(Source: listbutnotleast, via couldeverdreamof)
Thank you to my daughter C (couldeverdreamof) for some of her wonderful philosophical finds.
After my big walk in the woods last weekend with the dogs, this seemed very apropos. – DogDaz
3.19.12 Smilin’ Dogs!
Sunshine and happiness! There is nothing like a smiling dog on a sunny day. The dogs and I took a great walk in the woods and went exploring. We had a great muddy time.
It is so much fun to romp through the leaves and jump over branches and through trees. The dogs help me remember what is important! It is the simple things: the smiles, the smells, and the sense of adventure that keeps my heart pounding. What did you do just for you today? I went walking with my girls and smiled.
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
3.18.12 Louise, The Shy
Louise's Adoption Photo
March 2010
We adopted Louise in April 2010, when she was about 6 months old. I decided that her birthday would be Oct 31, 2009 so she could be my Halloween Dog. Squash E Bear was starting to really slow down by then and he was totally blind. I thought that getting a companion might help him on our walks and keep him company. I went on http://www.PetFinder.com and other dog sites and started to look for my next love. After several false starts (one being a shelter adoptee that bit me and Squash the first night she was here), I was ready to give up. Late in March we stopped in PetCo to buy guinea pig food on a Saturday and happened upon an unexpected adoption fair. I was immediately attracted to this medium size male dog with long hair (like Squash’s), but the rescue leader tried to talk us into this very fearful little black labby thing. I never thought about a black dog before, or a lab, and I was not interested in a short haired dog (I like the furry kind). We took Louise for a little walk and she was timid and fearful. I really was not interested. After a while her foster family came to pick her up and I saw a different dog emerge. She jumped on the kids and was really happy to see them. We talked to the foster and went home to think about it.
As you can see from the adoption picture above, Louise was not in the best of shape when rescued. They were having trouble placing her because people were scared off by the condition of her skin and her shyness, When you rescue an animal, you don’t know a lot about their beginnings. I was told that she was rescued with her sister, Thelma, at about 4 months old. The rescuers (MJ’s Sanctuary) went down to pick up a bunch of dogs from a kill shelter in North or South Carolina (that is where Maryland gets a lot of dogs) when 2 men drove up with 2 puppies in the trunk. The rescue team tried to talk the men into releasing the dogs to them but these guys did not want to, so the team kind of liberated the dogs somehow before they could be taken into the shelter. Hence her name, “LOUISE” (from the great liberation movie, “Thelma & Louise“). I figure Lulu’s Mom was maybe a hunting dog who got pregnant and gave birth in a barn. Somebody put flea collars on the pups and threw some food at them but I don’t think they interacted much with them because she appeared to not be socialized to people, and definitely not to males. The flea collar was embedded in her neck and her skin was covered with terrible dry mange when they rescued her and she shied away from everyone.
Lulu trying to cuddle with Squash
April 2010
I decided that I would spend some time with Louise and see how it work with Squash. As you probably figured, it did not take long for me to fall in love. Though it has taken 2 years of work (which continues) to help her over the anxiety of life, I could not have been chosen by a better dog. Today she is a loving and special girl, with a shiny coat and adoring eyes.
Louise Today
March 2012
Just another DogDaz morning at our house ❤
Saturday’s Wearing Green
Black-cheek Lizard (by Dhammika Heenpella / Images of Sri Lanka)
3.17.12 Sleeping With The Toys
My toy
I think I am noticing a pattern with Louise. She likes to sleep on her toys,
This is mine!
She seems to always have her paw on something or it is under her, Sometimes, multiple toys are under her at the same time, Is this a ‘This is mine so leave it alone’ thing, or is it just that she feels secure touching something when she goes to sleep. I never had a dog that actually lied on the toys this way. I originally thought that it was to keep Sofie away from them (which it could be), but, as you can see in the first shot, she even likes to just stretch out and touch a toy and then fall asleep.
My Toy - Do Not Touch
This week Louise was really in love with this frog that I got at the grocery store for St. Patrick’s Day, but tonight Sofie got it from her and they ripped it in half. The usual stuffing everywhere, quick find the squeaker before they swallow it,,,, you know the drill kind of toy. Well it did last almost 3 days, which is kind of a record around here. It was funny because Lulu was squeaking the frog during business calls this week and I had to apologize to people because I did not want to stop her she was having so much fun. We did not even have him long enough for me to get him in a picture.
Mine, mine, mine
I do think that animals like to cuddle with their toys like we humans do (well some of us). Sofie always carries around Beaver (her lovey), so maybe, Lulu finds comfort in knowing that one of her many play things is near by.
Just another dogdaz morning at our house ❤
3.16.12 I Love A Parade!
This is Lulu Belle and I wanted to discuss 3 special days in March with you.
Yesterday was the Ides of March. That is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March)
In neo-modern times, it is also known as ‘the day before Mommy’s birthday’ which is today, 16 March. We think Mommy was born later than 44 B.C. (Before Cats?) but we are not sure. Mommy tends to celebrate her birthday for a month since it falls in the middle. We have noticed that humans have parades in the streets of many towns and cities on 17 March (aka St. Patrick’s Day**) to also celebrate Mommy. We wonder why the parades are not held on her actual birthday but humans can be weird? And we also wondered why people wear green and they call her Patrick, which is not her name? Mommy does not like green, she says it matches her skin color.
(** Saint Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is probably the most widely celebrated saint’s day in the world. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day))
Around our house we like the celebration idea much better than the killing of Caesar, so we are going to have a pre-birthday parade and then a post-birthday parade for Mommy. I can’t wait until she sees what we made for her in the yard.
I love a parade ! – Lulu Belle
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo…..
3.15.12 Remembering Balto
Balto
March 14, 1933
For those fans of poorly made animated movies of the 1990s, the name Balto will be familiar. For those who aren’t, Balto was an Alaskan sled dog who was famous for running the last two legs of a miles-long journey in a blizzard to bring diptheria serum to Nome to end a fast-moving epidemic. Balto was the lead dog for Gunnar Kaasen who risked his own life and suffered frostbite running his dogs for over 24 straight hours (missing a pass off point) and collapsing upon arriving in Nome. His words as he fell were “damn fine dog.” Balto became a national hero, although he and Kaasen were only one of twenty teams to complete the journey. Balto’s fame led to the commission of a bronze likeness by the city of New York in Central Park (near the Children’s Zoo) even though the city had no direct connection to the dog or Kaasen. When Balto died on March 14, 1933 his body was donated to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History where it was preserved (ok, stuffed) and put on display, and remains so to this day. (See above)
Balto’s heroics are not without some controversy. Although Balto led the last team, many historians believe that the true heroes of the run were Leonhard Seppala and his pack leader, Togo who covered 84 miles in a single day and a total of 250 miles, including the “commute” from their home to their pick-up point. Unfortunately for Togo, it was the dog that finished the journey who received all the accolades…and a 1995 animated film with voice by Kevin Bacon. (Comment by DogDaz – I love that movie!)
(Image of Balto in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is courtesy of fortunecity.com)
