A Taste of Spring

Or, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. Polly, Huntington, March 13 2011

Martinis & Mutts

Since we deconstructed i.e. ripped out the bar in the den I've been searching for the perfect cocktail cart for our house. We also repurposed Polly's dog bed space in the kitchen and I need to find her another napping place before winter comes. This is an ingenious solution but I'm think this might prove problematic with our hyperactive, allergy-prone itchy dog. I forsee martinis up the wall and olives behind the sofa.
BowHaus Modern Pet Crate by Den Haus via Allmodern. Also available in ZenHaus and TownHaus styles.

Shelter for Haiti

It's 4:30 AM, pouring with rain and the dog (Polly) refuses to leave the shelter of the big conifer to come inside. I'm about to lose my patience when Laura reminds me that millions in Haiti are still homeless. I feel ashamed.
Go visit Laura who is actually doing something to help in the way of another fabulous bag-of-goodies auction while I try and entice the dog indoors with a snack...

I'm so sorry...

Yesterday in an effort to make the puppies a little more comfortable in the heat and humidity, and to shave 4lbs off Sadie (so the vet wouldn't shout at me), I had the dogs groomed right down to a puppy cut. They looked so cute and neat afterwards, as well as thinner and younger. People stopped to ask if we had a new puppy as Polly's grey had been left behind on the groomer's floor. I was delighted (and sure the vet would be impressed, too) until sometime in the late evening when I realised something was missing; my shadow had disappeared. Sadie almost never leaves my side but right now she seems to be suffering from extreme embarrassment over her new haircut and (rightly) blames me for it. She's taken to hiding in another room, any room other than the one I'm in.
I can't believe I'm being guilted by a dog...

Busted!

Those are not your toys, Hermes.

I might as well be in the frozen north...

While the rest of the country is enjoying the first week of Spring, the north-east is stuck in some sort of permanently frosty winter: icy blasts, temps in the 20s and 30s, occasional snow showers - I could be in northern Canada.


Speaking of which, I layered up yesterday and walked to the beach where a line of Canada geese were surveying the waves on the Sound.


If I had been on my own they'd have stood on the sand patiently but I had the dogs. So up they flew.


And landed maybe 6' nearer to Canada in the safety of the surf.


Nice job Sadie!

A Happy Ending

A neighbor just called to say the damn dog was running around the Village. Of course when I looked for her I found her in her usual place - guarding the bridge. Either she got out and got back in again or there's a Polly lookalike out there. While I was thanking the neighbor I realised there was a gorgeous sunset and I bolted to take some shots. Who knows how long it will be before we see another? Anyway, added bonus when I downloaded them. Do you see what I see? Buds! Buds on the dogwood tree! Spring is coming. Yay!

Snow fun

This is the face of a dog that's spent too much time at home recently, a dog begging to be taken out somewhere interesting.


Somewhere she can run free, follow trails and be distracted by doggie scents


And maybe make a new friend.

Damn It. Cough... Sniffle...

One of the neighbours just returned the damn dog that had escaped through the damn fence. I had to answer the door, I did hesitate but The Guy had staggered in to work this morning and the good dog was barking. A lot. I wasn't dressed. I haven't got out of my pyjamas since last Wednesday apart from two runs to the pharmacy for drugs and the grocery store for homemade soup. Over the pjs I'm wearing a 10 year old, holey, worn out dressing gown because I spilt soup down the "good" dressing gown. I look as good as I feel.
The neighbor is a really nice, very put-together blonde who used to have a cool job with a popular music channel who wouldn't answer the door to the local police when her 2 year old had been playing with the telephone and mistakenly dialed 911 because she was pregnant with her second child and dressed in her scruffs. She looks like a supermodel.
I feel as good as I look.

Cool House Animals: 10 Things You May Not Know about Polly

Polly is our challenge dog; she's adorable, loves other animals and children and is only really happy when she's "working". On the other hand she lives by a timetable, is incessant in her demands and is only really happy when she's "working".


1) Polly's pedigree is uncertain but going by size, looks and character we're guessing she's a Golden Retriever/Border Collie Mix. She's been mistaken for a Flat-coat Retriever and a Newfoundland puppy. But she's fully-grown and only 48lb so I think we can rule those out.
2) She looks much younger than her 8 years - and she acts it, too
3) She's a rescue. We've had her since she was 10 months old and I think she was tied up outside the Animal Shelter because she was such a high-energy dog.
4) She needs to round things up - cats, humans, soft toys. If they would only stay in one place she could go off-duty and get some shut-eye. Last week I'd had enough of the attention-seeking so I put her in a down stay. Without lifting her body off the floor she picked up all her soft toys and placed them, perfectly spaced, in a semi-circle around her. Then she went to sleep!
5) She's completely useless at retrieving anything: ball, newspaper, frisbee but she'll carry around for hours socks she's thieved from the laundry basket
6) She can tell time, and count. It's three biscuits after dinner, people. Less than three and there's no peace, give her four and she'll save the extra until The Big Dog finds and consumes it.
7) She is a cat slave. This is part of her "work". When one family member has left the pack she must reunite it as quickly as possible. Cat at the door? Polly will bark and cry until someone lets it in.
8) The "Leash of Shame" is her friend, and ours. When she's wearing it she knows
a) she's off-duty. See "working" and #4 and #7 above.
b) she has to obey instantly
c) she can tug on the leash and self-correct. That's smart!
9) She eats poop when she's bored and grass whenever she can
10) She likes to be outdoors. All the time. Luckily she has a fenced yard, a pond, lots of trees and a patch of leaves that she pummels and scratches into a nest where she sleeps.


One last Polly curiosity - she sleeps better and is less demanding if the house is full of people. Otherwise she has to find ways to entertain herself.

Outdoor Dog

Polly spent another night outside. Even though it was just about freezing she absolutely refused to come in. So The Guy has issued a fiat: if the dog wants to be outside, she will have her own house. I'm now searching for a modern dog kennel. So far I like this one and this one, as they have sloping roofs and similar lines to the house. Anyone else got any better ideas?

Leash of Shame

We sprung the animals yesterday and Polly was so delighted to be home she spent most of the night outside rounding up the kitties and asking us to let them back in. As a result we got next to no sleep. Tonight she will be wearing the "leash of shame"!

Sunday in the Park

After a couple of days of grey November weather the sun came out this morning so we took the dogs to Coindre Hall in Huntington for some exercise.
Beautiful isn't it? We're really lucky to have free and unlimited access to the grounds of the Gold Coast mansions that were previously owned by robber barons, but Coindre Hall is one of the best because it's also an off-leash informal dog park. That's the Coindre Hall boat house in the foreground, Huntington lighthouse in the middle of the bay and Connecticut in the background. Amazingly even this late in the year there are still a few boats out on the Sound.


Here's a short video that covers the dogs' behaviour at the park. They run around with their doggy chums for 5 minutes, graze for ten more and when Polly lies down the visit is over.

Playing Nice

Today's cute photo - Sadie and Cassis sharing a quiet moment.

Sadie the Stoic

We're having a quiet Labor Day weekend. Poor Sadie had another cyst removed on Friday, this time from her ear. Not that you can tell from this photo but she is back to her normal bounding self. She should also be wearing a cone (not a cone of silence, nor the cone of uncertainty but a regular old dog cone) but she looked so pathetic we just took it off. Polly would have scratched at the stitches until her ear fell off, but not Sadie the stoic. She knows that it would be foolish to touch the stitches, that it would hurt, so she will just suck it up as she always does. Brave puppy.

Unter den linden

While the eyes of the world are on Barack Obama in Berlin, home of the famous boulevard of linden or lime trees, I am surveying the scene of daily devastation that is our patio. Our own personal linden sheds its leaves (and the occasional branch) from end June to November.


See these little pods? They make their way through the house on the animals' fur and paws, leaving the interior of The Cool House looking almost as bad as the exterior. If we want to eat outside we have to sweep the patio exactly 10 minutes before, otherwise we are ankle deep in detritus. They are likewise not friendly to bare feet.


This the upside of the tree - its bark. Beautiful, and one of the reasons I don't take a large axe to it. Another being there are lights in it and I'd probably electrocute myself. The third is that the dryads would be very unhappy and who knows what revenge they could exact.


I don't know what possessed the original landscaper to plant the tree here, it would have been no trouble at all on the lawn. Could have shed to its heart's content and I wouldn't even have noticed. But here it is over the patio and I have to deal with it. Desperate for a solution, this year, in addition to sweeping, I've had the dogs shaved, so the linden-tree fallout should stay outside. At least that's what I'm hoping.


It was either that or train them to sweep with their tails!

Fourth of July Weekend

Eight humans, seven canines of assorted breeds step out


No flags but plenty of poop bags


They pose for photos


Not so much a parade, more of a rabble

Dog dishing

Hey Sadie, how come we aren't allowed to run on the beach today?


Well, Polly there's a ton of slimey, green seaweed on the beach and you know it makes modernemama mad when we track it into the house. And when you smear it on the sofas.


So I guess we have to walk on leash. Just one question: How come the cats never have to wear a leash?

Rear yard, rear end

Another stella shot of a dog's behind as it flees the evilness embodied in the camera

Sadie's disguise

Sadie had surgery to remove a large cyst caused by an ingrowing hair follicle. She was a trooper and came through it all excellently


We made her wear this attractive T-shirt for a while, which didn't impress her at all


But did cause a visitor to The Cool House to ask who the kid with the long black hair was.....