Arabella was off at school camp and Flora went for a play date with Tara. I said I would meet up with them at the dog park. The children play on the equipment and Jenny takes the dog into the fenced-off dog park so I thought it would be nice to have a chat with Jenny.
The dog park was busy and overwhelmed by great dane. It was only about 18 months old but it was, of course, massive and intimidating. One little old lady was too scared to let her small dog off the lead. We had a very nice chat about Edinburgh and then she decided to give up. Jenny was so busy directing dogs and owners that she didn't chat at all. I found the whole thing rather fraught and I don't think I'll be using that dog park too often. I thought dog ownership would be a relaxing element in my life.
Later the children joined us in the dog area and Flora had a nice time throwing balls for dogs and patting them, when Tara started moaning I decided that it was time to go home.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
thinking of a name
Once Arabella and Flora were aware that we were planning to get a dog, they wanted to think of a name. Flora can think up a name in an instant. One example of Flora's naming abilities is her name for a plastic horse she owns. It is called 'Double Eck Doo'. I have absolutely no idea where that came from.
The conversation on dog names went like this;
Flora - Can we call the dog Coco?
Me - We are not having a dog called Coco.
Flora - Can we call it Loco?
Me - There's only one thing that is loco round here and it's not a dog.
Flora - Can we call it Moco?
Me - No.
Flora - Can we call it Oh-oh?
Me - No names with Oh-oh in them.
A few days later while we were eating pizza in a cafe the name Zephyr popped into my head which I thought was good for a dog which runs like the wind and Calum agreed. When we got home I checked my 'Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art' which is one of my favourite books. When I looked up Zephyr it said, 'See Flora.' I read the entry for Flora and it said that Zephyr had chased Chloris, and once he caught her flowers spilled from her lips and she was tranformed into Flora. 'Primavera' by Botticelli depicts this moment. Thats great, I like a good classical allusion, so we will call the dog Zerphyr. I tried to tell Calum but he was watching Manchester United play in the European Championship so he didn't want to listen - fair enough.
I have begun to tell people that we are going to get a dog and they always ask which breed. When I say whippet there is a deafening silence. Elise said that she didn't think they were much fun with kids, based on Brendan's ex-racing greyhound showing no interest in playing with their boys. Ushi mustered up the most positive remark by saying, 'My Uncle Lucky has always had whippets.' A few days later she told me that she had never liked Uncle Lucky's whippets very much. I'm sticking to my guns, I'm sure this whippet is going to be adorable and be plenty of fun for the girls and Calum will be very happy with a dog which wants to cuddle into him.
The dog is due to be born on 1 June which is only 10 days away.
The conversation on dog names went like this;
Flora - Can we call the dog Coco?
Me - We are not having a dog called Coco.
Flora - Can we call it Loco?
Me - There's only one thing that is loco round here and it's not a dog.
Flora - Can we call it Moco?
Me - No.
Flora - Can we call it Oh-oh?
Me - No names with Oh-oh in them.
A few days later while we were eating pizza in a cafe the name Zephyr popped into my head which I thought was good for a dog which runs like the wind and Calum agreed. When we got home I checked my 'Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art' which is one of my favourite books. When I looked up Zephyr it said, 'See Flora.' I read the entry for Flora and it said that Zephyr had chased Chloris, and once he caught her flowers spilled from her lips and she was tranformed into Flora. 'Primavera' by Botticelli depicts this moment. Thats great, I like a good classical allusion, so we will call the dog Zerphyr. I tried to tell Calum but he was watching Manchester United play in the European Championship so he didn't want to listen - fair enough.
I have begun to tell people that we are going to get a dog and they always ask which breed. When I say whippet there is a deafening silence. Elise said that she didn't think they were much fun with kids, based on Brendan's ex-racing greyhound showing no interest in playing with their boys. Ushi mustered up the most positive remark by saying, 'My Uncle Lucky has always had whippets.' A few days later she told me that she had never liked Uncle Lucky's whippets very much. I'm sticking to my guns, I'm sure this whippet is going to be adorable and be plenty of fun for the girls and Calum will be very happy with a dog which wants to cuddle into him.
The dog is due to be born on 1 June which is only 10 days away.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The beginning
We have decided to get a dog. We have persuaded the landlord that it would be a good idea and checked through endless websites on selecting dogs. I was beginning to think that a spoodle would be a good family choice since is is Australia's most popular breed these days and the puppies are incredibly cute but I was never completely convinced. They just look so scruffy.
Then one day I was chatting to a friend who said that she had recently got a whippet. 'Interesting', I thought. They are not scruffy, in fact, they are sleek and elegant. One of Calum's criteria to determine how appealing any animal is, is to assess how pattable their heads are and whippets have very pattable heads. They are also hounds which is the kind of dog that Calum is drawn to.
On Easter Sunday there was a whippet show at Castle Hill Showground. When we got there we discovered that a number of breeds were having their own distinct dog shows at the Showground. We looked at them all, the very noisy dachshunds, the grumpy pugs, the amazingly vacant red setters and the gentle, curious, sweet whippets. Calum recognised one of the whippet show officials, she had just joined his office. She breeds whippets but wasn't expecting any at the moment, but she did know Lisa who had a pregnant bitch. We went to meet Lisa and Zest, the expectant mum. Zest had been sent all the way to Hobart to meet Oscar and to get busy. We had a chat with Lisa and put our names down for one of her male pups, due 1 June 07. Today Flora asked me how many days it is until we can get our dog, it's 56, we worked it out.
Then one day I was chatting to a friend who said that she had recently got a whippet. 'Interesting', I thought. They are not scruffy, in fact, they are sleek and elegant. One of Calum's criteria to determine how appealing any animal is, is to assess how pattable their heads are and whippets have very pattable heads. They are also hounds which is the kind of dog that Calum is drawn to.
On Easter Sunday there was a whippet show at Castle Hill Showground. When we got there we discovered that a number of breeds were having their own distinct dog shows at the Showground. We looked at them all, the very noisy dachshunds, the grumpy pugs, the amazingly vacant red setters and the gentle, curious, sweet whippets. Calum recognised one of the whippet show officials, she had just joined his office. She breeds whippets but wasn't expecting any at the moment, but she did know Lisa who had a pregnant bitch. We went to meet Lisa and Zest, the expectant mum. Zest had been sent all the way to Hobart to meet Oscar and to get busy. We had a chat with Lisa and put our names down for one of her male pups, due 1 June 07. Today Flora asked me how many days it is until we can get our dog, it's 56, we worked it out.
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