I also walk dogs...

Happy Halloween

2009-10-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

"He's as big as a horse!"

"Does he have a saddle?"

We get that all the time when we are out in public. So I decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and I borrowed a real pony saddle. Cyrus and I entered a PetCo Halloween Costume Contest with Cyrus imitating a Carousel Pony. I went as the joker who thought it was a good idea to put food coloring on the white dog

We had a great time and, even better, we won first place in the contest!

Woof! Woof!

Moe Art

2009-09-16T23:43:00.004-05:00

I have the coolest Aunt! She sent me one of her custom necklaces and remembered to put a 'safety clasp' on it because I am paranoid about wearing things around my neck that might not break before my neck does.

Thanks Aunt Maureen!!

If you want to read her exceedingly funny blog and see some of her hand made jewelry, clay work, and bead creations go here

http://moeart.blogspot.com/

If you like the Laurel Burch totes go here

http://www.colorfulcritters.com/laurelburchdesigns.aspx

Dog Tails #4

2009-09-15T19:20:00.003-05:00

Cyrus was graduated from Advanced Obedience class. Barely. We are going to repeat the class. But we got the certificate and the bragging rights LOL

Our clinic worked with a pet photographer to take pictures of our employees and their pets. I took my Siamese mix, Mycroft, and, of course, Cyrus.

I'm excited about the pictures we got back.

Though we can't do a thing about his tongue. ;)

Pea Vines (again)

2009-09-15T19:06:00.004-05:00

My Pea Vines bloomed and produced pea pods in abundance. I'll have enough seeds to plant along the entire back fence next spring. Wheee! The pods have terrific color and they are sorta shiny. Pretty. And easy to grow. So my new favorite plant.

Dog Tails #3

2009-08-09T20:30:00.003-05:00

Yeah, OK, so we've established that Cyrus is not the sharpest crayon in the box...

I have a "Beware of Dog" sign on my gate because Cyrus is deaf. I do not want a neighbor kid running into our yard and startling the 140# beast.

This picture made me laugh out loud....

Pea Vines

2009-08-09T20:19:00.003-05:00

Last year my sister had really cool Pea Vines growing on the columns of her porch and I wanted some too. So last fall she mailed me seeds that she had harvested from her plants. The seeds spent the winter in my fridge and I planted them in late May. These pics are of the vines on Aug 9th on my five foot fence.

A REAL pony

2009-06-01T01:42:00.003-05:00

The most common remark people make when they see Cyrus for the first time is "Does he have a saddle?" Kinda funny the first 50 times :)

Imagine my surprise today when I discovered the neighbors had a real pony in their backyard.

Arthritis Foundation "Arf" Walk

2009-05-28T22:43:00.003-05:00

Cyrus and I participated in the 2009 Arthritis Foundation "Arf" Walk. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. Cyrus got a lot of attention showing off his "merit patches" (sorta visible in the top picture). We raised a bit of money for the foundation and hung out with a bunch of other dog people. And that's a good way to spend a day!

More pics of the walk, but not of us, are available at:

http://www.arthritiswalkbloomington.com

Dog tails #2

2009-05-19T23:29:00.003-05:00

Cyrus and I were graduated from Intermediate obedience dog class tonight. WooHoo!

This is a nice accomplishment for most dogs. But for Cyrus this is a freakin' BIG DEAL. We took Beginner class twice. We took Intermediate three times.

Have I mentioned he's a slow learner?

We start Advanced class in July and at this rate of progression we'll probably need to take it four times.....

If and when we get thru the Advanced class, we may enroll in Beginner Rally. The kennel club trainers assessed his abilities and offered us a place in the next session of Beginner Rally class. I was rather pleased to be invited, but I think we're better off completing Advanced regular obedience class first. Rally may be too much for Cyrus and it's got a lot of turn right/circle left exercises that confuse me too. LOL

Rally is a competitive "dog sport" that occurs in an arena or field. The judges lay out a course of marked exercises and the dog-handler team navigate the course performing each exercise as posted at each station. Points are deducted for each mistake. Time is only important if there is a tie score, in which case, the fastest time wins.

http://www.apdt.com/po/rally/about.aspx

Wolverine Movie

2009-05-16T18:39:00.002-05:00

Saw the new Wolverine movie. I think the correct title is "Wolverine: X-men Origins" or something along those lines.

I now have a fangirl crush on Wolverine...

Hugh Jackman is a whole lot of fun to watch. And he has good hair.

Go see it.

Wolverine is an arch-type reluctant hero. The script was well constructed and doesn't negate anything already established in the X-men universe or Wolverine comics. The cast of mutants, both heroes and villains, have interesting and well developed back stories. Probably a few spin- offs in the works. I'm betting on "Gambit" as the next lead in a X-men movie.

Oh, and when you go, sit thru the credits. There are two possible "bonus" clips that run after the credits. The theater that I went to showed them both, but I gather that is not the case in many markets.

Dog tails #1

2009-05-14T03:10:00.002-05:00

The dog in my avatar is Cyrus. He's a 140 pound Great Dane. About 2.5 years old now, neutered, and a genetic mutant. He's deaf, has digestive problems, and has a tremor disorder. Other Dane owner's tell me that their Dane's aren't too smart as a general breed characteristic. I don't know if Cyrus has "general Dane dumbness" or if he was dropped on his head as a pup. But he's just not that bright.

None of that matters to him. And it doesn't matter too much to me. But there are days....

Several days ago I added a used patio furniture set to the back yard. A nice picnic table and some chairs and a couple of small tables. They've been in that backyard since Sunday. Cyrus has seen them, I'm sure he has. After all, it's his yard.

This afternoon we had thunderstorms, high winds, and some lightning. And, of course, the big dog of little brain needs to go out to potty during the worst of it. (He can't hear weather, he doesn't know if it's raining or storming until he gets to the door.) He realizes it's bad outside, but he's gotta go. He runs out smack into the edge of the picnic table. Hits his head. Stops. Sits down. Stands up. And hits his head again! This time with enough force to tip the table up on it's legs so it's rocking and looks like it might go over. Cyrus bolts sideways. Yep, right into a chair, which does tip over.

When he finally gets away from the evil patio set, he takes care of what he went out for. But now he can't get back to the house door because he's afraid to walk too close to the demon furniture. Ugh!

I had to go out in the rain to escort the Big Guy past the "danger" and into the house. We're both wet. He's anxious. I'm annoyed. And I wanna know just how big of a litter box he'd need.

First Post

2009-05-13T15:31:00.002-05:00

So, yeah, a blog. Why not? All the cool kids have one. (Hiya Coleen!)

Google requires a title for a blog.... Hmmm...... That leads to all sorts of questions....

Who am I? What can I do? What do I like? How do I want people to see me?

"I also walk dogs..." is a reference to the short story We Also Walk Dogs. Written by Robert A Heinlein and published in 1941, this story introduces the fictional company General Services. They provide any legal service to anyone, for a price. General Services employees are capable, competent, "handymen". They make things work. They figure things out. They get the job done.

(http://www.troynovant.com/Grube/Heinlein/We-Also-Walk-Dogs.html)

I like the story. I like the idea. I don't work for General Services.... but I could. And, hey, that's a cool title!

So, Welcome to "I also Walk Dogs..." a blog from a "handyman".

Adrianne