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Volume 38 - February 21, 2003 Materials in this newsletter are the sole possession of the authors and Dog Company. Please do not copy or use in any fashion without written permission |
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Do you remember a time when.... Decisions were made by going "eeny - meeny - miney - moe"? Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do Over!"? "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest? Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening? It wasn't odd to have two or three "Best Friends"? The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was "cooties"? Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot? A foot of snow was a dream come true? Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures? "Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense? Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles? The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team? War was a card game? Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle? Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable aspirin? Water balloons were the ultimate weapon ? According to my mom Peni, if you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!! Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown-up" life . . .
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Classified (To our advertisers: we'd love to hear if your ad in the Woof was successful. Please drop us a line and let us know.) A Thank You Wanted: A new home for Jake Wanted: Hi, my name is Koah and I just moved in to my new home and need a new apartment. My Mom has a 250 Crate (27" L x 20" W x 19" H) and I need more room - a 450 would be perfect. If you can help please e-mail my Mom at bpopel@shaw.ca or phone 656-7617. Her name is Beth. Trades are welcome too; my Mom's crate is in really good shape. |
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Wanted: A home for Missy. She was just a mess when she arrived, but after visiting my sister, Liz ,for a grooming session, she looks great. It will take a while for all the dry, damaged hair of her britches to grow out. She has no bad habits, other than the occasional barking at the fence line when let out when it's dark. She will respond to a "quiet" command. I'm not sure how she is for walking on a leash, but she has a great off leash recall. She rides well in the car, either in a crate or on the bench behind the seats in the truck. Missy has been here for over a week, and I can say that she is a real charmer! She is very resilient, just walked right in and settled down. She bosses the boys (Boomer & Kane) around, and they back down to her. She has taken over Boomer's bed, and he heads under the table to lie down with a "hmmpf". She loves people. I don't have any kids around, but she is supposed to be great with kids, and I believe that. She has a loving personality. She is active outside, playing with my dogs, but settles down quickly in the house and is very quiet. Crate trained and house trained, she will indicate when she needs to go outside with a little vocalization. We think that Missy is about 5 or 6. It's hard to tell, as her teeth have been worn down from hours of chewing on those abrasive tennis balls. Her previous owners got her from the SPCA, and had her for two years. They surrendered her due to allergies. Her boy ended up in the hospital with a life-threatening asthma attack, and the doctors wouldn't release him until the dog was gone from the home. This special girl needs a great home, so if you know of that perfect home, please let me know. |
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Wanted: My name is Emma, I have been living in a foster home for one year and am really wanting my own "forever home". I am looking for an "only dog home". I am a pretty little chocolate & white field bred, Springer Spaniel, with an amazing capacity to love. If it wasn't for the impact I have on the other dog here in this home, they would keep me. I am very demanding about attention and seem to be always wanting ALL the attention and it has put off the other dog who lives with me. She mopes when I'm around, and perks up when I'm not there. I really need a home where it is going to be ME, ME, ME! Is there anyone looking for an "attention hound" out there! If so please contact mark@onthemarksoftware.com Wanted: Your 'articles', your 'For Sales', your 'Want Ads', your birthday wishes, your letters to Mam'selle, your names, your ......... ????? (Disclaimer: Advertisements posted by the Woof are done as a service, not as an endorsement. Please communicate directly with the ad contact for further information on any items.)
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ASK MAM'SELLE Dear Mam'selle, Dear Dixie:
Woof ....... Your's in mooching and shmoooosing: Poutine^..^~~! (P.S. This is not a hot dog!)
What's New - What's Not Our dog friend, Harper, has had her first litter of pups .... border Collies. They will be ready for new homes in a few weeks; we will keep you in formed with pictures and adoption viewing dates. Ooooopps....... we should have told you earlier .........Jazz and her mom, Joan, have moved on to other adventures and challenges. We all wish them the very best. Trouble, Pouie, the Agility and Flyball Clubs, and the Saanich Trail Walkers.
Woofs of Wisdom When you feel dog tired at night, it may be because you've growled all day long.
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A Walk on the Wild Side Every Saturday morning, it happens. Just when I think I'm going to get to sleep in, Mom rousts me out of bed, looks out the window at the weather, feeds me breakfast and then herds me out to the car. About 15 minutes later, we arrive at the park -- and there they all are. Big dogs. Small dogs. Dogs with attitude. Dogs with insatiable curiosity. Long-haired dogs, dogs with curly tails, dogs with polka-dots. You name it, they're there. And we're all there for the GSMTW —the Great Saturday Morning Trail Walk." We're doing this so we can all get to more challenging trails to keep our humans in good physical shape. There's usually about 15-20 of us canines, and a matching number of humans. Most of us try and keep track of our humans by trailing yellow ropes (about 20 feet long) from our collars. We trail these lines behind us for two reasons. First, to make sure our humans keep up with us. Every once in a while, we'll try to dash ahead of them. Sometimes we do this just so we can have a chat with one of our pals; other times, we do it just to give our humans a little exercise. There seems to be something that really fascinates them about the end of that rope disappearing around a bend in the trail. They come dashing after the line but some are pretty cagey and call out, "Someone step on Fluffy's line please!" and Fluffy gets stopped short. The one I like to watch the best is the one where the human runs and then takes one final leap and steps on the rope. (We're working on some way of stopping them from doing that -- we really hate getting our collars yanked when that rope suddenly goes taut.) Hmmmmmm, I think if we had turned to come back when we were called then that wouldn't have happened...most of us are great at it now, but some breeds are more stubborn than others. The second reason we trail the lines is purely the entertainment value. Picture, if you will, a surging crowd of canine perfection in motion. Then picture 20 -odd trailing ropes twined along the trail behind us. Got it? Now picture 20 or so inept humans following in our wake. Got that? OK. Now, picture 40 human feet. Twenty ropes. Are you getting it? I tell you, it's just plain hilarious. Humans jumping, weaving, side-stepping, pirouetting. Absolutely some of the best free-form dance moves on the planet. (And I'm sure I even saw a little Highland dancing move there once; I know for sure that one of them must have been dancing the mambo a couple of weeks ago). As I said -- totally entertaining. We've been trying to figure out how we could score them on their performances . . . But we're not sure how they'd take that. Should we do numerical scores? Or maybe just "paws up" or "paws down." Hmmm. We'll have to work on that. There are a few of us (like me, for instance) who go rope-less, so we have a bit of extra time to take stock of the situation. We'll consult with our roped pals for their opinion on which way is best. But my human tells me that the ropes are really there for showing the dogs who want to be free on the trails that they need to be close and not leave the trails. Believe me, some try. She tells me that it's a great way to help us dogs acquire trail manners. Supposedly, it gives us the illusion of being off-leash, while they can still step on the trailing end of the rope to stop us if we should suddenly spot something enticing -- like a squirrel -- somewhere off the trail and decide that it might be a good idea to investigate. Or perhaps a not-to-be-resisted mud hole comes into view at a trail intersection. Mom also tells me that the trailing rope helps us learn not to get too far ahead of our humans. We have to learn to wait for them when they lag behind (which humans have an annoying habit of doing -- don't they know how exciting these trail walks are???) Anyway, about 45 minutes later, we're all back at the meadow where we started. Usually much wetter. Definitely much dirtier. And certainly ready to tank up on a bit of water in order to re-load for the next interesting tree that we encounter. Then it's back in the car, and off on the day's errands. Perhaps a little nap in the back seat . . . 'cause come 2 p.m. we're practising for the "Good Canine Neighbourhood Challange and a lot of the big dogs need my help. Then it's up in downtown Sidney for a walkabout and perhaps a stop for the humans at a coffee shop for coffee or whatever. We canines don't neeed caffine as we get all pumped up on all the attention and pats from dog lovers who think we just are something sitting waiting for our humans to finish chatting and drinking hot stuff. That's a whole other story. What's that??? A bath???? I'm not THAT dirty. Well, OK, yes, I realize that I've collected half the twigs off the trail in my hair. But it's not MY fault: it's genetic, you know . . . Us Silky terriers just happen to have long hair that's absolutely perfect for collecting stuff for later scientific evaluation. . . . You wouldn't want to interfere with my research project, would you? Geez, is that the bathtub I hear filling . . . Gotta go! And hey, you can view the video below.
The movie is provided in Quicktime format. If you do not have the player, please visit the Quicktime web site.
Phydeau Phun Spotted outside a coffee shop in Windsor:
Sick Call Well, we've still got Monty on the injured list, and have heard that Peaches has done a ligament. And not only those two, but we've got Brock's Mom, Janice, recovering from surgery too. Barks and ruffs to all of you; hope you're better soon.
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Slick's Flicks GRRR ... Wuff! Yep, it's time to pop the popcorn ( I like mine with a bit of butter) and a big bowl of water. Family Flicks........ Adult Movies.............. Geeesh.......... I can smell the popcorn now! REMEMBER TO LICK UP ALL THE CRUMBS OFF THE FLOOR!
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Cleo's Corner "How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb?" (Thanks to both Susan P and Olivia for sending this in) BORDER COLLIE: Just one. And then I'll replace any wiring that's not up to code. AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD: First, I'll put all the lightbulbs in a little circle. GOLDEN RETRIEVER: The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned-out bulb? CAT: Cats do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So, the question is: How long will it be before I can expect light? All of which proves, once again, that while dogs have masters, cats have staff.
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Creative Captions Calling all readers! Okay, here's your chance! Get creative! Use your imagination! Write a caption for the picture to the right and send it in. Email: peni@dogcompany.com
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