I AM NOT A TOY

I can see it coming. It's a hat.
It's on my head. This strange thing came all the way from Iceland. Do you know what its actual function is? It's a dense piece of felt that keeps eggs warm. Here it is being used as a decoration on my head.

Tilting, tilting, almost off. Phew, below I am finally hat-free.

Awaiting my treat for my patience and good sense of humor.

Snow Pros and Cons

I absolutely love the snow. I love rubbing my face in it, prancing in it like leaping gazelles, eating it and running wild in it. However, the dark side is the aftermath of the snowfall, also known as the salt war against snow and ice. As I have been getting older, the salt has begun to dry out and cause my paws pain very easily such that I cannot walk in it. I have to find patches of snow free ice to rest my paws in. This makes the walk more of a ride in my human friends' arms as I cannot walk myself anymore. I understand that the salt that people use to help them reduce the amount of snow and the slippery ice (and liability) is not good for the overall environment either. Maybe some day snow and ice removal and reduction will be less toxic for all of us. In the meantime, I will have to wear these booties and the humans walking me will have to endure all the giggling and commentary of "Oh my gosh he has booties on"! "It's so cute"! These boots suck as I have a hard time getting my grounding, literally. Plus, they don't have any tread (though more than the earlier ones) so lifting my leg to mark a fire hydrant on ice, causes for some balancing issues on 3 legs with one leg high in the air. You can imagine. Try it yourself some time and you'll understand. Here's a start for some environmentally friendly alternatives to salt: http://www.wkbw.com/archives.aspx?PageID=LN&StoryID=17690 and this: http://enn.com/today.html?id=6952

The 2007 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

This is Monday, February 12th, day one of the show. Terriers, my group, were being shown and judged this day. Here you see some of my cousins who are clearly used to this kind of torture. For them, this must be a part of every day life being top show dogs. Do they even notice it? They are so docile! Do they feel nice after the bath and grooming? Below are some of my closer relatives.

Only being dried, this poor fella has a long way to go before he can step off the grooming table.Here is a miniature poodle. The poodle breed mayhap has the freakist show dog cut of all. Hence, getting near one was difficult as the media loves capturing images of the extreme expressions of the sub-culture of dog lovers.
In flash and black, a little different looking, but just as weird looking on this standard poodle stoically awaiting his moment of beauty.
His suffering seems to be almost over. Thank goodness I don't look like that. Who came up with this haircut?
The original schnauzer breed, the Standard Schnauzer, from which I was bred down to size. Standard Schnauzers are medium sized dogs and also used to work for a living.
Here is the Giant Schnauzer, the largest of all schnauzers, bred up in size from the Standard Schnauzer. As far as I know, the Giants only have black coats. I'm not afraid of him.
Treasured moments of rest in this overcrowded and hot environment. Poor mastiff. Just returning from the ring. He didn't win so he has the rest of the day off from looking super white and super fluffy-poofy.I hope all the show dogs get deep tissue belly massages after the show. They earn it. This Bernese Mountain dog got it good. You could hear him purr "aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh".

In the end, they can just be appreciated by the onlookers. These few minutes of fame, does it all go to their head?

2007's Best in Show award went to James the English Springer Spaniel. Kind of bummer as Samantha, an English Springer Spaniel also won Best in Show in 2000. I was rooting for the Dandie Dinmont Terrier that won best in group in the terrier group. This Dandie is also owned by Bill Cosby! I didn't know any other celebrity got into this show dog thing other than Glenn Close.

FYI: The Westminster Kennel club has been around since 1877. They started recording the dog shows in 1907. Lots of terriers won in the early years. I read this in this year's show program but you can read more directly from their website at http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/

I don't think I'll be going to this show again for some time. I go every few years for an hour or so, or as long as I can stand the heat and the overcrowding. The venue does need to be changed or the arrangement modified as the dogs are panting as well as the people. There are just too many dog lovers! It's great they are there but it is not a pleasant experience. The dog show handlers, groomers and everyone else involved in the actual showing looks unhappy, put upon and otherwise annoyed. I would be too if I had to shuffle to get from point A to point B with a dog - big or small.

And then of course there are the ethics of the whole dog show "sport" and the inbreeding that has caused so many health problems for canines. Though there are many responsible breeders, the whole premise purebred/inbred dogs must be critically questioned. Good can be done but ultimately it seems (based on documentaries and Googling) that humane animal laws need to be created to protect animals from the suffering caused by inbreeding. People should not be free to inbreed as they seem to be. It is strange as dog breeders and dog lovers do genuinely love their dogs, but there is a clear conflict with the love of breeding as well.