Saturday, January 19, 2013

Dog Girl

This young gal was one of the competitors at the sled dog races shown yesterday. She was busily giving her pooch a pre-race pep talk and dare I reveal a smooch on the wet nose, when I passed by. She must have heard me shuffling nearby and turned, and I caught this photo of the truck, complete with all the cages (is that what they call them?), the dogs, sleds and of course the cute musher. Later, I did see her fly by me but never found out how she placed. Speaking of a Dog Girl, the city of Portland used to have a Dog Man. David K. aka Dog Man used to parade his many dogs, 10-15 at a time, through the streets of the city. He seemed to be a quite jovioal gent, laughing and talking to all comers, and in all my meetings on the street with him, his dogs were always quite well behaved, although I never saw a plastic glove or bag for animal wastes. This was many years before this came into vogue; dare I say a status symbol? Many questioned the care he was giving his charges. Finally, the city took him to court. Passed an ordinance, I believe, along the lines of how many canines one could house under a city roof. After this, the sight of DK parading the streets with his dogs pulling him in all sorts of different directions was just something for the rearview mirror. In my lifetime, he was one of the many characters that gave city dwellers a break from their humdrum existence. However, I think the city fathers might have had another 'take' on his contributions to the city. 
Dog Man... RIP. 
Dog Girl... mush on!

18 comments:

  1. A whole other world -- the sled dogs and the multi-dog walker. Nice to go there this morning with you.

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  2. Two dogs and two cats (licensed)..that's it for townies here Birdman, any more than that and it's off to the country with you!

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  3. Someone likes her a lot! :)
    God bless you!
    Cezar

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  4. Sounds like Dog Girl adds a little love to her sled dog training.

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  5. I have never seen a dog sled race, ever. Well, for starters we do not have any snow. Dog Girl is cute and probably even nicer than HK. I hope that you are behaving with E in Florida!!

    Bises,
    Genie

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  6. Love that Dog Girl and the glimpse of Dog Man, too. I can imagine DG giving her charges a kiss for luck and encouragement.

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  7. Deep snow, lasting snow, dog sleds--you really live in a world so different from mine, Birdman.

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  8. Wow that must have been fun to see!

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  9. You've got some characters up there. I am surprised that skinny dogs like that are used to pull sleds. If Heidi Klum were doing the mushing, she would have lobster thermadore after the race.

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  10. I had forgotten about the Dog Man. I don't remember him laughing, I remember him yelling at the dogs, kind of barking their names out...The dogs were very cute as a pack. I was sort of afraid of him...Could it be that there were 2 dog men? Glad Dog Girl had snow this year.

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  11. The dog was the first domestic animal, and there is good reason that a special bond between people and dogs exists. We are just made for each other. Dog sled races are great fun for both racers and dogs. They love to pull. BTW, they are called "dog boxes," not "cages."

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  12. Dogs are amazing! I have one which has his own blog too at http://petsalways.blogspot.com ! :)

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  13. Sounds like a great way to spend your day

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  14. Those are an entirely different breed of dog that participates in dog races here in MN.

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