The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Today's Daily Parker

Parker gets more comfortable at the dog park every day, but he still has a ways to go. Then again, maybe I'd be apprehensive if a 60 kg (130 lb) rottweiller were chasing me. I don't know if I'd hide under a picnic table, though:

He recovered nicely (the rottweiller is actually a very sweet dog), and made some new friends.

Today's Daily Parker

I weighed Parker this morning and discovered he's put on some weight. Since September 1st he's gone from 7.7 kg (17 lbs) to 10.9 kg (24 lbs), a 41% increase in 33 days. At this rate he'll exceed the volume of the Universe in just a few months:

Here's the "before" shot from the Wright Way Rescue website (taken when he was probably 8 weeks old) and the "after" shot (taken Saturday afternoon):

I wonder how big he's going to get. My guess: 25 kg (55 lbs).

A Big Day for Little Parker

When we got Parker just over a month ago he was timid, to say the least. He would whine and whine if one of us left the room, apparently not realizing that we were still part of his life or that he could just follow us into the other room. He was terrified of cars zooming down our block. The first time I tried to take him for a walk, a runner came towards us; Parker got so spooked that he yanked the leash out of my hand and retreated behind a neighbor's bushes. He couldn't negotiate the stairs on our back porch, so we'd have to carry him up and down.

A few weeks ago, I led him to the dog park across the alley. A few dogs ran toward him and he hid behind the dumpsters outside of our back fence. The dogs had him cornered on two sides. The horror!

These days, Parker isn't afraid to be in a room by himself or even the back yard by himself, and he runs up and down the steps like a pro. And today, since I'm working from home and it's possibly the most gorgeous October day you could imagine, I decided to try the dog park again.

I'm happy to report that Parker made two new friends: Rocky, a huge, slobbery ten-year-old Golden Retriever who can bark loudly even when he's holding a softball in his mouth, and Cocoa, a sixtyish-pound four-year-old of indeterminate breed. Parker sniffed and let sniff, he ran towards the dogs at least as frequently as he ran away from them, and he only occasionally took refuge under the swingset when Rocky, who outweighs him probably 6:1, got too personal.

Not only am I proud of the little guy, but I'm grateful to the big guys for tiring him out.

Today's Daily Parker

Isn't he sweet? Notice, if you will, two things: First, this is what he looked like after going on a rampage that involved two rugs, a paper bag, and every hand and foot in the house. Second, in the lower right, you can see a hole in the blanket. Three guesses who put the hole there.

We still love him though. At least 80% of the time.

Today's Daily Parker

Two-for-one today. First, yesterday Parker had some play time with our downstairs neighbor's dog Jackson. All of us, including our neighbors, hope they play together more often, because both dogs were tuckered out and slept like angels the rest of the day.

This photo shows Parker before he figured out that he outweighs Jackson 3:2:

Earlier yesterday Parker visited my office. Does he look guilty to you? He does to me. But maybe that's just wishful thinking. Note how far he had to travel to get something that he should have been chewing:

Today's Daily Parker

Our fur-covered pirhana sometimes attacks objects by category, like yesterday's "things that oppress the puppy" spree:

(The second photo shows a carabiner that we attach to his leash on which we've clipped a small Maglite and a roll of plastic bags.)

Outside with Parker

Today we had people working inside the house and on the roof, so I had to keep Parker occupied. I got almost no work done—bringing the book outside with me was wishful thinking—so I went back in and got my camera. Here are some of the results: