Lucy: Chewed glasses

Lucy the Golden Retriever ate not one, but two, $400 Palm Trio cell phones (back when they cost that much). But her favorite forbidden fruit is reading glasses (dirty underpants don’t count). I drop a pair about twice a week and Lucy scoops ’em up and heads for her spot under the bed. I only pay about $8 for a pair of cheap readers online but we worry about here swallowing glass or a sharp piece of plastic. Yeah, I know… I could wear one of those little cords around my neck that are so popular with librarians. Naw.

No “yappy dogs” for Obama

One more from the Barbara Walters interview:

WALTERS: I have one final, very important question. I, Mrs. Obama, I sent you a picture of my dog, Cha Cha
MICHELLE OBAMA: Uh-huh.
WALTERS: Who is a Havanese, and a very perfect dog, and
BARACK OBAMA: Cha Cha?
WALTERS: Cha Cha. Cha Cha is a dog, he's a Havanese, he's from Havana… name is "Cha-cha-cha."
BARACK OBAMA: Cha-cha-cha.
WALTERS: Yeah. (overlap)
BARACK OBAMA What is a Havanese?
WALTERS: Oh, it's like a little.. it's like a little terrier. And they're non-allergenic, and they're the sweetest dogs in the world.
BARACK OBAMA: But, but it's a… it's like a little yappy dog.
WALTERS: Yeah, you don't want (overlap)
MICHELLE OBAMA: Don't criticize.
BARACK OBAMA: Yeah, it like sits in your lap and things?
MICHELLE OBAMA: (Overlap) Yes, it's a cute dog. (Laughs)
BARACK OBAMA: It sounds kind of like a… a girly dog.
MICHELLE OBAMA: We're girls. We have a house full of girls.
WALTERS: We know…  we… what about whatever you were saying?
MICHELLE OBAMA: (Laughs)
BARACK OBAMA: Well, well, we're gonna have a big, rambunctious dog.

Found pup

Founddog450While waiting for George to join us for our Saturday morning gab-fest at the Coffee Zone, Tom and I saw a small dog run into the street. Lots of traffic and the dog seemed to have not street-smarts. Just ran down the middle to busy intersection.

I went out to try to help get her out of the street and succeded with the old pretend-you-have-a-treat-in-your-hand trick. When I picked her up she was frantic for a bit but calmed down. I took her into the Coffee Zone thinking the owner might come looking. Didn’t happen so George drove us to the shelter. Turns out she had been picked up a week ago and returned to owners.

Who apparently let her get out again. A scan of her chip confirmed and the owners were called again. I didn’t know dogs could have blue eyes.

The Big Deuce

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“A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again, the museum said Monday.

The art work, titled “Complex S(expletive..)”, is the size of a house. The wind carried it 200 metres (yards) from the Paul Klee Centre in Berne before it fell back to Earth in the grounds of a children’s home, said museum director Juri Steiner.” — Flying piece of art causes museum chaos in Switzerland

Holiday Greetings from Ripley and Lucy

Far and away the most asked question about the annual holiday card, “How did you get the dogs to sit still for the photo?” The answer has always been a combination of patience and treats. This year, neither was enough to get Lucy to pose. When the camera came out, she freaked and ran. Barb never lost her cool but I really thought this would be the year she’d have to punt.

The image above perfectly captures the exhaustion of everyone involved. Not an award winner, but an honest and true image of the season. We’re all a little exhausted.

GPS dog collar

Gpscollar
Garmin, a manufacturer of G.P.S. equipment, makes a tracking system that keeps tabs on dogs during walks in the countryside or in the dense ground cover of a hunting trip. It has two parts: a hand-held G.P.S. unit for the owner and another device that is mounted on the dog’s collar or harness.

If the dog bolts after a deer, the owner’s device will show where the dog is headed so the owner can follow and find it, even if miles away.

The Garmin dog tracker system, called Astro, costs $599, but the price may not be too steep for people who already have a deep emotional and financial investment in their dogs. Businesses that sell the Astro include Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, and Gundogsupply.com. [NYT.com]

Would I pay $600 to find Ripley or Lucy if they were lost. You bet. If they weren’t inside dogs, I’d have me a couple of these collars.