dog – Page 20

Will Block Driveway for Treats

Generally she’s very well behaved, but when it comes to food …

Me & the Pup

I was up earlier than normal for a Saturday so Ellie and I headed out for our walk in the beautiful light of a sunny spring morning. At Irving Park I took a self-portrait with her even if one of us is only represented in shadow. The dog park is on the other side of the tree, and when we leave it to head south into the neighborhood we head out to my left and her right, down one of four streets of her choosing. She gave me a nice long walk on this morning, a lovely start to the weekend.

Don’t Fence Me In

I took this picture last summer of Ellie resting on the hardwood outside on our bedroom. We were having a heat wave and have a portable air conditioner in the bedroom and would make her stay in there during the savagely hot days, especially as she’s gotten older she pants heavily on hot or even warm days. But as you can see she doesn’t like being cooped up in there, more than anything she wants to be with her people and be at the door to greet me when I come home. Generally the weather here doesn’t get too hot but the last couple of summers have been hot and we hit 91 yesterday on May 22nd. May 22nd!

I have an appointment in a couple of weeks for an estimate on getting central air installed, which if feasible will make both of us quite happy during those days we need it. I love the smell of fresh air, and the cats like the open windows, but there are days where AC would be nice.

An Early Start

A couple of weeks ago I woke up early (for a Saturday) so Ellie and I got an early start to our walk. It was a lovely spring morning and since I take the new camera a lot on our walks now, I took a couple of pictures of her at the dog park before we spent the next hour walking the neighborhood.

Fall Comes to the Door of Hope

In early December, I wanted to photograph this maple in fall color in Irving Park with the Door of Hope church as a backdrop. Even though it is just a few steps from the dog park, I had to bribe Ellie with treats to even get her this far, as she was ready to head into the neighborhood. That’s not Ellie walking across the leaves in the first picture, she was by my side, fortunately another dog filled in as my model. We’ve had many great memories in this little park, the pup and I.

Root for the Underdog

I don’t know how much of it is her advancing age and how much the warming weather, but I’ve noticed Ellie’s breathing has been a little more labored lately on her walks. For all that she still gave me a couple of long walks last weekend, but I wasn’t surprised this morning that even though she went as far south as normal after visiting the dog park, she only went a couple of blocks east before wanting to head back north towards home. I thought she was tired out but as we prepared to take the last turn towards home she indicated she wanted to continue going north. The next block she turned east towards home but kept wanting to go east and east and east until I made her turn north to avoid a busy street. We doubled back along Klickitat Street before heading to the park once more, then she was ready to head home, after a full hour and a half walk.

It was still breezy this morning after high winds much of yesterday and my sinuses were bothering me a bit, but what a lovely way to spend the morning, me and the pup!

I took this picture of her on Klickitat, the section of the street we walk on that takes us to the park is closed to vehicle traffic except for people with driveways on the street, and this little post blocks vehicles from entering. Someone put a sticker on the post that says “Root for the Underdog” so I made Ellie pose for a quick picture. The new camera is working a treat for quick pictures like this, just a snapshot to remind me of our walks, it is so lightweight that I take it with me a lot even though I only occasionally take pictures.

Spring Finally Arrives

As much as I love the rain, even I was ready for a sunny day after an unusually wet winter. Although Ellie loves the colder weather, she was up for a long walk on this beautiful spring morning, wanting to go farther and farther each time we reached another corner. I was only too happy to oblige and we didn’t return home for an hour and a half, pretty remarkable for our aging pup.

White on Black on White

Our beautiful 13 year old pup.

Me Too

“I wish you, the person reading this finds love and happiness.”

“I wish for all dogs to have a loving home.”

This one found a loving home and brought love and happiness with her.

As the snow continued to fall I wanted a picture of Ellie beside the Wishing Tree, one of my favorite places on our walks, as my wish was for her to have at least one more chance to play in the snow. So maybe I wished a little too hard and that’s why we ended up with this unusually heavy snow in January. We made the best of it, the pup and I, I’ll never forget that day.

The Big Dog Bed

A while back we took our bed off the frame and set the box springs on the floor so it would be easier for our elderly pup to jump onto the bed. Recently we also added some throw rugs to give her better traction on the hardwood. After a visit to the vet yesterday to have her teeth cleaned and a few pulled, Ellie was in recovery mode and still a little wobbly from the anesthesia. Ellie was a bit restless when my wife came to bed so she encouraged Ellie to jump in beside me as I was already sound asleep. Ellie did not however make enough room for my wife to join us as well so she slept in the guest bedroom.

This picture is from the summer when we were enjoying the air conditioner in our bedroom, her smile will be missing her small front teeth from now on, as well as a growth that had developed the past few months at the front of her mouth.