Sunshine

It was great seeing all of you this morning. Even though it is a fake Spring in February -- looking forward to the warm weather and Sunshine coming our way.

Spring 09

Springtime in Portland is grand ! I hope you all are enjoying the weather and flowers in bloom !!

Our little "angel," Pearl!

Happy Halloween!

Love,
Pearl

Leaves

From Autumn

Flash came to the 4th of July parade, too, and posed for his picture. What a face!

A Doggy 4th

Roz brought her leis (leftover from our march with Dogs Dig It at the Gay Pride parade) to the 4th...

Roz loved it--between the hot dog leavings and all the people she met, she had a great time.

Eric & Sharon

Elephant painting

My friend Stephanie sent me this video of an elephant that has been trained to paint on canvas in Northern Thailand.

Dog friendly places

I thought it might be fun to create a list of dog friendly places in Portland. What other places are pet friendly ?

• Lucky Lab
• Tin Shed

Dog Food Question.....

Hi Gang,

What dog food{s} do you feed your doggies and why ? Lately Sim & I have been using Blue Buffalo . I know there are some local options as well as other alternatives. I'd be curious to see a running list of what people choose and why.

Chloe visits the beach!

Chloe enjoyed her first visit to the beach during President's Day weekend.

p.s. Chloe is so happy that Pearl is back!

PEARL IS HOME -- MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!

After 17 days of searching for our baby girl, Pearl is home! She was a little thinner, had some fleas and wreaked of cat food but the sparkle in her eyes has not left and we are all thrilled to be reunited. She was clearly in someone's home most (if not all) of the time but we'll never know who or why or how ... but that's really ok. Our family is whole once again and that is all we can ask for! Thanks to all of our wonderful neighbors for the support and concern throughout this ordeal.

With friendship,
Ali & Neil Solari

Pearl is still missing!

Dear Neighbors,

With a heavy heart I write to let you all know that our sweet little Pearl is still missing.  We've been searching everywhere since Wednesday morning when she jumped out of my car near SE Woodstock & 48th.

Last night we had a search & rescue dog track her scent and the good news is that (according to search dog extraordinaire, Valorie) Pearl is alive but was picked up, likely by a stranger in a car, near the corner of SE 48th & Henry.

We are hoping and praying that whomever picked her up is a good soul and will find a way to contact us or take her to a local vet for identification via her microchip.

A search party is being organized for tomorrow morning (Saturday, 2/2) at 8:30 am.  We will be mapping out areas for going door-to-door with photo-fliers. If anyone can spare a little time helping, we would be forever grateful.

We are meeting at our house: 7821 SE 36th Ave.  Neil's cell: 503-381-1994.

Thanks so much.  We miss our little girl; this is breaking our hearts!!

Ali

Scrumpy is all decked out for Snow Shoeing

We went snow shoeing with Scrumpy last weekend again. She was all decked out in her new coat. She didn't care much for the snow booties however. Happy weekend gang !

Snowshoeing

Hello all you dog lovers! I was wondering if any of you knew where might be a good place/trail to go snowshoeing with the Cider girl. Figured up toward Mt. Hood obviously, but was just curious if any of you have gone and if so, what your experiences are or have been. Hope everyone is off to a great 2008! Thanks.

Blind dog leads the pack

Hi Gang,
Hope you had a nice relaxing holiday. Scrumpy is passed out on the couch as I type this dreaming up ways to coerce my mother (who is visting for the week) into further feeding her some of our breakfast.

In other news -- I read this article and thought I would share it with you all - Talk about realizing potential !

November 24, 2007 The Canadian Press

Isobel, a six-year-old husky cross, has all the great qualities of a sled dog. She loves to run, has strength and endurance, and works well alongside the other dogs tethered to the sleds that take tourists out on the subarctic terrain of Churchill, Man.

It takes a while for visitors to notice that she is completely blind.

"The dog lost its vision, but it didn't lose its spirit,'' Dr. Evan Fisk, Isobel's Winnipeg-based veterinarian said in a recent interview.

"It can smell, hear and feel other dogs nearby.''

Isobel not only follows other dogs on the sled team owned by Jenafor Ollander and her common-law husband, she sometimes runs lead in tandem with another husky.

"She runs tours every single day right now . . . and we have tourists from all over the world that are absolutely amazed,'' Ollander said.

"I'm sure some of them think I'm crazy when I tell them she's blind.''

Isobel wasn't born blind. Everything seemed fine until one day three years ago, when she suddenly came to a halt in the middle of a sled run and started staggering around.

"We hooked her back up in her house and noticed that both of her pupils were completely dilated,'' Ollander said.

"I remember a couple of people mumbling, 'What good is a blind sled dog? You should just take her out and shoot her.' And I'm a bit stubborn in nature . . . and I said, so what if she can't be a sled dog? She's a good dog.''

Isobel was taken to Winnipeg, where Fisk noticed her retinas had detached, possibly the result of a virus.

Back in Churchill, Isobel was kept indoors. Ollander figured she would be happy and safer inside.

Ollander was wrong.

"She stopped eating and drinking and we were quite concerned about what was going on,'' Ollander said.

"We happened to bring one of our other sled dogs home, and she perked right up. So it dawned on us that the problem was she was depressed and she missed her pack more than anything else.''

Isobel was soon reintroduced to her canine comrades and her behaviour improved right away. She started eating and drinking again.

With some hesitation, Ollander's husband decided to take a chance and hook Isobel up to the sled team and see what would happen.

"That dog ran like you wouldn't believe. She ran better than when she had her eyesight,'' Ollander said.

Isobel has been running ever since. She relies on the other dogs, human vocal commands, and her other senses to avoid obstacles.

It's not a complete surprise for Fisk.

"I believe that their senses adapt and they adjust, just like a person,'' he said.

"We know that people hone in well on their hearing skills and their sense of vibration and time and distance and smell and everything like that. And dogs become really acute at that. When they lose their vision, the rest of their senses kind of take over.''

Isobel is sometimes put up front with another dog for races, and has beat other dog teams in head-to-head competitions.

She still has a couple of good running years left in her. But she's already nearing the age when many sled dogs hang up their harness.

Finding a good home for her might be a challenge.

"We've had several people who've offered to adopt her . . . but we're really concerned because she just loves to run,'' Ollander said.

"We want to make sure that she doesn't end up in a situation where she gets depressed again.''

"She's OK in the dog yard where she has her dog yard buddies.''

Charlie

Thanks for the invite, Jacob. The doggies at Duniway have made Charlie feel right at home here in our new city of Portland. And we enjoy the park too! Lots of great people to meet and greet nearly everyday.

The Green Lantern

Today I found a Green Lantern in the school yard. It may be called a torch in the UK, possibly a flashlight here in East Moreland. I surmise that one of the Dawn Patrol dropped it. I would gladly like to return it to you. If you happen to be a literal, visual type, try to imagine that the torch, lantern, flashlight on the right is Green, not red.

You call this a fair fight?

Hey McKenzie, pick on someone your own size!

Finally logged in!

Hi Friends with dogs! We finally found the email inviting us to join. Our only digital photo of Ayla is her "shelter" photo. We'll bring the camera to Duniway to take some more. Thanks for thinking of us. Ayla's owners.. Ron and Amy.

cooper

Growly has left the N'hood though only by location not by his memories. Cooper(aka Growly) has left though on his first/last visit back he definitely felt at home barking at Sam and Ollie. I love my new hood... please come visit the Mississippi N'Hood, only 1 person died from gun shot wounds since I lived here. No it wasn't my gun....I don't even own a gun just a growly

Counting Candles

Awww, no need to hide, Little Bit. Mom and Dad want to share with everyone that you've made it to your first birthday!! Or seventh, I guess if we're doing the dog years thing. Plus it's a nice excuse to share pics of our Sweet Cider Jeanne. Make a wish and blow out those "candles"....

getting her feet wet...

We brought Scrumpy along to Sauvie Island today and she decided to get her feet wet at the beach. She met a a friend named Roger . The farmers market was nice and the sweet corn we brought home was delicious. Happy Labor day gang.

Good Luck Charm

I dedicate this little song to Jacob. He received a good luck charm from the sky the other afternoon.

Birdie, birdie, in the sky
Dropped a doodoo
Near my eye.

But I'm a big boy
And I don't cry.

I'm just glad that
Cows don't fly.

(I added my favorite bird to this post for completelness -Jacob)

Not unless you're a good girl...

Help us, PLEASE!! This past Sunday, we had Mr. Harry Oakes, search and rescue dog trainer, over to our house to help us in our training. Cider, as most of you are aware, loves to greet people by jumping up on them. We would really love to break her of this habit, especially before rain and mud come back again, and we are going to need your help.

Please please please, if Cider comes to say hello to you, make her sit before giving her any kind of attention. Ignore her otherwise, turn your back to her, say no and give a little knee so she'll get down, anything! Once she sits nicely, then you can bend down to her level and say hello. She's never going to learn this right if all of us keep "letting" her jump up on us.

We can't tell you enough how much this means to us and all of those Cider says hello to (especially the mini-sized humans) and know that if you can help, it will make her learning so much faster and easier. Thank you thank you thank you so much in advance!!

I'm sleepy

Playing with my Eastmoreland friends makes me tired...

How Does Your Brain See Color?

Below is an example of The ColorText Brain Teaser. You do it by saying the color of each word. Be careful not to say the color named by the word. Example: if you see Blue you would say “red” because the color of the word blue is red. It’s harder than it looks. Give it a try…

http://dmiracle.com/conversation/how-does-your-brain-see-color/

Thanks for your kindness to the new puppy!

To everyone we met this morning, thank you! Pearl had a great time and I'm looking forward to chatting with y'all on a weekly basis and watching Pearl grow and become fully integrated into the Eastmoreland Pack. Ali Solari

perseid meteor shower -august 12th

http://www.omsi.edu/visit/planetarium/starparties.cfm

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is getting ready for its largest star party of the year on August 12! Stargazers will be meeting at Rooster Rock State Park at 9 p.m. to watch and enjoy the wonder of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

August brings one of the year's most famous and enjoyed meteor shower – the Perseid Meteor Shower. Hundreds of star lovers from across the Pacific Northwest are expected to attend OMSI's biggest star show of the year. The event, sponsored by OMSI, the Rose City Astronomers, the Vancouver Sidewalk Astronomers and Oregon Parks and Recreations will have telescopes set up for attendees to use. Jim Todd, OMSI's planetarium manager, will be presenting informal talks about the meteor shower, constellations, and the summer sky.

The Perseid Meteor Shower occurs when the Earth enters the path of debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle in its last trip past the Sun. Swift-Tuttle follows a highly eccentric orbit around the Sun with an orbital period of about 130 years. The comet last passed by the Earth in December 1992.

This strong annual shower can produce 20 to 60 meteors an hour, though because of the light pollution and other factors, "many are too faint to see with the naked eye," Todd said. "Still, an observer in a dark subdivision can hope to see few meteors on the peak nights. This year the New Moon will not be a factor during the prime meteor-watching until the early morning. Under these conditions, you will see a Perseid or two each minute."

Rooster Rock State Park is located 22 miles east of Portland on I-84 at exit 25. The event is free, and there is a $3 per vehicle parking fee for public.

Cowboy Hats and Keens

Bosco sees Bill and Maddy in the distance..

Angus contemplates existence...

Here are some shots from this morning. Bill and Maddy performing the Oregon welcome for Cliff ! It was nice meeting you and slick pair of keens you had on there ! As for me -- I'm back to yard work duty for this afternoon. I'm hoping to see the Bourne Ultimatum later if time permits. Cheers & Happy Saturday...

Day Camp

Hey all!! This is Cider's Ma, Oona. (Yes it looks like Ooooona but you say it Own-a, FYI.) I have a question for you and your fine canine friends. Has anyone ever heard of Double Dog Ranch? It's like an adventure camp for dogs and my hubby Brian and I are considering taking Cider there for some fun in the sun when we go on vacation in October. Also, their website has info on a trainer that sounds like he's got a great resume, if anyone knows anything. I'd really like to get Cider thru obedience - ultimate goal: passing the AKC's Canine Good Citizen Test someday. Thanks for your input. See you in the A.M.!!