Puppies and College Tailgate Parties

Tonight is the first game of the season for Arizona State University. We are playing Northern Arizona so we better win this game. Football fans everywhere are filled with hopes and promise that this year will be a winning season. ASU should have a good year and I am so excited that it's football season again.

Okay, my excitement really has to do with with more than just the game of football. My favorite part is the tailgate parties. We have several great friends that we meet up with and bring food and drink to share. ASU tailgate people are a little crazy as the temperature is often 100 degrees and there is no breeze! Every year we discuss putting misters on our tent and talk about getting an AC fan, but never really get around to purchasing them. But we are okay because the beer is cold and the wine is good and the food is delicious.

Last year, we brought our golden retriever, Wrigley, into the family during football season and were not comfortable leaving him for so long. So, we decided to bring him to the tailgate party and I stayed out with him and listened to the game on the radio. He was a very popular with the students and other tailgaters! I think our husbands enjoyed the female students who flocked around this adorable, tiny puppy! He enjoyed stealing a hot dog from a child in the group next to us. I loved watching my children and our puppy play together. My daughter took Wrigley up for a picture with the team's mascot, Sparky.

I do not know if we will be bringing Wrigley along to the tailgate parties this year, seeing that he now weighs 80 pounds. But this will be one memory I'll remember for a long time.

GO ASU! Beat NAU!

“George Will, Wrigley and the Chicago Cubs”

Maybe you’ve read on my blog about my fascination with George Will. Well, to add to this, I have come to learn that he loves the Chicago Cubs. I find it interesting that there’s this connection of a sort with me, my dog and George (Mr. Will seems so formal!).

My favorite GW quote on the subject: “Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal”.

The Humility of Getting Neutered

"It wasn't enough to take away my manhood, so now you place this plastic, Elizabethan collar on my head, making me look like some kind of deranged flower.

I should be able to to lick my deflated privates until the area is red and raw if I so chose.

Aaughh!"

Dog Day Afternoon

Wrigley had his operation about five hours ago and since we have been home, nothing has been accomplished. I think it is perfectly acceptable to sit on the floor with your dog all afternoon on the day he has been neutered.

Wrigley is getting Neutered!

Wrigley is enjoying his last few days before he gets neutered. Of course, he’s really just enjoying these few days without any knowledge of what’s in store for him. That’s the joy (or the demise) of being a suburban house dog.

As a pet owner, we make all the important decisions for them and even if we “discuss” these decisions with our pets, we do it in a language they do not understand. Some of these decisions are necessary (“time to get your toe nails clipped”), some are optional (“you get to spend time at the boarder’s home while we frolic on the beach for a few days”) and worst of all is the heavy-hearted decision whether your pet should be put down (“would you like a piece of salmon before you get put to sleep?”)

A man came up to me last week at Kashman’s Place, an outdoor café that allows dogs, where Bill and me were sitting with Wrigley. He was admiring how beautiful the dog’s coat was and what a perfect shaped head he had, when I blurted out that Wrigley was scheduled to go in for his neuter operation this month. The man frowned at me and said, “You should at least let him a little fun before you cut off his ability to have some attractive offspring!” WELL, how the heck do I do that? Do I let him loose on the streets of North Scottsdale some evening, free to roam and find some babe to hump and do the dirty? Do I call a friend and ask her to bring her dog for a “play-date”, only tell her this is really more of a real date? Or, do I tell our breeder (who actually has the rights to his offspring) that we would like to let Wrigley have the experience of fornicating once before he gets neutered?

I think I will obsess about this for the next seven days, right up to the drive to the veterinarian’s office. Meanwhile, Wrigley is happily chewing on a small tree branch that has fallen from the tree just outside of my office.

“Reasons why Wrigley could be the Cubs Physical Mascot”:

1)He looks a lot like a young bear cub.

2) He loves hot dogs. We use hot dogs to train our dog to sit, drop, crawl and "wait-sit" (has to be said as one word or else it doesn’t work!);

3) Unlike Billy the goat, he doesn’t stink. I take him to this little boutique pet store and they wash and fluff him up and he comes back smelling awesome. (He doesn’t care that you might be calling him a sissy right now because he doesn’t mind going and getting nonstop doggie treats!)

4) I would never put a curse on the Cubbies if Wrigley and me were asked to leave the ballpark for any reason. We would just go somewhere, get a hot dog or two and watch the game somewhere outside the park.

5) I think Wrigley (our dog) and Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers would get along great!

“Wrigley and the Chicago Cubs”

Wrigley was born on Sept 26, 2007. He is a golden retriever that already weighs 80 pounds. There is something very special about this dog. We knew that from the minute we brought him home. It was apparent to all of us in the family that he would be different and at that moment we thought that maybe he could bring some extra luck and hopes for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series pendant this year. For non-fans, it’s been 100 years since the Cubs won the World Series. It’s long overdue.

My husband was a bat boy in the 1970’s when they played their spring training games in Scottsdale and has been an avid fan ever since. I lived my junior high and high school years in a suburb outside Chicago and have always loved the Cubs, too. So, the name for our new dog seemed perfect.

On opening day for the Cubs at Wrigley field, I turned on the television and I could not believe my eyes! Wrigley sat still for close to two hours (something of a miracle in itself) and actually watched the game. The Cubs won. And they continue to win.

Neighbors have started to mention that maybe Wrigley is the reason for the team’s success. Our neighbor who has two fantastic Golden retrievers, lovingly call Wrigley the ‘Second Coming of Christ’. (He is so handsome!) At the local breakfast place that we take Wrigley to almost every Saturday, people are starting to talk about how he must be good luck for the baseball team. We say, we hope so and continue to follow the team winning game after game.

I want to go online and find a Cubs dog bandanna. No luck so far. If anyone knows a place where I can purchase one of these, please let me know! When I find one, I’ll take his picture.

More on this as the season progresses!