Sand and Sandy

Marge loves the beach and it's no secret to anyone.  Some of my favorite photos are of Marge running with her tongue hanging out of her mouth up against a ocean blue backdrop; other times, I pose her on sand dunes or rocks.  You've all seen the pictures before.

Since Hurricane Sandy, the beach down the block from my house has been closed.  Quite honestly, under normal circumstances, the closure might not deter me from sneaking a walk in here and there.  However, it is in truly horrific shape, with debris all over the place, so it's closed for good reason. Despite Marge's best puppy dog eyes, I haven't given in and will not cross off of the asphalt on to the sand.

This meant that we missed some traditions - like walking on the beach on Thanksgiving, or in the days before New Year's.  It stunk.  The hurricane itself was bad enough, but the fact that it continues to impact our community and limits our leisure activities so many weeks later is frustrating too.

Tired of walking or throwing a ball in the slightly soggy, still-dirty athletic field across the street, I loaded Marge up in the car and took her to another park that I knew was open.  I thought the sand would be off-limits and expected to simply stick to the paved walking trails.  However, we were in for a very big surprise!

Marge painted the moisture from her nose all over my car windows and weaved back and forth in the back seat, whining her head off.  She had missed having fun with me just as much as I've missed having fun with her.

The sand was loads cleaner than I expected.  It was littered mainly with sea shells, which my sister aided me in arranging in to the letters of Marge's name.

Onward we walked, disappearing from the crowds.  I unclipped the leash but called Marge back to me when this sight appeared in front of me, a solemn reminder of why we were here at this beach, rather than our own, in the first place.  I knew it'd be a prime sniffing target and so did not want to let Marge near it.  This poor vessel has been sitting here, sand-lodged and unclaimed, since the night of October 29, 2012.

That wasn't the only sign of Sandy.  Take a look at how more than a foot of sand has simply been shelved away from the coast.  Marge thought it made a great way to jump up and down, but it kept collapsing under her weight as she neared the edge of it, as you can see in the far right side of this picture.

Marge also checked out a buoy that was supposed to be stationed off shore, but instead lay paralyzed  on its side in the low tide.  It startled her a bit, but with some coaxing, she went to cautiously check it out.

That was it for Sandy imagery - at least until we drove over to the marina portion of the park and saw a handful of boats leaning up against the piers, damaged and unusable.  My phone battery was starting to die at that point, so I have no pictures of that sad sight.

My favorite photo from the day is this one.  Every once in a while, those smart phones can take a really nice picture!

It had been far too long since our last beach excursion and I was so happy to see my dog running in her favorite environment again.  I'm going to make sure that it happens again soon.

Marge And The Spaceship

Last month, when the space shuttle Enterprise flew over NYC before landing at John F. Kennedy Airport, I was stuck at work.

I had literally been waiting for the event since the previous year, and it pained me greatly to see it on TV, miles and miles away, while I folded towels and got people ice packs.

The next day, I set out to Kennedy Airport to at least catch a glimpse of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Enterprise perched atop.  It was really a sight to see and only made me more upset to have missed its historic landing.

I nearly missed the next leg of its journey, which occurred yesterday.  I thought its voyage from JFK to a holding terminal in New Jersey was set to occur today, but my father had apparently heard about it on the radio and discovered it was, indeed, moving that day.  After doing a little research, I found out that it would cross underneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge around 5:30 PM, and I was NOT going to miss it.

And neither was my dog.

I had no idea there would be that many people spectating... I honestly thought that, for the average person, the space shuttle hype had died down.  Turns out it hadn't.  Fort Wadsworth was packed with photographers, families, dogs... and screaming children.

I was initially a little worried and regretted bringing Marge.  I'm always happy to help her through her fears and adjust my plans so that she could be comfortable, but, I won't lie, I was getting a little unnerved thinking about having to move out of my spot and missing the shuttle float by because something spooked my dog.

However, as usual, Marge proved me wrong, and was happy to hunker down in the grass in front of me, despite the small crowd of people I was standing near.  (There was a larger crowd that arguably had a better view, but there were so many big cameras and so many kids running around that even I wouldn't have been comfortable standing there, let alone my dog.)

Still, I wondered if the shuttle's impending arrival would bring a swarm of people that would freak my dog out.  I had my Grandma act as a bodyguard of sorts and stand next to me to prevent any one else from coming too close to Marge.

As the shuttle emerged in the distance, no big groups came.  They were apparently, much to my delight, happy with their present locations, and did not wish to give up their prime viewing spots for one or two alternative shots.

Of course, the occasion couldn't be completely drama free, and my dog, although unfazed by the crowds, instead decided to make a spectacle of herself by nearly falling over a VERY steep cliff, her back legs dangling over the side and her front claws clinging desperately to the ledge in front of her.

I hoisted her back over just in time to get a couple of decent shots with my not-so-great camera.

As Enterprise was once again obscured by the brush, I gathered up Marge's leash and ventured to a new spot so that I could snap it again.

The crowds were even bigger here at this point, but Marge was still OK, and soon a few raindrops fell and led to an exodus of roughly half the people standing nearby.  Though the comments about Marge's behavior were mostly positive (one person mentioned that they didn't even know a dog was nearby because of how discretely Marge stood with me), one woman asked me to move "the dog" because "she's afraid of dogs."

Though I am generally sympathetic to the needs of others, I'll admit, I was super pissed about her request, seeing as 1) I was in a public place, 2) there were lots of dogs around; YOU move if you don't want to stand near them, 3) my dog was reeled close to me and not all that close to her and 4) she had not looked, barked, growled, not even sniffed in this woman's direction.

I do wonder if it had something to do with the fact that Marge is a black, muscular, pointy-eared dog, but who the heck knows.

I managed to snap one shot of Marge with Enterprise in the distance before I heeded the grump's request to avoid conflict.

Enterprise soon began to appear as only a small dot in the distance, and although my sister with her fancy big-lensed camera stuck around for a bit more, I headed back to the car with my family and Marge.

Of course, the perfect outing had to have one little fear blip in it, as a large BOOM resonated through the air, perhaps the sound of a vehicle backfiring, and sent Marge scrambling to the car for dear life.  I was sad that we had to end the trip on this note, but, it is what it is.

I'm hoping to catch it again Wednesday, as it departs New Jersey for its final resting place, the Intrepid Museum.  The journey will likely take me in to Manhattan, so Marge will have to sit this one out. Guess I'm trying to make up for the fact that I missed the flyover!

April Outtakes: Titanic Week

As a lover of historical events (though not exactly a fan of history as a whole), and as the sister to an amateur vessel photographer, I went up to Staten Island's North Shore, which looks out towards New York City, to watch a ship commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's ill-fated sole voyage depart from New York Harbor.

Naturally, Marge tagged along, and every photo I took mirrored those that my sister took, except for the fact that Marge was present in mine, but not in hers.  While they were the focal point of my sister's images, for me, the ships provided a backdrop for my lovely dog!

We were also shown on the New York Harbor Webcam, waving to hundreds of people streaming the cam live from their homes as they watched the ship set sail.  Anything for a little publicity for my gal.

(The man in the image is the person who owns the company that streams these cams from popular ports.  Tracking and watching ships is apparently a hobby, much the way I go plane spotting.  My dad looked on somewhat quizzically as all of this went down, but it was all in good fun.)

The week also included not one, but two trips to go see 1997 film, Titanic, during its re-release in theaters.  Yes, I am a Leo fan.  No, that doesn't have much to do with this blog, so I'll stop right there!

Friends on Wednesday

And, this one takes the cake..

Day 1306

I'm actually late on celebrating MargeBlog's anniversary this year, since I completed three full years of blogging not today, but actually on this past Saturday.  Perhaps my belatedness is a good thing, though, since today truly reminded me of how far Marge has come in the over one-thousand days she has now spent with me.

The Marge of today and the dog I originally adopted -- the dog I first wrote about in January 2009 -- are truly not the same animal.  The dog I adopted was an extremely sensitive, afraid-of-the-world, yearling dog who, quite frankly, didn't have a clue about anything.   She was unsocialized to both dogs and people, and, to make matters worse, also had the additional challenge of learning to live in New York City, a place so far removed in so many ways from her upbringing in Ellijay, Georgia.

The Marge of three and a half years ago would have hit the end of the leash and pulled desperately away from the many people and dogs we encountered today while we were out together delivering my newspapers.  She would have never let those people pet them, nor would she have dealt well with dogs yakking at her from every direction.  Instead, she approached them (albeit, some more cautiously than others) and simply ignored the dogs who sent so much noise her way.

The Marge of three and a half years ago would not have been able to take a walk in a completely strange neighborhood, with two other dogs, without lowering her tail and pinning her ears to the back of her head. She wouldn't have whined with excited enthusiasm and anticipation as we drove down the road to see those friends, nor would she have tore across the yard with them in attempt to get them to play, like she did today.

The Marge of three and a half years ago would have never been excited to go in to a busy pet store in a busy parking lot, where men, women and children all ohh'ed and ahh'ed over her.  She wouldn't have looked up at me, smiling, as a toddler pet her all over from head to back to tail.  She wouldn't have accepted treats from those people nor would she have ever, ever wagged her tail to say hello to three total strangers who all happened to be 6' tall high-school age boys in uniform.

If her leash became undone in the front of that store, as it accidentally did today, there would have been a good chance that the Marge of three years ago would have darted away.  The Marge of today simply stood by my side and waited for the leash to be snapped back on.

The little things like this have really started to add up over the years.  I know that I am, without a doubt, experiencing the best years of Marge's life right now - still a young adult dog, but with enough time in New York under her belt to know that the world isn't a scary place and that there are good people and good things out there to experience.

Marge is literally the best dog I could have asked for.  She has taught me so much about dog training and truly catapulted me in to an interest in learning, training, and behavior.  The things we accomplish are made that much sweeter when we take a look back at our humble beginnings.

By Land And By Sea

It seems like forever since I've posted photos of any of Marge's outings.  Sometimes it seems like forever since I've taken her on any!

Fortunately, we've actually been able to find some time to have some fun lately.  Just before Christmas, we went for a long walk on the beach.   Nothing about the day suggested it was winter - the sun was shining and it was relatively warm.

Marge frequently gets the freedom of her 20 or 50 foot long line at places such as the beach, thanks to  our seclusion from roads, other people and dogs, as well as her reliability.  I occasionally drop the line altogether and let her burn some steam off by running around me.  Goodness knows she needs it.

When I call her to come back to me, I'm met with a face like this, expecting treats.  Even without the treats, Marge is very attentive to me and I'm so thankful for that.

About a week later, on New Year's Eve, Louie & I went for a hike with my good friend and her dogs, Spirit and Bailey.  Marge absolutely LOVES their company.  I used to often complain that Marge didn't have many doggy friends.. but if she gets to see these two every once in a while, it makes me feel better.  (We actually went on a hike with them today, too, but I've got no pics to show from that).

 She truly feeds off of their confident and friendly personalities when she is with them.

At the top of the trail, the three posed together for a quick pic.

Unfortunately, the dogs weren't the only ones hiking with us, it seems.  After we returned that evening, I could have sworn that I felt something on Marge's neck.  I looked, but didn't find anything.  However, today, I felt it again, and did a little more investigating.  I discovered an attached, but not engorged, tick.  I yanked it off, applied some antibiotic ointment, and checked thoroughly for more (and found none), but now I've got the heeby jeebies!

I've got some free time tomorrow, and I'm thinking maybe we'll head to the beach this time.  I shouldn't have to deal with ticks in December!

Here I Am

Yeah, we're still around!

I have had a ton going on and just simply haven't had the time or mental willpower to post.  Marge, Arrow and I did wind up trialing two weeks ago; I still have to upload the videos and write up a report on that (not sure if I'll get around to it before our next trial; we'll see).   Honestly, agility really isn't going as great as I'd like it to right now, but I'm hoping to correct some big issues with a trip to a different training facility in the near future.

I also got hired by one of the physical therapy practices I've been volunteering at.  I'm now working there one day a week, which takes Thursdays totally off of the calendar.

I've had some other great things going on in my life as well, but I'll save that for another post.

As for Marge.. she's hangin' in there with my busy schedule.  We've been spending a lot of time together, despite the fact that I've been so busy.  Between all of my other commitments, I've been making sure that I do some special things with her, too.  Here are some pictures from a hike we took with Louie last week.

I may have gotten to the point where life will no longer fluctuate between busy and calm; seems like I'm going to be stuck in this "busy" for a long, long time!  But as long as I remember who and what is important in my life, I think I'll be just fine.

A Little R&R

My summer has been extremely hectic, so days out doing fun things have been few and far between, except when explicitly scheduled (like agility events).   The heat doesn't help, either.

However, we did get to sneak to the park a couple of weeks ago with Mable, who I often puppysit.  Mable's mom was away for a few days and I was one of the people helping to care for her.  I decided that she might like a nice long walk in the park. I knew Marge would!

Nothing like a little R&R with friends to de-stress.  It's so wonderful that Mable and Marge get along as well as they do.  Both of them have their reservations with some strange dogs, so it's pretty lucky that they hit it off as well as they did.

P.S. - for those of you keeping track of my academic endeavors - I was extremely pleased with my GRE score, enough so that I will not have to take it again.  I also earned A's in both my Anatomy and Physiology class and my Independent Study/Teacher Assistant gig.  What a wild ride June and July were...

Bayshore Part 1: Slumber Party

Heaven got a new shining star yesterday, as Buddy was, indeed, sent to the bridge.  We'll miss him with all our heart and always remember how much fun we had with him.  Thank you all for the lovely comments about him.


What a weekend!  I'm exhausted and would really love to go to sleep right now, even though it's only 8 PM.  I figured I'd write a bit about our looong weekend.

Thursday
I spent the majority of Thursday afternoon packing for the following day's agility trial.  Usually, this activity is reserved for the late nighttime the day before a trial, but this trial was different.  We were leaving that night at 5:30 PM and, in addition to a crate and stinky treats, I needed a change of clothes, a blanket, and my toothbrush.

We were staying overnight in the park in my friend's travel trailer!

Although I was only entered Friday, my friend decided she wanted to take her "little house" down to the park the night before, since she needed to be at the park very early on Friday morning.

We arrived at her house around 5:30 on Thursday and set off to pick up the trailer shortly thereafter.

While the trailer was being hooked up, Marge was absolutely terrified.  There was little I could do about it, as she was crated in the back of the car and there was really no way I could get to her while they were hitching the thing up.  I began to be doubtful about whether or not she'd enjoy herself on our little overnight excursion because of how teeth-chattering scared she was.

Once we arrived at the park, I briefly let her offleash to RUN with other club members' dogs, including our travel companion, Golden Retriever Spirit.  She was completely wired after the ride in the car, and I knew that she needed to blow off some steam.  I leashed her again pretty quickly, but I was glad that she got to run a bit.

We set up her crate inside the trailer, on top of one of the beds (there really wasn't room elsewhere.  She probably didn't really need her crate since she is 100% comfortable with Spirit, but I felt better about having her crated, especially since she can resource guard towards other dogs.

I was even confident enough to leave her crated without me while my friend and I visited some other friends in their giant RV.  We had a great time talking about dogs and gossiping.   When we returned to the trailer, Marge was excited to see us, but didn't seem to be any worse for wear, so I guess she dealt OK.

We stayed up a while, Marge and Spirit play bowing to each other in the little bit of space.   It was weird to be in East Freehold Park at night, in a kind of nice way.  I love it there.

When it was time for bed, Marge willingly went back in her crate.  Spirit stayed loose and readily took the opportunity to slobber all over me during the night.  At one point, I woke up to see her laying flat on her side next to me, staring at me like a person would.  It was hysterical.

By about 5:30 AM, I couldn't sleep anymore.  Marge was tossing and turning in her crate and was starting to get upset about seeing people passing by the window.  It was also freezing; I would have closed the window, but my friend was asleep and I didn't want to wake her up.  We both got up a short while later, after the dogs told us by being wiggly that they had had enough of sleeping.

Marge and Spirit, trailer buddies

By 7:30 or so, the trial was beginning.  I went out to help with leash running in Excellent FAST while Marge hung out in the trailer for a bit more.  By about 12 PM, our first course was being built and we'd have to gear up for her run.

How did Marge fare in her first run after a night of sleeping in a strange place?  Come back tomorrow to find out.

I Spy

With my little eye..

Something beaked and green..

And one more shot just because I like it.

Friends

Nothing like a walk in the woods with your pals to relax for a while.

(There was supposed to be a third dog in this picture, but she was too busy exploring the bramble alongside the trail in typical happy-go-lucky Golden fashion.)

Sweet Escape

After judging one Beginner Obedience class of a 4-H show on Saturday, I went home with my next destination already in mind.

It has been FAR too long since I've taken a hike.  Between the snow and rain, roads and/or trails were impassable.  I expected some mud (which there was plenty of), but knew there'd be somewhere to walk.

I'll just shut up now and let you look at the pretty pictures.

(that's the sun.  Marge isn't exploding!)

Everything

I really should be asleep, since I have to wake up at 7 AM to get ready to run eight pigeons in the operant chambers at school, but I figured I could squeak out an update.

Saturday, we all caught a bit of a break and headed to the park for a while.  My sister and grandmother tagged along as well.  It was a new park that Marge had never been to.  She was so excited to get out and start walking, though.  We milled around for about a half hour.  There were people everywhere and whistles galore from the sports games that were taking place, and I'm proud to say that Marge wasn't fazed at all!

my sweet girl..

Afterwards, Marge accompanied us to PetCo, where I picked up cans of food for Layla. I was originally going to leave her in the car, but she seemed so relaxed that I didn't think a 5-minute trip inside of the store would bother her. She did much better on this visit, probably because of all of the company that was with us.  She was in close quarters with lots of dogs and did just fine.  This might become a regular activity for us, as PetCo is the only store that supplies Layla's food around here.

Monday was Layla's Gotcha Day.  She's now been living with us for 12 years.

We started Prednisone treatment for her over the weekend.  I simply could not justify spending $2K and putting Layla through anesthesia and tons of mental and physical stress without trying the less invasive option first.  She will be re-weighed next weekend to see if the steroids have had any effect.  So far, all I'm seeing is a hearty appetite and not much, if any, weight gain.

This, of course, is one of many things that is totally consuming me right now.  There are so many reasons why I should and shouldn't agree to biopsy.  Still hoping it doesn't come to that.. we have about another 8 or 9 days of steroid treatment before she is reevaluated at the vet.

Monday night, Marge came with me to teach the non-competitive agility class.  Not an uncommon occurrence.  However, she ran agility for FOUR people other than me.

We had a simple course set up with just low jumps, NADAC hoops, and tunnels, and wanted to give the students a feel for what it's like to run a competition level dog.  Marge did beautifully.. running for one male (the special needs boy who she befriended a few weeks ago - very, very proud of her) and three women.

I helped direct her around the course a bit (like calling out a "turn" to get Marge to switch leads - these students don't know about rear crosses or anything), but she worked pretty well for everyone and didn't seem terribly stressed by it.  She sure did like getting to sample other people's treats.

Tuesday night, we dropped into obedience class for the second week in a row.  We played more front games, which Marge thoroughly enjoyed.  We also worked a lot on heeling (not my strong suit).  My footwork goes to pot as soon as Marge gets added to the picture.  By myself, I am fine, but stick the leash in my hand and I don't know where my feet are!  I'm working on it.

The plan is still to do a UKC obedience trial in June.  I have the UKC paperwork all filled out to register her with her FIFTH organization, now I just need to part with the cash.

That's really the long and short of everything we've been up to this week.  I am so overwhelmed with school right now (took three tests this week, taking another Tuesday).  One of my classes is ending on March 22nd and I am leaving my internship on the 30th, so I'm hoping to get my life back in a couple of weeks!  Of course, I'm not expecting too long of a honeymoon, as we're already just about half way through the semester and finals are slowly approaching, never mind the grueling summer class schedule that I might put myself through.. AND the required Physical Therapy hours I need to do.. AND the GRE studying that I should have already started.. Junior year of college really isn't all that different from Junior year of high school.

Group Hike With Friends

Dear Marge,


Why are you so full of surprises lately?  Not that I'm complaining!..

My friend, whose dogs I often walk, asked me yesterday if I'd like to go for a walk with her in the woods that afternoon.  I thought it'd be fun and hoped Marge would think the same, so I loaded her little black self in to the car and met my friend at her house.  Another one of our friends from the dog club was also there with one of her dogs, a Border Collie mix.

They were all in the yard playing together, but I opted to keep Marge outside the fence and let her say hello that way.  She was a little unsure of what was going on at that point, and I figured that the excitement from an exuberant Golden Retriever greeting (Spirit LOVES me.. and, well, just about everyone) might send Marge in to snark mode.

We all got in to our cars, took a short 5-minute drive to the top of a deserted hill where we could get on the trail.

Marge had an amazing time.  Really, I didn't expect her to be so comfortable and so social with the other three dogs.

I quickly realized that the 6-foot leash just wasn't going to cut it, and let her out on her 20' line.  The other dogs were completely offleash. Eventually, I was brave enough to drop the leash and give Marge some freedom.  We reached a clearing and all of the dogs began to zoom all over the place with one another.

Allowed off leash?  In a place as fun as this? Yeah, I can't believe it either..

Yes, my shy, not-always-so-dog-friendly, squirrel-chasing, scent-loving dog was offleash on the trail, blazing alongside the other dogs.  She led the way, which was convenient because I didn't want anyone to trip over her long line.  Every time I called her name, she came running back to me like the good girl that she is.

Marge made fast friends with Ozzy, who is calmer and laid back.

She play-bowed and ran zoomies with all of the dogs.  She knows them all already, but has never had the opportunity to play with them this much!  I honestly did not know she enjoyed their company to this extent.  I think she snarked a total of one time.. at Bailey, the smallest and oldest (and, as his owner says, crankiest) dog in the group!

I am truly surprised at how much she adores Spirit.  Marge is not typically a fan of Golden Retrievers.  It's likely because Spirit is about as dog social as they get and has good doggy manners.  This is extremely encouraging, since we may be taking some trips to agility trials with Spirit and her mom in the future.

Why yes, that's MY dog sharing a sniff with a big happy Golden!

We set them up for an obligatory group pose at the end.  Unfortunately, all I had was my cell phone camera to snap with.

If that weren't enough, we all headed back to my friend's house after the fun for some hot chocolate.  Marge came inside the house.. she continued to be sociable with her new hiking mates, and got to meet one of the three resident cats. (She only nervously growled when the kitty emerged from the cat-sized cutout in the basement door.. I think she was perplexed as to how the cat appeared out of the wall!) She did put her front paws on the kitchen counter and nosed around every single room she could sneak into, but eventually settled down.

Of course, now that I know that Marge is comfortable taking hikes in a group, I'll be nagging my friends to go again soon!  What a special day.

Making Someone's Day

It feels really nice to make someone's day.  I had a couple of errands to run, so I picked up my grandmother so that she could tag along, get out of the house, get some groceries, etc.  I told her that I planned on taking Marge to the park for a short walk, and asked her if she wanted to come.  She said she would.

We only walked for about a half hour (it was cold and getting icy), but my grandma, who is very young and spry for her age (late 70s), was happy to get some fresh air and see the park.  When I dropped her off home, she thanked me profusely, and told me how nice it was, how much she appreciated it, and that we'll have to go again.

I spend a lot of time with my grandma - I see her a couple of times a week, at minimum.  But, I'm usually at her house, or she's at mine, or we're in the supermarket or deli together.  It was nice to spend some quality time with her away from the usual.  It's too bad that most of her other grandkids (and some of her own kids, for that matter) don't do the same, but such is life, and at least I was able to make her happy.

Marge enjoyed the change of scenery as well.  I haven't exactly kept to my promise of taking her to different parks every week (though we have been walking around my neighborhood every day due to the snow in the field across the street, which is still a huge change for us), so this was our first park outing since the last time I blogged about it.

She chased lots of squirrels.  There were TONS of them, including an all black one.  I've heard about black squirrels before, but have never seen one personally.  We also saw some hawks hanging out in a tree, which was very exciting!

Marge's experiences in this park have ranged from the very good to the very bad; the park itself is awesome because there is both a fair amount of foot traffic and a fair amount of places to move away from that traffic.  It's the perfect hybrid between city park and secluded getaway.  Of course, it resembled more of a secluded getaway today with the low temps, but that's okay.

However, the surrounding communities, for some reason, are very noisy!  We've heard construction sounds within the park on a couple of occasions, which has NOT make Marge happy.  Thankfully, except for a few loud noises (likely from the sanitation trucks collecting heaps of garbage following this snow storm), it was very quiet today, and Marge fared well.

Marge was still raring to go when we were back at the car, but, with my grandma along, 30 minutes was enough time for the day.  Hopefully, we'll get back there soon.