Off The Leash

The Brave One

In Manhattan Valley related news....

Our neighborhood is about to be taken over by film crews soon.
The Jodie Foster flick, The Brave One, will be in full effect.  I noticed on a flyer that if they have to tow your car because it is in the way, you do not have to pay for the towing and storage.  How kind.  I bet the city just adds the charge onto the film production bill.

My mission today: get the Mom and kittens out of the bodega basement across the street from our apartment and into the vet clinic for spay/neuter/rescue.
I hope the bodega guys couldn't smell the beer I just drank because I'd seem pretty desperate if I reeked like a bar when I asked to take the kitties.

6 Months in...

Today we are getting our first online delivery of groceries from Fresh Direct.  We sat in front of the computer and shopped last night and it took about as long as a regular trip would take.  This weekend, Scott dropped off the laundry to be done for us at the laundromat.  I am looking for a dog walker to keep Honey from going crazy wackadoo.  We are always looking for a better apartment, despite living right next to Central Park.
Do we sound like New Yorkers?

Good Morning Old Man Winter

This is the view from my window this morning:

The temp in Central Park is 32 Degrees and the snow consists of the biggest flakes I've ever seen! And we see a lot of snow in MI so that is saying something! I'll take some more pretty winter wonderland shots on my way to work. I'm taking Honey in for a tooth problem, so no train today. It looks like she may have cracked a back molar and there is an exposed nerve. She doesn't seem to be in pain over it, which seems odd. Hopefully, I am overreacting.
I swore that I would not buy her any fashion items like many of the pooches in NYC (most of which are coddled in strollers and made to wear coats all winter). However, this morning, Honey only made it to the end of our block in the snow when both of her front paws were frozen and she stopped walking altogether. I am going to have to get her some boots! Considering the mixture of wet pavement, salt, and the Con Ed electrical grid lead to the death of a girl last winter while walking her dog, I think maybe having something between feet and the pavement isn't such a bad idea even if it looks like I am pampering the pooch!
DISCLAIMER: Coats and such on dogs are still cute, just not my thing! Unless it is Halloween.

Howl-oween

The Canine Social Club is hosting the 3rd Annual Howl-oween Parade this year on the University of Michigan Diag. 
So if you are around Ann Arbor, check it out and show them some love!

If you are in NYC, there is a barrage of Halloween-themed doggie events and I'm sure that you could clean house and make some cash if you come up with a brilliant costume.  Check Urbanhound for event listings.  They are the one-stop site for all things dog for me these days!

Honey & I will not be attending a Howl-oween this year because we will be moving on to the UWS this Halloween.  We're saving the party for Thanksgiving.  In fact, if you are in the city this November, let us know because we are planning a huge feast for any of our friends in the vicinity who don't have other plans.

Sad Story-updated

Just when I thought it was fun to go to the dog park...
Honey and I went out last night for an evening stroll to McGolrick Park and learned that a couple had abandoned this cute dog at the run.  The account I heard was that the couple told a girl, "Here.  Take our dog." and they were strung out on crack.  Another lady told the police who came to take the dog to a shelter (no loving soul could accomodate the dog in a home last night with short notice) that the dog belongs to a couple that had been evicted from their home this week.
Clearly, there was more to the story then just an unwanted pet.  Or was there?  We'll never know.  The reality is that these idiots will one day get another dog because no one attempted to find them and prosecute them for this crime.
After speaking to the officers, I learned that this is a typical situation in the fall months when people who no longer desire to care for an animal in the harsh winter weather will dump them in a local park.  It was a rarity to see a dumped dog in McGolrick Park.  Usually the police find the dogs in McCarren Park, a much larger park a little further south of McGolrick.

I ran into a local Polish deli and asked for some meat to bait the dog into the crate for the police; however, they refused to use the bait and insisted on darting the dog with a tranquilizer.  The cops totally freaked out the poor dog and I felt very sorry for him (and for the police for not taking the advice of someone who may know dogs a little better than they do).  I weep for the City of Ann Arbor, as they no longer even have one animal control officer and I am certain that stray dogs receive similar treatment by the police there just like the dogs in NYC.
I can tell you this pooch is a big guy, and probably a golden and akita mix.  He was called Max by the girl who was trying to find him a place to stay for the night.  Perhaps his listing is this one in petfinder.  It is highly unlikely that he'll survive the week in the shelter, unless a local rescue will snatch him up because he seemed to be a really good dog.  He even had a rabies tag on his collar and that gets me thinking about why no one tried to look up the animal hospital that gave him that tag and thereby learning the identity of the couple that left him to the care of the New York Police Department.
UPDATE:  I was informed that no tranquilizer was used on this dog and that he gave no trouble to the officers who were looking after him.  He was pretty calm, and not totally freaked out by everyone.  He was nervous and scared--he yelped when one person was petting his back.  I am happy to learn that dog-loving officers are on the job in Greenpoint.  Now we just need to get the community members on board by setting up a phone tree of people who are willing to look after our own abandoned pets. 
I'm looking into finding out why the information on rabies tags is not used to find the criminals who abandon pets.  Also, I'm researching animal law to determine just what can be done to deter people from dumping their pets.

A Pickle of A Day

On Sunday, Honey and I ventured on a journey across the Williamsburg Bridge to the International Pickle Festival on the Lower East Side.  We had a fun time walking 3 miles to taste pickled cucumbers, beets, scallions, green beans, and cabbage.  The only kind Honey liked (the only kind at which she wouldn't turn her nose) was the new pickles.  They are more like cucumbers than the sours and half-sours.  I didn't dare let her try the spicy sours, since they even made me pucker.
Here is Honey.  She loves the Williamsburg Bridge.  Well, she really loves all the attention she received from the construction workers on the bridge.  They loves the Brittanys!  Can you tell that Honey was tired after we had to walk the whole way home since no cabs would pick us up ?  I know that I didn't expect to walk the full 6 miles that day!
Here is an image of the new sign on the Williamsburg Bridge, put up by the oh-so-enthusiastic borough president, Marty Markowitz. The rest of my Pickle Day Pictures can be found here.

Cooper Bark

Cooper Park will now become Cooper Bark because volunteers are installing the fencing for the dog run today!  I'm lending a hand today.  Perhaps you could call it closure for the 3 year battle that is still ongoing with the Ann Arbor Parks Department/Washtenaw County that I faced in Michigan where there is STILL no dog park or dog run in the city. 

I met the parks community organizer and many of the CooperBark volunteers.  It was pretty cool to help out and see the good-size area that will be a dog run in the next couple of days.  As we were working, I learned that others have had trouble with landlords and dogs.  One man told me that his landlord used to come into the house and hang out in his apartment.  Another lady told me that the landlord told them she could get a dog and after one week she was asked to move out because she got a dog.  Also, the landlord started showing the apartment without telling her and the dog escaped the apartment once and, luckily, waited for her in the courtyard. 
Funny moment of the day: a man walking by with a shopping cart swiped the work gloves that the parks department provided to the dog run volunteers.  A few people had to chase him down the street.  The old guy couldn't have gotten far...and what would he have done with all those gloves?! 
Flickr has the rest of my photos from the day.

Dog Show Contestants

The BARC (Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition) shelter weighed anchor in McCarren Park (about 8 blocks from our apartment) for their pirate-themed Dog Parade and Show fundraiser on Sunday.  So Scott and I watched the parade floats, bands, and all, stroll into the park and I returned with Honey a little later.  She can't handle too much doggie action and it was blazing hot in the sun, so we stopped in for the Costume Contest and that was about enough.  We didn't place-maybe they saw us before at the Howl-oween Parade in Ann Arbor, but we had fun in the ring anyway and Honey picked up a goodie bag with a couple of squeaky toys (destroyed in seconds) and an issue of Bark Magazine for me.  With the move, I didn't receive this issue of Bark, so I'm happy!

Thanks to everyone who clapped for us and to a mysterious pirate who took our ringside photos.

Still settling

We made it to NYC last week.  I haven't sent an update because we are without home internet access and I've been too busy trying to sort out all that official address change nonsense that comes with moving.  I'm still working on that!  So a real update will have to wait.
Things are good here.  We are between two parks.  The pooch absolutely loves chasing pigeons, meeting new dogs, and our little backyard.  Her barking has been calm and quiet with a little loud jolt here and there.  So all in all I think she likes it. 
Good thing I can walk her so much to keep her quiet.  I am unemployed still...
Scott had a bad ear infection but he is better and working out of a cafe in Williamsburg (Fix is the name).
Next Tuesday we'll have access, so expect more then!

Brooklyn Heights

Yesterday I decided to go to Cody's Ale House on Court Street for a beer and burger platter.  I haven't been eating meat on this since I arrived in NYC, so I really wanted a burger!  Don't ask about the not eating meat thing, sometimes I just go for long periods of time without it.
Cody's is a chill bar where they know everyone's name and Bob the bartender sees CNN on their tv all day long so he's on the up-and-up with the talking heads.  Good fries and burgers, good beer selection too.  I went with a Brooklyn Lager because I want to try their signature brew (the recipe was handed down to the current brewers from the original owners of the brewery so it is a tried and true brew). 
I will be attending one of the Saturday tastings very soon at Brooklyn Brewery, since it is a nice walk to my place from there!  I was told that there is no happy hour on Fridays at a few places in Ann Arbor.  Well, eat your heart out because Brooklyn Brewery has happy hour on Friday! 
The BB will also be hosting the New York beer tasting on September 10th.  I'm tasting Michigan beers in July and New York beers in September!  I love it.
After Cody's, I took a nighttime stroll on the Brooklyn Bridge.  I really enjoy that walk for the view and the breeze.
As I was nearing the Manhattan side of the bridge, a line of people passed by while holding hands and keeping their eyes shut.  There were at least 20 people in this group and I thought that it was probably one of those trust exercises (like a low-ropes course) for a group of employees.  Otherwise, they were experiencing what it is like to be blind.  Either way, it looked strange.