Fido barks up wrong tree: owners

Fido barks up wrong tree: owners

Who's the cover boy on the National Great Pyrenees Rescue page?

As of 9:15 PM,  Chaucer is ranked:

670 out of more than 22,833 dogs.


Now for those of you for whom this doesn't seem like a big to-do, we started out at 5,895 on Friday, October 21. This is rocket speed!


And it is all thanks to you.  15 more days until the competition closes - let's keep voting please!

http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/11847

GOBSMACKED PEOPLE I AM GOBSMACKED!

881.

We have moved 5014 places since entering the competition - all thanks to you! Chaucer is loved - and you know? I feel the love too! It's wonderful! I hope you enjoy checking into the Fido site (http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/11847) and watching the numbers. Did I mention it's addictive?  With 16 days to go, things are going to get hotter and fiercer. And hey! Chaucer's going to get brushed! Well, no time like the present really...

Today's ranking as of 10:19 PM

1,035.

It has been going up and down today - maddening for those of us who are semi-addicted to the listing. What this might be telling me is that there are people out there who care for their dog - or their friend's dog's more than WE CARE FOR OURS or mine. Zut alors and voyons donc!!! This cannot be true!!!

Another possibility is that what these numbers are telling me is that some people are better connected or networked than others. And this - well, this might well be true. And this requires asking for help. I clearly cannot do this alone - and neither can the already committed friends and family who are voting every day. Join us in making a difference to Canada's Dog Guides (every vote is a $1 donation from Fido. Click here:http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/11847

Almost there! From 5,895 to 1,124 with a few weeks to go!

The competition is heating up and we are continuing to move up in the rankings - thanks to YOU all. There are about 20 days left in the competition, and the time has come to develop a new strategy. Any suggestions? Preferably ones that incorporate elements on how NOT to lost friends or make enemies by entering one's dog, into a competition, winning through sharing, and how to make winning F U N.
Ideas welcome! Votes welcome too! Just in case it's not handy...http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/11847!

Well, hello!

After months of inaction, I have been jolted into acting on a contest! Amazing! I am such a NON-CONTEST person, yet here I am, heralding and championing Chaucer as the (hopeful) new Face of Fido.
Forget for a moment that I am not a Fido subscriber, and that this,  in all likelihood, will not change. Forget too, that some of the aspects of this competition - and believe you me - it's getting fierce out there - are a bit murky - like exactly how many votes has each dog secured? How much money has Fido raised for Canada Dog Guides? And, if we are currently ranked 1400 ish, how are we ever going to make it to Number 1 in just 20 days?

BY VOTING every day. By sharing the excitement of watching the rankings improve, day by day, hour by hour. By sharing Chaucer's profile and encouraging others to vote- and hey! not just Chaucer! Jamon, Helen's puppy, is in the contest and so is Zero, Jennifer's dog.  Vote for them, after all, each vote secures a $1 donation to Canada Dog Guides, and delivers a frisson of excitement to all participants.

Check it out at: http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/11847

Chaucer on the Mend

After a real scare last Thursday night, Chaucer is now recovering at Dad's house from bloat, a twisted gut, and major abdominal surgery. Our house-calling vet, Dr Shannon Whatman, recommended we take him to the Hopital Veterinaire Rive Sud where Chaucer was admitted and received superior care. He was so admired and well-behaved, that not only was his name changed to Chester, but he was also called "Doll." Luckily, he is nothing if not dignified, so all of this was perfectly ok.

Bloat and twisted gut. Horrible. Thank God Dad noticed Chaucer wasn't feeling right, and that Shannon told me where to go, that there was no traffic, no delays ..and the list of gratitude could go on. And believe me, I am GRATEFUL that my boy is alive and doing well. He even managed a little hop, butt wiggle and  head duck and dive today when I visited. We hope to be back at the dog run soon - within the next 10 days or so.

The Accident waiting to happen, Happened.

June 22

June 24

On May 7th, I posted about the hole in the bench and that it was an accident waiting to happen.  And on June 22, my daughter fell through that hole, twisted her leg and banger her head on the ground. Way to go Westmount! After the shrieking subsided, we left. The next day, Darren Reid called Public Works, the police and Public Security and together we filed an official report, so that this incident is now on public record. Letter in the Independent to appear next week. Any guesses as to how long it will take to replace this bench?

BROKEN GATE

Dangerous. Let's get it fixed!

Very funny video - that has NOTHING to do with the dog run! (now there's a change)

Let's Get in Touch with our Elected Officials

Not only has the snow fence not made its reappearance - but there is a hole in one of the benches just waiting for an accident. It's jagged and could pinch a bottom, cut a hand or arm, scratch a nose, rip a poo bag - or  damage a paw.

NOT GOOD. Here goes an email to our councillor.  Hey - you can all email too!  Address and contacts of significance are:

Councillor Cynthia Lulham: clulham@westmount.org
Mayor Peter Trent: pftrent@westmount.org

Direct from Councillor Lulham: Dog Run News

Ran into Councillor Lulham yesterday with her two mini-poochitos. While our conversation covered topics from the Easter Bunny and how her no-show to my generous invitation to tour the dog run in the company of some of its more avid-goers meant that I simply ate the chocolate she might have had herself. Does this make sense? Phew! Here are the highlights:

• the arena will stay as is for another year. While the digging will begin at the pool end at the end of the summer, the pals are to keep the arena for the next hockey season, meaning that the demolition of the current structure won't happen until next summer. Maybe. So no plans in place for the dog run at the moment.
• the snow fences are supposed to have been put back at Lansdowne - as a temporary measure - are they?
• in terms of more permanent fencing, the plan is to install 5' steel fences - the same as the private soccer field - around the dog runs. This will start at Murray Hill on the lower fence - with one section installed at a time. Not clear whether the "at a time" refers to seasons or years or weeks. Also not clear when the first one would appear.
• apparently there is a bit of a rush on in terms of setting up a new dog body in Westmount;  maybe to take over the existing Westmount Dog Owner's Association, or start a Summit association, or have a dog run group. Her plan is to invite all interested parties to council, and then invite them to organize, vote, install members etc., Then she has one point of liaison with concerned dog persons.

What do you think?

Status on dog run review?

You may remember that in the April 12 edition of the Westmount Independent there was an Editor's note stating that Councillor Lulham and city horticulturist  Savaria were going to check out the fences at the Lansdowne dog run. Having heard nothing since then, I am going to check in with Councillor Lulham to see where we are.

Lobbying Scandal in Westmount?

Most interesting  - the validity of a poll, conducted last spring by Ipsos Decarie  gauging public opinion in Westmount on the proposed arena project, has come under question almost a year by some Westmounters later as the story of a private school's interventionist social media outreach initiative has come to light.

Turns out that at the same time - in fact during - the timeframe of the Ipsos Decarie telephone survey to Westmount residents, Selywn House sent a mass emailing to over 2000 recipients - requesting said recipients to respond favourably to the proposed arena project should they be asked of course.

So is it possible that some of the less than 2500 respondents, 80 some percent of whom were in favour of the project, might have been influenced as a result of the contents of that email? Welcome to the world of power lobbying - and where better than in this microcosm of political hand to hand combat over issues like grass vs artificial surfaces, to Bixi or not to Bixi -   that is Westmount? Check out www.westmountwatch.org for the story of this story.

And now. for the picture of the day...We thought that spring was here and that hats were a thing of closets past! Clearly not. To see the sequence, take a look at the flickr sidebar. Especially for this total and absolute focus on his face as he looks down at the hat as Cathy is admonishing him from above.

Murdoch just can't resist a hat.....

Today's Westmount Independent

Note of interest: Has anyone seen Councillor Lulham at the run to check the gates or the ground or the fences?

Also - amazing but true: as of today,  less than 700 dog licences have been issued for 2011.  I'd hate to overestimate the number of dogs in Westmount, but I feel confident there are at least twice that number.

Why are there so few licences? And, where does the money go from the licences already issued?

Ed Vickery's Letter to the Editor

To be published in this week's Westmount Independent.


Opinion

Dogs are animals, without any of the social morays that restrict humans from acting on their first impulses. Our own dog is a gentle giant. He wants to be patted by all passersby and he wants to sniff all dogs. He will pull to get close to other dogs and if the other owner appears willing, we let them meet. This is almost always a friendly encounter. There is, however, a 1% chance that for whatever reason He hates the other dog and an out of character reaction occurs. This is common among canines and is easily managed as the reaction is apparent from a hundred feet away and the leashed animals are kept well away from each other. If this reaction happens at a dog run the animals are probably much closer to each other, the second dog has yet to enter, and the approaching dog is led away by their owner. The other dog is theoretically confined by the fence.

On April 6 at Lansdowne dog run a large dog took offence to a smaller dog being walked on the path just outside. Barking started and the large dog ran to the fence easily putting front paws on the top of the fence. Both owners reacted immediately. The inside owner ran towards his dog and the outside owner turned around and left at speed. Perhaps this triggered a chase response I don’t know, but the large dog jumped the fence and raced after the smaller dog to attack, knocking down the smaller dog’s owner in the process. I was inside the dog run close the where the two dogs were engaged. I stepped over the fence and pulled the large dog off of the smaller one within seconds of the first contact. The large dog owner arrived immediately after to take charge of his animal. If I had hesitated to consider the possible outcomes for me I might not have done it but I sustained no injury. Our dog watched from the sidelines. The large dog received a gash between the eyes and I don’t know if the smaller dog was injured physically ( I don’t remember seeing blood) but he was scared, slipped out of his collar and ran away. Both owners and others who were at the dog run went searching for the dog. Westmount Public Security was alerted and officers joined the search . I contacted Public Security the next day to see if it had been found but they had no information.

The incident would not have happened two days before because of the 4 foot snow fence. The large dog would not have been able to put paws on top of the fence and a rickety fence is much more daunting for an animal to contemplate jumping than a solid one of the same size. While the snow fence would have prevented all this trauma, it is not the answer. Dogs jump out of the dog runs all the time for a variety of reasons, the hated squirrels is our dog’s prime motivation. If a dog wants out and the fence is only 27 and 1/8 inches high in some places, a motivated teacup Chihuahua could jump the fence at Lansdowne. I stepped over it with ease.

The issue of the low fences was brought to Westmount City Council more than four years ago and repeatedly since then. The April 6th incident further illustrates how important it is to have proper fences around all dog runs, and how the Council has let these dogs down. Instead of fixing the problem, Council members have repeatedly minimised, obfuscated or ignored the issue. Does a dog owner have to be killed trying to retrieve their dog from Lansdowne or St. Catherine St. before council will act. (The death of a dog would probably not be enough.) It took a death on Strathcona to make council act on truck safety. Council has plenty of time to work on the arena project for the 910 hockey players (2009) at a cost of more than $40000 per player. I think you will find that dog owners outnumber hockey players by a considerable margin. It would take less tan 5 players worth to secure the dog runs with tasteful PAC compliant fencing. You could even afford wireless security cameras to allay any concerns about undesirables hiding behind a 6 foot fence. Council, do your duty to serve and protect .

Sincerely, 


Ed Vickery, Argyle Ave.

Picture of the Day, March 29, 2011

Just another day in paradise, chewin', barkin', and chompin'.

Biren sent a link from the NYT stating the people who own dogs meet the minimum requirement of 30 minutes a day for exercise (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/forget-the-treadmill-get-a-dog/?src=me&ref=homepage), as recommended by the US Surgeon General.

Does this apply to dog run people? If we drive our dogs to the dog park (mea culpa here) do we still meet the minimum exercise requirement with all the health and wellness benefits that entails?  If not, do the other, non-exercise benefits of dog ownership outweigh the risks of not meeting the 30 minutes a day of exercise?

Picture of the Day, March 22, 2011

Bliss

I can't bring you anything but love, Baby....March 20, 2011

So - we had our party this morning, collected a load of dog doo in various stages of decomposition, sang songs LOUDLY, had three dogs wee on the bags as they were being filled, dissected the Montreal housing market, drank coffee, had some snacks, and generally felt pretty darn good about pristining the run. Thanks to Jennifer, Burt, Pauline, Helen, Lynda and Joanne (Gizmo).

There was a LOT of poop. Three garbage bags in fact. This led me to wonder - is there more un-collected dog doo in the spring than the summer? If so, then why is that?  Is it because it's easier to see in the spring? Perhaps it's cold and we are too busy freezing  to notice poo? Because it gets dark quickly and we can't find it? Because it freezes into a mass in the time it takes to get there?

I am going to pay attention to this issue over the next few months and see what comes up.

Picture of the Day? I couldn't resist.

The 40 day question of Lent and the picture of the day for March 19, 2011

Well. The unanswerable question from today is “why are there 40 days of Lent?” 

Turns out the 40 days are not the same across Christianity. For the Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic tradition, Lent ends on the Friday BEFORE Palm Sunday, so for 40 consecutive days, but ending the week before Easter.

For Oriental Orthodox Christians, Lent’s 40 days excludes Saturdays and Sundays, for a total of eight weeks.

Western Christianity counts from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday but the SUNDAYS in between don’t count.

Phew! Lent, the way I understood it, has 44 days – Wed Mar 9^th to Maundy Thursday, April 21^st.  Maundy Thursday – thanks here to Cathy Blundell for discovering this last year – is the night of the Last Supper, and the night before Good Friday. But I think I am way out there is no-man’s land on this one. But all this still doesn’t answer the question of why the 40 days?

Is it in recognition of the 40 days and nights Jesus spent in the desert where he was tempted by the devil, and then defeated him with scripture?  The 40 hours Jesus spent in the tomb prior to the resurrection? The 40 days and nights Moses spent on Mount Sinai? The 40 years the Hebrew people spent wandering lost?

Is the 40 days a symbolic number representing these and other acts or events in the bible? 40 days of fasting, penance and acts of charity?

As my father would tell you I am the LAST person on earth who should be discussing religion – as my brother and I were gazing at an ancient mosaic depicting the Final Judgment, I asked our tour guide, a Professor Emeritus of Theology, when it had happened.  He was shocked and my brother was mortified. And a private school education too! 

So on that note, here is my choice for picture of the day:

Birdie wanting Andy to do something - like get out of the dog run. Friday, March 18, 2011

Let's see what council makes of this then

The Westmount Independent  (March 8-9) published a quarter page of images of the dog run gates at the LDR, the WAG and Murray Hill. The accompanying text was critical, stating that high snow levels combined with low fence heights,  were conducive to many dogs simply stepping over the barrier.

And then, the most astonishing letter appeared in this week's edition by Belinda Bowes, who accuses council of spouting bull and being unwilling to resolve a long outstanding issue! Incredible! Amazing! Take that City Council! She is dead-on in stating that this issue has dragged on for years - it has, and for no clear reason.  I am preparing material for the next council meeting to pressure for improved conditions - and welcome your feedback and ideas.

March 17th, 2011 - Pictures of the day

More news: we may have the poo party this weekend, if there are enough of us to participate. Any takers? Sunday morning? I'll bring the treats.

March 16, 2011

Take that other dog runs! We EXUDE  effusive bonhommerie  at the LDR!

Murdoch, March 13, 2011

IMG_0297 a photo by AmyC2003 on Flickr.

Spring Poo Party

As spring approaches our thoughts turn to poop....and the amount of it that has lain unclaimed and somewhat hidden in the dog run over the winter, and is now making a rather smelly and icky appearance with bits sticking out of the snow. eeeeewwww.

Here's an idea: let's have a poo party! We'll be armed with  shovels, poo bags, happy happy attitudes and we'll clean the place up. Hooray! Doesn't this sound like fun? Special rewards for those who participate - thought up and crafted by yours truly.

Say - end of March beginning of April?

And picture from today:

Art on the Blog

The latest from today - Murdoch and Minne!

The throw

IMG_0261 a photo by AmyC2003 on Flickr.

And who knows where Chaucer is really looking.

Chaucer, LDR, March 12, 2011.

IMG_0262 a photo by AmyC2003 on Flickr.

Galloping after a ball I believe, as incredible as that may sound.

Dog owners fight city over park fence - Calgary - CBC News

Dog owners fight city over park fence - Calgary - CBC News

Seems like dog parks are making more news across the country...

Pet owners bark over St-Lambert dog park fee - Montreal - CBC News

Pet owners bark over St-Lambert dog park fee - Montreal - CBC News

New Idea

Here is a big idea which needs your HELP.

For the next 30 days I want to post at least one picture a day of the dog run, as a visual state of the union or current status.

This means I need your help . Use your camera-loaded cell phones! Use your digital cameras! Sketch and scan! Take pictures of the dogs, the fences, the gates, the people, the yellow danger signs floating all over - and we'll use them to create a 'living' image of our dog run, people and pet space.

Email any and all images to amycreighton@bell.net

Happy barkin', clickin' and waggin;!

A new voice for the dog run

Yay to Cynthia Grahame for asking, yet again, when the gates at the dog run will be fixed, open/close, allow easy entry and exits - the usual litany of can you please fix what needs to be fixed?

On another note - with  the news that the pool is to remain open this summer, might this mean that the Lansdowne Dog Run is also going to get a reprieve from the mighty pool project excavation machine? Not that we have heard anything about relocating the run, or even the cycling path.

So what happens now?

it's early January 2011, new arena plans beckon...and what happens to our dog run in the meantime? There seems to be some goodwill and interest in protecting and safeguarding what we have - but here's the question - how do we turn what is interest and goodwill into tangible results? Can we ensure our dog run evolves into what we dream of and might need?