Harry Bobarry

Harry was a golden retriever who was one of the lucky dogs - he lived with the same owner his whole life - also one of the lucky ones - a lady who was lucky enough to be owned by Harry the golden retriever.
Pippa loved Harry so much that she didn't want him to be alone, and she travelled for her job - so Harry spent big chunks of time at my friend Janet's house - so Harry was also really special to her - and last night Harry became no longer physically with us.
He had lymphoma which is deadly for a dog and at the end it's a blessing to let them go rather than watch what is happening to the dog. But Harry had a wonderful life with Pippa and Janet.
He got to affect lots of people's lives with his calm loving eyes and gentle demeanour and his bumpy head in his old age, and he got to go for lots of walks at Point Pleasant Park.
He got to pee on tons of trees and sit on lots of grass and just think about wonderful life is - he never had to worry about anything
He had the kind of life we want for all dogs - really for all sentient beings.
.And his enthusiasm for life showed through and he gave his love to everyone - but he saved his special love for special people too.
Rest in peace Harry Bobarry.

NS SPCA Metro Shelter Adoptathon July 12th, 2008

The Dartmouth Shelter's SPCA is going to be having an adoptathon from 10am to 8pm on July 12th - they're hoping to have trainers on site so that they can have adopters sign up for required obedience training sessions on the same day - because it's hoped that adoptions are going to happen the same day and dogs and cats will be going home on the day of the adoptathon. The Dartmouth shelter is planning a big blitz in the next 2 weeks before the adoptathon so that as many people know about the event as possible and as many animals can find foreve homes as possible. It all sounds like a good idea to me. If any of these animals look good to you - and you're looking to add a new companion to your home - you should definitely look to the Dartmouth Metro SPCA shelter.

Big Dead Pig at Curly's Portables

I went for supper up at Curly's Portables in Enfield with some friends tonight - and they have a very large stuffed wild pig on display there that was supposed to have been killed at the turn of the century.
His name is Cuddles. I've had 2 cats named Cuddles - and one of them was also black. He didn't look anything like this though.


They also have funny signs throughout
the place - I suppose they get funnier as the evening progresses and the patrons get drunker and drunker - I personally do not drink alcohol so their level of hilarity stayed pretty constant the whole evening.



I also seem to have become allergic to black fly's this summer. Today I got bit on my eye lid and am nicely swollen on most of the left side of my face. I've previously had huge swellings on my forehead, back side of my head and my neck - black flies are not my friend this summer. Unfortunately I can't feel when they're biting me - so I can't mitigate their deadly poison.

Shiny Red Ball

Tonight I was mowing the lawn when suddenly I noticed - up in the tree - pretty birds!
So suddenly mowing the lawn was forgotten and I had to go get my camera and take some pictures.
I have no idea what kind of birds these are but there were about 6 of them, and they were certainly very beautiful.
Charlie however kept his vigil throughout my side trip watching to make sure no cats got over the fence and into the yard. He was successful on his watch and no cats made it through his steely gaze.

New Tick News

I have talked a lot about ticks - me and the dogs tend to go out into the woods often enough that we get ticks on us. So when there was an article in today's Chronicle Herald today about ticks - it caught my eye.

It was an article about a guy who was blown away by the fact that he got lyme disease by walking his bernese mountain dog in Admiral's Cove Park out in Bedford. When I was reading it I exclaimed to myself - NO SHIT SHERLOCK! I thought everyone knew that the ticks in Admiral's Cove Park had lyme disease in them. But I guess I was wrong. I've had a page on my website about ticks since 2006 when I first started finding ticks on the dogs - so I thought since it's early in the summer I'd point out the page again because it's got lots of good information there - and I'd link to my earlier postings that I've made about my tick findings because they've got pictures of the ticks I've found - if you handle the grossness of them. I've never found a tick on myself - I think I move too slowly for them.

I've also never found a tick on the little dogs - I think it may be because they stick to the path's pretty closely - so they don't tend to go in the high grass.

The places we've mostly caught ticks is out at Prospect Bay, The Dingle - can you imagine! And out here in Spryfield. Really though - they're everywhere.

Here's the link to the page on my website - and my previous postings are here -

There are ticks at the Dingle!

Out Damn Tick!

Ticks are everywhere in the HRM

Here's the article that was in the paper today:

Martin Maloney used to regularly walk his two dogs through the woods near Admiral’s Cove Park in Bedford.

That stopped in January, he said, when he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which he believes he caught from one of the many black-legged ticks that roam a roughly two-kilometre area around the public park.

Mr. Maloney is believed to be the first person in Nova Scotia to contract the disease this year.

"The only symptoms that I had, other than just normal aches and pains, I was mixing my words up when I was talking," the 49-year-old Bedford man said Monday night.

He said it was only after one of his dogs tested positive for the disease that he was advised to get his family checked out. It turns out he was the only one infected.

"We pick ticks off them all the time," Mr. Maloney said of the dogs. "We sent some in (to the Natural Resources Department) to get analyzed and one came back positive."

Lyme disease may cause a rash, fever, fatigue, muscle aches and headaches. If untreated, it can lead to facial palsy as well as chronic joint and heart problems.

Mr. Maloney said he was aware that the park near his home is a hot spot for ticks because of the high number of deer that frequent the area.

The ticks feed off the deer’s blood, which in turn allows them to lay eggs, sometimes as many as 1,500 at a time.

Dr. Richard Gould is the medical officer of health for the South Shore, Southwest and Annapolis Valley district health authorities. He confirmed Monday that Admiral’s Cove Park is one of three areas in the province with established tick colonies that have tested positive for Lyme disease in the past.

The other two spots are in Lunenburg and Gunning Cove, near Shelburne.

Dr. Gould said he’s "heard rumours" but doesn’t know for certain of any confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia this year. He said 12 cases have been confirmed in the province since 2001, mostly on the South Shore.

"It takes awhile for the reports to drift in, between the time of diagnosis, the testing and the reporting to public health," Dr. Gould said.

"Plus, not all the cases are reported. They’re supposed to be, but sometimes they don’t."

Mr. Maloney said the infectious diseases department at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax is aware of his case. No one in the department was available for comment Monday night.

Peter Graham, spokesman for the Capital district health authority, said the department wouldn’t have passed along the diagnosis to the Health Department unless Lyme disease was a reportable condition.

"If it’s not a reportable disease, it’s possible that we had it but we just don’t report it," Mr. Graham said.

Jeff Ogden, a field entomologist for the Natural Resources Department, said ticks have made their way to Admiral’s Cove Park on the backs of birds.

Most areas in the province have ticks, he said, but only those with a high concentration of white-tailed deer end up establishing colonies.

A research project is in the works to combat the rising tick population. Bait stations would be set up to attract deer, which would then be sprayed with insecticide.

"We’re hoping to drop the numbers of ticks down, therefore reducing the risk of human contact to ticks," Mr. Ogden said.

But if people do come into contact with a tick and show any symptoms of Lyme disease, they should go see their family doctor, Dr. Gould said.

"It’s readily treatable with oral antibiotics," he said.

That doesn’t ease Mr. Maloney’s mind.

He said he was treated right away, but the disease could flare up again at any time.

"I’m always going to be positive," Mr. Maloney said.

A Moment in Time

I was spending some quality time with the dogs out on my back deck this afternoon after I got home from work - and it was one of those times that I was SO glad I had my camera sitting next to me, because some times I don't. I was able to capture Buttercup being the most beautiful dog in the world (which she is), and I got some really nice photos of Charlie down on the lawn waiting for some squirrels to come and visit the feeder so that he could bark at them - and then I got some nice shots of Jack chillaxing - I even got a couple pictures of some flowers that I take absolutely no care of. What a great little time I had. I am so lucky.

Poor Farm at Bissett Park

There's an interesting article in today's Chronicle Herald about Bisset Park - which is also a great place to walk the dogs. I have the park on my website - at http://charlieloveshalifax.ca/bisset_park.html - it's probably one of the first pages I made on my website back in 1998 when I very first started the "Charlie and Leonard like to play" site that pre-dates the site that's there now.

These photos are taken back when Charlie was probably only about 4 months old. He was so cute back then. He is still just as beautiful today 10 years later.



Giving a voice to the powerless
Archeologist digs into the history of Poor’s Farm
By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter


They were poor, powerless and voiceless in life. But the residents of Poor’s Farm are finally having their story told.

Halifax County Poor’s Farm (later called the County Home) in Cole Harbour, was established in 1887 to house the aged, poor and "harmless insane."

People who lived on the working farm cared for livestock and grew produce, which was sold to local citizens.

The "inmates," as they were called at the time, were housed in institutional-style dormitories. They ranged from teenagers to the elderly.

"It would have been people with mental illnesses that they didn’t really understand at the time," archeologist Sarah Kingston said in an interview Saturday at the Poor’s Farm site.

For the last two weekends, Ms. Kingston has returned to the site, in the Cole Harbour Heritage Park on Bissett Road, for a dig intended to uncover more about the history of the people who lived at the farm.

"Not a lot of people know about this park," Ms. Kingston said. "Residents here were so misrepresented, and they’re finally getting a voice. They were just kind of put here . . . but now they’re finally getting their voice. They’re getting their history told."

Anthropology majors and couple of members of the public were on hand for Saturday’s dig.

Ms. Kingston is doing this work in the dormitory areas at the request of the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association, as part of her master’s thesis at Saint Mary’s University, on public archeology.

"Eventually, they would like to mark out all the footprints of the buildings, the foundations; that’s what we’re after," Ms. Kingston said.

During the dig, participants unearthed everything from foundation walls, windowpanes, roofing material, ceramic pieces, bottle glass, brick fragments, clam shells and animal bone fragments from meals at the home.

"Our initial goals in terms of the research was simply to find their building foundations and map them so that the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association can just kind of outline them on the surface of the field, in a way that doesn’t obstruct the current landscape, the beautiful views but adds a sense of the history here for the people using it," said Heather MacLeod-Leslie, an adjunct professor of anthropology at Saint Mary’s University, who is supervising Ms. Kingston’s work.

"The type of history that we’re getting from the archeology is one that won’t get necessarily in the historical documentation. Of course, the people who lived here were socially powerless at the time they lived. And socially powerless or less-powerful people become historically voiceless or marginalized in the historical documentation because they’re not the ones writing the records. The only record they leave for us to learn about their lives and the stories is the archeology . . . the most democratic record of the past."

The remains of many of the people who lived here are buried on the east side of the buildings. Last year, Saint Mary’s University anthropology students did archeological field work on the farm site and in the cemetery, where small white crosses and grey rocks mark the graves at the head and foot.

About 300 people reportedly died at the home, and those whose bodies were not claimed by family members were interred on the grounds.

"So this cemetery is a really special place for us to take care of because it’s the people that nobody came back for," Ms. MacLeod-Leslie said. "So they really kind of deserve our care and attention."

The home closed in 1929, when a large portion of the coed dormitories burned down. No one died in the fire, and residents of the home were transferred to the poorhouse in Halifax. At the time of its closing, the facility was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Conrad, who, along with a small staff, cared for 140 people.

Ten years after Poor’s Farm closed, a rehab centre was built across the road; it has served as a location for the popular television show Trailer Park Boys.

Since 1990, there have been three archeological investigations at the Poor’s Farm site.

On July 5 and 6, members of the public are invited to observe or join archeological volunteers as the excavation continues.

The artifacts that are found will be cleaned and then taken to the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.

3-Dog Bakery had their Grand Opening Today!

So me and Buttercup went over to Dartmouth Crossing (22 Logiealmond Close) for the Three Dog Bakery's grand opening today - this photo is Buttercup for the about 10 seconds when she was down on the floor and I was taking photos - you can tell how much she likes being down on the floor - which is not at all! Poor Buttercup.
The store was packed - with people and dogs and everyone was having a good time. They have got lots of great stuff - not just baked treats - of which they have a lot - at this very moment that I am typing out this post I am being given a few minutes of dog freedom because everybody is chewing on some sort of braided something or other that was dipped in something that everybody is taking their good time savouring - so I am happy that I bought everyone one - it was a good buy.
Here's another shot of the store - you can see all their baked confections - of which you will see in the next photo.
You might be able to see a little chunk bit out of one corner - I HAD to try a tiny bit to see what these actually tasted like, because they DO look good enough to eat, don't they? But they are actually meant for dogs! The top tastes like cream cheese - which is what it is - so it didn't taste too bad! haha! But I was nice and gave them to the dogs! haha!This is my friend Colleen who I haven't seen in many years - we used to know each other before we had dogs - so that's a LONG time ago! Her dog is like Buttercup and is also an SPCA dog - which she got 4 years ago.
Now HERE'S the money shot - this is what I went for - the FREE T-SHIRT! And I put it on when I got home - and it's a fabulous t-shirt - it fits me perfectly! Yea! I love free stuff! Three dog bakery is the best! And all the dogs here think so too now that they've had the cookies, the cake and the breaded bakery chews! And also gotten to see their mommy with the fabulous t-shirt!

Comments so far on my Zeus Post

There's been a couple comments on my Zeus post -

Anonymous said...
To equate the care he received at the SPCA to the abuse he suffered at Celtic Pets is ABSURD!

You have lost all credibility in my eyes now. I had thought your opinions informed and informative.. but no longer.

One has to look at things from Zeus's perspective. Do you think HE sees a big difference between the cage at the back of the Dartmouth shelter SPCA and the cage at Zonda's kennel? They are equally confining. They are equally absent of HUMAN BEINGS probably 80% of the time. They have no grass or fresh air or love or companionship or someone looking out for him. The cage at the Dartmouth SPCA shelter has someone perfunctionarily cleaning out the shit and piss a couple times a day if he needs it. The Dartmouth SPCA shelter has someone taking him out for a pee and poop break a couple times a day - sometimes if a volunteer comes by to do it, and if not - he gets let out just long enough so that someone can clean his cage.

That is looking at his situation from ZEUS'S perspective. What kind of a life do you think that is? I personally think that's a pretty crappy life - and really not much better than the life he had down in Cape Breton at Celtic Pets. So Anonymous - you can continue to believe that I've lost all credibility in your eyes and that my opinions were informed and informative but after today they no longer are - but I believe that I write these posts not so that I can APPEAR a certain way - but I write these posts so that I can EFFECT a certain change.

I don't want any more dogs to suffer what Zeus has gone through. Zeus should have IMMEDIATELY gone out into foster care. 3 years in a cage was long enough. And if I for one hadn't thought that he had died back when he did - I would have moved heaven and earth to have made sure that happened. But unfortunately I was misinformed into believing that he was dead. So he continued to be hidden at the shelter, for whatever reasons. And I only found out on Tuesday that he was possibly still alive.

On Tuesday when I found out there was a possibility he was still alive, I started asking around - and several people said - yes, they heard he was probably still alive - and I was livid. How could these people KNOW he was alive and not do anything about it? How could they have let the shelter keep this animal in a cage and not do anything about it?

Which leads me to the next comment I wanted to talk about:

Anonymous said...
If you are so against the SPCA Joan why were you even in there today! Has it been too long since you have stirred up shit for them?Is it too much for you to bare when things quite down? I am very surprised that you even got inside the doors without being thrown out. Have you apologized to the SPCA for posting your bullshit gossip that he was dead in the first place? Did you apologize to Zeus today for spreading the word that he was dead before you had all the facts straight? Did you apologize to all the people that you upset claiming that he was dead when he was very much alive and well? Did you make sure that you called Zonda today to give her the good news? You two are good friends aren't you? let everyone know that about you!!POST THAT JOAN!!!!

I want to make it clear - I am NOT against the SPCA, and never have been. I am against the way the NS SPCA is being run, and the perceived abuse of the powers at the top. When I was at the shelter today the staff were super friendly, nice, and I had an excellent experience. They seemed to really care about all the animals that were there and were trying to find the best animals for the people that were coming to look at the cats and dogs. You could tell that they all cared about the animals at the shelter. The front line workers are all awesome.

And Anonymous - I think I am a lot less famous than you make me out to be. No one recognized me. Maybe I just have one of those faces that blend in, maybe I just got lucky.

But the reason I went there today was because when I heard that Zeus was alive and I heard he was on the adoption floor - I HAD to do something about it. I am not one of those people who can just say - "oh well, that's too bad he was left at the shelter all this time, I wonder what's going to happen to him now". It BEHOOVED me to go and see him in the flesh. So that's what I did - I was prepared to be kicked out and to make a scene - but I had to go. And I did.

I don't do this for my own personal glory - who would need this stress in their life? The hate mail? These kinds of comments? I do it because I don't want Zeus to suffer one more day in a cage. Period.

I want positive change at the NS SPCA.

In a press release on May 27, 2008 Pam Keddy said -

"The NS SPCA is committed to humane treatment of animals and we look
forward to working closely with the Department of Agriculture to put
regulations in place under the new Act to ensure a better quality of
life for our best friends" states Keddy.

I think that the Dartmouth NS SPCA shelter should live up to that paragraph - humane treatment of animals.

As to my friendship with Zonda MacIsaac - a lot of people were friends with her prior to the seizure of her animals. Why am I thing only one now being accused of that fidelity? And as to my current status with her - she has no friends in this province because of this debacle - and you can draw your conclusions from this, Anonymous. I don't know who YOUR friends are - but I can assume they are with people I PERSONALLY would never associate with myself.

Look at what I went for a walk with this morning

So this is why I give up. This sentient being has continued to live in a cage for the last 4 1/2 months at the Dartmouth SPCA shelter. He never went out to a foster home. He has remained hidden away in secret. Just like Zonda did to him. He was treated exactly the same by the NS SPCA as he was by Zonda MacIsaac - hidden away in a cage, left to rot. I am thanking dog from the roof tops that he wasn't killed - as I was previously told. At the time when I said he had been killed and people were saying he wasn't - I said if he was in fact alive - I would be very happy to say I was wrong and thank whatever spirits were out there who were keeping him alive. And I'm very happy to do that now. ZEUS IS STILL ALIVE.
And he is still living in a cage - after having lived in a cage at Celtic Pets for more than 3 years in Port Hastings. I can't believe it. That the powers that be - would continue to keep him in a cage after what he has been through - to me, IS CRIMINAL. That is why I give up. I have no more questions to ask, no more answers to give. When I look into these eyes - there is no apology good enough that I can give to this dog.
What has been meted to him is inexcusable. On another note - he is NOW AVAILALBE FOR ADOPTION. Which leads to something else - how can a dog that is part of an active prosecution - be AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION?
I have no answer for that either. He is not the only Celtic Pets dog that is currently on the adoption floor over at the Dartmouth SPCA shelter - so you should go over and have a look around, and if a dog strikes your fancy - you should fill out an application to adopt one of them and see what happens. I was lucky - I got my Jack from Animal Rescue Coalitions. I didn't have to deal with the NS SPCA - despite what the NS SPCA contends. One thing about Zeus though - they aren't letting anyone who already has dogs/cats/children adopt him - he has to go to a completely empty home. And they are listing him as an am-staff - even though he is very obviously a bulldog mix. And I must say - he was SO gentle when I had him out. He was such a lovely dog when I walked him this morning. He is obviously a complete cuddle bunny. He deserves the best retirement home that any dog could possibly give him. I hope he gets it.

A great comment left about Zeus Cameron

There was a great comment left on a post I made about Zeus Cameron from Guysborough -

I just came across this.
I hadn`t heard that Zeus had passed away.
Condolences to his family.
I know he`ll be waiting for them.
Many people should learn from the Camerons.
No one should be bullied by Politicians whether it`s in Nova Scotia or Ontario or elsewhere.
Don`t blindly accept the designation that your dog is "dangerous","vicious" or banned.
Fight the Gov`t all the way.
Don`t wait for an organization to fight for you.
The Gov`t can be beat and the best people to beat them are the owners on a dog by dog case.
No one cares about your dog as much as you do.
When they start to see just how many owners will take them on,then maybe things will start to change.
Force the Gov`t into Court if they seize or designate your dog as vicious based on breed/type or look.
Don`t be paralyzed by fear.
In my book the Camerons and Zeus are heroes.
They had the right stuff.
Many people would have folded,moved or dumped their dog.
Be prepared to go to the mat for your dog.
If you`re not prepared to do that then get a socially "acceptable" dog.
These "special" dogs deserve "special" owners.
Zeus had the best.

This is all so true. And it's not just true about breed specific legislation. It's true about off leash exercise, it's true about their quality of life, it's true about public space bans, it's true about the rescue systems dogs sometimes find themselves in - it's true about everything relating to your canine life companions. We should all be this way about our dogs. All dogs are "special". All sentient beings are "special".

Lots of stuff going on this weekend

I thought I'd take a moment to point out that I've created a new page on my Charlie loves Halifax site - and let everyone know that there's quite a few things going on this weekend if anyone's interested.

I used to track all the dog friendly events going on locally on my website years ago, and then I started to get too busy doing other things to keep it up to date, so I stopped it. But a new program that I've bought to update the site with easy enough to use that I think I can manage to keep the page updated enough to keep everyone happy - so I thought I'd start it up again. If you have any dog-friendl events you want listed - you can email me at dogkisser@gmail.com

The page is at http://charlieloveshalifax.ca/events.html

One of the things that I think me and Charlie are going to go to is this weekend's grand opening of the Three Dogs Bakery over in Dartmouth Crossing, that sounds like it's going to be a pretty big shin-dig. They're touting it as the "summer's biggest coolest event" - so how could you miss something like that?

A thing I don't have listed on that page is a dance being held out in Beaverbank being put on by "Taking Action to Protect Animals" - a group set up last year The dance is on Saturday, June 21, 2008 from 9:00 pm – 1:00 am at the Beaverbank Kinsac Community Centre 1583 Beaverbank Road DJ provided by Hollywood Music Cash bar available 100% of the funds raised will be used to spay and neuter stray cats in Beaverbank…a humane approach to controlling the population $10/ person Advance tickets can be purchased at Downsview Veterinary Hospital 833 Sackville Drive (beside Robin's Donuts) 864-2882 or by calling Angela at 864-3368 / email tapa@accesswave.ca Tickets will also be available at the door.

As well - the off leash strategy meetings are continuing each evening this week as well as a couple evenings next week - the list of dates and locations are on my events page - so go check it out - and go to a meeting.

Charlie's first little outing

Charlie seemed to be doing well enough, and he had some ants in his pants - so we went for a little walk in the woods.
I was so happy to be able to take a photo of all 4 dogs together
This is a photo of a "ladyslipper orchid" - it's a type of orchid that's native to Nova Scotia and it's absolutely beautiful. I took a bunch of photos of them today. They grow in the woods that me and the dogs walk in. They're supposedly illegal to dig up or pick. I don't touch them, only take photos. I've never even gotten close enough to see if they smell, maybe I'll get close enough to see if they smell tomorrow. Pink is my favourite colour - I've seen a lot of orchids, and I have to say they're just about my favourite.
Here's a photo of Jack plugging along - he is one happy dog lately.
And here is one of Buttercup I took right after the one I took of Jack.
It seems like every photo I've taken of Charlie the last couple of days he's smiling. I hope that's a good sign. In the last day it seems like his pain level has gone down - I've been giving him arnica - which is a homeopathic medicine, and it seems to have made a lot of difference for him. Daisy is definitely a lot happier in the last day. She's definitely been worried about him - doing a lot of lip licking on him and stuff.
Charlie being happy tonight.

My temperament testing "back scratcher" hand

In the comments section of my previous post about Jack's video someone said -

LOL! Is that an approved method of "temperment testing"? I don't blame Jack - I'd be pissed too if someone tried to take my beloved toy!

I've been using that back scratcher as my extended hand for a long time! I've got another video - one that I took of my little poodle Teddy - dog rest his soul - when I was trying to touch a treat that he was guarding, where I used a back scratcher, and Teddy was doing the same thing with the treat that Jack was doing with the toy last night. The video is on You Tube at "A Slice of Teddy"

In case you missed last night's video of Jack you can also find that on You Tube at "Jack the Toy Fiend"

Needless to say - both of these dogs wouldn't do well in homes where back scratchers were not available and where people thought that they could just go in and "take" these things from the dogs because they are the humans. As I've always said - the best training methods are lowered expectations, lots of treats - and distraction. Luckily - Jack can be very easily distracted - and he LOVES treats. And I'm very happy to report - he is a very happy dog now.

Jack the toy fiend

Jack generally doesn't give a shit about toys - except for one - an orange plastic boomerang that he came with. And about that toy - he is crazy. I think he'd fight to the death. You can't get near him. Any other toy - he doesn't seem to really recognize as a toy - but that toy, man - forget about it. So tonight I took some video of him.

Suffice it to say - Jack would NO GOOD in a home with children.

Enjoy!

Peggy's Cove on Father's Day

My Dad very nicely took me out to Peggy's Cove for supper tonight - isn't he the cutest senior citizen in the world?
Everywhere I go I see people and their dogs - I saw this guy out the window of the restaurant enjoying the view at Peggy's Cove - the dog looked like he was having a good time being out with his best friend.
This is a shot of the ubiqitous lighthouse with my newish telephoto lens - the lighthouse is almost too close for the lens.
If there's a beach I'm going to find it - there's a beach at Peggy's Cove! I'd never noticed it before, so I made my Dad pull over so I could go and take pictures of it. Of course there wasn't any path that I could find to it, so I got my legs all scratched up and I got bit by some kind of bug that I'm allergic to, so I'm currently blown up like a stuck pig - but the beach was neat - black sand. It was actually completely enclosed. Very neat. Tons of driftwood too. I picked up a couple pieces but put them down since I was in my Dad's car.
So it was a good afternoon, although dogless on my part. But the dogs have to stay home sometimes.

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day - or should I say Happy Grandfathers Day - to the best Grandfather to 4 dogs that any dog could ever hope to have!

Buttercup especially appreciates the nice wide lap that doesn't like to move very often from the comfy overstuffed lazy boy chair! He's just the right speed for her!

From Zero to 100 back to Zero, sort of

So Charlie came home from the hospital today, thank dog. His bum hole looks pretty normal except for the fact that it's shaved, and he seems to be in a bit of discomfort. I can always tell when he's uncomfortable because he barks a lot more when he's in pain - and today he was barking at everything and everyone.
You can tell here by the look on his face - at least I can - that he's not his normal, placid, happy self - but at least he's alive, and I'd be pretty unhappy if I'd just had my butt hole torn open so that a cancerous rectal tumour could be cut out.

This is Daisy and Charlie in the backyard tonight when I was mowing the lawn, which was about 4 days overdue, so the lawn was really long - except of course for their wrestling area - they only wrestle in one specific area of the lawn, and the grass in that area refuses to grow - you can see it very clearly delineated in the photo. It's pretty funny - at some points in the year it verges on becoming a mud pit. Sometimes I almost think I should just relent and brick the area and give up on trying to have lawn in that area - but then I figure they'll just move 12 feet over and wrestle on the grass next to the bricked area - and then the grass THERE will die - so I'd still be a lawn loser.

It's funny that in a few short days you can go from having things being completely normal to thinking that one of your family members was at death's edge - to that family member being back at home and things seeming to be normal again.

This afternoon though I was laying down and giving Charlie a good scratch and I felt a fatty lump on his belly and I thought - I hope that isn't more cancer. And I thought to myself - no, I don't think that things will ever be quite the same ever again.

Charlie update

Charlie went for his surgery today - he had a chest xray to see if the cancer had spread to his lungs, and luckily it hadn't. Late this afternoon he had his surgery and he's come out of that now and the vet thinks that she got all the mass and he did really well. So I am super happy. He has to stay at the Clinic overnight but I can go get him tomorrow.

So tomorrow will be an interesting day bringing him home - but at least it will be a day that will include Charlie - so it will be a fantastic day regardless.

My once in a lifetime dog

I made some video of Charlie tonight and I think it's my best work to date, I was able to perfectly sync music that was playing in the room to music on the video so the music sounds really good - and it's actually what's playing in the back ground - I think it's really neat, and the song is really appropriate to the night - the band is Canadian - Hedley. You can tell in the video that Daisy is also really concerned about Charlie. Daisy is such a good dog.

I have been feeling very poorly, and then feeling better about tomorrow. I'm currently feeling positive. Everything is going to be okay. I can't feel any other way at this point, really. Charlie is going to be okay.

Charlie

When I came home from work today my couch was covered in blood and Charlie had blood coming out of his bum. He'd had blood on the outside of his poop for the last few days and I thought maybe it was something he'd eaten or he was getting some hemmorhoids so I softened up his food and gave his some rice, but the couch and he was covered in blood, so I rushed him to the vet when I got home from work and he has a rectal tumour, which is almost always malignant.

Dr Carnegy wasn't there, so an Allison Jones looked at him and she's going to operate on him tomorrow, she's going to do a chest xray on him first to make sure it hasn't metastasized. He's lost 10 pounds and I didn't even notice. The surgery is awful, and if the tumour is too big and invasive and the quality of his life will be too awful afterwards she'll just let him go. If it's in his lungs too we'll just let him go.

He is only 10 years old. He seems so healthy, shiny coat, bright eyes, lots of energy, looks like he could lose a few pounds, he loves life. Loves to eat, loves to play, loves to run, completely recovered from his cruciate surgery. We were just in the woods last night running around. And tomorrow he may be dead.

I've had him since he was 3 months old.

Brodie, AKA Philip

Do you think that chaining out and abandoning a dog in a back yard shortens a dog's life? I think that once again I've found a good example for something with my own dogs. I've talked about designer dogs before on this blog in relation to my dogs - because Charlie and his litter are technically designer dogs - they're the offspring of 2 purebred dogs - a yellow lab and a tri-colour sheltie - except for the fact that they all turned out exactly the same looking, and completely different sizes and temperaments - some more lab, some more sheltie - and all itinerant sheltie barkers. And they came from a certified back yard breeder who was doing it - in her own words "because she wanted to offer people a nice dog for less money".

But today I was given another example. I found another littermate of Charlie and Leonard (a littermate of Charlie who I had with my exhusband who now lives in Toronto that I had until 2005 or 2006) at the Dartmouth SPCA who was going to be killed because the manager at the time had decided he was unadoptable. She "didn't like the look in his eye". He had obviously been chained out his whole life - he was severely emaciated, the ends of his fur were orange, his teeth were rotten, he was unsocialized - but he was family to me. And when I looked in his eyes I could see the most beautiful soul looking out dying to be given freedom.

So the Dartmouth shelter let me adopt him after I pulled some major strings and I brought him home. I named him Philip. All the dogs that I had gotten from Charlie's brothers had been named after American composers - Charlie (Charles Ives), Leonard (Leonard Cohen) - and now Philip (Philip Glass).
Philip DID turn out to be beautiful. And perfect in every way, except for the fact that he wanted to kill any dog that he didn't live with. But that wasn't too big a deal in my house because at that point we were starting to retreat from other dogs anyway, and when we were around other dogs - he could be managed.
This was how he preferred to spend all his time - laying with his head on my belly. I wrote quite a few posts about him when I had him back in 2004 - when I first got him I wrote about that - I changed his name from "Molson", which was his name at the shelter.
And then when he found his forever home up in Berwick - I wrote about that too.
But today I got that horrible email that Philip/Brodie is no longer with us. His body had given out on him. He might have come from an earlier litter than Charlie and Leonard - and they are both going to be 10 years old this year - so he could have been 12 or 13 years old - the back yard breeder they came from had a lot of litters with her dogs - but still, 12 or 13 isn't old. But the life Brodie lived was horrible until he came to live with me and then his new family. And that's what did him in so early. Being abandoned to a backyard, waiting for someone to come out the back door and take you inside slowly kills a dog inside - and I'm sure it shortens any sentient beings life.
The vet who was treating Brodie figured that he was 17 or 18 years old, and I know for a fact that there was no way he could've been that old - but I also know for a fact that the life he lived prior to going to the Dartmouth SPCA is a life that can make a dogs body seem that old. It's another reason why chaining dogs outside for years at a time is so absolutely wrong.

Philip/Brodie died too young, I'm very sorry I didn't get to say good-bye to him. He's the first dog I haven't gotten to say good-bye to that I've had a hand in finding a better life. I guess there's only so much you can write into an adoption contract.

A Comment Left about Point Pleasant Park & Poop

A James Dunsmore left the following comment on my post about "Further on my off leash diatribe"

It is a problem that there is litter all over our public parks, and poop is a big part of that problem. You seem to be arguing that because the parks are already dirty, it's ok for them to be dirtier. How about you come patrol Point Pleasant to enforce the bylaws. I walk there daily, and daily I see and smell poop, I am approached by dogs without their owners, and I witness dogs running at will through the wooded areas of the park, which have just been replanted with 72000 fragile seedlings. What I witness daily are dog owners who treat their dogs like people, but have no regard for the actual people who share the park. When your three year old retrieves their ball from the edge of the trail, and presents it too you with dog poop all over it and themselves, perhaps you will be as disgusted as I. I believe the park should be first and foremost for humans to perhaps share with dogs, but by no means should it be off-leash, and it was a huge mistake to ever make it so. There is no effective enforcement of the animal control bylaws, and subsequently they are not followed. The privilege of owners to allow dogs off-leash in this public area should be revoked without hesitation and permanently.

There's a couple things here, I'm glad he left the comment because there's a couple points he raised that I'd like to address, and I also don't think he gets what I was trying to say - or at least he wasn't really listening to what I said in my posts.

I am certainly not saying that litter is okay, or that dog owners not picking up their poop is okay. That would be a ridiculous statement to make. I am a responsible dog owner and I always pick up my dogs' poop. I am also a responsible citizen and I do not litter. I always use waste receptacles provided for me my the municipal government, and if none is available I take my litter home with me. And when I'm out in the woods or at the beach I will very often pick up OTHER PEOPLE'S litter and take that to a garbage can or home with me as well. Especially if it's a piece of rope or buoy booty (you'd have to be a very long term reader of this blog to get that reference.)

So I'm glad Mr. Dunsmore left his comment so I can clear that up - I am certainly not saying that dirty public spaces are okay.

I do however have a problem with Mr. Dunsmore's contention that Point Pleasant Park should not be off leash. I pay the same taxes as he does - there are a lot of green spaces in this city that he can take his 3 year old child to, and there are very few green spaces we can take our dogs to off leash legally. There is also a very nice amount of space at Point Pleasant Park that after 10am no dogs are allowed on - he can very easily spend his daily walks with his 3 year old child there and never encounter another dog again at Point Pleasant Park - onleash or off.

I think it is time as dog owners that we start to push back. We have been bullied long enough - by the bureaucrats at City Hall, by non-dog owners, by people who don't like dogs - our dogs deserve to have a certain quality of life - we pay the same taxes as every other citizen of this city. We are responsible dog owners - we cannot control the irresponsible dog owners - all we can do is continue to act the same way we do every day and hope that they will start to follow suit.

There will always be people who don't follow the rules - assholes own dogs too. Just like assholes buy Tim Horton's coffee, just like assholes throw away their tires by the side of the road and pee in water bottles and then throw them away too.

We CANNOT allow the world to dictate the quality of life of our companion animals - we must tell the world how our animals are to be treated. It's time we stand up and say there are compromises that can be made - but our dogs are not going away - and neither are we!

Charlie and Daisy are bad to the bone

I haven't made a video in a while - my fancy camera doesn't have a video option, so I haven't had any video taping equipment around when they've been cute, but I downloaded a song this week that I thought was entirely appropriate to go with a montage of photos of Charlie and Daisy.

I've always been trying to capture the perfect action shot - of Daisy and Charlie wrestling - I haven't gotten it yet, but I've probably taken 100's and 100's of photos of them wrestling - so I put together some that I've taken in just the last year to a "P Diddy" re-mastered by someone else. I think it turned out pretty well.

Here it is:

Further on my off-leash diatribe

I got some emails that people didn't understand what I was so upset about - it seems that people still don't realize that the City is threatening to close down Point Pleasant Park and Seaview Park - which they made very clear in the reports they released at the beginning of May.

I went to the City's website tonight, and I can't find any links to the report anymore (very convenient for them) - but I found the direct links anyway - the links to all the reports published at the beginning of May are:

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/PointPleasantParkReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/SeaviewParkReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/SandyLakeParkReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/FortNeedhamMemorialParkReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/DartmouthCommonReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/ShubieParkReport.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/documents/HemlockRavineReport.pdf

In those reports they very clearly state that they may "invoke section 3.4 of the Strategy" and close down both Seaview and Point Pleasant Park to dog activities.

Specifically in the Point Pleasant Park report it says:

"If, after an additional month of monitoring, it appears that dog waste is a chronic problem the Committee may decide to consider revoking dog related privileges in the Park by invoking Section 3.4 of the Strategy"

In an email I sent tonight to a City Councillor I said:

"I went to the off leash strategy sessions last year - and it was my understanding that Point Pleasant Park and Seaview Park were NOT part of the pilot areas - so why are they now subject to being closed? I think this is abolutely wrong, but the reports very clearly state that they might close these 2 parks. I think they are actually threatening us dog owners, - and as a tax payer - I don't like to be threatened.

And if I'm going to be threatened, I want a venue to air my concerns. And City Planning is not giving me a venue by not offering me a public strategy session like they're having for the other parks."

Maybe no one else in this Municipality feels about off-leash exercise like I do, but I hope some people do and speak up about Point Pleasant Park and Seaview Park - and do it now.

Other posts relevant to this post:

City Threatening to take away off leash parks

What to do about the poop problem

What's the difference between poop and litter?

New HRM Off Leash Strategy Sessions Coming Up

New HRM Off leash Strategy Sessions Coming Up

Oh boy, I am fired up now. I've just sent out an email to as many people as I can think of in my contacts list who might be interested because John Charles from Planning at the HRM sent out a new email late this afternoon (Friday afternoon of course) inviting people to new strategy sessions. I'll let my email speak for itself that I sent out:

I got an email from John Charles today saying that meetings are coming up inviting people to take part in their upcoming review of HRM's pilot off leash parks.

He says they are at the end of their twelve month trial period and the Committee are going to submit their final monitoring reports to Council. Based on monitoring results, the Committee may recommend that Council approve, or reject, the designation of a pilot off leash park area as an official off leash park area.

When you go to the website link that he's provided about the different parks that you can take part in the reviews of their monitoring results - neither Seaview Park or Point Pleasant Park are included!

So they are going to be able to close both of those parks without any public input?!?!?!?!

Is this possible? Is this actually going to happen? If this is the case - then this is an outrage. I actually wrote a blog post today about an article Patricia Brooks Arenburg wrote in the Chronicle Herald this week about litter in Nova Scotia - and how it seems that nobody can do anything about the problem - it's because here's no one to blame - except for the fact that "trucker bombs" come from truckers
- Tim Horton's cups come from Tim Horton's (obviously) - maybe we should be shutting down all Tim Horton's until they can deal with the fact that people aren't properly throwing away the cups they receive!!!!

What would be the fallout from this? There would be tyranny!!!!! Well how come we as tax paying dog owners are not speaking out like Tim Horton's customers would be doing if we were faced with the same debacle?

Dog poop in local parks comes from a small minority of irresponsible dog owners - but yet ALL dog owners are going to be affected - because we are going to lose the ability to legally exercise our dogs off-leash. I can't imagine that responsible dog owners will NOT continue to exercise our dogs off leash - we realize how important it is to the quality of life of our dogs - and we are all committed to maintaining that quality of life - but we will now be forced to break the law and become miscreants, skulking around - trying to hide in the bushes, attempting to not get caught treating our canine life companions properly.

If you did not receive the email from John Charles - I have pasted it below. If you want to read Patricia Brooks-Arenburg's articles for comparison - the littering article is at http://thechronicleherald.ca/Search/1059984.html and the dog poop problem article is at http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1058614.html

Here is John Charle's email sent out this afternoon (June 6, 2008):

from: HRM Park Dog
to: John Charles
date: Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 4:35 PM
subject: RE: HRM Off Leash Pilot Park Six Month Review Meetings

Hello:

You are invited to take part in our upcoming review of HRM's pilot off leash parks.

In June, 2007 HRM Regional Council adopted the Off Leash Parks Strategy. During October and November, 2007 five pilot off leash parks were opened for a 12 month trial period. The parks (Dartmouth Common, Fort Needham Memorial, Hemlock Ravine, Sandy Lake, and Shubie) feature a variety of areas and times where responsible dog owners can enjoy off leash activities with their pets.

The Interdepartmental Off Leash Strategy Committee is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Strategy. It serves as a decision-making body for the selection, design, and monitoring of, off leash areas in parks . The Strategy requires the Committee to conduct a six month interim review of the pilot off leash parks.

Subsequent to the interim review, the Committee may adapt management practices as required, and will continue monitoring the pilot off leash parks.

At the end of the twelve month trial period the Committee will submit final monitoring reports to Council. Based on monitoring results, the Committee may recommend that Council approve, or reject, the designation of a pilot off leash park area as an official off leash park area.

The meeting schedule is posted on the HRM Off Leash Strategy website at :

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/index.html

Please register in advance for the discussion(s) of your choice at: parkdog@halifax.ca


*************************
Thanks for any attention you can give to this matter.
Joan Sinden
dogkisser@gmail.com

Other posts relevant to this post:

City Threatening to take away off leash parks

What to do about the poop problem

What's the difference between poop and litter?

New HRM Off Leash Strategy Sessions Coming Up

Further on my off-leash diatribe

What's the difference between litter and poop?

This week in the Chronicle Herald there was an article about the problem with litter on the highways, and really - litter in general, in public - in Nova Scotia. It was written by the same staff reporter - Patricia Arenburg, who also did the article about the poop in the off leash parks in Halifax and how that is potentially going to shut down access for dogs and their owners to off leash exercise in the HRM.

When I was reading the article, it suddenly struck me - what's the difference between litter and poop? You can't assign a demographic to blame - and you can't punish that demographic for the consequences of their action (or inaction).

When the public at large litters - the government really can't do anything about it except to say "PLEASE, pick up your litter."

But when a very small amount of irresponsible dog owners don't pick up their poop in a multi-use municipal park the government can then punich ALL dog owners and shut down those parks to ALL dog owners forever.

Do you think that's fair? I certainly don't. I think that's almost criminal in it's wrongness, actually.

Here's the article from the Chronicle Herald about the littering - compare it to the article a couple weeks ago about the poop littering (which I've pasted directly after the below article)and see if you can see the similarities:

Parent Pleads for an end to the litter


Mom was right: She’s not your maid, and neither is the Nova Scotia government.

"The government is not your personal cleaner," Environment Minister Mark Parent said Tuesday.

"Is picking up after the few a good use of tax dollars at a time when we’re wrestling with climate change and a host of other environmental challenges? I think not."

Speaking at a news conference before a cleanup of the Sackville River bank, Mr. Parent said he snapped a series of pictures during a drive to Cape Breton earlier this year. In one photo, he showed reporters a sofa, a toilet and even a kitchen sink that had been left by the road.

Barry Renouf of Moncton has counted 95 "trucker bombs" — plastic bottles filled with urine — tossed along the 260-kilo- metre route that he regularly takes between Dartmouth and Moncton. The mess this spring prompted him to send an e-mail to the premier, asking whether they were some sort of tourism promotion.

"This is news to me that this is happening, although the other day I noticed five containers by the side of the road that looked like they were plastic bottles of some sort, and I wondered if maybe that is what they were," Mr. Parent said.

He said it was difficult to catch offenders and prove a littering case in court, adding that it was an expensive process. But he encouraged anyone who sees someone disposing of "trucker bombs" to contact the department immediately.

"We will find them if we can catch them, but what I’m hoping to do is give them the message: Don’t do it. Think about what you’re doing. Think about this Earth as your home and take care of it," Mr. Parent said.

When visitors to the province’s "world-class waste management system" look around and see the litter, he said: "I wonder if they go home and say: ‘Nova Scotia’s landfills are great. Their recycling program is the best in the country but their roads and streets look like dumps.’ "

Litter across the province "hurts our image, it hurts the economic efforts we’re making," he said.

And the reason for all this litter?

"I think we’ve just gotten lazy and thoughtless," Mr. Parent said.

Before most reporters arrived, the minister pulled a Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps brown T-shirt over his blue dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves. He replaced his dress shoes with a pair of black rubber boots and shook hands with the youth staff and members of his own staff who joined the cleanup efforts for the media event.

Mr. Parent’s department is starting a $130,000 ad campaign targeting litterbugs, and he announced a one-time injection of $50,000 to hire seven more garbage pickers for the conservation corps. This summer, 12 people between 17 and 24 will hit the province’s roads to clean up after Nova Scotia litterbugs for the corps.

"The majority of Nova Scotians care, but there are a minority who are causing a blight on our landscape and it has to stop," Mr. Parent said.

************************


Lax Poop-Scooping has off leash privileges at Risk

If dog owners don’t clean up their act, off-leash parks may be off limits to the city’s canines.

A recent survey for the scoop on poop at three designated off-leash areas called Seaview Park "simply disgusting," and the results were "disappointing" at Point Pleasant Park.

Fort Needham Memorial Park had also reportedly gone to the dogs, and even though a pack of dedicated park users quickly cleaned the mess, that may not be enough to save this puppy playground.

"Losing Seaview would be just a massive blow to the dog community in Halifax," dog owner Marc Boutilier said.

Mr. Boutilier drives to the park from Armdale at least three times a week so his 34-kilogram Labrador retriever, Jenny, can run and play with her four-legged friends.

He admits it’s impossible to keep the park poop-free, but said pressure from regular park users makes other owners clean up after their pets.

"In all the years I’ve gone there, I would never consider the park disgusting," Mr. Boutilier said.

But Halifax’s off-leash strategy committee says that on April 29, it left over 200 flags to mark the dog waste that littered Seaview Park’s playground, bushes, gardens and grass.

"It is evident that many dog owners using this park are not behaving in a responsible manner," the committee’s cleanliness monitoring report states.

The problem is so serious that "if dog waste continues to be a problem at Seaview Park, the committee may decide to consider revoking dog-related privileges in the park," which it can do under the city’s off-leash strategy. The strategy was developed in 2007 with the help of local dog owners.

The committee also left over 125 flags at Point Pleasant Park, along Lodge Road and Cambridge Drive, on April 18 and 19. The report said most of the poop was within a few feet of the trails. Dog owners voluntarily cleaned up some of the waste, the report said, adding that park staff would have to bag the rest because there was "much more to be removed."

Another 80 flags were left on April 26 to mark Spot’s spots at Fort Needham Memorial Park. While surveyors marked the territory, a dog owner arrived and started scooping. She told the group that she would contact park regulars and have the park cleaned up that day, the report states. The mess was gone when the group inspected the site on April 29.

"It is evident that there is a dedicated and well-organized group of dog owners who regularly use the park," the report states. "It’s unlikely that they are not picking up after their dogs, but it’s also apparent that there are regular park users who are not responsible pet owners."

But the report didn’t let Fort Needham off the leash. The committee said it would monitor the parks again for another month, and if the poop problem continues at Fort Needham and the two other parks, the group may shut them down.

Mr. Boutilier, who was at Seaview Park shortly after the flags were placed, said he didn’t see any dog waste at a number of the flags he saw that day. He said the poop problem is "inflated."

"I wouldn’t go there if the problem was as bad as they said," Mr. Boutilier said. "If it was as bad as they claimed, you wouldn’t be able to walk two feet without getting it all over your shoes. I can easily say in the past year, I haven’t stepped in any."

Other posts relevant to this post:

City Threatening to take away off leash parks

What to do about the poop problem

What's the difference between poop and litter?

New HRM Off Leash Strategy Sessions Coming Up

Further on my off-leash diatribe

Computer Malfunctions can be Good

Today at my work my computer went tits up and the IT guy who came to look at it actually took it away so that he could work on it, and there's not much I can do without a computer - so I took a couple hours vacation and me and the big dogs went to the beach.We went to my favourite part of Crystal Crescent where no one else ever goes - and we had a pretty good time, I'd say.
It's the first time I've ever gone out, just about, without Buttercup - but there's no way she could've handled the terrain with her gimpy leg, and I couldn't take Jack because he would've just stopped at the entrance and said - "NO, there's no way I'm doing ANY of THIS!"
Some of my favourite things in the whole world are rocks, and dappled sunlight on water - and I got both of those today, so I had a pretty good afternoon - along with a lot of wind. It was super.
And I also got to use my telephoto lens which I bought for my fabulous Canon EOS D40 and took this picture of a light house that is super far away - but you can almost make it out in this photo. I love my camera.
Isn't Charlie beautiful?I wonder if maybe I'm getting close to taking a 1,000 pictures of him - and they still all look beautiful to me.
This is a long shot of the beach we walk on, which is just part of our walk - I think it could be Hawaii, not Nova Scotia it's so blue/green - the water really does look like this.
Find the rottweiller in this photo.
Some nice close-ups of Daisy and Charlie being happy being out.

They even got in some wrestling on the beach.

Here's a shot that could be used as a tourism photo - if you want to get away and be by yourself - Nova Scotia's the place to go. 3pm on a Thursday afternoon you can have THIS all to yourself and it's only 15 minutes outside the biggest city in Nova Scotia. I think that's pretty amazing. Complete perfection.

Why I'm Glad Bill 138 Didn't Pass in Nova Scotia

I'm sure everyone who reads this blog knows that Warden Lloyd Hines is the warden of the district of the Municipality of Guysborough. He was also the president of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities when the "Responsible dog Ownership" bill was drafted - what we are now calling "Bill 138" - and therefore - I'm sure, had a heavy hand in the writing and crafting of the legislation. He's always let it be clearly known that it's his dream to have the same breed specific legislation province wide that he has in his own little fiefdom of the district of the Municipality of Guysborough.

For a time I was quite heavily involved with his area of the province - I had built a website called "Skip Guysborough" - while the court case for the pit bull Zeus was in the judicial system - I advised internet users looking for places to travel in Nova Scotia to "skip Guysborough" - to just keep driving right through that municipality and not spend any money there while they still had their draconian and dog hating legislation in effect. So I know a little bit about that area of the province and how they feel about dogs. I also know that the district of the municipality of St. Mary's - the area right next to Lloyd Hines riding - LOVES dogs of all breeds - and LOVES tourists who bring their dogs with them - Sherbrooke Village is in fact dog friendly. So feel free to spend as much money as you like in THAT municipality.

But I've had this quote swirling around in my head for the last week or so that's been bugging me - I could remember that Lloyd Hines had said the most inane thing about his reason for wanting to add rottweillers to the ban in 1994 - something about how he didn't want any children being EATEN by a dog while he was in charge of his Municipality - and that really struck me. That a person could use that kind of disaster language and still be considered to be a viable and useful, bi-partisan participant in any kind of meaningful discussion.

So tonight I went on a search for the proper quote - and I found it - in a CTV News article from 2004:

"I don't want to be the warden of the Municipality of Guysborough and have to go to the funeral of some kid who was eaten."

I'll paste the whole article at the bottom of this post. Can you believe that kind of garbage? And the person who says that is then in charge of writing dog legislation for a province - and we're expecting him to write good un-biased laws?

What did anyone think was going to come from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities based on what their President was saying in 2004? There are some idiots here - but I don't think it's Lloyd Hines - I think it's anybody who expected anything BUT BSL and breed restrictions, and anybody who let a person like him NEAR a committee that had anything to do with companion animals.

I certainly hope that we as a public are learning from these things that have been going on lately - dog hating, breed ban loving bureaucrats being the head of dog legislation committees - that is really NOT a good idea. Power hungry, no people skills, status quo seeking, so-called animal lovers who don't mind keeping animals in cages for REALLY long periods of time - are probably not the best people to vote in as the head of the most powerful rescue organization in the province.

I think if anything - in the last year, we've been given excellent examples of what are the dichotomous opposites of what this province needs. I just wish that someone and a whole bunch of someone's - would have the guts to actually do something and effect some change. One dog owner writing in cyberspace doesn't really coupe le fromage.

Here is the article:

N.S. municipality votes to ban Rottweiler dogs
Updated Thu. Feb. 12 2004 8:20 PM ET

Canadian Press

GUYSBOROUGH, N.S. -- The Municipality of Guysborough has passed a bylaw banning residents from owning Rottweilers.

People who already own the controversial breed will be exempt from the ban as long as they register their dogs with the municipality by May 1.

Rottweiler owner Karen Wood was one of three people who appeared at a council meeting Wednesday night to try to convince councillors to reconsider the ban.

It didn't work. The councillors voted unanimously for the ban.

"We believe it's a knee-jerk reaction to some of the things that are occurring," Wood said later.

"There have been some horrendous things that have happened, but we also believe the individual deed needs to be addressed, not the breed as a whole."

There have been a number of attacks involving Rottweilers recently, including a high-profile case outside Saint John, N.B., in which a three-year-old boy was mauled to death.

Warden Lloyd Hines said he witnessed an incident in Glace Bay, N.S., last weekend that convinced him of the need for a ban.

He said a Rottweiler wandered into the backyard of Rick and Yvonne MacKenzie and killed the family's poodle.

"That could have been Mr. MacKenzie's child," Hines said. "I spoke to him and he said he took his kids in five minutes before that happened.

"I don't want to be the warden of the Municipality of Guysborough and have to go to the funeral of some kid who was eaten."

Wood believes the ban will keep dog owners from moving to Guysborough.

"I've been looking all over the province for possible different places to live," she said. "This is a beautiful spot, but not for me anymore.

"That dog is part of my family. I have children as well and I'm not going to choose one over the other."

Shit Patch Grooming Emergency

If you've come here today because you heard there was a Board of Director's meeting last night at the NS SPCA and you were hoping that there was some movement in the management of the organization - you can forget about it. Nothing is going to change there. The will for change at the executive level is non-existent. Business will continue on unabated. Excuses will be proferred, animals will continue to be put in gas chambers, termperament tests will continue to be done by - who? and are they? Rescue groups will be worked with so that cages can be freed up - and especially, breed specific rescues - in what way? Oh right.... that's only in my head. But I digress - since none of this matters and none of it is happening - I'm going to talk about the patch of shit that's been growing on Jack's ass and had to be taken care of today....

Jack has a very unfortunate pattern of hair growth around his butt - and he's only about 2 weeks away from his next groom, and I think he's had some loose stool the last week or so - so he's had a bunch of shit pile up around his ass hole - and today it became too much for him - he's been going around trying to scratch his butt, which he can't - because his body is too long and he can't reach it - so he's been very unhappy - so we had a grooming emergency.

Luckily Kathleen at Tailwagrrr's agreed to spend a couple minutes shaving off poor Jack's shit patch - she also cut his nails too.
I can say pretty easily that he was pretty unhappy with both events.











Buttercup though was pretty happy that these things were happening to HIM and not HER - haha!
While we were there we picked up a copy of the newest local animal magazine to come out - "Pet Country" - which actually looks and reads very well - I thought it was very well done - I'm looking forward to the next issue, and hope that it becomes available for subscription like Furry's Halifax has become - so I can support it.
Buttercup was being exceptionally cute this afternoon. But really, she's exceptionally cute every moment of every day.

A retooled page on my Charlie loves Halifax website

This page doesn't have anything to do with a "dog friendly" Halifax - but I've always had some ancilliary page on my website that have simply amused me, and this is one of them. These pages however, are also the pages that have been the slowest to be moved over from my original Geocities website - and tonight I finally moved over a page that I had about "poetry about dogs" - I really like Michael Ondaatje, and it's always amazed me how much poetry he's written about dogs - so I had some stuff he's written about dogs on my website. Tonight I moved it over and put it here - http://charlieloveshalifax.ca/poetry.html - if you want to check it out. Some hoy for your folloy on a Sunday evening.

Some very cute photos

I've been feeling under the weather the last few days, so I haven't been posting - the world of dog politics has been going on without me. I'm sure the people I'm usually mean to are happy about me not writing anything, anyway.
Here are some photos I took this week when we had a couple of minutes of sun - Daisy and Charlie were on fire and were wrestling like crazy in the back yard.
They have one small patch of grass in the yard that they wrestle on that I just can't get any new seed to grow grass on - and I can't convince them to wrestle on any other section of the lawn.
I don't know if I should just pour cement on that section of the lawn, or what.
Oh well, they certainly do enjoy themselves at least.And it makes for some good photos.
I didn't get the camera out soon enough to catch Buttercup humping Daisy during this wrestling match - but she was also involved in this melee.
Jack however, prefers to stay on the sidelines and bark at the trees.