Dog dishes

My neighbor took his dogs in for spaying and neutering last week.

Oh man.

Giant puppies in giant Elizabethan collars.

It was way too cute.

Poor things were so clumsy, bumping into each other and scraping the wall with the giant cones.

Yukon also was very funny trying to bite Sacha's cone.

But since they both had cones on, it was just comedy.

They looked like little satellite dishes.

Or giant coffee filters.

Puppies... Now with video goodness

I was going to post this with the pictures, but it was taking ages to process.

I finally got it to work.

Here are Sacha and Yukon.

With background vocals by George, who was not happy to be left in the house.

Sacha was starting to get upset by the camera, so I stopped.

But you get an idea of this lovely singing voice.

Oh, and he learned to howl a few days ago. Let's hope he limits that to times I am already awake.

Puppy update

It's amazing that it has only been a few months since my neighbor got his puppies, Sacha and Yukon.


These little fluffballs are now so big that when they stand at the wall for me to pet them, I no longer have to stretch to reach them.



Soon I think their paws will be up on top of the wall and they will be resting their chins on the edge waiting for me.

They are still very sweet and funny. Of course, they are. They are still puppies.

Sacha has become the more vocal of the two. So far the barking is minimal. Mostly he does that half whine, half bark thing.

Yukon is funny because sometimes she just sits there and looks at me just like she did that first day he brought her home. I have heard her back a few times; usually it is when she is wound up playing with Sacha.

I have made sure to let them see my face at all times of the day. I want them to know me so I can be in my own yard and not have them going crazy on the other side of the wall.
So far, so good. I have been over, with permission, to play with them a few times. They are clumsy and dopey and funny. So sweet.

My tax dollars at work

I know it has been a while.

And it's not that I have no had anything to blog about in the past week.

I've just been a bit busy.

And sorry, but this sometimes lives at the bottom of my to-do list.

Anyhoo...

I had meant to blog about this Sunday right after it happened. But then I got home, started doing chores, getting stuff together for dinner... Then suddenly it was Monday.

I went stamping Sunday at my friend Kathy's house. It was the normal stamp-and-brunch deal.

I left there at about 1:30 and made my way home.

As I was heading back to the house I noticed a large plume of thick gray smoke coming from the east. The closer I got, the more I thought "Hmm... that looks like it is close to my neighborhood." Then "Hmm... that looks like it IS my neighborhood!"

Mind you, I do not live in a remote area so I don't have too many worries about wildfires. There is open space behind the houses across the street from me. I wonder...

I got a little closer to my 'hood and noticed that the smoke had quickly gone from dark gray to lighter gray to white. I knew that was a good sign. And since it was a plume going straight up and not a large cloud covering the area, I figured it was probably a small area, probably a house.

I turned a few times, getting closer, coming up the main road.

There, on a side street two streets down from me was a cop car keeping people from turning there. I drove by. Looking down the street I saw several fire department vehicles and an ambulance.

I went ahead to my house, grabbed my camera (nosy journalist!) and walked the short distance to where the street was blocked.

Seeing that I was not the only pedestrian angling for a better look, I went ahead down that side street. A few houses in there is another street.

This is where the fire was, the first street was just a staging area.

It looked like one house, a two-level, was the source of the smoke.

Cops milled about the staging area, but there was no big sense of urgency.

Firefighters had a ladder on the house going up to a second-floor deck. But it looked like most of the activity was done.

There was a group of firefighters on the sidewalk, pointing to the house and talking.

I think the fire was out.

I decided to see what my tax dollars were good for, you know, on the unthinkable chance that I have to take advantage of it someday.

Ambulance - 1

Cop cars - 6

Fire trucks - 12 of varying sizes including two large ladder trucks

It looked like most of this stuff was not being used on this fire.

Must have been a slow day in the city and they sent the whole brigade.

As I overheard someone say, "I guess they send out everything that is available since they don't know WHAT they will deal with when they get here."

Good point.

Later, after the yellow tape was gone and the trucks had retreated, I took a drive by the house that had been the center of such a hoopla.

If I had not seen all that activity, I may not have even noticed the damage.

It looked like maybe the damage was mostly confined to the top floor and/or attic area. There was some soot evident on the side of the house. Some insulation was pulled out and piled on the upstairs deck.

I am sure for the people who live there it is devastating.

But considering that there are houses on both sides and a tightly packed neighborhood all around the house, it could have been far worse.

I think my tax dollars were well-spent that day.

And it ain't often that someone gets to say that.

My other new neighbor

Meet Sacha. This is my neighbor's other new puppy.

Sacha is an Alaskan Malamute.

He is a little smaller than his St. Bernard pal, Yukon.

But he does not take any crap from her.

If she gets in his face too much, he will let her know with a sharp bark that she needs to back off a little.

He is more vocal than she is, but also seems a little more shy when it comes to coming over to the wall to say hello.

But when I am out there he looks at me and cries, like he wants me to come over and play.

I have had the chance to meet them both when they were on their way out for a walk. They are so soft and fluffy and clumsy.

Yeah. Puppies are awesome. Especially someone else's puppies. I can see them and pet them and play with them. And I never have to worry about picking up poop.

I think I'm in love

And I don't even know her name yet...


My neighbor got a new dog.

A GIANT St. Bernard puppy.




Yeah. I almost went over the fence when I saw her.

She is beautiful.


As of this morning she did not have a name.



He said he wanted a name that was fit for a girl, but also for a dog of that size.

A name like Bear, he said, but more feminine.


Which prompted me to go dog stalker.


I looked up St. Bernards on Google.

They are from Switzerland.


OK. In Switzerland they speak German and French.


Bear in German is Bar. Hmm. Not pretty.


Bear in French is Ours. Yeah, not digging it.



Then I thought of Latin. Ursa.

Like the constellations Ursa major and Ursa minor. Big bear and little bear.


Ursa.


Me, I love it.

But I am too embarrassed to actually tell him that I researched names for his dog.

Too embarrassed to tell a man I hardly know that I have decided to name his dog for him.


He got her yesterday.

I saw her out there in the yard again today.

She is so beautiful.



Again. Over the fence. Almost.


He heard me talking to her and stuck his head out the window.

Was she loud? Was she bothering me?


Not at all.


In truth, I was probably bothering her.


So cute.


He then mentioned that he did not want her to get lonely.

So he was getting her a playmate.

An Alaskan Malamute puppy.


Holy crap.


That is a lot of dog. Two huge, HUGE dogs next door.


Now I have to think of cute Eskimo dog names that I am too embarrassed to tell him.


Seriously. I may hurt myself climbing over that wall.

Fun with the muni code

I went to the Web site for the city of Torrance to try and find out what recourse I have when it comes to my neighbors' dog.
This dog starts barking just after 7 a.m. and does not stop all morning.
What I think happens is that the adults in the house go to work and the kids go to school and the dog gets put in the back yard.
And then the dog gets bored and upset and starts barking.
Now, I don't mind that they have a dog. Great. Whatever.
What I do mind is that I am still sleeping at 7 a.m.
Heck, I am usually still sleeping at 9 a.m. That is just my schedule.
And normally I am a pretty sound sleeper. But their yard is right next to my bedroom, so I hear the dog and it wakes me up most mornings lately.
I think they got this dog at the beginning of summer and since the kid was home from school, the dog wasn't left alone in the morning.
But school is back in session and the dog is out in the yard.

Oh yeah, and these are the same neighbors who backed into my car.

Anyway, back to the beginning of this post.

I went to the city Web site to try and see if there are noise ordinances relating to dogs in the municipal code.
I couldn't find anything specific about noise.
But I did find this:

SECTION 45.6.10. UNLAWFUL COHABITATION.
(Added by O-96)It shall be unlawful for any male and female person who shall not be married to each other to cohabit together in the City or to occupy alone the same bedroom or apartment in any rooming house, apartment house or hotel, or to occupy alone the same residence in the City. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the immediate members of a family, who are blood relations within not more than three (3) degrees consanguinity removed, from occupying the same residence or apartment.

OK. Wow. Archaic.

There was also a funny one about the baring of the breast or breast of a living female.

SECTION 45.4.5. EXPOSURE OF BARE FEMALE BREASTS PROHIBITED.
(Added by O-1584; O-1585)It is a misdemeanor and a public nuisance to expose or procure or to counsel or assist in the exposure of the breast or breasts of any living female for the purpose of public display, amusement, entertainment, or in connection with the sale or service of any commodity. For the purpose of this Section, bare female breasts shall include the exposure of the medial and lateral lower quadrants, or of the nipple or areola, or of any other portion of the lower half of said breasts. Each such display shall be considered a separate offense subject to separate criminal prosecution. The minimum penalty for each such offense shall be a Five Hundred Dollar ($500.00) fine or six (6) months in the County jail or both such fine and imprisonment.

And one last note: When I did spell check on this post, it flagged the word areola. I just find that amusing.