I've found the perfect race for me to start out training for! A few times now I've told myself to start training for a marathon, because it'll help me lose weight and be a great accomplishment. I'm seeing now I need to start out with something a little easier, and build my way up. I'm in no way a great runner, nor have I ever been, but someday I'd like to be. So, I found a 5K race that happens the first Saturday in October (perfect weather!), AND...they let you run with your dog! How awesome is that!
Check it out and let's run this one together! http://www.dogrundog.com/race-locations/DogRunDogSaltLakeCity.htm
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Not so in "Love"
There’s a new show on Fox I’m going to take issue with for a minute here. Now, being a loyal Bachelor/Bachelorette follower, I’m addicted to watching the process of one person pick from a plethora of people to try and find love. However, I have to say I will not be tuning in to More to Love this season. There’s a couple reasons. First, the guy they picked, from what I’ve seen, is a total schmuck. He’s already making out with girls, has these super cheesy lines, and overall leaves me feeling a bit slimy and wanting to run away from my TV.
Second, I really take issue with the “real women” they portray on this show. I understand the average size in women is 12 in this country. I’m all for showing people that are “average.” But I would not qualify these women as average. 230 pounds is not the average woman. Not only that, but they degrade these women and make it all about the weight issue by showing their eye-popping weight every time they flash their name. We get it, they’re fat. You don’t need to humiliate them more. Plus, they’re all really needy and desperate. So many of the women are crying in interviews because they can’t get dates, they just want to find love, etc. WAKE UP! This is not just because you’re fat! It’s because you have no self-esteem! Even the skinniest, hottest of women are going to have trouble finding or holding on to a man if they’re not confident in who they are. This show is not giving women good role models to look up to.
Thirdly, and I think most important, as a nation becoming shockingly more obese, I very much disagree with glorifying being overweight. It is NOT ok to be obese, not for the image issue, but in terms of health. I’m sure the doctors of these women have told them multiple times they need to lose weight, or they risk preventable illnesses like diabetes, shortened life span, and heart disease, which is the number one killer of women. We should NOT be saying it’s OK to be this heavy. We NEED to turn around America’s lazy habits and get back out and active again. If you’re going to do a show featuring obese people, the only ones I would watch are ones that inspire me to change my lifestyle, such as the Biggest Loser. I think that’s why I like the Bachelor/Bachelorette. Yes these women are really skinny, but they are also healthy and not sweating their makeup off at cocktail parties. They make me want to be like them. It inspires me to change my lifestyle and try to be healthier, go to the gym regularly, and make sure I put my best foot forward to the world. The laziness in America has got to stop. Shows like More to Love are not going to affect change. The only positive I could see coming from this is seeing that women can be heavy and date, thereby giving heavier women more confidence, or else they see these women, and can relate to their weight, and it inspires them to start being healthier, because they see the story of their lives on the screen.
I’ll be interested to see what ratings come in on this show.
Second, I really take issue with the “real women” they portray on this show. I understand the average size in women is 12 in this country. I’m all for showing people that are “average.” But I would not qualify these women as average. 230 pounds is not the average woman. Not only that, but they degrade these women and make it all about the weight issue by showing their eye-popping weight every time they flash their name. We get it, they’re fat. You don’t need to humiliate them more. Plus, they’re all really needy and desperate. So many of the women are crying in interviews because they can’t get dates, they just want to find love, etc. WAKE UP! This is not just because you’re fat! It’s because you have no self-esteem! Even the skinniest, hottest of women are going to have trouble finding or holding on to a man if they’re not confident in who they are. This show is not giving women good role models to look up to.
Thirdly, and I think most important, as a nation becoming shockingly more obese, I very much disagree with glorifying being overweight. It is NOT ok to be obese, not for the image issue, but in terms of health. I’m sure the doctors of these women have told them multiple times they need to lose weight, or they risk preventable illnesses like diabetes, shortened life span, and heart disease, which is the number one killer of women. We should NOT be saying it’s OK to be this heavy. We NEED to turn around America’s lazy habits and get back out and active again. If you’re going to do a show featuring obese people, the only ones I would watch are ones that inspire me to change my lifestyle, such as the Biggest Loser. I think that’s why I like the Bachelor/Bachelorette. Yes these women are really skinny, but they are also healthy and not sweating their makeup off at cocktail parties. They make me want to be like them. It inspires me to change my lifestyle and try to be healthier, go to the gym regularly, and make sure I put my best foot forward to the world. The laziness in America has got to stop. Shows like More to Love are not going to affect change. The only positive I could see coming from this is seeing that women can be heavy and date, thereby giving heavier women more confidence, or else they see these women, and can relate to their weight, and it inspires them to start being healthier, because they see the story of their lives on the screen.
I’ll be interested to see what ratings come in on this show.
Monday, July 27, 2009
And so it ends....
Well, we ran, we hid, we ignored. And it still caught up with us. The Economy.
Tomorrow, Luke has an "organizational update" meeting. Code for "we're doing layoffs." It doesn't look good right now. Word on the street is that the entire department is getting laid off, and then they will have to reapply for a certain amount of jobs that are left. I suppose this is better than cutting based on seniority, because it means he still has a fighting chance to continue working for his company. But still, we never thought we'd be on the verge of this predicament.
And yet, there's a bright spot. My boss just announced our 5pm producer is leaving to take a job in Sacramento. I couldn't reply that I was interested fast enough. Granted, I've got a lot of competition for this position. This is one of the only normal shifts you'll find in the newsroom. You're in at 8:30 and you leave right after the 5pm is done. I have a feeling most, if not all, the AM overnight producers are gunning for this one, as well as some of the late shift people. Frankly, I don't care what I get, I'll take a show vacated by another producer who's being moved to the 5pm. It would just be nice to get back into news!
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my show. I love that I get to be creative, rather than just reporting the news. I get to have more of an agenda than the other shows, and book talent that I think is important for our viewers. This also carries some headaches: guests cancelling at the last minute, constantly racking your brain for fresh material, and intricate, detailed, well organized planning to make sure people are here on the right days, at the right times, and that the crew has all the information they need to get set up for the show. It would be so nice to just put commands into a rundown and be done with it.
On some happier news, the weekend was great! It was actually one of the most eventful weekends we've had in a long time. We spent the evening of Pioneer Day at Luke's cousin Dave's house, which is a block from Liberty Park. We ate yummy ribs, tried to stay cool, and watched the fireworks from his backyard. Saturday we took the dogs up Millcreek Canyon and had a picnic at Dog Lake. A few things: first, never put your sandwiches in the back pocket of the backpack...they will squish and get super soggy; next, Charlotte can swim! Though she prefers just to stand and lollop in the water; finally, just because the internet says there's only an altitude gain of 900 feet over 2 miles means nothing. Needless to say, my butt still hurts from the steep trek back down the mountain, while Luke's calves are killing him. No exercise for us until those heal a bit.
Saturday night Dave invited us to see one of my all-time favorite movies at the Tower Theater: The Godfather. I've seen this movie dozens of times, but never on the big screen. And never at midnight after a day of hiking. Even with a latte, it still took a lot to stay awake through 3 hours of family dynamics and the inner workings of the powerful Corleone crime family. It was so much fun though, there's a lot of things you miss in the movie when you watch it on the small screen. But I can't remember the last time I was up at 3am when I wasn't at work. I'm gradually accepting that I'm turning into an old fogey who can't handle late nights anymore.
Sunday was nice. Just trying to stay cool, reading, a little laundry, a lot of relaxing. I love Sundays, and I love them even more when the weather isn't 100 degrees so I can do some of the things I like without dying of heat stroke. I'm so ready for my favorite season: Fall! So long as Luke has a job, we're off to Yellowstone in October, right before they start closing roads. I'm so excited! It's my most favorite place on earth, I can't get enough. And this time....we're staying at the Old Faithful Inn, just him and me :) I can't wait! Let's just hope and pray everything career-wise will turn out OK for us.
Tomorrow, Luke has an "organizational update" meeting. Code for "we're doing layoffs." It doesn't look good right now. Word on the street is that the entire department is getting laid off, and then they will have to reapply for a certain amount of jobs that are left. I suppose this is better than cutting based on seniority, because it means he still has a fighting chance to continue working for his company. But still, we never thought we'd be on the verge of this predicament.
And yet, there's a bright spot. My boss just announced our 5pm producer is leaving to take a job in Sacramento. I couldn't reply that I was interested fast enough. Granted, I've got a lot of competition for this position. This is one of the only normal shifts you'll find in the newsroom. You're in at 8:30 and you leave right after the 5pm is done. I have a feeling most, if not all, the AM overnight producers are gunning for this one, as well as some of the late shift people. Frankly, I don't care what I get, I'll take a show vacated by another producer who's being moved to the 5pm. It would just be nice to get back into news!
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my show. I love that I get to be creative, rather than just reporting the news. I get to have more of an agenda than the other shows, and book talent that I think is important for our viewers. This also carries some headaches: guests cancelling at the last minute, constantly racking your brain for fresh material, and intricate, detailed, well organized planning to make sure people are here on the right days, at the right times, and that the crew has all the information they need to get set up for the show. It would be so nice to just put commands into a rundown and be done with it.
On some happier news, the weekend was great! It was actually one of the most eventful weekends we've had in a long time. We spent the evening of Pioneer Day at Luke's cousin Dave's house, which is a block from Liberty Park. We ate yummy ribs, tried to stay cool, and watched the fireworks from his backyard. Saturday we took the dogs up Millcreek Canyon and had a picnic at Dog Lake. A few things: first, never put your sandwiches in the back pocket of the backpack...they will squish and get super soggy; next, Charlotte can swim! Though she prefers just to stand and lollop in the water; finally, just because the internet says there's only an altitude gain of 900 feet over 2 miles means nothing. Needless to say, my butt still hurts from the steep trek back down the mountain, while Luke's calves are killing him. No exercise for us until those heal a bit.
Saturday night Dave invited us to see one of my all-time favorite movies at the Tower Theater: The Godfather. I've seen this movie dozens of times, but never on the big screen. And never at midnight after a day of hiking. Even with a latte, it still took a lot to stay awake through 3 hours of family dynamics and the inner workings of the powerful Corleone crime family. It was so much fun though, there's a lot of things you miss in the movie when you watch it on the small screen. But I can't remember the last time I was up at 3am when I wasn't at work. I'm gradually accepting that I'm turning into an old fogey who can't handle late nights anymore.
Sunday was nice. Just trying to stay cool, reading, a little laundry, a lot of relaxing. I love Sundays, and I love them even more when the weather isn't 100 degrees so I can do some of the things I like without dying of heat stroke. I'm so ready for my favorite season: Fall! So long as Luke has a job, we're off to Yellowstone in October, right before they start closing roads. I'm so excited! It's my most favorite place on earth, I can't get enough. And this time....we're staying at the Old Faithful Inn, just him and me :) I can't wait! Let's just hope and pray everything career-wise will turn out OK for us.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Hooray for Slurpees
Luke and I bought a house without air conditioning. It hasn't been a bad thing...until now. Most of the evening, I want to sit outside, because it's cooler on the deck than it is in the house, despite the fact we have fans going and every window is open.
Now, the house did come with a swamp cooler. Yesterday, Luke took the day off, and he said he would look into why it wasn't turning on. So when the house reached 90 yesterday afternoon, I asked, "did you look at the swamp cooler?" Of course, he hadn't. So I go over to the thing, and there's a switch on the wall as well as on the cooler. I switch both of them on, and cool relief wafts through the house. AHHHH! Apparently he didn't see the switch on the wall.
When it's this hot, the only thing that really satisfies (other than a dunk under the hose) is a Slurpee. Conveniently, there's one just down the street! That cool slurpee goodness is definitely getting us through these hot summer days. I miss the pool we had at the condo. I might have to get a kiddie pool out in the yard.
We went to Pueblo for the holiday weekend and had a great time. It was good to see some family, as I haven't seen any of my relations since December. I'm really hoping John decides to move out here, not only for his sake, but for mine. After a while, it really sucks to be so far away from the people you love. As I get older, the more important family becomes to me and the more I want us all to be in the same town again. It's a bit heartbreaking to see the Shirley compound, because even though we're family, you can't help but feel like an outsider. They've spent their whole lives together, and we've only been down during the summers and for some holidays. The atmosphere is also different than it used to be. Between losing Grandpa two years ago and Gramma's stroke, a lot of the laughter has dissipated. Perhaps one day it will be the same again. We do have reason to celebrate though, as my cousin is about to have her second child! It's those times I wish I was a lot closer. Luke and I have talked and moving to Denver may seriously be in the 5 year plan. We'll see what happens.
Sad to come back to work, but I do like my job. Just wish I had more time on vacation and less time driving to vacation!
Now, the house did come with a swamp cooler. Yesterday, Luke took the day off, and he said he would look into why it wasn't turning on. So when the house reached 90 yesterday afternoon, I asked, "did you look at the swamp cooler?" Of course, he hadn't. So I go over to the thing, and there's a switch on the wall as well as on the cooler. I switch both of them on, and cool relief wafts through the house. AHHHH! Apparently he didn't see the switch on the wall.
When it's this hot, the only thing that really satisfies (other than a dunk under the hose) is a Slurpee. Conveniently, there's one just down the street! That cool slurpee goodness is definitely getting us through these hot summer days. I miss the pool we had at the condo. I might have to get a kiddie pool out in the yard.
We went to Pueblo for the holiday weekend and had a great time. It was good to see some family, as I haven't seen any of my relations since December. I'm really hoping John decides to move out here, not only for his sake, but for mine. After a while, it really sucks to be so far away from the people you love. As I get older, the more important family becomes to me and the more I want us all to be in the same town again. It's a bit heartbreaking to see the Shirley compound, because even though we're family, you can't help but feel like an outsider. They've spent their whole lives together, and we've only been down during the summers and for some holidays. The atmosphere is also different than it used to be. Between losing Grandpa two years ago and Gramma's stroke, a lot of the laughter has dissipated. Perhaps one day it will be the same again. We do have reason to celebrate though, as my cousin is about to have her second child! It's those times I wish I was a lot closer. Luke and I have talked and moving to Denver may seriously be in the 5 year plan. We'll see what happens.
Sad to come back to work, but I do like my job. Just wish I had more time on vacation and less time driving to vacation!
Friday, June 19, 2009
A break in the rain
It was a gorgeous day today, and not a drop of rain. SO nice, but I have enjoyed the rain these past few weeks. I don't have to water as much, but the yard does need some weeding and a good mow. Hopefully the rain holds off tomorrow morning so I can get some work done, and maybe put down some grass seed. I figure I should take advantage of the free water and regrow my backyard.
Not a whole lot has been going on in the St. Clair household. Luke and I are both headed back to school in the fall. Luke's headed for his masters in accounting, but has to do some undergrad catchup classes. I was going for respiratory therapy, but the only school that offers it is Weber. Don't think I'll be commuting, so I've decided on radiation technology. If working in news has taught me anything, it's that the health care industry will always need workers, and that people in TV get paid next to nothing. With this under my belt, we'll be a bit better off, so we can go travel as much as we want! That means New York!
Our next adventure is to Denver for 4th of July. We decided to go spend some time with my family in Pueblo, and we're stopping in Denver to look around, as Luke's never been. Should be fun! In the meantime, it's hiking when the sun is out, and doing little things around the house when it's raining. It's been so nice not to have 100 degree temps all month, I'm kind of sad it's about to get hot!
Not a whole lot has been going on in the St. Clair household. Luke and I are both headed back to school in the fall. Luke's headed for his masters in accounting, but has to do some undergrad catchup classes. I was going for respiratory therapy, but the only school that offers it is Weber. Don't think I'll be commuting, so I've decided on radiation technology. If working in news has taught me anything, it's that the health care industry will always need workers, and that people in TV get paid next to nothing. With this under my belt, we'll be a bit better off, so we can go travel as much as we want! That means New York!
Our next adventure is to Denver for 4th of July. We decided to go spend some time with my family in Pueblo, and we're stopping in Denver to look around, as Luke's never been. Should be fun! In the meantime, it's hiking when the sun is out, and doing little things around the house when it's raining. It's been so nice not to have 100 degree temps all month, I'm kind of sad it's about to get hot!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Here Comes the Sun
We’ve finally hit a point in the weather here in Salt Lake where the chill of winter is finally dying, killed by a jealous sun who wants to be celebrated by a city jaded by overcast skies plagued with inversion, combined with scraping, slipping, and supersized coats. This weekend, I don’t think I was inside for more than 2 hours, except to sleep, or shop at Home Depot, and even that was mostly outside in the garden department.
This is our first spring at our new home, and so we’re seeing what pops up in the yard as the ground thaws. The good things…tulips, grass in the front yard, some grass in the back yard. The bad things…goat-head thorns, dandelions galore, crab grass, spots of nothing in the back yard, and just weeds in general filling the side yard and flower bed. Luckily, I survived the weekend with only one blister, and the dry skin can easily be healed with some lotion. My body’s not too sore, just a little tight in the hamstrings. Surprisingly, my back doesn’t hurt at all, despite lifting brick after brick off the Home Depot shelf into the cart, and then into the car, and then onto my sidewalk, and into the dirt.
So here are the projects I did accomplish. I’ve never been a serious gardener, and in my life have tended to just give up and leave projects that require too much energy, especially physically. But the sun seemed to act as if I had Kryptonian blood in my veins, fueling me to continue my battle against the ever-encroaching weeds. I put in a rose garden next to the garage, complete with brick edging and black mulch. It’s lovely, but the not-so-lovely part included hours of shoveling and pulling the weeds up, making sure all roots were apprehended so as not to invade into my lovely garden. Also, there was the dispensing ant poison so they don’t eat my lovely roses once they bloom.
Once that project was finished, then began the weeding of the flower garden next to the porch. Oh my. This made the rose garden look easy, because at least then I could just shovel everything out. THIS was more of a challenge, as there are lovely things growing in with the weeds, things with very delicate root structures, so I had to use my hands and gingerly pull things that were choking out the flowers. This took a good 2 days, and I’m still not completely finished. I did manage to edge the garden with more brick, and plant my bleeding hearts. Today’s project entails more weeding, and then finally planting my strawberries, columbine (which I think today is a fitting day to do it, considering it’s the 10th anniversary of that tragedy. I have pictures of the aftermath since we used to live there, but they’re in Tennessee in a box somewhere, with a lot of other things I left when I moved back to Utah), buckets of gold, and snapdragons.
Sunday was perhaps the prettiest day of all. After doing some yard work, Luke and I took the dogs to Tanner Park, an off-leash dog park highly recommended by Luke’s cousin Dave. All I can say is that place has to be the doggie equivalent of the Elysian Fields. It’s this huge area in between these benches (if you’re not from Utah, the benches are geological parts of land elevation and valleys created by the faults here) that has a stream running down from Parley’s canyon and lots of forested area with trails for sniffing and chasing tails. It was vast, and even if your dog took off, you’d be chasing them a long time before they reached any sort of area of peril. We learned Charlotte is a cautious water dog, who accidentally fell in the river (which was running high and cold with spring run-off from the mountains) but enjoyed wading around. Ham, on the other hand, won’t even get his paws wet, but got close enough for a drink. We walked so far, the dogs slept the rest of the day when we got home. It was wonderful, and I hope to make that a weekly event. The only thing I didn’t like was all the people. I guess I have to think of this place as primarily for dogs to socialize and play, and not to escape the grind of the city. That’s what the mountain trails are for.
I’m looking forward to temps hitting the 80s this week, but I’d prefer if that’s where they stayed all summer. On another note, Luke and I are going to start training for the Vegas Half Marathon. After watching the marathoners run by the house Saturday morning, it was great motivation to see these people, who had run 20 miles by the time they got to us, pushing on. Plus, it’s a great way to lose weight, as I think we saw only 2 guys who were a little heavier. So, I’m starting 2 miles a day 5 days a week today, and we’ll see what happens. I’ve got like 7 months to train, so I don’t think it will be too bad.
What a wonderful weekend!
This is our first spring at our new home, and so we’re seeing what pops up in the yard as the ground thaws. The good things…tulips, grass in the front yard, some grass in the back yard. The bad things…goat-head thorns, dandelions galore, crab grass, spots of nothing in the back yard, and just weeds in general filling the side yard and flower bed. Luckily, I survived the weekend with only one blister, and the dry skin can easily be healed with some lotion. My body’s not too sore, just a little tight in the hamstrings. Surprisingly, my back doesn’t hurt at all, despite lifting brick after brick off the Home Depot shelf into the cart, and then into the car, and then onto my sidewalk, and into the dirt.
So here are the projects I did accomplish. I’ve never been a serious gardener, and in my life have tended to just give up and leave projects that require too much energy, especially physically. But the sun seemed to act as if I had Kryptonian blood in my veins, fueling me to continue my battle against the ever-encroaching weeds. I put in a rose garden next to the garage, complete with brick edging and black mulch. It’s lovely, but the not-so-lovely part included hours of shoveling and pulling the weeds up, making sure all roots were apprehended so as not to invade into my lovely garden. Also, there was the dispensing ant poison so they don’t eat my lovely roses once they bloom.
Once that project was finished, then began the weeding of the flower garden next to the porch. Oh my. This made the rose garden look easy, because at least then I could just shovel everything out. THIS was more of a challenge, as there are lovely things growing in with the weeds, things with very delicate root structures, so I had to use my hands and gingerly pull things that were choking out the flowers. This took a good 2 days, and I’m still not completely finished. I did manage to edge the garden with more brick, and plant my bleeding hearts. Today’s project entails more weeding, and then finally planting my strawberries, columbine (which I think today is a fitting day to do it, considering it’s the 10th anniversary of that tragedy. I have pictures of the aftermath since we used to live there, but they’re in Tennessee in a box somewhere, with a lot of other things I left when I moved back to Utah), buckets of gold, and snapdragons.
Sunday was perhaps the prettiest day of all. After doing some yard work, Luke and I took the dogs to Tanner Park, an off-leash dog park highly recommended by Luke’s cousin Dave. All I can say is that place has to be the doggie equivalent of the Elysian Fields. It’s this huge area in between these benches (if you’re not from Utah, the benches are geological parts of land elevation and valleys created by the faults here) that has a stream running down from Parley’s canyon and lots of forested area with trails for sniffing and chasing tails. It was vast, and even if your dog took off, you’d be chasing them a long time before they reached any sort of area of peril. We learned Charlotte is a cautious water dog, who accidentally fell in the river (which was running high and cold with spring run-off from the mountains) but enjoyed wading around. Ham, on the other hand, won’t even get his paws wet, but got close enough for a drink. We walked so far, the dogs slept the rest of the day when we got home. It was wonderful, and I hope to make that a weekly event. The only thing I didn’t like was all the people. I guess I have to think of this place as primarily for dogs to socialize and play, and not to escape the grind of the city. That’s what the mountain trails are for.
I’m looking forward to temps hitting the 80s this week, but I’d prefer if that’s where they stayed all summer. On another note, Luke and I are going to start training for the Vegas Half Marathon. After watching the marathoners run by the house Saturday morning, it was great motivation to see these people, who had run 20 miles by the time they got to us, pushing on. Plus, it’s a great way to lose weight, as I think we saw only 2 guys who were a little heavier. So, I’m starting 2 miles a day 5 days a week today, and we’ll see what happens. I’ve got like 7 months to train, so I don’t think it will be too bad.
What a wonderful weekend!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Dog Park
After a busy Saturday, Luke and I decided today was Veg Day. I got bored and decided it was a good day to take Charlotte to the dog park. I thought she would be more well behaved, knowing how Ham likes to bark and gets so excited.
So Charlotte and I went, and she was so nervous, she was drooling the whole time, making it look like she was rabid. After about 45 minutes of walking around and sniffing other dogs, she finally would chase the tennis ball. All in all, I was very impressed with her, save the few minor incidents of jumping on people. Apparently she is more enamored with people than her own species.
We saw two puggles at the park, and after Char being so shy, I thought, maybe this is more Ham's speed. So I came home and hooked Ham up to go. He was doing his nervous barking when we pulled in, and was pulling on his leash to get into the park. But as soon as he was in and the leash came off, he got quiet, and didn't leave my side the entire time we were there. For those of you that know Ham, it was like he turned into his good twin. You'd have thought I had the poor dog on sedatives. He drooled the entire time out of nervousness, and every time a dog came near, he lowered his tail and tried to hide behind me.
I have NEVER seen my dogs so chicken around people or other animals! It was like they were overwhelmed by the euphoria of dog park, and didn't really know what to do. Hopefully next week they'll do better and actually play with the other dogs. I think I'm going to take them both at the same time, because if they're this chicken, I'll have no problem handling both of them.
There's definitely the variety of dogs at that park, and it amazes me that they all get along so well. When I took Ham, this guy brought these two giant Bull Mastiffs (they were sooo cute!) and this little dog came up to one of them and started barking, and this mastiff just cowered to the ground. It was so funny! But there wasn't a single fight, not much barking, and just a good time. We need more of these places around the valley. I'm thinking this is going to be a Sunday ritual for us, one I think the dogs will love us for.
So Charlotte and I went, and she was so nervous, she was drooling the whole time, making it look like she was rabid. After about 45 minutes of walking around and sniffing other dogs, she finally would chase the tennis ball. All in all, I was very impressed with her, save the few minor incidents of jumping on people. Apparently she is more enamored with people than her own species.
We saw two puggles at the park, and after Char being so shy, I thought, maybe this is more Ham's speed. So I came home and hooked Ham up to go. He was doing his nervous barking when we pulled in, and was pulling on his leash to get into the park. But as soon as he was in and the leash came off, he got quiet, and didn't leave my side the entire time we were there. For those of you that know Ham, it was like he turned into his good twin. You'd have thought I had the poor dog on sedatives. He drooled the entire time out of nervousness, and every time a dog came near, he lowered his tail and tried to hide behind me.
I have NEVER seen my dogs so chicken around people or other animals! It was like they were overwhelmed by the euphoria of dog park, and didn't really know what to do. Hopefully next week they'll do better and actually play with the other dogs. I think I'm going to take them both at the same time, because if they're this chicken, I'll have no problem handling both of them.
There's definitely the variety of dogs at that park, and it amazes me that they all get along so well. When I took Ham, this guy brought these two giant Bull Mastiffs (they were sooo cute!) and this little dog came up to one of them and started barking, and this mastiff just cowered to the ground. It was so funny! But there wasn't a single fight, not much barking, and just a good time. We need more of these places around the valley. I'm thinking this is going to be a Sunday ritual for us, one I think the dogs will love us for.
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