JULY 09 : Been trying to organize the work flow for this site. Seem finally to have put together a collection of software applications that should speed things up for me. I download all the photos every night onto my computer. There's always about 500. I then go through them selecting what to post. I've found that it's easier just to select almost all of them Takes to much time considering the borderline cases. I just crop a bit and, sometimes on certain photos, enhance the focus and light. I make an overall folder for the selections : ie "PICS JUY 08." The, for each photo I'll make a separate folder inside that original folder : ie : "Maddie" , "Maddie and Hazel," etc. So that each time I come across another photo of just Maddie, I don't have to retype a title for it, just drop it in the "Maddie" folder; same for any pic of Hazel and Maddie: right into the "HAZEL & MADDIE" folder. On & on, same thing for "BARNI," "BARNI, MOJO,FAITH" : folder, type title once, drop pics into folders. So, yes, after I'm done, some folders have many pics in them, some only one. I use to then go through them and see really which ones to post; then title them each individually so that theyed show up in the search results on the site. Then, recently, because I finally discovered the software that could do this,I just uploaded the whole FOLDER / SUB-FOLDER STRUCTURE that I had made. On upload the folder/sub-folder structure became a category/sub category/albums structure on SmugMug/dotfur. I was hoping that the dogs would show up as names of galleries if someone one SEARCHED for them, and then they could just go through that gallery/album looking at their dog's pics. But, it takes forever for galleries/albums to turn up as findable by the SEARCH function. Have now discovered a software that, with a click or two, names all the photos in a folder after the name of that folder. So, I take the whole Folder/sub-folders/photos structure, drag it into this software, tell it to name all photos after the name of the folder it's in, and viola. So, a folder named MADDIE & LUCY full of photos with just technical names from the camera like : "img_320067" becomes a folder full of photos named "MADDIE & LUCY" without me typing all those titles. This happens (now ) for all the folders at the same time/one click : all photos named after the photo they're in. I then RESIZE all the photos using the same software: Make all photos the size that fits a computer window. One click: all resized. Because I use a 10mega pixel camera, some of these photos are huge, the computer must shrink them down to 30% or 12% to show the entire thing on your screen. This is good for printing very large photos with lush detail but not so good for how long it takes to upload. Soon, I'll post instructions on how to request from me the original if you want to get a really large beautiful print. What happens now is : the upload software that SmugMug has does not keep the Folder/sub folder structure when I upload - unlike the software I had been use but the trial time ran out. But this is good. Now, because all the photos have been named after the folder they were in, they all have searchable & findable names. I think they're even in alphabetical order. So, alot less typing for me, and much easier use for you. I'm even beginning to make some progress on the SEARCH RESULTS front. If you SEARCH (upper right hand corner each page) , you get the results for ; say, Isabella all collected on one page or many. But when you click on one of the photos to see it full screen or just large , and then want to go to the next photo in the search results, you can't. The next photo is the next photo in the GALLERY that the photo of ISABELLA was in, not the next photo in the search results for "ISABELLA." For instance, you see a pic of ISABELLA in the SEARCH RESULTS that you like, you click on it; if that photo was from say: June 10, that click has taken you to that photo of Isabella in the June 10 gallery, and now there you are: a click to the next photo is going to take you to the next photo in the JUNE 10 gallery NOT the next photo in the SEARCH RESULTS for Isabella. Well, after months, I finally got SmugMug (where my site is hosted) to admit that this is BOZO. So, they are now fixing it so that soon you will be able to click through the search results without being swept off to the related gallery each time, having to always find your way back. Just wanted to give you some sense of the silliness that goes into dealing with this site......................... JULY 3 : PEOPLE are trying to get a THURSDAY NITE BARBECUE together because of Friday being the 4th of July. Guess you could eMail me here if you think it's a good idea. I know MARNI OF OLIVER (aussie) has sent out a number of eMails checking the pulse of this idea........ JULIA THE WEE YOUNG WOMAN OF HAZEL THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY has started attending the Rock Hill GirlScout daycamp up in Mahopac. She told me yesterday that she got to jump out of her canoe into the water......... DOCTOR STEVE OF LUCY THE PITBULL has started his residency at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Whew, He and Michelle are expecting their son in a month or less... AND ; they've just started staying nights in their new house in TARRYTOWN. Since Steve is on the night shift, Michelle is bringing LUCY the new and greater distance from Tarrytown up to the dogpark - just so she can spend time with her best friend (my dog) Maddie....... HOUNDS are everywhere. T-nite (wed.) LULU THE NEW HOUND GIRL (10 months) and SAMMY THE COONHOUND (1 year) played throughout the evening..... Anybody know how JIMMY OF DIVOT is ? Last I heard, he was in a real bad way with what seemed to be LYME DISEASE......... OKAY, gotta go........... JULY 2 : BIG NEW DOTFUR PROJECT : HISTORY OF THE PARK has gotten started..... LENNY the Basenji is fine after finally extruding the humongous obstruction in vast corridors of the basenji tammy. The length of a basenji's intestines are always equal to the distance it is at any time from its' prey. So far that useless falsehood is not the punchline to any known joke. The search continues....... I won't be at the dogpark till aroun 7:00 t-nite : DENTISTRY !!! I'm going with the all white look t-day, 'cept for a jaunty red stingy brim hat where I keep my wigs, ponytail, extra set of clean fur for Maddie, and my new idea for hair styles like ice sculptures : hair sculpted into an exact replica of the TITANIC complete with a little gearge bush and the words "mission accomplised.".... gotta go...... JUNE 29 : Got there around 5:30... downpour. Bill & Saka, Kirste Lemmy and husband _ forgot his name, Chase the greyhound rescue... all of uf under the shed. Sun came out. ....... Maddie & Powder the new white Pitbull continued on their road to friendship. They played more / longer than ever before. Powder was hilarious in how dirty she got. New Dog : Abbey : beautiful Bernese Mountain dog , about 1 years old. Real confident and playful, fit right in with Maddie & Powder despite the huge soap opera between those two. Lulu the new bluetick hound pup arrived and played with Cali. A kind of hound thing. Little Katy showed up with BEA. Then it was time for me to go.............. JUNE 28 : Been a long time since I've found any time for this. We had BARK IN THE PARK, which seemed very successful . Heard that nine dogs got adopted . Seemed like a lot of people from the park volunteered their time. NANCY ROUT deserves her propers. Hard to remember all the things that have kept me from this realm of blogification ? Mostly -as usual- bone crunchingly mental ( if thoughts had bones, I guess, and " crunchingly" was an actual word) horror involving this site ( SmugMug) where my site (dotfur) is located AND software AND (probably) trying to get all the BARK IN THE PARK photos fixed: sharpening the focus, adjusting the colors , etc. Saw some of the Kate Blanchet Queen Elizabeth movie tonight when I got back from the dogpark. Can't believe they seemed to be making a big deal out some romance of her and Sir Walter Raliegh {spell} without any mention of Sir Francis Drake. What is it about Queen Elizabeth films that they never deal with how formidible Francis Drake was. All he did was turn back the Spanish Armada and circumnavigate the globe while probably claiming california for England: look it up. I guess the biggest canine story around the park lately is the amount of puppies. Who can keep track of them all , 'cept for me of course. FRASER ( the " might be bugs on some of you mug, but there ain't no bugs on me " look alike little lab puppy AND ROXY the month or two older somewhat paler female lab pup playmate of FRASER's have to take the cake for sheer bulk volume of cuteness. But Lulu, Miley, Bodie The " boerboel" look THAT up , Buddy the non-stop bulldog, Stryker ( that no one can stop talking about), Star (small black ), Hazel ( always covered in mud), Jackie the rottweiler girl, Shadow the wee pitbull, Ruby the fetching boxette... AND I could go on. What is it with HOUNDS lately. Like I been saying : Hounds ( especially blue tick ) are the new Portuguese water dog. We got SAMMY the COONHOUND ( is this dog out of central casting or what ), Mickie the blue eyed everyhound, LULU the brown & white blue tick coon hound ( try saying that one time really slowly) , MILEY - the actual blue tick coonhound, Ruby the other actual blue tick that we don't see enough AND.... KONA the foxhound - who we haven't seen for awhile. OTHER big story is MAX the 10 year old shepherd that is really trying to get this socializing thing figured out. Pacing back and forth in a barking , panting frenzy in the little dog section. My dog Maddie & I are ( of course) convinced that we can bring him around to a peaceful beginning of his sunset years. His owner is so patient and dedicated to the project. Maddie and I ( and once Buffy) have gone in to try and spend some time with him, but he's still just to freaked out. Maddie actually used the doggie igloo to leap into the pen once. Socializing dogs is -bar none- her favorite hobby. Meanwhile, ALI the young blue eyed dachshund girl who lives with MAX runs fearlessly around the park with LAUREN the young human girl of the MAX/ALI family............. LENNY the Basenji boy who recently got fixed ( as per the new rules) was really under the weather this FRIDAY NIGHT , and Michelle took him straight from the park to the 24 hr vet. Still haven't heard how is. ........ REALLY SAD : JIMMY (OF DIVOT) is suffering bad from the initial onslaught of what is probably LYME disease. Divot shows up t-nite (Sat.) with someone other than Jimmy, a woman. It's Jimmy's better half up from Florida to be by his side. Jimmy comes up with DIVOT every Summer to caddy at one of the local golf clubs........ FRIDAY NIGHT BARBECUE'S just get better and better. Let me see if I can remember the credits due: Dave ( of Blackjack) doing most of the cooking and bringing condiments and more, SHARON (OF CALI) bringing sausages, BILL (OF SAKAGEWEA) making and bringing KEEBOBS, CARIN AND DAVE (OF THE PRIMARY BASENJIS : SHAMUS & CHLOE) bringing other stuff and making hair raising - daring runs for the buns......... Other big story is that EDDIE - THE WHEATON THAT NEEDS A HOME ( due to really tragic circumstances) may be about to find one with MATT AND HIS WIFE - LUCY GOLDENDOODLE; there was a trial meet up last week after the BARK IN THE PARK, and there's gonna be another tomorrow. Looks good......... ISABELLA & SAMBUCCA were displayed in some outragiously monumental proportions in Times Square a few weeks ago. Some PURINA event. I'll try and get the link; hopefully PURINA has by now posted some video of the indidual moments for the dogs.......... GOTTA GO, late.... sorry for what I've forgot......... JUNE 4 : Last week, FINN (FINNIGAN) BELOVED YOUNG SAINT BERNARD SUFFERED AN EMBOLISM His back leg is not working but he does have feeling it. He's going somewhere in Connecticut for the best care and rehab. I'll try and find out more. Finn was a major star of the park awhile back, everyone watched him grow up from just a wee ungainly pup. Chris and Jen the owners finally found they're own house in the Brewster area so we haven't been seeing Finn and his home-sister Josephine as much as we use to and would like. Like I said , I'll stay up to date on this. Few dogs have been as beloved as Finn back when he was regular here. Poor Chris and Jen ; they must be just devastated. **** UPDATE**** JUNE 4 ***** Heard that FINN IS IMPROVING ***** Was at vet, vet turned around, and there was Finn standing on all fours. Leg was trembling though. Going to big time, top shelf rehab today -June 5- up in Connecticut. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO TRIBUTE TO FINN JUNE 4 : DOG FOUND WANDERING AROUND RT#134. KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS LOST THEIR DOG ?OWNER WAS FOUND !!!! Hi, Thank you so much for your help with the dog I found. I found her owner through the ASPCA today. Thanks, Tina CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE FOUND DOG ..... JUNE 4 : I may have actually fixed my camera myself. Don't even want to talk about it. After all the writing to expert forums, talking on phone to PENTAX support, no one ever tried what I wound up trying : a thing in the menu of the camera that tells it to clean the sensor ! At the moment, is working fine. Jeeezzz.........UPDATE, nah stopped working again. Shipping it to PENTAX repair in Colorado......... much more news but it's so late.... Maddie my dog is finally starting to be friends with and play with POWDER the new wonderful Pitbull girl that was rescued from a crackhouse in connectcut. Want to find out more about how SUE actually adopted her dog BUFFY from the infamous ELMSFORD Shelter. No one has ever adopted an animal out of there !!!! more on the Bark In The Park coming up..... and the BIG BACK HOE AND DITCH in the park getting things ready for the arrival of running water. ........... JUNE 3 : Last night at the park : so many new pups, puppies, new dogs.... can't remember them all LULU a beautiful brown - blue tick coonhond looking dog - first time having a ball; Hazel the young golden retriever was there and immediately soaked her face and paws in the water bowl to begin applying mud to herself... somewhere in her head this has to do with canine makeup.... BUDDY THE NEW YOUNG BULLDOG was wonderful with his new friend JOBA ( named after Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain) JOBA ( a light brown and white herding sized dog) was instantly loved by all dogs in the park.... he has a damaged back leg from a puppy-hood accident but it in no way slows him down, a dog name NOLA ( a labradoodle ) also lit things up big time... JAZZ a new short haired pointer went into frolicking over drive.... CHARLIE _THE DINGO LOOKING- boy was there... a flat coated retriever named BROOK... A shy little white maltese loking girl named DIAMOND COCO began to blossom after awhile, a wee thing called JJ (JAYJAY).... FLUFFY THE BLINDINGLY WHITE MALTESE.... REILLY A BOSTON TERRIER GIRL... and maybe most infinitely ecstatic of all : DOLCE THE GO GO GO PUGGLE ! Lots of our regulars just stood back watching with big grins and panting admiration. Was like that MONTY PYTHON SKIT : " nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition !" Only this was " Nobody expects THE SUDDEN NIGHT OF PUPPIES!"..... Much more news, BACK HOE in the Park Last night with Huge Ditch for bringing the water up.... soon... BUT gotta go : huge yard needs WEED WHACKING .............. MAY 30 : OH NO !!!! CAMERA BROKE ! SHUTTER IS GONE. EXPLORING WAYS TO OFFSET COST OF REPAIRS !!! ............ MAY 30 : Seems I probably just wore my shutter out. The Pentax Digital SLR K10 it turns out is good for about 100,000 shots on average. I take about 500 every day at the park which you kind of have to do since they're dogs, and constantly leaping and running. Got the Camera in December, the math does not work out in my favor. Depending on the price, I'll get the shutter repaired or replaced. Hope it's only about $300.00 or so, don't know yet. But will definitly be gone to the shop for 5 weeks or so. Picked up a little canon point & shoot to bridge the situation. The drop off in quality is very noticeable......... MAY 30 : another great FRIDAY NIGHT BARBECUE . Don't know where John ( the President ) was but with Brian (vice president) at the helm : viola , a perfect spring evening. Paula, Sharon and Dave (of Blackjack) also seemed to be working back there in the little dog park. Dogs seemed to be doing well in the begging department, with my dog Maddie as usual coming out ahead morsel for morsel. Since someone has moved the plastic igloo close to the fence there, she had an advantage with her ability to perch atop it and get to plate level with all the standing snackers.......... MAY 30 : I keep forgetting to mention that DENICE OF BOOTS THE BEAUTIFUL YOUNG FEMALE BOXER is on a team competeing in an ALL FEMALE ROLLER DERBY ! Saturday , MAY 31 at 7PM. EJ Murray Skating Center, 348 Tuckahoe Rd. Yonkers CLICK HERE FOR SUBURBIA ROLLER DERBY INFO.......MAY 30 : Lots of special dog appearances tonight. EUBIE THE YOUNG ROTTWEILER OF SO MUCH INTEREST LATELY returned to the park after getting fixed. He stayed in the little dog, time out part of the park. Seemed to me as much a big sweetheart as always. Let's hope CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF EUBIE.........PACO the worlds smallest chihuahua (of Rebecca & Brandon) was also there for the first time in a long while. Since my new temp camera does have video , I was able to capture him actually singing as he does to a tune that Brandon plays on his cellphone. I'll post it soon CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF PACO.... & .....CLICK HERE FOR VIDEOS OF PACO SINGING.......... For me and Maddie, the best was a visit from BLACK LUCY THE PITBULL MIX who hasn't been at the park for maybe a year. " Black" Lucy because she's entirely black, and to distinguish her from tan LUCY - also a pitbull. Black Lucy use to be one of Maddie's top girlfriends; one of those dogs like EUBIE recently that was always getting into some kind of trouble with her strength and insecurity. The kind of dog Maddie loves, so they'd play rough for hours. Once Maddie figured out that Lucy wasn't just some over aggressive dominant dog, but just way to insecure to do her part in dog play and pretend to lose once in awhile, everything was fine : " Gee, is that all ? Hell, I don't mind losing as long as we can play." Maddie seemed to say. KC her owner moved up to Putnam County where Lucy has a huge park up there to run in, and new friends....... CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF BLACK LUCY......... SAMMY the new gorgeous black and brown COON HOUND pup from Virginia made his first close friend at the park: MAGGIE THE SOMETIMES FETCHING, SOMETIMES PRETTY BRINDLE PUP GIRL . Inseparable frolicking ensued CLICK HERE FOR PIC OF YOUNG MAGGIE......... RUBY THE BLUE TICK COONHOUND who was rescued walking homelessly along rt 134 was finally back at the park, and ROBIN (aka ROBBIE) quickly fell in love. So there was another pair romping playmates CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF RUBY.......... MARLEY THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD BORDER COLLIE BOY continued to find new ways to sit in chairs around the park. At one point draping himself over the large plastic igloo entrance in a demonstration of who knows what.......CLICK HERE FOR PIC OF MARLEY IN A CHAIR.......... CHARLIE THE LITTLE GIRL PUP is having her first Birthday Party here at the park on JUNE 7th at 1PM CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF CHARLIE...............MAY 28 : Posted on the bulletin board at the park was a note to check out SAKAGAWEA in the SUCCESS STORIES on the PUTHUMANE.ORG site. Sakagawea is this new wonderful dog who started coming to the park about a week or so ago. Looks like my dog maddie's sister. I think there are some photos of her on the site already. Very shy, but happy in her peaceful way. Here's a link to her story : SACAGAWEA, PUTHUMANE STORY...... YOUNG BAILEY one of the new mid sized wonder boys (Oliver, Marley, Blackjack, Bud, Bubba) is back from his bout of puppy warts, and right back into it at full throttle....... Was told today that (click on the name for photo) McDUFF a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeenturned or PBGV turned 18 ! last week ..... MAY 27 : Couple of big rain, thunder, lightning storms in the late afternoon but things cleared up and there was a nice evening's worth of animal hijinks. Guess the BIG STORY would have to be that OLIVER the TRI-COLOR AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD BOY finally made his first jump up onto the big tube. There are photos; even photos proving that he was not lifted up onto it. Of course, now he's up onto it every few minutes with effortless grace. I had left two tempting treats up there for him, and Marnie was there with him a few minutes later when - drum roll - up he went........ JET THE BLACK MINIATURE POODLE continued his new found fascination with fun and playing. Even at one point protecting a new puppy from the sometimes overwhelming enthusiasm of Oliver the aussie boy. Seeming to know he had done something so supposedly unjetlike, he launched into one of his circumnavigations of triumph. Lately, whenever he thinks he's played well, chased a larger dog back, anything halfway normal, he prances the entire perimeter of the park, probably signing little paw print autographs with each step. Imaginary, Jet keeps that word in big luminescent quotation marks....... JACK, THE JACK RUSSELL PUPPY showed up for his first time at a dogpark. Was instantly not only top dog of the park but canine saviour of the universe. Dashed back and forth through the big tube in his first 10 minutes, used the pitbull as a playground climbing thing - okay, it was Lucy, but she is a pitbull, joined in a big chase after Maddie with all the confidence in the world that he'd be the one to catch her; you'd think he'd been there for years. Winston the new pug showed up. When it was finally just Maddie, Lucy, Mia and the owner Steve, Chris and I a long discussion on lawn maintenance broke out. I kid you not. Steve asked me and Chris what we knew about growing grass ie raising a lawn. Terms like thatch, aeration , germination , debates on when and how often to water, proper depth of root systems, kentucky blue or creeping fescue. There was a time in my life when this was listed -out of 437,000 - as the dead last possibility of my life at this point. Of course, dead for 20 years by this time was listed as first........ MAY 27 : Really can't think of much big news. There was a great friday night barbecue. I guess the news there was that we finally saw Rebecca of Bailey the goldendoodle; can't remember if she told me where she's been all this time. Jeff & Melissa of Marley the black & white aussie/BC mix boy got called away to immediately help some friends going through something tragic - so : Marley got to stay with Pam and her psychologicly intricate brood: Moby, Sarah, Faith, Jet. Canine sleep over, pajama party, or could that be furjama party. Heard that mostly he was fiercely protected (no, not humped) by Moby during his stay........ CHLOE (the basenji girl of Shamus, Carin, Dave) came through her operation (spay) just fine and is doing well without a cone around her head to keep her from licking it........ just had to run out now and throw grass seed all around our yard 'cause I heard thunder - storm is coming - want to use the rain instead of the hose and sprinkler to get it started....... EUBIE the young rottweiler also came through his operation (neutered) fine but he IS having to wear a big cone to keep from licking the incision..... Harley the great dane is still bothered by that toe he broke awhile back. Not so much that he hasn't swung into action a number of time recently when he thought there might be some maleficence afoot.... Tons of new puppies and new dogs this holiday weekend: off the top of my head : SOPHIE, staffy puppy ; STRYKER , some kind of calico pointer foxhound character ; AJAY, a new boxer; a fabulous 10 year old girl named FOXY -kind of a rescue/1st time free to play at a dogpark, all smiles and fun; CONNER, new brown male - handsome; MOOSH, beautiful female australian cattle dog with a lush tail; PEBBLES, fastest young pug I've ever seen; LUCAS, a bijon mix pup with spirit to spare; SAKAGEWEA, a shy extremely fetching girl who looks like Maddie's sister; MAGGIE, a pretty little schnoodle to be reckoned with; SAMMY, an unbelievable striking coonhound from a Virginia shelter; JAKE - I think his name was - a shy little white maltese. And -of course, the continuing adventures of all the other recent pups and new : JACKIE the rottie pup, SHADOW the pitbull puppy, BAILEY the yorkie, RUBY the boxer, HAZEL the golden retriever, DUFFY the Irish Terrier, MAGGIE the brindle star of the recent girl pups, TRAVIS the photogenic boxer; POWDER the breathtaking pitbull girl........... Jet ( the miniture black poodle) who usually spends all his time on Pam's lap adrift in his own cerebral world of paranoia and glory has rocketed into the stratosphere of the park social scene albeit with his own unique approximations of actual dog play especially with my dog Maddie who seems to appreciate Jet as a great innovator of play behaviors like Thelonious Monk or Jackson Pollack........ Middle Cooper (use to be known as middle cooper) & Honey (housemates) seem to have become one of the better dog pairs around the park........ How many pairs are there, like : Isabella & Sambucca, Angel & Roxy, Manhattan & Brooklyn - the minpins, Chloe & Shamus - the Basenjis, Ethel & Lucy - the poodles, Spot & Pugsly, Bela & Poppie - the pugs, Hoshi & Sophie the japanese pugs, Chase & Gypsy ? How many am I not thinking of at the moment....... ROBIN (robbie) has added Blackjack to his ever increasing circle of friends- from less than zero to well into double digits............. MAY 23 : CHLOE THE BASENJI GIRL (17 months) of Shamus and Chloe got spayed yesterday and is spending the night at the doctor's recuperating. Of the owners Dave & Carin, Dave is a mess. I guess she'll be resting up about a week...... RUDY THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE SHEPHERD LOOKING BOY of Gretchen is finally back at the park. He blew out his knee just before christmas this year. Seemed spry as ever. Delighted would be the word for the reactions of the grown up females - Maddie, Divot, Lucy............. MAY 23 : Got an EMAIL FROM ANITA OF EUBIE THE ROTTWEILER PUP , Eubie is getting fixed today - friday . Would be great to see him back at the park and finally staying out of trouble. Guess we'll have to wait a week or so while he heals up. Except for issues beyond his control, he is a very sweet and playful pup............. MAY 23 : Speaking of Eubie, Anita, and rottweilers : a great new, 1st time ever at a dogpark rottweiler showed up at the park late thursday night. He's young, about 7 months and has that long boned look that Anita's last rottweiler - Rocky - had,and sadly already some bone problems. So here it is : his name IS Rocky, and he IS the spitting image of the old Rocky who left us a number of months ago. My dog Maddie was wonderful in spending some time alone with him in the little dog area to see if he was gonna kill anybody or needed some reassurance. She judged him instantly to be ready for full out playing , and so we let him right out into the real park with the remaining dogs. Showed a great and very tolerant temperament. Strangest of all, had his most fun playing with crazy little jet - Pam's miniature black poodle. Couldn't help thinking that the one we use to call "Rocky Rottweiler" to distinquish him from Rocky french mastiff was some how back in another much younger form............. MAY 19 : Lots of sad news. Heard that a couple of days ago Eubie the young rottweiler who has been the cause of much talk lately and even one of the causes of the new no unfixed males policy.... well, seems Eubie attacked Max the other day. They live in the same house though separate owners, and they often come to the park together. Max is a gentle older black lab. The attack was pretty serious; I saw Max after, and he was stiched up a whole lot : chest and neck. Despite all the wounds, Max seemed fine and still in good ball chasing spirits. Hope that people can somehow get Eubie back on the right track. Almost everyone goes out of their way to express how much they like Eubie, and what a sweet dog he really is - just needs, maybe, to get fixed and some expert behavior work............................................................... MAY 19. THE DUTCH / MARLEY INCIDENT : More depressing news : DUTCH who has struggled with his own threatening, aggressive problems for as long as most have known him - sadly - attacked {{{{ a guest wrote in that "REACTED" would be a better description of Dutch's behaviour}}}}YOUNG MARLEY the border collie / australian shepherd mix boy Sunday. Marley is fine just some small puncture wounds around his nose and a cut inside his mouth. Smartly, he just went limp and whimpered a bit till Howard got Dutch off him. Though, because Marley can be a fragile little soul at times, we don't know what the mental damage will turn out to be. He was a sweet and timid puppy, very docile, and had been sick with pneumonia which left him much weaker than the other park pups. But lately he's been one of the more indomitable members along with Oliver and Bailey of this springs' young boy pack. I'm sure he'll spring back from this, and sport his purple heart proudly. Apparently, it got decided that this time some kind of a report should be made, and soon a police officer arrived. I guess, Dutch's owner will be paid a visit and put on notice or warned or something. Don't know if he's banned from the park or what all the consequences of this latest incedent will be. Dutch has had a lot of incidents, so maybe now things can start to turn around for him the right way. Let's hope............... MAY 15 : Heard that WATER IS DEFINITELY COMING SOON. In maybe a month or so, there will be a drinking fountain in the park. Higher up for humans, lower down for the dogs. The pipes are all now in place, just have to get attached, and a licensed plumber has to do the final work in the park............ MAY 15 : the NEW NO UN-NEUTERED MALES POLICY is already official and being enforced. There are signs posted at the gates; and, soon, the policy will be added to all published and printed list of rules. If I remember correctly, the rule is : no intact males over 8 months of age or under 10 years. Females, I think, only when they are in "heat.".............. MAY 14 : ME, I, MARTY, MARTY WATT, MADDIE'S OWNER had more DENTAL WORK YESTERDAY. Really hurt this time - and I'm still in what is commonly referred to as pain. Codeine and Advil. Months of healing before I get the actual implants..................... MAY 14 : I guess the biggest buzz around the park lately would have to be the new NO UNFIXED DOGS POLICY. Too many incidents involving " intact " males recently. Not real sure if " viable " fems have been an issue though I'm almost positive that canine burkas are - you know, like... totally - prohibited. I'm not totally clear on all the nuances of the policy yet. Are really old dogs exempt ? Females ? Are puppies up to a certain age exempt ? I'll get myself all -like- informed and stuff as soon as I can get back to the park. Should be something soon on the OSSINING DOG PARK SITE.................... MAY 14 : can't believe that CAROL OF MARLEY THE BLUE MERLE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD AND THE PUPPIES : MAVERICK & MAIA HAS MOVED. Just heard the other day that she moved back home to Massachusetts. Guess she needed lots more land for the three dogs...................... MAY 10 : at some point last week, John got a number of sentenced to community service type youth to rake out all the wood chip piles. So, fresh carpet of WOOD CHIPS all over the park............. MAY 8 : MADDIE, who had her cheek ripped open in the process of killing a muskrat in our backyard, was cleared to go. Stitches came out, shouldn't even be a scar............ MAY 03 : Let me see : Maddie continues to heal up well, stitches come out May 8. She was off leash at the dogpark today, and did well staying out of any serious wrestling. Was mostly little dogs and pups today anyway so mostly she was just minding all the other tussles...... MAY 03 : New pup showed up - I think it was thursday - named SHADOW, months old small pitbull boy. SHADOW, months old small pitbull boy. Showed up kind a late with his wonderful owners - young couple. Only Oliver, Lucy pitbull and Maddie were still there. Maddie -on leash because of her stitches -had nicked Lucy on the ear as she and Oliver tumbled by in their typical ecstatic mayhem . Little cuts on the ear bleed a lot for a moment so Lucy's head with its light tan fur was visibly covered in blood. We all noticed young couple with their puppy pitbull all leery outside the gate , " don't worry these are all safe, friendly dogs we yelled " as a pitbull - its' head covered in blood arrived at the gate to greet them. It took little shadow about ten minutes of watching Oliver and Lucy's various enactments of fantasy carnage, some nuzzling with Maddie, very sweet encouragements from Oliver before the sheer joy of it all kicked in and he commenced to frolic. After Lucy and Oliver left, I let Maddie off leash to play with him, and she led him on a long full speed tear around the park even getting him to chase her full speed for his first time through the tube. Maddie of course was in a great mood since this was her first time at the park off leash, and her new hobby in life seems to be guiding the young male pups into her realm of high energy physical engagement with all her recommended nuances and techniques. For some reason, just young males, the young female pups can't get a rise out of her. Shadow was back today (Sunday) and developed all kinds of new friends, especially RUBY the very young beautiful Boxer pup. Later in the day, Hudson the amazing young chocolate lab showed up to thrill Ruby and Shadow with his little bit more grown up moves. They acted as if their favorite older cousin the rock star had arrived............ MAY 03 : ETHEL AND LUCY the stunning poodle siblings continue to keep everyone mesmerized with their balletic play. They brought THEIR COUSIN BELLINI with them a couple days ago, forget about it : apricot, graceful, and as madcap as they are. I hear 60's french go go music when they're around............ MAY 03 : Lemmy the cairn terror showed up with his summer action haircut Sunday. Was his usual unstoppable self. It's always fun to hear people with larger dogs ask if their dog might be hurting Lemmy............... MAY 03 : Lola the Bernese mountain dog of Amy, and Robbie of Margaret continue to play at a level that borders on the romantic. Sort of like what Ginger And Fred's Dancing said about sex................ APRIL 30 : Our own MARGARET, OWNER OF ROBBIE, will be singing in Westchester Concert Singers' A SALUTE TO OPERA, famous scenes from CARMEN, LA TRAVIATA Choruses from Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky. Sunday, May 4, 3:00. Tickets $25 (914) 769 - 5408.................. APRIL 30 :MADDIE IS FINE. Too many stitches to count. But she goes to the park with me every evening and sits on leash at the picnic table. Stitches come out May 8. Then watch out............. APRIL 25 : DIVOT IS BACK. Jimmy has returned from Florida with his dog Divot. Jimmy is in the Golf world, and comes up her every year for the season. Divot has a new trick : jumping right up into Jimmy's arms. Park wasn't the same all winter without them.............. APRIL 25. 2:50 AM : MADDIE IS IN SURGERY AT THE MOMENT, FIGHT WITH POSSUM {turns out : it was a muskrat}, BIG LACERATION ON SIDE OF HER FACE. Around 9:00 this evening (apr. 25), Maddie got into some death match out in the back yard with a big possum. I ran out and was kicking maddie away, thinking she was killing a rabbit, then I thought it was a huge rat. Got Maddie in the house, thought she had some of the animals's blood on her face but instead I saw this gaping hole behind the corner of her mouth, blood dripping. Cathy And I rushed her to Katonah ? Bedford Hospita/ She wasn't acting like she was in pain or freaked out, more reved up. They have to do alot of stitching, anesthesia, she'll have a drain and probably a cone. Out of commission for weeks. Me, I'm sick to my stomach, worried she'll come out of anesthesia okay. Waiting up for doctor's phonecall. This after spending half the day in the woods out back of our house, calling for our little parakeet Buffy who got away. He's probably gone forever. Tears, you wouldn't believe it. Oh, the possum IS dead out back. Maddie. This has all really cut into my photo slide show time for the Unleashed Fundraiser........ APRIL 22 : ALLIE, daughter of SUE -owner of BUFFY- CHOOSES TEMPLE UNIVERSITY IN PHILLY I heard from Sue yesterday that her daughter Allie has chosen to go to TEMPLE UNIVERSITY in my hometown - Philadelphia........ APRIL 22 : Our own MARGARET, OWNER OF ROBBIE, will be singing in Westchester Concert Singers' A SALUTE TO OPERA, famous scenes from CARMEN, LA TRAVIATA Choruses from Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky. Sunday, May 4, 3:00. Tickets $25 (914) 769 - 5408........ APRIL 21 : BARNI FINALLY BACK AND WELL She had a tumor removed from near her right front dewclaw a few weeks ago. Looks great. This may bode well for Hillary...... APRIL 21 : ZIM IS BACK AND LOOKING FINE He was really sick with ehrlichiosis, a tick borne disease . Anti-biotics and - I'm sure - sheer cantankerous pulled him through........... APRIL 21 : PISTACHIO HAS NEW LITTLE SISTER : GRACIE Pistachio the energetic weimaraner's little sister : Gracie - a black and tan wonder what it is puppy - was at the park tonight........ APRIL 19 : Wondrous, full moon FIRST FRIDAY NIGHT BARBECUE OF THE SEASON . I'll post some photos soon. Big crowd. John & Brian "startling " in their selfless service to the ravenous mob. And no election anytime soon. The couple with Sandy and Samantha the golden retrievers and Ariel ( not the Little Mermaid, but better : the wee mascot of the park ) came with their newborn : Olivia, aka : Ariel's little sister. New dogs ( at least to me ) Mo & Chloe ( boxers) had a ball, Mo is beautiful and 11 years old. He was the first dog I've seen who could put a quick stop to Moby's attempt to hump. Moby was quite impressed and followed him around respectfully all night. Charlie (young girl dog) & Bailey ( young lab mix boy) continued their affair, oblivious to all around them, deep in the throes of post puppy wrestling......... APRIL 19 : UPDATE ON THE CANINE SOCIAL SCENE : Eubie (lovable rottie pup who replaced Rocky Rottweiler in Anita's life) still can't help getting into trouble now and then. Someday, he and Buddy ( young yellow lab) will actually be friends. Speaking of Eubie : seems to having a great time with his new brother Spike. Spike's a little shiba inu mix who use to be named Spice when he lived with Sugar. Yes, Sugar & Spice. Bailey (young yellow lab mix) & Charlie (girl ) unbelievable love affair. Wrestling and wresting Friday at the barbecue till well after park emptied. Would easily have went till dawn. " Wake Up Little Suzy, wake up... " Mo ( 11 yr. old white boxer, visited Fri.) was too tough for even Moby MOBY to hump. Lucy (pitbull) is still afraid of Faith (shepherd, Pam); Roxy (of Roxy & Angel) Is also afraid of Faith, Maddie loves all three of them , but does lord it over Lucy & Roxy that she is no longer afraid of Faith. Robbie & Lola (Bernese Mountain Dog) have become great friends. From almost no friends, Robbie is really racking them up. Sambucca of ( Isabella & Sambucca) has taken to playing lots of ball. Monty still afraid of Harley ( great dane ) , Harley will still chase him now and then. Maddie will often intercede on Monty's part if she's in the area. Lenny the basenji is now keeping all dogs on their toes. Butch ( big yellow lab, of Butch & Jack) is thrilling the park with his ability to spin on command for a treat. Lucy & Ethel ( standard poodle siblings, one brown the other white) are redefining " frolic" at the park. Faith & Jet ( of Pam) still deathly afraid of Skye ( korean Jindo) despite Skye's conversion to a "Kumbaya" type dog of peace. Though there's been some improvement , ie : Faith can stay around the picnic table with Pam and no longer trembles at the exit gate. Wally the miniture goldendoodle ( who turned out to not be "miniture" ; surprise ! But huge and resplendent ) is slowly taking his place among the boys ( young males) of his generation : Oliver, Marley, Bailey, Eubie, Bud, Baxter, Bubba and all. Sarah ( black & white spanial, she's like 14 or 15 years old) has taken to setting herself up separately across the park from her family ( Pam, Jet, Faith, Moby) and taking every oppotunity at the gate to stroll out with some unsuspecting group. She wants to just go explore some local woods, maybe vist the children at St. Mary's hospital up the hill......... APRIL 15 : NEW WATER STATIONS around the park . 3 or 4 of them. Real official looking. No more chewed up bowls all over the place. No word yet on when they will finish running the water line up to the park.......... APRIL 15 : This FRIDAY THE 18th , I'm told will be the first spring/summer FRIDAY NIGHT BARBECUE. Guess you should or can bring whatever you want . John - the park's prez - is bringing a gas grill. We'll all be inside the little dog pen with our frankfurters cowering from all the begging dogs in the big park. Actually, the dogs love it........ APRIL 15 : Sad to say that ZIM ( of Monty & Zim & Brian ) is suffering from Ehrlichiosis, a tick borne disease. He's taking antibiotics. Can only wait and see. I've just read up on the disease : seems it's curable if caught early. But, Zim is twelve years old. He comes everyday to the park - the disease is not contagious - and takes everything in as he always has. Threw up today, and won't take treats. All fingers are crossed. Contrary to rumour, Zim's illness has nothing to do with the Pope's current visit....... APRIL 14 : Can't think of much news. SPICE AKA SPIKE ( of Spice & Sugar ) the litle Shiba Inu mix boy is back with Anita and Eubie the Rottweiler pup. His owner is fine and doing pretty well; she's been way under the weather with some medical problems I haven't asked if she wants broadcast on the internet , but she's just too overwhelmed as she recovers to be handling two dogs. Whenever " Spice " is with Anita - 2nd time now, he gets renamed "Spike". Sounds enough the same so he's not confused. He stayed with her for awhile about a year ago, and loved old Rocky Rottweiler - gentle giant, gone on - so he's doing fine with young Eubie. They make a great pair : the shiba & Rottweiler boys........ APRIL 14 : Dave of Basenjis : Shamus & Chloe told me there was an unbelievably beautiful Catahoula Leopard Dog at the park this weekend. He's supposed to send me some photos he took...... APRIL 14 : LITTLE CHLOE the BASENJI got loose this afternoon. She was pretty quickly gotten back. One of the amazing visuals I missed getting a shot of was Michelle ( owner of the other two basenjis: Lenny & Tayda ) scaling the fence in an attempt to get to Chloe before she could make it into the woods..... APRIL 14 : speaking of that, heard there's a budding romance twixt CHLOE & LITTLE JET - Pam's miniature black poodle. Any time Jet is off Pam's lap and talking delusional trash to some poor confused dog is magical. Apparently, it was an attempt by Chloe to comfort Jet who had been put in the car for some infraction that led to Chloe's big adventure outside the fence......... APRIL 12 : BARNI of Nancy's TUMOR IS BENIGN . She should be back in the park around April 24th.... APRIL 10 :Off the top of my head, who are all ALL THE NEW PUPS AND DOGS : Bailey the small yellow lab looking mix is real popular with the big wrestlers like Bud, Maddie, Pitbull-Lucy, There's ATLAS the new sweet golden retriever, Hazel the golden retriever puppy who comes with the little girl JULIA - always perfectly dressed for the occasion, Buddy the young yellow lab, a pup named REGGIE was having a ball and fitting right in yesterday, the fabulous new poodles LUCY & ETHEL, the ravishing PEGGY, a Griffon with her older house mate the ever amorous SCOUT - a chocolate lab; of course : the 2 new Basenjis ( little african dogs ) LENNY & TAYDA - a nickname form of the word potato, MAVERICK & MAIA - the wee australian shepherd pups of Carol's. As I think of more I'll list them. How 'bout MAX the ridgeback pup, WILMA the harlequin great dane who comes now and then, HELEN AND CRAIG OF DORA have this great new dog named MILO who has this "splendid" aspect to himself.......... Has JESSICA OF ROCKY ( french Mastiff ) left for Texas ? DotFur wants to know...... I need someone to give me some idea as to WHAT COULD I OFFER ( PHOTO STUFF ) FOR THE SILENT AUCTION at the UNLEASHED FUNDRAISER, and what I could I charge ......BARNI IS FINE Got this eMail from Nancy her owner "Barni is fine. They removed the tumor and sent it out for tests. The results will be back next week. She is spending the night at the vet's and I will pick her up tomorrow afternoon. She won't be at the park for 10 days. She has asked in lieu of flowers, bones can be sent to the Get Well Barni Foundation."...... HOWARD OF DUTCH, MUCH BETTER As to Howard. Contrary to the rumors that he is blind in one eye and Dutch is learning to be a seeing eye dog, he is recovering well. He had a detached retina a few weeks ago and has had 2 surgeries. His vision is slowly coming back, he is going to work a little and is also driving a little...... APRIL 9 : surgery for BARNI, the glamorous yellow lab of NANCY, tumor to be removed by her dew claw. Hope all goes well. Sure it will ..........APRIL 9 : there's concern about HOWARD, owner of DUTCH; heard he was going through a tough time with his eyes. I'll have to find out more............APRIL 9 : It's really getting to be Spring, and New pooper scooper stations around park are starting to blossom.....APRIL 2 : Got an eMail from Paula that my photos are on the cover of the march & april TERRIER CLUB MAGAZINES... CLICK HERE, APRIL TERRIER CLUB MAGAZINE.... CLICK HERE, MARCH TERRIER CLUB MAGAZINE........ APRIL 1 : Sorry, I haven't gotten around to posting a lot of recent photos. I've gone to war with software, smugmug, all types of computer gods. Trying to resolve all problems with being able to use the search function to find photos by specific dog names. Time consuming to get answers out of these people. Some progress is slowly getting made........ APRIL 1 : I'm trying to get the info and situations of ALL OUR BELOVED "INDEPENDENT" DOGWALKERS- like Jen, Mary, Kim, Sally so I can put whatever they might want here on the photo site. Anyone know any eMail addresses? I've got JEN's........... APRIL 1 : JESSICA of Rocky French Mastiff -is relocating to TEXAS this APRIL 8. Heard she is leaving ROCKY back here with us till she gets settled down there......... APRIL 1 : SUE -owner of buffy - has been back at the park a few times this week with Buffy. She's doing fine, just a little tired as she heals......... MARCH 24: SUE -owner of buffy - in the hospital, appendix taken out. Think she comes home today or tomorrow, the 24th........ MARCH 20 : Got an eMail that JIMMY & DIVOT should be returning around last week of April. *FUND RAISER " UNLEASHED " is on april 26 ......... You ask me : SKYE is getting to be a better & better dog, a man of peace & non-violence......... Can BUBBA the new boxer pup jump higher than any dog in our park ?.......... MARCH 21 : Heard today that MED STUDENT STEVE (lucy, pitbull) has been accepted at Westchester Medical in Valhalla for his residency. So we won't be losing LUCY, MICHELLE or him any time soon. ........ MOJO ( of karen & danni) is back from months out with heartworm....

LECTURES, RADIO, INTERVIEWS

Paul Erdös was an amazing and prolific mathematician whose life as a world-wandering numerical nomad was legendary. Click on name below to hear a talk by an author about his life. I loved this talk.

PAUL ERDOS

RECENT MUSIC I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO

APRIL 9.... Am now off my SKA kick, and have immersed my self in the music of SHANE MACGOWAN. Irish singer, songwriter and drinking legend. Perhaps the recent work on my own teeth has led me back to this human form of dental snuff film. Also reminds me of old guys from my childhood like my uncle Jake singing the irish tunes in his rough voice as he droveme and my mom down to Atlantic City.... MARCH 1st : A Malaysian Ska band:Gerhana Ska Cinta, next a Japanese Ska band TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, then HUMAN TELEVISION, winsome young indie band filled with jangling bell dripping guitars . Then "Gigi" Shibabaw, Ethiopian song writing, vocal phenom.Okay , I'm getting the hang of making clickable links. Give it a try ; just click on one of the links below and see what happens.

GERHANA SKA CINTA

TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA

GIGI SHIBABAW

FIVE DISCS, NEVER LET YOU GO ( doo wop)

The last link is the FIVE DISCS, Never Let You Go ... one of my favorite doowop tunes. If you go listen to it on YouTube there's also a video of the young Jimmy Stewart seeming to dance to it in a film. FOUND IT , copy and paste this into your browser, song starts after cute scene :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AACduLyllfQ

SCENES FROM FILMS

FILM CLIP ONE

FILM CLIP TWO

TRUE WEST "all ten of them, then"

FILM CLIP THREE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P88ZIj-hUOg&feature=related

RECENT WORK ON THIS SITE

APRIL 10 : The new camera ( k10 Pentax ) with the new lense (pentax FA - 35mm prime ) and the great sunlight is making it so that a much greater percentage of the shots each day come out looking like they must ( or, at least, could ) be on the site. Making it really difficult to get them all cropped, unblurred, color adjusted, named, etc each night. Gotta come up with a streamlined system...... APRIL 9.... Some progress in my ongoing war with SMUGMUG'S search foul ups. Discovered an amazing software tool called EXIFTOOL which enables me to just drag a whole day's folder of photos that I've captioned ( ie : maddie running ) and like by magic all are transformed in a way that lets me upload them to my site (dotfur.com)on smugmug, and voila : they're all captioned in a way that " search " can find them. I don't have go in and re-captioned them a second time in the special smugmug way . It's actually an IPTC editor ( don't ask ) written by this guy that is amazingly helpful to even the code ignorant like me. Great story, makes you like your fellow man again. Did the captions and keywords on September 1, 2, 3, 4th . All those photos would be missed by any SEARCH. Now have KEYWORDS like "small, female, pair, trio, play, smiles, sniff"

Still at war with SMUGMUG to get them to fix whatever has been wrong with the whole keyword, caption, search problem.

THE K10 PENTAX CAMERA

Getting a new lense. Birthday present from Cathy. Looks like I'm gonna get myself an FA 35mm pentax lense . Pictures should be much sharper; it's a number of stops faster than what I use now so I should be able to shoot better in twilight. It's a "prime" lens, meaning it doesn't have adjustable focal length ( like from wide angle to telephoto) just 35mm. That's why it can shoot sharper and faster. I'm realizing that with my 18mm to 55mm kit lens, I'm always shooting at angles wider than 35mm, often 24mm in order to insure I have a dog or two in the frame without looking through the viewfinder the way I do. 35mm will be a little less forgiving on someone shooting blind like me. Put up the unleashed link to Ossining Dog Park site. MARCH 27 .) Got my new Pentax, FA.35mm prime lens, seems great, shoots nice in much lower light. MARCH 28. ) So far behind. did march 10 today. Lots of later march still to do. MARCH 29 . Finished March 26 today.

RECENT DOG ARTICLES, SCIENCE, RESEARCH

BEEN reading and liking this woman's work on dogs evolving not from wolves but from of all things : dogs.

MYTHS ABOUT ORIGEN OF DOGS

MORE ON CONTROVERSIAL ORIGEN OF DOGS (slow loading page)

SULIMOV DOG (DOG / JACKAL HYBRID)

BBC ON : SULIMOV DOGS