LUNA: All's Well That Ends Well

So while our moms were away on a trip to New York a couple of weeks ago we had a little adventure in our neghborhood. Harvey went to I Dig My Dog but I stayed home and kept the cats company and our friends Stasia and Kelley took care of feeding us and taking me to the Dog Park. (I love when the world revolves around your every need, don't you?)

ANYWAY, the adventure was finding this little beagle dog wandering around our neighborhood. She was old and practically blind and she ended up kind of bunking here for awhile while they tried to find her family.

Signs went up all over the neighborhood and Stasia and another Kelly ... the one who lives down the street ... made phone calls and checked websites and really knocked themselves out trying to find either her home or A home for Ms Blind Beagle.


It was a real problem because the Pasadena Humane Society wouldn't take her because they found her in Altadena and the other place they would have taken her would only keep her for five days (I don't want to know any more about that, just for the record!)

Finally, they found a beagle rescue group that was willing to take her ... but they were out of state and it would be a few weeks. SO ... in case you're wondering where the "all's well that ends well" part comes in: the foster family who agreed to take her in until the rescue people showed up fell in love with her and they are now living happily ever after.

So let's give thanks for people who love animals and take care of them -- especially when they can't take care of themselves.

HARVEY: Another Day at the Dog Park

Our moms love us SOOOO much that they take us to the dog park almost every single day. (OK ... in the interest of full disclosure they also like wearing Luna out so she doesn't torment the cats and get into everything all day ... I think they call that "enlightened self interest.)


Anyway, since some folks have asked "So what do you DO when you go to the dog park?" I thought I'd give you kind of Harvey-eyed view of A Day at the Dog Park! So here we are ... fresh out off our leashes and ready to rock and roll.

First we see the blondes and their moms. (The blondes are the dogs, not the moms!)

This is Dolce and Sylvia Beach ... two of the "Golden Girls" ...

... and here's Sahara ... she's a Labradoodle who's a little younger than Luna. (I may be 13 but I still have an eye for a blonde!)

Luna doesn't care so much about the blondes ... she has her own routine: she makes the rounds and tries get as many people to pet her as possible. Today she started with some guy we'd never seen before but that didn't slow her down ...

... then she moved on to some of the dog park regulars ...

...who can be counted on for a pat and an rub and a scratch behind the ears!

While Luna's making the rounds Barbara, Steve and Kenneth are on station ... keeping an eye on what's going on around the park. (Keeping an eye on each other's dogs is a BIG part of what dog people do at the dog park!)

Kenneth and I like to think of ourselves as Elder Statesmen ... sort of like the Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy of the Dog Park. At 12 & 13 we figure we've earned the right to move a little slower, take our time and just stop and smell the roses along the way.

Of course, Luna has no respect for seniority and just shoves right in between Kenneth and Barbara with her insatiable appetite for people petting. Barbara is a very good egg and here she is petting both of them.

"These youngsters," said Kenneth. "No respect, I tell you, no respect for their elders!"

Of course I'm a little embarrassed by her but I've given up trying to correct her "all about me" behavior. I heard someone once talk about why you shouldn't try to teach a pig to sing: it wastes your time and annoys the pig. That's kind of how I feel about teaching Luna manners at this point!

Meanwhile, here come Magnus ... he has TBO ... "tennis ball obsession" ... and really doesn't care about anything other than chasing that ball.

Whatever. I never really quite GOT the whole tennis ball chasing thing myself.

Magnus has learned to work the crowd ... here he is getting Kenneth's dad Steve to throw for him.

Steve even bought one of those plastic ball-chucking-things just to throw the ball for Magnus. How nice is THAT????

Then here comes Kelley ... the Pied Piperess of the Park ... Luna just goes CRAZY for her ...

... as you can see!

These are two of Kelley's dogs ... who knew there was such a thing as a Norwegian Lundehund -- my mom thought that was a made up name until she Googled them and darned if they weren't an honest to goodness breed of dog. (Not like the Austrian Elkhound she used to tell people I was!)

Here's one of our favorite Dog Park friends ... Kelley rescued him from New Orleans after Katrina ... his name is Bayou ... and he had a REALLY rough time for awhile but now he's just one of the gang ...

In fact, I think Luna has a little crush on him! But -- being the fickle thing she is ...

... she ditched him in the blink of an eye to get petted when this new family showed up. Shameless, I tell you, she's SHAMELESS!

As we were heading out we ran into Fred and his mom ... his mom brings him TWICE a day ... how lucky is FRED????

Then back in the car to go home ... we've got that drill down by now!

One variation today, however ... when Luna got home she was horrified to find that her normal post-dog-park-nap-spot had been staked out by Walden -- the don't-you-EVEN-mess-with-me feline member of our household.

So Miss Pushy-Pushy, Pet-Me, Pet-Me had to settle for the floor for her nap today.

Which made it an "all's well that ends well" day at the dog park for ME! And I'm ready for my OWN nap in my OWN backyard, thank you very much!

THE END

You Mean There are OTHER Dog-Blog-Moms Out There?

We thought ours were the only ones!

-- Harvey and Luna

Now they think I'm a WOLAMUTE!!!

"What kind of dog IS she?"

That's a question my moms get about me ALL the time. One of them doesn't really care ... she just wants me to be the kind of dog who doesn't chew up shoes. The other is ... well ... kind of "focused" on figuring it out. (We've also heard the word "obsessed" bandied about but I'm going to use "focused" for these purposes.)

Anyway, some nice folks from the Dog Park, Barbara & Steve ... the parents of my friend Kenneth, the semi-retired-guide-dog ... put my mom onto this website about the WOLAMUTE ... a cross between a Malamute and a Timber Wolf. Some people call them "designer breeds" ... others call them "cross breeds" (there's also "mutts" but we won't go there) ... but whatever you call them even I have to admit there seems to be some family resemblance.

Here's one of the temperment descriptions from the site: "... a wonderful companion and although extremely willful and skittish, she is a sweet, and good humored pet. " My mom says "if the shoe fits wear it, don't chew it" and I think this shoe probably fits me pretty good.

And here's a photo of one of the Wolamutes ... Logan ... who just might be a second or third cousin, don't you think?

[photo @ dogbreedinfo.com]

Well, whatever I am, I'm getting back up on the couch for my afternoon nap. It's going to be another hot one in Pasadena today and I'm staking out the prime nap spot before somebody else snags it!

Luna on the 4th of July ....

"Will you just wake me up when

.

the firecrackers stop?"