DOUG

POST # 348

DOUG

 



Say hello to Doug, the latest in a string of  dogs whose name begins with the letter "D".  Don't be deceived by Doug's placid look though.  He is without a doubt a handful to control, when I take him out for his daily walks.  Doug walks me, not the other way around.

 

Just the other day, we began our "stroll" down the street, and for reasons unknown to me (which I would  only discover yesterday), Doug began to bark.  As far as I could tell, there was nothing around for him to be  barking at, and yet he continued.  And when Doug barks, the entire neighbourhood hears it.  The ground almost vibrates.  You get the picture.  Anyhow, as we continued on our way, we came up to a house not far from here, and just as we were passing by, the owner came out into his yard, and began a rant about "@#*&$% dogs" and he didn't let up.  To say that he was somewhat unhappy would be an understatement.  I apologized on behalf of Doug, and we continued on our way.  Once we were around the corner, the barking stopped, and it was a pleasant journey for the remainder of our walk.

 

Fast forward to yesterday.  I decided that we would do our walk around the neighbourhood in a clockwise direction compared to what we had been doing prior to that.  Everything was going fine until we got close to this same house with the ranting neighbour.  Doug happened to be preoccupied with some fragrance wafting out of the bushes, and so he didn't see what I saw.  And what I saw, was a cat.  The cat was at the yard of the ranting neighbour.  Perhaps this is what Doug had been barking about earlier in the week.  As soon as he saw it, he began to bark and then he started pulling me along in that direction. Doug is without a doubt the strongest bonehead that I have ever had the opportunity to care for, and I had to use all of my strength to hold him back.  I had both hands on his leash, and he was pulling me along as if I wasn't even there. He almost pulled me to the ground. Thankfully we made it past the  house, at which point I quickly distracted him with a piece of kibble, and the drama was over.  The barking mystery from before had now been solved, and in the future, I plan to find another area to walk Doug.

 

Once home, Doug could relax, and find one of his many favourite toys to give to the house sitter in order to begin the never ending game of catch.

 

 

 

 

It's early days of this sit, and Doug continues to feel me out as we go, but it appears at this stage that he's happy with all of the attention that is paid to him, and I think that our time together will continue to be a pleasant one indeed.

 

maximizing my moments,

 

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

DORA-DOG = HAPPY-DOG

POST # 347

A bonehead and her bone.  Dora-dog is very typical in this regard, and she loves to spend some of her time, chasing, then licking, and finally gnawing on any bone that happens to come into her domain.  However, when there is no bone to be found, a stick is an ample substitute.

And if the stick happens to be down by her local beach, all the better.  She has plenty to choose from at this location, and she could chase a stick for as long as you want to keep throwing it.  That is, until some of her four-legged companions arrive, and then it's stick schmik, and Dora-dog is off and running. No other bonehead can keep up with her, and she's had plenty of competition.  Running is without a doubt Dora-dog's favourite activity.  With the exception of the other day, I've never seen her voluntarily quit running around.  But two days ago, on our beach journey, it just so happened that  many of the neighbourhood boneheads were there as well.  Dora ran, and swam and ran and swam and ran some more.  Finally, she came up beside me on the beach, and sat down exhausted.  She had finally found her limit.  At least for that part of the day.  By afternoon she was at it again running around and around in the backyard, chasing squirrels and having a ball.

Here were just a few of her beach companions from the other day.

The look on Dora-dog's face tells you all you need to know.

In case you need a closer look at happiness, see below.

After all that exercise, it's time to return home, and relax for a while.

As far as she is concerned, it has been a good day to be alive.  There will be more activity before bedtime, but eventually it will be time to wind down and call it a day.

PRE- BEDTIME

BEDTIME

I will miss the company of Dora-dog and my friend Mary, as I wander off to my next house/pet sit back on Vancouver Island.  Instead of Dora-dog, it's time to meet Doug the dog.  The adventure continues.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

VALENTINE'S DAY DORA-DOG

POST # 346

It's that frightened look in her eyes.  If a book could be opened that would tell the tale of Dora-dog prior to my friend adopting her exactly one year ago today, it would be quite the read.  She was one very nervous bonehead to be sure.

Of course we can speculate forever on why Dora ended up at the Humane Society in the first place, but it would be just that, speculation.  We do know that she has an absolute fear of the sounds of trains, so that may offer a clue as to what she has been through.  And, any loud unexpected noise is another one of the things that she doesn't like.  Looking at that face it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone would have just abandoned her.  She's just so cute. But we'll never know.

Thankfully for Dora, my friend Mary came into her life a year ago today, and Dora (and Mary) have never looked back.  It seems to be a perfect match.  As an occasional visitor, it's been interesting to see the transformation take place.  Back in the early days, Dora wouldn't even want to get into a car, and once in, she would crawl under the front seat.  These days, she eagerly jumps in, and has the entire back seat to herself.  She moves back and forth between the windows and is now happy to watch everything that is going past.  What a change.

She used to skulk around the house and hide in (and sleep in) her crate.  That was her safe space.  Now she acts like she owns the place, and has convinced Mary, that there should be a dog bed in every room, so that she can choose the best location for napping.  She even sleeps in the main bedroom each night.  Dora has it very good now.

Dora has even managed a house move in the short time that Mary has had her.  She wasn't really sure what that was all about, and I wonder if there was another move in her past that brought back bad memories.  Once again, it's just speculation on my part.

She moved from being a lake dog to being a beach dog, and it took all of maybe a micro-second for her to decide that she loved the beach, and all of the wonderful driftwood that is there.  I happened to be at the beach the first time she jumped into the ocean.  Naturally, she took a drink of the water.  That was a surprise for her.  She had a very odd look on her face immediately afterwards, and I've never seen her drink the sea water since that time.  Dora is a quick learner.

Recently she's had the opportunity each day to play in the snow.  I'm not sure if this is the first time that she has experienced snow, but she just loves it.  We spend as much time as possible out in the yard chasing each other around.  And that's another thing.  She now has a yard.  She loves to run, and she takes full advantage of this latest opportunity.

All things considered, it seems to have been a very good year for Dora-dog.  At the end of another play filled day, she's ready to relax, and get some rest, so that she can do it all over again tomorrow.

No more frightened look in those eyes, which is wonderful to see.

I've had the great pleasure to know a variety of wonderful boneheads, but I have to admit that Dora-dog takes the prize for first place as far as I'm concerned.  I'm so thankful that my dear friend Mary, made the decision a year ago today, to adopt Dora.  She's been a wonderful Valentine's Day gift.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A WANDERING DAY

POST #345

Some days I think and wander.  Other days I just think.  And today, I'll primarily be wandering.  It's what I do best.
I've done plenty of that in my life, and especially in the last decade, and one of the finest locations that I have had the pleasure to wander to is Orcas Island in Washington State.  It has been many years since my last visit, and the other day I was going through some old photos/videos in order to pare them down and lo and  behold, I came across this video.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the date, but no doubt there is a previous blog post related to this particular house/pet sit.  My guess is maybe 2015.  As you can probably tell, it is summer, and I had wandered down to the beach at the very north end of the island, in order to watch the sunset.  That's Saturna Island that the sun is setting over.  If you listen carefully, you can hear a flute playing in the background.  Another gentleman was also at the beach, and I suppose that the sunset had inspired him to play his instrument.  It was the perfect compliment to a perfect sunset.

Time now to continue my wandering for today, southward bound.

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer