Dogs On the Pitch

Two truisms:

There are few things as wonderful watching a dog run around and be happy.

You cannot catch a dog unless she wants to be caught. 

I saw the first clip on Twitter and then, of course, ended up watching many more dogs-on-the-field videos.

2022, Chile versus Venezuela at La Granja in Spain:

2014, Club Atlético Belgrano versus Quilmes Atlético Club, in Argentinia:

2017, San Lorenzo de Amalgro versus Arsenal de Sarandí, Argentina:

2018, Gori, Georgia:

 

2020, Turkish professional football club, Karagümrü, Istanbul: 

 

2020:

2021, Bosnian Premier League:

2014, St. John's versus Central Connecticut State:

The best (and longest) clip in this compilation is #6:

They think they are so smart, luring the dog off the field by waiving a big red bag like a toy. It's working, it's working . . . until they get close to the gate off the field . . . and the dog stops dead in his tracks. Ears down, looks over the situation . . .  and turns around and runs off again! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

In Other News . . .

We bought a house . . . the purchase was finalized last Friday . . . and we are now living in it!

We are, quite honestly, stunned at our good fortune. The dogs have been enjoying the back yard for most of the last two days, as we moved our stuff in. It's been exhausting, but seeing Cookie and Kai wrestling on the grass for hours and, later in the evening, completely zonked out, sleeping so peacefully on their beds, is wonderful.

(Taken on May 18)

Goodbye, Diego

We said a tearful goodbye to Diego this afternoon.

He spent most of the day on the grass in the front yard, enjoying the warm sun.

Diego joined our family on April 21, 2011. This was the Petfinder photo that caught Laura's attention:

Summer 2011, staying close to Tala's crate as she rehabs

December 2011

October 2012 (after romping in the just-mowed backyard)

Spring 2012

Summer 2012

December 2013

March 2014 ("We Love The Car")

Summer 2014

2016, Cherry Beach, Toronto

September 2018, Ontario RV trip (Sudbury)

September 2018, RV trip in Ontario

September 2018, Ontario RV trip

November 2019, Manitoba

November 2019 (hotel room, after a long day of driving)

Spring 2019 (the law firm I work for did a story about my working-remotely arrangement for its internal newsletter, so Diego and I posed for a photo)

2019, San Josef Bay in BC

April 2019, with Kai

This afternoon, getting some love from Cookie

After driving across Canada with us last November, Diego was able to enjoy a back yard (once again!). Two wonderful beaches were both a short drive away. Diego loved the beach so much - during his first visit to Toronto's Cherry Beach, he zoomed around constantly, crashing through tall grass, splashing in and out of the water.

Seeing an irrepressibly happy dog get even more happy is a wonderful sight, possibly even more wonderful than watching Dave Roberts steal second base.

Diego was last at Storey's Beach two days ago (though he stayed on the leash) in a light rain. The injury to his other knee happened later in the day.

Our pack has had a lot of sudden change in the last two months. Diego was our only dog for more than two years. Then he and Kai were a duo for 36 days before Cookie joined the family. The three of them were together for only 48 days.

Now: The Kai and Cookie Show.

Cookie

On April 5, I posted that we had adopted a dog named Kai.

Well, on May 9, we adopted another dog. Her name is Cookie. ... And she deserves her own post, too, even if it is a bit late. So here it is.

Laura met Cookie outside the library a few months ago. Her then-people were clearly in over their heads with this wild, young dog. Cookie lived in the basement and may have spent some days loose on a nearby beach. Laura dropped a hint or two that if Cookie did not work out with them, she was interested in adopting her.

On May 7, the Cookie people came to the library and told Laura that if she was serious about adopting her, she was at our town's Animal Shelter. (In the meantime, we had adopted Kai.) I called and was told Cookie had been there for five days; after one week, she would be driven down to Campbell River (the closest big town, almost three hours south). We went over the next morning and signed the papers, ignoring our "No Third Dog" rule that had been firmly in place for 30 years, because ... fuck it!

May 9 (Cookie comes home)

May 22

June (at Storey's Beach)

Hanging out at home with her sister Kai and big brother Diego

Also: On her initial Cookie post, Laura wrote this on May 10: "There is zero chance of us getting a larger property -- considering we rent, and this was literally the only place we found that allowed dogs."

Well, it turns out that chance was not exactly zero. In fact, by May 26, we had decided to buy a house (something we were adamantly against for decades), looked at four or five available homes in the Port Hardy area, found one I loved, found one Laura loved, wrestled with various pros and cons before coming to a decision, made an offer, had the offer accepted, applied for a mortgage, and were approved for said mortgage!

If all goes according to plan, we'll take possession of the house on July 5. (insert eye-popping, jaw-dropping emoji here)

Kai

We are once again a pack of four! We adopted Kai on Wednesday evening.

I'll let Laura tell the story:

Kai (rhymes with eye) is small for us, about 30 pounds, a pit-mix with a "Staffie" look. She is much smaller than a Staffie - unless her foster mom was very wrong about her age! We believe she is about 18 months old. Her coat is a dark brindle colour with a white blaze. ...

About a month ago, Allan found a Vancouver-based group that rescues street dogs from other countries. He sent me a few links, and I immediately chose a honey-coloured Shepherd mix living in a tough city in the Middle East. We filled out an extensive application.

While we were waiting, Allan went to the vet [last Thursday] to pick up some supplies, and saw a flyer, looking for a home for Kai. (Foster Mom spelled it Kye. We changed the spelling but not the name.) I was already getting attached to the idea of the Shepherd mix. But, as Allan pointed out, in our area there are fewer options for Kai - less of a chance that she would find her forever home. The other dog was on Petfinder so had a better chance. Plus, Kai is dark, and subject to the "curse of the dark dog". She's already lived in at least three homes [in addition to stays in shelters].

We drove down to Port McNeill [45 minutes south of Port Hardy] on Monday to have Kai and Diego meet. Diego wanted to play right away. Kai was quiet and shy, although not afraid. ...

We left and did some errands, then came back for a second meet. Kai wagged her tail and was happy to see us! Diego tried to get Kai to play. That's a great sign: he normally only plays with his packmate! Poor little Kai doesn't know how to play. Diego will teach her.

That second meeting went really well. [We also walked them together for about 15 minutes.] Then, while I was at work, Final Foster Mom brought Kai to our house [on Tuesday morning]. Allan told me that Diego was desperate to play with Kai - barking in her face, doing deep play-bows, really going at it. Kai ran around the house, drank some water out of Diego's bowl, picked up a toy, and was generally curious and happy. I believe Diego knows this thing is on.

It has been an extremely smooth transition, partially because Diego is so relaxed and cool with everything. Last night was Kai's second night and she was already way more relaxed, hanging out in her crate at night (not needing to be beside one of us), with Diego laying nearby (of course). And the Big Boy is thrilled to have someone to play with. They both have initiated play - and Kai does not seem to be harassing Diego, who is about 10 years old, if he doesn't want to be bothered (though I don't think I have ever seen Diego not want to be bothered by either of his (now) two sisters).

Kai is way more interested in toys than Diego has ever been. She had a stuffed eagle that she sleeps with and various other chew toys, including a ball that is about twice the size of her head and something resembling a hockey puck. It's nice to see all her dog toys scattered around the house. ... We are also looking at options to completely fence in the yard, though we do have a stake with a couple of long lead lines on it, so they can be outside at times.

This morning, when Laura came out of the bedroom at the other end of the house, I noticed that Kai grabbed a toy first and then ran down the hallway with it to say hello. When Tala was outside, she always needed her main toy (which was originally a planet, but the continents had long since been ripped off) next to her and whenever she spied a brazen squirrel entering her territory, she would bark and race after it - but only after first grabbing her ball in her mouth! I'm sure all the squirrels appreciated the slight delay in her pursuit.

J.D. Martinez: "Anytime I See A Dog I Immediately Get Happy"

Anytime I see a dog I immediately get happy. It's instant. It's the only thing that makes me happy. I see a dog and I just want to go play with him and talk to him and treat him like he's a human.

J.D. Martinez

I've always loved dogs and I just love German shepherds. We had one growing up and [groundskeeper] Dave [Mellor] had told me they were breeding [his dogs] Drago and Lisle ... At first I held off because I was concerned about being able to take care of it during the season and things like that, and then I went up and visited them and Bronco, my puppy, he was the last one of the litter and the only one there, and I friggin' fell in love with the dog right when I saw him. ... I love playing with him and everything you get out of having a dog. ... If he was a person, he would definitely be a ballplayer. He's really athletic and if he sees a ball he's going psycho, and he knows kind of how to play catch, so he'll catch and toss it back to you and when we play catch. And he loves to run around, he's got a ton of energy.

Rick Porcello

Anytime I walk by Maverick [NESN's Mike Narracci's 7-month-old chocolate Lab], I've got to go and say hello and pet him and give him hugs. He reminds me so much of Tank [my own chocolate Lab] so being away from Tank for all of spring training hasn't been fun or easy ... Having Maverick around takes the blow off things. ... It's kind of cool being at home, Drago is always around. He's kind of like the team dog. He comes in the clubhouse and on the field and when he's out there, you see everyone go over to him and talk to him. And now this year, Maverick has been here, so it's good. Having a dog around, it's good for the soul.

Brock Holt

Drago has the nicest yard in New England:

Tony La Russa, a special assistant to Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, started the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) in 1990. ARF has roughly 200 volunteers and has rescued 40,000 animals. When La Russa managed the Cardinals, he would encourage the players bring their dogs to the park during spring training. And he would "have a litter bag and go clean up all the poop".

(Wait: Fenway Park uses coyote decoys to scare away geese??)

Diego

Meet Diego, the latest member of our family! He is about two years old and was living at Toronto Animal Services for one month. Laura and I began looking at adoptable dogs about three weeks ago, but after noticing some of the ones we liked were not listed a few days later -- they had been placed in a home -- I stopped looking. I had no intentions of getting hooked on a dog only to find it was long gone by adoption day.

While Laura was in New York last week, she was checking the site and had her eye on Diego.

When she returned, we decided he was the one. There is no way to put a dog "on hold", so we hoped that he would not be snapped up before we could get there. ... And we got him!

Diego is playful, curious, and very happy. Tala hasn't missed a beat. She and Diego got along great at the shelter, and they have been wrestling and romping both in and out of the house since we got home.

(Laura's post about Diego is here.)

Cody

Cody
April 19, 1999 (adopted) - August 24, 2010