Under the Gun

See this dog? She means business. After putting up such a long blog post on my other site last night, I'm under the gun to at least update her site now. She's sitting on the sofa just staring at me.

Or maybe that's snoring. It's hard to tell right now.

Either way, it has been a while since I posted. I was away this past weekend on my bike and we were worried that Louise would be upset with me not coming home. Apparently this was NOT the case at all. Seems she preferred the extra space on the bed and wasn't perturbed in the slightest. Of course, when I finally did return home she was overly excited to see me - but again, that may be attributed to the fact that she was indoors for about nine hours and was just ready to get outside. But I like to think that she missed me, at least a little.

Since I have been back, our walks have been a lot shorter. This has been my fault as my legs are still sore, but Louise has been a good sport about it. I'm feeling better each day, so tonight's walk should be back to normal. Oh, and of course tomorrow is a day at the office, so we will see who tires out whom.

One more thing: To all of you who contributed donations to my fund raising effort. I had a fantastic experience riding to Seattle last weekend and I know the money raised will make a real difference in people's lives. Thank you.

No Car Day at the Beach

Today was No Car Day in Vancouver, but I'm not going to post about that right now. I will, in a few days, don't worry. The reason is because after all the excitement, Louise and I went to the BEACH. It's now warm enough and we had already determined that it should be a good night for a bath, so there would be no harm in letting her have her fun.

And fun is exactly what she had.

We were lucky to find a spot that was pretty empty today - fine weather on a weekend tends to bring the suburbanites into town and this weekend was no exception. The place was pretty busy. But, the sun was slowly setting so I am sure that the bulk of the people had already started to head on home. This was perfect for us as it meant Louise could explore without any interruptions.

Lately she hasn't been thrilled with the notion of having a camera pointed her way but after some time in the ocean she was in the mood. At one point the silly dog wanted to come up and sniff the camera, for no other reason other than she was happy, little tail wagging. Look closely and you will see me reflected in her eyes.

I like the days where we get to spend a little extra time with Louise, just goofing around and having fun. Judging by the way she is curled up on Holly's lap, snoring away after being dried off, I think that Louise likes these days too.

Here is a quick video I took as Louise ran up and down the beach:

Thanks for putting water out!

The last little while has been fantastic weather. Anytime this is true, we have to be a little cautious over when and how long we walk Louise. She does mind the heat. So far we have been able to get around this by concentrating her time out around mornings and evenings. But when a pug has to go, a pug has to go. Sometimes, waiting until the sun sets is just not feasible. A dog crossing her legs is not a pretty sight to see at all.

So we sometimes head out for a stroll in the middle of the day. It's still only Vancouver weather so really it's not that hot out. Besides, many people leave dog bowls filled with water out for passing dogs. We know of one at the local fire hall and another at a restaurant called Don Guacamole's. Sadly, as we headed past Don's we learned that they are not always consistent with the water. We arrived today and discovered it wasn't there. Louise's tail dropped immediately and she lost the will to continue. I had to carry her an extra block to get to a local aromatherapy store that also leaves water outside. Once refreshed, all was good in the world again.

Can it be Friday now?

We were out for a walk late last night, around 10:30 pm or so. I was in shorts and a tee-shirt and didn't feel the slightest chill in the air. We were out later in part because any earlier would have been warmer than what Louise finds to be comfortable. Judging by her mood, she was pretty happy with the decision.

Okay, so take a look at the bench in the second photo. Louise fails the graffiti test on both counts since she is not only a dog, but of a Chinese breed. At least they used correct spelling I suppose. I was hoping to think of something witty to say about it, but really at the time it just made me think 'hmm.'

It is also becoming quite clear that Louise doesn't only like to bark at cars, but also at boats. Well specifically the ones with engines. I think it's the noise they generate or something. At any rate, she finds them quite fascinating when we are down by the water and will often run to the edge of the seawall to get a better look.

Whatever she likes, I say. At least she can't get into trouble with boats since she refuses to enter water deeper than her chin. It gives her a chance to interact with something different and she is having fun. Isn't that what dog walks are supposed to be for?