No-mischief Monday

Airedale party at Jasper's Dog Park on Saturday.

That's Miro in the turquoise bandanna sitting nicely while I snapped a bunch of photos. You can't see Alanis because my camera-shy son has her hidden in the back. We counted about 24 Airedales at the party.

Butter, age 6 mths, provided the Awwww factor.

Guests included honory Airedales, such as Clancy the Wheaten on the right.

Some were tall.

Some were small.

And all were thirsty on this warm afternoon.

They kicked up a lot of dust.

Some stood around talking.

And engaged in butt-sniff circles.

Everyone went home tired.

Found hound

Yesterday the avenue that bisects the neighborhood was busy with huge, two-section trucks (what are they called?) carrying rocks and earth to a construction site. Two went by every fifteen minutes. The dogs and I set out on our walk, intending to cross the street and get away from the noise, and there was a Basset hound ambling down the sidewalk toward the avenue.

Photo found here

Intending to hurry my dogs home where I'd fetch reading glasses and run back to check the Basset's tag and leash him up, I got them turned around and started hauling them back up the street. Like little kids, they dragged their feet and kept turning their heads. "But, Maaaa, we want to go see."

Without a pause, the Basset ambled across the street toward our side. Fortunately the oncoming car paused. When I saw what street the dog was headed toward, I realized who he was. He lived at the House of the Screaming Child. For the last three years I've been expecting the little girl one street down to grow out of her screaming phase, but she has not. There's no odd note in her voice, nothing to indicate that she screams because she has a problem, though her parents might have a problem. (A couple of summers ago, I went to their house after hearing her outdoors at 7 AM screaming to be let inside. Who locks a toddler outside alone at any time of day?) Anyway, I didn't have a high opinion of these people.

Although he wouldn't let me near, the dog sat in his front yard while I found a rickety fence to which I attached my dogs' leash. He then trotted after me when I went to the front door, got no answer, and then opened a side gate for him to enter his back yard. I found another side gate that had been left open--not a surprising event in a household with children--and made sure it was latched.

When I returned later to leave a note on the door about finding the dog, I heard him barking from indoors. So you have a family where everyone is probably gone all day and a doggie door so that the dog won't be confined for nine or ten hours. You have a fence with rickety gates and two children. Wouldn't checking those gates be part of your daily ritual when leaving for work?

Calling all Airedales

This is sort of a flash-party, since it's only a week away. In the past, people from the Portland area and Vancouver, B.C. have attended similar parties; but there hasn't been one in a long time. I'm not one of the organizers but I'm suggesting bringing snacks for people and dogs that we can put on the picnic table outside the park.

Let's have an all Airedale gathering on Sat. Aug the 25th at 5pm at the Kirkland KDOG Off Leash Dog Park. It is also one of our Airedales Lupe's 4th birthday and he will be happy to be the greeter and host! Sheila, and her Dales, Kimi and Rummy will also be helping to organize and host this long anticipated get together.

We chose the time that we thought would work best for most, and so we are deciding on a Saturday evening. We hope for sunshine and good weather. The KDOG Off Leash Dog Park is fully fenced in, it is safe and has a large dog area and a small dog area, so we will be in the Large Dog area, and the park is large enough for our furry terriers to run around and have a great time. There is also a shady area under the trees, so we don't have to be exposed to the heat the entire time, and there is enough space for everyone to spread out or mingle with other Terrier fanatics like ourselves. So let's swarm KDOG park that Saturday with Airedale galore!!

Here are more details for the park, click on this link http://www.kdog.org/Home/PlanVisit.The dog park is formally called Jasper's Dog Park, Location: 11225 NE 120th St, Kirkland, WA 98034 (Intersection of NE 120th St. & 113th Ave NE)

Squirrel laundry

Squirrel in Montana, public domain

Wildlife centers do huge amounts of laundry daily in industrial-sizes machines. Towels, sheets, and pillowcases are used as bedding for baby animals and the bedding is changed just like diapers on human babies. Because the bedding is full of crumbs and crud, you don't just stuff it in the washer the way you might at home. You have to shake out each piece, whether it's a washcloth or a large bed sheet, before putting it in the machine. And if you're the only substitute volunteer there on a Friday afternoon and there's a pile of laundry as high as yourself, you work fast but thoroughly--bend down, pick up two pieces, shake 'em over the trash barrel, throw in the washer, bend again and what the [blank] is that?

A long-tailed brownish-grey thing curled up, sleeping comfortably, among the towels. I woke him when I picked him up carefully in both hands where he lay, incurious and sleepy. Not a very squirrely squirrel, he was either a super laid-back personality or had just finished lunch. He seemed almost as long as a grown squirrel but was all legs, head and tail. Still short of fur, the tail had a long way to go before becoming the fluffy duster of an adult.

I took him upstairs to the squirrel room where one employee thanked me and whispered, "This is very bad." Another said it happens occasionally because of the way little animals like to huddle up in piles of their bedding. People caring for them are supposed to count the number of animals in each box before and after feeding as well as after changing bedding. The squirrel and I were the only ones not upset. It was a very warm day and he hadn't gotten wet or chilled.

The incident may or may not find its way into the volunteer education program as an example of why it's important to follow every step of a procedure and not cut corners, however irksome those many steps might feel. It's not easy following all rules to the letter at all times; but if you live with a dog, you may have trained yourself to do so. Feed the dog from the dinner table? He'll remember forever. For dogs, there is no "just this once," especially when it's to their advantage, like a treat from your plate or a nap on your bed. When you resist the natural human tendency to get lax about the rules, you never know when that ability will come in handy.

Verbless Vednesday

Dry clean only.

command of the day

Stop drooling on my garbage!

And the camera.



Taciturn Thursday

Because I missed wordless Wed., not knowing what day it is.

No comment!

A new dog blog

I live in a very doggy area with a good sense of fun. The Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance has started a new dog blog on the neighborhood website. Lots of civic websites feature important people--city leaders, volunteers--but how many feature the neighborhood dogs?

The Airedale mind-meld

During a discussion about staring into space on Airedale-L, Terry in Seattle recalled  the way one of her 'dales would stand by the bed and stare if he had to go out during the night. She wrote, "Did you know that it is possible to awaken an adult human at 2:00AM in a pitch dark room simply by staring at him? How DO they do it?"

I  remember The So-Perfect Darwin doing the same thing. I'd float up from sleep, open my eyes, and there he'd be, staring intently from a few feet away, too far for the touch or smell of dog breath to have awakened me. It had to be the thought waves.

Who else has been awakened in the night by your dog staring at you, telling you he or she needs to go out?

Go Dog Go Festival

Let's go!

First raise the canopy.

Then add the stuff, including our special dog park packs. The park is called Jasper's after the Jack Russell who inspired the initial effort to create a park many years ago.

Anything to eat in there?

And then the dogs begin.

Some are very tiny.

A visitor from the English Bulldog Rescue table.

Dogs who help children read. They probably read, too, but don't let on.

So much to sniff, so short the leash, a busy Irish Terrier.

Representing the Hound Group at the Kirkland Parks Dept. table.

There were dog walks, freestyle dancing, frisbee throwing and flyball in the rings. 

And a few essential ingredients to bring home.

This is post number 440!