Grandma's Headstone

Buddy's New Leash

For the love of cheese fries - part 1

We decided that since we were at Madison Square Park we should brave the line at the Shake Shack. Despite the hour plus wait, it was definitely worth it. We went all out and got shakes and a burger and cheese fries. We decided to reward Buddy with the cheese sauce on the bottom of the container the fries came in and it was like a Charlie Chaplan skit as he licked the container so hard that it leaped away across the deck.

For the love of cheese fries - part 2

And finally Buddy works out a system.  Lick, lick, lick, retrieve!

Buddy's First Cart

At Pyrapalooza last year we looked at the workshops and decided that the only one we really thought that Buddy could do was the carting. It turned out that he did some of the agility components too, but he really had the most fun at the carting workshop. When the offered the carting workshop again we were really excited and signed right up - in fact I was the first person to submit their Pyrapalooza registration to Judy.
This year the carting workshop went really well again and we decided that it wasn't some sort of fluke that Buddy did so well last year. At the workshop we tried out a harness made by All Things Bright & Biothane which we really liked and our enthusiasm for Buddy's exciting new activity we ran over to their table and wanted order one. They nicely pointed out that there was one in the silent auction so we bid on that one and won! To go with it we did order an all purpose leash (all rings and clips for versatile configurations) and a bell.

I totally tried to convince Todd that we should also buy a cart but Todd pointed out that we should take things one step at a time.

Instead of buying a cart I did lots of research and found lots of good examples of pre-made carts to give me ideas for what I wanted the finished product to look like, and one or two actual cart plans. After scouring the basement I decided that I'd take a first stab with a milk crate and the wheels of a defunct Weber grill and this is what I ended up with. It isn't pretty, but it works!

Kayaking

For my dad's birthday this year we decided to do something active and outdoors. Clint came up with this kayaking place in Peekskill. The only catch was that 1 Annsville Road is not recognized by nav systems and their roadside sign is small and inconspicuous. Despite getting lost trying to find the place, once we got into our kayak we had a nice time. The rest of the family drove up separately so they had given up on us and headed out in their kayaks ahead of us, but we found Sofia and Clint almost right away. They then showed us where my parents had last been spotted and we all managed to meet up and do a group trip down a very quiet, shady stretch of river.

Afterwards we took the recommendation of the guy at the rental place and tried out the Peekskill Brewery.

Fun at the AKC Responsible Dog Owner Day

The American Kennel Club (AKC) Responsible Dog Ownership Day yesterday went really well! We got to Madison Square Park nice and early to set up. Then a wonderful fellow Pyr owner, Ronnie, came down on the train with her dog Shayna to help us man the table. We picked her up and stationed ourselves at the NEPR booth near the fountain, so there was lots of open space in front of us and a convenient fence behind us. Our "booth" was really a covered table and two chairs so we arranged the materials on the table, put up the folding display on top and pinned up the banner across the front.

Here are Ronnie, Shayna, Todd and Buddy at the beginning of the day. It was great to have Ronnie and Shayna come! Buddy and Shayna get along really well and Shayna is such a sweetheart! Ronnie was a great help!


Both dogs enjoyed the admiration of their adoring public. We'd been working on socializing Buddy and teaching him to "leave it" when he gets worked up about other dogs, and he did very well. People had lots of questions about the breed and about rescue, and we explained about the characteristics of Pyrs and what NEPR does.

It was perfect timing to have this event fall right after Pyrapalooza. Buddy really got into the carting again this year and we ended up with the winning bid on a harness during the silent auction. Since Pyrapalooza I'd been working on a beginner cart for him made out of stuff we happened to have in our basement. I managed to finish it the morning and then we harnessed Buddy up and he helped us to bring supplies to and from the car. People were amazed to learn that Pyrs are great at carting too.


The only thing that could have been better was if they'd given us a booth with more shade because towards the end of the event our table was right in the sun and Buddy and Shayna were tired and wanted to hide behind the table in the shade. It was only a real problem because they were so popular that people kept wanting to see them and pet them even though they were tired. If we did it again I would want to bring an exercise pen so they could lay down where people could see them but not touch them, unless they wanted to come out and socialize. And it would have been nice to have another pair of dogs so that they could take turns being ambassadors. After a while Buddy and Shayna took a break to rest in the shade and stare at squirrels.

Shayna and Buddy weren't the only ones fantasizing about squirrels snacks—here's a Pharoah Hound who noticed a squirrel getting a little too close to his booth.

There were lots of other groups, mostly fanciers. Among the largest dogs at the event were Mastiffs, Wolfhounds, Otterhounds and Pyrs.

Otterhounds:

And here we have some very patient Mastiffs being mobbed by admirers:

And look at the spiffy collars that the Pharoah Hounds were displaying!

Here's a cute Tibetan terrier who wasn't allowed out of his cage:

Buddy caught his second wind when some of his favorite people came by to visit — Olivia and Patrick.

When I was reading the information about the event it didn't seem like 11 am - 3 pm was a lot of time and while it went by quickly it did turn out to be a tiring day.

Park Slope Bar Crawl

Sweater Success!

Todd's sweater is officially finished!
Last week I finished the neck for the third time.

  I thought I had it right, but just in case I left the yarn ball attached and was just waiting for Todd to try it on before cutting the yarn and weaving in the last end.  

In Todd's words:

"This sweater is exactly what I've been looking for. It's light enough that can wear it on months that don't start with 'Feb' (for example: October), and it has a manly weave I can show off proudly. I expect this sweater to make occasional guest appearances on future blog posts, and to protect me from cold, injury, embarrassment and famine. We've found that this sweater must be stored separately from other sweaters because it's extremely territorial, but it seems to get along well with white tee shirts and jeans."

A patched roof and a homemade meal (and Mario Galaxy)

This past weekend we were at home for the first time in a month. We took advantage of the opportunity to relax and catch up on some things around the house. The biggest thing issue was the leaking roof, which is now patched. We'd been thinking about fixing the roof for a long time and had even looked into renting a 40 foot ladder. Since we were home and there didn't seem to be rain in the forecast, we stuck a deal with ourselves: if the ladder was available for rental (there's only one in Bayonne—no kidding) we would get it just to see if it looked like something we could tackle ourselves, and if it did not we would call the roofers. The hardware store is two blocks away, so we just walked there and then carried the ladder back, eschewing their suggestion that we use a truck.

Once we figured out how to put the two pieces of the ladder together it was more or less straight forward. Todd easily found what looked like a manageable crack and then headed for Home Depot. I stayed at home to keep an eye on the ladder. We took it down but there was no way it was fitting inside the house and we didn't want it to wander off.

Todd successfully managed to navigate Home Depot and the supermarket and only came home with two extra things! Once he got back on the roof, Todd made the best of an entire tube of roofing sealant and patched anything that looked like it might be thinking about leaking. One of our neighbors caught him on the roof and enlisted Todd's help in unclogging a gutter. Todd also found an ancient and enormous TV antenna that he managed to lower off the roof by it's cord without incident.

To celebrate our success with the roof we decided to make a new recipe that Todd's mom sent us. The recipe included all of Todd's favorite things and proved to be straight forward to make. Best of all it was very tasty!

To celebrate our success with the roof and with the meal we had to play a little Mario Galaxy too! We managed to beat two of the aggravating purple coin levels too. All around, it was a good weekend.

AKC Responsible Dog Owner Day

Todd and I will be coordinating a booth for NorthEast Pyr Rescue (NEPR - www.nepyresq.org) at the 2008 AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day in New York City on Saturday, September 20, at Madison Square Park from 11 am to 3 pm (http://www.akc.org/clubs/rdod/2008/NY/).  This is a great opportunity to see and meet Pyrs, to learn about the breed and NEPR, and to see a variety of canine-centric groups, products and activities.  We will be handing out information, answering questions, and generally showing off our dog Buddy - and hopefully he will be joined by at least one of his new friends from Pyrapalooza.  Come on out to support NEPR and to have fun in the sun with your dog.  There will be competitions, fun games, lots of free samples, and activities for you and your dog, including training and testing for the Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) Program.  If anyone is planning to attend please let us know!

Pyrapalooza

Pyrapalooza 2008 was a blast!  This year we decided to camp and to take Friday off to make Pyrapalooza a real 3 day event.  Taking off Friday definitely made it easier to camp, because not only is pitching the tent in the dark not so much fun, but we discovered that we didn't actually have access to a serviceable tent at all - so we had to go out and buy a brand new one.  

We got to the fairgrounds fairly early and set up our brand new tent.  Camping has become a lot more luxurious since I was a kid - check out our cushy air mattress; no sleeping on rocks for us.
Buddy had lots of fun frolicking on the first day when there weren't too many other dogs and he could be off the leash.
One of the first major activities on Saturday was a rescue parade where everyone who rescued a Pyr said a little bit about their dog and then got to show off their dog to the group.  
We did the carting workshop again this year.  It was lead by the same guy as last year. He even remembered us!  Buddy got to lounge around with the other participants as we were waiting our turn.
Doesn't Buddy look handsome in his red harness pulling the spiffy event cart!  
What else is in order after a hard day's work?  A nap in the lovely cool sand!
Todd is modeling a scarf knit out of Pyr hair!  There is too a constructive use for the fur-bunnies that decorate a Pyr lover's house!
Todd also made friends with lots of other Pyrs.  Here he is showering attention on Deb's dogs, Nicky and Sully.
Here Nicky and Sully demonstrate the true meaning of family as they pile up for their dad's attention.
And here their foster brother Kaed gets in on the doggie pile and group hug. 

After his long and exciting day Buddy is too bushed to even eat the junk food treat that he inherited from the show dogs who were trying to preserve their figures.  
Since Buddy is such a natural at carting we bid on this awesome harness, collar and traces kit from All Things Bright and BioThane, and we won.  It's a great value and we even ordered a matching leash and bell too.  

Here is Buddy modeling his new kit.  All he needs now is a cart!

One of the other things we did was a massage and aroma therapy workshop where we learned different massage techniques and learned what some different oils can do for everyone including Pyrs.  Shayna, the lucky dog that got to participate in the demo was so happy and relaxed she nearly fell asleep on the floor despite being the center of attention.  And when we tried out some of the strokes and exercises on Buddy he turned into a big furry puddle, especially the tail pulls where he was leaning into them for all he was worth!

Overall Pyrapalooza was a great time!  All the people we met were great and it was really exciting to meet other Pyr lovers and to have an opportunity to participate in educational, instructive and fun workshops.  I'm really glad we camped - despite stepping in a huge puddle on the way to the tent - because it gave us an opportunity to hang out with everyone late at night and gather for coffee with everyone early in the morning.