Tornado Warnings

The weather's been weird the past week - cooler than usual temperatures, high wind (40 mph) advisories, hail, heavy rain and today it's 90 degrees. A few nights ago, the dogs and Husband Bob and I were comfortably in bed when tornado sirens sounded. And sounded. And sounded. We went to the lowest level of the house which is our family room. After 30-45 minutes of sirens we got lackadaisical and Bob said he was going back to bed. I stayed down stairs but settled in on the couch. As soon as I stretched out, three dogs joined me. Brandy climbed up and laid on my feet. Annie (yes, Annie) laid across my chest and Pennie climbed up by my head. I was trapped. I couldn't move! The couch wasn't big enough for four of us. Brandy, Annie and Pennie seemed content but I was paralyzed with dogs! If I was going to get any rest I was going to have to relocate. Finally, at 1:30 a.m, I disturbed the sleeping dogs and returned to bed.

I put off taking Annie to the vet for her rabies shot because I'm embarrassed she still can't walk on a leash. Today was the day to go and Annie had to be carried in and carried out of the clinic. Other than that the appointment went well. The vet and techs who saw Annie months ago were very complimentary. They said Annie's filled out nicely and her coat is healthy and shiny. The vet and techs said they could tell Annie's become less scared. I felt like a proud parent! Sometimes I get discouraged because Annie hides in her corner for so long or because she still has accidents in the house, but when others notice her big improvements it makes me so happy for Annie. :)

Treasures

The pictures below are of Brandy, Jasmine, Maggie, Pennie and Mystic searching for the elusive treasure at the Bark Park. There must be quite an interesting smell down under because they love digging for it. Before you think we've gotten another fur-child you need to know that Mystic is just a friend. Mystic is a wonderful 1 1/2 year old Bloodhound who visits the dog park everyday too. Her brother, Gage the White German Shepherd, likes to dig too but he was somewhere else when the pictures were taken.

Bob mowed the dog park over the weekend. With the rain and sunshine the past few days the park looks great. Such a fun place to see a variety of dogs and their people.

digging for treasures at the dog park

Kansas Critters

We returned Monday from Kansas where we celebrated Grandaughter Cassy's high school graduation. It was wonderful to see relatives and friends and be together with such great people. In the absence of ours, it was fun to pat and pet on the Kansas critters. There was Dancer the horse, Crue and Max the cocker spaniels and Cesaer the great Great Dane. In the three days we were there, Cat John Smith didn't come out from hiding so we didn't get to see him. Dancer is 19 now so he just hangs out and eats grass. Crue is obsessed with fetching the tennis ball and will carry it around in his mouth for hours until someone tosses it for him. Max is the more laid back cocker and is content just to watch. Cesaer is 9 years old so he's getting on in age. He's eye level to my waist and towered over the toddlers who were at the celebration. It was fun to be with all the people and pets.

While we were in Kansas, Pet Sitters came in to feed Jas, Maggie, Brandy, Pennie and Annie three times a day. But what the girls really enjoyed were Friend Larry and Friend Elke. Larry and Elke loaded the girls into the Clown Car (Daughter Molly's name for our bright red 1989 Jeep) and took them to the Dog Park everyday. I hear they even got their first-ever trip to Maui. Not the real Maui, but North Platte's version of Hawaii. When we arrived home to the Dog Farm last evening the girls were delighted to see us and I was just as happy to see them too.

There's discussion in the media now about creating an animal abuse registration. The list would place convicted felon abusers in a database similar to the national sex offender's registry. The attempt is to reduce risk to animals and people. I haven't looked at it yet but was told that now there's a volunteer pet abuse database at Pet-Abuse.com.

Bark Park

I've mentioned that the dogs love going to North Platte's dog park. Every day, day in and day out, rain or shine or snow we go to the dog park. Lots of other dogs and their people go too and some of the nicest people in North Platte are my bark park friends.



Dog Fancy is a national magazine that features dogs, breeds, rescue, events, etc. Last winter Dog Fancy announced a contest to celebrate the magazine's 40th birthday. They were on the search for the 40 best dog parks in the United states. Entries were scored on the actual land, accomodations, volunteerism and community involvement. The judges liked that the park has been kept in its natural state as much as possible. We were scored high because fencing and installation was earned and done by a committee and that almost of the ongoing upkeep is done by volunteers. In the end, Waggin' Tails didn't place in the top 10 but we are #31 in the USA! Not bad for a handful of dog lovers and progressive-thinking city leaders.



Jazmine and Maggie found a "squirrel tree" at the bark park last week. Everyday since then, they've run full speed to the tree to see if the squirrel is still there. That crazy squirrel sits high in the tree waving his tail and chattering at the dogs. He seems to love provoking them. They whine and bark with pleasure and frustration.



Dogs are a good excuse to get outside and enjoy Spring. Let your dog take you for a walk. If you don't have a dog, how about going to your animal shelter and take one of their dogs for a walk?

Woofstock

After months of preparation, Paws-itive Partners' members were rewarded with beautiful weather and hundreds of dogs and people at Woofstock on Saturday. It was such fun to watch dogs ranging from Lilly-the-three-pound-Chihuahua to Zeus-the-160-pound-bull-mastiff stroll through Memorial Park. Dogs strutted through the park showing off their people on the other end of the leash. Thirty-four dogs participated in contests for Best Bark, Fastest Wag, Most Look-Alike, Best Kisser, etc. All the dogs at Woofstock were winners. People participated in games, BBQ, veternary clinic services, etc. and everyone seemed very happy to be a part of a great event.
Now that Woofstock's 4th year is history, I'll have a few extra hours in my week. With that, I hope to be more considtent in dogblogging.
You've heard of Murphy's Law - the humorous predictions with negative consequences. With Jasmine, Maggie, Brandy, Pennie and Annie in our dog family, I think Murphy has also come to reside with us. Today's Murphy's Law is: If you have your carpets cleaned, one of the dogs will throw up the next day!!!
With that, have a great week. :)