In the office a day early this week

Here in Canada, we take July 1st as a national holiday. It also happens to be our wedding anniversary so it is kind of nice to know that there is always fun things to do around town (free cake, parades, fireworks, etc) and it is also a day off from the office.

This year, Canada day falls on a Tuesday, and that also happens to be Louise's work day so it worked out that she would come in today (Monday) instead. A lot of people at work opted to take Monday off as well as Tuesday (for a super-long weekend) so that left Louise a little more bored than usual. Also, it's getting quite nice outside, which means I will probably get her soaked before we go home tonight as I'm sure she is going to overheat.

Today's pictures have been taken a while ago. I broke my camera this weekend so I don't think I will be taking quite so many photos until I get it replaced. I had it in my pants pocket and it got slightly crushed while I was moving some furniture - the LCD on the back cracked and no longer works. It still takes a fine picture though, if I happen to point it at the right spot. But without the LCD panel I also cannot adjust any of the settings, so it's really not very useful anymore. Still, I have taken LOTS of photos with that camera, so I should be able to continue updating this blog while I sort out my technical difficulties. The first one is my attempt to catch her as she kicks over some grass, something that happens after she 'does her business'. She can get carried away with this at times and grass can sometimes land on her back. Somehow, she likes it best that way. The second is a typical 'Louise, please stay while I take your photo' shot.

Smelling the roses

Sometimes you just have to take time to smell the roses. Sometimes, you have to get your owner to lift you up to be high enough to actually get your nose to the roses. Most times, it's completely worth it.

Not really a lot to say here today, I figure the pictures tell the story by themselves. We were out walking Louise, saw the roses and I held her up to take a sniff. Maybe it was just me reading into the situation, but after that Louise seemed to have a little extra pep in her step.

Meeting Boredom

Like most Tuesdays, Louise was in the office. The weather was nice, so we were able to enjoy a walk along the seawall at lunch time and well, it's just always much nicer when I don't have to juggle an umbrella with the stroller and/or leash.

Today's photo was a rather impromptu shot taken at my desk as a few team members were gathered around discussing work things that didn't seem to keep Louise's attention very well. At this point I'm sure she was waiting for me to ask her if she felt like stepping outside for a bit.

Stairs to the Sea

It was sunny and warm when we went for our walk along the sea wall tonight, and we took full advantage of it. Louise had been cooped up in the house for most of the day while we were out running errands, so she had lots of energy to burn.

The tide was low and there is one spot on the sea wall that has stairs down to the beach - Louise generally isn't interested in going too far down as she is unsure of how slippery the rocks could be. Still, she wanted to come down close enough to bark at the boats that were going by, and to smell the ocean, no matter how watered down by the Fraser river it may be.

I happened to get a bunch of good pictures tonight, probably because of the bright lighting - whatever the reason, I decided to put up more than just one or two for this post. You can check out some more of them on my flickr account.

Just when we arrived back at the lobby, we happened across a couple of people with pet parrots. They were kind enough to let me get a couple photographs but honestly the colours of these birds were so bright that they didn't turn out very well. I had to desaturate the photos in order for the colours to appear 'correct'. Again, the photos are posted on flickr.

Seeking refuge in air conditioned offices

Louise was in the office today and at lunch time we walked over to City Hall, which according to google maps is a mere 1.7 km away. Anyway, that means roughly two miles of walking in the late morning sun.

Louise doesn't do well in the heat.

She did pretty good on the walk though. We kept to the shady side of the streets and more importantly, the less busy ones that had fewer cars on them. Along the way we met an interesting little Boston Terrier who laid on the sidewalk waiting for Louise to approach. She moved quickly though, so it was not easy to get a good photo.

When we got back to the office, Louise ran straight to the water bowl to cool down. She then proceeded to lay down close to my desk to take a nap. That's when I took the above photo. One thing I found interesting is that last weekend we got her a Pet Blinker to hang from her collar - it's great at night because it makes her more visible. Anyway, I guess it came on when she flaked out, you can see it as the purple-ish glowing thing hanging around her neck. It's a great idea, but the implementation leaves a few things to be desired, namely an on-off switch would have been nice. Currently to turn it off we have to unscrew it a bit, which makes it loose. Still, I think it looks cool. Maybe Deal Extreme will have a cheaper/better version.

Taking Tommy for his first walk

Well Louise was in the office again yesterday and as usual had a lot of fun. No getting sick this time, which was good. At one point, a few of us stepped out for a quick stroll and of course Louise was to come along. Shortly after getting going, I passed the leash over to Tommy, who then informed us that he had never walked a dog before.

During Tommy's interview to work with us we had to disclose that there is usually a dog in our office. Each day of the week is a different one and this was an area of concern for him, as he was not used to dogs. We called it a 'growth opportunity' and hired him anyway.

Sunsets on Sundays

It's that time of the year again, when the last walk of the night is still done in the daylight. Not that I mind at all - our condo has a 'garden view', which is to say there is a building next door that blocks any possible direct sunlight from entering our bedroom window. It could be sunlight twenty-four-seven and we would have no problem sleeping.

There was a pretty big festival today on Denman street, and we were down wandering among the crowds. Louise was a big hit with the kids and even managed to get some frozen yogurt from the Doggy Style Cafe. We also got her an LED blinker thing that hangs on her collar. I suppose it is for safety, but really, it is better at attracting even more attention.

After the festival, the beach continued to stay busy, and the street buskers moved closer to the water to perform where the crowds were at. Louise and I had to go on the sand to get around one of the crowds, it was that large. Of course, the performer was just wrapping up his show, so we continued our walk without the entertainment.

Hurry up let's go!

Another bit of video I took (on the same day as the last one) was at lunch time when we were walking along the seawall. There is a lot of construction going on behind a fenced area as the site for the Olympic Village is being built. Walking along here is usually interesting if only because things are constantly changing.

From Louise's perspective, things are always interesting because of construction workers who just might be eating lunch.

So here we have a clip of Louise as she says hi to one of the guys on the job. Several times. Just checking to see if he is going to break for lunch now. Because that would be interesting. And Louise would be willing to assist with that, especially the eating part.

Stroller dogs gone wild.

So like I said, Louise was in the office yesterday and on the way in I thought I would try taking some video on my little point and shoot digital camera. While the camera is not bad at this sort of thing, it is pretty obvious that I don't have a lot of experience shooting anything other than still photos.

But don't let that stop you from watching the video. What I have filmed is Louise in her stroller during the last block of our walk into the office so you can see what I mean when I say she barks at cars. She finds it all very enjoyable.

Bonus Post: A small guest visits Louise

Louise was in the office today. Her moring was off to a good start, but she quickly fell ill, and threw up twice while at work. Luckily they are pretty dog-tolerant there, so I was able to clean up the mess and carry on with my day (and caring for a dog that was still not feeling great.)

At one point while Louise was sleeping it off and I was in a meeting, someone took a few photos with my camera. I didn't realize they were there even when I got home and uploaded them.

It was hours later when I went searching for photos to be used in tomorrow's post that I saw these gems.I suppose I could make up an elaborate story about Rock 'n Roll dreams but honestly at the time I think she was opting for unconsciousness over whatever stomach pain she was having.

Later, when Louise and I were coming home, she did get her appetite back and now appears to be quite normal again. I guess the twenty-four hour flu in dog years only lasts about three hours, which would be about right.

Rain does not make dogs Shine

Rainy walk
Originally uploaded by iTripped

Yesterday was very wet. Normally Vancouver has persistent drizzle, but the rain yesterday was almost movie rain but that did not stop us from going out for a walk. That's when I got these shots. Later, just before bed time, we went out for another walk (that's our normal routine) and once again it started to pour hard.


Louise generally doesn't care about the rain though, it's just weather to her. About the only things that really bother her are excessive heat or excessive cold. In that regard, Vancouver has the perfect climate for her, unlike Vernon, which would often get very uncomfortable for her on both extremes. Be warned, the top photo is actually an animated gif, in the G-Willi style. So if you aren't into that sort of thing, just enjoy the photo as is and don't follow it through to flickr, and especially don't view the large size. You've been warned.

Burgers and Beer

Tonight was one of those nights where we had a simple meal, but I loved it so much. I kind of aggravate my wife that way sometimes, since there are nights when she will cook something really spectacular and my response is something like 'yeah, it was alright' and then other nights when she effortlessly puts something together and I rave about it for weeks. I'm thinking tonight might have been one of those nights, because man, those burgers were good.

Louise thought so too - the small one on the grill was for her (note it even had a slice of cheese on it.) The colour difference is due to the fact that hers did not have any spices in it, so it is just a plain ground turkey burger. Of course, no burger is complete without a cold drink, so last night the three of us headed over to the local liquor store to pick up some beer. Louise and I waited outside while Holly darted inside to brave the lengthy checkout line (it was a Friday night, afterall) and we amused ourselves by taking some pictures. Ok, ok, I amused myself and Louise tolerated my camera. Either way, the result is that we have these pictures to share with you.

Now I realize that I'm working backwards here, but the night we got beer, we also happened to have lamb steaks (and beer.) I took this photo shortly after the steaks came off the grill and before we had a chance to sit down and eat them. As you can see by the photo, Louise was monitoring the situation closely and if you look at her eyes, you can see the 'good' and 'evil' thoughts racing through her head as the decision to steal a steak weighed heavily on her mind. I am happy to report that there were no pug fatalities that night - Louise was a good girl and waited until one of us eventually threw her a bone.

Denny's to the rescue

Every now and then I step out to pick up some dessert and the other night I also had to take Louise out for her walk. I decided to combine the two things into one, and this photo is the result. Luckily, the people at Denny's were tolerant of Louise being in the store, even though we had to stay at the entrance (hence the welcome mat in the picture).

It was raining that night, and that is my umbrella at the top of the photo. Louise was super excited to be inside an actual Denny's store (she walks by it a lot, and we can tell that she likes the smell.) The waitresses were surprised to hear that Louise is as old as she is - they assumed she was still a pup because of her size. When we left, we heard a chorus of 'bye, Louise!' from both of them, which softened the blow of leaving Denny's without actually giving the pug any food.

Maybe next time, if you are lucky, Louise.

Goofing around with Greg

louise
Originally uploaded by gwilli

Yesterday was a lot of fun for Louise. She got to play with Greg and the others at the office, and on this day, Greg had a new video camera to play with. If you aren't a fan of the wiggly gifs that Greg does, then I do not suggest clicking on her photo to see the larger view.

Louise agreed to play with him so long as it did not interfere with her nap schedule.

In addition to wearing silly hats, Louise also was the test pilot for the new video camera. This thing is designed to be water proof, but we didn't get to test that yet. So we did the next best thing - we strapped the camera to her and filmed the office from her point of view. This video is kind of shaky, so clearly there is work to be done on the harness, but we found it entertaining to say the least. Greg cleaned it up a bit, gave it a sound track and now Louise stars in her own video! Hope you enjoy.

A new daybed and a healthy dose of attention

As I mentioned in the last post, we could tell that Louise was feeling like herself again when I was able to take her for a walk yesterday and we did not have to put her in the stroller to get anywhere. Going to the pet store seemed to be the perfect destination because it isn't really that far from the house and she is almost always sure to get lots of attention and the occasional treat.

Sometimes when we walk past the store after it has closed for the night, Louise scratches at the door hoping to get in.

One of the things we got while at the store was a little daybed for Louise to lounge in while in the living room. As you can see by the photo, she is probably the absolute maximum size for a pet in this bed. Still, as soon as I unpacked it, she was wanting to try it out. I think part of this was to inform our two cats that this was not a bed for them, but something that would be all hers. I'm really not sure if they got the hint or not though.

Brighter days

First off, thanks for all the well wishes. As you can see, Louise is feeling a LOT better in this photo. At this point, she had finally been able to move along some of her crap, but was still feeling pretty weak, and walking slowly.

Somehow, I never get tired of rewording constipation symptoms.

Anyway, as of today, Louise seemed to be back to her regular self, wanting to walk at full speed and happy to see just about anybody. We walked to the local Pet Store and the extra attention she got there gave her lots of motivation to keep going. She walked all the way home without assistance, and that's all uphill!

We just got back from her night walk and if I didn't slow her down, I'm sure she would have wanted to walk straight to the seawall and back. We have been careful to not let her overdo it too quickly though, so we settled on a medium-length walk for now.