Happy Tails Growing Up

Have not blogged recently and after a period of being off the keyboard catching up is difficult. My Galaxy S6 is full of recent dog pictures and MP4 files. Sorting them out can be difficult. Most dog owners take pictures of their dogs just like loving grandparents. I was at the local small grocery store here in San Pedro yesterday and the young woman that takes my money was showing be her new puppy pictures on her smart phone.

Not sure how old Happy Tails is. His papers did not get an actual birthday. At six months Shepherds loose their baby teeth and he has been doing that. Pups have 28 teeth and adults have 42 the more to bite you with.

My other dog Dede was a champion for going for rowboat rides whereas Happy needs more experience.

In between fitting his life jacket I had to add 4 inches for his chest growth. When you see a puppy or baby everyday you don't see the growth. We were weighing him using a fish scale attached to his harness but he exceed the 50 pounds the scale could measure. He used to love to sit in my lap but now it is becoming difficult. 

GSD are not known as bird dogs but herding animals. My old dog Dede loved to herd other dogs in park but right now Happy loves to chase birds or bark at them. In the 22nd Street Park where he plays there are many ground swallows that fly close to the grass in circle driving him nuts.

It is sad but the area around Cabrillo Beach and Whites Point are filled with feral cats that have been dumped. There are signs posted that feeding the feral cats are against the law.. Many cat lovers feed these feral packs and of course the plastic dishes all wind up being blown into the water. A morning dog walk on 22nd Street by the sea food eatery may want  you to puke from the cat shit in the bushes.

There are two feral cats that hang around our marina. At first they were living off the rats and mice but several divers that clean boat bottoms started feeding them. Eack morning this black cat in the tree waits for his Monday to Friday feedings. The cat actually follows the drivers in the morning when they walk for coffee. Happy gets there early before the divers and chases the cat. The cat goes up his tree and Happy can't (yet). Rin Tin Tin could climb trees and Happy is learning.

Most toys don't last too long with Happy and the Easter Bunny wasn't any different. 

Malibu Kayaks

I was given this dual kayak in pretty sad shape but I cleaned it and repaired two cracks in it and it is ready to go. Taking a dog out here next to the boat is risky because if he falls off he will have to swim and getting in back on the dock is a hell of a chore. I had a neighbor who was from Los Angeles Fire Department and a LAFD diver. He had a Lab that loved to jump off the dock and swim but it took two healthy firemen to get the lab out of the water. Happy needs to learn at the beach.

Happy has several two legged friends that find balls for him and there isn't any shortage of discarded ball if you walk or ride a bicycle. Recently I had to buy a battery for my Nissan so I could drive to LACMA.

The Magic Flute

I am not sure how long I have been without a car battery maybe 9 months or so. If I wanted to drive the Nissan I would take a battery out of my boat where there are 4 fully charged 12 volts each day by solar panels. My daughter was having a 

Premieres

and I didn't have a reliable battery so smarty pants (as I often call her) sent me the money to buy a battery. Actually Frances sent enough money via PayPal to pay for parking, gas money and a six pack of beer plus chips for a dog sitter.

Happy Staying

After I got "Giant Butts" AKA Happy Tails on a rainy day where my Nissan's battery quit and "The Bean" had to bail me out Arlo (Grandson) was holding the baby puppy  and we took several trips to get the Nissan and dog food and a crying 5 pound puppy into a sailboat. That is when I started reading dog books and have probably twenty plus under my belt. I require a belt for my pants and shorts because the cost of dog food exceeds my normal diet cost. (Starving for a puppy love) .

With the addition of a battery to the Nissan the two of of could roam by car to various parks that were not within walking distance. Happy walks probably 5 miles a day with me everyday but now using the car we could go up the hill to or the local dog park. There are several great places in parks for dogs here: http://www.laparks.org/park/averill

The down side of our new mobility was somewhere shithead got fleas. The dog's name is "Happy Tails" but he has many other callings: Stinker, Butts, Butthead, Dede 2, Shithead

When you live on a sailboat and in the middle of the night your fucking dog starts to scratch banging his leg  the floor of the fiberglass boat like a bass drum it becomes impossible to sleep. 

So I waited until my SS check came in and we went up the hill to PetCo for some flea stuff. The last time I bought this for Dede was half the current price. So $76.00 later we went back to the car where I found my keys and my neck chain were not on my neck but in between the front seats and all the doors and windows up tight. My Nissan is not a coat hanger kind of car and needs a professional lock smith. So $85.00 later and thanks to the locksmith on 9th Street we were rolling again. 

Year End New Puppy

Turned on the TV this morning to see the weather forecast. 5 car commercials in a row with reindeer, Christmas trees, ribbons and smiling children. One spooky one with a Lincoln owner following a wood burning train. Ford must have a hell of a filming budget. VW is larger.

All in all, the German automaker paid over $6 billion in advertising. That's truly an astounding number, especially when you put it into perspective. With that kind of money, you could buy approximately 2,300 Bugatti Chirons -- 1,800 more than what has ever been produced. The next biggest spender was General Motors; they spent a measly $5.7 billion. Collectively, more money was spent on advertising by auto manufactures than ever before.

Turned the TV off and tried the internet for news. SF Gate is always interesting , Maybe there is a rush to died before the end of the year.

My former shipmate was a mix of German Shepard and Akita. We found her in a cardboard box in front of a Staters Brothers in Phelan which is the high desert. We always stopped there to pick up supplies when we went motorcycling in the desert.

DeDe at marina in San Pedro

We named her DeDe for desert dog.

She loved to run on the beach.

At low tide there is a sand bar inside the breakwater at Dana Point across from Baby Beach where several dogs would meet to party.

DeDe running with Buddy

Today is Wednesday mid week between Christmas and New Years and the seventh day for my new puppy. The details are vague but my daughter met someone at a wedding reception that ran a dog clinic.

The next thing I see are text messages of puppies dressed for Christmas.

Then a picture of the real trouble maker.

Monster on left

Toy reindeer

Last Thursday I was supposed to meet my daughter at the dog clinic here in San Pedro but in route I stopped to buy gasoline for my Nissan. I seldom drive, it was raining, the wipers were on plus the headlights and defroster after stopping for a few dollars of gas the engine refused to restart because the battery was low. Well my phone was charged so I texted my daughter and she met me next to the gas station where I had pushed my car.

Out like a light

My grandson was holding the puppy who was crying. It was pouring. raining puppies and cats. We rode back to the marina and my sailboat where I got another battery. We left the puppy with Arlo my grandson and we headed back up to switch batteries.

First car trip to park

Christmas day was a planned adventure to take the puppy for a car trip without any carrier. Plans didn't work out as the mutt wanted to drive and refused to ride shotgun.

Since Sunday he has had three rides in the car and has been to two different parks.

His new name is still being debated. I am so used to calling my old dog butthead or Dede Butt I may just stick with that. The puppy came from SNP/LA.

My son came over to the boat to visit the new puppy. He also brought a new dog bed which was really needed because Butt Head had chewed up most of his makeshift bed.




This was recorded and edited my Dylan. He wants to name the pup "Trails"
While the pup took a nap Dylan and I went out paddling on stand-ups. Later down the line the dog will also be included in family paddling but not now.

Dylan has always been a good at sports: motorcycles, bicycles, surfing, and snowboarding. My learning curve isn't ready for snowboarding but I still can ski. Here his Dylan on Christmas day boarding at Bear.