Museums. And Charlie.

So it's September 30 and besides being my human's sister's birthday it is also National Museum Day.  In other words, it's a day for old things.   I had better watch what I say, because my human is even OLDER than her sister... 

My human has a bucket list item that includes a museum visit.  She has ALWAYS wanted to visit the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog.  The museum has been housed for 30 years in St. Louis - which unfortunately is not a day trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia.  BUT - good news.  Well, bad new for St. Louis, but good news for us on the east coast.  In 2018, the museum is returning to its original home in New York City.  The museum apparently is home to more than 3,000 books about dogs.  Almost as many as my human has.   And it has all sorts of paintings and dog "pup"aphernalia.   How COOL would it be to see all that dog "stuff?!" 

My human could probably start the Canadian Museum of the Dog.  OK - she doesn't have THAT much stuff - although someone once called our house the Lindonian (like the Smithsonian).  My human has (besides lots of old dog books) some cool old prints and paintings.  None are particularly valuable - but she enjoys them just the same.  Here are a few.

But probably the coolest old dog painting she has is the one of a spaniel named Charlie.  She bought the painting many years ago - because she wanted to do some research on it.  My human LOVES to research old stuff.  And it wasn't actually all that hard to find out something about him.  You see, Charlie was painted on the back of a cigar box in 1886.  And on the other side of Charlie, there was some information about who owned him - and who painted him.  The information was written in what appeared to be India ink. 

It says (if you can't read it) that Charlie "is a spaniel belonging to William Boyd (XXXX something hard to read) 1896.  Painted by W.G. Burn-Murdoch at Maxpoffle."   In what appears to be later writing it says "painted on back of cigar box 1886."  None of this meant ANYTHING to my human.  She didn't know Boyd, Burn-Murdoch or where the heck Maxpoffle was.  It sounded like some Disney ride. 

So my human consulted with her good friend Google - and here is what she found out.   William Boyd was the son of John Boyd of Maxpoffle, who was Lord Provost of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland.   William was  member of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet,  Edinburgh, which was a branch of the legal profession.  So we know who William was.  And THEN we find out that William married a woman by the name of Laura Crerar - who was...are ya ready - from Nova Scotia!  She traveled to England in 1882 and married William in 1890.  OK.  So now we have a Nova Scotia connection.  But who is W.G. Burn-Murdoch?  Well Google told us a BUNCH of stuff about HIM. William Gordon Burn-Murdoch (1862-1939) was a Scottish painter, musician, travel writer and explorer who is said to be the first person to play the bagpipes in Antarctica! He even wrote a book - Edinburgh to Antarctic. Among his other adventures was a trip in 1905 with the Prince and Princess of Wales to India.  He liked to get around, write about his travels, and draw and paint what he saw.

So we aren't sure how Boyd and Burn-Murdoch got together, but the timeline and places go together.  We picture a visit by Burn-Murdoch to the Boyd family home - and a request to paint the family dog.  Burn-Murdoch didn't have any canvas handy, so he grabbed a cigar box and painted a quick portrait of Charlie.  Who SOMEHOW came BACK to Nova Scotia.  And ended up in a little shop where my human found him... And he became part of our museum.

So today we celebrate Museums, Charlie AND my human's sister.  Old stuff.  Good stuff.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Drama at 2 AM

Drama at 2AM.  That's pretty typical in our household.  My human was thinking the other day that if given three wishes, one of hers would be for a SOLID night's sleep.

It was Wednesday night.  Around 2 AM.  And it was muggy outside although the bedroom window was open.  I was lying on the bed, but feeling a bit restless with the humid weather.  So I started rolling.  On my back.  And bashing into my human's legs.  I was also making groaning noises - might was well add sound effects to the action.  My human sat up and looked at me and said "settle down buddy."  I just ignored her - as usual,  and kept on rolling. Then I decided to move to the  floor.  But I decided to jump off the end of the bed - over the footboard.  Now it's not that I haven't done that 1000 times before - but I think I was a bit dizzy after my roll-a-thon.  So I jumped, but got my foot caught on the floorboard.  My human heard "CLUNK" and then me whimpering.  She shot out of bed to find me sitting on the floor at the end of the bed.  And when I went to get up, I wasn't using my back right leg.  "Oh NO buddy" she said.  Remember, in Nova Scotia, everybody is called buddy.   It's a weird regional thing.  But I digress.  I hobbled over to her and she examined my leg.  I didn't cry in pain - but I wouldn't put weight on my leg.  So she went to the kitcen for treats. Apparently treats fix broken limbs.  Just kidding - she wanted to see me walk.  I hobbled down the hall on three legs. But what to do at 2AM?!   SHE WENT BACK TO BED!  Seriously.  She led me down the hallway back to the bedroom, massaged my leg a bit and WENT BACK TO BED!   Here I am in agony and she GOES BACK TO BED.  OK. I wasn't REALLY in agony - and she figured that out pretty quickly.  She also figured if I was not mobile in the morning, I would be heading for the Vet.

Guess what?  It was a miracle.   I awoke the next morning and was COMPLETELY fine.  My human was quite relieved.

Want the truth?  I've been taking drama lessons from Einstein when my human goes to work.  He's the guy who squeaks and moans when being groomed.  So I decided to give his technique  try.  Well, I did get a couple late night treats....

Now what to do tonight?

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Poor Don

Poor Don.  We haven't met Don - but we feel sorry for him.  My human met  Don on-line.  No - it wasn't an on-line dating service.  That's a topic for a different blog.  No - she was surfing,for someone to do a metal sign for outside our house.  A welcome sign.  Partly because we don't SOUND very welcoming when the doorbell rings.  So she got this "idea" about what she wanted.  And somehow she found poor Don.   She texted Don with her idea and he agreed to design her sign.  Of course, you know the sign has to have a PON and a Picard.  She wanted silhouettes of the two breeds.  At first,  Don couldn't REALLY understand what my human wanted.   So she sent him a draft drawing of HER version of what she was thinking.  Which wasn't very good.  The sign would have probably been 15 feet around.  But from the poor draft, Don KIND of figured out what she wanted.  So he worked on his draft.  And the first draft from Don came back and the PON and the Picard were the same size.  Actually the PON was bigger.  I personally thought that was fine - but my human being the fussy one, asked that the PON be reduced in size.  Which Don did.  And he sent along the next draft.  And it looked great.  But she STILL thought the two dogs were too close in size.   So she sent Don photos of us guys and even the standard heights for our two breeds.   I'm SURE poor Don was shaking his head by this point.  Talk about crazy dog lady.  So he adjusted the draft AGAIN.   And he sent it again.   And NOW it appears perfect.

So now we wait for the finished product - which we will show all of you.

What is it with humans wanting to display our images everywhere?  Pictures, paintings, figurines, placemats, fridge magnets, socks, jewelry.... We dogs don't wear collars with little humans on them.  Humans are just SO odd.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

World Tourism. And Peggy's Cove.

Well today is World Tourism Day and since we live in Nova Scotia - where tourism is a HUGE industry, it only seems right to give a plug to Canada's Ocean playground.  I must confess - I am going to share some information from a story my human wrote for a PON newsletter a few years ago.  But I figure most of you haven't read it or if you did, you have probably forgotten the content.  I know I did.

There is so much to see and do in this great province.   While I could go on about the picturesque seaside villages and towns of the South Shore....

 or  the fertile farmlands of the Annapolis Valley - where we get LOTS of tasty apples which we share with our human and wine (which we don't get to share)...

or the rustic beauty of Cape Breton and the world famous Cabot Trial,

or the historic city of Halifax...

I decided instead to focus on one of the most-visited iconic places in Nova Scotia – the little fishing village of Peggy’s Cove – with it’s famous lighthouse. 

You can see me posing in front of the lighthouse.  It was a typical windy day.

Peggy’s Cove is about 26 miles from the city of Halifax, on St. Margaret’s Bay. While some might argue that it is a BIT touristy –  and there are equally lovely fishing villages dotted along the South Shore – in Blue Rocks and Prospect to name a few – Peggy’s Cove has an alluring charm all it’s own. Local covenants restrict development, so while the odd craft shop or gallery may pop up in a home from time to time, it is likely that if you ever visited Peggy’s Cove in the past, you will find it very similar on your return.   During the summer and fall, the parking lots contain more than one tour bus – with the passengers anxious to explore the unique, rocky terrain. We actually don’t live far from this famous landmark – and while it’s obviously nice to visit on a bright, sunny day – my human likes  to go out there on a foggy day and even in the winter – when there are no tour buses in sight. As long as you are dressed for the weather – which includes the wind – you can enjoy the solitude and take in the hypnotic crashing of the waves. Just don’t get too close to those waves! Warning signs about dangerous swells should not be taken lightly!  Here are just a couple of the 15,693 photos my human has taken of Peggy's Cove...

In addition to fabulous scenery, seafood and historic landmarks in Nova Scotia, keep in mind that starting in February each year, there are dog shows almost every second week somewhere throughout the province. Nova Scotia is home to at least seven Kennel Clubs and each one offers one to two show weekends each year. The Halifax Kennel Club has the first show of the year – in February and Halifax also has three days of shows over the Labor Day weekend. The shows generally offer conformation, obedience and rally and there are also numerous agility trials offered around the province in the summer months. Those shows and trials combined with hunt tests, lure coursing and as we know, even some sheep herding instinct testing and trials makes Nova Scotia a great doggie destination!  

And even if you don't want to participate in dog events, there are plenty of dog-friendly parks and trails and during the summer, many outdoor cafes allow us canines to relax and socialize. The Halifax boardwalk along the harbor is supposed to be one of the longest downtown boardwalks in the world - and my human likes to take us there for socialization.

If you are ever in Nova Scotia – don't forget to put Peggy’s Cove on your To Do list – and give us a call – we will provide a guided tour!

Now.  When does my check from the Department of Tourism arrive...

Have a good one.   Peace and paws up!

THE WORST sound ...

So what is THE most terrfiying sound to a human who is owned by a dog?  The sound of the urky gurckies in the middle of the night - WHEN your dog is sleeping next to you on the bed.  You know what the urky gurky sound is - that telltale sound JUST before we throw up.  I bet if you put a human under anesthesia, and you played a recording of the urcky gurky sounds - it would wake them up.  Let's just say my human did NOT have a restful sleep on Sunday night...

The problems all began on Sunday morning. It was after our morning walks and JUST as we were about to have breakfast,  I had a seizure.  Ugh.  We again ALMOST made it to a month without one.  Again - just a few days short.  We were SO disappointed.

So when she went to bed on Sunday night, she was wondering if I would have another one.  But this time, she was awakened by Einstein.  Who was squeaking to go out.  That's VERY odd for him, so my human pulled on her fuzzy robe and slippers and out they went.  And he had a GOOD reason for squeaking.   I hate to be graphic - but what the heck - he had the soupy poops.  So at 1:30 he was getting a butt washing in the tub.  Poor guy.  At 3:00AM, I was sleepng next to her, sat up and began the urky gurky sound.  She bolted upright,  and lifted me onto the floor.  And yup - I threw up.  Nice.  Half on the wooden floor - half on the area carpet.  She went back to bed after taking me out.  At 4:00, Einstein again wanted to go out. So a repeat performance there.  Complete with butt washing.  As soon as my human got up at  5:00, I had the urky gurkies again.  At this point my human looked at both of us and said "WHAT did you get into?"  Meanwhile, the FG was fast asleep in his pony-sized crate - with his legs in the air.

My human can't figure out what we could have eaten.  We DID BOTH escape the other day and dash up to the neighbor's place - but she came after us pretty quickly.  Who knows.   All I DO know is that neither of us got breakfast yesterday.  But the FG did....

My human kept a close watch via Big Brother, yesterday whenever she got the chance.  And we were fine.   I'm not big on the meal skipping thing - so I think we'll stay out of any unsavoury treats.  For a while anyway.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Lobster

Today is September 25 and according to the crazy calendar, it is National Lobster Day.  And living in one of the biggest lobster producing places on the planet, it seems that I really SHOULD talk about the prehistoric-looking underwater creatures.

Here are some basic lobster facts, in case anyone asks you today:

• Lobsters can live 45-50 years old in the wild.  But not that long in the tanks that you see in a restaurant.
• Lobsters eat live prey like fish and worms but they also eat plant life.
• When lobsters flee - they go backwards. And they have been clocked going up to 11 miles per hour.  I would like to have watched that race.
• In North America, lobsters did not obtain popularity in dining rooms until the mid-19th century.  Before that, lobster was considered to be food for the poor.  It was said to be fed to unhappy prisoners.  And it was used as fertilizer and fish bait.  My, how human tastes have changed!
• Reportedly, the largest lobster ever caught weighed 44 lbs.  That's more than me!
• Not anyone can just fish for lobster in Nova Scotia.  You need a special license - and they cost MEGA bucks - and are very limited.  Many are passed down in families.
• The season for lobster fishing is staggered around the province - so as no area is overfished. All year round, somewhere someone is fishing for lobster.

My human found this crazy video of a dog diving for lobster.  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/man-trains-dog-catch-lobster-35445362
One thing you should note:  this appears to be a Spiny Lobster - which does not have the big claws like our Nova Scotia lobsters do.  It would NOT be a good idea for dogs to be grabbing lobsters with claws.   If the lobster got a hold of the dog, it would not likely be a pleasant experience!!!

I checked it out - and we dogs CAN eat lobster.  But of course in moderation.  But not the shells.  And not dipped in butter.   In Nova Scotia, humans eat something called a Lobster roll.  Which is basically bun filled with chopped lobster, mayonnaise, maybe some lemon, salt and pepper.  For dogs, "lobster roll" has a different definition.  It involves finding a dead crustacean on the beach, and rolling in it.

So those are my lobster facts for today.  Now to convince my human that she should buy us some.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

60 Minutes

September 24.  On this day in 1968, a TV news program called "60 Minutes" had its debut.  And one of my all-time favorite stories on the show was this one about Chaser, the Border Collie.  Watch this when you have the time to do so - it's about 13 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhseg979EQk

That particular segment was filmed in 2014 - so I was a little nervous to see how Chaser and his human are doing now.  I am happy to report, they are both doing well - and have their own Facebook page AND website:
http://www.chaserthebordercollie.com/

They even wrote a book.  Given how smart Chaser is, I assume he wrote the thing himself - with edits by his human.

Chaser is a VERY smart dog.  And clearly his human has LOTS of time to train him.  That's our excuse.  We haven't been able to demonstrate our brilliance yet - but WAIT until my human retires.  Someday.  THEN she'll have time to train us.  Mind you, I'm not sure where we are going to put those 1000 toys.  And it's obvious Chaser doesn't DESTROY toys like the dogs in THIS household.

Time to get my human moving - it's Sunday and we know she doesn't want to miss a single minute with us guys today.  Good thing we got her up at 5.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!