Briefly....

A reminder that this is an endangered blog.

The Human Assistant doesn't want to help me with it anymore. If you're reading this and want me to keep blogging, please leave a comment. (And thanks to those who have!)

If you're not reading this and want me to keep blogging, please leave a comment!

I bring this up again because last night's blog was a disaster. Of course it took a long time for H.A. to make his pictures pretty. (Or as pretty as they were going to get, anyway!)

But he didn't mind that because they were pictures of me, after all. Oh, and one of Gremlin.

Well, yes, and a couple of girls at MaxFund. He puts some of those photos on the forum where volunteers hang out. So my point is that he would have spent the time on the pictures anyway.

Then he thought we'd just slap 'em on the blog, write a little, and done! It took about four times longer than he thought. I don't know what took all that time because I dozed off. But I know it made him late getting up and getting our breakfast!

So just a couple of quick things tonight. Then we're outta here!

This picture made me think of Zim from the Army of Four staring at cats.

Only this one is from the kitty's point of view!

And even through a window with noseprints you can see that that dog isn't as handsome as Zim!

That kitten is cute!

But H.A. says that puppies, kittens, and human babies are cute so they can suck you in.

Then they grow up!

Maybe sheep babies suck you in too.

This little lambie seems to be jumping on cue. Is this something puppies can do?



Not when a human wants a video of it, of course. But maybe when somedoggy else in the pack says, "Dog, that's really annoying!" With a cue like that?

I don't remember. Being a puppy was a long time ago for me. And I kinda like doing what the H.A. says so I can get treats! But I was just wondering.

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-- "moar funny pictures" frm icanhascheezburger
-- video from YouTube via itchmo

Meeting girls

Wednesday morning we got a little snow!

Not enough for much excitement. But the Human Assistant made sure to get a picture of Gremlin with snow on her nose. Because Amber made a joke about having a snow nose that he thought was funny.

I'm going places!	Gremlin with a snow nose

H.A. did take treats to the MaxFund shelter on Wednesday. And guess who got to go for a ride!

We went into the nice yard that's supposed to be mostly for supervised exercise. For dogs at the clinic that have surgery and stuff.

It's also used a lot for "meet and greets." Somebody applies to adopt a dog. They already have a dog or two. They bring their dogs. MaxFund brings out the shelter dog. See if it works out.

I remember meeting Ringo there. We weren't going to adopt him. We just wanted to make sure he wouldn't annoy me too much if the shelter had a sudden need for him to get fostered.

This time they brought out Sequoia, who I mentioned before. She's not up on the Maxfund adoption page yet.

Me 'n' Sequoia checkin' the doggie news	"No, I don't have the zoomies just now."

We can't really adopt Sequoia, either. Or foster her. Our fence is too low. Also, it could be dug under really easily. Sequoia's a youngster with lots of energy. She'd want to get out of our yard and burn her Wheaties by running half-way to who knows where.

So the H.A. had them bring out Lucy. I've mentioned her before. A couple of times.

"That's not a threat, that's a promise!"	"Fascinating.  I have something over here, too."
"Why yes, Lucy, I believe you're correct!"	♫♪♬  My heart knows what the wild goose knows....

I whined when they took Lucy back inside. I don't know why, exactly. It's not like we played together or anything.

I mean, sure, we sniffed each other's behinds and all. But otherwise we just kinda poked around the yard going our own ways.

I also met Zena. She's a senior Yellow Lab, I think. She was okay too. But she did put her nose someplace I don't like sniffed very well. She doesn't have a MaxFund page yet, either.

And H.A. sorta forgot to take pictures of her. Sheesh! And he forgot to take fresh batteries along. Even though he knew the old ones were running down.

He probably thought he was still taking pictures when the batteries gave out and the camera shut down!

So he only got 10 pictures there. Including one of some dumb noisy birds flying over.

Anyway. I wonder whether H.A. is definitely planning on bringing another dog home. Maybe he's negotiating. Like, "Drop the blog or you'll have a couple more dogs in your way!"

Maybe we can compromise. He really does spend too much time helping with my blog. He takes lots of time sizing pictures and making them look better. Then he has to get them on Blogger. Then put them in the blog, which should be easy but isn't. Because of the Blogger editor, he says.

Sometimes he looks on the internet for things for me to comment on. While he's typing what I say, he looks things up and adds links to them. When he finally posts the pages, they don't look right to him. So he dinks around with the page format.

Thank dog I can't snooze while he's doing lots of that stuff!

So he hasn't decided what to do yet. He doesn't want me to lose contact with my friends. But he doesn't want to make the blog a full-time job, he says.

I'll keep leaning on him. We'll see what happens. Here's an example of how he wastes his time. He decided I need a hexagram from the I Ching to think about. Or he needed one. So here it is.

 Xü

☵

☰

[Clouds are forming in the sky, but there is no rain yet. Patience.  mr_ed]

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Lucky dog

I'm a lucky dog!

Especially since the Human Assistant is mad and didn't want to help me tonight.

Doubly especially since he's mad at himself and not me!  ::big Husky grin::

But I'm getting the sled in front of the team.

H.A. was thinking about going to MaxFund on Tuesday. That's because we went to a store called Wag N' Wash on Monday. So Gremlin and I went for a rare ride. And ... I got to go in!

So actually, I was lucky on Monday too!

Anyway, they gave us bags and bags and bags of dog food to take to MaxFund. They said it was expired. Dead? I don't know. But H.A. was happy to take it.

So he was thinking about going to the shelter on Tuesday. Then they called him.

Uh oh!

They called about one thing that wasn't important. Fund raising, I think.

Then they talked about something else. Ten baby puppies were coming in!

Not as young as the newborns in the picture. But only 17 days old!

They asked if he would foster some of them, and he said yes!

Oh wooooo!

Now, 17-day-old puppies would not be getting in my way - yet. But they would take attention away from me!

Plus, getting up every 25 minutes or whatever to feed them would make H.A. very sleepy. He forgets things when he's sleepy. I don't want him to forget to feed me!

I mean us. Gremlin and me. If he fed her and not me, of course I would eat her food. So that would be no problem. But if he forgot to feed both of us ... big problem!

Now, the H.A. did not sleep well Monday night. So he was forgetful Tuesday morning. He got to the shelter and didn't have his camera. This was a good thing! A lucky thing!

No camera meant not spending time taking each puppy's picture. And fixing each puppy's picture. And putting each puppy's picture here on the blog.

Not spending time on puppy pictures means not thinking about them. Which means not getting all mushy about how cute they are. And how helpless. And how much they need their Human Assistant.  Ptooie!

Of course it also means having more time to spend on me! So that was lucky thing number one for me.

Lucky thing number two was that their human mom only brought in six puppies instead of ten. At two puppies per foster home, that meant that MaxFund only needed three fosters. And four volunteered. So H.A. backed out. No baby puppies here!

Later in the day he realized that he did have his camera at MaxFund! It was in the car. He was too sleepy to remember - see what I mean?

So that's why he's mad at himself. Coulda had pictures. He says they really were cute puppies. Maybe one of the foster homes will take some.

While he was at the shelter, mr_ed also walked Medusa.

You may remember that I mentioned her last week.

Once again, H.A. stopped at the car to get his walking stick and glasses, and in jumped a dog!

I guess I'm lucky he didn't jump in too and bring her home.

One other lucky thing.

He took a long time getting home. That doesn't sound lucky, but....

He found out that the big dogs at MaxFund like a particular treat that I like too! So he bought three big boxes of it. He brought one of them into the house. The other two will go to the shelter.

Maybe today, he says. I sure hope I'm lucky and MaxFund doesn't call and ask him to foster somedoggy else!

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p.s. -- no word on dropping the blog yet.


-- photo of Medusa by Nicole Howard
-- photo of newborn puppies from Wikipedia

Endangered blog

African Wild Dogs are an endangered species.

Isn't this one cute? Maybe it's a puppy.

This blog is also endangered!

The Human Assistant doesn't want to help me with it anymore.

He says it's not worth his time. Never mind both of ours.

He's been reading stuff at Google by someone named Anna Littix. She watches everdoggy's Google blog and can tell you things about yours. Like, we get 10 visitors a day. Pretty much every day.

H.A. says this isn't very many visitors. I think he's jealous because I have more friends than he does!

But Anna also says that all of our visitors combined spend less than 11 minutes a day here. Maybe everydoggy's a speed reader! Or they read the blog on a reader site and don't come here.

I don't know how that works. But I think it means we could have a bazillion friends spending ninety-eleven hours a day reading the blog but Anna wouldn't know about it.

If you read the blog, please write a comment. Otherwise H.A. may find another way to spend his time. Like bringing home more foster dogs. That wouldn't be good!

Thank you!

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❅-☹-❅-☹-❅-☹-❅-☹-❅

-- photo of African Wild Dog from Wikipedia

Sibe of the Month Club

The MaxFund shelter has another Siberian Husky now! The Human Assistant went there on Sunday. We have exclusive pictures of Sequoia!

They went to the car to get his walking stick and distance glasses. She jumped right in! Pushy little thing! When he didn't get in and drive, she got back out again.

I'm in! Let's go!	Phooey! I'm getting out

Sequoia just arrived a few days ago. And she has to have that no-puppies operation. So she's not available for adoption yet. And so she doesn't have a link on MaxFund's dog page yet.

They went for a walk. Then they had to wait to get the exercise yard to themselves.

Hey! Is that another dog?	It is another dog! Let's go let's go!

Sequoia didn't get to mix with any other dogs that day. H.A. said the other volunteers all seemed kinda busy and in a hurry.

When they were in the yard, he unleashed her. She ran back and forth a few times and then sniffed around everywhere.

To catch a rabbit, run like a rabbit!	Ain't I dainty?

Can you tell she's a puppy? About 10 months old. She came from the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter. I guess she had been on their list too long.

Or they thought she'd get adopted easier at MaxFund, or something. But H.A. says there isn't any other info in her file.

Here are the other Sibes that have been at MaxFund just in the last few months! H.A. has volunteered there for over a year. They didn't have any Siberians until lately!

Adam's calendar photo	Payton's MaxFund photo
Ringo's MaxFund photo	Solo's MaxFund photo

It kinda seems like MaxFund became a Siberian Husky rescue group over the summer!  ::big Husky grin::  It's good to know that they're going to good homes!

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-- photos of Adam, Payton, Ringo, and Solo by Nicole Howard

Tree trouble

Here are a few more snow pictures from Wednesday. The Human Assistant took 22 pictures and not one has me in it!

He was going to take me out front with him. He thought he'd attach a 30-foot rope to my leash and tie me to something so I wouldn't go into the street with him. Or wherever.

But look what he found!

Somedoggy chewed this rope!	Closeup of chewed rope

Was it a mouse? Or was it Mystique? You know who gets my vote!

It sure wasn't one of the other seven dogs that lived here this year. Only one of us chewed plastic flower pots, aluminum cans, and furniture!

Anyway. While the Human Assistant was unpacking a new rope, Gremlin peed in the living room. Which H.A. always blames me for.

I'm not sure he has a firm grasp on anatomy. Maybe he thinks I'm a ventrilopissed or something.

Then he said he'd had enough with doggies for a while. He went out front by himself. He found these human-made trees leaning one way and another.

Which way is up?	Are they okay like that?

He said these human trees are called poles.

Well, humans have better eyesight than dogs do. Plus his camera has a zoom lens. But I don't know how you can tell Poles​¹ from Czechs or Slovaks ... or Ukrainians, even.

Then he went in the back yard to take more pictures. Oh no!

Broken branch in apple tree	Poor apple tree!

H.A. told me that one big branch of the apple tree broke off! Right at the trunk! And it's on the red-apple side of the tree!

He said that it's been broken a little while now. The snow wasn't heavy enough to do that in this last storm. Or maybe too many squirrels jumped up and down on the branch all at the same time.

I don't know. But he said this is a good time of year to get the tree pruned. Which he says it needed anyway.

::sigh::

He says there will still be lots of red apples for me next year. And that I hadn't even noticed it was broken before now. So why get upset now?

Well, maybe. At least there are still some apples falling off the tree. I can round up one or two a day. So that's good.

Here are a couple of pictures of other animals pretending to be Siberian Huskies. They cheered me up a little.  ::small Husky grin::



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​¹ In one short story, Isaac Asimov wrote that the smallest spelling change you can make to an English word that will change how it's pronounced is to capitalize polish.

"moar funny pictures" frm icanhascheezburger

Safety tip

The blog planned for this time slot has been delayed for something important from current news.

A safety tip for Siberian Huskies who swim.

Espeically where there is ice under the water.

First, don't swim there!

What the heck are you thinking? You're not a polar bear!

If you're that starved you won't be able to catch a seal anyway.

Second, you're also not the Unsinkable Molly Brown.

If that ice pokes a hole in your tummy, you're in trouble!

Maybe that other dog that you jump on and roll and generally harass will come to save you.

And maybe he won't!

If he doesn't, you're the Titanic!

If you're really lucky, he'll help you and you'll just be the Explorer.

=//=//=//=//=//=//=//=//=

Yesterday the cruise ship M.S. Explorer hit ice and sank.

She was owned by Canadians, eh?

Who probably don't know anything about icebergs.

=//=//=//=//=//=//=

I don't know why you'd want to swim, anyway.

But if you do, watch out for things that can poke your tummy!

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p.s.  Also watch out for rampaging monkeys and drive-thrus where they don't ask if you want fries with that.

-- photos from Wikipedia

Giving thanks

It's hard to even know where to start being thankful!

There are so many humans and animals who have to struggle just to live from day to day.

Timber was an old gal who lived here before I came.

She had been dumped in the hills.

But somebody caught her and brought her to town. The Human Assistant got her from the rescue group.

Timber didn't ask for much. In fact, she didn't ask for anything.

But she was grateful to be part of a pack that got food in their bowls.

Sometimes she would eat from somedoggy else's bowl, but Gremlin and Zot would let her.

For sure she lined up with them when it was time for treats! And she loved walks. Like we all do, of course. But the H.A. says she was very well-mannered. Never pulled on the leash! Can you imagine?

And when he took all of them out together, Timber picked a spot beside Gremlin and would walk right there. Until Gremlin would head to one side or the other to sniff things. Timber kept going straight ahead. But when Gremlin got back in line, Timber lined up with her again.

H.A. says it made him sad to think of such a pack-loving sweetie being out on her own, all alone.

He is thankful for the basics. We're so lucky to have food and a home! Then he is very, very grateful for his family and friends. Some have four legs, but some have only two.

He took this picture of his family about 12 years ago.

Mutzger and Gremlin were buddies, sorta.

They did like grooming each other.

It looks like Mutzger doesn't want her ear licked, but actually she loved the attention.

And she loved giving it back to Gremlin. Who is the one with touchy ears she didn't really want licked.

As for me ... I am grateful for cars and clothes and collars and leashes.

If H.A. didn't have those things, he would stay in the house all the time! And I would never be able to get out and see the world!

And we would run out of food and treats! That would be terrible!

I'm thankful that humans think Siberian Huskies are handsome and beautiful.

[Especially fluffy Meeshka. Whose picture is on Wikipedia. Which Amber noticed!]

And that hardly anyone thinks I'm a wolf.

So people are nice to me.

And I almost never hear that I can't be a Sibe because I'm red instead of black or gray. ::SNORT!::

I mean, shouldn't an "Irish coat" be red? How many leprechauns have you seen with black hair? Heh.

Anyway. I hope you all are having a good day! A good Thanksgiving holiday if you're in the U.S. A very good other kind of day if it's not an official holiday where you are!

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-- photo of bi-eyed, red Siberian Husky our friend Meeshka from Wikipedia Penny Blankenship's flickr page via Wikipedia

-- edited 23/11/07 to credit Penny Blankenship for Meeshka's photo

In Memorium

John F. Kennedy

May 29, 1917
November 22, 1963

-- image of Aaron Shikler's official White House oil portrait from The White House Historical Association

Al-Can Highway Day!

Okay, this is a little late in the day. But on November 21 we can celebrate the Alaska-​Canadian Highway being finished - 45 years ago!

Al-Can Highway map	Porsche Cayenne SUV

Not that the highway was completely finished on November 21.

I mean, there was a through road by October 28. But it was a "pioneer road," says that Wikipedia article. You wouldn't have wanted to drive your $90,000 Porsche SUV over it, probably.

If you had one then.

(But it would have cost less than 1/10th as much back then​¹. So why not?)

Anyway. There was a road of sorts on November 21. It cost a lot of hard work and even a few deaths. It's been improved over the years so that now it's almost an Arctic Autobahn.

Someday maybe the Human Assistant will say "Tucker! Ride?" And we'll head North to Alaska!

Alaska-Canada Highway ~ It's a long way to Tipperary ~	Dartmouth Avenue looking west Where's the mountains?

Al-Can Highway ... Dartmouth Avenue. Some subtle differences.  

For example, one is in Denver, the other one isn't. The Human Assistant can take pictures of one of them without even going outside, the other one he can't.

So this is just to show you how much snow we got last night. Not much. But every little bit gives the suburban farmers more water for next year's crop.

Not the snow that falls here. That water will be used and gone by then. No, the snow in the mountains. It builds up over the winter. Skiers get drunk and barf in it. Wild animals do their thing in it.

And next spring it will melt. Everyone who drinks water from surface sources (like, about a million and a half people in this area) has it flow into their sinks.

And people wonder why dogs aren't very choosy about what goes in our mouths!  ::BIG Husky Grin:: !

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​¹  inflation estimates:

$8748 using Gross Domestic Product data for 1942 and 2007 (estimated);

$7740 using Consumer Price Index for 1942 and 2004 (latest figure available);

$6414.80 using Consumer Price Index for 1942 and 2006 (latest figure available);

-- photo of Porsche Cayenne, and map & photo of the Al-Can Highway, from Wikipedia

Two happy endings

Monday's weather was just how the Human Assistant likes it! Blue sky, cool air, warm sun. Tuesday morning's weather too.

Tuesday afternoon got cold, fast. It even snowed the tiniest bit in the evening.

Monday afternoon H.A. liked the weather but stayed indoors. Well, he did go help a friend with a computer. But they didn't do that outside!

Tuesday afternoon he didn't like the weather, but he worked in the yard. Of course I liked the cold, so I stayed outside with him. But, I mean ... who can figure humans out?

H.A. picked up all the apples that were on the ground. And there aren't many left on the tree. I'm afraid the days of lying around with an apple next to me are about over for this year.

Which was half the point of H.A. picking them up off the ground. (The other half is not wanting the neighbors to tell him the yard smells like vinegar.)

He thinks I may be more friendly to other dogs when I don't have an apple or three to guard. (Three was the most I ever had at one time.)

I don't know about that.

Holly, H.A. hasn't seen any Siberian Huskies in the area lately that are the right age or sex to bring here (except in an emergency).

See, he figures another male and I would get into fights. And he thinks a senior would be better for me and for our yard. A senior wouldn't bug me all the time like that darned puppy, Mystique. And wouldn't jump over our 4-foot fence.

Speaking of Mystique. When H.A. stopped working in the yard, he came in and surfed the net. Look what terrible thing he found! It must be Mystique's southern cousin!

Radar/Happy Welsh Corgi and Blue Heeler	Mystique alleged Blue Heeler mix

I didn't understand Radar's story when the H.A. read it to me from itchmo. So he had to hunt down the articles.

First was the original story that was published Monday:

Family drops off dog with veterinarian and travels out of town;

Vet neuters dog and boards him for several weeks;

Family comes back to get dog from vet;

Dog doesn't act eager to leave;

Three days later dog jumps fence;

Dog travels one mile to vet's clinic;

Dog waits and waits outside clinic (it's Sunday);

Vet drives by clinic and sees dog;

Vet opens clinic;

Dog runs to crate and settles in;

Family says they'd been wanting to rehome dog;

Vet keeps dog as clinic pet.

So far, so good. Dog finds home he likes better. Everydoggy is happy. The end. Until the back story emerges....

Original story published the following Monday;

Another family sees story;

Mom recognizes their dog, missing 7 months;

Mom yells excitedly to dad;

(Kids are at school);

Mom calls clinic;

Mom goes to clinic;

Dog happy to see mom;

Dog goes home with mom;

Dad happy to see dog;

Kids come home from school;

Kids faint and hit heads on rocks;

Story published next day;

Story leaves out fainting because I made it up.

How about that? A story with two happy endings!

And here's a third one. It's snowing for reals now.  Woo hoo!

By the way. The Army of Four inspired me to put weather reports on the blog.

Not that I'm a copy-dog or anything.  ::big Husky grin::   But the Human Assistant agreed it might be fun to play with the map thingies.

The Ao4 shows weather in Archangelsk, a cold place in the northwest corner of Russia. Also Manhattan. Only it seems to be somewhere called Kansas.

I show weather for where we live in Denver, which is in Colorado.

[Is Colorado a state or a state of mind?  -- mr_ed]

Also for Uelen, which is a cold place in the northeast corner of Russia.

Uelen's in the Chukotka region of Russia.

Which always comes up when humans talk about the history of Siberian Huskies.

So I may write more about it. But not tonight.

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-- photo of Steve Walstad and Radar by T. Rob Brown, Joplin Globe.

Dogs in the news

The Human Assistant didn't feel like being responsible today. So he went to Google News and just typed in "dogs." I picked out some stories.

Maybe next Halloween you can be an African Wild Dog! They are cousins of ours that are endangered. H.A. found an article about a rescue program.


Or you may want to dress like a Capuchin monkey. That will really fool people!

Except in North Carolina. Apparently people there think that monkeys are dogs. So you wouldn't fool anybody.

But a woman is trying to change people's opinions. Maybe next year people won't think that monkeys are dogs. She also warns that

[T]his monkey poses a health threat when given access to the public, as depicted in this picture. Monkeys can inflict serious bites and other injuries, and can carry diseases that are transmittable to humans.

And dogs don't do that!


But if you decide to inflict a bite, don't go to New South Wales (Australia) to do it. They will take your DNA away from you. (How do they do that?) And then they check it with any you left on your victim.

Your humans might have to pay $55,000 in Australian money ($49,000 in U.S. money). Or they might have to live in a kennel for two years!


Have you ever heard of dogsledding? In the lower 48?

Think dog-sledding, and the image that comes to mind is Alaska or the Yukon Territory, the Iditarod race, and cold, rugged conditions.

The Hartford, Connecticut, newspaper ran an article saying that it goes on right there in New England!!!


Finally, a Colorado group is rescuing dogs from puppy mills. They "invaded" Missouri last month. With help from a Denver TV station.

That's all for now!

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-- fist four images from Wikipedia -- photo of puppy-mill dog from Mill Dog Rescue Network