Entries categorized as ‘Dogs’
February 28, 2010 · 1 Comment
I spend a lot of time on airplanes, which means I spend a lot of time listening to the sound of screaming children.
I’ve always said that discipline — or lack there of — is revealed in tight spaces.
(Some parents also don’t seem to know to give their infants a bottle at take-off and landing to relieve the pressure in their ears. We really need to get that trick out there.)
I was reminded of all those crying babies this morning in Central Park. There really weren’t that many children out that early — just lots and lots of dog parents and their kids.
A lack of discipline run amuck.
Because of the heavy snow, the powers that be in Central Park opened the Great Lawn, and the dogs and their humans were taking full advantage. I’ve never seen so many packed in one spot at one time.
And while dogs don’t scream, their people certainly do. Scream their names. Scream “Come” (with little effect). Just scream. And let’s face it — if you don’t spend the first few months of your dog’s life training them, you spend years just screaming at them.
And your dog gets branded as ‘bad.’ How unfair is that?
So, whether your child is human, or of the canine variety, do them and the world a favor. Teach them some rules…and then stick to them.
It will make for a happier planet (and hopefully, a tad quieter one, too).
Categories: Dogs · Humor · Travel
Tagged: airplane travel, Central Park, Central Park Great Lawn, child behavior, children, dog parents, dog training, dog walks, Dogs, Humor, kids, New York City, Travel
January 25, 2010 · 1 Comment
Over the weekend Rory Dog and I met a couple carrying their brand new malti-poo puppy. That’s a maltese/poodle combination (’cause everything’s better with a little poo).
The pup was only 12 weeks old and cute as a bug, so I asked his name.
“Hubbell,” his mom announced proudly.
“Awww,” I replied. “Like Robert Redford in ‘The Way We Were.’”
She glanced at her husband, then they both looked at me blankly. “Haven’t heard of that one. We actually named him after the telescope.”
Snap. It’s official — I’m old.
Or perhaps these young whippersnappers just aren’t up on their movies. “The Way We Were”, released in 1973, stars Redford and Barbra Streisand as two lovers in post-World War II whose relationship can’t survive her politics or his expectations.
The movie was nominated for six Oscars and won two, for Best Score and Best Original Song, which was also sung by Streisand. (I’ll bet Hubbell the pup’s mom and dad could name that song in three notes).
It’s one of the most romantic movies ever made and still in my top five.
And if I were a puppy, I’d sure as heck rather have Robert Redford as the inspiration for my name than a big ol’ magnifying lens.
I’m just saying.
Categories: Dogs · Humor · Movies
Tagged: Academy Award, Barbra Streisand, Dogs, Hubble, Hubble telescope, maltese, Movies, New York City, Oscars, poodle, Robert Redford, Rory Dog, The Way We Were movie, The Way We Were song, World War II
I read all the celebrity rags — and I certainly hope they read me — because today I am throwing a HUGE scoop their way.
It’s not an actual story, but it is the must-have tool to getting those major headlines they so highly covet.
It’s a dog.
I have discovered that, if Rory is with me, or if I am discussing him with another dog owner, they are willing to spill all kinds of personal information at the drop of the hat. I don’t have to ask; I don’t have to care; I don’t even have to want to know.
It just pours out of them. It’s like they have no control.
Take this morning, for instance. My dog Rory and I were returning from our morning walk in Central Park with my sister who is visiting from Oregon. We stopped to chat on the street with a woman who was walking her maltese/poodle mix puppy.
The conversation began innocently enough — what kind of dogs, how old, names, etc. And then it started. Her former dog was a poodle who lived to be 17 years old…before it drowned in her pool…and she’s living with the guilt.
Oh. My. God. Who tells that kind of story…to anyone, let alone a total stranger on the street??
Or there’s the lady on the airplane who, when we were swapping dog owner stories mid-flight, suddenly asked for my advice on the best time to dump her live-in boyfriend — before or after the holidays?
(Perhaps crate training gives me a unique perspective.)
Celebrity press, take note. Paparazzi, paws to consider. Reporters with dogs on leash will get far juicer stories from the famous people you ‘hound’ on a daily basis.
Woof.
Categories: Books & Mags · Dogs · Humor · Television · Travel
Tagged: celebrities, Central Park, Dogs, entertainment, magazines, New York City, paparazzi, publishing, Television, Travel
December 20, 2009 · 1 Comment
Maybe it’s the nine inches of snow on the ground. Maybe it’s the fact that my dog’s post-surgery leg kinda resembles a little bootie. Or maybe it’s the darn online shopping articles that I’ve encountered this week.
But I feel compelled to speak out against a product today.
That product? Uggs.
That’s right. The celebrity favorite. Worn in every kind of weather, on every coast. A brand that has almost lost its trademark because people throw the name around with the same regularity of ‘Kleenex’ and ‘Xerox.’
But I have to go on record here. In the beginning , I craved Uggs. Had to have Uggs. Asked for Uggs for Christmas and was lucky enough to receive Uggs.
I wore my Uggs for less than one winter season, and my classic, beautiful, expensive Uggs developed a hole — not in the bottom where you might expect it — but in the top of the toe. That one-of-a-kind, special Australian leather crapped out in just a few months.
Damn Uggs.
I replaced them with a pair of L. L. Bean knock-offs. That pair was less than half the price and lasted for years. In fact, I only replaced it this year because I wanted more colors.
This year, I got two pairs. These knock-off Uggs are made by Lamo — that’s right — Lamo. The name is ridiculous, but they are comfortable and durable and come in all kinds of colors…and cost me $30.
So, if you think you NEED a pair of Uggs for Christmas this year, remember my cautionary tale. The brand name is simply that — a name. The companies that have followed have not just copied the design.
They’ve made it better.
Categories: Dogs · Fashion · Humor
Tagged: celebrity fashion, Fashion, holiday shopping, Holidays, Kleenex, L.L Bean, Lamo, pop-up ads, shoes, snow, Uggs, winter weather, Xerox
Unless you are avoiding the news for some reason, you’ve probably heard about the huge snowstorm barreling toward the Northeast this very minute. New York City — which storms normally dance around in these instances — is predicted to get over a foot of the white stuff.
And to think, just Thursday I was bragging to a cab driver in Rochester about how ‘we don’t get that kind of weather where I live.’
Oops.
Well, it will make a lovely white Christmas for everyone visiting Manhattan (my sister and her husband included). But the local headlines are focused primarily on the possible loss of retail dollars if shoppers can’t get to the stores in the bad weather.
Have any of these people ever been to New York City in a snowstorm?
Minutes — and I mean literally minutes — after major inches of snow have been dumped on the city, they disappear from the streets and sidewalks. Our street cleaning crews are on it…sometimes quicker than I — a dog owner — would prefer.
Those streets are cleared and salted pronto, and I have to pull out the dog booties to get Rory to venture out since the salt really bothers his feet. It’s either embarrassing booties, or me carrying him all the way to Central Park…and ya gotta romp in Central Park in the snow. It’s a New York City tradition.
Just like shopping at Christmas time. We’ll get out there, don’t you worry.
And if it’s that bad, there’s always online, right?
Categories: Dogs · Holidays · Humor
Tagged: Central Park, Christmas, dog booties, Dogs, holiday shopping, Holidays, Manhattan, New York City, Rochester, shopping, snow, snowstorm, street cleaning, street salt, weather
December 17, 2009 · 1 Comment
Ten days ago, my dog Rory had surgery on his torn ACL. He is recovering like gangbusters, and I want to thank everyone for their good wishes. I feel incredibly lucky at his continuing good health.
But today’s column is dedicated to the dogs that have gone before him — to the dogs in my past, my friends’ best buds, and , in fact, any dog who has brought joy to his or her person.
To Pepe, a true hound dog who loved to chase cars (and caught a few from time to time).
To Muffin, a cute little dog with a girlie name, whose long hair hid one eye and a sneak-up-behind-you bite.
To two dogs named Booger, one who never really learned to come when his name was called, and the other who would have been wise to hide when it was.
To Ubu, the ‘five-minute dog,’ whose excitability (and poor sense of direction) lives forever in legend.
To Pepper, a sweetheart of a dog who introduced me to cockapoos, and inspired me to bring Rory into my life.
To Rocky, the smartest Sheltie I ever met, and Beth’s best friend for more than a decade.
To Juneau, a beautiful white American Eskimo dog who loved Lisa very much.
To Digger and O’Malley, Paul’s best friends, who traveled with him across the US (and, in O’Malley’s case, Europe, too).
And to Shooter, Mike’s very best friend, who left him Sunday for the biggest journey of all.
We will never forget you.
Pay tribute to a dog friend you have known and loved by making a contribution this holiday season to the Humane Society of the United States.
Categories: Dogs · Humor
Tagged: ACL surgery, American Eskino dog, cockapoo, dog bite, dog chasing car, dog surgery, Dogs, Humane Society of the United States, Sheltie dog
December 9, 2009 · 1 Comment
How do people without dogs organize their days?
I’ll admit, I’ve quite forgotten.
As most of you know, my dog Rory has been in the hospital since Monday morning. (He’s coming home later today.) I knew his being away would be weird for me — the house seems empty when he’s at the groomer for three hours — but I never imagined how profoundly his absence would change my days.
For starters, I can’t get up in the morning. Rory is my alarm clock. I find myself falling back to sleep…and I usually pop right out of bed. Yesterday, noises in the hallway finally jarred me awake at 9:00am!
Nice one, Carla.
I also forget to eat meals without Rory here to remind me. I work from home and, without his very regularly scheduled head bumps on my leg at noon and five o’clock, I end up eating two or three hours late…or not at all. And I don’t get my regular walks in Central Park or around the neighborhood, either.
It’s true what they say — dogs do keep you healthy.
And bedtime just isn’t the same without Rory Dog around to ‘bark me in.’ (I never seem to move fast enough for him, so he is always ‘encouraging me’ to move it along.) Last night I found a dozen mindless chores to occupy my time, and didn’t lie down until almost two o’clock in the morning (which may also explain why I overslept).
Rory loves his routine, and his routine has become mine.
And apparently, I need his daily supervision to stick to it.
Categories: Dogs · Humor · Sports
Tagged: alarm clocks, children, diet, dog walks, Dogs, health, insomnia, oversleeping, walking for exercise
Rory is having surgery today.
“It’s really nothing major,” his surgeon reassured me. “Lots of cockapoos have bad kneecaps and ruptured ligaments. We do this procedure all the time.”
I know it’s true. Heck, Rory had this surgery a couple of years ago on his other hind leg. But it’s hard to tell your shaking, frightened puppy that the next six weeks of pain and changes in his beloved routine are ’standard.’
Rory will bounce back from his experience far sooner than I. And in the long run, I know it’s the best thing for his health and well-being.
But that was hard to remember this morning.
A STUMP FOR A TAIL
You can’t buy loyalty, they say
I bought it though, the other day;
You can’t buy friendship, tried and true,
Well, just the same, I bought that too.
I made my bid, and on the spot
Bought love and faith and the whole job lot
Of happiness, so all in all
The purchase price was pretty small.
I bought a single trusting heart,
That gave devotion from the start.
If you think these things are not for sale,
Buy a brown-eyed puppy
with a stump for a tail.
— author unknown —
Categories: Dogs · Humor
Tagged: Carla Curtsinger, cockapoo, dog surgery, Dogs, Rory Curtsinger
As dates go in history, December 2nd is a biggie.
Case in point: Charles Dickens held his first public reading in New York City on December 2, 1887. Wonder if anyone said, “Please sir, I want more”?
Or, if you’ve ever shaved any part of your body, thank Gillette — he patented the first disposable razor on this date back in 1901.
And, in a surprising find for even the Internet, Ringo Starr had his tonsils removed on December 2, 1964….which kinda explains a lot.
But of all the events that have taken place on this day in history, I declare December 2, 1998 the most monumental…at least, in my world. For on this day, 11 years ago, Rory Diggins Dugan Curtsinger was born a chocolate cockapoo in southeastern Missouri.
I didn’t have the great pleasure of meeting him until January 12, 1999 — his adoption day — but I celebrate both….usually with a birthday cake for his human friends (’cause Rory prefers meat, cheese or peanut butter).
Business took me out of town today, but never fear — I will be with the birthday boy this evening. And we’ll do something worthy of the history books…and of all the love and joy this amazing little pup has brought into my life.
Happy Birthday, Rory Dog!
XOXO
Mama Dog
Categories: Books & Mags · Broadway · Dogs · Fashion · Humor · Movies · Music · Travel
Tagged: Charles Dicken, Dancing Lady movie, December 2, Dogs, Fred Astaire, Gillette razors, history, James Monroe, Monroe Doctrine, Movies, New York City, Ringo Starr, today in history
