Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

My old school

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My high school years were not the best years of my life. Oh, sure, I have a few good and even excellent memories from those three years (back in those days in my sector, intermediate school was grades 7-9 and high school was grades 10-12). Along with those few moments in time is a surprising amount of bitterness about stupid crap that I thought was long buried, until I start talking about it. So I’ll try not to go there, because that wasn’t the point of this post when I started typing.

I went to McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since I am easily amused, I get a big kick out of the fact that two favorite TV shows of mine, much like my young life, take place at a McKinley High School. And to add to the amusement, the fictional schools are both somewhere in the vast midwestern wasteland, where I am trapped for now.

The obvious and current one, of course, is Glee. The one that I relate to more because it was set closer in time to my own high school years, is Freaks and Geeks. Lindsay Weir in Freaks and Geeks is pretty much who I was in high school.

Back to my McKinley High School. If you do a Google search, we come up first. We are the Tigers. I spent an embarrassingly long time today researching the sports team nicknames of the fictional McKinley High Schools (thanks, @jenroack, for the help with Glee’s McKinley). Is that sad or what? What’s that? Vikings for Freaks and Geeks, and Titans for Glee. You’re welcome.

The school newspaper was still a daily when I was there. Yup, that’s right, we were one of five high school dailies in the nation. I’m not sure when the paper ceased daily publication. I wonder if there are any high school dailies left? With the creeping demise of print publications in general, I’m guessing the answer is “no.” Even though my aspirations for a career in journalism and any illusions that I can in fact write crumbled to dust long ago, I am still proud of being part of the Daily Pinion.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’10: 3 of 30)

Sports break but still with Rottweilers

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Tonight, instead of concentrating on blog writing, magazine editing, or website updating like I was supposed to be doing, I got distracted by the hockey game. While I am obviously disappointed by the Blackhawks’ loss in overtime, it does mean that the series comes back to Chicago and hopefully a Stanley Cup win can happen here at home at the United Center.

Speaking of the Blackhawks, and since we always speak of Rottweilers here, check out this article and video from CSNChicago.com:

Passion for Winning Runs in Bowman Family

Go Blackhawks! Go Rottweilers!

(NaBloPoMo | June ’10: 2 of 30)

Hitting a rough stretch of road

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The last couple of months of our adventures in rally obedience have been like riding a motorcycle on a loose gravel road: rough, bumpy, and not very enjoyable. Although we did manage to get a few qualifying scores, Freya’s overall performance has been well below what she’s capable of. Obvious physical problems have been ruled out by her vet, and she usually enjoys her training classes.

Despite some good suggestions from trainers and friends, it still seems like we’re not making much progress. She doesn’t have specific exercises that she’s having trouble with; sometimes it’s an exercise she usually does well that has NQ’d us.

I’m debating whether to take a break and just let Freya be a plain old dog for a few weeks, or suck it up and work through it. I could really use one of those translator collars like in “Up” — it would make it a lot easier for Freya to tell me what’s really going on with her.

(NaBloPoMo | June ’10: 1 of 30)

Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop, Week 4

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Yes, I do know it’s not Saturday! I’m a little behind the curve lately, which I will blame on work, magazine deadline, and some recent dog training woes. Check back here for more details on most of those things.

Back to the point… this is the fourth week of the Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop, co-hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Nip and Bones!

This week, I’d like you to meet our oldest cat, Annie. Here she is, looking somewhat annoyed at Oliver’s arrival in May 2006.

Dan rescued her as a very young kitten from an abandoned semi trailer near his workplace in June 1993, so she turned 17 years old earlier this month. She is camera shy… in fact, very shy in general. People who have done cat sitting or even house sitting for us have gone the entire one- or two-week duration without ever seeing more than the tip of her tail retreating under the bed. Oh, and the obvious evidence in the litterbox.

We feel fortunate to have had her with us this long, and hope she sticks around for many more years to come.
[Read more…]

The heat is on

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It’s pushing 90° F today in Chicago. I have gone through too many rainy sixtysomething degree Memorial Day weekends to jump the gun on storing all of the heavier clothing, but I will let myself hope that summer may have actually arrived on schedule this year.

I have to admit that this year we were somewhat underprepared for yesterday, the first truly hot day of the summer. The outdoor condenser unit had been uncovered and cleaned, but for some reason we didn’t flip on the power switch the day following cleaning. We discovered this sad fact right around the time we were hot enough to want air conditioning. All is well now, but humans, canines, and felines alike wilted our way through a few uncomfortable hours (the parakeet did not seem to mind the heat). This was minor discomfort, though, and far from a dangerous situation. We were well-hydrated, with shade available outdoors, and ceiling fans and standalone fans going indoors.

But extreme heat can definitely be very dangerous, particularly to the very young, the elderly, and pets. I have not heard any local stories of heat-related deaths so far this year, but one that is still on my mind is one that I’ve talked about here before: the heat-related deaths of seven show dogs left in an unventilated cargo van overnight by their handler, Mary Wild, last June. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for today, May 24, and a jury trial for June 3. With summer weather upon us again, my hope would be that jury members experiencing the summer heat will be clearly able to imagine the agony these dogs went through in their final hours, something that may not have been so easy to relate to if the trial had indeed happened in the dead of winter.

I doubt anyone who visits me here on a regular basis would even think about leaving a dog, or any other living creature, in an unventilated vehicle overnight. But remember that when outdoor temperatures are high enough, it only takes a few minutes for the interior of a vehicle to reach dangerously high temperatures.

Here are the signs of canine heat stroke, from AKC’s Summer Safety Tips:

Early stages: Heavy panting, rapid breathing, excessive drooling, bright red gums and tongue, standing 4-square, posting or spreading out in an attempt to maintain balance.
Advanced stages: White or blue gums, lethargy, unwillingness to move, uncontrollable urination or defecation, labored, noisy breathing, shock.

Get the dog to a vet immediately, and in the meantime, cool it down:
– Apply rubbing alcohol to the dog’s paw pads.
– Apply ice packs to the groin area.
– Hose down with, or immerse his/her entire body in cool water
– Allow the dog to lick ice chips or drink a small amount of water.
– Offer Pedialyte to restore electrolytes.

Monitor rectal temperature; once temperature drops to 100-102° F, stop the cooling efforts.

Also see PetMD’s article about heat stroke in dogs for more information and emergency care advice.

Obviously the best strategy is prevention. Think twice about strenuous exercise in extreme weather. Think about leaving your dog at home if he would have to remain in the car for any length of time on a hot and humid day.