Blasts From the Past -- Volume I

Here and there, one of Baxter's old antics will come to mind and I'll have a chuckle. I've shared many of his extraordinary exploits with you, but I've spared you every silly little thing.

Here and there, I'll sprinkle a few anecdotes into one post, just to save everyone time :)

We had a roofer over to check out a leak that first winter we moved into the house. He was a bit of a character. Baxter wasn't amused. He managed to nip the guy on the calf when I wasn't paying attention.

I apologized profusely, and the roofer barked, "Ehh, no worries. My ex-wife bit harder than that!"

I had no comeback.

If you'll recall Baxter's assault on friendly neighbor Phil ... that was the first time we'd seen the crotch bite. Well, I'm sorry to say Baxter recently repeated the feat with another friendly fellow.

Our good friend Dave was down last month, and Baxter greeted him by launching towards the family jewels teeth first. Dave's pants weren't as baggy, and Baxter failed to attach himself. But, we all applauded his effort.

On a couple of occasions, we have avoided lawsuits with a quick tug of the leash. A couple of high school cross country runners made their way down our street, and Baxter decided he wanted to know how running shorts taste. He would have found out if Jenny didn't yank the leash just in time.

Same thing with a friendly Golden Retriever not too long ago. Bax wanted to know what retriever flank steak tastes like. Jenny put the kibosh on his little snack in the nick of time.

Quick update -- The input from Philip the Dog Trainer has really helped. We now walk both Baxter and Biscuit each day, and Biz seems happier and more energetic for the exercise.

We're now using short leashes and martingale collars to keep everyone on track out there. Baxter still pulls quite a bit. But, when we see other dogs, we can usually calm him down quickly and he rarely even barks anymore. Big progress!
........Read more of this post!

California Shelters Another Budget Victim

Animal shelters will almost certainly lose significant funding, along with just about every other California public service. Governor Schwarzenegger confirmed as much recently, remarking on his (I kid you not) Twitter feed "We can only spend money we have and can't afford many programs...."

Now would be a good time to make a donation to a local shelter, the Humane Society or a rescue organization. Many or these organizations are non-profit meaning your donation is tax-deductible. We recently threw a bone (har har) to Philip the Dog Trainer and his Animal Advocates Alliance. They rescue pups from the pound and find good homes.

Learn more from BestFriends.org's coverage here. ........Read more of this post!

Can't We All Just Get Along?

OK, so the dog drama on our street has intensified since my last post.

I'll try to keep this short, because it borders on the ridiculous. Two days after meeting up with the off-leash lab, we were out for a walk with Biscuit and Baxter. Across the street, we see a woman walking calmly behind her unleashed dog. I commented to Jenny, something to the effect of, "here's another dog being walked off leash."

All of sudden, the dog darts across the street making a bee-line for us. He went for Baxter first, and I quickly pulled Bax back with his leash and stuck my leg in between the two. I was able to shove the other dog back with my leg.

This dog then turns to Jenny, who has already Biscuit picked up to protect her. The dog (I kid you not) lunges into Jenny's chest and bites Biscuit.

Jenny screams and the attacker gets spooked, running back across the street towards the owner, who has only made it halfway across the street by this point.

Luckily, Biscuit wasn't hurt. This dog only got a mouthful of fur, which she tore out of Biz's tail.

Jenny and I lost it, and we marched across to confront the neighbor, each with a dog under our arm. We really unloaded on this lady, to the point where we both felt quite guilty later on.

She explained to us that the dog had gotten loose on accident, and that she wasn't able to run after it because it would only run faster. That's why she was calmly walking behind the dog, trying to catch it.

We really caused a scene, and several neighbors came out of their houses to see what the commotion was about. All in all, the dog owner and her husband, who showed up soon after, were very apologetic. We all calmed down and moved on.

So, after this all happens, we're left feeling pretty shaken up. Suddenly talking the dog out for a walk seems like a full-contact sport.

I decided to try talking face-to-face with the folks who own the lab down the street. They were very friendly, and when I asked them to consider walking their dog on leash, he told me that he had already asked his wife not to walk Reese off-leash in the neighborhood anymore. He told me three other people had also complained. We left things on a very friendly, neighborly note.

Well, since our talk, we've heard reports that the lady has been out since with the lab off-leash. OK, so her husband was shining me on. I didn't have a lot of faith that they'd change their behavior, but I had been encouraged by how well our chat went. In fact, yesterday the husband stormed down the street to yell at our next door neighbor for asking his wife to keep the dog on a leash.

Can't we all just get along?!

This has turned into some serious junior high drama. The lady across the street is spreading rumors that she's been sent to court for letting her dogs run amok. Some other neighbors are telling people that someone's sending around a petition regarding the leash law. I mean, it's all way out of hand.

At this point, we've thrown our hands up. In a perfect world, everyone would agree that walking your dog on a leash is the best way to keep everyone safe and happy. But, we all know the world ain't perfect. And I can't help but think ... If this is how fellow dog owners interact, I am truly frightened to begin dealing with fellow parents. ........Read more of this post!

Baxter Bites the Hand the Feeds Him

I had been preparing a post about how great Baxter has been doing with our new training techniques. Now, he's still doing very well, but we've had a bit of a setback.

This morning's "incident" is also a handy way to bring up some drama that's been brewing here in the neighborhood. In short, our next door neighbors got a new dog, and they've been very committed to providing Leyla with excellent training.

What they've found is that other dog-owners have a big effect on your training success. More specifically, if someone else's dog is off-leash, it can make training much more difficult. If your dog isn't ready for an unrestricted meet-and-greet, you are in a tough spot when Sparky from next door bounds over off-leash.

Along with Philip the dog trainer, they've approached some other dog owners in the neighborhood asking for their help. By help I mean putting a leash on their dog. These requests have been met with, shall I say, lukewarm responses.

There's a Lab down the street whose owners walk him off-leash. In fact, they walk up and down the sidewalk throwing him a tennis ball with one of those special long-throwing stick things. This means he's often 50 to 100 yards ahead of them running full speed on a fetching mission.

Jenny was taking Bax down the street for this morning's walk when the Lab came bounding towards them. I doubt he meant any harm. In my experience, he's a very sweet and friendly dog. But he's pretty big and he came right up to Jenny and Baxter.

Bax-Man flipped his lid. Jenny said she's never seen him so upset, growling and barking ferociously. Jenny tried to calm him, and got down on the ground, holding him tight. The Lab darted in and out, basically ignoring the clear signs that he was not welcome.

The owner finally caught up and asked Jenny, obliviously, "When are you due?"

Jenny ignored her, trying in vain to calm Baxter's fury. Completely unhinged, he turned frantically to Jenny's hand on his back and bit her.

Jenny burst into tears, stood up, pulled the leash tight and headed for home. The Lab's owner apologized weakly as she left.

So, this brings up a larger issue of responsibility. Is our dog perfect? Hell no, but we're working on it. Is your dog perfect? I don't know, but very few are, so the answer is probably no.

Is it OK that dogs aren't perfect. Absolutely. It would be hard to hold dogs to a standard of behavior that humans do not achieve.

So, maybe Baxter was the one who made a scene this morning. That much I will grant you. But, we were doing everything in OUR power to keep things copacetic. If your dog is off-leash, it leaves us powerless.

That's one reason why there is a leash law. L.A. has county and municipal codes that require dogs to be on a leash at all times in public areas.

Sorry, them's the rules. There's a lady across from us who let's her two dogs run free. (Remember this incident?) They consistently poop in various yards, and she makes no effort to pick it up. She's breaking two laws at once!

And it becomes a matter of respect. Not everyone likes your dog as much as you do. I have my dog on leash so he doesn't bother you, or bite you, or poop in your yard. Please return the favor. ........Read more of this post!

I comes wif 2 sub woofers

When I see a particularly guffaw-worthy one of these, I gotta share:


see more dog and puppy pictures ........Read more of this post!