300 channels and there's nothing on

Chica and her paw

Chica cut the pad on her left front paw. I took her to the vet where they cleaned it up, shaved away the hair and put a little glue on it. They told me to bathe her foot in epsom salts, gave her antibiotics to stave off any infection and put her foot in an I.V. bag that had its top cut off and a ribbon wound through punched holes. It stayed on pretty well for a bit, but we soon lost it. I went back to her little pink boot, but the pink boots are badly made, not high enough and don't stay on well. I kept having to adjust it during our walks.

Then I found a single muttluk brand dog bootie that looked large enough for her. That has done the trick. It stays on.

We've been walking at the Pit a few times since her paw has been looking better. Each time, people see her one boot (pink or muttluk) and comment that she has lost her other boots or that it is strange for a dog to be wearing a single boot. If they ask, I explain.

The Pit is really full of feces right now. It's awful to see just how many people don't pay attention to their dogs or just don't bother to pick up. I worry that the dogs will be kicked out of there or that there will at least be some kind of ruckus about it.

Interesting though, Andrew Hayden park is going to allowed leashed dogs now. They were having a big problem with geese and their dung. They heard about some place that was getting a guy with his three dogs to walk around and scare away geese and I guess decided to give it a try.

Dogs' paw pads are really strange. The vet explained to me that they are made up of little fibres that stick up from the skin and are made of the same material as fingernails. They can't stick up cuts in the pad because the fibres would just part. She drew a little sketch of what they look like. I ran my finger over one of her pads and sure enough, you can see how they are separated. I did a couple of searches to see if I could find a close-up photo, but no luck.

Chica and Simba

Simba is a Chow who lives in the complex here. Chica and Simba have never gotten along from Day One. Simba's owner and I got the two of them to sit down near each other without growling or snarling once when I had a pocket full of treats and gave half to Simba's owner. We had discussed that one day, we'd get the two of them off-leash and that maybe then they'd get along. Chica has been more aggressive on-leash since I moved from Orleans. Just a couple of weeks ago, Chica and I had just arrived at the play area of the Pit when we saw Simba and his owner coming towards us. Chica ran off to investigate - I don't think she knew who it was. As soon as they had sniffed each other, they started fighting. We had to pull them away from each other. Simba was just finishing his walk, so we just continued along on ours. His owner and I just sighed and wished the dogs weren't so dead-set against each other. They both get along with other dogs, but just detest each other. I think of Maggie Simpson and her nemesis baby.

Spring at Bruce Pit

The melting and freezing turned Bruce Pit into a big skating rink. Really, most of the ground is ice. You can hear it crack as you're walking. Chica tried playing with another dog today and skidded. I don't think her paws are really made for ice - too long and narrow. No problems with cold paws, though. She had been wanting to turn back from some of our walks around the neighbourhood. I started using one of those paw protector creams you can get at the pet store. We'll see if it works in the colder weather. I was so surprised at her wanting to turn back, I thought about getting her a coat. She never needed a coat in years past. I bought two at PetSmart, but they were both crappy. I was going to go to Bark & Fitz or Natural Pet Food to look at Chillie Dog coats or some other good quality ones, but by then, she had stopped complaining. She had been fine ever since.