New England Fall September 19, 2011
Posted by Daisy Doolittle in Treeing walker coonhounds.Tags: coonhounds, dogs, pets, rescue dogs, shelter dogs, Treeing walker coonhounds
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Fall has arrived in New England! Summer is fun, but it’s too hot to do much of anything. Sure I like going to the beach and getting a tan, but I have to get my tan in our yard lying on the pavement because they don’t allow dogs on the beach in summer. It’s a real bummer!
Anyway, fall is finally here which means more outings with my people! Hooray!!! Last weekend, we went to Hollis, NH for a nature walk. Now that the air is cool and crisp, the scents from all the forest life are just amazing! People don’t realize that coonhounds need optimum conditions for proper olfactory tracking and identification (that’s a fancy way of saying things smell better in cool weather). Proper smelling is an art form! For example, because the conditions were ideal, I was able to track and identify a giant larval lepidoptera.
Thankfully, my person had the camera and was able to snap a quick photo of me and my prey. The thing was enormous! I’m pretty sure if I had not tracked it to a corn field, it would have eaten all the small children who were gathered for a harvest festival! Imagine how awful that would have been: this giant beast crawling out of the forest ready to devour small children in a single gulp! The screams of parents as they realize their children are being wrapped in a cocoon and won’t emerge again until spring! Think how those parents would feel as the realization hits: they are free for the next 7 months!
No, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t act! So I looked that giant larval lepidoptera right in the eye – (okay, so my person picked me up so I could stand on a hay bale…it’s not my fault I’m short) – and I said to that giant beast, ”Hi, nice day, eh? Tell you what, I if you promise not to eat anyone I’ll let you go free.” The Green Giant agreed with little discussion. We shook on it (I didn’t know which leg to shake so I shook them all – I didn’t want any sneaky caterpillar tricks!)
I expected to hear cheers from the gathering crowd, as they realized that I had saved the day, but I suspect they were all still in shock. That’s okay though, I don’t always need outside acknowledgement. I know how my powerful nose and golden heart saved the lives of those children. I know I’m a canine hero! I just thank dog that we were there that day. I just thank dog for fall!
Walk for Animals…all of them September 11, 2011
Posted by Daisy Doolittle in Treeing walker coonhounds.Tags: coonhounds, dogs, MSPCA, pets, shelter dogs, Treeing walker coonhounds
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I’m exhausted! Today was my big charity walk for the MSPCA. Now if you’ve never done one of these MSPCA charity walks you don’t know what you’ve missed! So many great people and their canines – these walks are pawsome! Last year we walked in Boston, but this year we decided to do the walk at the Spencer-Peirce Little Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts just for a change of pace.
We arrived at the farm early to register for our walk and visit the vendors before the crowds arrived. I was already excited (okay so I whined most of the way to Newbury!) but I couldn’t believe my eyes when we got to the farm – my people trainer parked right next to us – I was ecstatic! I haven’t seen Melissa since she taught my people to give me chicken when we go for walks! I could tell this day was going to be eventful! I had no idea how eventful!
No sooner had we registered for the walk, did I spot a non-canine intruder! Strutting like it owned the farm, a turkey was stalking not 25′ away! I sounded the alarm! In the loudest “AAAARRRoooo” I could muster (it was early after all), I let the MSPCA organizers know that a turkey was invading (who knows how many more could be lurking!). I could not let this bird just invade our turf! Organizers came running from every direction! My people tried to turn me away (I assume they were afraid for my safety). But how could I just tuck tail and run? I had to keep my eye on the fowl! It was my canine duty! Finally, the turkey dropped out of sight and I could calm down – but I knew I would have to be on guard for the rest of the walk!
My people thought going for a pawdicure and a massage would help relax me, (afterall this was suppose to be a relaxing event) so we walked down a path to those vendors. I got my nails cut, was given a patriotic Sept. 11th ribbon for my collar and received a wonderful massage. The people from Wash N’ Wags and Good Dog were wonderful – I can’t thank them enough! But just as I was enjoying the last of my massage, a woman walked by with the biggest dog I’ve ever seen! This thing was huge! I immediately just started kissing it on the lips (sometimes submission is the safest course of action). Then I heard my person say something about a pony. What?!? Where?!? Was this a joke? It turned out what I thought was the largest Great Dane ever was a black pony. I had equine germs all over my face! Who knows where that face had been?! YUCK!
How embarrassing! 
How humiliating! OMD! If my Twitter friends ever found out I’d be the laughing-stock of the Twitterverse! I knew at that moment that I had to do something dog-ish to redeem myself. In my moment of weakness, I agreed to try the agility course that was set up. Everyone knows hounds are fiercely independent (my people say stubborn). We sniff and hunt – we do not jump through hoops or lower ourselves to run through basic obstacle courses unless there is a squirrel we happen to be chasing. But I had to do something! I had to save face! I’m so happy I did! The woman running the agility course was loaded with hot dogs! My people had failed to bring along a snack for me, so by this time I was starving! I would have done almost anything for a piece of chicken or a hot dog – a dog biscuit even! I have to admit it was fun (all except the tunnel which had spiders in it – I don’t like spiders so I didn’t go in). By the time I finished, it was time to line up to start the walk part of the event.
The Walk part is where we all line up, 
then when a person says go, we get to walk around as a big pack! It’s pawsome! But this year as we were lining up, I noticed a ‘different’ type of canine in the mix. I gave it a good sniff (I wasn’t going to make the mistake of kissing another non-canine!). That’s when I realized that the ‘thing’ with the harness and leash was NOT a canine but 100% porcine! It was ham on a stick! Walking protein! OMD! LUNCH!!! I was starving! I started to howl! I AAAAARRRRoooooo’d as loud as I could to let everyone know we were having the other white meat (my people said I was rude since I did it in the middle of the 9/11 moment of silence) – but when lunch is needing to be served it is bad canine etiquette not to let the others in the pack know you found dinner! My AARRoooo-ing announcement started a chain reaction of barking and howling as the word was spread about the canine lunch menu. My people were embarrassed. You would think they would have been beaming with pride! You think they would have been moving me to the front of the Walk line. But no, they dragged me to the back of the line claiming I was over stimulated!
We did the walk with the rest of the canines – me somewhere in the back of the pack. We did not stick around long after (my people said we were NOT eating the pig), so I didn’t see much point in sticking around. We drove to the beach for a long walk (my people said they needed to de-compress). I have to admit it was a beautiful way to end my charity work for the day. Looking out over the ocean, you think of all the animals and their people and how lucky we are to have each other. 
