Category Archives: Dog days

Dog days, Whatever

A Luka story without photos

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This video from Floridacracker of his two (!) Lab puppies reminded me of a story I’d been meaning to share, but which I haven’t been able to get a decent pic to illustrate with.

Luka is a couch hog, but not in the normal way one might expect from a 100 lb. Lab. Instead he likes to perch himself on the back of the couch, in front of the window, where the view and the breeze are best. Here’s an old pic of him from Christmastime in the very same pose, so just imagine the scene without the Xmas decorations and 40 lbs. more Luka squishing those cushions down.

Anyway… outside the window now is a red Chinese Hibiscus standard that had seemed to be drawing the attention of a hummingbird or two. Encouraged, I added a small hummingbird feeder to the pot thinking I would be able to enjoy close up views of the hummers at the feeder. Not so.

He’s taken to barking at any sweet hummingbird that dares to feed there! To begin with he seemed confused by them, almost thinking they were a really big bumblebee, but the zooming and dashing of a curious (or annoyed) hummer is too much for him to take. He scares them all away. Silly dog!

Dog days, Snapshots, Wanderings

Escaping along with everyone else

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I almost didn’t go to the Pine Barrens today when this was what greeted me at the entrance to the Parkway. Ughh… shore traffic. I was committed, at least until the next exit some five miles further south, but thankfully the standstill was due to an accident and the traffic cleared just when I could have made my exit.

An hour or so later this beetle caught my eye as it meandered through the sand and grass while I sat in the car eating my lunch. I stepped out for a pic, leaving the remainder of my sandwich unattended, and came back to find the sandwich gone. Had I mentioned that Luka was along for this adventure? Anyone care to save me the trouble of looking it up in a field guide? It reminds me of the beetle in the header at Mutual Casualty but I don’t know that one either.

As often happens with a visit to the barrens, I happen upon something accidentally that I’d purposefully searched for at some prior visit. Today it was two wildflowers that I’d endured a sweaty deer-fly infested hike searching for early last summer. This one is Swamp Candle; a yellow loosestrife that can grow so abundantly in cranberry bogs that it gives a pretty yellowish haze to the bog. It’s considered a nuisance in commercially operated bogs, but I was happy to find it today.

This one made me really happy – orange milkwort – showy and impossible to miss. On my knees taking pics I also found a blooming thread-leaved sundew and a few other tiny little wildflowers that I haven’t made up an ID for yet.

The water in the bogs is controlled by dikes and in those places where it was fast flowing there were ebony jewelwings patrolling the margins. A beautiful damselfly, I think; very fluttery and nice.
My idea with bringing Luka along on this particular adventure was so that he could do some swimming at our favorite hidden spot along Cedar Creek. Turns out our secret swimming hole is better known than I’d realized – the place was packed with paddlers stopping for a swim, too. Some were kind enough to amuse Luka with a really big stick. Turns out he’s a good swimmer since our last visit in the fall.

The cranberries are blooming now and I was surprised to see quite so many beehives along the dikes. Each field of 3 active bogs had a stack like this, busy with honeybees keeping Ocean Spray in business. Luka had a tussle with a bunch of them while I paying attention to something else – there was much fussing and rolling in the sand – but I don’t think he was stung more than a couple times. Dopey dog!

Cranberry flowers are very tiny and the plants grow *wild* along the margins of most cedar streams in the barrens; a particular delight of paddling there in the fall is the chance to sample a couple. The same plant is cultivated commercially and then harvested just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. The flower is deeply lobed and curled back on itself to expose the stamens. Early settlers saw the neck, head and beak of a crane and so called it *crane-berry*.

Another beautiful day in one of my favorite places. Plus, Luka’s tuckered out, finally.

😉

Dog days, Whatever

Monthly pupdate

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Luka’s turning one next month… it’s hard now to remember that he was ever this small and cute!

Just when I start believing that he’s very smart and well-trained… he’s learned to retrieve his own collar and leash from the table when we let him out of his crate to go pee… he does something incredibly pupply-like and stupid. The other morning I stepped out of the shower to find him sprawled on the couch eating a bar of Neutrogena soap, wrapper and all! You know the nice soap, from a hotel, that was sitting in a bag on the top of my desk? Right. He retrieved it.

He eats rocks… why should I be surprised that he’ll eat soap, too!

Dog days, Snapshots, Whatever

Getting away

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Here’s one that wouldn’t sit still long enough for a photo.

😉

In the on-going saga of our bathroom remodel, we’ve reached the point where we (I) needed to get away… the tile for the tub and floor is down, but we can’t use either, so we’ve packed up the dog to some hole-in-the-wall-hotel for the night. I’m not sure that Luka meets the requirements of a “well-behaved pet” exactly, but that’ll be our little secret.

😉

I’m just hoping he won’t destroy anything in the middle of the night.

Dog days, Pond

Got rocks?

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One by one he’s determined to remove every last rock from his personal wading pool (a.k.a. our little backyard pond). There’s no interest in the dry rocks on the shore; he prefers instead to snorkel for the choicest rock.


He runs around with it in his mouth like a prize, tail high in the air, before settling down for a good chew. (Yes, he eats rocks.)


He might even roll on his back some with it. Thank heavens he hasn’t discovered the joy of burying stuff yet! As it is, the DH’s patience is running thin.


Makes Luka pretty happy, though. I think he’s pleased to amuse and entertain us. (Well… me anyway.)


This is the fresh face I get should I be silly enough to reprimand him between fits of laughter. Have I mentioned lately how nutty this dog is?

Birds, Dog days, In the neighborhood, Seasons

Bayside

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Today was the type of Spring day I wait for… perfectly warm, a Friday, payday… and a chance to sneak off work early and hit the beach for a couple hours…


Because it’s nesting season for beach birds, Luka could only run on the bay side of Sandy Hook, but run he did! He swam some, too, and came across a couple mating horseshoe crabs floating in the flooded marsh. I guess this is the first full moon of the spring and the tide was very high, and well, the horseshoe crabs were doing their thing. Nice to see. I don’t know what it is about dogs and horseshoe crabs, but Luka barked and growled and was afraid like every other dog I’ve ever had.


He was in his element there, in the marsh, tasting the prickly pear cactus and chewing sticks after I tossed them into the water for him. He really wants to be a bird dog, I think, and he certainly looks the part, finally, when he’s in the water.


I had to hold him by the collar for a pic of us two… he was sopping wet at this point and had just run off with two complete strangers… such a friendly dog; I think he’d wander along with anyone so long as it looked like they were about to do something fun.


Speaking of fun… a girl after my own heart… searching a tidal pool for hermit crabs. Look at those wellies! She was careful to warn me not to be fooled by snails.


One of my favorite sunset views… the osprey platform in the far distance is occupied, as is usual, but the residents went off fishing soon after I arrived. Some brant are still around, but the calls of oystercatchers have replaced those of oldsquaw echoing across the bay. I found towhees in the holly forest, but no willets overhead, yet. It’s not properly Spring without the call of the willet.

Dog days, In the neighborhood, Seasons, Snapshots, Wildflowers

Woodland stirrings…

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I made it back this week to the woods and the little brook to see the beginnings of Spring emerging…
There were just a few Spring Beauties blooming, hidden among the more vigorous periwinkle. The miracle here is in the beginning… the budding that is happening everywhere in the woods. The willows are impatient, as are the swamp maples with their reddish haze; both reaching from their winter nakedness to the early sunlight for encouragement.

Flecks of gold from an early trout lily nestled in the fallen leaves of winter. Here is beauty perfected… ephemeral yet timeless in its allure. No sooner will they bloom and they’ll begin to fade, a part of the process and wonder of the season.

Squill was the flower of the moment this day and the early bees were paying attention to its carpet of offerings, however slight their nectar. My father always claimed Spring as his favorite season and as much as I love the Fall, I’m seeing now how we need Spring, or our hearts need the Spring and the chance to participate with time and sunshine; to be a part of that partnership.

The photographer’s assistant was most interested in partnering with the forest faeries to cast shade where it wasn’t wanted, or to set his rear on the prettiest patches of Squill to compete with their handsomeness, or to sample the edibility of fresh Skunk Cabbage leaves… (“Ick”, says Luka.)

Spring. Have you tasted it yet?

😉

Dog days, Whatever

Tulip rambles

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Spring was born today… I hope you found a minute to get out and enjoy it! I tried to, but it was as blustery and cloudy as mid-February and the extent of my fresh air for the day was standing around outside the carwash during my lunch hour.

😉

More grocery store tulips… red this time.

Luka was back to the vet after his neuter for a suture check – what a train wreck that dog is! Peed all over the handsome vet’s shoes… fussed and embarassed me.. at least everyone knows to expect it from a Lab. I’ve decided he needs a hobby (other than pestering me!) so I’m thinking of sending him to doggy day care at least one day a week for some more exercise. That’ll be easier, of course, once the weather improves, but still I think some time away from home may improve our relationship some.

😉

Last weekend I started to amass a little collection – for a photo shoot – of the things that I yank from Luka’s mouth in a typical day. There were wads of toilet paper (more often it’s the whole roll), assorted bunny toys and strands of hay (he thinks he’s a goat, I swear! – but it helps with the vacuuming), a couple charcoal briquettes. I stopped, though, when my husband told me he had eaten (EATEN!) two nails dropped when he was fixing the aluminum siding on the house. What dog eats nails without requiring a trip to the vet? Unbelievable.

He’s ninety pounds now, so you can imagine the challenge in making him do anything he doesn’t mean to do. I’d given up on the training harness and the prong collar and decided to go instead with the old standyby promise headcollar for tonight’s trip to the vet. Luka will walk okay on a lead for our regular walks, but a trip to the vet is something else, you know. I’d forgotten how hard it is for a dog to get used to one of those, nevermind a dog as mouthy as Luka! He was doing the alligator death-roll for most of the time at the vet – when he wasn’t peeing on someone’s shoes – remind me how long it’ll be before he’s civilized, please?

😉

I have a couple days off from work and am looking forward to some time to decompress – some time at the beach maybe; to greet the osprey and plovers, some time in the woods to look for bloodroot and woodcock and phoebes and mourning cloaks, some time on the couch to nap and daydream…