Wednesday, September 27, 2006
I am sorry for how the blog looks. I have no idea what happened so I am blaming blogger. I am becoming less and less pleased with them and am considering moving to another platform.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
So I could not find any decent pictures of the setting up of the Stones concert so me and Bosco went down ourselves today to check it out. The whole place is fenced up and you can't even walk around the Commons. The furthest I got was the far corner where the stage was before they told me I could go no further. Streets are blocked off and traffic is congested. This is only Tuesday!
The army of toilets are rolling in and I have seen two large trucks go by our place so far. To be honest it seems that they should be a lot further ahead in the setup. The workers sure are going slow as I bet they are getting paid pretty well by the hour of course.
The grass is already brown and dead in most parts of the field and their are tire tracks everywhere. There were also a lot of wanna be reporters over there taking pictures and talking with the locals. Most of the talk in the wind is pretty negative about the inconvenience.So check out the pics and I will probably walk down again on Friday and Saturday when it is more setup and their are people waiting in line to get in and get the great spot.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
We just got back from today's swim at Long Lake and it is pretty safe to say Bosco is one tired dog. It is a gorgeous day in Halifax so we hit the park and there were numerous other dogs swimming as well. Of course Bosco had to steal every other ball and act like a big jerk but it was all in good fun. I think we saw four or five other chocolates today as well. So now we are home to rest for the afternoon. Check out the pictures.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
I just saw this in the paper today, too bad I was not around yesterday, this was just down the street from me.
Good luck girls!
'We must help this dog'
Girls fundraise to help get Webber a new hip
By Emily Bowers
The Daily News
In unison, the 10-year-old voices chime out: "Do you wanna buy a cookie?"
If you've been around Quinpool Road during rush hour this week, you've probably seen - and maybe given few quarters to - six Grade 5 girls who are raising money for a dog who needs hip surgery.
"We thought that we must help this dog," said Catherine Rutledge, as the girls offered Fudgeos and chocolate chip cookies in front of the House of Dogs store.
The girls heard about the plight of Webber, a year-old black Labrador Retriever, on their regular visits to House of Dogs.
They set up a table, selling cookies and pop, and figured they've raised about $150 so far.
The selling is great some days; others, not so much.
"Some of (the buyers) are animal lovers and they give us a really huge tip," said Sophie Kinley, citing a $10 bonus given to them by one kind heart Thursday.
Trish Pittman, founder of the Labrador Rescue of Nova Scotia, said she's amazed by the girls' efforts.
"It was heartbreaking, I thought that was the best thing in the world," she said.
Pittman took Webber, who was at the Cape Breton SPCA, into her home a few months ago.
He was recently adopted by a family in the Annapolis Valley, but the group agreed to pay for surgery for the pup.
It's a defect from birth caused by bad breeding, Pittman said. It's not known how Webber came to be at the Cape Breton shelter.
Webber will have surgery on his right hip on Wednesday, which has bone-on-bone contact and causes the dog severe pain. His left hip is less serious, but will need surgery later.
The total cost is estimated between $4,000 and $5,000.
And the girls, students at Sir Charles Tupper School, say they love knowing they're helping Webber.
Even though after-school activities are starting up and the girls say they'll have to start going to things like peer helper and hockey, they'll still be out with their cookies and pop on Saturdays.
And their next goodwill target? The plight of disappearing polar bears.
ebowers@hfxßnews.ca
I was not going to blog until later when there might actually be something cool to talk about but Bosco insisted I say hi since it has been a few days. He is getting his chocolate all up in a huff because the numbers on the site have dropped over the last week. I keep trying to tell him that school is back and people are going back to their non-summer lives. That means less time to troll the Internet and read about chocolate dogs. He seems to disagree but this is from a dog who will chase his own tail.
I hope everyone is enjoying the back to school life and all is good and happy out in dog land. I may take Bosco on an adventure later if the sun comes out, we will see. Regardless the chocolate wonder is going to have a fun weekend. Katie and I are going to Ottawa for a few days and Bosco gets to have a baby sitter all weekend. Hope he does not terrorize the poor guy too much.
So on Monday we will see how everyone made out and I may even be able to talk Paul into writing about the weekend of Bosco through his eyes.
If I do not post again today, have a great weekend and see you on Monday.
Monday, September 04, 2006
I am sure all of the dog owners out there know all about routines and how important they are for dogs. Once a solid routine is set, there is not a lot of work to be done as long as things go how they are supposed to go. I know my days with Bosco get much easier when a new routine gets put in place and we both can function on autopilot.
Here is one that I really enjoy. When I moved here last October there was the whole everything is new thing and every little act of the day had to be relearned for Bosco, where he went outside etc.
In Toronto (his first place) we always went out back of the apartment and he knew it well so I could trust him to just go out and do his thing. He knew the rules and stuck to them.
But the new place in Halifax, despite having a backyard, had to be entered and exited from the from of the house. Of course the sidewalk and road are right there although it is a very quiet street with not a lot of practice.
In the beginning when you let Bosco out, you had to go out with him even on those cold fall mornings. After awhile I started just letting him out and coaching him to go to the backyard. There was the occasional slip up when he wanted to explore or if there were people going by to visit. It was a work in process that is for sure.
But now 11 months later I think it is about as set in stone as it is going to get. I open the door, he goes to the yard and comes back whenever he feels like it. There have been a few times where I forget he is even out there and he doesn't go anywhere. Usually he sits at the door and waits. The trick is that he knows he gets a treat when he comes in so I know thats what the payoff is for him.
This makes life easy at the end of the day or early in the morning when you just do not want to go outside with him. I love routines!
Bosco waiting to come in.
Waiting patiently for that treat!
