Animals are such agreeable friends--they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
- George Eliot
I got to spend time with Blue from Texas.. and his faithful companion... (I think his name is Samuel). I'll find out at lunchtime tomorrow.
More photos at My Flickr Photos
(REPOST from April 2005)
Ally surveying the land 
When we were remodeling our kitchen, there was quite of pile of construction materials and demolition scrap left over ready to haul to the local dump. Destined also for disposal was a large metal satellite dish that was taking up a lot of space in the yard and no longer functional since acquiring DirectTV.
After dismantling the dish, I flipped it over on top of milk crates to ensure that the grass underneath would not be harmed due to lack of sunlight. Ally, our precious eight year Labrador (then 6) was chilling out underneath the dish. Inspired, why not turn all of scrap into something useful! Besides, I always desired to build a shed, so why not prototype a smaller version a.k.a a dog house to try out my construction skill sets and framing techniques; plus I could use the large dish as the roof for the doghouse.
So I set out to build a doghouse worthy for Ally. (more about Ally in a separate post). Dubbed the "Ally Dome", the book Barkitecture served as a basis of inspiration.
Here's the framing... I remembered taking a water break from the framing - when I returned outside, there were two neighborhood dogs sitting inside! Talk about affirmation - I literally had tears of joy!
Framing for Ally Dome
Interior: Fully insulated with 30 year old 1/2" knot pine paneling, trimmed out with crown molding. Later I added carpeting and tile flooring.
AllyDome interior under construction
Here's a front view before the front doors were installed.
Front view 60% complete
And a more recent photo, finished with insulated glass bay window in the back.
Ally at the backside of her house
I added a deck for Ally and Digglet to lounge out on...
Diggy and Ally hanging out
The Ally Dome is approximately 8 feet square (not counting the deck). The glass side windows are hinged and have screens to keep out the bugs. The inside is quite roomy, akin to sitting in a Volkswagen Beetle with the domed roof. Two adults can sit inside and stretch out with comfort. I have considered camping out in it one night, (but it has no electricity {yet]) plus I don't want anyone to say I literally spent the night in a dog house!
Becky and I decided on a Florida look with the pink and blue color scheme. We also landscaped the sides with monkey grass and irises. I will probably add some accent porch lights and a address plate to finish the Ally Dome off.
All in all, it was fun to build and a labor of love as well. Every dog deserves a loving home and a house of their own!
(REPOST from April 2005)
Barkitecture
Barkitecture is Fred Albert's whimsical book, published in 1999, by Abbeville Press. This book has spawned a number of creative fundraisers run by animal service organizations with participating architectural firms and regular lovers of dogs like myself.
In celebration of our dog Ally Woo's 8th birthday, I'll be writing not only about my sweetheart, 
Ally Woo
but the other two dogs in my life - my first grand dog, Digglet Woo and my god dog, Bijou over the next several posts.
Meanwhile download a PDF sample of this inspiring book! Perhaps, you'll be inspired just like me in building a house for my dog Ally as my first outdoor project. I'll post some construction photos of the "AllyDome" later on...
Chessie's Doghouse
Chessie's Doghouse. John M. Collins, Locust Valley, New York.
This exquisite English timber frame doghouse was modeled after an eighty-year-old children playhouse on Long Island. The antique hand-hewn beams are held in place with mortise-and-tenon joints, and are topped with an authentic thatch roof. Antique glass fills the custom-made windows, which are held in place by bone-shaped latches. A matching leash holder flanks the front door.
I have only been to the circus once in my life. Over ten years ago when I was attending Belmont Church, my wife and I were part of a team administrating the Widows and Orphans Ministry, with its specific focus on understanding the challenges and meeting the needs of single parents and their children.
I remember that we wanted to to give the single moms a night off to themselves being pampered with hair styling and manicures while some college students and pastors treated about thirty kids to The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Municipal Auditorium here in Nashville.
One of the fascinations about the circus was seeing all of the activity under the three tents - horses, tigers, acrobats, clowns and yes, elephants. And I'll never forget the joy of the kids as they took in that evening as for each of them, they experienced the circus for the first time and forgot about their daddy being absent for an evening.
Today, kids and parents with fond memories of the circus were downtown awaiting the arrival of the circus coming to town.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus is expected to arrive by train late this morning downtown. At about 11:30 a.m., its animals will parade from the train yard, down Broadway, to the Gaylord Entertainment Center, where the circus will be performing Thursday through Sunday.
The “animal walk” will begin at Laurel Street and 11th Avenue South. The animals will continue up Laurel Street and turn right onto 12th Avenue South, then right onto Broadway. At 6th Avenue South they will turn right again to enter the Gaylord’s loading dock.
More than 70 domestic and exotic animals are featured in the circus’ performance. The menagerie includes 10 Asian elephants, two alpacas, two zedonks (a cross between a zebra and donkey), two Angora goats, 14 horses, 14 cats and 13 dogs.- The Tennessean
This morning at the Nashville Humane Association, I met up with Rex Hammock, wife Anne and all the way from Austin, Texas, Summer and Cole who are the new adoptive parents of Thunder!
Now I know it's not the same thing, but a little grace please...
I felt like part of a contingent at the airport awaiting the arrival of an adoptive child from Romania, China or Russia... Meeting Summer and Cole was a treat as we had only known each other via Rex's blog.
I'm gonna let Cole and Summer unfold their story as they drive home - so pray for travelin' mercies and a great bonding experience!
I'll alway think of Thunder and Cole & Summer as my heartwarming Christmas Miracle Story of 2006...
What seemed like a long, long time ago waaaay back on December 9th, 2006 we had a Christmas Blogger meetup over at The Mothership. Out of that festive time, we took up a collection of dog and cat food for the Nashville Humane Association.
I wrote about a sweet dog - Thunder - and his desire to live in a place with other dogs and lots of running room.
Thunder is a collie/shepherd/lab mix, neutered male, 5 to 6 years old, weights about 66 lbs and he tells me (I'm kinda like Dr. Doolittle) that he's been around other dogs and older kids - he would like a place that has a lot of running room. Thunder would be so GRATEFUL if someone would take him home today. A super gentle dog that I think would make an excellent side kick buddy.
This week I got word that Cole and Summer are driving in from Austin, Texas to adopt Thunder!
Texas as we all know, is a big state to run in and more so, full of people with bigger hearts. So Cole and Summer are taking a whirlwind trip to Nashville to pick up Thunder at 10:00 this Saturday at the Nashville Humane Society!
I am looking forward to meeting them at the Humane Association - 213 Oceola in West Nashville 37209 (MAP) this Saturday at 10:00 - stop by if you're in the area... and say how ya'll doin'?
Isn't that so awesome! I think Summer is connected somehow with Rex Hammock, Cole and I are die hard Cowboy fans and though we have never met before, we're all connected via this little thing called Nashville Is Talking.
If you know someone or at times, even ourselves who think that blogging is a waste of time, we've got to get a hold of the fact that words and photos flung out over the datawaves of the internet are carriers of life, memories, dreams and aspirations for each of us in some way... even for a dog who simply wanted to be adopted.
Keep blogging! You can make a difference!
I received some emails about the status of Thunder, the dog I met at the Nashville Humane Association. Thunder is still waiting for a good home with a big yard...
Earlier this week I wrote:
Thunder is a collie/shepherd/lab mix, neutered male, 5 to 6 years old, weights about 66 lbs and he tells me (I'm kinda like Dr. Doolittle) that he's been around other dogs and older kids - he would like a place that has a lot of running room. Thunder would be so GRATEFUL if someone would take him home today. A super gentle dog that I think would make an excellent side kick buddy.
Give them a call at 615 352-1010 or stop by and see them at 213 Oceola in West Nashville 37209
The adoption fee is $85.00 for dogs and $75.00 for cats.
We'd like to take in Thunder, but we already have Ally and Diggy. Spread the word if you know anyone that is willing to bring some unconditional love into their homes this holiday season.
Many thanks!
BTW, Shauna wrote this nice comment:
I have a lot of love for the Nashville Humane Association. Alex Pudl ran out the front door one Saturday morning and never looked back. My husband walked and drove around searching for him, but didn't have any luck. A few hours later I called them to report him missing, and he was there! I don't know who dropped him off there, but I'm eternally grateful and try to give something to the shelter whenever I get the chance.
My dogs simply go nuts over sliced cheese. They eat the $30 a bag good stuff from Pet Smart, don't beg from the dinner table and yes, have a healthy appetite for milk bones as their reward for using the potty outside. Plus they have a nice dog house and we let them lie on the sofa with us. But give them a piece of cheese as a reward and you can teach a dog anything.
Diggly (l) and Ally (r)
Ally - our really smart and very sweet 8 year lab/retriever knows how to sit, lay down, roll over, bark, go get the paper, get the shoes, fetch ice from the ice maker by pawing at the dispenser and "back door" (when she's at the front door, we just yell "back door") and she comes running.
Mrs. WonderDawg taught her all of these commands via sign language too!
Ally will also hold the back door open when we're bringing in the groceries, shake (left shake and right shake), get the toy, go see (look out the window), listen (to be on alert when somebody's coming in from the driveway), go night night (time to sleep with us in the bedroom), and kitchen (means get out of the living room). She also understands "do you want wah wah" (time for us to refill the water bowl) and ride? which means hop in the car. She loves to go riding, but the car trips are limited to those where I would never leave them alone in a car. That irks me when I see dogs in parked cars.
As for Diglett or Diggy, (our grand dog) she's learning. She knows more commands than she's willing to respond to. She's just too hyper to focus at times. My daughter taught Diggy to ring a bell when she wants to go out. Her reward is a milk bone, but she's playing us. No dog has to go out six times in a row, so with her, it's a up and down game. But to her credit, she likes to take baths - in fact, she'll bust out of the back door and head down to the creek for a quick dunk coming back dripping wet.
Diggy is naturally curious as well. One time, I picked her up and showed her the stuff on our shelves thinking that a dog needs to experience a whole new world four feet and above. Now she wants jump in my lap and sniff around the desk. leaving dog hair on the keyboard.
Where was I going with this? Right - one can teach any dog with cheese. Those really expensive doggie pills wrapped in cheese makes things better. Thanks Kroger for the 3 packs of 16 individually wrapped cheese slices for $5.00.
We taught Ally how to talk also. Our previous dog Abby ( a homeless and extremely grateful terrier) could say "Hi!" to anybody who came to the door. Ally has this deep aggressive voice that emits a "woo woo ah wooooooo wah wah wah" phrase when we offer up some cheese. One time we got Megan to record an anouncement on the answering machine with Ally chiming in. "Thank you for calling the ... woo woo ah wooooooo wah wah wah ... residence. No one is home now, so please call back!" Unfortunately, my mother-in-law, the dog lover that she is, hated it. We got tired too of all the hangups.
Oh look - Ally is talking!
Southwest Airlines's mural "Greetings from Nashville" is still intact after all these years downtown behind the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Notice the dog in the car to the left...
I think he'd rather be at home. 
(the window was down and it was 60 degrees... otherwise I would have gone ... ballistic.)
Here's one of those *cute pet alert postings* that asks the question:
What do your pets do while you're at work?
My two dogs are so cool and highly professional - they never bark while I'm on the phone.
Which reminds me - one company that I worked at had a "it's ok to bring your dog to the cube farm" understanding. What killed the understanding was a certain big dog's "accident" of peeing on the wall, but the kicker?
One of the corporate guys came in with his executive admin and only on that day, the big dog had a persistant fondness for sniffing this lady's you know what. Err, not cool.
I took my grand doggie "Diggy" to the micro chipping special at the Nashville Humane Association where for $20.00 a Avid MicroChip ID is injected deeply under the skin. The wait was a bit long - 90 minutes - but for the most part, all the forty plus dogs present were on their best behavior, although some owners made the conscious choice to allow their dogs to leave "souvenirs" on the premises. 
So I just found a good place to park ourselves free from landmines in the shade and waited our turn. Once our name was called, it only took five minutes and we were on our way back home.
The lady in line next to me (with her dogs pictured above) told me the procedure is normally a $70.00 to $100.00 cost, so that made the wait worth our time.
If you wanted to make the trip out but didn't, there's another session October 14, at Centennial Park; 11:00am-1:00pm taking place during the Dog Day Festival and Music City Mutt Strutt Dog Walk.
By the way, here's Sam & Lynette's story how you can share the love by adopting an unwanted pet and bring home some much-wanted love. Also read Brittney's story of adopting Cooper here.
In honor of National Homeless Animal Day, you can have your pet microchipped at Nashville Humane Association.
August 19, 2006
11:00am-1:00pm
Cost is $20.00 including registration
213 Oceola Avenue in West Nashville 37205
(behind Sprintz Furniture on White Bridge Road towards the Charlotte Pike intersection)
(615) 352-1010
Answers to some common questions:
The microchip is smaller than a grain of rice.
It is just like getting a shot and does not hurt your pet.
The chip is inserted between the shoulder blades.
It is administered by a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
No appointment necessary.
Without a voice, without a tag, he may never find his way home.....
I adopted a stray dog while commuting in Raleigh, NC and it was a bit nerving to be unable to find the owner of this sweet dog:
I looked for any sign of her rightful owner at nearby apartment complex and grocery store bulletin boards, newspaper ads, neighborhood signs and Craigslist; even called local vets in a 25 mile radius and asked anyone I encountered while walking this dog. If only Bijou (given name) had identifying tags or a microchip! Fortunately, she has a loving family back in North Carolina.
Every Saturday morning at the Petco in Bellevue, people are out with their dogs and cats for adoption. I forget if they are with the Humane Society, but the sweetest dogs are available to adopt.
Some of the best dogs I've ever had have been homeless dogs, because they are sooo grateful to be off the streets. And I think these dogs that are available to adopt would be also. My current dogs Ally and Diggy were not homeless, but they are grateful (or big time spoiled) nonetheless with a big yard to romp in and a loving family (us!).
On Craigslist under "free stuff", there are always pets available for free to a good home. This listing for One Ugly Dog cracked me up!
Hobbies - chasing cars, snorting and sniffing incessantly, rolling in the carcasses of road kill, over eating and vomiting, and last but not least, pooping on the baby's bed. This little looker is a lover not a biter and thank god he doesn't hump everything he sees but he will scratch his butt on your carpet. If this sounds like your kind of pet, perhaps as a permenant outdoor fixture, please contact me. He's yours for the taking!!!
My Ally Woo is going to the vet this morning to treat an ear itch.
Greene Animal Hospital always does a great job and I appreciate the fact that I never have to wait any longer than 5 minutes...
Growing up in Richmond, VA I wanted to become a vet; the starving commercial artist route won out instead.
Here's a link for Mona Lisa and your dog
It's the Year of The Dog! 
Here's my granddog Diglet Woo... and Ally Woo
By the way, calculate your age (somewhat accurately, in Dog Years...)
and learn about Celebrating Chinese New Year
Even Google is in on it.
How much is that doggy... curled up under the desk?
Diggy is worn out after a visit to the vet!
