bedroom.

I'm guessing that if you live in the White House, you have high quality air filters and your house is vacuumed daily.

And if you do have to clean your own home and that much vacuuming sounds like too much work, you need to consider the amount of work it takes to keep a Portuguese Water Dog groomed (a lot!).

The Obamas just needed a low shed dog. And at a shelter, it is pretty easy to figure out who, among the grown dogs, is low shed. Just pet them. Got a hand full of fur? Move along to the next dog whose life is in danger. Look for dogs with single coats as it is the undercoats that usually cause allergic reactions. It's not a catalog people, you get to actually see and touch the dogs. You can figure out what kind of fur they have.

The whole thing wherein the Obamas said that their shortlist of dog breeds were Portuguese Water Dogs or "Labradoodles" also hit me funny. Because a "Labradoodle" is just a mutt with an advertising campaign and there's no way to ensure that a mixed dog is going to have the traits of one parent over the other (i.e., be hypoallergenic). Anyone with "Labradoodle" on their shortlist of dog "breeds" needs to do more research. They can be nice dogs, but people should save their funny names and $1800 for strippers; don't give them to the backyard breeders making mutts from poodles and labs!

Alright, alright, I'll get down from my horse now.

One question, though, does it seem smart to give a dog a name that rhymes with "no"?

wordless wednesday ~2~

2009-04-15T18:03:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday ~1~

2009-04-08T15:37:00.000-04:00

Beers in the Backyard

2009-04-02T16:43:00.006-04:00

Ah yes, spring has sprung. While I love winter, when it leaves me I get over it pretty quickly. Because there are many things to enjoy about the next guy. This spring character.

Better light to fill Buzz’s beautiful brown eyes.

Birds that chirp all day.

The ability to feel my face after walking the dog.

Good stuff.

In the winter, letting the dog out and playing with him a bit each evening can feel very choresome (that is probably not a word, but I don’t care). In the spring, going in the yard with the dog is awesome.
Because I take a beer with me.
And sit in the sunshine.
And Buzz just plays with his soccer ball and his sticks.
And then he comes over and sits by me and smiles.
He gets muddy maybe, but it is worth it.
For the sun and the beer and the birds.

Sometimes, we even have company for the evening unwinding. Tessa loves to come and play with Buzz.

Hi Tessa!

Can you wear my dog out for me?

Brilliant!

Tessa seems to learn a lot by watching other dogs. Like that you can jump to catch a ball! Or, that Nylabones are fun to chew on. She has yet to figure out how to play Buzz’s favorite game, but she’s been watching closely.

Maybe someday she’ll learn this extra-stupid, ever-so-funny hiking game. It’s Buzz’s favorite. It should go on his tombstone when he dies in one million years: “Here lies Buzz / He liked to hike things between his legs.”

Sometimes Buzz pauses from this hiking game to play fetch or sit on his table.

This particular day was the first really warm day and Buzz hadn’t even begun to blow his winter coat. And he hiked the ball a hundred times, played a lot of fetch, and wrestled like a madman with Tessa.

Both dog were getting a bit hot. But especially Buzz. Frequent trips to the water bucket were made.

Eventually, Buzz just lay down in the dirt by the water bucket, taking occasional sips.

Then I noticed that Buzz was using his nose to push the edge of the bucket over. Before I even had time to shoot a picture or grab the dog, he had dumped a gallon of cold water into the dirt, scratched the dirt up to make mud, and started to roll in it.

ARE YOU SEEING THIS???

Are you laughing? Because I was.
The aforementioned beer probably help me find the funny.
But seriously, the freakin’ dog made mud to roll around in and then went to town on it before I could say boo.

It is actually kind of genius of him. If a dog is in danger of overheating my dog book recommends applying cool (not COLD) water to the head, neck, chest and abdomen--either in a dunk tank or by using wet towels.

Notice that Buzz got most of his nice, cool mud on his abdomen.

Yep, now he’s even doing his own first aid.

Also notice, that he wanted to play some more after this hot episode...not such a genius after all!

I ended up taking him inside and giving him a nice tepid bath. Yes, Buzz got a bath. Which he almost never gets, but he ground in that mud really well, so the usual plan--waiting for it to dry and then brushing it out—wasn’t going to work. Plus, I wanted to make sure he was cooled off and the water was a good way to accomplish that.

Right Buzz?

Uh-oh, looks like Buzz has been reading the adventures of the canine mafia!

A little scare.

2009-03-17T20:51:00.005-04:00

Oh my goodness. Buzz and I just about had a collective heart attack this afternoon.

It all started when we went into the backyard to enjoy the sunshine.

Buzz ran around for a bit and then I told him to get his ball so we could play.
Well, he ran around and around not listening, so I started singing to him, “Where is your ba-all? Where is your ba-all? Where is your ba-all?” And he just kept zooming around, ignoring me.

And then came over and he gave me this face… [reenactment!]

This is his sad, worried face. Uh-oh!
He had been running around looking for his ball and couldn’t find it!
And he seemed to think I, the all-knowing food lady, was teasing him! Oh, the guilt!

I thought that maybe he couldn’t find the ball because it is so...um..."camouflaged" these days.

I decided to look for it myself.
It was nowhere to be found!
Oh, tragedy!
[this photo isn't so much a reenactment as an mood impact imagination]

Did a wild animal make off with it?
[more mood impact imagination]

Maybe our neighbor Tucker did something? Tucker knows how to get in and out of my yard.

Or maybe my landlord confused it with garbage? Cleaned it up? Threw it out?

Despair!

Agony!

Then I remembered that I had been doing laundry that morning in the basement. While Buzz was in the backyard.

So...I ran over and opened the basement door. Buzz and I ran down the stairs together. And there it was! Buzz was so happy.

So freakin’ happy!

And me too!

And who might this be?

2009-03-15T23:20:00.007-04:00

It is Buzz's friend Tessa!

She's just a little thing (40 pounds to his 60).

So Buzz usually lays down to play with her.

Which is super-sweet of him. He's always very good with other dogs, its people that sometimes freak him out, especially if they do dastardly things like jog! Or run!! Not allowed!

These pictures were taken in low light with no flash and I brightened them in photoshop rather callously.

This seems to have given them a variety of extreme color schemes. Is that blue sunlight coming in the window?

But these still amuse me...each is chewing on the other's leg!

And really, maybe the bizarre colors suit the weird playstyle?

The fun.

The insanity.

Hey, are you two tired yet?

Okay, good!

Tessa came from a rescue! And she's awesome! Another life saved!

= = =

edited to add: I played some more with that last picture to see if I could get Tessa's eyes and smile to come out more....

Set in his ways...

2009-03-04T17:35:00.004-05:00

his bouncey, crazy ways!

Here's a video of Buzz's afternoon routine, when I come home from work and let him out into the yard.

hopefully, the embedding will work, but if not here is the direct link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4TGKbn6j-o

: )

Q: How do you know...

2009-02-24T16:51:00.004-05:00

that your dog likes to wear shirts?

A: Because he lets me put them on him and then he trots around all happy and proud!

Reason #6 Buzz is a supermodel

2009-02-13T17:57:00.002-05:00

He is always looking into the middle distance.
You know, like Superman, looking into the spot that is neither far nor near.

It creates tension in the photo.

Super. Model.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

2009-01-30T19:16:00.004-05:00

This crazy horizontal spazz ballet?

Buzz has a daily lovefest celebration for snow and winter and being outside and being free.

He has a genius for happiness, this dog of mine, and it is a joy to watch.

The food lady has been writing

2009-01-27T16:32:00.003-05:00

day and night, so today, all you get are pictures.

Shameless self promotion!

2009-01-21T13:21:00.004-05:00

If you follow the link on the right to my etsy store, you'll find these dog-walking bags.

Designed to keep all your dog walking stuff together...poo bags, balls, extra leashes, a clip for keys. I use the front pocket just for "full" poo bags until I can find a trash bin.

They are $35 each with shipping.

The 10-foot Icicle

2009-01-20T18:27:00.003-05:00

is not nearly as interesting as the orange squirrel that runs back and forth on the fence, up and down the tree.

It is a new America today. There is a lot of hope all around me, including at my feet, where Buzz hopes for cookies.

Excusez-moi?

2009-01-16T14:45:00.009-05:00

Yes, Buzz?
That was the alarm clock, no?
Yes, it was.
So we walk?
It is below zero out there, Buzz. It is so far below freezing I can't even express it. Let's just sleep in instead.
I am impervious. Walk! Walk!
Sigh.

This is what the non-impervious-lady must wear in this cold:

What astounds me is that Buzz still stops and smells things in the cold. What is there to smell? Isn't it all frozen?

And he still rolls around in the snow. So weird.

Speaking of weird, I love the random leg sticking up.

What could that be? Is someone coming?

No, Buzz, no one else is idiotic enough to come out in this weather.

There was a week in November where

2009-01-11T18:31:00.003-05:00

everything was the biggest

and Buzz liked it.

Guess who isn't feeling so hot?

2009-01-01T15:15:00.009-05:00

It's this guy. Buzz, A.K.A. Little Mr. Gonna-steal-bread-dough-and-eat-it!

Look closely: in addition to the sad face and dead eyes, there are drool bubbles on the baby's chin. : (

Sometimes, for a special treat, I bake my own bread. And normally I don't even give a second thought to Buzz being around the dough while it is rising, because he is very good about respecting human food. Probably because he's properly nourished (yay for raw feeding!), but also because I really do not like it when dogs beg or even watch humans eat, so he's always had very clear direction from me on this point; he ignores human food or he gets put in another room (worst punishment ever!) As such, you can sit next to Buzz on the couch and eat a sandwich. You can even set your food on the coffee table for a second and run to the bathroom. Buzz will leave it alone.

Well, not today. Today I was making rye bread. And Buzz couldn't resist. So, I go in the kitchen to see how the dough is doing and find that Buzz has knocked the pizza peel on the floor and has eaten all the dough.

Yeah. Not good. A pound of rising dough is now in my dog's stomach. That's gonna be a big problem very soon. A softball-sized ball of dough is gonna try to get to the size of a football in Buzz's tummy. Bad.

Time to induce vomiting. To induce vomiting in a dog, you put one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide for each ten pounds of dog into their stomach (at 60 pounds, Buzz gets 2 tablespoons). You can use a turkey baster or syringe. I just poured the hydrogen into this little creamer, then tipped Buzz's head up and poured the stuff into his mouth.

Then, we went outside to wait for the hydogen peroxide to get all bubbly and gross feeling so that Buzz would ker-kakk. Well, he did. Like 5 times. It was a lot of dough. I shoveled the dough into the trash; made sure Buzz was done puking, then brought him inside. Now, Buzz looks like this.

Part of me feels sorry for the guy. Part of me is still craving fresh rye bread and knows she isn't going to get it! Gah!

Happy happy joy joy!

2008-12-25T00:23:00.011-05:00

Buzz and I don't really go in for any of the winter holidays. We like Thanksgiving best. Food, fun, family, football...Thanksgiving is the tops.

Even though we don't really join in, it is fun to see all the excitement around us at this time of year. Especially when it is focused on finding joy, having fun, seeing friends and family, and eating cookies.

We believe in joy.

We believe in having fun.

We believe in friends and family.

Most of all we believe in cookies. Oh yes, we believe in lots of cookies.

We do not, for the record, believe in burrs
.
.
.
but, they believe in us!

We wish all of our readers happiness, joy, and peace!

See you in 2009!

And what to my wondering eyes

2008-12-17T19:07:00.007-05:00

should appear, but my neighbor's dog Tucker, who has funny ears!

Every now and then Buzz goes completely ape while looking out the window. He does that because Tucker not only knows how to *unlock and open* the back door of his own home, but how to sneak into Buzz's yard! Of course I let Buzz out to have a wrestle with his buddy. : ) I realize that I am, in essence, rewarding Tucker for his bad escape-y ways, but I figure that it keeps Tucker from running off towards busy streets and Tucker lets me leash him walk him home after the boys have worn each other out.

(what is this move?)

whooosh!

Today, we had a nice fresh layer of snow and Buzz and I were about a half mile from home when Tucker came running up the sidewalk to join us! What a surprise. Good thing I carry an extra leash!

I called Tucker's home from my cell phone and no one answered, so I left a message, and took Tucker to the woods with us where there were many fine things to smell...

and chase...

and then Buzz leashed up Tucker, and I leashed up Buzz and we went back to our street.

No one was home yet at Tucker's house (yes, I did close the door for them).

But after a few minutes in the yard, one of Tucker's boys appeared and took him home.

Until next time, Tuck!

By the way, yes the computer is back up and running and I can now get images off of my proper camera. It's funny, but not having seen full size images of Mr. Buzz for a while, I've been giggling at how happy he looks in so many of them. What a poopsie.

In the meantime, an old frisbee story.

2008-12-14T20:59:00.005-05:00

My computer should be up and running next week and then I have many fun pictures to share of Buzz's winter adventures.

In the meantime, I have this old photostory that might amuse you. It is from May of 2007, when Buzz was just turning one, before I had fenced in the yard.

~-~-~-~-~
Buzz wants you all to know how to play frisbee...HIS WAY. None of this throwing and fetching business! Start by putting the frisbee on ground and stepping on it with your front paws.

Then, pull the frisbee under your body and flick it between your hind legs.

Catch the frisbee as it rolls along.

Repeat the previous steps! Hours of fun!

At my brother's house,

2008-12-06T16:01:00.002-05:00

Sophie sleeps in the guest room with me. She's a tremendous weight, it feels like she's holding the bed to the earth, and she never moves. Buzz sleeps in his crate nearby, and Castro sleeps in Uncle Scary's room or in the hallway between the bedrooms. In the morning, Sophie does some silly stretches...

Buzz waits patiently to be freed...

And Castro comes in to lick my face...

It is wonderful.

Some exciting news: Buzz's back-up food people now have a dog of their own! Tessa is a 10-month-old lab mix from a local rescue and she's a doll.

Low tech & mellow

2008-11-15T17:32:00.003-05:00

My computer is not yet fixed, so no quality images today. Instead, I've gone low-tech on you and have loaded some images from my cell phone.

These snapshots aren't so great, but they do offer a different glimpse into Buzz's world than usual because my cell phone's camera can focus on things that are really close to the lens, such as Buzz, resting his head on my chest, watching me watch TV.

Head on my stomach as I continue to watch television:

Hanging his head off of the futon:

Taking a nap...zzzzzzzzzzzz...

And finally, waking up, wiggling about and stretching out!

Could the food lady be any busier?

2008-11-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

Seriously! Buzz has started doing some of my reading for me in order to help out.

In other news, my computer exploded. The one with photoshop on it. Fun.

Reason #5 Buzz is a supermodel

2008-10-19T19:04:00.005-04:00

Ability to transmit subliminal messages.

Do you see the message on his head?

How about now?

Good morning!

2008-10-14T07:32:00.002-04:00

Things are mighty busy over here at casa de food. We often have to walk before it is light. I'd rather get up *after* the sun, but at least I get pretty pictures if we are out when Mr. Sun pops his head up. Ah, the glowy fresh light.

Hey, there's a squirrel up there!

More Wisconsin Dogs

2008-10-06T13:55:00.008-04:00

Okay, so I’m going to have to come back and describe Sophie, Uncle Scary’s second dog some other day. She’s a very mysterious hound so I’m having a hard time putting words to her.

In the meantime, you should meet Latte, Tango and Annie, who live with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Waunakee, Wisconsin.

(photo by my uncle, aren’t they sweet?)

Buzz and I stay with them for a few days almost every time we go to Wisconsin.
Buzz loves all of their dogs, but most of all, Latte. Latte is a HUGE Labrador retriever than my uncle got for free from some backyard breeder when she was a little pup. (I do try to get them to go the shelter route, but they’ve yet to do it…maybe next time). Latte is physically kind of a mess, she’s too big and just not built right; I’m so used to the way Buzz moves and jumps and springs around that Latte’s slow lumbering ways can be rather painful to watch.

Uff da.

Latte may have bad joints, but Latte has a heart of gold.

She is by far the most playful of the three dogs and she truly loves Buzz.

When I am able to get a second dog, this is the sort of pairing that I will be looking for: Latte is a good compliment to Buzz because she plays with him and keeps him company, but never amps him up and generally has a calming effect on him.

The other lab in the house is Tango. Tango is an old dog with a busted elbow. When Buzz is whipping around the house with Latte, she finds a safe corner and stays in it. Tango is lovely and mellow and an affection sponge.

When I was last in Waunakee, I decided to get all of the dogs to line up in “sits” for a picture. Tango did it once and then retired to the TV room, so by the time the younger hooligans had their act together, she was fast asleep. Oh well.

By the way, my cousin informed me that there was *no way* I was going to get the dogs to line up. But, she was wrong. This only took about 2 minutes and 10 pretzels!

That little dog on the end is Annie the pug. Annie is one crazy bitch and the boss of the big dogs. See, here she is telling Buzz that she has not authorized this play session.

Annie has been teaching Buzz to stand up for himself because she likes to get in his business and start fights with him. Buzz then has to tell her to back the heck off, which is noisy but non-violent.

My cousin walked in on Buzz and Annie having a problem one evening and immediately yelled at Buzz. Which was a shame; because Buzz was doing exactly what he should be doing: protecting himself from another dog’s attack. I told my cousin “No, it’s really not Buzz” and then when Annie started in on Buzz the next day, my cousin got to see this for himself. My point being: if you don’t know who is to blame, don’t blame anyone, just tell the dogs to freeze, or quiet, or yell “hey!” Yelling at the wrong dog can make the problem worse. What is Buzz supposed to do? Let Annie chew off his face? Buzz is three times Annie’s size, but that doesn’t mean she should be allowed to hurt or harass him. Buzz makes no moves to dominate or hurt Annie, he just protects himself.

If Annie can’t be peaceful, we generally put her in time-out; usually, just telling her that you are on to her works wonders.

(misleading, no?)

It is interesting to see those two try to sort their relationship out. It is, perhaps, Buzz’s most complex canine relationship. They can spend hours and hours together in peace and then *BAM!* Annie will go off. Those vicious pugs, you never know when they are going to snap!

Annie says "I'm not a pug, I'm a pirate! ArrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Castro

2008-09-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

On December 9, 2007 I promised to blog about Uncle Scary’s dogs. And then I didn’t. Until now. : )

I will start with Castro because Castro was my brother’s first dog and the first border collie (mix?) in our family. Castro is about 7 now. My brother got him from the Humane Society when he was just a tiny thing--a biting, whirling dervish of a puppy.

I don’t have any pictures of Castro’s youngest months, but by all reports he was adorable and a complete terror. I first met him when he was between six months and a year…

He's such a handsome boy and so very intense.

These are the best pictures I’ve ever gotten of Castro, because sometime between this meeting and the next, Castro learned to HATE CAMERAS. Now, I can get a picture of Castro only after I talk to him a bit about it and show Castro that my camera does not have a flash. (Yes, Castro is that smart. His vocabulary is much bigger than any other dog I know. Don’t act like Castro doesn’t know what you are talking about, big mistake.)

This is what you get if you try to snap a photograph of Castro. He will foil your plan and then tell you off.

He’s hiding his face, moving his paw in a motion that pretty clearly means ‘put it down’ and he’s yowling at me. He’s a well-named dog, the dictator.

Anyway, with effort, I can get Castro to hold still and look at the camera for a shot or two. His tolerance is low, so I don’t get a chance to fiddle much with the camera to get the effect I’m after; I also can’t move around much or Castro will move away. Basically, Castro doesn’t really want his portrait taken and will only appease me for 5 seconds once a week when it comes to the camera. So, I get snapshot quality stuff only. See...

....okay, so this photo doesn't totally suck, but Buzz would have let me clear out all that stuff in the background or move him to a more scenic place; Buzz would also let me pull his front paws out to produce some less walrussy shots. But, Buzz is full of fuzz and Castro is...not.

Castro, as an adult, is pretty much the raddest tyrant around. He's very calm and contained and totally the boss of you. And you. And you. And your little dog, too.

The coolest thing about Castro is how entirely devoted he is to Uncle Scary.

Look at that face!!!! And no, Scary does not have a cookie, Scary IS THE COOKIE. It's like this all the time with these guys.

All this love for Scary combined with Castro's smarts and dictatorial tendencies lead to some really funny stuff. Like, while we were at the farm, Scary was doing a lot of fishing. Castro curled up in the long grasses just behind Scary and kept him company. When Scary reeled in a fish, Castro would come over to supervise the unhooking of fish (game fish are released back into the river, the carp are killed).

Now, here’s the quintessentially Castro part of it all: if Scary reels in a line and there is no fish on it, Castro complains to him about it. The noise is not quite a whine and not quite a growl, sort of a low rumbling of dissatisfaction, like “what do you think you are doing? You are supposed to catch fish with those lines. Get it right!”

Yeah, Castro is the coolest.

As for Castro and Buzz, they get along just fine so long as Buzz behaves.

However, when Buzz is rude or careless, Castro gets really fed up with him. And, here’s another quintessentially Castro bit, when Buzz is bad Castro holds it against me. Castro glares at me when Buzz is being a pest. He freakin' knows who to blame!

Smartest. Dog. Ever.

I love him.

Don't buy a dog!

2008-09-18T18:35:00.013-04:00

...adopt one!

This Saturday is Puppy Mill awareness day. Buzz is getting to an age where he understands that not every human is nice and not every dog has a good life. He heard about this Puppy Mill Awareness day and had some questions for me.

Buzz: What’s a puppy mill?

Lady: A puppy mill is the kind of place that makes you very sad to know about. Are you sure you want to know about it?

Buzz: Puh-leeeez, Lady! I am so grown up. I can totally and fully handle it.

Lady: Puppy mills are businesses where people breed dogs. The produce lots and lots of puppies every year.

Buzz: That sounds nice! I like puppies!

Lady: But Buzz, remember that there are too many dogs in this country. There are so many dogs being born every year that over nine million of them have to be killed because there is nowhere for them to live.

Buzz: Nine million? I don’t know how many that is.

Lady: How many do you know?

Buzz: I know how many 100 is. That is how many toys I have.

Lady: Well, Buzzy, imagine if each of your toys was a dog. Now imagine that not only do we have 100 dogs in our house that need to be killed because we don’t have room for them or food to feed them, but also picture that there are 100 extra dogs at Billy’s house. And Milly’s house. And at every house in our city. That would be 9,000,000 dogs.

Buzz: Whoa. Do they deserve it?

Lady: No, Buzz. Those dogs are very nice dogs. Most of them are even better behaved than you.

Buzz: I’m perfect.

Lady: You chase cars. And try to take down joggers. And snap at bicyclists.

Buzz: I would like to revise my earlier statement. I’m mostly perfect.

Lady: You bring up an interesting point, though, Buzz. Lots of people think that the dogs that end up in shelters are there because they are bad dogs. Remember when you were a puppy and so many people were surprised that such a happy, beautiful little boy came from a shelter?

Buzz: Yes! Are those people stupid or something?

Lady: No, Buzzy, they aren’t stupid, they just don’t know any better. Remember when you didn’t really know you had a tail and were always sweeping things off of the coffee table with it?

Buzz: I broke a glass! It was loud!

Lady: Yes, you did! You did something bad because you didn’t know enough to do better.

Buzz: How come the people don’t learn? Can’t hear the stuff they are breaking?

Lady: Because, sweetie, for most people, the consequences of their actions are invisible. Those people just carry on buying dogs and breeding dogs because that’s what they saw their parents do. The glasses are breaking in shelters that they never go to visit. They are unaware.

Buzz: Oh. Can you tell them? Tell them that we need to have a lot less puppies and then we won’t have to kill doggies anymore.

Lady: Okay, Buzz. I will tell them.

Buzz: Are puppy mills the only places that puppies come from?

Lady: No, but they are the worst place to get puppies from because they keep their dogs in horrible conditions. And they have lots and lots of sick and sad dogs.

Buzz: Why?

Lady: Because they don’t think of the dogs as lovely little beings with minds of their own and feelings of their own. They just see them as a way to make money and so they do things as cheaply as possible. They live in very small spaces. They don’t go to the vet when they are sick. They don’t eat nice food, or go for walks, or have little chats on the futon.

Buzz: That’s too sad to even think about.

Lady: But we must be brave and think about it anyway and try to convince people to adopt dogs and not buy them.

Buzz: And then they will be helping doggies instead of hurting them!

Lady: That’s right!

Buzz: Thanks for telling me about this, Lady. Let’s be crazy now!

= = = = = = = = = =
To learn more about puppy mills, check out the following website:
Puppy Mill Awareness

And try to catch Oprah's episode on puppy mills (parts of which are on Oprah's website)

As always, I would recommend petfinder.com if you are searching for an animal companion! I found Buzz at a shelter by doing a search on petfinder.

It has been raining all day...

2008-09-13T20:25:00.006-04:00

but Buzz and I don't mind. We will both happily walk in the rain. Plus, we've got plenty of inside activities to enjoy: I've got yards and yards of new fabric to play with (there are two great fabric shops near my aunt and uncle in Wisconsin).

Buzz had some TV shows to catch up on (he loves America's Next Top Model).

Plus, the dirt expanse we refer to as "the yard" has been looking might dry and dusty lately...

I have learned, however, that the rain is unlikely to solve this problem. I asked my neighbor if she had any suggestions about my dirtscape (she has the most luscious garden just 2 feet from this mess) and she told me that she had replaced all of the soil in her garden because what we have is far too high in clay content. Somehow I doubt my landlord wants to tear up the yard anytime soon.

Oh well, back to the sewing machine!

The Farm

2008-09-09T23:16:00.008-04:00

There is a most beautiful piece of land that my family has owned for several decades. It has a river running through it. It is full of trees and grasses and deer and sunshine. We all refer to it as "the farm" even though the part of the property that is a working dairy farm is no longer owned by my grandmother.

Last weekend, Buzz and I drove to Wisconsin and went camping on the farm with my brothers and our cousins.

Buzz was miserable the entire time.

He could not pursue any of his favorite activities like running in the woods...

or wading in the river...

what's more, there was no one for him to play with...

[Some of you will recognize that guy as my baby brother, AKA Uncle Scary. He's holding his dogs Sophie (the hound) and Castro (the border collie mix). If you look closely, you'll see Sophie in the picture of Buzz in the woods and Castro's tail in the picture of Buzz in the river.]

Going to the farm was torture for Buzz, he rolled around in agony the entire time.

The poor thing. : )

In other news, when I got into this...

...we discovered a couple of things: (1) Buzz can, in fact, do more than wade. He can swim. (2) Buzz will swim after me if I get in the canoe and paddle upstream. (3) Buzz will not ride in a canoe. (4) It's probably easiest if I just don't canoe when the dog is around. (5) My brothers don't think it is funny when I recount the tale of Buzz's swim by singing Carole King's "Where You Lead, I Will Follow" and doing an interpretive dance.

Celebrate in style

2008-09-01T20:36:00.005-04:00

Buzz honored Labor Day by wearing one of my Labor Union's t-shirts.

(check out that pose...oh la la!)

Buzz celebrated Labor Day by wresting with Billy.

Aren't they funny?
Billy is an adorable lab mix that lives around the corner from us.
Look at his lovely face!

Such good buddies.

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Perks

2008-08-19T21:02:00.007-04:00

There are certain benefits to walking around with this cutie face at the end of my leash:

Today, that benefit was peaches:
Millions of peaches
Peaches for me
Millions of peaches
Peaches for free (recognize those words?)

My neighbor gave them to me because he had 8 million on his tree. My neighbor, Bob, is very nice to me even though Buzz always jumps up on him. Buzz never jumps on Bob’s son. Mysterious.

Anyway back to the peaches!

I’ve already eaten many of the peaches raw.
I shared a slice with Buzz.

Buzz liked the peach.
He chewed it.
It was funny.

I have made and consumed Peaches Melba…

The recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking mmmm...homemade raspberry sauce....freshtastic peaches....

Tomorrow, I’m planning on making some Peach & Blueberry Strudel (recipe from the same book.) Depending on how many are left, I may even bake a pie!

Buzz thinks I should not make strudel or pie, he has another suggestion.

: )

Wordle it be?

2008-08-13T14:16:00.000-04:00

I love the internet. There is a toy on the internet called a wordle. It makes these awesome word clouds based on text you provide and sizes words according to how often they appear in the text provided. You can play with the font and colors.

Of course, I made one based on Buzz’s blog, with his blog's custom color scheme.

(does that look crazy fuzzy to anyone else? **sigh**)

And I also threw in a paper I’m working on; I love the end result on this one.

Make your own wordle here

Reason #4 Buzz is a supermodel

2008-08-09T12:38:00.003-04:00

If asked to model clothing, he matches his posture and mood to the item.

Modeling a John Deere hat, tucks his head down like a shy country boy. Tongue out to show he's been working hard out in the fields.

Modeling a vest and tie. Head up, limbs neatly arranged, eyes bright and focused on something out of the frame (perhaps a PowerPoint presentation?)

Carnivorous

2008-08-02T11:51:00.007-04:00

My dog is a carnivore. His digestive system was designed to eat raw meat and raw bones and nothing else. Buzz gets sick if he is given processed dog food. He can consume sticks and vegetables and other whole food items without them causing stomach upset or diarrhea, but they come out his rear in the same condition they entered his mouth, so they clearly don’t nourish him, all he gets out of them is the joy of chewing.

The thing is, the only meat in the house is Buzz’s food. In fact, as I learn more about the dairy industry the human food in the house has become increasingly vegan. To me the connections between being good and careful with pets is extending outward to animals that are typically considered legitimate sources of human nutrition. And finding a way of eating that works so beautifully for my dog has made me realize that perhaps I can feel better if I change how I eat.

To anyone interested in making informed food choices for themselves, I cannot recommend the podcast “Food for Thought” by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau highly enough. The author is incredibly straightforward and kind—not just to the animals she is trying to protect, but also to any of her listeners that may still be eating meat and dairy.

Vegan eats for the human:

(Parsnip-Scallion pancakes + Chana Masala = yum!)

In contrast, here's Buzz with his dinner of two pig ribs.

Buzz appreciates my understanding of his carnivorous ways. “Thank you, lady”

Notice the strange, completely flat way he splays out when he eats.

The funniest thing anyone ever asked after hearing that Buzz only eats raw meat was "Yeah, raw meat, but you cook it first, right?" Ummmm....no.

Months on raw: 6
Ear infections: 0 (Amazing!!!)
Trips to the vet: 0
Choking problems: 0
Pooping Problems: 1 (after he ate all that birthday cake)

Raw feeding a dog takes a little bit of work. Most of it is at the front end of the switch, learning about what to feed in what proportion and how much of it. I was lucky when I started Buzz because I had Bruno, Vinnie, and Gino’s Capofamiglia and the Canadian Who Won’t Give Me Piper, to answer my questions and offer reassurance. I may put together a post on raw feeding information resources. We’ll see…

On pants and poopiness

2008-07-21T12:01:00.009-04:00

Growing up, my mom had a habit of calling my brothers and I by the wrong names. Not each other’s names, so much, but by the dogs and cats names. It is understandable, I suppose, all of us being quite dear to her, but also potentially too energetic and noisy. And, lets face it, dogs are a lot like kids. The same training rules apply to both and the same sort of guidance goes out to each “leave it” “good job” “shhhh.” In fact, one of my favorite training books on dogs is actually premised on the parallels between raising a dog and raising a human child.

Which leads me to the reason for this post. If I’m relaxed and not paying much attention to what I’m saying, I’ve been known to call children “Buzz.” Usually, this isn’t really a big deal, because if I’m babysitting, the parents aren’t there to hear it and the kids either don’t notice or just think it is funny. It gets stranger when one of my goofier nicknames for Buzz comes out of my mouth;cute little girls aren’t used to being called things like “Mr. Monkey-breath.”

Well, the other day, I was hanging out with a friend and her 3-year-old

(isn’t she lovely?) While playing a game involving wands and leaping into the air, I called the little girl by a particularly unfortunate nickname of Buzz’s…“Poopy.” And of course, mom was right there when I said this. I was a little worried, but neither mother nor child seemed to notice that I had just called the dear girl by a pretty disgusting name. It turns out that the little one’s Dad refers to her almost exclusively as “PoopyDoopy” or “Poopy.” Thank doG for small favors! Perhaps I should stop calling Buzz such silly things if they are going to come flying out of my mouth while in polite company! They may cut off my donut supply!

On a related note, do you like Buzz’s pants? Long and flowy...

Well, he pooped on his pants one too many times, so he’s got short pants now.

Because Buzz doesn’t have the kind of pants you can launder!

So silly.

Reason #3 Buzz is a supermodel

2008-07-18T22:12:00.004-04:00

While Buzz sometimes jumps completely out of the frame in an uncontrolled frenzy of photographic exaltation, most of the time he remembers Tyra Banks advice and just makes small but significant changes from one frame to the next.

A smile in one picture, a kiss in the next.

Buzz is a pretty girl.

2008-07-01T21:14:00.009-04:00

Buzz is a pretty girl. People often assume that Buzz is a she and say things like…

“What a happy girl!”

“She is so beautiful!”

“She’s got a lot of energy, huh?”

And usually I don’t correct people, because frankly I don’t care if Buzz is a girl in their eyes, but what I find funny is how EXTREMELY apologetic people get if they figure out that Buzz is a boy. How silly. I don’t care one whit and Buzz…well Buzz says “just don’t call me late for dinner!"

Such a very pretty girl.

The Sad Demise of Piglet

2008-06-26T23:56:00.003-04:00

Well, Buzz finally did it. He killed Piglet.

And I caught it on video, just for you!

Click on the screen below

Or on this link to watch it on youtube YouTube Video

Reason #2 Buzz is a supermodel

2008-06-14T18:26:00.006-04:00

Buzz has a natural sense of composition. As he was heading down the trail in front of me, I noticed that the log on the ground pointed to a spot on the trail that was directly under the patrially-fallen tree.

I have had an itty-bitty bit of training and know that if I could get my subject in that spot where the lines converged, it would be a good thing. I stopped and fiddled with the camera, thinking I would get a shot of Buzz’s butt while he crossed the spot. What did my little supermodel do? He stopped at the spot, turned, and posed for the camera!

Seriously. He’s a modeling genius.

Reason #1 Buzz is a supermodel

2008-06-04T20:07:00.005-04:00

When the light is doing something interesting in just one little spot in the house, Buzz doesn't mind being told to sit in that spot.

Oh...hmmm...

Once in position, Buzz will quite happily ignore you and take on a "deep in thought" look for at least 60 seconds.

Good boy.

Food lady is busy.

2008-06-02T19:56:00.005-04:00

Well folks, I've been making very few posts lately because I'm just too busy! I'm helping to teach a course and so am constantly grading things, preparing lessons, and reading course materials. I'm also trying to get my own work (a dissertation) back on track and completed. This means I neglect Buzz's blog; but, Buzz himself is getting more than enough attention. Of course, he thinks he's being abused...look at that face.

He was "helping" me grade exams.

Um...thanks for the help, Buzz!

Anyway, how *I* deal with blogs that are only sometimes updated is I add them to Google Reader. It is a really efficient and wonderful way to track a ton of blogs and be notified of new entries. It is very easy to set up and allows you to check for new blog entries as easily as you check for new email. Free, of course!

If you set yourself up with Google reader, here are some of my favorites. I won't even describe them...just see for yourself.
Angry Chicken
sfgirlbybay
Post Secret
Three Woofs and a Woo

You can also subscribe to RSS feeds from Flickr groups and Flickr profiles, such as my quilting group:
Fresh Modern Quilts

OOOooo, I love the interwebs!

Buzz does to; Buzz loves everything except grading and bicycles.