When the snow is up to your belly

Apparently it's World Puppy Day, hence the video below. It has melted a lot since last week, when Shadow had a couple of pretty long walks, and by the end of them he was pretty worn out. I guess that's how it is when the snow is up to your belly. All that delicious snow to bury your face in and eat, and definitely a good cardio workout by the time we got home! Happy Puppy Day...

A sun dog of a different kind

When it's so cold that the sun has little snatches of rainbow around it, we call those glowing prismatic spots sun dogs. But here's a sun dog of a different kind...

I'm so happy to see the sun rising in the sky. Every day, it gets a little higher, and Shadow has noticed, too. He's finally able to enjoy his sunbeam on the dining room floor again...

Mmmm, this is good...

Were you talking to me?

No? Oh, good.

Life's simple pleasures. Ahhh....

Back to snowy walks with a small dog

Winter arrived this week. I'm happy to see snow, and don't generally mind the cold, as long as it's a bit warmer than -30 C (the coldest thus far this week was an early morning -20 with windchill to -26). Shadow and I have been waiting until after lunch to go out this week, though I prefer to get the day's walk out of the way earlier.

Here are a few images and a video from this week's walks:

Mountain ash berries are pretty with snow...

The river is slowly freezing (when it isn't thawing -- 

our cold snaps keep getting interrupted with temperatures

in the pluses... 

It's hard to see, but Shadow has a white beard

from licking snowbanks as he romps along...

Gallagher Park -- arguably the city's best tobogganing hill...

We love living so close to the river valley...

No ducks left here...

and long shadows at two p.m....

If you've never walked a small dog in the snow, this is what it's like, minus the cold fresh air... Have a good weekend, friends!

The dog and budgie show

Clik clik clik clik clik.

The other night I was doing the dishes, and heard the sound of Shadow-pup walking toward me across the living room hardwood. I turned around to talk to him -- and he wasn't there.

Puzzled, I asked, "Who's got the dog?" and Julia called out from her room, "He's here, sleeping on my bed."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

That's when it dawned on me that Pebbles, the family budgie, has learned to imitate the sound of the dog's toenails on hardwood.

Now I'm waiting to hear the bird bark!

A snowy walk with a small dog

It's actually raining here today, but I thought I'd share some pics from a few days ago when there was fresh snow and Shadow and I took a walk... If you've never walked a dog on a snowy day, this will give you some idea of what it's like.

It was so snowy, we hardly knew we were in the city...

same place on a sunny day below...

Pictures don't quite do justice to a prance-y pup. 

Here's a wee video.

The way he shakes delights me, fur, legs and tail all flapping.

Happy New Year!

A Tuesday morning walk

If you've never walked a little black dog on a beautiful July morning, this will give you an idea of what it's like.

The park we walk through...

the tiny butterflies he chases...

his appreciation of cool, shady places...

the downhill path...

the uphill path... and a one minute clip of how he likes to run all over.

You're welcome to join us for a walk any time!

Life with a dog

It's been both better and worse than I expected. Better, in that I'm loving my morning walks with Shadow, the little Havanese puppy who is Julia's birthday friend. Worse, in that I've spent a lot of time worrying about the little critter.

First, I discovered that there are a lot of garden plants that are poisonous to puppies when ingested (so we got a little kennel/corral where he stays unless closely supervised). Second, black dogs don't do well in hot sun (which, amazingly, after an endless winter we've suddenly got in spades), but now we know enough to move the kennel/corral to a place where there's sun and shade, and he can choose his snoozing spot. And third, there are too many dog owners out there who don't clean up after their pets, leaving possibly dangerous feces all over the place (especially dangerous to puppies who aren't fully innoculated). Unfortunately, nothing we can do about that, except be hypervigilant. But our little critter managed to find some one day that I didn't see...

So I'm rather anxious about Shadow these days... because he's had an eye infection for the past three weeks, and the word distemper came out of the vet's mouth at one point. Here I've been worrying about the parvo virus since Shadow arrived (it can cause a form of doggie leukemia) and Dr. Z. mentions something even worse because it's untreatable. Yikes.

Shadow has been treated with a course of antibiotics and steroidal eyedrops that, heaven help me, I couldn't get anywhere near his eyes. So we had to go back for prednisone pills. Our pooch is on steroids! And he's really bulked up, no longer the skinny little pup he was before all this started. His eyes are much better... but still runny. Which makes that d-word the doc mentioned play in my dreams. We've only had him for 6 weeks, but I've kinda gotten used to having him around.

We had a lovely walk this morning, and met so many people. Puppies have a charm all their own, and even the kids with earphone implants that usually pass me without a greeting stopped to say hello. I wasn't sure I really wanted a dog to complicate my life, but now I'm hoping that once these steroids are done, all shall be well. Julia and the rest of us are counting on it...

A Shadow in the sun

Ahh, yesterday was a lovely, very spring-like day (FINALLY), the kind of day to make you feel like a frisky puppy, ha. So I took a walk with ours.

Shadow, Julia's little Havanese friend, seemed to be rejoicing in the warmer weather, too. For a change, he didn't have to wear his haute couture doggy turtle-neck sweater (designed by my husband out of an old neck warmer) that makes him look like a miniature panda bear. It's been a trick to get him to go anywhere on his leash because even with the sweater, he starts to shiver before long (though if you can get him to run beside you, he seems to forget that he's cold). Yesterday, no problem! We took two long walks.

Life with a dog is both better and worse than I expected, but Shadow is so darn cute and not all that smart yet, so there's no point in getting angry with him. He just doesn't get that he should always piddle on the pad instead of the lino, and he thinks that mud is for having fun -- which, I guess it is when you're a pup. It's not his fault that Julia lost her hold on him as they came in the back door yesterday... and he made it up the back steps, through the kitchen/dining area and all the way to the front door leaving muddy paw prints the entire way! Julia didn't even complain as she washed the floor after him while I took him to the laundry sink to clean him up.

He's even starting to let me have a decent night's sleep -- from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. without a break some nights. Shadow absolutely adores Julia, who has napped with him on one occasion, and takes him to hang out in her room on a regular basis (a nice break from his kitchen enclosure, I'm sure).

He's kind of messed up our usual routines, but he's also made us laugh, and work together in new ways. My husband and I regularly look at each other incredulously and say, "we're dog owners." But one of my great delights is watching how Lee talks to Shadow, takes him for walks, and shows a new and different sort of kindness to our newest family member.

I also delight in watching a little dog rolling in the grass on a sunny day, or strutting along the sidewalk in the sunshine like the world belongs to him.

Yes, I guess I'm officially a dog owner.