CJ update

On Monday March 14, I received a phone call from the SPCA inspector. He got in touch with CJ’s owner/ family. They had given CJ a bath and a bit of a trim before he got there, and they’ve since taken CJ to the vet for a check-up and to get his teeth cleaned. The SPCA agent also suggested CJ get a professional clip by a dog groomer, and he explained the importance of regularly scheduled grooming of a dog with CJ's hair type.

The family was receptive to the SPCA’s review, and it would appear CJ is more comfortable now.

CJ the Cocker Poodle

I came across a stray dog this afternoon on my noontime walk. Once I realized he wasn’t with any of the people walking in the vicinity I approached the dog, talking softly. He seemed a bit timid at first, but after talking to him for a few minutes and letting him sniff my hand, I slowly reached for his collar to check for a tag. He had a 2010 Burnaby license and a current Rabies vaccination tag.

I then picked him up and walked back to the office. The receptionist phoned Burnaby City with the tag number and we found out the dog’s name is CJ. The clerk phoned the receptionist back a few minutes later to say the dog’s owner had been contacted and would pick up the dog shortly. He phoned right after that to say, “You found my dog? I’ll be right over.”

In the meantime I, and quite a crowd of staff that had gathered, examined the dog more closely. He is a Cocker Spaniel-sized dog with very unkept long, matted hair. The hair on his muzzle is very long and dirty. To that point I hadn’t even identified what breed he was. I stroked him, rubbed his ears and continued to talk to him. By then the smell was starting to get to me and I soon identified why; he had a large cling-on stuck to the long hair under his docked tail. The poor guy couldn’t even sit down.

The staff and I began discussing how long we though this little guy had been wandering around lost. Our office is only a short distance from Burnaby Lake Park, and I assumed CJ had been living in the park for the last few weeks. We offered him water, but he declined. I was thinking that his owner was really going to be excited to get his dog back. I was really anxious to know how long CJ had been gone.

About 15 minutes later CJ’s owner drove up to the front door. By this time I had taken CJ outside onto the front landing as his odor was beginning to fill our reception area. The owner got out of car with a big smile, thanked me, picked up CJ and put him in the back seat of the car. He didn’t ask how CJ was or make any moves to examine his condition. He was ready to get back in his car to leave.

I mentioned to him that CJ seemed OK but he really could benefit from a bath and a trim, especially to get rid of the many mattes. I barely had time to ask him how long CJ had been missing. I couldn’t let him go without knowing that.

“About 15 minutes. We’re getting some roof work done and somebody must have left the gate open.”

Fifteen minutes.

So I guess poor CJ got a ride back home, which is only a few blocks from our office, and got returned to the backyard, where it appears he must live under the back stairs or something. By the way, the owner told me CJ is a Cocker Spaniel crossed with Poodle. I’d say more Cocker than Poodle. I hadn’t firmly identified him as a Spaniel because his eyes are a bit small, plus he’s a mess.

Now I ask myself, "Is there anything I should have done differently about my meeting with CJ?" Judging by his appearance he’s quite neglected. I wouldn’t let a dog that smelled like that into my house either.

The guy didn’t appear to be poor, or unable to provide for the dog, and the dog didn't appear to be under-fed. The owner didn’t seem unfriendly; he just seemed oblivious to CJ’s condition.

I reverse-searched his phone number for his address and managed to view his house via Google’s Streetview. It appears to be a well-kept medium-size house. So why is his dog not well-kept?

To tell you the truth, I felt guilty after the guy left with CJ that we had not contacted the SPCA to pick up the dog, instead of the owner. It would have been a different story I think if a 3^rd party had witnessed CJ's condition.

It’s not my intention to interfere if a dog is loved, but I really feel like I should notify some authority regarding the mattes and cling-ons. It may be news to some, but dogs, as well as cats, do groom themselves. They generally like to be clean. Have you ever seen a dog run and jump with glee after a bath? It's a pretty satisfying feeling.

But one thing I can say is that I doubt that CJ is comfortable in his current state. My conscience is telling me to contact the SPCA to have a talk with CJ's owner. Mattes and knots like CJ has tend to pull the dog's skin and cause discomfort. Not to mention the sanitary issue.

Unaffordability

Ya know that house I was blogging about a few months back? The one that used to be clad with white vinyl siding, and the new owners stripped it and restored the original underlying cedar siding and shingles.

Well, a “For Sale” sign popped up on the front lawn a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been waiting for that to happen, as I haven’t seen anyone working on it (or living in it) for at least 3 months now (probably more). I looked it up on an internet realty website to see what they wanted to flip it for. Would you believe a cool $949,000? Are they kiddin’ me? Just shy of a million dollars (meant to be spoken aloud, of course, with an evil Dr. Evil (from Austin Powers fame) inflection, for added emphasis).

Naturally, being lookie-loos at heart, my wife and I attended the Open House this past weekend, just for kicks. As previously noted, I was impressed by the exterior workmanship.

But not so much with the interior. Although I liked the re-finished Fir floors, I guess there’s only so much you can do with inside finishes if you’re not willing to remove the multiple layers of paint from original trim pieces. And I can totally understand in this age of increased awareness to hazardous materials that one might wish to avoid contact with lead paint, and the expense of having lead paint professionally removed. But some of the new baseboard trims, added to accent original wide baseboards, weren’t even painted or stained. That seemed out of place.



But the first glaring deficiency, in my mind, was noticed at the bottom of the basement stairs, leading to a mortgage-helper (no kidding!) suite. A washer and dryer were placed opposite a doorway leading into the downstairs unit. I wondered right away for whom this laundry set-up was intended. I assumed it was for the tenants’ use. But…around another corner stood a stackable washer/ dryer combo. In other words, for a cool 949 the new owner gets to construct a partial wall and install a lockable door at the base of stairs in order to be able to use their own washer and dryer. Hmmm…

After that I became more vigilant regarding deficiencies. It wasn’t hard as it turned out. The upstairs bathrooms were interesting for the fact that neither one features frosted panes for windows. So, either you have no shame, or you install curtains.

I looked out that upstairs bathroom window down onto the backyard and noticed a sloped-roof carport that has been added since the last time I walked our dog down the back lane. It’s a nice looking structure, but upon second glance I was rather amused to realize that gravel has been substituted for a concrete slab. The new owner is forever going to be raking that gravel back in place each time his car makes the sharp turn into its parking space.

I could go on, but I don’t want to sound unduly harsh. It is a nice house (again, I was impressed with the exterior workmanship), but I firmly believe that for almost a mil in East Van you really shouldn’t have to add anything. Unless, of course, you absolutely can’t stand the colour or style of something. Then it’s an issue of personal taste.

I’m all for property values increasing; after all we’re homeowners ourselves. But this 949 does nothing to reduce Vancouver’s label as unaffordable.

But just to prove me wrong, a SOLD sign has been posted this morning.

RTCC 2011

This is my 3^rd Ride to Conquer Cancer. This event is getting bigger every year; more riders and more money raised. 2010 saw 30% more participants and 30% more money raised! That’s pretty amazing.

It’s already February as I write this, and I’ve been kind of a slug so far this winter season. I stopped riding in late November for a variety of excuses:

Too rainy for my morning ride down the hill to connect with Skytrain,

Too icy on the side streets in the morning,

I brought the company truck home the night before for an early morning site visit,

Didn’t re-charge the batteries overnight for my bike lights,

My wife offered me a ride to my connecting bus,

I packed my backpack already, I’m not transferring my stuff over to my panniers,

Did I mention the rain?

blah, blah, blah

On a more positive physical note, my wife joined me this year in signing up for the Sun Run, so we’re both In-Training. That’s at least a start that will motivate me to get back on track. I’ve even been contemplating getting a road bike for this season. I intend to visit a few bike shops soon to see if I can still get a deal on a left-over 2010 model.

My campaign to raise $2,500 to participate is just getting underway. Please join me in contributing to make the 2011 edition of the Vancouver to Seattle Ride to Conquer Cancer the best ever!

Thank you.

Whispers of Advanced Beginner obedience training

Did I mention I saw the Dog Whisperer himself on the streets of Victoria a couple of weeks ago? A work colleague and I were walking along Humboldt Street, across from the Empress Hotel, on our way back from lunch, to our day-long field assignment in the Capital City. We were walking into the driving rain, so we both had our hoods up. A couple was approaching from the opposite direction, and I just happened to look up in time to recognize Cesar’s impish smile from beneath his hooded Goretex. In stereo-typical Canadian politeness, I smiled back, and just barely had time to give a nod of recognition before he passed.

I describe it now because it’s just occurred to me that perhaps that recent brush with celebrity may have sub-consciously encouraged me to coach Tannah a little more diligently in the couple of weeks leading up to her 1^st place finish in Advanced Beginner obedience training this past Monday evening. I think Cesar Millan himself would be proud.

As a disclaimer up front, I have to admit I’m not so much a fan of Cesar’s that I’ve never missed an episode. Quite the contrary in fact; I’ve seldom seen an episode of his show. I’m not even sure we get the channel on which his show is broadcast. But perhaps that makes me even more a fan, that despite rarely having seen him on TV, I still instantly recognised Cesar on the street.

I did catch an episode of The Dog Whisperer on TV this past summer during our vacation in Portland. I enjoyed it, and I could really sense Cesar’s obvious enthusiasm for dogs, and his mission to teach people how to teach their dogs. In my opinion, that really is the key. In the vast majority of cases I believe that if a problem dog exists, it’s generally not the sole fault of the dog; the owner likely didn’t have a confidant grasp of the skills required to instruct his faithful companion.

And I certainly know from experience (Tannah is my 4^th), teaching a dog is not easy, but it does get easier the more you practice. The farther along I get into dog obedience training, the more I realize I’ve become a better teacher over the years; I can now see that I’m getting better quality results faster from my dog.

To tell you the truth, I was rather startled by how good it felt to hear Tannah’s name called out in winning 1^st Place. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I had wanted that distinction for us. Our previous spaniel, Shelby GT (yes, her official name on her Papers was in recognition of the classic Mustang), earned a 2^nd place ribbon in Beginner Advanced. During her short time with us Shelby participated in Beginner, Advanced Beginner and Novice. So far Tannah has completed Beginner, and she’s done Advanced Beginner twice. No, she didn’t flunk the fist time ‘round; we simply wanted Shauna to take Tannah through her paces so Tannah would be comfortable with both of us instructing her. Although, towards the end of this session’s classes, Shauna got really busy with report cards, and it was decided that I should coach Tannah the final 3 or 4 classes, which included the Grad.

Not to sound too much like a graduation convocation speech, but I want to encourage anyone out there that may be experiencing some degree of difficulty or frustration in training their dog in basic obedience commands. Don’t give up! It really is all about repetition. Conduct 2 or 3 short training session per day. I find that 10 minutes each session works well. That gives you enough time to run through the ½ dozen or so commands a couple of times each. End the session before frustration might have a chance to creep in. I try to incorporate training sessions into our morning and evening walks. I’ve also found that going for a short jog (even as little as 10 minutes) with Tannah after work has been beneficial before practicing obedience commands, especially heeling.

We’ve signed up for the Novice level which begins in late January, with possibly a Rally event in our future after that. And as with all dogs, Tannah loves the quality time spent with us that obedience training affords. It’s in her best interest as well, in terms of her being safe in the city, and guests to our home not finding her to be a nuisance. She’s a very special member of our family and we love her enough to ensure she’s fluent in People Whispering.

Movember

This year our office is participating in Movember.

For those that may think I could benefit from Spell Check, I should explain. ‘Movember’ is an initiative whereby men grow a moustache for the month of November for the purpose of raising awareness of prostate cancer detection and treatment.

I was I bit delayed in climbing on the bandwagon. I realize it’s a great cause, and many men are affected by prostate cancer annually, but I really didn’t want to ‘grow a mo’ again. I had one for years, beginning in senior high school. I recently searched through a bunch of old photos and found my high school student card from grade 11, and an old Driver’s License from 1990. Just for kicks I showed both pieces of ID to a couple of office colleagues. They both said they really couldn’t see any resemblance between the ‘young’ me and the ‘now’ me. I must say, that’s intriguing. To me, of course, it’s me in both photos.

I think another reason for my reticence to grow a mo is the amount of grey that’s currently present near my chin, not to mention temples. I got a haircut on the weekend to try to reduce the overall effect. I continue in my efforts in attempting to embrace salt and pepper.

In any event, my ‘scruff-start’ began officially on Wednesday, ‘Movember’ 3. Although I’ve bent the rules and modified the moustache to incorporate a goatee; it suits my aversion to strictly limiting facial hair to my upper lip. I’ll have to come up with another moniker, however. Something along the lines of ‘Govember’, perhaps. Goatee plus November. Or maybe Bovember; beard plus November.

Thus far, I’m 6 days into it, and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m sporting more growth than a moustache and I notice it more, or if it’s more due to genetics, but the beard is growing in quickly. Even my wife hasn’t complained about it all that much (yet), probably because she knows it’ll be short term and the event is tied to a information/ fund raising campaign for important health awareness issues.

It’s kind of fun considering about half a dozen of us in the office are doing it, and also I don’t have to raise $2500 to participate, as I have done twice now in preparation for The Ride to Conquer Cancer. I’ve signed up for the 2011 event, by the way. But I'll save that introduction for a future blog post.

RD400, RZ500 and '88 FZ750

More classic and collectable motorcycles have appeared on CL. If I’d only waited before buying that silly GS.

The first one is a truly classic Yamaha RD400. It’s air cooled and so much cooler (no pun intended) than the later model water-cooled bikes. I remember in my teens, back when I read dirt bike magazines, there were a few articles dedicated to dunes racers in Southern California. They would build custom high-powered 3 wheelers featuring RD400 engines and paddle tires. They were the first hot rod ATVs.

In the 80s, when 3 wheeled all terrain vehicles were introduced, 2-stroke gas engines were common, in dirt bikes at least. It was a logical progression to add another cylinder of 2-stroke power for added torque. I would imagine it made for quite a wild ride. Despite living nowhere near a sand dune I always wanted to build one, if only to soothe my inner grease-monkey.The appeal of the RD400 has endured for me despite never having ridden one. I’ve read test reviews of 2-stroke street bikes that say, sure they’re as fast as 4-stroke 750s of their day, but they’re engines don’t feature the benefit of engine braking.

It’s especially rare to find a low-mileage original example of an RD, and I saw 2 of them! The bike in the second photo is a clean ’77 edition featured only “sensible” modifications such as an H4 headlight bulb and an electronic ignition upgrade.

The other bike that caught my eye this week was another Yam, an ‘88 FZ750. It’s curious how some bikes catch one’s fancy for altogether different reasons. For the RD it was the allure of the “ring-ping-ping” 2-stroke for the street as opposed to trail. But in the case of the FZ, for me it’s the paint scheme. To be truthful, however, this one has 2-stroke roots as well.

Again, back when I was a teenager, I lusted for the RZ500. It was truly an exotic, in my opinion. A guy that I worked with rode a brand-new Suzuki RG500 Gamma. He was only a year older than me and we both worked part-time at the same place, so I can’t understand how he afforded it. Nonetheless, I gazed at it longingly every time I parked my trusty steed, an ’82 XS400, next to it on the sidewalk at the mall.

Both those models, the RZ and the RG, went on to achieve legendary status; they’re pretty hard to find these days. I did see an RZ500 recently on CL for around 5 grand. But I’ve already got a semi-functional GS850…I know, I know.

So the appeal of the 1988 edition of the FZ750 is its paint scheme. It’s very similar to the RZ500, and the chances of coming across an FZ, even specifically an ’88, is a lot greater than finding an RZ500.

And now I’ve seen both the RD400 and the 1988 FZ750 in the same week.