Heart of Dogness

Taking the Dog for a Walk: Back to the Beach

Fall is my favorite season anywhere, but especially here on the Cape. The dogs can go on the beach again without incurring the wrath of the local gendarmerie, and there's something new every time you go.

Two weeks ago, it was the first Buffleheads of the season, and somebody walking a matched pair of Samoyeds. One of these was a sweetheart, and the other was a jerk just like Gus. Good thing everybody was leashed. Also met a Yellow Lab whose owner was convinced that JoJo's "let's play" act was a vicious attack. Like as if JoJo could hurt a Lab, or even get its attention.

One week ago, it was the first Brants of the season. About a dozen, tucked into the little cove down at the end of Long Beach. And we saw Flora, the World's Sweetest Golden Retriever. Very submissive, Flora, unless you're a dog and try to get in her car. She don't put up with that crap.

The day after Election Day, Gus and I strolled to the end of Long Beach and up the back side. We saw a raft of about a hundred Brants. Gus wanted to run after them, but he couldn't stay on top of the water. The sun had set before we returned, so we walked back under a rising full moon.

Yesterday, I took both Gus and JoJo. On a bright, clear and pretty-damn-windy afternoon, we met a pretty Golden, a really neat-looking white mutt with black patches around each eye and on the tip of his tail, and Flora again. Gus has become such a total putz that I automatically leash him when I see another dog. Can't tell if it's because his leg hurts (which it wouldn't if he'd stop eating it) or because he's protecting JoJo.

Down at the end, we saw about a half-dozen Buffleheads in the cove where the Brants usually hang out, and raised about fifty Brants, who turn out to make the same noise flying that they do sitting on the water: the sound of an equal number of twelve-year-old boys gargling bilge water before spitting it at each other.

And always, whatever the season, there are gulls. One of the winter species is shown above.

The Dog Ate My Homework: JoJo's Literary Taste

My many loyal reader will recall that a few weeks ago I reviewed Linda Johnston's Double Dog Dare, and said some nice things about it. I no longer have a copy of that book. Yesterday, while I was out, JoJo took it upon herself to shred Double Dog Dare and The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury.

Both of these books were on end tables well out of JoJo's reach, so I'm at a loss to explain how she got to them. There were also several books on the floor that she could have got to easily, but they weren't touched. I can only conclude that she selected these two books on purpose, and may have enlisted Gus to get them for her. Gus himself never shreds anything but his own leg and the occasional tennis ball.

I wonder: does JoJo's selection of these two books constitute a favorable review or an unfavorable review?

Late-breaking News: JoJo only destroyed half of Double Dog Dare yesterday. The rest she hid on the deck, where it got rained on. She brought it back in to complete the job today. What a thoughtful little pooch.

Wee Small Hours

It's about 1:00 AM. There's a screech owl outside, making that really cool screech owl whinny. JoJo's barking at it. The girl's definitely off her rocker.

Taking the Dog for a Walk: The Beach Reopens

On September 15, the town's summer ban on dogs at the beach (can't let the tourists see what kind of loathsome mutts live here) expired. So we tossed the dogs in the car and drove down to Long Beach.

It was JoJo's first time at the beach, and to say she was in heaven would be to seriously understate her joy. She'd never seen so much space to run, or so many things to run after. As soon as she got to the water, she spotted the Sanderlings. These are the cute little birdies that run up and down with the surf, picking out bits of food from the sand. Most dogs will chase Sanderlings a hundred feet or so down the beach until the birds take off, then trot proudly back to their humans. JoJo didn't get this memo. She chased the Sanderlings a hundred feet or so down the beach until they took off, then kept chasing them as they flew out over the water, landed several hundred yards away, then took off again to avoid JoJo, then flew out over the water, then.... Eventually, they all ran out of beach and the Sanderlings took off for New Jersey, muttering something about "friggin' dogs" under their breaths. And JoJo went looking for something else to chase.

The something else was Gus. JoJo darted around, over, under and through the bewildered mutt until she finally got him to chase her. She did at least seven complete laps of the beach, and Gus did three. Gus lay down and slept all the way home. JoJo lay down for about thirty seconds.

We've been back to the beach several times since. JoJo's figured out she's not going to catch Sanderlings, which now number in the hundreds rather than the few dozen that first day. We've also seen Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, a late-departing Willet, the first few of the coming millions of Eiders, and the usual aggregation of Gulls.

Product Review: Dr. Harvey's Barkotti

The nice folks at Dr. Harvey's sent us a package of their new Barkotti to test. The description in their email said: Barkotti are handmade biscotti for dogs made with organic ingredients. These treats are delicious and beautiful, and because they come from Dr. Harvey's you know they are the healthiest treats available. Dogs absolutely love Barkotti! These unique biscotti treats are made with organic flours, 8 vegetables, apples, 7 herbs, bee pollen and love! Barkotti contain no preservatives, coloring agents, corn, wheat, soy, salt or sugar and are made in the USA from 100% human grade ingredients. They promote healthy gums and teeth, and because they are so delicious they make a great training treat. We've been trying these for a couple of weeks, and here are the results: Gus: I never met a treat I didn't like, but I like these better than most. When Cap'n Chucky holds a Barkotti and another treat side by side, I'll go for the Barkotti first. And with all that healthy stuff in them, I should be around to enjoy Barkotti for a long time. JoJo: I'm kind of a Nervous Nelly, and coming for a snack is hard for me. When I take a Barkotti, I place it on the floor in front of me and start scoping for trouble. Then Gus takes the treat. I wolud probably like them. Maybe one day I'll calm down enough to just eat one. Cap'n Chucky: Barkotti have a pleasant whole-grain taste and just a little sweetness from the honey. They're not much harder to chew than regular biscotti, with a healthier nutritional profile. The Takeaway: A snack you can dip into your coffee and enjoy with your dogs. Don't dip your dogs' Barkotti into their coffee. They're perfectly capable of doing this on their own, and resent it when you presume to make decisions like this for them.

Update on Puppy Adoptions

I've been a bit lax about keeping folks up to date on the status of JoJo and Dinghy.

Gus no longer tries to kill JoJo, and has in fact become rather protective of her. They play together for hours, as illustrated at left. This looks, I'll admit, like Gus trying to kill JoJo, but please note that her teeth are every bit as much engaged as his. In fact, she usually starts this nonsense.

Best evidence that he's not actually trying to kill her is that, at some point during each of these fights, he'll roll onto his back and let her drag him around the room by his ruff. How a 25-pound dog drags a 60-pound dog eludes me, but she does it.

Dinghy is no longer the starved urchin he was when Betsy got him. He's about as tall and as long as JoJo, but his legs and body are twice as thick and his paws are bigger than Gus's (no big accomplishment, this: Gus looks like he's walking in toe shoes; nevertheless...). The vet's current estimate is that he's part beagle and part pit bull, and will end up at about 60 pounds. He's also a real sweetie pie.

JoJo sleeps

Sketch of JoJo about twenty minutes ago, sleeping through Brian Schweitzer's speech to the DNC. To be fair, it was a rebroadcast, and she may have been more enthusiastic the first time around. This guy's fun to watch.

Gus and JoJo get a bath

So, anyway, Gus was beginning to stink, and had his usual summer excess of hair; and JoJo still had the road dirt on her from when we picked her up. We bundled them into the car and hauled them down to The Grateful Dog in Hyannis.

This is a high-class wash-your-own-dog facility with several raised dogwash tubs (saves the back, and there are ramps for the dogs to walk up; not that either Gus or JoJo would walk up; still, it's the IDEA) and a wide selection of shampoos. Other amenities include plenty of towels, a restraint thingy to keep the dog from jumping out, and a blow-dryer that no longer terrifies Gus, although I'd hesitate to say he enjoys it. Scared the bejeezus out of JoJo.

First, we settled Gus (settled is a highly relative term) onto the de-shedding table for a quick brushout that lasted half an hour. We'll be knitting a village out of the results. Then my Lovely and Charming Wife and I each hosed off a dog, and we chatted with the owner, Kristen Ellis. She's delightful, sweet and knows her stuff, and also runs a pet-sitting and dog-walking business.

The resident pooch, a handsome rottweiler-and-who-knows mix named Cowboy, evidently had a political disagreement with Gus, but the two exchanged their views over the counter and no fisticuffs ensued.

If your dog needs a bath when you're around Hyannis, this is the place. Highly recommended.

Why DoggySpace is better than MySpace

We've just joined DoggySpace. I've put up a Profile for Gus, and another for JoJo. Each now has 13 friends, and each has received a message from a friend. All their friends are actual dogs, and none appears to be trying to sell anything or get their credit card information.

I joined MySpace about four years ago, and during that time, I've received about 13 friend requests. All but one of these has been from either a porn site, a hooker, or a mortgage broker. So my only friend is Tom. Just like it says on the t-shirt. Or, for those of you with really shattered self-esteem, the other t-shirt.

Radio silence ends

My apologies to all my reader for not having posted anything since the Great Bat Hunt. I've been busy trying to keep JoJo from eating Gus's toys, and trying to keep Gus from eating JoJo.

We seem to have reached at least a temporary accommodation. No telling how long it'll last. I've got a bunch of things I want to post.

We get a new dog. Gus, um, thrilled.

In the surest sign yet that the End Times are upon us, my Lovely and Charming wife developed Puppy Fever a couple weeks ago after Betsy adopted Dinghy. [Update: the vets now think Dinghy's going to grow up to be between 50 and 70 pounds; good thing the Schnauzers are nice to him.] So we went to Petfinder, and found JoJo, a beagle mixed with some kind of hound, at PAWS New England. We applied, were accepted, and on Saturday, July 19, we went to Plainfield, Connecticut to pick her up, with her medical history and health certificates. We weren't alone. There were about 150 dogs on the truck [from Alpha Dog Transport], and all but a handful had families waiting for them.

I tried to document as much of it as I could. If you had a dog on that truck and I didn't get a picture, please send me one and I'll put it in the Photo Album.

Photo Album of the whole shebang

Late-Breaking News: Gus, to no one's great surprise, keeps sitting in the corner trying to will JoJo into disappearing. I'll keep you posted on how that works out. JoJo, to her credit, isn't taking any crap off him.