Sunday, January 31, 2010

Stella Artois is a pug, not a beer

Daily walk report: today Louise and I met another pug, this one a mere three years old but still fine looking for such a young pup. His name was Artois, short for Stella Artois, the beer.

Dogs named after beer seems to be a popular trend in these parts.

As the story goes, the man walking Artois (or Arty, as he was calling him) had decided to give a pug to his wife for Christmas. At first she wanted a female dog and was set on naming it 'Stella.' At the time they went to the breeder, little Arty was all that was left. The breeder suggested the name Artois to be in keeping with their original intentions. The name stuck, the dog came home and the rest, as they say, is history.

The pup was a touch active for Louise's tastes. After just a few minutes she acted out a bit with a quick snarl but they didn't seem to mind. Arty was still very much interested in Louise, who was then trying to regain her composure. Soon after parting we encountered a few tourists who asked if they could take Louise's picture. The attention from strangers was all it took to but Louise back in a good mood again.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

No Snow makes for a nice walk

It certainly doesn't feel like the Olympics are upon us. It's too warm for that, but the city certainly is changing. There is a lot of preparation and construction involved. I had Louise into the office a few times last week and one of the most direct things that we noticed is that we no longer have to deal with cars for the last half of our commute, since that street has been blocked off.

It makes bringing Louise into the office so much nicer. I wonder if we could persuade them to keep it that way?

Probably not. But that is ok, it will be fun while it lasts and once the Olympics are over the seawall should be open again. That will be yet another cause to celebrate as that was always our favorite lunch time walk for days at the office.

This weekend was a quiet one for Louise and I think she liked it that way. I had a headache on Saturday night and went to bed quite early - Louise was only too happy to join me. Any excuse to go to bed early for that one.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Not feeling well after a walk in the rain

Okay, the title is a bit misleading. We did have a walk in the rain this morning, but Louise was feeling pretty good before, during and after that outing. It was pretty wet, but at least it wasn't too cold for her. She was dressed appropriately though, and had a good time.

This evening however, she got a bit of an upset tummy and got sick on a blanket. She didn't really have a lot of rich food or anything unusual so we aren't quite sure what set her off. She has been sleeping a lot today, so perhaps it is something that has been bugging her (no pun intended) for a little while.

For this evening we are letting her set the pace, and so far, her decision has been to sleep it off. If all goes well, she will be right in the morning and if not, we will probably make an impromptu stop to our local vet.

I expect she will pull through just fine.