When I go kayaking he is often with me, the same goes for when I travel for work, hike, and just about anything else I do. But, he has separation anxiety and I can not leave him at home without him destroying it or freaking out if he’s in a crate. Lately, all of my once friendly neighbors claim that he barks from when I leave in the morning until I return in the evening. Since it’s way to hot to leave him in my truck during the day and I can’t leave him at home……and doggy prozac doesn’t work I had to give him up. Yesterday was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back, I left him at home and got a text from my neighbor who couldn’t take the barking anymore. I returned home but parked down my street to witness the barking first hand. My neighbors were correct, he barks non stop and you can hear him 100 yards away like has has a fucking mega phone.
I loaded him into the truck and went to work calling shelters between stops. Most of them were very friendly until I mentioned his issues and then they wanted nothing to do with the dog. My dreams of placing him with a nice older couple or someone that never leaves their home started to fade quickly. After an hour or so I found a shelter in Boston that was willing to take him and they never asked why I was giving him up…..I never offered up the reason either. My dreams of him living out a good life were once again floating around in my head!
So, I’m sitting in this nice “surrender room” with my dog and I can’t even look at him while the nice lady is going on and on about them being a no kill shelter (a sales pitch to hit me up for a nice donation I think). About 5 minutes into the process she asks that dreaded question “why are you giving up your dog” honest me fessed up about the separation anxiety…..mistake! Her nice attitude changed to a cold “we might not have room for your dog”. So I said “no no no, I called ahead to make sure you have room”. She said that she would check with her boss and returned with they can not take my dog as a dog for adoption but would be happy to take him in as a kill dog (they use a nicer term). She went on and on about how it’s next to impossible to place dogs with separation anxiety and even if people take them they return them.
Talk about being boxed in a corner! If I leave him he goes to doggy heaven, if I take him home and leave him there my neighbors will burn down my house or call the police, if I continue to take him to work in the summer heat he will die in my truck. Doggy daycare is out since I can’t afford it. In the end I left him at the shelter, hence the title “I Killed My Touring and Travel Companion”.
RIP “Thunder” 2003-2011
A few random pictures of New England in November of 2009.
Railroad tracks, Slater Park, Pawtucket Rhode Island
Inside one of the homes at the Plymouth Plantation
Onion Harvest
Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth MA
Happy Thanksgiving- Don't Eat Me!
I’ll actually write something here later, just needed to post a couple pictures so I could hot link them.
This week we adopted a 3 year old Weimaraner dog that will enjoy our active lifestyle exploring parks and state forests. “Thunder” was rescued by a young family in southern Rhode Island and due to some hardships they let my family have her. Seeing Thunder’s previous owner cry when he gave him up was a clue that our new Weimaraner was going to melt our heart as well.
Prior to adoption a Weimaraner I spent a bunch of time researching the breed on the internet. I found and joined a Weimaraner Forum that helps me with all of my questions regarding the breed. If you are interested in the breed and have questions about Weimaraners sign up on the forum and people from all over the world will answer all of your questions.
Over the past two days our new Weimaraner has toured the state forest in Foxboro MA and Castle Island in Boston MA. Along with his Eco Tours he gets plenty of walks up and down our street, our kids just love him!
Fresh farm stand vegetables are cheap and healthy for you! Originally I was going to post this on another one of my blogs but something is wrong with the image uploading function so here goes;
While driving through the State forest in Foxboro the other day we passed by a bunch of green houses that were on a farm and found a little roadside vegetable stand. Oddly enough most of the roadside stands that I shop at are on the honor system. Everything has a price and you leave you money in the coffee can if you wish to make a purchase.
The green peppers were 25 cents each and the other peppers were 10 cents each. Everything in the picture came to a total of $2.00! When you compare these prices to your local supermarket you will see that roadside farm stands are clearly the winner when it comes to price. When it comes to taste, these veggies are also the winner.
So, what does this have to do with Eco Tours, I have no clue! Maybe you can hop on your bike this weekend if the weather is nice and head out to the country and find a nice roadside veggie stand, I’ll give you credit for having an Eco Tour.
This afternoon’s project with my kids was a nature walk in Foxboro MA. The greater Foxboro are is full of State and Town forest that offer all sorts of trails to walk, hike and bike on. Most of these trails are not marked and for the most part, most people do not even know that they exist. Today’s nature walk in New England started at the Foxborough Dog Park.
On the side on the right side of the dog park is an old wooden bridge that will lead you into a forest of pine and oak trees. After a few hundred yards there are a bunch of old paved roads that don’t really lead anywhere. I don’t care to research the history of the roads, the present day use as walking or biking trails is my only interest.
Since this nature walk was in a forest with many paths and roads, it was a good opportunity to show my kids how to mark our trails with rocks or branches so we could find our way back. With frost at night time it is not the best time of year to teach kids how to get lost in the town forest. This will be a perfect place to teach them how to use a compass next summer.
This is a picture of one of the roads in the forest that is paved but it doesn’t really lead anywhere. The fall in New England is a great place for an Eco Tour in one of the many town and state forest.
Free petting farms and kids play areas are one of my favorite places! Getting our kids out of our house and not spending money is just a great way to spend an afternoon or part of the weekend. The place that is featured in the photos is at Brigg’s Nursery in North Attleboro MA, just 2 minutes from the National Fish Hatchery.
While this play area and petting farm is set on the Brigg’s Nursery property you can show up and spend as much time as you like without feeling any need to shop at the Nursery. If however you are in the mood for some really nice trees, flowers or shrubs take a walk over to the nursery with a large bag of money. Brigg’s is know for their top quality products but they don’t give them away at home center prices.
There are plenty of animals for kids of all ages to play with, the goats, donkey, bunny rabbit, pony and the other animals all beg for your attention! Stay away from the pig as he/she will attempt you eat you, I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago. When your kids get tired of playing with the farm animals there are plenty of kids rides for them to play on.
