***LOST DOG***

Abby is lost. She some how managed to get out of a Houdini proof area. She escaped on 5/22/08 in the Five Canyons region of Castro Valley. Abby is a small (16#) Italian greyhound, she is tan with short hair. She was wearing a purple collar with tags, and she is microchiped. She is very shy/nervous/skittish. She often runs from people she doesn't know, and from many people she does know. Abby needs to come home, but I think she is going to need some help getting back here.

If you see her, please let me know. . . I miss her and am completely devastated. . .

Lesson Learned

I learned my lesson:




wipe the goop from your dog's eyes BEFORE you take pictures of them with a fancy camera!!!

Perspective

This kitten was born without eyes. Kinda puts things into perspective. . .

To Dog Walkers Everywhere

Something happened at the dumps a few weeks ago, and I keep forgetting to mention it. But I figured today was about time.

We have been going to the dumps a lot lately - mainly because of Abby. We run into few people there and I believe that the routine will ease her anxiety and maybe build confidence. Another reason we go there is because of all the open space - and few people. Since I have small dogs, I always worry about larger dogs; and although all have been friendly so far, I still worry. I like to give my dogs a chance to run and be dogs, but its important that we do it safely. The only time we really run into other dogs is at the beginning and end of the trail. There is one way in and one way out.

So . . . a few weeks ago we were walking into the park. We are at the tail end of entrance trail - just about to turn right onto one of the main walking trails. My dogs were walking and peeing like usual - completely oblivious to everyone and every thing. Let me make it clear that they were not running around acting like idiots barking at and chasing imaginary bugs. We were simple walking. All of a sudden I hear this woman calling out behind me; usually I ignore people calling out as I know where all my dogs are and I know they aren't reeking havoc. But what she said caused me to turn and look - mainly because I thought I had to worry about my dogs too. She yelled "are your dogs going to chase my dog?"

I turned around to look for the offending dog and realized that we were the only two there. She had a large shepherd x dog on leash and was holding tight looking as if she might run. It took me a minute before I could say anything because I couldn't believe what she was asking. Were my two tiny (well behaved, minding their own business) dogs going to chase her giant dog? WTF? Who cares if they did? What in the hell would they do to that dog? Bite his toes? I yelled back "NO! is your dog going to chase my dogs?" She said "No". We went our separate ways.

Then about a week later we came around a bend and almost bumped into the same lady. She was with a friend and the same shep x dog and a OBD. The friend said "look how cute" The crazy lady said "and they are so well behaved too".

I am usually beaming with pride when I hear this, but after the previous week, I just wanted to get as far away from that woman as possible. I mean, come on. I know that little dogs are often seen yapping at the feet of people and dogs 50 times their size. But if you see two small dogs minding their own business with an owner close by, it is very rude hurtful to assume that they are nasty ankle biters.

People really should just mind their own dog's business!

Lost

No, I'm not talking about the show - although I have seen it once or twice and I am convinced that those people are actually trapped in central park via M Night Shyamalan's "The Village"

I have felt so lost without my camera - and without sleep. I have been looking for my camera for almost two weeks now. I have a feeling that I accidentally threw it away when I was cleaning. Not sure how I threw it away, but I'm not really the kind of person to leave something somewhere, and I don't often loose anything. I have looked everywhere and have yet to find my camera. It really isn't that big of a deal since I have been considering buying a new camera, but it wasn't something I was really serious about. I was quite content with my 5+year old camera until it died or until my rebate check came in and I found a camera within my price range and that fit my current lenses. AHHHH

I am still not sleeping well. Abby doesn't sleep well, so none of us sleep well. She still paces most of the night, but at least now I know her potty schedule and don't get out of bed and stand in the freezing cold night with her staring at me wondering what the hell we were doing outside at that hour. Now, I just yell at her to "go back to bed" . . . which she does for 15 minutes - literally. Even pocket is exhausted and has resorted to sleeping in the closet. Maybe she will save some room for me tonight.

At least its Friday. . .

Weird Stuff

Today was an interesting day - to say the least. We came across some really weird things today. This isn't all that unexpected considering we went to the 9th annual "How Weird Street Faire" today in San Francisco. I kept finding myself saying "thats so weird. . ." There were many things I wanted to take pictures of, but since I can't seem to find my camera I was the one saying "can she take your picture?" She referring to Mac's mom, of course. I am sure that she will post some amazing things on her blog and probably more great stuff on her flikr.

But the really weird stuff that I saw today came on the walk we took this morning. The walk we had to take to tire the kids out so I could go to an A's game (they won!!!) The first thing we came across was a stick with streamers. It looks like they are planing on doing some developing, but its weird because its part of the EBParks and that land isn't meant to be developed.



(if you look closely you can see those weird round things in the background too)

Then we came across these . . . (i'm not even sure how to describe them) - and those weird round things are in the background of this picture too!



The saddest part was all the garbage we came across. I shouldn't think this is weird because it is right next to the dumps. I even refer to this place as "the dumps." While on the walk I came across this "rock" - well it looked like this molten lava rock:



But when I picked it up I realized that it was an old piece of a tire. A thick bit of rubber that somehow made it over the fence and onto my walking path. And since it will probably never biodegrade it will probably be there next week too. Its so weird to come across something like that in the midst of "nature" but its mainly just sad.