The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Today's Daily Parker

The whole family went to Meramec State Park, near Sullivan, Mo., over the weekend. It was Parker's first long car trip with us. Never before in my life have I cared as much about what goes into and out of another living creature; the car trip only intensified this feeling.

Observe Parker as he was for perhaps 98% of the trip:

Now observe him as he appeared twice on the way up and twice on the way down:

That's not guilt, believe it or not. That's a seriously unhappy puppy preparing to demonstrate the folly of (a) feeding him before a car trip and (b) giving him a Bonine tablet on top of it.

He then went on to surprise us not once but five times during the trip. The moral of that story is, of course, don't give him any privacy indoors.

We all had a lot of fun, though, especially Parker. More on that tomorrow.

Today's Daily Parker

Here is the artist and his work, in which he shows he's moved on from textiles to sculpture:

That's a $600 armoire. He is so crated from now on.

No TDP tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll make up for it on Monday.

Today's Daily Parker

Ah, Parker, having fun at the dog park, yelling at the camera. I'm posting this photo so you can imagine the toothy grin, energetic bouncing, and ecstatic barking, but in the dark at 5:45 am. At least he's now slept through the night twice in a row.

Today's Daily Parker

We are ecstatic: our ball of fur and teeth finally, after seven weeks, slept through the night. He woke up only when he heard Abby Ryan's traffic report on NPR. Then he danced on our heads until we took him outside.

I hope this is the first of many nights we can finally sleep seven straight hours.

Today's Daily Parker

First, a correction: Parker probably didn't weigh 10.9 kg (24 lbs) on Wednesday, because today he only weighed 10.2 kg (22.5 lbs). This is still half a kilo more than last week, and a total gain of 3.5 kg (5.5 lbs) in five weeks, but it does throw off Sean's calculations a trifle.

Second, Parker had some more play time at the dog park this afternoon, even though he met a bully. Parker wasn't hurt, but he could have been. I don't think Cocoa (the gray goofy-looking thing seen here in happier times) has had adequate training or socialization. So when Parker got a little too close to Cocoa's ball, Cocoa had Parker rolling on his back for ten feet before I was able to slap his behind to give Parker a chance to get away. His owner just stood there saying "Cocoa, leave the puppy alone" while Parker was shrieking and desperately trying to get away from his 35 kg (75 lb) assailant. Afterward, while I comforted my shaking puppy and kept a wary eye on Cocoa (who was still off his leash!), I heard her say, "he's usually really good with puppies."

I had a good rant in here, but I've decided to edit it out. Anne said Cocoa and Parker got along just fine Tuesday.

Anyway, Parker shook it off faster than I did, probably because within two minutes of the incident he found a full bowl of dog food in the kitchen. And he did have fun.

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).

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: