A less obvious danger than a funicular railway
It was on a little visit to Lisboa that I was reminded of the silent killer. That’s right–curbs. They’re at your feet. Inconspicuous. Waiting to strike.
Posts Tagged ‘Walks’
Sunrise Walking
All this week mom and dad have been getting up at 5:30 or 6 in the morning in order to make themselves more into morning people after reading some article. I am not amused. As a luxury dog, I just want to stay in bed and hang out through the more mundane parts of the morning. However, I quickly realized that getting up early wasn’t a bad thing at all! In fact, the article said that the best way to turn yourself into a morning person was to go for a walk first thing because the sunlight helps improve your body rhythm and gets you up early. Well, darn it if I am not a morning dog now! When I hear the alarm go off, I know to run straight downstairs to my box to get my lead!
This morning was especially nice as you can probably see in the pictures we took while we were out there. A beautiful Sunday morning after a pretty miserable rainy day. And since it was so early in the morning, mom let me off the leash with no restrictions to stay close! I got to run everywhere and see boats and birds and all sorts of fun rolling places.
As I perfected my eau d’Winston, in the newly cut grass of the meadow (apparently they cut the grass so the cows will eat the new shoots of grass, also it tames the meadow which is a very good thing!) I realized that I would soon be leaving my idyllic meadow to head to the snow bound tundras of North Dakota… mom and dad both wondered out loud how I would adapt to the changing weather.
But rolling through the meadow isn’t the only way to perfect your eau d’Winston. As you can see the meadow was full of puddles even though the flood pond had receded a ways. I saw a bird and rain straight for it, and to my surprise, I ended up in chest deep water! However, when I managed to extricate myself, I realized how cool it was to run through the water at the edge! I always thought it was deep, but really I can just go through the water anytime! Mom says I better watch out or I am going to be spending a lot of time in the basement with Twag if I keep it up. I prefer to stay in the luxury of pillows and a bed so I think that I am going to stay out of the slough for a while.
On the way home we saw a squirrel!! We were turning the corner, when I just saw it in the middle of the road, and it froze, so I froze- but then it took off! Excited, I took off, yanking Mom around the corner (she almost dropped me, the camera, and whatever else she was holding), but when she realized there was a squirrel, she ran with me to chase it down! Unfortunately, it got up that tree in the picture before I could meet it, but I watched it from the ground in case it came down! As you can see, I also had no problems going into someone’s yard to check out the squirrel problems.
Speaking of infestations- look what I saw!!! Crazy right? That cat was just brazenly hanging out on the street! I couldn’t go get him because I am a good dog and I know I can’t go into the road (or my parents shout pavement and I am in trouble). But i gave that cat a good staring down. It is ridiculous the problems we are having on our street….
So when I got back, I had to get a bath of course. But to my horror, I discovered I was using puppy and cat shampoo!!?!??! Now, normally I get the help to purchase the groceries, but I had no idea what an affront it would be! And to make matters worse, the cat is licking the puppy!!?!? What is that about? I am issuing a formal protest right now.
22
06 2008
Eau de Winston
Springtime is here, and I have finally perfected my dog scent. And, actually, mom is not disgusted by it. And in a complete change of doggy policy, because of it, I am let off the lead far more often! It is win win for everyone!
So basically this is how it goes, to get a truly good scent you need to roll in stuff. Mom was never too pleased to let me roll in stuff because she thought I was rolling in the nasty. I used to, dead birds, goose poop, lady dog pee. But it wasn’t quite right. But this weekend, after some amazing summer weather (21 degrees!!!) I finally got it right- wild parsley, clovers, bluebells, and dandelions! I started rolling in the parsley and clovers, and mom went over to inspect. Not seeing anything out of order, she let me off the lead! So like a crazy springtime dog, I was rolling everywhere! It was awsome!
I even have started to avoid the icky stuff and listen when they tell me to come back. So this spring has been awesome because I can run around the meadow free! Nice one for dog. (Its my favorite thing).
09
05 2008
From Lilliput to Wonderland… The Giant Ball
Well, things went from the land of Lilliput to the Wonderland, or as some might say- the land of the giants!! This crazy ball is the ball that mom sits on to do work. I have never really been too interested in it, because it is like every other piece of furniture. But then all of a sudden, dad started bouncing it and I realized it was a giant tennis ball!!!
I love playing ball. I really do. This afternoon, we went to the meadow to fly kites with Jake and Ruth Anne. Dad brought my ball to play with, the red one with the string, and I ran around for a bit with it. But then dad and Jake got out this white ball with seams, and it was hard and they started throwing it to each other and catching it with big hands! It was awesome, I kept running back and forth between them to try to get it. I’ll admit I got tired a little bit, but I was re-energized everytime one of them dropped the ball (mostly Jake, dad was awesome!!) and I got it from them and ran away. I was completely uninterested in my ball, seriously.
Anyway, so this giant ball comes along and I had to try to get on top of it. It didn’t work very well, but you can check out the video to see how I faired. I almost managed it right at the end, but I think I will try again later. Mom is mad at dad for encouraging me because now she thinks I think I can play with the ball, even though it is her chair… well she is right! I’ll get that thing yet!
Ever see that episode of The Office where Jim punches a scissors into Dwight’s yoga ball while he is sitting on it? Well, I got four sharp scissors on each hand… hehehe.
Movie to follow…
02
03 2008
Emergency Baths after Awesome Walks
Man- I had two great walks this past week, both of which ended up with emergency baths; which I guess is how you can tell a good walk from a bad walk- but still- emergency baths then make the walk not so much fun at all!
The first walk, Dad took me out for an early morning walk before work. We walked to the meadow and then started walking along the river, meadow-side. That is the side of the meadow where during the winter it looks like a lake. But since it hasn’t gotten to that point yet, it was actually a pleasant walk. It was early, and no one was out (and the weather wasn’t great), so dad let me off my lead! I ran around and played with birds and had a great time. Then the best thing of all happened; I found a dead bird!
A dead bird’s head to be precise, the rest of the bird was about 15 feet away, and I found that too. So of course, I took the oppertunity to roll in the bird as much as I could. Dad didn’t have the lead, so he had to chase me down, and that was fun too! So I rolled in dead bird and a little bit of poop, it was awesome. But as soon as I got home… into the tub! I couldn’t believe it. And not only that, but dad washed me (he does a better job anyway) and then left me for work to add insult to injury.
A couple nights later, dad thought we should try again, and we went back to the meadow, back along the river, but I didn’t get let off my lead. So we were walking along, and it got muddier and muddier (it had been raining all week); suddenly, Dad yells and I look back and he is up to his butt in mud! He had just fallen into some wierd bog hole. His shoes, his sweatpants, everything was soaked and muddy! So I said- “awesome!” and of course jumped into the mud with him… emergency bath 2 that night! Mom isn’t going to let dad take me on walks anymore!
Although yesterday we went for a saturday afternoon walk in great weather and dad through my ball for me, but then I bit him in the hand by accident and made him bleed, so even though there was no mud or fowl, and no emergency bath; it wasn’t a fully sucessful walk! Bad luck!
Photo: Emergency bath wrestle after mudballing; I am trying to kick dad in the head… I almost went chuck norris on him.
Tags: Walks
06
10 2007
A Broken Spirit doth a Sad Dog make
So, picture this, folks. It was Thursday, and my Mom was taking me for a walk along the canal. I was having a great time–I met a schnauzer, I sniffed the breeze, I watched bicyclists go by. Then, I found a primo poop spot and managed, even though Mom was keeping a close eye and a firm grasp on me, to smudge a little bit onto my neck (on the white part, so it was especially becoming) and on my collar.
Mom seemed disgusted at first, but then when we got to a nice grassy playground, she let me roll around with all abandon! And I mean, for about 5 minutes (35 doggie minutes!!). I thought she had finally calmed down. We even took a new route home through the meadow, along a muddy cowpath, and I had some great-smelling stuff on my feet! I really felt like a dog!
Turns out, she was leading me like a lamb to the slaughter. I knew something was wrong when she didn’t take me off my leash before opening the front door. And when she started gathering up my dog towels, I tried to bolt–but what could I do? I was still leashed. And so, I resigned myself…and had a bath.
I even tried to act noble, hardly trying to escape and mostly just standing there as she unrelentingly soaped me up and rinsed me off, soaped me up and rinsed me off, soaped me up and rinsed me off…but inside my heart was breaking! I had never smelled so good in my whole life, and in a matter of 5 minutes (35 doggie minutes) she destroyed all I had built.
What’s worse, she even washed my collar and in the meantime I have to wear my ridiculous baby collar. I feel like such a loser. I’m just going to go lay in a patch of sun and try to dream my troubles away.
Woof!
25
08 2007
How Refreshing!
Mom took me for an extra-long walk today, to University Parks! It was great! I got to trot along on my extend-o-lead, smell the flowers and the poo, and even made a new friend!
His name is Simba, and even though I’m twice as old as he is, he is already much bigger than I! His parents asked Mom if I was ok with other dogs, and she said yes, that I love them. Which is absolutely right! So I got to spend a few minutes making friends with Simba. We started with the classic simultaneous bum-sniff, but soon I was jumping in arcs over Simba’s back and he was trying to pet me with his ginormous paws. It was great. Probably the best five minutes I’ve ever had in the park.
Unfortunately, Mom wanted to keep walking, so I had to say goodbye to Simba, but I sure hope I run into him again someday. Dogs gotta play!
Woof!
09
08 2007
A Family Excursion
Today was Awesome!! Right now, my buddies Jake and Ruth Ann are in France watching guys running over dogs, I mean, the Tour de France, so Mom and Dad and I had borrowed a car from some friends for various runnings around and because they left to “go home” (wherever that is–this seems like home to me!). But we had to drop it off today, and because Dad’s city bike broke, we decided to make the long walk home an excursion for the whole family!
We dropped off the car at about 4:35 and set out. It was a beautiful sunny day today and let me tell you, I was pretty happy to be outside. First we walked up a giant hill, then along a high, grassy strip of land, through a neighborhood, a shopping center, and a whole different meadow than yesterday. And I got to walk through Mom’s college! I was very proud of myself.
By the time we finally got back to friendly territory, though, I’ll admit I was pretty pooped. I tried to dive into the veterinarian’s, but Mom and Dad drug me home instead (what can I say–I really like the treat’s Jo the nurse gives me!). When we got home it was after 6:15–we walked for almost two whole hours! Even Mom and Dad admitted that they were pretty tired by the last thirty minutes or so.
I tried to bring home a nice souvenir by rolling in some poo along the way, but all that got me was an unceremonious dunking in the bathtub (my second this week, so Mom wasn’t happy either, but she only washed my poo spot this time). Now I’m just going to crash downstairs with Dad and watch a bit of the Tour de D0g-Rolling highlights on T.V. and think back on our awesome family excursion. Woof!
18
07 2007
The Duck Strikes Back
One of my favourite things to do on runs with Mom is terrorize the ducks that sleep on the end of the canal. Fun for me, fun for them, I thought. Until yesterday.
Mom and I were taking the long route to Fiddler’s Island, and I had been sending every duck for at least the last half mile scurrying for cover. And we ran past the next batch, I slowed down because one duck hadn’t moved, and I wanted to get a closer look. Mom had just kept running, but I was on the extend-o lead so that was fine. I got closer and closer. The duck just kept looking at me.
Suddenly, with a flutter of wings and a low hiss, the duck leapt into the air and hovered just above my head like a kung-foo movie star! Mom looked back at this point, her mouth dropping open, and yanked me to safety. I was ok, just a little startled and confused. Whatever happened to the natural order of things?
Which leads me to believe that either 1) this duck had a nest nearby or 2) this duck is half duck, half Jackie Chan. Probably the result of some illegal laboratory testing. How do you like those reasoning skills?
Woof!
Tags: Walks
13
07 2007
Getting Back in Shape the Winston Bengfort Way
Like any star, I must care for my physique. That’s why, after two-and-a-half weeks of recuperation, I’m back on the straight-and-narrow with my personal trainer (her name is Mom). Yesterday, we ran the canal, and today we ran to Wolfson and then walked back. I get water given to me from the trainer’s cupped hands. It’s both glamourous and grueling.
I even changed my diet. After snubbing the Science stuff I was on, the ‘rents finally got the picture and got me some great new stuff, called James Wellbeloved. Delish! And I got some sweet little Cesar “A Little More Refined” wet food that gets mixed in every once in a while (Mom checked–Cesar is specially designed for people who obsess about their little dogs and it wasn’t a part of that recall). Sometimes I get a nice cooked egg to keep the coat shiny. So yeah, you could say I’m working hard and looking good.
Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some new toys that I’ve just got to destroy. A dog’s work is never over! Woof!
Action shot!
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