Our daily dose of Jack!

As you know, Easton and I were in Tucson last week and had the special privilege of meeting a legend. Yes, I'm talking about Jack; the (almost) four year old Yellow Lab who's sole purpose on this earth is to bring excitement and exercise to The Tall Guy's (Jack's Dad) life.
Jack and The Tall Guy's blog

We met up at McDonald park in NE Tucson. KT, Easton, Debbie (our Tucson hostess), Sophie and Mia piled into the dog bus and headed out for the short 3 mile drive. As we approached the dog park, we noticed a few dogs and humans having a barking good time. There was no mistaking Jack, the only Yellow Lab, running around with a plastic dog bowl in his mouth being pursued by a big guy with a camera around his neck. The rest of our visit was absolutely delightful as we came to this immediate conclusion: the Tall Guy takes no artistic license when he creates his Jack posts and in writing his wonderful BOOK. Jack is all that and then some.

My favorite Jack moments:

• Emptying the large, stainless steel water bowl by planting both front paws in the water filled bowl and digging like crazy until every drop is gone.
• Trotting around, socializing and then suddenly making a beeline for something plastic or wood that he carries off to "modify" as only Jack can.
• Jack is a good natured dog who is very social and loves everybody. He'll share his muddy paws with you, usually around the area of one's er....... underwear!
• Just being around Jack's energy will put a smile on anyone's face. He truly is one of a kind.

Here are a few pictures that I took. Thanks for the play date Jack. We'll never forget you.

The park, nice size, grass, pleasant owners, fun dogs - a good time was had by all

- JACK -

Easton and Jack - eyeing the poor, plastic red Frisbee (it had a short life that day)

TG and Jack with Easton - refilling the water bowl one more time!

Refueling the Jack machine, with Easton looking on.

TG and Easton - "smile"

Dog park fun, from L-R, Jack, Daisy, Easton, Dallas (the zoomy king), Sophie and Debbie
(notice the pink poop bag holder, Nice Touch)

Miss the Sun - Easton at the dog park

For those of you wondering about Easton's interest in the tennis ball he was trying to spirit into his mouth a couple of posts ago, here is how he REALLY feels. The sunniest day I have seen since leaving Arizona a month ago. Shoreline dog park, April 23rd. Notice he has a couple of angel kisses on his tongue...or....maybe he kissed them first. After the video is a rare picture of Andi who was "electric shock" surprised when I brought this big, lovable lug home 10 days ago. As you can see, she highly approves.

Metronome courtesy of Easton's tail.....

Wednesday to ponder

I can't seem to get the tragic story of Bear-Bear out of my mind tonight. For those of you who don't know about this horrible tragedy, here is the Baltimore Sun story covering the sad details.

Dog shot in dog park - Baltimore Sun

This Husky was known to our bloggy friends who confirm the description of Bear-Bear as a good boy who only played "Husky rough" and did not deserve this fate.

I keep thinking about how much time Lady and I spend in the dog parks and how friendly, but fearless she is. A year ago we were in a new park in Goodyear, AZ when she went to greet a large Pit-Boxer mix on-leash with his owner. The dog immediately attacked her and she stood up and defended herself. The owner reeled the dog in before it could escalate, so good for him. For the next 15 minutes the poor dog snarled and strained the leash to "get at" every dog that approached. Later the owner asked me if he could have the dogs meet and tangle again so that (and I quote) "Lady can put him down and show him who's boss". I was stunned, refused - then got angry at his ignorance and chased him out of the park. Makes me wonder what went down in Maryland.

To this day, I watch other people's dogs VERY closely to see what level of socialization they have achieved. I stay as close as possible to "The Queen of greeting at the dog park", 'cause you never know what kind of baggage dogs and owners are bringing into the park. Be careful out there....please.

No strings attached

This post is for our friend Jack who desperately needs to be freed from his strings so he can do what all Labs do - run, fetch, swim, run, fetch, swim, run, fetch, swim, run, fetch, swim, run, fetch, swim, run, fetch, swim (oh yea, its Jack - disclaimer, not necessarily in that order).

A standing invitation to join us anytime.

We went last weekend, but dumb Dad left his memory stick at home (the one in the camera wise guy).

Swimming at the dog park - 2009 post

All pictures from the 2009 dog park swim