By-Laws

On the weekend, I was walking my dog and ended up cutting our walk short because I had a full bladder,so I cut through the school yard walking past a sign that has a red line through a picture of a dog and a by-law number under it. As I was approaching the entrance to the school field, I saw a woman hanging out of her house with a camera with a large lens on it. It appeared to be pointing right at me as there wasn't really anything of interest behind me. I'm going to assume she was taking my picture because I was breaking the bylaw by entering the school field.

I accept that this is true. However, I just wanted to take a short cut home because of my poor bladder and my dog wasn't off leash and she didn't poop on the school field, but I guess none of that matters. I broke the law, correct?

But here's what  bothers me. The bylaws in our community are not enforced. I once called the bylaw officer (we seem to have only one) because of a very large race car engine that rattled our whole house, and you couldn't hear anything but this 100+ db engine coming from the house behind me - it was a definite bylaw infraction, and I had their name and address as well. I called the bylaw office in August and he returned my call in OCTOBER! He said  "oh sorry, I was on vacation for a week and I'm just getting caught up" It made no sense. Twice since I've been to city hall and filed a written complaint about a neighbour with NINE cats that she lets roam the street to mate loudly at all times of the day, sit on our cars, spray my garbage cans and poop in my gardens, including inches below my living room window. As well, there are two people on the street that have left unlicenced, uninsured vehicles on the street for over a year. The bylaw officer has done nothing.

So in my opinion, our bylaws mean nothing and are not enforced. But if for some reason I do get 'caught' for walking on the school field, none of the above will matter will it? The law doesn't care how many other people break the rules, only if you did and were caught.

So I'm curious, how are the bylaws in your community, and do you break any of them?

Dog Clothes

In life there are many 'fine lines' and one that I find interesting (but trivial) is the subject of dressing up a family pet. My last 4 dogs have been bigger, working dogs that didn't need clothes for protection or warmth in our climate save for a few days a year. When we suddenly had a snow fall, I'd put on a winter coat to keep their tummies dry. And since I walk Eco (my chocolate lab) daily, she wears a rain coat so she doesn't get that stinky dog smell and it reduces the amount of 'road spray' on her tummy - this is more for cleanliness since she's an inside dog. And this is really the only times I put anything on her. They are practical pieces. My mom lives in a snowy part of Alberta and I sent her dog some Muttluks - this is also practical as road salt can wreak havoc on dogs foot pads.


In this article, they answer the question - do dogs like wearing clothes?

So I'm curious - do you dress your dog up? What does it wear? What do you think of people who dress up their pets? What is too far/too much?

The Dog Days

Years ago, a boyfriend taught me that there are two things you can never criticize or talk negatively about - people's dogs and people's kids. And although I'm no expert on children, I do know a thing or two about living, loving and training dogs.

I currently have a 10 1/2 month old chocolate Labrador who is becoming a very wonderful little girl. She's eager to please and loves training and really hasn't been a problem at all except for the shedding (that's another whole post!).

One of her daily routines is to play fetch in our backyard. - and being a retriever, we're outside a couple times a day. During this time I can observe the neighbour's daily activities. They have a 9 month old shepherd lab cross who seems to be a terrible little trouble maker; she's chewed up patio chair cushions and plant pots and she's dug all over the yard. And she's been getting in trouble from her owner and his friends as they play with their RC cars on his backyard track.

And what I want to say to them, but can't, is that there dog is the way it is BECAUSE IT'S BORED! Plain and simple. This young dog doesn't get enough attention. Just because he sits on his balcony smoking doesn't mean the dog is getting an activity at all. As I'm throwing the "ball" (it's actually a fat squirrel toy) and my dog is happily returning it to me, this poor thing is getting yelled at for entering the track and chasing RC cars. Poor thing.

I was so tempted to go over to the fence and say, "here, let me take her for a while" and play with her.

What needs to happen before people take the time to understand and care for their animals? Will they ever realize that a little bit of extra attention in the beginning will give them a wonderful companion? Why do some people get dogs in the first place?

Doggie DVDs

My brother sent me an article from the May 2008 issue of Reader's Digest, called "Best In Show" by Steve Burgess. The author talks about dog friendly remote controls (a thing of the future) and dog DVDs (a thing of the present). The article says "the DVDs offer plenty of motion to catch your dog's eye, and music designed to soothe".

So do we all have to take our wall mounted TVs and stand them on the floor like we did when he lived with futons and cinder block bookshelves? I don't think my dog even bothers to look way up there to see the TV and she certainly isn't going to be encouraged to watch TV from the furniture.

Are the owners truly thinking of their dog as a means to provide additional stimulation, or is it a substitute? If you take your dog for a good walk before work and one when you get home (assuming he's locked up for 8-10 hours per day) then he'll most likely sleep as dogs have done for centuries (well the ones that were housebound and not working)

Or, is this just another way for some people to make money and for owners to spend money?

Jazz (my Australian Cattle Dog) only pays attention to the TV when dogs are in distress (like the Vet TV shows) - but my mom says her schnauzer, Finnegan, watches TV and I've heard other dogs that are interested and even react to certain TV shows. According to the article, dog expert Stanley Coren says "nose-oriented breeds are less likely to respond to the TV". It would have been good for Jazz if she had paid attention to sounds electronically transmitted because I had hoped the Desensitization CD would have helped cure her noise phobia - but she paid no attention to it - no matter how many decibels I played the fireworks and gun sounds - she had no reaction. But shoot a kid's cap gun in the house and you've got a real reaction.

Is this the next doggie evolution? Or just people novelty?