A stray Border Collie and an old Lab mix

It was so nice to get back to walking shelter dogs after 5 weeks on the East Coast of the U.S. without a dog. Cash,my Aussie shepherd, and I walked Daddy Long Legs, the older black lab. I then played with the male 2 year oldish Border Collie who has gone unclaimed at the shelter for a few days and if no one claims him will be available for adoption. He was a nice fellow who really enjoyed playing fetch with his tennis ball. He was even pretty smart in catching on when I tried to trick him by fake throwing the ball in different directions. For more information on either of these dogs contact http://www.humanesocietyofthepalouse.org/index.html

Marking Territory

I recently spent 5 weeks on the East Coast of the United States in the suburbs of New Jersey, taking care of my sick mother. I had left my dogs at home but to de-stress I spent an hour or more a day walking around my old home town. I noticed a regular group of friendly dog walkers, and I also noticed a small handful of signs posted on the edge of nicely landscaped properties, many of which were maintained by lawn service workers and not homeowners. While I am a strong believer in property rights, I got the feeling that many of the signs were put up not necessarily in order to fix some out of control problem, but instead as an assertion of human territory. I have lived in congested areas before and now live in the country where I get my fair share of motorists throwing their empty beer cans and candy wrappers out on the edge of my property but instead of putting up ugly signs that I'm guessing would be ignored anyway, I just pick up the garbage every once in awhile, and don't think too much about it. It's my contention that in crowded congested areas, New jersey being the most crowded state in the Nation with 1195.5 residents per square mile (Washington D.C. has 9856.5 but is not a state) Idaho having 19 residents per square mile, people get more defensive of their territory. So I was surprised to see what I thought were unattractive signs at the edges of lovely landscaped properties. To me the signage seemed more distasteful than the occasional overlooked dog dropping. I am a responsible dog walker and pick up after the dogs I walk, but this battle of land owners verses a few irresponsible dog walkers seemed to go deeper than the obvious. The one that made me laugh was the pretty sign with silk bows that asked for the dogs not to "Pee " on the shrubs. I'm wondering how they would even know? There were 4 of these signs spread out over the perimeter of this property and the ironic aspect was that this person's shrubs, attractive as they might have been, were also spreading out a good way onto the public sidewalk( note photos above). Do they really believe that ownership extends out to the public sidewalk despite the fact that they had made the initial plantings? I'm curious as to how the public/private boundary was not clearly understood. Was someone perhaps claiming more territory in an overcrowded area? The yard and shrubs were quite lovely, but once again the signage, complete with silky ribbons, did really draw the eye away and detract from the lovely plantings more so than any dog's pee, as far as I'm concerned. Oh well, more thoughts to ponder on a crowded planet where there are so many people and so many dog owners. I guess we creatures all try and claim territory, the trick is to figure out how to all get along.

Walking without a dog

The last few weeks I have been on the East Coast of the United States taking care of my elderly mother. My husband has been home taking care of our dogs and my gardens. It's not been easy helping my mom through illness but she seems to be doing a little better. To relive my stress I go for long walks through the suburban neighborhoods. I choose routes with lovely historic homes and beautiful landscaping. I walk with my radio headset on tuned into the high paced world of the New York City Metro area. It feels so strange to walk without a dog. I brought my camera but forgot to bring the device that lets me up load photos to the computer so I apologize for the lack of photos with my post. I stop and talk with people who are walking their dogs. Most dog people are very gracious about letting me visit with their dogs and say they do the same thing when traveling without their dogs. I'm pleased to see that there are more mixed breed adopted dogs in this area, as in the past it was mostly designer purebred dogs, so I'm guessing more people are adopting dogs from shelters. There are even a lot more people out walking than there used to be as people are getting more health conscious in general. It's interesting to me to see the changes from year to year. I usually visit once a year or every other year. On the one hand, things seem more crowded and noisy, on the other hand more people are out walking and taking the time to stop and talk with others. It seems like people still hunger for connection even in this high paced, highly congested area, where there is so much competition for resources, we are still exchanging stories, information and ideas. I thought about calling the local dog rescue group but they didn't have any current dogs listed on their website, and the weather has been unbearably hot here, which is not good for dogs to be out walking in for the 4-5 miles I am covering, on hot pavement and in high humidity, so I thought I would wait to call if the weather breaks. Have fun enjoying your dogs and wonderful lives. I hope mom gets well and I get to go back to mine soon. Namaste

Some new Cow dog/Herding Breed mixes at the shelter

These two guys are both fairly young. They are waiting to be claimed, or for enough days to go by until they become wards of the shelter. One seems like a Border Collie/Australian Cattle dog mix, the other, some kind of Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie mix. The black and white guy is named Deuce as in" what the Deuces is a cute dog like that doing here?" For the life of me I can't figure out why the gals did not name him Patches, but I will have to ask. For more info on either of these guys you can contact http://www.humanesocietyofthepalouse.org/index.html

George, my current favorite dog at the shelter

My previous favorite Sara, the Black Lab Border Collie mix, was adopted rather quickly. I got to talk to the people who adopted her and told them what a sweet, well behaved 6 month old puppy she was, and I guess they sensed it too, and took a chance on her. It's always helpful to have first hand insight into a dog by someone who has spent time with the dog. This is George, a large German Shepherd mix with a dash of something wire haired, making his coat soft and smooth, but a tad wiry and perhaps less prone to shedding. He looks like a German Shepherd that someone stretched upward and outward. He's about 2 years old. His hips look good as far as I could tell, and he is sweet, playful, charming and loves to be paid attention to. He also enjoys playing fetch. He was not officially the shelter's dog yet, so I played with him in his kennel instead of taking him for a walk.I'm guessing no one will claim him as he was found abandoned in the dog park across the street from the shelter, but you never know.

Update-Luckily for the dog, I guessed wrong. As it turned out George's owner came and got him. Once again, someone's worst fears that the dog was killed by coyotes, because they found his collar but not the dog, prevailed. So one unhappy emotional roller coaster ride, and at least three days later, the people thought, why not call the shelter just in the off chance the dog landed there despite the fact it was some distance from their house. Lo and behold the dog was just sitting at the shelter waiting to be claimed by his people. It always amazes me that people will follow the lead of their worst fears before ruling out other possibilities. I wonder what that impulse is in human nature, to immediately assume the worst outcome and eliminate other scenarios? Well at least there was a Happy ending for all. If the dog had been micro chipped the owners would have been contacted right away, so despite the fact that a dog has a collar and i.d. on, they can end up lost and without identification, so it pays to micro chip as well.

On a side note on- The Hazards of Hi- tech clothing-(not a brand name, just style of sportswear) I had a scary experience with a pair of Hi- tech cross country ski pants recently. Idaho has had a cold and rainy spring, so I wore my ski pants out while dog walking, and then stood in front of the wood stove to warm up and dry off. I was about a foot away from the wood stove and had a funny sensation, and noticed that the pants, which did not look particularly synthetic, so I was not intuitively conscious of their hazards, started melting while I was wearing them. I quick took them off, and luckily they had been big on me to begin with so I was uninjured. It was quite the scary experience to have my clothes melting on me while I was wearing them and none of the other clothes I was wearing melted at that time and distance, so I kind of freaked out a bit. I called the company and got a snotty, non nonchalant, Oh yeah that will happen, and there was a tag on the pants when you bought them, too bad for you, response. I was sort of expecting an apology and maybe some coupons. Mind you they were about $100 ski pants and I told the woman that I also owned another pair of her company's expensive pants. I know, as my husband said, it was probably my fault. I guess I just have to be super conscious at all times or adopt a philosophy of wearing only natural fiber clothing that will be on the whole, less hazardous to my health. I think in the future, I will just keep my $100 and next time knit myself a pair of wool leggings or get some old kind of natural fiber ski clothes. I just thought I'd tell my story so other people don't get injured and/or ruin their expensive clothing. I was not touching the stove, and like I said, the pants looked more like stretchy cotton pants, so it was not foremost on my mind that they could melt like nylon. I also have a few other hi- tech, natural looking, sports wear, items of clothing which I will be more careful about. So be aware, that some hi- tech clothing is not reliable around wood stoves or heating devices, whether or not you think you are a reasonable distance away from the heat source. The woman representing the company also stated that the pants have melted in the dryer, so use caution with this type of clothing.

The joys of walking shelter dogs in springtime

It's always so much fun to walk shelter dogs when the flowers are in bloom. This little 6 month old darling is Sara, the Black Lab Border Collie mix (with one blue eye), available for adoption http://www.humanesocietyofthepalouse.org/wp/?page_id=12. A perfect combination of friendly and smart. She passed all my good dog, tests. She came to me when I sat down, and shared affection. She looked back at me during our walk. She got along with my Aussie Cash, walked nicely on the leash. For a 6 month old puppy stuck in a shelter she was sweet, well mannered, medium energy level, and smart, traits which are not always easy to come by in an abandoned dog. She even came to me when I called her, and sat when I told her to "sit". What a sweetie pie, she can only get better from here, as she is still young. It makes me wonder why someone would get rid of such a nice puppy, but then I wonder a lot when working with shelter dogs.

There is the Dog Whisperer and then there is..,

me, the "Dog Conjurer". When I am not helping shelter dogs I take a large, white, rescued dog with me that belongs to my friend who is a nurse and who works long hard hours in service to the sick. My friend's dog is 3 years old, as is my Australian Shepherd, so they are fairly well matched as playmates, in terms of energy levels, and play styles. I usually pick the dog up on my way to one of the many nice trails we have around here and then walk for an hour or more. On a few occasions I have taken her dog to my house which is about 4 miles away, and then walked from my house either with just my dog and friend's dog, or with my neighbor and her rescued greyhound joining the pack. My friend's large female dog had been to my house about 4 -5 times when one day about an hour before I was going to get her to walk, she just showed up. My dog's started barking and my husband said" there's a strange dog running down the driveway" and low and behold it was my friend's dog. I just gave her some water, threw her in my stall shower and cleaned her up and then let her play with Cash my Aussie. We later went for a walk a good 5 miles, and then I returned her to her house and shut the doggie door to the outside. It seems she had found a way through the fence. On another occasion my friend had been working a lot and her boyfriend was gone all Saturday volunteering for a charity event. Once again I had planned to take her dog later in the day. I was sitting on my sofa feeling a little off, as the spring weather around here has been snowy, rainy and miserable with a few scattered moments of sunlight breaking through before another bout of hail. I was debating the merits of which walking trail to take. Do I want to go to town? go down the paved bike trail? Take the gravel hiking path? I really wanted to stay at my house and walk out the scenic ridge past the farms. It's a paved road out in the open, which means I'd be able to absorb what little sunlight might be available, and not heavily trafficked, and there are long vista type views in certain places and two adorable cow dogs at the halfway point that come out to greet us. I'm such a sucker for cute dogs as motivation for keeping my spirits up while walking. I kept thinking "oh it would be so handy if my friend's dog just showed up here, then I wouldn't have to drive over, get her and drive her back later" Just as I was thinking to myself "I shouldn't even be putting that thought out into the universe, what am I thinking?" My dogs started barking and I looked over at the door and there she was! I guess the dog read my mind before I even thought it! A more reasonable explanation was she was bored and lonely, and knew where her friends were. So we went over the same routine again, I cleaned her up, gave her water, she played with Cash, my Aussie Shepherd, and then we went for a long walk. I told my friend what had happened and she was shocked that the dog had found it's way over here. It's about four miles by highway or perhaps shorter as " the dog runs" We were trying to figure out what kind of reasoning led her to find my house. Did she take a short cut? or follow the path the car took? Did she use visual landmarks? My friend got a little annoyed at her dog, but the dog was only trying to alleviate it's loneliness. Dogs are pack animals after all. I was reminded of how we humans can get rather annoyed when our children, pets, other fellow humans do not fit nicely into our plans. What may initially seem like annoying behavior or willfulness that disrupts our intentions, is only another creature trying to express in a communicative way, that it's needs aren't being met. Instead of just being annoyed with them, we should try and listen to them and identify the problem and rectify it . I suppose that's what communication is all about: listening, hearing the message, identifying and understanding the issue, and then solving the problem. Happy spring dog walking to all.




On a side note, I recently read Cesar Milan's book " Cesar's Way." I was touched by his sensitivity, especially given that he is such a powerful, macho guy. I thoroughly enjoyed the book http://www.amazon.com/Cesars-Way-Everyday-Understanding-Correcting/dp/0307337332