Probably an unpopular vent

For years AB and I have supported strongly national parks. We donate money to the parks system and believe strongly that it is an important asset.

I just have one beef.

The pet policy.


That would be the pet policy that basically says your dog should never leave your vehicle and even better - leave said dog at home.

Last weekend we went to Mt. Rainier National Park to the Sunrise Visitor's Center - a side we had never been to and man it was packed. We went to the visitor's center, found a place to take some pictures, grabbed some lunch and headed out.

You know, here, yes, I can understand a no pets please request. It was busy, the trails were packed and there was hardly room to get cars parked. We were just happy it wasn't hot in the car and were able to leave the dogs in the car.

But umm, the park is big. And we wanted to hike somewhere. And the dogs need to pee.

But nowhere that we stopped were those dogs allowed to leave our car. At each stop there was a park ranger wagging his finger and threatening hefty fines.

At one stop we thought we were over the border of the National Park and into the National Forest which does not have such pet laws.

We quickly found out we were 500 feet short of the National Forest boundary and those dogs could go right back into the vehicle.

And I know this will be an unpopular post because a woman standing near me went up and congratulated the ranger on his score of booting the dogs out by saying, "I just want to thank you, the GALL of some people to think they can bring their dogs ANYWHERE!" I couldn't help a quick retort to her citing the fact that it is a bit hard to know exactly where the park and forest boundary is when you are visiting a place for the first time. She, of course, glared at me fierce - but I think she was more embarrassed at being busted with a reasonable argument that she had no quick response for (not realizing *I* was with that crazy dog guy).

I get that not all pet owners are top notch. And for this, fine them. But not everyone is a bad apple! There certainly are enough rangers around to write those tickets out (and generate revenue in the meantime for the parks that we hear are starved for cash).

We found the invisible line separating park from forest and got out and set about a hike, where the trail was packed with dogs at every turn. Dogs not allowed just 500 feet away (with the same terrain and same views).

We love to travel. We love the parks. We love our long weekend adventures. We love hiking. We love our dogs. It makes me sad that this all can't be combined.

I am planning for a Yellowstone trip next spring break and already trying to figure out what the path forward will be with our dogs... who normally travel with us.

A story of a dog and her 18 lives.

This dog has many, many lives and has this latest life to thank from one little 3.5 year old little girl who "LOVES Freya so much! Smooches!"

She had two names before landing at our house at only just over a year old. Let this be a lesson before adopting a rescue dog. Research. Spend time with the dog. There sometimes is a reason why she is in rescue, it isn't always the people.

Nope, I always thought it was the people. People that just weren't good dog owners. Any dog is trainable.

Ha.

There was a most unfortunate incident in the house last week that has prevented me from progressing on my quilt. I know, people may have thought I would have had it done by now. And under normal circumstances I probably would have.

But no.

THAT dog was in the kitchen, mooching around the table for scraps. (She has put on 20 lbs since landing at our house...). I was running up and down the stairs sewing strips of blocks together all happy like.

When CRASH!

I turn around and see the dog bolting from under the table and somehow grabbing the cord for the sewing machine with her and sending my beloved Viking Huqvarna tumbling to the tile. Yes tile. Dangerous for little baby teetch and sewing machines alike.

I haven't found anyone who thinks they can fix - i.e., bend the machine back into shape... yet. And I am not sure if I find someone, if it will be worth it or not. Or if I should just pony up and buy a new sewing machine.

Destructo dog.

Lucky for her she has a 3.5 year old who loves her like no ones business.

No rescue dogs EVER again.

Adoption proceedings

We have been so busy lately with readying ourselves for our new house that my blogs have been few and far between. I hit on a number of things to blog about nearly every day, it just seems to be a matter of having the time to sit down and write about it. Our house is a mess of boxes and whatever time I have in front of the computer is quickly translated into a need to get up and put things in boxes out of fear that the day is going to arrive that the movers will be here and we will not be prepared.

In the midst of all of that some of you know (those of you on Facebook mainly)… and some of you don’t know… that we will be adding to our family.

And this will be happening potentially this weekend.

We have one last hurdle to clear in our adoption process… a home study.

I can't help but compare this process to our friends’ adoption process of their daughter from India and am happy it is moving quickly. But at the same time I am amazed how long our process is taking given that our addition to the family runs on four legs and not two.

Looks like Winny, huh? But it's not.

Meet "Skeeter".

My mom told me about picking her cat out at the pound and the works of art who came in to adopt at the pound and how no one is checked thoroughly – like a couple who brought in a dog to surrender it and left with another dog they “just couldn’t resist”. Umm hello. You dropped a dog off. This isn’t Blockbuster movie rentals.

I can understand why the process to adopt a child is ridiculously long as far as dealing with lawyers and sometimes other countries and all the hoops and hurdles. We are talking about a person here. But when it comes to a dog? Really, how much worse can adoptive wannabe doggy parents be comparatively? (Hoping that doesn't make me sound insensitive to dogs.)

About a year ago we filed application with the BSCA (Belgian Sheepdog Club of America) for a Rescue dog. We filled out the paperwork and then did an hour long phone interview with a volunteer from BSCA. She also talked to our vet and Vargasgirl confirming that we were up and up people. Not the type to take a dog and abandon or abuse it.

I don’t think I ever really thought anything would come of our application. We were told Rescue Belgians are few and far between because as a purebred, they are a sought after breed. They are not a common breed and people who seek out Belgians as pets most often have experience with the breed and not to mention the copious amount of money a purebred Belgian puppy costs. You know those wasteful spending reports? The ones that cite your city spending ridiculous amounts on a police dog? They aren’t that far off base given that many are Belgians.

This one is Winny. We bought her for $50 out of a box of puppies at 10 weeks old. She isn't purebred - she is 75% Groenendahl and 25% Siberian Husky - or at least that's what we were told. Her Belgian stands out big time, even people who know Belgian's don't usually pick up on her bit of Husky until told and then you can see it in her face, she doesn't have nearly such fine features of a Belgian.


We were told there are more people who want a Rescue Belgian than there ever will be dogs. Plus the fact that we requested strict screening of any potential dogs – they have to be friendly with children, other dogs and a big nearly 20 lb cat. Rescue dogs often have issues and so the likelihood of all this coming together might require an act of a higher power.

So I guess when I saw Skeeter from just outside Boise, Idaho on the BSCA webpage last week I thought she was a long shot. There for about a millisecond I told myself we have so much on our plate right now, how could we adopt another dog too? Then the whole act of a higher power thing kicked in and I knew I had to at least try.

I e-mailed hoping to get our name in the queue and was told our application must have been lost, she couldn’t find it (which was why we hadn’t received a phone call). At this point I admitted my husband what I had done and waited to have him roll his eyes at me. But he agreed that it seemed right and if we don’t jump on this now, we may not get another opportunity. It wasn’t long before they found our application and we had phone interview number two.

That was almost as long as phone interview number one.

This Saturday after swimming the coordinator for the Pacific Northwest phoned and chatted with AB. Her concern, that was not really addressed in our phone interviews, was about our dog Winny. How will Winny handle a new dog?

AB tried not to laugh, remembering that none of them has met our big soft hearted lump of a dog. They don’t see how invigorated and happy she is to meet other dogs on our walks. They don’t see that at nearly age 10, a companion would do her a world of good and may reinvigorate (we hope) our old girl. AB talked about how well Winny will do with a companion and agreed that yes, certainly she could surprise us and reject another being moving in on her turf, but it is unlikely and something we would have to deal with regarding any dog, like one of these furrballs that was born about 4 weeks ago instead - whose webpage kept beckoning me.

This one looks JUST like Winny did as a puppy.

I guess he satisfied the coordinator since our next phone call was to the foster mom in Boise.


This call I made. She told me about "Skeeter", she is crate trained, but not housetrained. (Ugh.) Was probably a malnourished backyard dog and really just needs some love. She strives to please and to interact with people – to the point of chewing through her tie to go be near people a few weeks ago. She is very intelligent, learned to sit and heel within about 30 minutes. She told us they had rejected one adoption request to ship her to the east coast and another adoption request from 100 miles away because the woman didn’t have a fence. She also then asked if we could take her this weekend?

I wasn’t quite ready for that since I was hoping to be in the new house before taking her, but since that package was presented to us and includes transporting the dog here to minimize our travel, we will take it. Dogs are resilient, I am sure moving into a new home and then into another new home in less than a week will be the least of what "Skeeter" has been through in her 15 months.

We had our home study this evening where Winny was tested at the new house with another young dog. She passed with flying colors and the home study volunteer said a few times he wasn't quite sure what he was doing there, the house was great, yard was great and Winny obviously loved companionship. Now Winny will have a sibling… or a daughter… or best friend... hopefully not nemesis.

The last bit to figure out (aside from what color of collar to buy her) is her name. One of my coworkers (who does dog rescue) insists that we change her name from "Skeeter" saying she will learn quickly her new name and the poor dog should not be known for the rest of her life as an annoying bug. I kind of agree, it would also symbolize a new start for her. “Skeeter” isn’t a name I would have picked out, but is better than some Leif has come up with so far. (Ba-doopa, Parumba and this morning found Leif very obsessed with genitalia in coming up with names… lovely.) AB and I discussed Freya this evening as an option (sticking with the Nordic theme).



Any name ideas that do not involve references to genitalia (aka four year old potty humor) would be most appreciated!

Follow up - dog

I heard back from the Belgian Sheepdog Rescue and apparently Tinga is such a fabulous dog that her foster family has decided to adopt her. I was a touch disappointed, but more just happy that a great dog has found a caring home.

It was AB's suggestion after reading the e-mail that came this morning that we go ahead and submit our application for a dog and start "the process" to adopt a Belgian.

I am excited by this. First of all, because I think Belgians are just wonderful fabulous dogs. And Winny needs a younger sibling to keep her running and active. But I am also excited to find a dog that needs a home - as opposed to paying the big bucks for a new puppy.

Maybe someday we will get a puppy when my kids get a little older, but right now I think adopting from a rescue - providing we can find the "right" dog is a better option. We have strict requirements - must do well with children, other dogs and a cat. Be a younger beta dog who isn't going to need to be reminded of her stature in the family, yet with all the Belgian traits we love.

Forging forward!

Curse you internet!

I am the queen of finding both useless and useful crap on the internet.

I can comparison shop, I can find the best deals, I can read reviews on products, I can order shoes while I work, I can buy Father's Day presents without hauling the kids to the mall... very easy to set my son in front of the computer and let him choose between two gifts - he picked out daddy's watch for Christmas, and then went and told daddy he just bought him a watch. AB thought he was making it all up. Surprise when on Christmas morning he did actually have a watch that Leif knew ALL about from the computer.

And then I can also find things like a dog.

For the last year or so AB and I have toyed with getting a Belgian Shepherd puppy. We have our Win-dog who is fabulouso. But she is getting old. Nine years old last month. That's 63 in dog years.

She loves to play with the neighborhood dogs, especially Lucy (a Great Pyrenees/Retreiver mix) down the street. Winny has her posse of doggy playmates on our evening walks. But she could really use a young dog to exercise her legs and keep her from getting too old and sedentary.

Then "we" (read *I*) went and got a cat last fall instead of a puppy. Winny and Lucky are to the point that they play, they sleep together, they race around the house, then they sleep together again.

But Winny really wants a dog.

We all would like another dog really. But mommy and daddy don't "really" want a puppy. Especially now that my kitten isn't so much of a kitten anymore and my baby is now a toddler. We are ready for a little break with live baby things

I made my way to a Belgian Shepherd Rescue pages like I do every couple of months. Just to see what is there...

Lo and behold there were a few dogs there. (There never are, people who get Belgian's don't give them up easily since they are rare and usually expensive as hell.)

There was Tinga.

"Tinga is a lovely 1 ½ - 2 year old from Central California. She’s house- and crate-trained, enjoys grooming, and travels well. Her foster family says she’s calm, oh-so-sweet and eager to please. She gets along well with other dogs and cats. Tinga especially loves to be invited onto the couch for some snuggly TV time! This sweetheart will be spayed later this month and available for adoption mid month."

And the fact that she looks *just* like Winny doesn't help either.

I phoned AB expecting him to reign me in with a quick "no".

But he didn't.

I have an inquiry out.

Sigh... time to close my browser before I get myself into anymore trouble.