Destroying Dog Toys

Finnegan doesn't just play with toys. He DESTROYS them. Finn has about 20 toys, ranging from Kong balls and basic tennis balls to stuffed baby duckies and AKC training ferrets. This little guy doesn't like just playing with his toys, carrying them around and playing fetch. No, he is not satisfied until he has completely ripped apart and destroyed his toy. Does it have eyes or a nose, those are a good place to start. Or possibly a tail, it doesn't matter where he begins chewing and despite the canine lack of opposable thumbs he's getting pretty good and holding toys against the floor while he lets his incisors do the "playing". It's not that he is a particularly violent pooch, he just enjoys taking things a part. Because he was young and so irresistibly cute, I kept buying him new ones, hoping that he wouldn't be able to destory it. However, my breaking point was last sunday when we bought finn a squeaky plastic hot dog. Within 3 minutes (literally) of receiving the gift, Finnegan held the hotdog down with his two front paws, took one bite of the end of the bun and yanked it right off.

It wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the fact that most toys have some sort of stuffing. This, by the way, is the stupidest design and manufacturing of any product I have encountered. Dog toys in general really need some more thought put into them, you know so that they are as consumable as they are now. From now on Finn will get rawhides and tennis balls only!

Cute Dog Pictures

Here's Finn's Close up.

Also, Found a picture of an adorable Labrador puppy, thought you may enjoy (check out some of these others dog pictures too.)

Birthday, Grooming and the Dog Park

It's been a while since I've posted. The list of excuses is long but boils down to just not making it a priority. In the time since the last post a lot has happened in Finnegan's life. He turned one on March 18th. We threw him a mini party including a dog cake made just for him (okay cake is not exactly the right term, more like wheat bran muffins with cottage cheese toppings)
As you may be able to tell from the pictures Finn also got a haircut. We took him down to Sparky's which took great care of him, trimmed him up and made him smell all fresh. Like any guy it took a week or so for his new haircut to start looking great but it did and soon he was back to being the king of the castle.
The other major development is that we finally started taking Finnegan to the dog park. In the past his madre has been worried that he would get hurt (his hip dysplasia), that others dog would take advantage of him and all that. Turns out Finn plays great with other dogs.
His favorite spot is Laurel Canyon Dog park. This place is GREAT. At close to 20 acres it is the largest off-leash dog park in Los Angeles (at least according to the two guide books I own). If you live in the area you have to go. Tons of tennis balls are just lying around and most patrons are more than happy to pet a friendly dog. Water is also available so no need to worry about bringing anything other than your dog and a willingness to huck a tennis ball for an hour.
Thanks to all the folks who posted comments in the past two months. Hopefully I'll get better about posting more often. Take care.

Walking a dog in Santa Monica

The last week we've had great weather, and Finn has helped me take advantage of it. The Palisades Park in Santa Monica, overlooking the bluffs and ocean, is an awesome place to walk a dog when the weather is nice. For Finnegan going to the park means a world of excitement. There are squirrels, birds, and loads of other walking dogs.

We're always looking for new places to travel with the puppy, to expose him to things and make sure he knows, but if we never find anywhere else, Santa Monica offers everything. There is the Palisades park, third street promenade (complete with dancing monkey), the Santa Monica pier, the beach, the bluffs and lots of other things that are only interesting to a dog so I don't know what they are. Like I said there are hundreds of dogs out there and they are welcome everywhere except on the beach (legally speaking but ya know...). Finn's coming along well, and if nothing else the trips to the bluffs means his ego gets stroked. His shiny fur and still a baby golden retriever looks caused a slew of compliments. All the excitement and attention meant Bear was too busy to let me take a picture, what I could get is posted.