wine country dog ezine ™

Riding round on New Year's day

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:02:00 +0000

posted by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Here is my happy woofself ridin round in the WCDmobile on New Year's day. Furbro Jackie Nippers is sitting to my left. Himself is wearing his seatbelt harness too. Apawlogies fur leaving Jack out of picture. Seem our chauffeur could not shoot piccies behind er head while driving.

This is a rare piccie of myself dooing The Wave dance. Simpawly stand on hind legs, wiggle, and wave paws. Easy to keep oneself's balance when wearing seatbelt harness.

When not dooing The Wave or snoozing, myself does like to study the scenery and pawsersby. We were traveling through a small town in some rural pawlace. Myself will remember the interesting smells.

Furry best wishes for a grrreat New Year. May you ave lots of fun quality time with beloved furriends.

Another year gone

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:45:00 +0000

postedby winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Humans say that another year has gone by. This does make one's old dogself feel contempawlative.

Our best wishes to you for the coming year, dear furriends!

Rachel Carson, naturalist ... and Scomber, mackerel under the sea-wind

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:32:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi (with notes from Mum)

Upawn this occasion, the 70th anniversary of the 1941 publication of Under the Sea-Wind, Rachel Carson's first book, we are asked by Mum to paw-write a bit. As you doo know, Rachel L. Carson was a zoologist and naturalist whose last book, Silent Spring, published in 1962, awakened humans to the need to address environmental degradation.

Under the Sea-Wind, in Rachel Carson's words, is "a series of descriptive narratives unfolding successively the life of the shore, the open sea, and the sea bottom."

Under the Sea-Wind: A Naturalist's Picture of Ocean Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1941. 1st Edition.

The following excerpt is from "Birth of a Mackerel" -- in which Ms Carson wrote about the first days of Scomber's life. May this "wet" your appetite for devouring the whole book.

The life of the open sea -- miles beyond sight of land -- is various, strangely beautiful, and wholly unknown to all but a fortunate few. Book Two is the story of a true sea rover -- a mackerel -- from birth in the great ocean nursery of the surface waters . . . to membership in a wandering school of mackerel subject to the depredations of fish-eating birds, large fishes, and man.

Between the Chesapeake Capes and the elbow of Cape Cod . . . in the blue haze of the continent's edge, the mackerel tribes lie in torpor during the four coldest months of winter, resting from the eight months of strenuous life in the upper waters. On the threshold of the deep seas they live on the fat stored up from a summer's rich feeding, and toward the end of their winter's sleep their bodies begin to grow heavy with spawn.

In the month of April the mackerel are roused from their sleep as they lie at the edge of the continental shelf, off the Capes of Virginia. Perhaps the currents that drift down to bathe the resting places of the mackerel stir in the fish some dim perception of the progress of the ocean's seasons -- the old, unchanging cycle of the sea. For weeks now the cold, heavy surface water -- the winter water -- has been sinking, slipping under and displacing the warmer bottom water. The warm water is rising, carrying into the surface rich loads of phosphates and nitrates from the bottom. Spring sun and fertile water are wakening the dormant plants to a burst of activity, of growth and multiplication. Spring comes to the land with pale, green shoots and swelling buds; it brings to the sea a great increase in the number of simple, one-celled plants of microscopic size, the diatoms. Perhaps the currents bring down to the mackerel some awareness of the flourishing vegetation of the upper waters, of the rich pasturage for hordes of crustaceans that browse in the diatom meadows and in their turn fill the water with clouds of their goblin-headed young.

. . .

Perhaps, also, the currents moving over the place where the mackerel lie carry a message of the inpouring of fresh waters as ice and snow dissolve in floods to rush down the coastal rivers to the sea. . . . But however the feeling of awakening spring comes to the dormant fishes, the mackerel stir in swift response. Their caravans begin to form and to move through the dim-lit water, and by thousands and hundreds of thousands they set out for the upper sea.

. . .

In time the shoreward-running mackerel reach the inshore waters, where they ease their bodies of their burden of eggs and milt. . . . There are known to be hundreds of millions of eggs to the square mile . . . hundreds of trillions in the whole spawning area.

. . .

So it came about that Scomber, the mackerel, was born in the surface waters of the open sea, seventy miles to the south by east from the western tip of Long Island. He came into being as a tiny globule no larger than a poppy seed, drifting in the surface layers of pale-green water. The globule carried an amber droplet of oil that served to keep it afloat and it carried also a gray particle of living matter so small that it could have been picked up on the point of a needle. In time this particle was to become Scomber, the mackerel, a powerful fish, streamlined after the manner of his kind, and a rover of the seas.

. . .

In the first night of their existence more than ten out of every hundred mackerel eggs either had been eaten . . . or, from some inherent weakness, had died. . . .

. . .

The floating mackerel eggs were scattered and buffeted. . . . Again the egg that contained the embryonic Scomber had drifted unscathed while all above him other eggs had been seized and eaten.

. . .

. . . the surface currents of the sea were pouring steadily to the southwest, driven by the wind and carrying with them the clouds of plankton. During the six days since the spawning of the mackerel the toll of the ocean's predators had continued without abatement, so that already more than half of the eggs had been eaten or had died in development.

. . .

On the sixth night after the spawning of the mackerel the tough little skins of the eggs began to burst. One by one the tiny fishlets, so small that the combined length of twenty of them, head to tail, would have been scarcely an inch, slipped out of the confining spheres and knew for the first time the touch of the sea. Among these hatching fish was Scomber. . . .

An unfinished story, the ending for which awaits you in this beautiful book. Under the Sea-Wind is still in print and is unmatched in its sensitive, accurate observations of sealife.

Rachel Carson was born in 1907 and grew up in the lower Allegheny Valley of Pennsylvania. She was quoted as saying "I can remember no time when I wasn't interested in the out-of-doors and the whole world of nature."

She spent important college summers studying at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. In 1935, during the Great Depression, Ms Carson took a position at the Bureau of Fisheries in Washington -- one of two federal agencies that were merged into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940. As an agency biologist and publications editor, she was one of the first two women to be hired by FWS for a non-clerical position. Rachel Carson lived only until 1964, two years after Silent Spring.

Ms Carson's biographer and editor Paul Brooks pointed out that "Though Rachel Carson's last book, Silent Spring, may have changed the course of history, she was not at heart a crusader. . . . In her intense feeling for man's relationship to the living world around him, she was ahead of her time. When she began writing, the term 'environment' had few of the connotations it has today. Conservation was not yet a political force. To the public at large the word 'ecology' -- derived from the Greek for 'habitation' -- was unknown, as was the concept it stood for. This concept, however, is central to everything that Rachel Carson wrote."

Toward the end of Ms Carson's 56 years, when she was ill, it is said that "she liked to be read to. One of her favorites was Wind in the Willows. Then anything of E.B. White's -- also H.M. Tomlinson, Richard Jeffries, Henry Beston. . . ." We mention this 'cause Mum, who has always been drawn to the sea and draws meaning from Ms Carson's writings, loves all of these writers.

One is indebted to the late esteemed editor Paul Brooks, whose 1972 biography The House of Life: Rachel Carson at Work, provides the above insights and quotes. Mum suggests this volume as an important, outstanding portrait of Rachel Carson and her work.

"Fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth"

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:58:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Someone said 58 billion animals are killed in factory farms and slaughterhouses every year. Whether or not tis accurate number, following are real numbers from NASS for just one month of commercial U.S. "livestock" slaughter. And only for red meat, as the number of hogs slaughtered is not included ere:

"Commercial red meat production for the United States [in August 2011] totaled 4.30 billion pounds ... Cattle slaughter totaled 3.10 million head ... Calf slaughter totaled 79,900 head. ... Sheep slaughter totaled 198,200 head. ..."

Did any of these millions of animal furriends live pleasant pastoral lives or die a peaceful death?

Here is extreme pawsitive contrast: the practices of farmer and Border Collie lover Elissa Thau, an artisanal meat producer in Umpqua Valley who raises and slaughters sheep humanely. You will see in this video howl carefully and lovingly tended are all the animals on her farm.

Wot a grrreat video. Ms Thau first introduces you to her beloved Border Collie working dogs. Then she talks about her philosophy of raising and respecting animals.

We must paw-point to some highlights of wot Elissa Thau has said:

"The [Border Collie] is bred as a working dog. ... They're an incredible working partner. It's a real privilege to work with a dog. ... And our dogs all live in the house. ... My mum used to say 'They'll never work if you spoil them like that' 'cause she was from an old farming family in England. ... In the UK ... it's really an art ... among the old shepherd and farmers.

"The dogs don't need to bite to move sheep. ... They move sheep with the power of their eye and their presence ... and the fact they have quiet power.

"... And the whole point of raising sheep the way that we raise them it is to raise them quietly and humanely. . . .

"It's a hard thing to kill a lamb or a cow. ... We actually take ours down to the butcher, and then they're killed there quickly and humanely. . . .

"It's a very serious thing to kill an animal. ... People should take it very seriously. They shouldn't be expecting to eat meat seven days a week, two times a day. ... It just becomes agribusiness, greed, and suffering. . . .

"Who wants to eat an animal that's been standing in a feedlot ... through the winter with no shelter . . .? . . . I don't eat any meat that I don't know where it's come from. . . .

"Have you ever read Henry Beston? He wrote [The Outermost House] ... 'Animals are not brethren, they're not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in this net of life and time, [fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.]' And hopefully we treat them that way too."

High paw for Elissa Thau! A gentle, wise, and caring human.

Paw-notes: Thanx woofs to Daniel Klein of The Perennial Plate -- "online weekly documentary series dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating" -- for sharing this inspirational interview.

Magnolia Farm is a small family farm in the rolling hills near Riddle, Oregon, in the Umpqua Valley (also known as a wine region), where Elissa Thau, her husband, Mel Thau, and their family of Border Collies have been raising sheep for a couple of decades.

Ms Thau also does Border Collie herding trials. If you are thinking bout getting a BC dog, we doo recommend that you consider the decision carefully and talk to an expert like Ms Thau. Pawleeze note that there are many BCs and other herding dogs in rescue. Humans doo surrender us cuz they find us hard to handle. (Ask furbro Jackie Nippers to tell you bout his own experience.)

Ere is website where you can read bout naturalist and author Henry Beston.

"Fine, be that way!" ... the LOL cats

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:52:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

Doo you know the LOLcats? Methinks tis time to share our pawculiar habit of hangin with these kittehs. Ourwoofselves have been fans fur a long time.

And guess wot. Mum is big fan of the LOLcat and does often doo LOLspeak with em. ... Meezer, not so much. Meezer is pawoccupied in the kitchen and in er sculptin studio.

When we doo need laffs, we doo BOL at da LOL piccies. Like this one:

"I said 'What's your name?' ... Fine! Be that way!"

Now here are a pair of LOLhedgehogs. Look at wot they are telling teh comfy sleeping kitteh:

If you did not LOL or BOL, howl, fine, be that way. You are missin da good meme. Methinks your laffer needs tuneup.

Pawleeze, get a laff. Go check out the LOLcats at icanhascheezburger.com.

Paw-note: We doo miss our twitter pal @perrythebirman. That Birman Bond is the best at LOLspeak, but himself furry bizzy and not tweetin enuff. Sigh.

Dogs and wine tasting ... not always a good pairing

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:05:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Jackie Nippers

Back in his puppyhood, furbro Tilin repawts, he began visiting wineries in Sonoma and Napa, and on the Sonoma Coast and Mendocino County as well. Furbro turns 14 years old during harvest 2011, and is still an active traveler.

Nowadays, furbro is sometimes joined by mywoofself at tastings, where we doo make wine paw-notes while humans have wine sensory adventures.

Over the years, our regional wineries have become furry pawpular. Furbro observes that both the locals who love wine and the happy visitors now enjoy wine tastings all year round. Wine-loving locals, along with visitors from the greater SF Bay Area and around the world, spend many summer days involved in wine touring. Wineries are a grrreat "staycay" destination for locals. And the autumn harvest happenings are becoming wildly pawpular too.

The wine tasting rooms and wine roads have become busy places.

Inside the tasting rooms, furbro and myself, being rawther short in stature, sometimes feel lost amongst the humans, who can move about and wave unpredictably. Above our dogheads, we doo see towering wine bars and shelves full of wine bottles or winery gift shop items. Small items are quickly rearranged by dogs' tails and toddlers' errant hands. BOL! ... But this is not amusing to humans. And tis not amusing to ourwoofselves when things move suddenly toward us -- as when a wine glass or iphone crashes to the floor, or when an unattended human child reaches out a hand.

Ourwoofselves have learned an impawtant truth: We dogs and wine tasting rooms are not always a good pairing. ...

One might woof that "dog-friendly" wine tasting is not always so friendly. Socially, tasting can be a test for us dogs. And tis not always easy for humans, especially when they are trying to focus on serious wine tasting whilst we dogs (and errant youngsters) pull on them.

Add to the furst truth a second impawtant truth: When California wine country weather is hot -- which it can be any day from May through September -- we dogs cannot wait in cars in winery parking lots whilst humans have tastings. ... Dogs left inside motor vehicles on hot days suffer heat stroke and death from suffocation.

Winery visitors should not expect that there will be shady parking spots: Shade will not keep a car interior cool enough. Doo not think that leaving car windows open a few inches is sufficient: It does not keep dogs cool enough on a hot day. ... The ONLY way to get adequate ventilation is through fully open windows. And on the hottest days, not even fully open windows are adequate for us dogs. Still, in any case, humans cannot leave windows open all the way, as cars must be locked up securely.

Tho it does pain us dogs to be left out, we think furhaps winetasting itineraries should be based on seeking quality wines rather than dog-friendly wineries. Twould be a shame not to focus on finding the best wines -- unless humans simply want to enjoy a casual tour or family vacation.

We have heard it through the concierge grapevine that a number of dogs brought to wine country get left alone in rooms of hotels and inns. This abandonment happens more often in hot weather, when visitors learn it is too hot to take dogs out and leave them in parked cars while wine tasting. ...

Howl. Is this abandonment to be blamed on wineries not being universally uber-dog-friendly? Au contraire! It is the dog guardian's respawnsibility to prepare a dog-friendly itinerary and to always think carefully about a best furriend's well-being.

One would tell humans who want to leave dog furriends in strange lodgings instead to leave them at home or with a sitter! Not only is it unkind to leave a dog alone in a hotel room for hours, but also it is an abuse of lodging policies. What happens to the dog who is discovered?

Dog furriends, tis so much simpler for your humans to call wineries and lodgings before visiting and ask staff about the dog policy and dog care.

Visitors must respect the fact that not all lodging and winery owners, nor all winemakers and tasting room folk, are comfurtable with having dogs around the property. Still, pawleeze know that you will find so furry many winery folk who are happy to see us dogs. A lot of wonderfur wineries promote dog-friendliness and pawsitively adore all wine woofers.

One digression ere: Tis not an OK dog policy -- nor is it good public relations -- for a winery (or a hotel or inn) to welcome dogs under 50 pounds while prohibiting larger dogs. We know of a winery in the Russian River Valley (not one of our regular places) with this unfair dog policy. It means that we corgis -- who are not "small" dogs -- can go inside, but none of our big furriends can join us.

While tis any business owner's prerogative whether or not to run a dog-friendly place, we doo believe being "dog-friendly" means that every polite, clean dog is welcome, regardless of size or breed.

How to make dogs and wine tasting a successful pairing:

Dog furriends, tell your humans to

Get wine maps and then call around to tasting rooms to verify dog-friendly policies. Ask for hours on intended visiting dates.
Ask winery folks for recommendations of nice local lodgings and restaurants. Never rely solely on maps and apps for traveling.
Ask winery folks and the lodging concierge for recommendations of doggie daycare places and in-room dog sitters.
Always leave dogs at home on triple-digit temperature days. Doo not think about traveling with ill or elderly dogs on the hottest days.
Never leave your dog alone in a hotel/inn room, or alone in the car for hours. Take turns being the dog's attendant, or hire a dog sitter.
Teach your dog to be a good winery visitor. Offer Fideau the course in Canine Wine Sensory Evaluation or Pawmelier accreditation.

Whenever we can visit grrreat wineries in our region or beyond, we are happy. And whenever we can help our wine country visitors, human or canine, have a grrreat time, we are happy too.

Paw-script: Doo ave a look at this Wine Road listing of wineries round our home dogturf.

The Cat Who Came in from the Woof

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:07:00 +0000

by guest author Ani Meezer

This story is set in the period of heightened pawlitico-military tensions during the Cold War era of the early 1960s, a time when effurryone fears the likelihood of a howlish war with the USSR.

A lone Pawlish spy cat, Hans-Dieter Maow (nicknamed "Blackie"), is working under dipawlomatic cover as a dog in the Moscow countryside. Every day, Blackie barks to his furriends various plans in code. Over the winter, Blackie and his furriends risk capture daily to stockpile stolen caviar noms and hold spy meetups in a forest den.

(Here's where the story gets boring, so we'll skip the whole middle pawt.)

A bitey villain of a tom, Blackie Maow finally finds compawssion in the spring when he meets charming spy Lizzie Goldpaw. Goldpaw is an esteemed English librarian's cat who has swallowed secrets to help the West. Blackie Maow is assigned the mission of getting Lizzie Goldpaw safely back to England.

Blackie is so smitten with this kitten that he barks as he has never barked before . . . or since.

Early this spring morning, Blackie sits on his windowsill, barking coded orders to make sure Goldpaw is escorted safely out of the forest.

This is the last we see of Blackie.

Does he run off and become the world's furst sustainable Pawluga caviar producer? Or does he manage to follow Goldpaw to England and write a best-selling spy novel?

MOL

This little pig did not go to market

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:26:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Jackie Nippers

Have you ever spent time talking with a pig, or running across a farm field together on a sweet summer afternoon?

Pigs are wonderful, smart, playful, social animals. They deserve to be regarded with respect and treated humanely!

So then why does the popularity of factory-farmed bacon continue to grow?

Sadly, not often do humans stand up and say publicly "Eating bacon and other meats is one thing. But if you can't get meats from pastured farm animals who've been humanely raised, we don't want any of it!"

Maybe everybody just needs to see the truth of how pigs are confined and abused on "factory farms" -- intensive industrial facilities that are not farms at all.

Mum sez she does defy anyone to go on eating factory-farmed bacon, ham, and pork once they've seen what those pigs endure.

Howl. Let us now visit with a happy pig. Furhaps you remember Bella the Piglet, rescued from a factory farm back in 2004?

Bella became a spokespig for the Australian campaign SaveBabe.com, which works to bring an end to factory-farming practices there.

Compassion changes the world, and it all begins with taking a closer look at what's in our food bowls.

Paw-notes: If you're interested in learning about sustainable humane pig operations in the U.S. (free-range animals, raised without antibiotics or hormones), have a look at Sonoma County's Black Pig and the Food Alliance certification organization.

Daydreams of The Outermost House

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:56:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Myself and Jackie Nippers are lying at mum's feet, listening to her recite a passage from The Outermost House by naturalist writer Henry Beston.

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by a complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge, seeing thereby a feather magnified, the whole image in distortion.

We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man.

In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.

They are not brethren. They are not underlings. They are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

Paw-notes: The Outermost House by Henry Beston is a book chronicling a season the author spent living on the dunes of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was published in 1928 by Doubleday and Doran and is now published by Henry Holt and Company.

"I rescued a human today"

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:02:00 +0000

posted by Tilin Corgi and Ani Meezer and Jackie Nippers

"Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor, peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

"As she stopped at my kennel, I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy, and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

"As she read my kennel card, I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I have only the future to look forward to, and want to make a difference in someone's life.

"She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and the side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

"A tear fell down her cheek, and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened. Her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.

"I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

"I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

"I rescued a human today."

~ Author unknown
---
Paw-notes: The human we rescued feels fortunate to have us, and we are so grateful for her. ... Woofin bout gratitude, this day marks the third anniversary of Tilin Corgi's "disc blowout" and successful surgery. Tilin does continue to luv walkies arfully much.

RIP beloved Molly Murray ~ landlady of Tuscany, lover of dogs

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:02:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

RIP beloved Molly Murray ... aka @Amalari.

Molly's last-ever twitter bio reads: "X UK & USA Freelance journalist, author. Politics, music, animals, food, photography, history. Green. Sinfully lazy."

Aka @Amalarian, her previous twitter bio reads: "Freelance journalist, author, idler, landlady of Tuscan vacation house. Politics, books, food, animals. Not selling anything"

Aka our beloved twitter friend of three years, a grrreat friend to dogs, a superb writer, an insightful and moving photographer. Armed with great intellect and wit. Ruff on the outside when necessary. Kind beyond measure. Always helping the underdog. Radiating a mischievous energy, revealed by the twinkle in her eyes.

Molly spent a grrreat deal of time during her last year taking a photo a day and posting to her blipfoto journal. If you read through the hundreds of comments on Molly's last blip photo, a photo of Luigi dog, you know that Molly became as beloved in the blipfoto community as she was by her twitter followers.

Below is a copy of one of Molly's last dog photos, in which she does capture the sweetness and intelligence of a young Italian pupster.

Molly titled this photo simpawly "Tuscany: Puppy in profile."

Read wot a fellow tweep of Molly's has to say bout twitter friends, refurring to her friendship with Molly:

"The thing about twitter is, some people you just click with straight away ... you feel you are real friends with someone you have never met, but feel you know them. And how easy it is to talk to people you can't see."

To know of someone here and there whom we accord with, who is living on with us, even in silence—this makes our earthly ball a peopled garden. ~ Goethe (Quote contributed by our Mum.)

Animals in Fukushima 20-km zone: "Someone please feed them"

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Fri, 06 May 2011 00:37:00 +0000

by Jackie Nippers

The animals in the Fukushima Prefecture 20-km exclusion zone are waiting. And starving.

Thousands were left behind when their humans had to evacuate after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

None of the animals in the 20-km zone near the nuclear reactors are being fed or rescued because the Japanese government will not allow rescue groups back in.

Someone, please feed the animals! Please allow beloved pets and farm animals to be saved!

In a video made by the coalition called Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, rescuers ask humans round the world to appeal to the Japanese government.

We will never furget Fukushima furriends' sad faces or their desolate landscape of destruction.

Thinking about Japanese corgis and other furriends who need help

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:06:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi and Jackie Nippers

Looking at the face of this Japanese corgi furriend who was rescued by JEARS, we know again what we doo not want to think about: Lots of corgis and other dog furriends in northeast Japan are desperately in need of help. Their cat furriends are in desperate need too.

JEARS (Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support) is a wonderfur coalition group of humans helping furriends who were hurt or displaced by the earthquake and tsunami.

Some musical artists have put together a compilation album to raise funds fur JEARS! We'd like everybuddy to have the link to the album webpage, Noises for Japan.

Hoping many folks will be able to buy the album to help support animal rescue in Japan. Arroooo woo!

Paw-note: You can learn more about JEARS by following their tweets at @NotWoAnimals and checking out their AnimalRescueJapan facebook page.

So many animals needing help after Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:16:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Every day since the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan, we check the news to see howl rescue efforts are going.

We have been gathering information about all the animal rescue organizations, veterinary groups, and pet shelters that are helping the animals. We post a lot of that info on twitter and on facebook.

Ourselves and our family send love to the people and animals affected by the Tōhuku quake. You are in our hearts and prayers.

"Why the world likes dogs"

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 03:15:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

What better loveliness to think about on St. Valentine's Day than the wonderfulness of ourwoofselves!

We thot to post the following homage to dogs cuz mum has been reading us a 1937 book called Training The Dog. This book was written by William Lewis Judy, aka Captain Will Judy, an early 20th century "icon in the sport of dog shows," born in Pennsylvania in 1891. He did become the publisher of Dog World in 1923, after buying the magazine.

Mum has read several sections of Captain Judy's dog training book to myself and furbro Jack. Our impawression is that Captain Judy was a great dog lover and a great human being. Howlever, his thinking bout dogs' position in the animal kingdom suffered from the same kind of compawmentalization that mum calls "typical of 'modern' 20th century westerners who have seen themselves as separate from and above Nature."

While one does not like to dwell on negatives, one does infurr from some of Captain Judy's word choices that he did not see ourwoofselves as sentient beings. Fur example, he does refurr to us dogs as "things" and does talk bout us as "serving" humans.

Wotever, tis not our pawpose ere today to critique the old beliefs. Wot we doo prefurr is just to present the homage below in consideration of our moral pawfection.

Why the World Likes Dogs

The most unselfish living thing in the world is your dog. If you are in danger, your dog needs only to hear your cry of distress to rush to your aid, without thought of his own life, fearless of guns and enemies.

The most patient thing in the world is your dog, waiting for hours at the top of the stairs to hear the sound of your footsteps, never complaining however late you may be.

The most grateful thing in the world is your dog. Whatever you give him, whatever you do for him, he never is guilty of ingratitude. To him you are the most powerful personage in the world and beyond censure; you are your dog's god; you can do no wrong.

The most friendly thing in the world is your dog. Of all the animal kingdom, he alone serves man without whip, without compulsion, glad to be by the side of his master wherever he may be, whatever he may do, and sad in heart when his master is away.

The most forgiving thing in the world is your dog. The one virtue most humans lack is forgiveness. But your dog carries no grudge and no spite. Punish him even undeservedly, and he comes to you, nudges his moist nose into your hand, looks up at you with pleading eyes, and wags his tail hesitatingly as tho to say, "Oh, come on, let's be pals again."

The most loyal thing in the world is your dog. Whether you come home from Congress or from jail, whether you have lost your fortune or made a million, whether you return dressed in fashion's height or in rags, whether you have been hailed a hero or condemned as criminal, your dog is waiting for you with a welcoming bark of delight, a wagging tail and a heart that knows no guile.

The world likes dogs because dogs are nearest to moral perfection of all living things.

--By Capt. Will Judy, Editor of Dog World magazine

Paw-script: This howliday is myself's 14th Valentine's Day with mum, who did attach a heart to my collar last week as a symbol of er grrreat love. ~ Tilin Corgi

Happy Year of the "Doggie Moms"!

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:00:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Jack Nippers

The human in the video below is New Yorker Karen Biehl. She is a dog lover who feels that she and her Chihuahua furriend, Eli, are "like soul mates" and that they "have a purpose together."

Call the sense of purpose far-fetched if you want. But we doo see nothin wrong with Karen's devotion to her rescued dog furriend.

If you watch telly, furhaps you can meet Eli and Karen and the other "Doggie Moms," on their reality series. It begins airing in February 2011 exclusively on NYC Media (nyc.gov/media). The series entails five women navigating New York City with their dog furriends. They go to gallery openings, Yappy Hours, costume pup-day parties, red carpet events, and lots of other pawlaces they doo manage to get into.

Wot a grrreat face and pawsonality Eli the Chihuahua has! And wot grrreat commitment the "doggie moms" have to raising money fur local charities and animal groups, and fur raising awareness bout animal rescue, pet adoption, and responsible pet guardianship.

Home for the holidays

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:07:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

We wish every dog and cat a prawpurr home fur the holidays and furever. Howl.

These dogs ave got the right idea about celebrating!

But they ought to ask fur some better "people food" than sugary cookies! BOL

Paw-note: We two corgis and our meezer doo not eat Christmas cookies and other sweet noms, but we doo eat "people food." Thanx woofs to mum!

Bodega Bay Birthday ... My Big 13

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 06:35:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

My 13th birthday! Lots of pawtying fur two weeks, from mid-November till the end of the month. An extra-long barkday pawty covers all my pawsible birthdates.

Nobuddy knows my real birthdate, only that I was rescued as my six-week-old puppyself at New Year's 1998.

My favorite pawty event was a trip to Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast. Furbro Jack and mum did keep me company.

We did run on the beautiful long beach and then watch the sun set.

A little contempawlation of Nature was in order. ...

I noticed that the tide kept coming in and trying to get us. Howl does it doo that? BOL!

Furbro Jack was feeling pawsitively peaceful in the sunset glow.

When we got back to the doghausmobile after sundown, I was feeling arfully peaceful. Wot a swell Bodega Bay birthday!

Paw-note: Thanx woofs to mum fur keeping me going strong fur my 13 years! As only mum and myself doo know, we have had to get me thru some arfully ruff times.

4 November: Cats who nom out loud

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:11:00 +0000

by guest author Ani Meezer

Tis November, a time of thanks giving and nomming. Tis therefur appawropriate to introduce you to animals who are pawticularly vocal in expressing gratitude fur their food.

Oh but wait a furry second. Allow me to introduce mycatself: I am Ani Siamese, aka Meezer. I do nom out loud occasionally.

Purrhaps you know me as best furriend of the WCD boyz, Tilin Corgi and Jackie Nippers Corgi.

This furst Nom Nom Nom Cat video came to us by tweet of Judy Dunn, aka twitter friend @CatsEyeWriter. We are grateful. We luv looking at videos of cats who nom out loud.

Grateful Nom Cat Number One (below): This cat does enjoy her sour cream and cannot quit raving about it. Nom nom nom!

Grateful Nom Cat Number Two (below): This cat is furry good at using her paw as a ladle. She does lovely nom-maowing while she drinks.

Grateful Nom Cat Number Three: This cat does not need to nom out loud. He just needs to roll around on the floor to show how furry grateful he is fur the watermelon. MOL!

Now tis time fur us to nom gratefully. The boyz and I are having steamed organic butternut squash, fresh green peas, and raw free-range chicken necks!

Paw-note: Sometimes grateful nom cats begin to growl. In catspeak this is a warning. It means "Back off my noms!" ... A word to the nomwise should be sufficient.

Happy Cardigan Welsh Corgi on British Columbia farm

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:11:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

We are arfully grateful to have lovely photos and a true corgi story to share with you. This story was furwarded to us by British Columbia twitter friend and dog lover @So_OK, aka Dorthea. She received this story in an email from an Okanagan B.C. friend who adopted a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

"Our wonderful old dog Cleo died on September 11, 2009, at 14 years of age. She was the perfect match for farm life in British Columbia, where there are six acres to call her own and protect. We have learned that you are never really alone if you have a dog in your life. We also learned how important a dog is on a farm (especially during the fall when the bears abound and circle the farm in search of last scraps of food before hibernation). We also learned that we will always have a dog in our lives.

"After several weeks of seeing a ghost of Cleo out of the corner of our eyes and missing the greeting at the door when we came home, and finding bear scat around the house, we started doing the dog quizzes on line to determine what our next best dog might be. We were ready for something smaller than Cleo's 80 lbs of pure alpha energy, and Welsh Corgis turned up again and again as the best match for farm, companion, big yet small dog. We also have friends that have had Corgis and always like them.

"So here we are with a rescue Cardigan Corgi (the ones with the tails) from Alberta.

"Haley, whose name is under consideration for a change as my sister-in-law shares this honour, is 18 months old [in these pics]. Likely the runt of a litter as she is full grown and only 20 lbs, which is too small to meet breeders standards.

"She is a total delight. House broken, crate trained and comes on a dime when she is called. She is totally affectionate, sleeping at our feet and next to us on the couch when permitted. We are introducing her around and looks like she may have some alpha qualities as she protects her space around other females.

"She has barked at the sounds of the bears in the night, and I have heard them climbing nearby trees (they remember Cleo and don't yet know that Haley is just a twig of a thing.) We are smitten and very happy to have her in our lives.

"This winter, with its blanket of clouds over Okanagan Lake, will not be quite so depressing."

May all our furriends, near and far, enjoy romping in the autumn leaves! A Happy Howloween to you all! ~ Tilin & Jack Corgi

Exotic birds as pets: "a tug between love and exasperation"

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:09:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

This video is about parrot personalities and needs. It does show you humans howl hard it is to have a parrot as a pet.

If this video does not convey to you humans the impawtance of understanding the commitment and patience it takes to care for an exotic bird, nothing ever will.

Enough woofed.

We hope that you doo tell anybuddy who is thinking of adopting a parrot or other big exotic bird to watch this video first.

'Translate for Animals': Bridging the gap between animals and humans

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 06:30:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

Getting our paw-point across to humans is one of our biggest challenges. Therefur, we are arfully excited that Google has introduced 'Translate for Animals', an Android application that will allow humans to better understand us animals.

Unfurtunately, we are not able to embed the video here, so we will just have to give you the link: Introducing Translate for Animals.

Doo let us know wot you think of the application.

BOL

March mosiac

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:55:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

Howl beautiful the spring weather in Sonoma County. Dog-ma did take us with her wine tasting and riding 'round.

Fluffy clouds float above the mountains east of this Russian River Valley vineyard.

Painted lines on the signpost for Richard's Grove and Saralee's Vineyard show us howl high the Russian River can rise when there is flooding.

Arfully lovely trees bloom behind neatly trained grapevines in this Healdsburg vineyard.

Myself did try to walk into Chateau Felice winery in Chalk Hill AVA during barrel tasting event.

Myself did also try to walk into Foppiano Vineyards barrel room in Healdsburg.

We wanted to see the '09 Chardonnay barrels. Dog-ma sez this is first Foppiano Chard in quite a few years.

My pawtner, Jack Corgi, aka pawlitico, does think wine tasting days are grrreat fun.

We did go to other wineries. We always doo. We will return to them soon.

A love story

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:45:00 +0000

by winecountrydog Tilin

We had a lovely afternoon picnic on Valentine's Day.

We were out in Laguna de Santa Rosa, in the Russian River Valley. The Laguna is full of water and happy birds after the winter rains.

We wanted to count all the birds we saw 'cuz the Great Backyard Bird Count was going on from February 12 to 15. So many birds take sanctuary here. I pawsonally cannot count that high.

I sat next to my bovine furriends' big pasture, up on the hill away from the water. My furriends were far away, grazing in a distant field. I knew that they'd come over after a while.

Suddenly I felt intense stares at my back. My furriends had walked over to the fence so quietly that I hadn't heard them.

I was so excited. I ran right over to them. I love my big furriends!

We doo nosetaps with each other. It's arfully fun. And usually one or more of my big furriends licks my head.

My paws started sinking in the watery mud and my head was getting wet from the licking. I had to return to our picnic pawlace and dry off.

What a beautiful warm day for visiting furriends we love.

"Missing" San Francisco sea lions interviewed in Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (winecountrydog) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:22:00 +0000

by winecountrydog

By early December 2009, the world-renowned barkers of San Francisco's Pier 39 had disappeared.

Back in October 2009, humans at The Marine Mammal Center in nearby Sausalito had noticed that S.F. sea lion numbers were dwindling. Before long, almost everybuddy in the 1,700-member sea lion colony had gone missing.

It's not true that the sea lions left 'cuz of a dog named Rez who frightened them during an encounter at Hyde Street Pier in Fisherman's Wharf.

By the way, dog furriends, we hope you know that chasing sea lions is not in keeping with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The sea lions' sudden depawture must've taken a bite out of tourism along San Francisco's docks. Pawsonally, though, we love howl these flippy furriends baffled humans with their disappearance.

Finally, weeks after the disappearance, humans on the southern Oregon coast repawt that they're hosting many of S.F.'s finest.

Sea lion interviews are being conducted.

Mystery solved! You've heard the answer right from a San Francisco sea lion's mouth: "We're not missing. We're just on vacation."

Apparently they're finding good grub in Oregon's colder waters.

Paw-note: If you talk with any S.F. sea lions, the humans at @TravelCoosBay on twitter would love to get a tweet from you about it.