We saw him this evening, just before darkness fell hard. And we heard him and another robin calling to each other. Spring might actually be here!
(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 11 of 31)
Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.
by kathi
We saw him this evening, just before darkness fell hard. And we heard him and another robin calling to each other. Spring might actually be here!
(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 11 of 31)
by kathi
No, we won’t be there in person this year (February 15-16 if you’re watching on USA and CNBC as we are). But if I had a bucket list, a trip to Westminster Kennel Club’s dog show would surely be on it, with or without a canine family member participating.
Can I say it will be just a little bit more exciting for me to watch from here on out, knowing that technically, I could have my dog in the game? Axel is now an AKC Champion of record and would be eligible to enter in the future (only Champions of record are eligible to enter Westminster, which I think is the only AKC show with that requirement at this time). The chances of us ever participating are still almost nil. Entries are limited to 2,500 and fill up incredibly fast. This is also a show we would have pretty much no chance of winning. This will be the 134th year for this show, and in that time, a Rottweiler has never won Best in Show at Westminster, and has won the Working Group only once, in 2006.
So Westminster dreams are really just that: dreams. But still. Wouldn’t it be nice?
Ever since the dogs started working on titles, I’ve had to explain more than a few times what dog shows and trials are about. I’m wondering if those of you who visit here would be interested in some “dog stuff basics” posts? I know at least some of you are psycho dog people yourselves and could probably recite the AKC “Rules Applying to Dog Shows” in your sleep. But as many times as I’ve had to explain points and majors and how Axel’s shows are different from Freya’s trials (that got really confusing last month, when they were both competing in Rally Obedience, but in different organizations), maybe some of you would like to know more?
(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 4 of 28)
by kathi
I’ve written before about a number of incidents in Chicago where dogs fell or jumped into Lake Michigan and had to be rescued, sometimes along with their owners, by firefighters or police officers.
The incidents I’ve written about in the last year all had happy endings, and I really am glad for that, but I also had and still have mixed feelings about what could have happened. The reality is that the owner’s carelessness or irresponsibility that led to the dog being in the lake in the first place could have resulted in injury to or death of the dog, the owner, or a rescuer.
I just finished catching up with the video and stories about the dog saved from the flooded Los Angeles River by the Los Angeles Fire Department. This rescue did result in a dog bite injury to a firefighter, and I’m guessing the rescue in general was quite costly as a helicopter was involved, as well as about 50 firefighters and ambulance transport for the dog. The injured firefighter, who was the one lowered from the helicopter to retrieve the dog, downplayed the extent of his injury and his heroics. (By the way, this is why we love firefighters, real ones, that is. The real ones never refer to themselves as heroes, just that they are doing their job and they are glad they could help someone.)
The Los Angeles Times posed the question to its readers on one of its blogs: Should L.A. firefighters have risked their lives to save a dog? One recurring theme was the same thing that continues to worry me about these situations: what if the rescue of an animal results in injury or death to a rescuer? Some picked the cost as the main issue; it certainly was not insignificant in this case. I’m pretty sure the rescuers themselves have just as wide a range of opinions as the commenters to the article.
One comment hit me, though: the commenter said that the Los Angeles Fire Department is working without a contract. I do not know if that is true. I do know that the Chicago Fire Department, and for that matter, the Chicago Police Department, is working without a contract. As a CFD spouse, I know I am extremely biased. But after watching the video of the dog rescue, and the countless other videos out there of humans being rescued by the brave men and women of our fire departments and police departments, how can anyone think it’s right for these folks to work without a contract?
(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 22 of 31)
by kathi
No majors for Axel this past weekend, and just one point. It is a needed point, though, and brings him to a total of 7 points. On to Kankakee after Thanksgiving.
Our office squirrel became a media star thanks to JR’s continuing photography vigilance. He got a very cute shot of the squirrel adding more stuff to the nest, and sent it in to Channel 5 news for the viewer photo segment during the weather report. It was shown during the 10 PM news on Nov. 18 and printed in the Sun-Times the following morning.
(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 23 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 268 of 274)
by kathi
As you may already know, we have been watching a squirrel’s nest outside our office window for a while now. We have seen him? her? in the courtyard area and in the alley, but the only time it was seen entering or leaving its nest, we did not have a camera handy.
Until this afternoon!
You can see it holding an object (probably some food item) as it enters the nest, remains only long enough to put away the object, exits the nest, and then scampers down and across to the second floor deck area.
Okay, so maybe it’s not that exciting to those of you who live in areas where wildlife is abundant, but hey, this is downtown Chicago and I’ll take what I can get in the way of critters. But no, I will not be filming urban rats as my next wildlife project!
(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 9 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 254 of 274)