Red white and blue

Cover your ears. We hear there will be some booming in the skies tonight!

Morning walk

Two more mornings before Madison's stitches are out. Two more morning of long walks.

This little guy almost got a piece of Madison on the Riverwalk this morning. It's not a good photo: it's a little translucent land crab, waving his nasty pinchers right at Madison's beard!



And then ... look! The gates were open.


Madison got to stretch her legs. She chased a few balls and ran in circles. It obviously felt good.

Wandering around Fort Lauderdale

This morning H-Mom and Madison headed out for another long meandering walk, before the heat settles in. The first destination was the lawn bowling court at Florence C. Hardy Park. H-Mom was hell-bent on breaking the law ... Madison could use a leg stretch. The lawn bowling grass is short and clean, and the court is completely fenced. No dogs allowed, but at 6:45 am, H-Mom thought, a 20-minute romp at an easy pace would be non-destructive.


Too bad the park was locked up tight, with chains and padlocks. Secure. No romp. We think it is to keep the homeless out of the little park house and off of the benches and the planters.

Plan B.

H-Mom took off for a long walk, headed down to Davie Boulevard through the huge grassy park and then took a diversion through a winding side road. This is where the hefty population of Fort Lauderdale peacocks live.



These birds are huge. Madison was astounded, intrigued, a little apprehensive. H-Mom kept a good grip on the leash, thinking that a flock of peacocks would inflict more damage - both physical and psychological - than a ornery mockingbird.

She would have gotten better photos, like a shot of seven of these huge birds sitting on the roof of a little stucco house, but she was a little apprehensive herself. Better not to get too close. We don't think they are particularly friendly.

Hanging in there

Our walks are getting longer. Madison is better by the minute. H-Mom is amazed at how quickly youngsters heal. And she is being pretty good inside too, even with the lack of a good dog-park morning.

We'll make it. H-Mom is really good at planning interesting walks, and we've done short ones, medium ones, and today, a long-ish one.

Tonight we made it out between rain storms. We walked west along the Riverwalk, which was paved and landscaped in 2007. It's a beautiful brick walkway that meanders along the New River, where the mega-yachts dock and the water taxi picks up passengers, hopping from bar to bar.

The sun was setting and the bridge for the Florida East Coast Railway was up. It goes down according to a timer, which blasts twice to give boats a five minute warning. It's a busy rail crossing for trains in and out of Port Everglades, and a popular train-spotting location.


We circled around and headed home. We got dive-bombed by some of those crazy mockingbirds again. H-Mom was trying to photograph one, but was busy protecting her head. She told Madison to go ahead and snap one up, if she could.

I'm bored, now. Really really bored.

This recuperation stuff is not for Madison. She has been trying to be good, taking it easy and resting a lot. But she is kind of like a horse, chomping at the bit. Ready to roll. So what if her belly is shaved from here to there, she feels like strutting it at the dog park.

It's going to be a long long week, before the stitches are out next Monday.

H-Mom is adamant. No dog park: no agility jumping, no dirt-wrestling, no swimming.

Even a quick lunge for a lizard or teasing squirrel is being discouraged. H-Mom has been walking Madison like she is a tottering little old granny. Slowly.

This is getting old.

There is no such thing as a chew toy that will keep her busy for a week. (Although this is a really really good one.) Any ideas?

Friday Spay Day

No dog park for Madison for a week or so. Today is "spay day." Kind of like D-day for the pup. She will be one-year-old next month, and has made it this far without going into heat. Her vet said that her teeth are all set into the bone so that we have given her much benefit of maturing and hormones.

No food or liquid after midnight, so it wasn't fair for a trip to the dog park this morning. H-Mom and Madison enjoyed a "historic walk" instead. This is what they will be doing for the next week. Gentle walks, as long as Madison is comfortable and healing.

We are hoping to make it happily until we can get back to the dog park. Better to have ten days of recuperation than 3 weeks in heat twice a year.

Still, it's kind of a sad day, and H-Mom and Man-dad and especially the teen-human all feel bad for Madison. She is going to get lots of treats while she gets better. We are stopping on the way home from the vets to buy her some cuddlies.

Mango bombs

This is disconcerting. The little park, now formally named "Stoner Park" (H-Mom laughs. What kind of name is that? Visions of naughty teenagers abound.) , now has mangoes thumping down around our heads. The trees in the park are heavy with ripe mangoes, huge fruit, and they hit the ground with regularity.


Madison is vaguely interested. It is much more exciting to hunt lizards and sniff dead branches. H-Mom is considering protective head gear.

The smell of the rotting mangoes is sickeningly sweet. We don't eat them, confused and a bit put-off by the odd flavours of pinecone sap and citrus.

P.S. The beautiful little rottie girl has a new mom! She is now named "Nolly" (which we all hate, but WHATEVER) and Coach is keeping in touch to make sure that her new home is a good one! We think Coach really misses her. Maybe he will find another little rottie to take care of!

Red in the morning

This is the second part of the saying. Our rainy weather continues. The forecast is holding steady, and it doesn't look pretty.

Now we have "red in the morning," which H-Mom believes means "dog walkers take warning."

With a little garlic please

With just a little history lesson, we know that the Germans had a great affinity for things French. And that's my girl, my German with the beard and the innocent face.

Who has taken a liking to a little snail-crunch for breakfast. She nips them off the retainer wall, off the fountain edge, off the brick walkway.

And the sound of the grit in her giant schnauzer-size chompers gives H-Mom the shudders.

It's bad enough to inadvertantly step on them, after a rain, but to actually hear their death-by-canines is blood curdling.

H-Mom is so grossed out. And a bit concerned, seeing as they are uncooked and au natural. Salmonella? Worms? Pesticides? They just can't be good.

So now H-Mom and Madison are both watching for the snails, with different agendas: Madison is quite a sneak at the smorgasbord.

Anyone want a baby?

This little girl - we all think she is a rottweiler - was found on Saturday night, behind a warehouse in Miami, just wandering around.

Someone dumped her. We are guessing that she is 5 weeks old, if that.

Peter picked her up from his friend who rescued her, and she spent Sunday night with Lexie and Yogi.

This morning she came to the dog park, and Coach took her home. So she'll stay with Nick for awhile. Nick is a rescued Rottie, who is now in charge of Coach.

Coach said he would get her to a vet, and buy her some puppy milk, and raise her, and housebreak her, keeping her until she is old enough to go to a forever home. He is going to let Rottweiler rescue know that he is taking care of her.

Well. Our money is on Coach KEEPING her and becoming her new Dad. But then, he has fostered before, and he has his hands full with Nick.

So if anyone wants a new baby, just let Madison know.

Madison even kind of wanted to keep her - she is so cute, she was SUCKING on Madison's beard and Madison was very gentle with her, and let her stand between her legs and jump up on her.

But H-Mom told Madison that there will be NO BABIES in this condo.

Sailors heed this

After weeks of rain, the sky tonight is calm. Is the end in sight?

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red in the morning, sailors take warning ...

the giant schnauzer is sleeping. She got a surprise stop at the dog park this evening. After being dictated to by the rumbling skies, it was nice to catch a break in the weather and let loose. She ran with abandon, and now is happily asleep. Noises in the kitchen cannot even roust her. This is some serious fatigue.

Maybe a quick stop at the "DP" in the afternoon is a good plan?

What to do on a rainy weekend?

Nap.

Do errands. (Like take the crate to the storage space. You have to get in the car and drive to get there. It was something to do, at least.)

Nap.

Nap some more.

Don't feel bad for Madison. She has always preferred sleeping on the floor. She will snooze on the sofa for a minute, move to her to cushion for a moment. But the really good zzzzz's are taken spread out on the cool tile right by the door to the air-handler closet. There's a nice kind of breeze there, which works out well for a warm-bodied sweetheart like Madison.

Because I'm a really really good girl

Madison heard that there was a conversation, kind of a revelation, discussed.

Madison doesn't go into her kennel anymore. She hasn't for weeks. And she hasn't been put in her kennel for almost two months.

She is a quiet sofa-sleeper. She gets up very elegantly, stretches out and snoozes gently. She is not a rowdy house dog. She is on the charm school, sweet behaviour plan.


She has grown up markedly, no longer chewing and behaving very well. She understands "place" which is a leopard spotted cushion in the living room.


Besides, the humans are condo dwellers. Square footage comes at a premium, notes H-Mom. And the four of us are living in just under 1200 square feet. There is no wonderful place for the kennel, which is the largest size kennel they make, of course.

And now it is folded up, leaning against the bar, waiting to be put away, indefinately.

H-mom feels kind of like it's putting away a crib. Kind of sad. Kind of risky. And certainly a sign that real puppy days are waning.


So it looks like the kennel is going to the storage space.

Why Goofy, as H-Mom Aserts?

Well, first, this was supposed to be a WALK. Find large dry palm frond, and look what happens. No more walk ... H-Mom can wait, thank you very much. Madison has better things to do.

This stunt is called "grass roll" and it is best done with a prop, like a big crunchy palm frond.

Practical applications: WAIT

Madison gets up with H-mom at 5:30, to get the teen-human up and ready for school and out the door. She leaves a few minutes before the slow and tired and sleepy teen-human, and walks with H-mom up to the corner to make sure that the school bus waits. WAITS. Madison understands that command. "WAIT." She is a great help at sitting patiently and keeping the bus in line. The bus and the teen-human connect at about 6:10.

Then back up to the 19th floor, to watch the sun rise from the balcony door.



The dog park doesn't even open until 7am.

Can you imagine the torture of that WAIT?

The mayhem and pure joy of the following 2 hours has already been well-documented. Madison runs, swims, tousles, chases ... it's all a dog can do to fill the time with enough silly behavior. Madison's new nickname is "Goofy." H-mom will address this later.

It's home by 9am.

And then it's naptime. All day long. Snoozing, stretching, relaxing.

H-mom will just have to WAIT until Madison feels like moving.

Sticky green hitchhikers

These little things are nasty. They are flat and green and sticky and they were just looking for a lovely bearded face to get all tangled up in.

They are called "Beggar's Lice," which is a sickening name and very appropriate. H-Mom apologizes. This photo is the aftermath. It looks like cat vomit. Our apologies also to all the cats. We don't even think that cats could make this disgusting of a hairnest.




Enter Madison.

She could hardly make it home she was so distressed, biting and rubbing and trying to get the little hitchhikers out of her paws and her legs. And her beard and her moustache. So not right.

It took H-Mom an hour with the fine tooth comb, and the world was right again.

Where to walk? Down the middle of the highway?

We hate these things.

Duck leg dinner

Outdoor World sells these great foam ducks, for training retrieval skills. At the dog lake, the dogs love to swim and bring this wonderful thing back. Lexik launches from the shore and goes after Duck with determination. Nick "land sharks," ankle deep in the water, right under the roots along the shore, trying to get a headstart on the duck fetching. Some of the dogs are happy to jump in and swim along, watching the game. Madison lurks onshore. Her ploy? Grab Duck and eat it. Shake it, kill it, destroy it.

Duck has held up pretty well, with chunks of varying sizes missing from one day to the next.

Today however, the death bell tolled for Duck.

Madison came home with a drumstick. She is such a naughty dog.

H-Mom is looking for retrieval ducks on eBay.

PS. H-Mom is working on a blog about summer grooming. If you have a photo of the perfect summer dog cut that you would like to have published (and she'll put a link to your blog, too, if you want!) just email it to annerosewrites@gmail.com ... she can just use one and she's put herself on a deadline, lol ... Madison is amused.

Wordless Wednesday

When one door closes, another opens

H-mom is now a FORMER employee of the art gallery. Things went were things were going (down the tubes) and she was "laid off." Three years was a pretty good gig, but it's time to get motivated on something different.

With timing that is impeccable, today H-Mom's new page is UP! She is now the "Miami Dog Care Examiner" for Examiner.com.

Isn't this cool? She will be blogging for Examiner.com about 4 times a week. That's a lot of little articles, so link to the page, read the blog, share it around ... she needs HITS!

H-mom is NOT paying attention

H-Mom kind of has her head in the clouds these last few weeks. She is trying to think of ways to make some extra cash, to keep Madison in fancy collars, gourmet treats and smart haircuts.

So. She is going to start selling lia sophia jewelry. There is nothing in the catalog for dogs, though. Madison is disappointed. Not even a bejeweled collar.

And H-Mom is going to start writing a column for examiner.com. She is now the "Miami Dog Care Examiner." She promises to put up a link and let everyone know what it's all about ... she's been writing and organizing and all kinds of stuff.

And this is what happens. H-Mom has Madison out for a long walk, the "Rio Vista Super Walk," she calls it. And H-Mom is not paying attention. And Madison is just kind of happily ambling alongside, sniffing and snorking and taking a shoulder roll into the grass when she can get away with it quickly.

When: ATTACK.

A pair of blue jays flies out of the hedge and goes straight for Madison's hamhocks. Pecking and screeching. H-Mom was startled right back into this world. And Madison snapped her huge chompers into the air and thought that perhaps BLUE JAY would be a good afternoon snack.

Of course, there are no photos. And there is no one to attest that this happened, and that the very large black Schnauzer was accosted by two determined, fearless and noisy little blue jays.

These birds are evil. They are mean and spiteful and totally misdirected. They need therapy.

H-Mom and Madison hurried along. Fortunately, not a feather was disturbed, and Madison had pretty much forgotten and forgiven by the next opportunity for a shoulder roll.

So H-Mom is swiping a photo from the net (thank you google images) and she is apologizing to Madison for not paying attention.