Crossing my first steet, I almost killed, law is not always followed here, if a driver sees a good line in the morning traffic they will take it with little regard for pedestrians. Then walking up the street, I came across two buildings, bombed by american during the war, only 7 years ago. Mangled concrete & gaping wire holes with small trees now growing out off, smashed windows, this kind of damage can only be caused by war. It was an eary sight to see, expecially when you have the morning rush of people on their way to work, all stopping by bakeries to sample some tasty sweet baked goods.

I had 8 hours to kill until i met pixel, so I chose to explore the city, walking down posh malls, shops everwhere, selling designer clothing & what seemed like an excessive array of shoes. But it was when you hit the backstreets that I found the 'real' belgrade, Trash, Dust, Decay, Gypsys, & very cheap & tasty food. & Homeless, mangey but well fed dogs wandering the streets in search of a meal.

I have always wanted to visit india, but for some reason had been a little scared at experiencing the poverty, after a trip to belgrade, I know that I will oneday experience India & I will be sure to visit the dogs of mumbai.

I eventually met pixel & it was great to see another aussie & good friend, after a month of not meeting many. I have heard the accent a few times, but now usually assess the person before introducing myself as a fellow aussie. Usually if they have football t-shirts on or something excessively australian, I will not say Hi, but if they look cool I will. & soon in a few days, i would meet some very cool aussies indeed.

The Geelong Cats are proving to be an almost unstoppable force, again, in 2008.  The top of the table clash between the Cats and Dogs was an intense affair in the early part of the game with scores tied at 47 at half time.  The usual footy commentators spent the proceeding week describing the game as a blockbuster; the game that would point to the likely flag winner.

Fortunately I didn't take too much from the commentators.  I always thought the game would be a great clash since both teams play very hard and aren't afraid of running on or going for the ball.  The game was a great clash until towards the end of the third quarter.

And it was here that Geelong has proven their ability to play harder for longer which has resulted in some big wins over recent weeks.  It has also landed some of their big names on the injured list.  Although this hasn't seemed to have hurt Geelong as it has some of the other top 8 teams.

A friend commented after the game that the Dogs had a lot of work to do before the finals' series.  But there is still enough time in the regular season for the Dogs to improve their game and for the Cats to suffer a slump.

But today, CARN THE CATS!

A week or so ago I decided to leave him out while I went to Walgreen's.  And by leave him out, I mean let him run around the apartment vs. being locked in his crate.  Trivia:  Crating a dog means that he will be less likely to pee/poo because he is in such a confined space.  Dogs will try to do their best not to soil their sleeping quarters.  Sorry-didn't mean to get all Cesar on you.  It was a quick trip so I figured he'd behave himself for the whopping 15 minutes of non supervision.  Although I was a little worried that he might do his business all over my apartment.  He hadn't had an accident in a long time, but you never know.  When I returned from Walgreen's I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had in fact been a good boy.  Great.

A few days later I decided to leave him out while I went across the street to the YMCA.  I would be gone for about an hour, much longer than my quick trip to Walgreen's, but I had faith in him.  I figured he'd probably just chew on his toys or chase the cat or whatever. 

Nope...

He decided to ingest 1/6 of a soccer ball.

[caption id="attachment_44" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sweetpea and little Sumo"][/caption]

Hi, remember me from a previous post down below.  I'm Sweetpea.

Just found a great spot to rest my head. Soft and fat........my older sister Sumo.

While we were wrestling earlier, I was saying to Sumo, what makes us happy?

Sometimes we found ourselves talking at the same time.

Sumo says that number one should be eating dog food!

I say sleeping with you as my pillow.

Wrestling is definitely number three.

Playing is number four.

Running is number five.

Taking a short snooze to catch our breath is number six.

Number seven is being held and cuddled.

I'm happy when Birgit talks to me.  Guess that would be number eight.

A Hallmark moment is when our Mom Dumpling keeps us clean and safe.  That is number nine.

We accept kisses as number ten!

Nicely formed with cling-on kitty litter!  Delish.  My poodle would be in doggie heaven.

via Rarebird Finds

But Oh what a life!

Like most dogs, my little pooch loves tennis balls, beach runs, day-long naps, human food and believes drool is the newest must-have accessory for any home. He generously leaves copious amounts in every square foot of my humble abode. Ahem. Where's the mop?

Jonah is 11 years old. That's a sagely 77 dogs years, thank you very much. Old enough to give ME some helpful tips on living life to the fullest (in his own peculiar way of course). This ol'bag of bones can go from a state of complete rest to full motion in 2 seconds flat when he hears the rattle of his leash. That's when he turns into a puppy, goes round and round in excitement, tongue hyper extended, drool-tanks ready, tail in full wag. Not even an injury can keep this man from his ball. He loves fetch like I love eating crabs. YUM.

Jonah once played so hard and fetched so many times, his widdle-biddy paws were bleeding when his nails were accidentally ripped off when he stepped too hard on the "brakes". (Ready, set..) Awwww.....

Now did that stop him? Hell no!!!

The thing about dogs is - no one told them that bleeding = pain = end of playtime. No one told my 77-year-old doggie that he needs to retire, take a break from his ball-chasing duties and leave that kind of work up to the next generation of puppies.

No one told them. No one said you can't do this. Or you can't do that. Jonah will stop chasing after his favorite tennis ball when Jonah cannot bring himself to the ball anymore. No sooner.

So if my 80 year old grandpa or grandma wants to learn how to dance the lindy-hop, sail a boat, go diving in the Maldives, roller-blade down Venice Beach, ski Blackcomb or attend a White Stripes (or a Clay Aiken) concert, I say more power to you!

We should never let family or society's expectations of us stop us from doing anything. (I mean legal, of course)

Which brings me to Faith, the Wonder Dog. If dogs could talk, what do you think they'll say?

(but i WILL post more insects so bewaaaaare)

first, stand by for cuteness....it's pickles...housin' her kiddie pool.

but WAIT theres MORE!

the cute AND the silly:

cody bear, being his lovely self.

Pocano Kitty! Took Pickle on a leash for a little walk by the lake this afternoon. He kept trying to dive under the rocks along the shoreline. Had to stick his head into every little opening. Good fun for the cat but a little stressful on me as I had to pull him out of the rocks more than once. Deep crevices. I have a ton photos from our walk but I'm having trouble uploading and such this evening so those will have to wait until I return.

Welcome to Feline and Furball with Feathers Friday!

I'm having trouble visiting pages tonight so I'll have to update the post later on. My connection is slow tonight and drops me. Sorry, it's the wilds of N.E. Pennsylvania.

Drop off your links for next week. No time lines, just by next Friday. Show off your feline or furball for Friday cause it’s the day for those pets!

The Wisconsin Humane Society says it will buy and close one of the nation's largest dog-breeding facilities  and plans to close the kennel and find new homes for the more than 1,100 dogs there, the society announced today.

Cory Smith of the Humane Society of the United States says the effort may be the first time a chapter has dealt with the issue of so-called puppy mills by buying one of them.  "You see these places and it's heartbreaking. So when you know that people are making a living by this, this approach seems like a logical step -- to use financial means to get the animals out of there."

O-tay Corey...  If buying up the 'livestock' in puppy mills and shutting them down is such a terrific idea, why isn't the H$U$ putting some of its MILLIONS of dollars to work to accomplish the task?  Oh that's right.  Part of your 'job' is to end pet ownership.  Sad, sick, pathetic dogs in puppy mills are need to suffer so you can publicize their plight to get more donations to....  ..... ......  to publicize their plight!

Wisconsin Humane Society says it will take in 1,100 dogs from Puppy Haven, vet them, evaluate them and adopt them out to homes.  The new homes should be much better than the one they're leaving.  According to the Journal Sentinel:

American Kennel Club spokeswoman Daisy Okas says the club suspended and fined the kennel's owner in 2006 over the facility's conditions.

Good for AKC -- but really, does a suspension from AKC really mean anything anymore?  After all, new 'designer' registries like the Continental Kennel Club and America's Pet Registry Inc. will register anythingfor a fee.  Given that most members of the public now believe that Labradoodles, Puggles and Maltipoos are 'new, rare and unique breeds' and that they don't know the difference between a pedigree and a sales slip - if it's cute, it's furry and it 'has papers' - it will sell.

Haven's dogs sold - and given the number of dogs he had and the length of time he was in business (over 40 years according to information on his website), he sold a lot of them.  He also notes that he lives in an Amish community (not surprising) and does an exemplary job of demonstrating poor grammar and spelling skills (also not surprising).

According to the Journal Sentinel:

The Wisconsin society has not said how much it is paying Wallace Havens. It says Havens agreed to sell because he plans to retire.  Puppy Haven sold about 3,000 dogs a year, according to the statement. The dog breeds included pugs, beagles, poodles, miniature schnauzers, Shih Tzus, American Eskimos, Yorkshire terriers and mixes known as "designer breeds."

The Wisconsin Humane Society is asking for contributions to help pay for the costs of the dogs' care and adoption.  PetSmart Charities has provided a generous gift of equipment to care for the animals, including leashes, collars, toys, food bowls and grooming supplies.  There are many needs that still remain, which will be posted on the WHS Wishlist.

I'd like to go on record saying that, as deeply as I sympathize with the miserable plight of puppy mill dogs, I strongly disagree with programs that purchase dogs from mills and auctions.  It is my opinion that, though they are well-meaning, these programs serve more to support the millers and auctioneers, and therefore - in the long run, hurt the dogs they seek to save.  Buying a dog from an auction or a mill sellout isn't much different from buying a dog at a petstore - and in the long run - it just prolongs the misery.

When we stop buying them, they will stop breeding them.

Well for the next week mom isn’t going to be here, she is deserting me and going to the beach with some friends! Dad won’t blog for me so here I am stranded with no way to talk to all my bloggy friends! She sure hasn’t been endearing herself to me lately! They are leaving at 5 o’clock in the morning tomorrow, Saturday the 19 and won’t be back until the next Saturday. I’ll try to get her back on the computer as soon as she gets….WHAT? What did you say mom? When you get back we are going out to  your dad’s time share place? I GET TO GO??? Dad gets to go too? And Ethan? OK!!

Well it looks like mom is putting me out of comission for a couple of weeks, but she is only deserting me for one week! I hope you all have a great couple of weeks.

See the birthday cake on the left? It's Tuffy's birthday so I made him a cake!

Please look below to see my post card from Meredith! ]]> http://chasingsquirrelswithrusty.wordpress.com/?p=481 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:17:54 +0000 Rusty http://chasingsquirrelswithrusty.wordpress.com/?p=481 Guess what? I got a post card in the mail from my friend Meredith at Mercedes World! It is really cool. Here is a picture of it. She chose this one for me cause she knew I liked to look at furry critters!Wasn't that nice to write to me and send this cool card!  Thank you, Meredith! Mom say thank you, too!

She sent one to mom tool I am the important one but I guess she felt sorry for mom who doesn't get much in the mail unless she orders something. Mom loved her card, it had a beautiful garden on it in front of the Biltmore estate. Mom said it was called The Azalea Garden. I think it looked like a fun place to run and play! Here is moms card.

meet kiera! she's new in town. her mom just moved here with a new job. (congrats by the way)

you may notice this is the first official "studio shot" at dog daily.  well, tomorrow night will be a non-studio shot of kiera, so please come back.  she's a total love!

anyway, she and her mom came in for head shots with one of the photographers for the new company. the photographer, chris mooney said, "hey if you're gonna take her picture, try my flash and use the studio lighting."  so i did.

From the archives of the UK's Daily Mail:

Just like his labrador friends, he wags his tail, fetches sticks and rolls on his back to have his tummy tickled.

But the hooves and mane give away his real identity - as a Shetland pony.

Rory was rejected by his mother after he was born in Colchester on Friday the 13th of October. After arriving at the sanctuary he became ill and spent all his time being nursed in the office - attracting the interest of labradors Alfie and Millie, owned by stable manager Sam Edwards.

Here's more from London Tonight via YouTube:

A horse - living as a dog?  That's just wrong.  And fortunately the folks at the Essex Horse and Pony sanctuary realized this too.  According to a followup article on metro.co.uk:

Now he has recovered from his brush with death, three-month-old Rory - who will only grow to nine hands tall - has been given a equine role model... Nanna Bracken.

Ms Allery said: 'As soon as he was well enough we started stabling him, he got to be a proper pony now and do pony things.

'We can't state the importance of him being a pony, for his own sake he's got to learn he's a horse.

I love happy endings!

I was watching Oprah...again, and she had this girl on there, 12 years old, and she did this experiment to see if toilet water was really cleaner than some of the ice at restaurants. She went to 5 different fast food restaurants (she couldn't say which ones, somehow it was confidential), and she tested the ice through the drive-thru and at the soda machine on the inside, and the toilet water. She then tested all the samples and found out that in 4/5 of the restaurants, the toilet water had less bacteria than the ice!!! No next time you go to the drive-thru, you may want to reconsider ice in your drink! She did say they went back to one of the restaurants, and they did improve, but Oprah then said "The dogs KNOW!!"

"Can I have one of your beers?" self inquires of dear OH.

"Why?" comes the response.

"I just read something vicious that somebody wrote about me on the internet."

"Oh, OK."

(Thank you, hubby! Thank you for all time!)

Self grabs a Pacifico from the topmost shelf of the fridge (See, self wouldn't have had to ask if she didn't know -- from long experience -- that hubby counts the bottles. Every night), twists it open, takes a huge gulp and -

Hooly guacamole (to quote from the TV Batman)! Beer comes foaming up through the neck of the bottle and comes squirting out of self's nose.

Before self can so much as say "lickety split", both beagles (who have been supine on living room floor for -- oh, let's just say the last seven hours) come bounding up and in something like five seconds every last drop of spilled beer has disappeared from the floor.

That business taken care of, self settles herself on the couch and clicks the TV to CNN. And, holy guacamole again, there's Lou Dobbs, the patron saint of born-again careers. The poll of the night is: Do you think the government is ever going to find out the source of the recent salmonella outbreak?

Well, first self heard it was tomatoes (except for Costco tomatoes and California tomatoes in general, which self heard were somehow exempt, perhaps by order of the governor -- who of late self has been watching on late-night TV, in his various Terminator guises), then she heard it was cilantro.

A little later, Lou reveals the results of his poll: 90% of his viewers believe that the government will NEVER be able to determine the source of the outbreak.

What a stupid (a k a boring) question! Couldn't Lou have inquired whether anyone believes we will ever get Osama bin Laden?

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned while self just gulps down this-here deliciously ice-cold Pacifico.

The very same friend that I mentioned a while back-(check out July 2)--the one I always thought was gay because he wears such nice shoes, has just today contracted me to knit his tiny little dog a sweater. Yes, that's right. A sweater. For his little, female, dog. Named Tallulah. I am of course, excited by such things cause that means we get to go to the store and pick out rad yarn and I don't have to pay for it, plus he wants to discuss the design over dinner. However, I made the mistake of not carefully choosing my words in this correspondence, and this is the embarassing result:

Him: I'll pay for materials and your time, just tell me details. let's plan another glass of champagne and some escargots (kidding, but that was kind of hilarious!), and I'll bring Tallulah along and you can measure away.

Me: Let me look through a few books and do some doggy "style" research, we don't want Tallulah to be out of style now do we? Especially since she has the same name as one of Demi Moore's daughters..that is some serious image to uphold.

I would love to venture out again and experience strange edible things. I can always be available to eat, even with my limitations.

Him: hmmm. ok, i have enough of a healthy attraction to you that hearing you describe doggy style anything, research or otherwise, gets me...um, distracted just a little. that said, i'm all for doggy style research...i myself am frequently looking at opportunities for just this kind of research. for Tallulah, of course.

so, strange edible things it is! along with doggy style research and champagne, should be a fun time.

you're quite a wordsmith, lisa

OH WOW. I'm always available to eat????? right. right. Anyway, I can't help but laugh at myself and hope that this doggy sweater doesn't bite me in the ass.

It's funny because this same article talks about how increases in “irresponsible owners and criminals, who use dogs as a fashion accessory, or even as a weapon, is also rising alarmingly. “.....HELLO, does anyone see the correlation? This certainly cannot be chance. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there happens to be a definite connection between people getting hurt by these dogs and irresponsible owners. A good dog owner will have a good behaved dog....even if it is a Pitbull..see this Pitbull site to see more about being a responsible owner.

I really would not want to get to the point of making owners have a license to own powerful dogs like PitBulls, Rottweilers, etc. but it seems like this would be better than getting rid of certain breeds across the board because it's the humans at fault and not the dogs. Whenever instances of physical harm happen due to dogs, the owners should be responsible. They should be held responsible. If there is any damage costs or jail time needed, the owners need to pay up. If you're going to produce weapons like many of these dogs seemingly are, you'll just have to be responsible. If you hurt or kill another human by the misuse of your dog, you will go to jail to pay for your offense. It definitely seems simple to me. Yes, the dog was the one that inflicted the damage but the owner was the one that encouraged that action. Why does not the media start criminalizing the owners instead of criminalizing the breed.

I find out a few nights ago that it was a full moon out. That totally makes sense. I mean, It had to be something, at 3am, Sammy Diva wakes up and walks around the room. Part of me awakes listening to see if she has to go out. She walks to the water bowl and takes a drink. I hear her then just pace around the room a bit. She doesn't come to my side of the bed or Daddy's. If she needs to go out, she'll wake us up. But nope, not a sound. I say to myself, please, go back to sleep, go back to sleep. Few minutes later, I hear her snoring again.  Almost around the exact time, Mochi decides to throw a furball. How lovely is that. I'm too groggy to

care.  However, Lucy then wakes up and starts to bite her paws as if being attacked by the Allergy monster. I flip her over put my arms around giving her reiki and we both fall back to sleep.......

This is an odd week, just balance seems to be knocked off a bit. My closest friends having surgery.. lots of reiki being sent out to family and friends. My very dear friend said to me that I was her "energy" hub and because of that she felt strength going into her surgery. That really made me smile.  I liked that. Very sweet. I think we'll all be back in balance in no time.

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you
know who do have a dog !

If you don't have a dog --

forward to all you know who do have a dog
as well as to those who love pets !!

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp
<http://portal.mxlogic.com/redir/?atTT4nbzCrCTHLEK3xNI05i5lLFO-mzas_zjbhrFG7NMf
b7ODk_wurLRXIeenohsudTdHv13jcOtlglJj-ndETvd78USyCyUCCUztUSMCr5P22hEw0noMB0yq87q
Nd425i9EwGoxYq6y0KnbwMc0AQgqq816FnPh2rDUvf0srhdICQXIIcI6zBdBcSNGKibjuiuV5>

"Warning to all dog owners - pass this on to
everyone you can. Last Friday evening, I arrived home from
work, fed Chloe, our 24 Lb. dachshund, just as I normally
do. Ten minutes later I walked into the den just in time t o
see her head inside the pocket of Katie's friend's
purse. She had a guilty look on her face so I looked closer
and saw a small package of sugar-free gum. It contained
xylitol. I remembered that I had recently read that
sugar-free gum can be deadly for dogs so I jumped on line
and looked to see if xylitol was the ingredient. I found
the first website below and it was the one. Next, I called
our vet. She said to bring her in immediately.
Unfortunately, it was still rush hour and it took me almost
1/2 hour to get there. Meanwhile, since this was her first
case, our vet found another website to figure out the
treatment. She took Chloe and said they would induce her to
vomit, give her a ch arcoal drink to absorb the toxin (even
though they don't think it works) then they would start
an iv with dextrose. The xylitol causes dogs to secrete
insulin so their bloo d sugar drops very quickly. The second
thing that happens is liver failure. If that happens, even
with aggressive treatment, it can be difficult to save
them. She told us she would call us. Almost two hours
later, the vet called and said that contents of her stomach
contained 2-3 gum wrappers and that her blood sugar had
dropped from 90 to 59 in 30 minutes. She wanted us to take
Chloe to another hospital that has a critical care unit
operating around the clock. We picked her up and took her
there. They had us call the ASPCA poison control for a
case number and for a donation, their doctors would direct
Chloe's doctor on treatment. They would continue the
iv, monitor her blood every other hour and then in 2 days
test her liver function. She ended up with a central line
in her jugular vein since the one in her leg collapsed,
just as our regular vet had feared. Chloe spent almost the
entire weekend in the critical care hospital. After her
blood sugar was stabilized, she came home yesterday. They
ran all the tests again before they released her and so
far, no sign of liver damage. Had I not seen her hea d in
the purse, she probably would have died and we wouldn't
even had known why.

Three vets told me this weekend, that they were
amazed that I even knew about it since they are first
learning about it too. Please tell everyone you know about
xylitol and dogs. It may save another life."

This happened years ago and he never did it again, but I think about it when I masturbate. I don't want to have sex with a dog, but just thinking about dogs or petting a dog makes me horny. I have thought of buying a dog but I'm afraid that I would try to repeat the scene from my past if I had one.

This summer while walking with them I started to realize just how individual these dogs are are and discovering what each of them are bringing to my life and perhaps why.

 Pepper, my black lab that I have owned the longest is soooooo ME, she flits from one activity to the next always looking for where the trail may lead, what is around the corner and has very little patience when we stop to chat.  She is there to walk and that means very little chatting, we have trails to get to--"c'mon c'mon"  I hear her saying with urgency.  She is a faithful dedicated dog that always returns to check on me after she gets a little too far ahead.  She has truly been a wonderful companion and compliments my own desire to keep going, keep discovering. 

Now Brooklyn, the big boy, the biggest loser. A little background info about this guy. We adopted him last December.  I was at the shelter with my mom looking for a kitten and I walked through the dog area.  I saw this beautiful, nearly white adult yellow lab sitting in a kennel.  Now, he was a BIG dog.  I told my Mom how awesome and big he was and we went on our way.  We didn't see any cats that we liked so off we went.  That night in my sleep, I dreamt of the big white dog in the shelter and woke with a feeling that I MUST have that dog.  That morning I felt such an urgency to get to him that I told Evan to get in the car, we had a dog to go get.  I called Gary at work and basically said,"uhhh Honey, I am going to get a 130 pound lab because I had a dream about him".  So Evan and I arrived, got his ID number, took it to the lady, met the dog, filled out the paperwork and was in the car on the way home in about 25 minutes.  Once getting him home and meeting the other dogs did I begin to realize just how incredibly obese this poor guy was!  He could barely waddle his way around the house! The other dogs accepted him just fine and he quickly became a member of the family. Aside from wanting to eat everything in site, including the poor innocent cat that has since been in hiding only to come out at night, he seemed to be a very good dog. Once I learned that Brooklyn came with a good knowledge of basic commands he was ready to hit the walking trails.   After our first long walk my heart broke to discover that this poor guy had bleeding paws--I assume from never being walked.  After watching him inhale (eat) his food and seeing the condition of his feet, I soon realized just how lucky we both were to find each other.  He was getting a second chance to be the dog he was born to be and I got to share my life with this wonderful old soul.  Well, it is now July and I am proud to announce that Brooklyn is THE biggest loser weighing in at a very svelte 87 pounds!  When I adopted him in December he was tipping the scales at 130.    Each time I set his bowl down, I get a look of "is that it?" before he opens up the suction and in goes the kibble.  He has learned that the girls eat a bit slower and if they aren't careful he will try to get his face into their bowls.  He eats anything that is found on the street; pizza that had been run over, half eaten muffins, ice cream cups and even things that are too gross to say.   So, this summer as I have been taking him out each day to walk/hike/run and watching him get slimmer and slimmer, his personality has imerged clearer to me.  He has gone from being the pathetic fat guy to one that truly tries his best, wants to please and yet in all honesty he would probably prefer to have just a little extra time in bed, not such a quick pace and maybe a little more food.  He slowly makes his way to the truck in the morning, slowly jumps in--or on real slow days needs a lift from me, he lies down while we drive, he slowly gets out of the truck and gives a big *sigh* as we get to the trail head. I can hear him saying, "gosh, we just did this yesterday and I haven't even had breakfast yet, do we really need to do this everyday"?  But he trudges on, always staying at my side while the other dogs run up ahead.  I believe that we have given each other wonderful gifts.  I have given him a life of health, running in nature, swimming in water, walks in the evening and he has given me the reminder of sometimes taking life at a slower pace, going a little slower to not see what is around the corner but enjoy what is right in front of me.  His soul pours out of his eyes and I believe that there was no coincidence in us finding each other.

Then there is Abby, the neurotic Boston Terrier--the pretty princess, the baby, the one that we can't take out on walks for fear of her going from walking on four legs to instantly up on the hinds, forearms out walking toward anyone or anything bringing laughter and remarks from complete strangers.  She rarely gets to go anywhere because it is like holding a kite string in the middle of a tornado--completely exhausting and not worth the trouble.   I decided to give the girl a chance and take her with me, off leash, and see how she did.  She totally amazed me on the trail---she listens, she walks, she comes! Is this even the same dog that chases people on bicycles? How can a leash attached cause such a neurotic reaction in her?  Where did she learn to be such a good hiking dog? A DOG! not a pretty princess that sleeps on the sofa or under the covers, but a real dog!  Since I have been taking her out I have noticed that she brings a wonderful lightness to the walks. The eagerness when we encounter another group--not neccessarily eagerness to see the other dogs, but she is there to say hi to the people. She brings a smile to others by the way she wiggles sideways to greet someone with her toothless grin.  It is then that I find myself smiling.  As we make our way along the trails, I love to see her little square head dodging through the brush and I am grateful that I gave her a chance to be a dog too.