In addition to my duties as Queen of the pack, I do some community service. I keep an eye on the street and sidewalk.
I have a table with a large pillow set up by the front window. It is in the office area where I gather my people. They like being near me. I have them do some brushing and combing during slow times on watch.
When a dog comes by, I warn it not to come near. I use my confident "big-dog" voice and they and their people move on.
Xenie started sneezing hard after walking at Alston Saturday evening. He thought it was just allergy so he took some Benadryl and tried to sleep. But the sneezing got worse and by 5AM he had started bleeding. Three hours later he was at the Napa Small Animal Hospital. There was a huge foxtail in his nose.
Xenie is resting with Charlie and Tommy visiting to cheer him up. I'm sure he will be back to his normal frolicking self soon.
I had my own trip to the vet this week to get a foxtail out of my ear. There was no blood but it really, really hurt.
As much as we love going to Alston Park, it looks as if we need to find an alternative spot for our long, off-leash walks. We are going to check out some other parks where we can go for the next couple of months until the foxtails are gone. I'll let you know what we find.
Gabe's most important job is to keep those noisey hot air balloons out of the park. He does a very good job, too. You can go almost any time and Alston Park is balloon free.
As the weather has turned warmer, we have change our start time to 7:00AM. That is how we caught them trying to land in our park. That first day, when one of them landed right in front of us, Gabe was totally outraged! How DARE they!!
Lily is the youngest of the Alston Little Rascals. She has a schedule these days whereby we don't see her as much as we did, but she is always welcomed enthusiastically when she comes!
She stopped to pose for a new picture for her Alston Little Rascals page. She has a cute hairdo and has grown quite a bit since her last one.
Camille Park is a city park, not a dog park. As with all city parks dogs are allowed on leash. I go to this park on rainy days because it is very close to where I live. If we can find a half hour between showers, I get a chance to stretch my legs and run around a little.
Although at first glance, the park looks nice, it is not a good general destination for a fun-loving dog like me. My people get all stressed when I am out of sight like when I chase one of the three resident cats down into the creek bed or if I go down one of the sidewalks among the condominiums right next to the park. Also, many of the dogs I have met are not very friendly and don't seem to like other dogs.
Even though we are not pack mates, Blue and I get along very well when we are in the Canine Commons together in the afternoon. We have one very important thing in common. We both served time in the Humane Society of the North Bay in Vallejo. In fact, Blue was on death row when he was taken into fostering.
One of the dog people brought a list of dogs in foster care needing adoption. We were both very interested to see their pictures. We are big fans of the fostering program. It gives dogs a chance to be in a home setting and to socialize with other dogs while they go through the adoption process.
In the afternoon we usually just hang out in the small-dog part of the Canine Commons. We meet a whole different crowd from the dogs we see in the morning when we run. This is our social hour. Beeker is one of the dogs we see quite often there.
At first glance, he seems fierce but he is really a very friendly guy who loves attention. It is just that Beeker gets excited when anyone comes near, even dogs or people he knows.
Dogs are well adapted to cold weather and are the fastest land animals over a distance. No wonder we have been in the forefront of Artic and Antarctic exploration. This is still true in modern times.
This movie is based on the true story of how a dog team was stranded by bad weather and were on their own through the Antarctic winter. It is inspiring to me to see these truly heroic dogs.
There are some sad moments and not every dog makes it through the harsh winter. There are many exciting and happy moments, too. I loved it but it is not a film for puppies.
This movie is available on Netflix
.I was hanging out with Gabe and Searsha in the Canine Commons the other day when in came Mister G. What he may have lacked in stature he more than made up for in personality and energy.
We all like him right away but he especially hit it off with the boys. I couldn't get a word in edgewise as they talked sports. I never knew there were so many dog sled racing teams! I eventually got a little bored and wandered off so I missed out in being in the picture.
