early or late

golden_up-close4, originally uploaded by phaird.

There seems to be two groups of people who come to the park every Sunday. There is the early group and the late comers. Now keep in mind, this gathering every Sunday is a word of mouth event. There is no structure or guideline. "Sunday at 10am" is a very loose event. The only thing holding it together are the people who decide to show up.

When I first started coming to the park, I was often coming late. I wanted to be around the busy group of dogs and meet all the different breeds and people. Since Toby has been skittish, I've decided that earlier is better. Get Toby running around and tired so he can be more relaxed when the park starts to get busy.

As I've been coming to the park, it is always a treat to see the regulars, and the new comers. Some are mostly around in the summers, others I normally see in the winter. I have noticed a shift though in the past few months. Some people I normally see, I have been missing. Others have changed their pattern so come later, while I've changed and have started to come earlier.

I feel it's much like dogs. We can be excited to see our park friends and when they don't show up, we have to accept that and they aren't their and hope to see them next time.

To my friends at the park, both 2 and 4 legged, I always look forward to seeing you.

A quiet day

petting, originally uploaded by phaird.

If you listen to the weather on TV on Sunday, you would have never left the house. They were saying it was going to rain and be cold all day but it the day couldn't have been nicer to me. It was cool and there was very light rain but that didn't last. That could be the reason the park was really quiet at 10am when most people arrive. It's easy to want a lazy day on Sunday of all days. For Toby and me, it is the one day we get all for Toby.

I know I don't normally talk about the book project that started this blog but I am still trying to get that going. Things have been really slow the past month or so. My day job was very busy and I'm also trying to start up a pet photography business as well.

I know I'm at a point where I need to push myself. I need to start to collect stories. I've got over 2 years of photos and could put together a great series just from that. The stories about the dogs, the people and the park are what will make the book have a broader appeal. A part that is holding me back is what questions to ask. What do I really want to know? How do I get to the heart of the story? These are some of the things I've been asking myself lately. I have talked with a few writers and some have had some great insight into what kind of directions the book could take. Really seeing the emotions in the stories. I'm a very practical person who often looks for facts in my daily life. What I want is less tangible. I know the feeling, I can even capture it in my photos. My next goal is to get it in story form.

I'm going to try to collect some stories in the next few weeks and start submitting it to magazines like the Bark or the Pet Gazette. I think this will help my chances of publishers seeing how serious I am about this subject.

Tyson's visit for the weekend

tyson_back-lit, originally uploaded by phaird.

We had my mother-in-law's Rat Terrier, Tyson for the weekend. They were away for the weekend so we dog sat for them. He has been going to obedience training so he was much better this time then in the past. Before, he would get us up in the middle of the night, pull on his leash and eat anything he could. We had little of that this time. He was much better.

As a "fresh" little dog in the park, all the dogs really wanted to play with him. He looks like a puppy but he's full grown. Tyson is pretty good at being the rabbit and letting the big dogs chase him but when it got too rough, he stood his ground and let them know not to go to far.

Toby was pretty good today too. We went on a good walk though the woods and got his energy out that way.

It was a quiet day at the park for the most part. Being mothers day, I think a lot of people had other plans. It was such a nice day though. One of the nicest in a long time, a slight breeze, sunny and cool. Just perfect to me. I got to talk about other rat terriers, the cool work people do, and just average things of the day. We were there for over an hour and it was really great. Toby though started a fight for no reason so figured that was my sign to go.

World oldest dog - a Dachshund?

When I think of dogs with long lives, I don't think of Dachshunds. This one is 21 and fairing pretty well. Good for her. Check it out.

A short day at the park

waiting for the chase x2, originally uploaded by phaird.

Today was a perfect day if you're a bug. Humid, no wind and very moist ground. All kinds of bugs were out flying around and getting into my eyes. There is a pond at the park so I think that may help the bugs. Just check out this picture in Flickr at the original size. All those white dots are bugs flying around.

Toby and I tried to go to our weekly park trip but it was only a short visit. He heard the gun club off in the distance so by the time we go half way through our walk, he went running back to the car. At least I didn't have to chase him down. He did what he could to not just run off so I think that is a little better. Small steps. He'll never be happy about those noises but I will always do what I can to keep him comfortable.

Road trip part 2 - the map

I did a basic map of where are trip will take us. Our goal is to leave around July 14 or 15 and returning by July 30. We're starting up in Eastern MA, heading down to DC, then over to Knoxville TN. We'll be there for about a week and then head up to Greensburg PA for a day or so before we find our way home. If you're anywhere on the way, please let me know and I'll remap to see if we could make a detour.

I really hope this gets some momentum. I'd love to see other dog friendly parks across the east. It would be a great option for the book. What I hope to do is meet people and their dogs, take LOTS of photos and collect stories about the dogs and the parks they play in.

This will be my first road trip with the whole Family. We've got to find dog friendly lodging on the way but I'm really hoping that Toby will be able to come. We do have a backup plan by sending him to the grandparents house where he will be spoiled with table scraps and long walks every day.

Rest in Peace Blue

blue getting a treat, originally uploaded by phaird.

Blue lost his battle on Saturday with cancer. His owners went above and beyond for over a year to keep his cancer at bay and even though he had more good days then bad, he couldn't out run his cancer. For the past few weeks, he had been living the good life, getting treats any time he wanted and getting any extra attention but Blue was a working dog. He knew what his roll was and got the best life a dog could ask for.

On Saturday, he walked out side, went over to his favorite tree, relieved himself one last time and fell over. Blue's owners didn't have to ask that question of how much pain is my pet in. Blue took care of that for them.

Blue will be missed greatly, even beyond the park.