All That Poo

Posted on November 30, 2013November 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I bet we’ve all been there, stepped in that pile of dog poo that some inconsiderate dog owner failed to clean up. Yeeeew! It can ruin a person’s day.

The condo complex where I live wants owners to clean up after the pooches but in frustration they cleared a corner of the property where we had lovely trees and bushes and made it a doggy potty. Although the owners are still supposed to clean up I wouldn’t walk there without carefully looking. Even so I stepped in a mushy pile only a few days ago when I was taking pictures around the property and I wasn’t anywhere near the Doggy Potty.

I like dogs myself but stepping in a pile of poo is not my idea of a minor problem. I can see why there can be a back lash against dog owners. So far dogs have not been banned but it has been discussed in the past.

Now another condo in Braintree, MA. has gone high tech and I like the idea. You want to have a dog and live there. Ok a one time fee of $60.00 is assessed and you have to give a cheek swab from your dog so a DNA test can be done. If you don’t clean up after your dog the maintenance crew sends a sample off to the same lab and first thing you know a report comes back identifying the offending dog. If that DNA sample ID’s your dog you get to pay $150.00… a $50 testing fee plus a $100 fine.

What a great idea. It’s a shame it has to come down to that but now the owner can’t say it wasn’t their dog or say “prove it”. The association just did. According to the lawyers there is nothing illegal about requiring the DNA test and if an abandoned pile is tested, nothing illegal there either. I think it’s brilliant.

Kerry Weidner, a pet owner in Devon Wood, (That’s the condo complex in Braintree) says the service has transformed life at the sprawling complex. “We used to see dog poop almost every other day. You had to worry about where you walk on the grass because there was dog poop, a lot of different places,” Weidner said. “Now, you don’t really have to worry about dog poop. You can walk where you want, the grass is now ours again, we don’t have to worry about it, and that’s just a great thing.”

The DNA testing service is offered through Tenn.-based BioPet Vet Lab under the brand name PooPrints.

Mr. Crankypants

Posted on November 25, 2013November 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Have you ever seen a group of cats together? They roll around play fight, they butt heads to say hello and they groom each other. This behavior spreads the scent around and each cat then smells like the group. It gives them a sense of belonging.

When I brought the stray who became “Buddy” into my home there was the usual spitting and hissing but eventually Buddy worked his way into the group. He and Rocky roll around play fighting and race around the house .

They groom each other. Smokey will have no part of it and in the beginning I actually saw him acting like a prey animal, slinking away to hide under the couch. This made me very sad.

As time has gone on Smokey has gained more confidence around Buddy but he still won’t groom him or let himself be groomed. Rocky can groom both Smokey and Buddy and both will groom Rocky but Smokey gives Buddy a wide berth.

About a week ago things began to get interesting. Buddy came bouncing over to me meowing persistently. Now Rocky is the vocal cat, Buddy gives me little chirps and “merps” and Smokey just purrs so this was a little out of character. Clearly something had Buddy upset. At first I didn’t see anything to cause his distress but then my eyes went to the cat tree.

Rocky was stretched out under his heat lamp but Smokey was not on his usual perch. No Smokey was in the “Crow’s nest” at the very top. From the first day Buddy joined us this has been his place. And here was his sworn enemy sitting in his special place.

To make matters worse Smokey couldn’t get down. He start and his clawless paws would slip so he’d back off. I helped the miscreant down and Buddy climbed up and all was peaceful again.

A couple of days later I got a visit from a very agitated Rocky. In actions very reminiscent of Buddy, Rocky was meowing and pacing until I got up and followed him to…the cat tree. There, under his heat lamp was Smokey.

Rocky would stretch up and nose him and all Smokey would do is turn around and show him his butt. I had to laugh. As I stood there Rocky got up on the perch too and unceremoniously pushed Smokey off. I guess he just wanted “Back up”.

Poor Smokey. Buddy came over , ears up, whiskers forward, just being friendly and Smokey would have none of it. He flattened his ears and whacked Buddy’s nose with his clawless paws and stalked off. Ok Smokey. Clearly you have not learned to play well with others. I think we’ll just have to call you Mr. Crankypants from now on.

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on November 20, 2013November 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

So What is Equine Affaire?

Posted on November 12, 2013November 12, 2013 by Dusty Roads

What is this show that’s getting all the buzz? I wasn’t really sure but I sure wasn’t prepared for it to be as huge as it was. 6000 people! There are so many different venues that it wasn’t that crowded. Sure , lots of people but the crowd moved along and I didn’t feel crushed even with a backpack and camera around my neck.

The first thing that hit me was that this looked more like a trade show than a horse show. Every building had stalls filled with horse related products, from feed to grooming, saddles to traces, horse blankets and ribbons for manes and tails. Outside were horse trailers and RV’s all set up for you to tour and put down your deposit.

A midway of sorts was set up with food stands, popcorn, fried dough, onion rings, hot dogs, hamburgers, some salads and sandwiches, even a baked potato stand. I certainly wouldn’t starve!

It was as I was walking through the 2nd building that I spotted the first horse. It was a 20 year old Morgan stallion, a more docile animal you’d never find. Hard to believe he was a stallion, not a gelding. His owners had opened the stall door and let him stick his head out and he was doing just that. He loved the attention and had quite a crowd. With all the little hands trying to pet him I skipped the pictures and moved on.

Most of the horses and ponies were in stalls with bars on top. Easy to see in but prevented much of a touch and photos were hard. I know what horses smell like. I owned two growing up but these horses didn’t seem to have much of an order at all. Not even the ones with steaming piles in their stalls!

The range of breeds was amazing. I always thought I had a good basic knowledge of “horse” but I had never heard of half the horses there. Of course there were the Morgan’s, standardbreds, Percherons, quarter horses and my personal favorite, the Arabian. If there were thoroughbreds I didn’t see them but maybe they were in another building.

There were ponies and miniature horses, pintos and paints and palominos. All of those were familiar, But then I saw some that looked like they had just come from the steppes of Russia, small but hardy, they ran with a funny gait, not a canter or a trot or a gallop.

They were listed in the program as Icelandics.

One horse in particular caught my eye, Norwegian Fjord Horse. This guy wasn’t big and tall, rather compact and solid. The breed standard said his color was dun but he looked gray to me. He had a distinctive black streak down the center of his mane.

Speaking of his mane, it stood up along his neck like a Mohawk. A very unique appearance indeed.

Equine Affaire

Posted on November 10, 2013November 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I finally got myself out the door to DO SOMETHING. I’ve been sitting at home watching my pennies because we are in the last quarter of the year and I have a bunch of annual bills that come due. I was in pretty good shape with money in the bank to cover them but my car had other ideas.

After several pricey repairs my formerly comfortable bank balance is back to it’s normal level of no reserve. At least I got one of the 3 bills paid (2 more to go ) and my mechanic says my car should last at least until I hit 300,000 miles.

My former job had overtime during the holidays so I usually worked the extra to plug the shortfall but my new job doesn’t have that. Don’t get me wrong, I love not having to “kill myself” and my new job pays about the same as my old job…just no OT which is hitting my purse strings now.

That said I have been playing the hermit, trying not to drive too much (Gas), making a grocery list and sticking to it, cutting coupons etc.; being a good budget minded person (Not my normal way of operating). But eventually that had to give and it did in a sort of big way.

I kept seeing an add on Facebook for Equine Affaire. It was being held at the fairgrounds in Springfield where they hold the “Big E”, Eastern States Exposition . The Big E is a very Big deal out here in the east even though I still haven’t been but a Horsey event… well I might be interested in that so I counted my pennies and bought a ticket for the day and since I was going to be out there anyway…I bought a box seat to the Fantasia Show that evening. (At that point I had no idea what the show would be like but I figured in for a penny in for a pound)

I hadn’t been to a horse show in years and never to one like this. I took over 400 pictures. Not all are worth the paper it would take to print them but there are a few “keepers”. The photography part was challenging because everything was indoors and I was trying not to use the flash. (More on that later). It took me quite awhile to “sort of” figure it out. I never did get the result I wanted but I had fun and over the next few days I want to share my experience and some of the pictures (not all 400).

I was pretty amazed. When I pulled into the parking “field” (Only $5.00 for the whole day) one of the attendants said the event had sold over 6000 tickets each day. (A 4 day run!) (That’s $30,000 per day in parking fees only) There were cars from all over… New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Canada, Georgia, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and of course, Massachusetts.