wrapped in leash

wrapped in lease, originally uploaded by phaird.

Another great day to be out. The sun was out. There was a nice breeze and it wasn't humid. A perfect day for both dogs and people.

Things are slowly moving forward on the book front. I just entered a contest on Blurb.com for creative books. I'm not really expecting to win (though it would be nice) but I hope that my book will end up in front of people who might find it interesting. The other good thing is that now I've got a sample book that I can print and show to people. I just keep moving ahead and keep shooting.

The Animal Print Mag

As the guy everyone knows as the dog photographer, a friend dropped this local Magazine called the Animal Print on my desk. It's a great little magazine that has some interesting articles and lots of details of events going on.

In there they mention about two different parks that have opened lately. One in Lowell and another in Foxboro. Check out there site and you can read the whole mag, ad's and all.

If you know of any local animal (especially dogs) mags or websites, please let me know. I'm always interested in delving even deeper into the world of animals.

scout-and-boy

scout-and-boy, originally uploaded by phaird.

Another hazy day at the dog park on Sunday. I was extra careful with Toby because I didn't want him to run off again. He was super scared when we go there and I had to drag him out to the park. After a while, he finally relaxed and I let him off lease for a short time. I didn't take too many photos because I was the nervous one once Toby was off leash.

I did get to see scout who I didn't get to see for a few weeks. He's always good to see. His buddy, Fenway still isn't ready for the crowds yet but he's going to be taking classes to help with that soon.

Toby found

toby-found, originally uploaded by phaird.

Today had a hard day. It was a cloudy day with storm clouds and way off in the distance, you could hear thunder. From the Acton Park, you can also here the local shooting range. Both send Toby running for cover. Normally I can here these things and keep an eye on Toby and gage his mood.

Today, I didn't. I took my eye off of him for maybe 5 minutes and he was gone. He's wondered off before but today was bad. I was out for almost 5 hours looking everywhere for him. There was a sighting down a busy road just outside the park but really far away.

After searching through the woods behind the park (miles of trails) I got a lucky break. A woman came up to me as I came out of the woods and asked me If I was looking for a dog. Toby had ran across the street from the fire station and hid under her porch in the back of their house.

He wouldn't come out for her but with some firm encouragement, I got Toby to come out to me. He was shaking like a leaf and so scared. I got him home and gave him a good bath because he was covered with dirt.

Thanks to everyone who helped me search the park. Once people knew Toby was missing, A search party was formed and we everyone did a lot to help find Toby. It made a huge difference for me having the help getting Toby back.

Dog Mountain

I always love running across people who love dogs and design their lives around them. I was told about Dog Mountain the other day and it's pretty cool. A man who faced death created a hole life in Saint Johnsbury, VT. Check it out.

A good day by the water

wet-on-hot-day, originally uploaded by phaird.

We've had some really hot weather the past few days had it can be really hard on our furry friends. The good thing at the Acton Park is the pond. All the dogs were jumping in and cooling off. I think the heat kept some people away though. Some dogs don't do well with all the heat. The weird part is that 2 days before, it was 40 degrees. Now it's in the 90s.

Make sure both you and your dog get plenty of water.

Puppy day

boy-sitting-w-puppy, originally uploaded by phaird.

Sunday was puppy day. One of the regular Jack Russel's gave birth to 5 puppies about 9 weeks ago and they had their first big outing to the park. Everyone wanted to see and play with the pups. Specially the kids. Parents often bring there kids to the park with the dogs but many of the dogs are running so much that the kids don't get much play time with them. Puppies though love the attention and are great for children to play with. Being such a nice day, there was a great turn out and the puppies got lots of attention. I hope we have a lot more nice days like this.