.After a few weeks of unusually frigid and windy weather for Tucson (well below freezing), today was a complete turnabout: sunny skies, with the forecast promising temperatures edging into the 80s.  The perfect day for getting out for a short hike !   Neither one of us can deal with sad doggy eyes and droopy don’t-leave-me-at-home ears, so we ( Read more... )

D and I took Lizzie along on our errand-running today.  Because our scorching summer heat can turn the inside of a car into a dog-killing 160-degree oven in ten minutes, it's illegal to leave dogs in parked cars in Arizona.  Common sense doesn't factor in; it's a blanket, year-round law, but since common sense doesn't abound these days,  it has to ( Read more... )

So, backing up a few days:

Saturday, June 20:

Picked D up at the airport mid day.  He'd been at a mine site in Peru all week, and I was glad to see that he looked pretty chipper as he descended the stairs to the greeting/baggage area.  The previous day I had received an email from him, which I think was intended to reassure me that he was doing OK, ( Read more... )

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so...  my week ( Read more... )

I've been trying to learn how to turn my shaggy (but happy being shaggy) little Lizzie into a recognizable Australian Terrier.  People stop to ask whether she's a Cairn, a Yorkie, or "look Mom, Toto", everything but the little Aussie that she is.   Her incognito status is twofold:  Australian Terriers aren't that common a breed, and she hasn't been ( Read more... )

I know how to get her attention.  All I have to say is, "Do you want to go see the fish?", and she is on full alert.   Except for the vibrating tail, she is motionless, head cocked to one side, ears perked straight up, eyes boring into mine.  Did she hear right?  Had she heard the majic word: fish? Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.  She is practically at the ( Read more... )

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So what is it about us?  Not just us humans,  but dogs, birds, and creatures in general.  We always think the other guy is getting a better deal, has better luck, lives a better life, has less problems, drives a better car, has the biggest bone, or is perched on best spot on the bird feeder. We always want what the other guy has. And don't tell me ( Read more... )

I swear.  This was the strangest damn thing I have ever seen. 
I just got back from taking my dog over to the little neighborhood park where we have sort of an informal doggy meet & greet in the evening.  Lizzie and I were the only ones in the park.  (To set the scene, here's a bad photo taken in low light with my cell phone.)


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