Local Villainry, and hey, look, puppies! by FREMDFIRMA

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Local Villainry, and hey, look, puppies!

POSTED BY: FREMDFIRMA
UPDATED: Sunday, April 15, 2012 20:48
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VIEWED: 2565
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Friday, April 13, 2012 2:54 AM

This from the West side, and hilarious both in concept and execution.

The civility of dog owners' civil infractions on Ann Arbor's Old West Side
http://www.annarbor.com/pets/the-civility-of-dog-owners-civil-infracti
ons-on-ann-arbors-old-west-side/

Quote:
Every Saturday in the schoolyard behind Slauson Middle School, a group of Ann Arbor residents gather for the specific purpose of breaking the law.

No formal documentation ties the individuals together, and the only way to find out about their illegal meetings is word of mouth. Forget about corralling the group. Just as soon as they come together, they’ve dispersed every which way down the city’s streets.

Covering their tracks is their foremost expertise.

What a wonderful way to mock (pun FULLY intended Mikey) an idiotic and contradictory set of regulations.

-Frem

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Friday, April 13, 2012 5:13 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Nifty: Some here do the same thing! But it's every morning; there's this huge, wide-open, grassed area where officially no dogs are allowed. People gather there every morning, but by 8:00 they leave. It's not a one-hour thing, it's kind of when anyone arrives (sometimes as early as 6:30). The reason is that, just a half a mile away, we had this huge, unused field we used for DECADES--the city came along and, despite meetings where we tried to speak up, converted it to a beautiful, grassed, facility-laden sports area...then gave us a postage-stamp-sized "dog park" at the very back, the same dirt, weed-infested ground we had before. I only take my dogs to that tiny dog park when I haven't time to go anywhere else, because it's too small for the dogs to have a REAL good run (tho' they try!). I stopped going to the early-morning place because I usually take the huskies somewhere else they can really run or else hook 'em up to the sulky, but I know it's still going on.

I feel sorry for those guys that they've got NO dog park at all, then dogs aren't allowed off leash anywhere. That's a bummer. Dogs need to RUN--even little ones!

As for the complainer...he couldn't of course, come there at ANY other time, right? Hah!

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Friday, April 13, 2012 6:03 AM

CAVETROLL

I feel sorry for your dogs Niki. Huskies need room to RUN!

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Friday, April 13, 2012 6:13 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

You misunderstood, or I didn't write it clearly; they DO get room to run. I only take them on the sulky a couple of times a week. The other days we either go to the Divide (which is an open conserve on a ridge between San Rafael and Terra Linda) or to the beach...and the other dog park we take them to is a GIGANTIC, grassed, legal dog park in Mill Valley which is right on the Bay, so they get to jump in one of the two "haul outs" to cool off. We also run them with our bicycles at two other places...they take off in all the places they're off leash (including Bay Front, the Mill Valley dog park which is unfenced--occasionally they embarrass me by crossing the bike path and "playing" in the "no dogs allowed" marsh across the way), but they come back pretty quickly...unless they spot a deer up at the Divide! I've waited up to an hour and a half for them in that case. Fucking huskies~!

Our dogs are spoiled rotten, but it's because before I got Tashi I used to hike the Mountain, a LOT, and figured I was getting a husky who could hike with me. Then my bod fell apart, so Jim let me get the second husky so they could pull the cart. Like I said, I only go to the little postage-stamp-sized Red Hill dog park when I don't have time to take them elsewhere. Huskies DO need to run, so it's one of my daily chores. It's a rare day when they don't get out, trust me! Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled...

Which is why I feel so sorry for the folks Frem mentioned, who get at most an hour once a week; that's truly sad!

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Friday, April 13, 2012 6:24 AM

CAVETROLL

Good for your dogs. That sulky contraption you've posted pics of before looks pretty cool, assuming your dogs are runners. Mine seem to be couch potatoes.

I'm really lucky I have a fenced back yard for my dogs. Not too big, but I don't have to leash walk them every day. The dog parks around here are pretty feeble. And the owners don't really look after their dogs. I generally avoid them.

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Friday, April 13, 2012 7:15 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
And the owners don't really look after their dogs

Not sure if you mean the owners at dog parks, but if you do, whooo eee, do I agree! While a lot of us stand around interacting with our dogs and each other, it always disgusts me to see the people who arrive, turn their dogs loose, then either sit and read the newspaper or wander around aimlessly plugged into their cell phones. Bah!

Yeah, Tash and Koch are runners, fer shore. We have a back yard, and thank gawd we got Kochak, 'cuz they exhaust themselves playing together out there all the time. I wouldn't let that be all, tho', they're both young enough they NEED a lot of exercise.

They're okay with the sulky--always take off like shot out of a cannon, but usually slow down to a trot. Unless there's something exciting, like last week we spotted a coyote out at the Ponds (reclamation ponds with great trails between them, close by so I sulky them there a lot). THAT caused a LOT of galloping, ending by running me right into a fence! Another time they took off out there for no known reason, until I got the whiff of eau de skunk... Now they find going to the Ponds a LOT more exciting (hee, hee, hee)--you never know what might show up!

I sometimes run with Bay Area Mushers (they're actual MUSHERS in Winter, rest of the time they run their huskies with scooters)...they just put up a video of two of their dogs running The Ponds (It's officially Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District's Wastewater Treatment Reclamation Project--which is why Jim and I call it The Ponds!) last week. These are their "runners", they can barely KEEP them to a trot (I'm envious!):

The one on the left is Goose, their malamute/wolf rescue. She got into it with Kochak a while back, and ever since then the minute she sees Kochak wants to go after her. Makes sulkying with them TOUGH! The two he's running are their "runners"--way in the background is his wife, Andree, with the other ones...who are trotting, like mine do. Andree and her husband have FIVE huskies and Goose...in a small home in San Anselmo with a postage-stamp back yard. Can you imagine?!?!?

Our lives would be a lot more boring without the pups, I bless them daily. They make Jim laugh all the time, and this is a man NOT given to laughing, trust me. None of the dogs we've ever had made him (or me!) laugh this much...I'm kinda not looking forward to their getting older and slowing down! Then again, other times... like last night, when I went to check on the Outback because it had been raining heavily, and stepped RIGHT into one of Kochak's pieces of "landscaping" (holes!) and of course it was filled up with water. Damned huskies...

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Friday, April 13, 2012 7:18 AM

MINCINGBEAST

I clicked on this link eagerly anticipating villainy of the mustache-twirling, damsel-tied-to-the-train-tracks variety. Perhaps a mustachioed robber baron had tied a puppy to train tracks?

I am very disappointed.

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Friday, April 13, 2012 7:27 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

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Friday, April 13, 2012 7:29 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

What kinda dogs are yours, Cave? Must not be huskies...or they're older...no self-respecting husky would be a "couch potato"! They'd find SOMETHING to get into, believe me, if they don't get out. Usually something you don't want them to get into...like the two iPods I've had to replace for Jim because he keeps forgetting to put them somewhere safe.

This is us sulkying one of the multi-use pathways in Tiburon:

Later on that same path:

And "Starkweather", a multi-use pathway out on the Bay:

Further down same path:

As you can see, my guys are more "trotters"! It's dangerous to get me going on this subject, as you can see... ;o)

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Friday, April 13, 2012 8:15 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

We've got a park near my house that's kind of a similar situation. It's not really an off-the-leash park, but that's what it has become for the neighborhood. I love it because my dog really needs socialization - she was completely feral when I found her, living without human contact and ready to fight any other dog she saw. It's taken a LOT of socialization to get her to chill the hell out, and now at nearly 8 years old she's got some dog friends that she actually plays with, as if she were a puppy.

The park near my house is a place where she and others can run, play, socialize, etc. Any given weekend or evening there are maybe 5-10 dogs and their people at the park, and no drama. The local police patrols have accepted it - one cop cruised by one day and just waved at everybody, and we all waved back, and that was the end of it. So long as there is no drama, I expect no grief from the police. And everybody cleans up after their animals, too.

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Friday, April 13, 2012 8:56 AM

CAVETROLL

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
What kinda dogs are yours, Cave? Must not be huskies...or they're older...no self-respecting husky would be a "couch potato"! They'd find SOMETHING to get into, believe me, if they don't get out. Usually something you don't want them to get into...like the two iPods I've had to replace for Jim because he keeps forgetting to put them somewhere safe...

I've got a 12 year old female pit/lab mix (Chance), a 5 year old male cattle dog mix (Scout) and a 8 year old female rat terrier foster dog (Emma). I just received an approved application for her, so after 4 months she might be going to her forever home. They share the house with a 15 pound male Burmese cat (Geordie) and a 7 pound female domestic short hair (Spot). The 7 pound cat, the smallest animal in the house, is the most feared animal in the house. Yet my pit/lab lets the cat sleep with her and I've caught the cat suckling on the pitador. Go figure.

And of course I lost my once in a lifetime dog last year. A male American Staffordshire Terrier (Gage). I had him since he was one and lost him at 11 to cancer. Throw in a couple others gone over the bridge, an approximately 14 year old Boston Terrier (Bemmy) rescued at approximately 10 years of age. And my first adult pet, a 17 year old ~15 pound domestic short hair (Harcourt).

I've got houseful. Some days I feel more like a zookeeper and domestic servant than the homeowner. And I cannot begin to count the number of things I've had chewed, peed, pooped, or sicked up on. I once learned that shredded candle wax can kill a vacuum cleaner. But they are an awful lot of entertainment for a few measly handfuls of food every day and a couple of bones every once in a while.

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Friday, April 13, 2012 11:46 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by CaveTroll:
Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
What kinda dogs are yours, Cave? Must not be huskies...or they're older...no self-respecting husky would be a "couch potato"! They'd find SOMETHING to get into, believe me, if they don't get out. Usually something you don't want them to get into...like the two iPods I've had to replace for Jim because he keeps forgetting to put them somewhere safe...

I've got a 12 year old female pit/lab mix (Chance), a 5 year old male cattle dog mix (Scout) and a 8 year old female rat terrier foster dog (Emma). I just received an approved application for her, so after 4 months she might be going to her forever home. They share the house with a 15 pound male Burmese cat (Geordie) and a 7 pound female domestic short hair (Spot). The 7 pound cat, the smallest animal in the house, is the most feared animal in the house. Yet my pit/lab lets the cat sleep with her and I've caught the cat suckling on the pitador. Go figure.

And of course I lost my once in a lifetime dog last year. A male American Staffordshire Terrier (Gage). I had him since he was one and lost him at 11 to cancer. Throw in a couple others gone over the bridge, an approximately 14 year old Boston Terrier (Bemmy) rescued at approximately 10 years of age. And my first adult pet, a 17 year old ~15 pound domestic short hair (Harcourt).

I've got houseful. Some days I feel more like a zookeeper and domestic servant than the homeowner. And I cannot begin to count the number of things I've had chewed, peed, pooped, or sicked up on. I once learned that shredded candle wax can kill a vacuum cleaner. But they are an awful lot of entertainment for a few measly handfuls of food every day and a couple of bones every once in a while.

Man, and I thought I had my hands full! I'm down to one dog at the moment, and two fussy cats, but that number is subject to change at any moment, depending on what animal finds its way to my doorstep and gets taken in.

And of course we have lots of dog friends who come for sleepovers and vacations. I'm the designated dog-sitter, it seems. We'll be sitting a 105-pound yellow lab (Able) and a 110-pound black lab for three weeks this summer (at different times), while their people go on vacation. And there's a Corgi who comes to stay with us a couple nights a month when her mom goes out of town. They'd much rather have them stay with us than kennel 'em, since they know us and our dog and know they'll be loved and spoiled. The labs used to hate cats, but they're both coming around just from prolonged exposure to two cats who HAVEN'T scratched their noses!

"I have no real clue of what you're speaking." - AuRaptor.

"Yes. I was wrong. I am sorry." - AuRaptor.

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://beta.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=51196

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Friday, April 13, 2012 11:44 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by MINCINGBEAST:
I clicked on this link eagerly anticipating villainy of the mustache-twirling, damsel-tied-to-the-train-tracks variety. Perhaps a mustachioed robber baron had tied a puppy to train tracks?

I am very disappointed.

HAHAHA, not, it's meta - Villainry of the chain-yank variety, pun also intended.

-Frem

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Saturday, April 14, 2012 2:11 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Hurray for anarchy !

<_<

( At least there are no cats in the park. Then we'd have mass hysteria! )

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Sunday, April 15, 2012 6:12 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Wow, you DO have your hands full! Knew you were a good guy; one of what I consider "special people" who open their homes to animals.

At one time we had eight cats at the same time (eeep!). We'd never had cats before, and after I got one, we just seemed to keep getting them (all strays or strays found by Jim's son who he couldn't keep in an apartment). We learned our lesson the hard way; our house ended up covered in plastic from "tail height" down, we had to remove all the rugs in the entire upstairs. Once the last one died, Jim proclaimed "NO MORE CATS!" I miss them, and would love to have just ONE cat around, but with the two huskies, that's out of the question.

I THINK if there'd been a cat in residence when the pups got here, it would have been no problem, but with the pups in residence first...nope. That belief is why I have NO surprise at all that Spot keeps the dogs in their place, cats are great at that! We had three dogs at the same time, and none of them ever dared hassle the cats...certainly not after the first try!

While I miss all the little "people" underfoot (even the destruction, but admittedly not the plastic!), I certainly agree, it's a full-time job. I feel spoiled now, all I have to do is get the beasts out every day (and block off the living room and make sure the trash and compost bins are up at night), and there's not much destruction/thievery. Not much... Tho' woe is he who leaves ANY form of food accessible when he leaves the room...

My deepest sympathies on losing Gage...we lost our once-in-a-lifetime girl (Kiya) just before I got Tashi--it tore us both up bad. They don't live nearly long enough, dammit! I had to wait three months to get Tashi, and suffered the consequences. A house without some animal to love and be loved by is a sad house, and one I couldn't live in very long.

Quote:
But they are an awful lot of entertainment for a few measly handfuls of food every day and a couple of bones every once in a while.

And an awful lot of love, too. And I've got to say, the two huskies are THE most entertaining pets we've ever had! The days Jim is home, my morning starts by saying "Let's go get Jim!", causing two dogs to fly off my Outback bed, race into the house like they were shot out of a canon and LEAP on Jim in bed...then we spend an hour or more on his bed playing with them and laughing at their "wrestling" antics. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Although, there are a few things I could do without...like Kochak hitting my eye with her nose yesterday morning, knocking my contact out and causing me a LOT of pain. Still, that sort of thing happens rarely, thank goodness, and Jim is always prepared to close his laptop and protect himself in the morning when he hears the dog door slam!

Someone on BAM (Bay Area Mushers) put this up...I love it!

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Sunday, April 15, 2012 6:20 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:

WANT WANT WANT WANT !!!!

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Sunday, April 15, 2012 7:45 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Hurray for anarchy !

<_<

( At least there are no cats in the park. Then we'd have mass hysteria! )

My cats get outside once in a while, despite my best efforts to keep them inside. When they do, I release the hound. She does a credible job herding cats, and always drives them back inside.

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Sunday, April 15, 2012 8:48 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

As the person on the other side of the coin there are few things that will bother me more than trying to relax and enjoy myself and getting rubbed up against and sniffed by someone's puppy dog. That is hard for me and really frustrates me and is very unpleasant for me. I think its good to have off leash times for people who have dogs and on leash times for everyone who needs some space. Our beaches here are offleash all the time and it makes it hard for me to swim alone and stuff, I need someone near me to help me to feel safe. If people could have their dogs off leash from dawn to, say, eleven, and on leash the rest of the time that would be something I would like, that way you guys get your chance and I get my chance.

I assume you're my pal until you let me know otherwise.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

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