Author Archives: Tara Choate

Searching for a corgi

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There are times I am a bit naive. I have an idea about how the world works and then I find out that my idea has no relationship to reality. I never would have thought to feel betrayed about the world of dog rescue, but disillusioned is exactly what I am feeling.

Background Reading

It’s hard to tell where to start this story. Many moons ago, when I first entertained the idea of getting a dog, I picked up a book on raising a dog and discovered a pet shop is not the place to acquire a pet; the only ethical place to get a dog is a reputable breeder or a rescue. Truer words have never been written.

Even the term “reputable breeder” has a lot of room for argument. I’ve seen knowledgeable dog people breed dogs with thyroid conditions without caring that it’s a genetic condition. I’ve seen winning kennels overproduce puppies trying to get that “one winner.” It’s very difficult to know where to draw the line.

I while ago I made the decision that I would only get dogs from rescue.

Over the years people who know me and know I am a mildly knowledgeable dog owner have asked me questions about getting a dog. I’ve counseled many people that if they want a specific breed to go to a breed rescue; dogs come through rescue for lots of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with the dog itself.

The Search Begins

My lovely, talented, adorable, and otherwise perfect boy Finn is getting older. Now 14+, he is arthritic, deaf, and pretty blind. Still, he loves his kibble and is always willing to go for a walk (though they have to be short walks now.) As long as he’s happy, I’m happy.

KINDLE_CAMERA_1449040877000

Still, he is getting older and a few years ago I decided to apply to a breed rescue in case “the perfect dog” showed up.

I’ve wanted a corgi for years, so I applied to Columbia River Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club and Cascade Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club (Washington). Corgis are not thick on the ground, so I wasn’t expecting to get a dog immediately  But in two years, I would have expected a phone call acknowledging they had received my application and that I was on a waiting list. I’ve applied a couple times, sent emails, and even called. Nothing.

In the last year I’ve also applied to Golden Gate Pembroke Welsh Corgi Fanciers (Northern California) and Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Rescue Trust (national) and even (recently) the Corgi Connection of Kansas (they are on Facebook and seem to have a lot of dogs.) Only Corgi Connection of Kansas contacted me back; their first question was, how are you planning to get a dog all the way to Oregon?

I know it’s silly, but I’m shocked that so many rescues would be this… Lazy? Careless? Uninterested?

Recently the The Portland Oregon Corgi Meetup Group posted a picture from a local rescue, Herd U Needed a Home, that had a corgi. Within minutes I had filled out an application. I waited 48 hours (the amount of time the website recommended) and then called. I waited another couple of days and called. And emailed. On the Herd U Needed a Home Facebook page it said the dog had an adoption “pending.” And the dog went off the page of adoptables. So I hoped he found a home. Then he reappeared. So I called again. Finally I got an email that said, “He has been adopted.”

I’m have no desire to point fingers. I am sure this group is doing good work and was just over busy. They are volunteers doing this in their spare time for the love of dogs.

But really?

Plan B

Okay, so the advice I’ve been giving to people for years about going to a breed rescue and being patient doesn’t seem to be working out in this case. I’ll admit to doing some soul searching about “do I really want a corgi”. I THINK I’ve made a decision to just keep a spot open for the perfect dog (corgi) to come along until either I’m dogless (in which case I’d just go get someone cute) or more settled into life in Salem (and really KNOW I need a dog,)

That’s a great plan, but anyone who knows me knows that I’m incapable of giving up on a goal. So, recently I’ve been doing a daily search of all the pounds and rescues I can find to check out if any corgis show up.

In the 15 years since I’ve last searched for a dog, the world of rescue has changed.

First: Chihuahas. The last time I was looking for a dog, it was practically unheard of to find a dog under 40lbs in the pound. Now… well, frankly if they don’t outnumber pitbulls, it’s a close call.

Second: “Second Chance” Programs. It is possible that these existed the last time I was in the market, but they were not nearly as prevalent. The concept is pretty simple; big (or at least bigger) dog shelters in population centers go to smaller shelters and take younger, healthier, more adoptable dogs to their bigger shelter in order to get them adopted. The Oregon Humane Society, for example, posted it had 196 adoptions last week; not all of those adoptions are dogs, obviously, but that is A LOT of animals.

In theory, I don’t have a problem with this. A lot of animals get adopted and everyone wins. I hear grumbling from friends that OHS is not as selective as they should be with matching animals with owners, but it’s impossible to have a foolproof system.

What I do find disheartening about this is that there are dogs that I have seen in smaller pounds or humane societies for an adoption fee of $100 or so; when they are shipped up to OHS, the fee jumps to $200-$300.

Obviously, it’s a supply and demand situation. It’s senseless to get upset that an unwanted dog gets more expensive the further north it goes.

That doesn’t stop it from making me feel a little icky.

The Real Logistics of the Situation

So, until something changes I guess I’ll be combing through dog shelters for a corgi. Daily searches of 36 counties should be that bad…

Oh, and the private rescues.

And Craigslist? And Petfinder and Petango and and Adopt-A-Pet and Rescue Me!

Shocked yet?

Ankeny birding

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This morning I got up to go with the Salem Audubon Society on a birding trip to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge.

morning

When I got up this morning, a spectacular near-red sunrise greeted me, but by the time I got to Ankeny, a little cloud brightness was all that was left.

A storm was coming, however, and the birds sensed it. We didn’t see too much until the end of the trip when we spotted a peregrine falcon surveying the marsh.

pregrine

In the next field over we spotted a bunch of American pipits (no pictures) which was exciting for the group and a first for me.

But my favorite photo was this one, of a fluffed-up female kestrel on a slim little tree looking over her territory.

kestrel

Could be a painting…?

Wild Wings Festival – Upper Basin (color variant day)

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Yesterday was my second (and last) day at the Wild Wings Festival. While the Wild Wings Festival is a four day event, I could only attend on the weekend. Originally I had toyed with the idea of staying over an extra day on Sunday and driving back on Monday (a holiday for me), but my plans never really got off the ground.

Sunday I had signed up for a “mystery” tour of the upper basin. The description said that we would tour the upper basin and go to various birding spots based on the weather. I thought this sounded like a good idea because I hoped that the guide would take us to the best spots that had been reported throughout the weekend. This turned out to be close to what happened, so it was an excellent tour. I felt like between the Saturday tour that focused on the lower basin and the Sunday tour focusing on the upper basin that I could come back and have an idea where to start.

We start out the day heading north to a private road where the guide (Marshal Moser) had arranged us to view the feeders at a simply STUNNING home. The road up to the house was great for waterfowl and raptors, and once we go to the home we were amazed by the variety.

After leaving the house we ventured further north, going along the “bays” that have been carved out of the lake. We go this ID guide to help us determine which raptors we might be looked at (there were… A LOT!)

buteos

The trick was the “dark/light” pattern. Red tails were “dark/light/dark” whereas Rough-legs were “light/light/dark.” The group spent a great deal of time on this issue. I will admit I got lost a lot.

redtail

A little later we came to a large group of black birds (not Blackbirds (necessarily)). The group was very excited about this because in addition to Red-winged Blackbirds, there were Brown-headed Cowbirds and Tricolored Blackbirds.

blackbirds

We started to move north again, spotting a Great Horned Owl in a red-tail nest….

greathornedowl

A sick, lone antelope….

sickantelope

And, much to the group’s excitement (I wouldn’t have known) a Say’s Phoebe.

phoebe

We started moving into snow country and rough-legged hawk territory. On one stretch we saw 11 rough-legged hawks (and no red-tails!)

On the last part of our adventure, we went to a little park where a pair of American Dippers were nesting. I was game to go see them, but unfortunately I slipped on some ice and hurt myself (again…) and went back to the bus to regroup, thus missing the dipper.

We returned to base a few minutes early, where I hit the road for home. It was a good trip.

Wild Wings Festival – Klamath Falls

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This weekend I have traveled to the southern part of central Oregon to enjoy the Wild Wings Festival in Klamath Falls Oregon (there is no falls I can find, but there are lakes and refuges.)

Yesterday (Friday) I spent most of the day driving down to Klamath Falls. I checked into an AirBNB here with a nice lady and her VERY friendly cats, and this morning I got up in time to make a 7:15 tour of Sandhill Cranes in the Lower Klamath Basin.

The gentleman leading the tour, Gary Ivey, was very knowledgeable and patient and I enjoyed the tour (in a great big yellow school bus) a lot. I learned that Sandhill Cranes feed their young an almost exclusively carnivorous diet, that they were hunted (for food) into almost extinction, and that there are three subspecies of cranes. The ones down here are mostly the “greater” while the ones up on Sauvie Island in Portland are the “Canadian.”

groupwithcranes

Originally the Wild Wings Festival was a bald eagle festival. The refuges down here have the largest concentration of bald eagle in the lower 48. The reason for that, I learned, is avian cholera. There were lots of bald eagles, but also lots of dead birds for those eagles to snack on.

en

In spite of this unappetizing reality, there were some great shots to be found. Even with my little camera, I got these two.

Looking at some of the cameras down here, I have total camera envy. I saw one guy with a camera lens over a yard long set up for remote capture! I wouldn’t have been surprised if the outfit cost over 20K!

eaglesonnest

After the tour was over, I drove back to the refuge and poked around on my own. In addition to cranes and eagles, there are lots of waterfowl and a good smattering of songbirds.

I also tried to get some closer pictures of the cranes.

While I was concentrating on this, there was a sudden clap of thunder!

craneswiththunder

The greater white-fronted geese in back of the cranes had erupted into flight. I couldn’t believe how loud is was!

And then seconds later it was back to this.

birdsandshasta1

Tomorrow I will explore the upper basin in what is billed as a “mystery” tour. We’ll see what happens!

 

The great crunchy lentil soup debacle

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Last week was not a week I wanted to write about. I just feel lucky I survived it. The bruises, burns, and injuries will take longer to heal; the food poisoning was over quickly. Unfortunately, I’m not kidding.

So, each February the Governor of Oregon challenges his/her employees to a food drive. Each agency then competes to raise the most food. Obviously there are divisions for small versus large agencies and other such things. This year I (foolishly) said I would be on the committee to run the food drive for my agency.

One of the ways we decided to raise money was to offer a lunch-time-break-and-game on Wednesday. I (foolishly) offered to bring the first lunch for the agency on Wednesday. I googled some low cost recipes and decided that a lentil soup with rolls would do the trick. I borrowed a co-worker’s crock pot and bought the fixin’s.

Tuesday night I chopped things, placed them into bowls, and prepared to lug three carrier bags and a crock pot to work.

The recipe said that the soup should cook for an hour. I decided to give it two hours (I mean, it’s soup, right? Who’d care if it was overcooked?)

Here’s what no one told me. Crock pots don’t cook at the same rate a pot on a stove cooks.

After an hour I asked a co-worker to come down for a taste test (the recipe had some instructions about seasoning to taste (I never have ANY idea what this means.)) She tasted it and said, “Well, the flavor is nice, but it’s stone cold.” I broke out in a cold (ha) sweat.

Another hour passed. It’s lunch time. People are circling. And the soup is still cold. Me and my co-workers announce a delayed lunch. We take it to the microwave and get it boiling. Finally it’s lunch time. They line up to dish out their soup. They sit down. The first bite…

… is crunchy.

Not like a la dente. I mean like cereal before the milk soaks in crunchy.

A few co-workers crunched merrily along. A few more decided to take it home for dinner after some additional cooking. A few others said nothing and just reached for more rolls.

You’d think this would be the end of the humiliation, right? I mean, can you readily think of a more embarrassing fiasco where everyone is fully dressed?

Thursday morning I come to work and turn on my computer. There is a gently worded warning that undercooked lentils are toxins and my co-worker now knows this because she spent the evening in the bathroom.

I will NEVER cook again for other humans. It is bad enough I occasionally make myself sick. This will the last time anyone else suffers.

A weekend to fix puppy-hungry

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I have been puppy-hungry lately. Not really “puppy” hungry so much as “dog” hungry. Finn is getting older and has never been the most overtly affectionate dog and I’ve been feeling the desire to add someone else to the household.

This weekend a co-worker asked me if I would be willing to take care of her dogs, Charlie and Wicket. After an initial meet-n-greet at the dog park, I happily agreed. This would be a great way to see what adjustments would be necessary if another dog entered our lives!

Let me just say, for the record, Charlie and Wicket were fabulous, well-mannered, and completely delightful guests.

But I had forgotten how much ENERGY puppies have.

They were dropped off Friday at lunch and when I got finished at work I decided to take the crew for a walk.

I had forgotten how hard it is to walk three dogs.

After our usual distance, I could tell Finn was tired, so I delivered him him and went on a second walk with just the new team. I think Wicket might have been okay there, but Charlie ran at least five times the distance we walked, between the front/back/left/right/arounds and he didn’t even look winded. I was tired though, so we headed home.

Then the playing began. Charlie and Wicket are friends and they like to play-wrestle.

On the couch.

On me.

On the floor.

On the couch.

On me.

On the floor.

When we finally turned of the lights, however, they were good house guests and observed quiet time.

I was surprised that Finn didn’t take this in stride. He didn’t settle down all night, to the point I thought about kenneling him. Also, Charlie and Wicket live with a cat, but my cats were NOT the same. I had to do some space management.

Saturday dawned and I decided to take the crew to the dog park bright and early to run some energy out of the crew.

 

finn

This is Finn after 15 minutes.

wicket

This is Wicket after 30 minutes.

charlie

This is Charlie after 45 minutes.

Finn went back to the car after about 20 minutes, but at the hour mark I figured trying to wear out Charlie was hopeless, so we started our drive out to Oakhurst to view the horses.

When we returned, EVERYONE took a nap, but as the afternoon wore on there were brief interludes of playing.

onthechair

Finn still wouldn’t settle and stayed under the desk, near me.

underthedesk

I think his expression really says it all.

I decided to go back to the dog park for one last attempt at tiredness, then we came home for the evening.

I do think they were more warn out than Friday night, and everyone seemed to sleep better.

My co-worked texted me early this morning and said she was home early, so the team was exchanged at the dog park at 8:30 and everyone has spent the rest of the day recovering.

So, the moral of this story. I still think a new dog is in our future… but I can wait a little while now. And I need to remember the energy factor. And the upset-ed-ness factor of the other members of the household.

How many times have YOU fed a carrot to a Kentucky Derby Winner?

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Today I made my way out to Oakhurst Equine (a combination veterinary and Thoroughbred farm) for their annual open house. Oakhurst has the honor of having two Kentucky Derby winners at stud: Grindstone (1996) and Giacomo (2005). Giacomo only arrived in the Pacific Northwest a couple of months ago, so this was the first time he could be viewed by the general public.

I have been wanting to attend their open house for a couple years, so I made my way up to Newberg, which is a very pretty drive. When I drove up there, Grindstone was out for viewing, though I didn’t know it was him as I walked over to comply with the big sign that said “check in.”

Grindstone

After talking a few minutes with the reception staff (and assuring them I had NO money, I just wanted to see the horses), I wandered over to see the horses.

And there was Giacomo.

Giacomo1

He was THRILLED to see me, obviously.

But then something WONDERFUL happened. A groom came over and offered me a little carrot. I asked if it was really okay, and he assured me it was fine. “He’s surprisingly sensible about his treats.” And sure enough…

"Wait, you have a carrot?"

“Wait, you have a carrot?”

"I really need the carrot. I'm too cute to be carrot-less."

“I really need the carrot. I’m too cute to be carrot-less.”

So, obviously, I fed him the carrot.

"Got any more?

“Got any more?”

"No! You're wasting my time!"

“No! You’re wasting my time!”

Giacomo2

Thus ended our brief flirtation.

After that I went outside where Baquero was being shown.

I thought he was not as “balanced” as Grindstone (above) but his front end was really lovely. I heard prospective breeders talking about how his foals were known for their soundness.

Next they brought out Slew’s Saga.

While more balanced, I didn’t care for his white eye, and when someone scratched him he showed signs of “thin Thoroughbred skin” which I find hard to deal with in horses.

Unfortunately, while I was there they did not bring out Giacomo, so I didn’t get to see him “out.”

My last stop was a look down their “for sale” isles. They had a couple broodmares for sale, several yearlings, and two “horses of racing age.”

"You're disturbing my nap" this broodmare says.

“You’re disturbing my nap” this broodmare says.

It was a good visit, but obviously a horse lover could get into a lot of trouble there!

Trust Issues

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Looking at my last few posts, I’m starting to feel a theme.

This evening I sat down to paint the background on “Learning the Ropes.”

learningtheropes

When I envisioned this, I envisioned the bright and curious little squirrels making their way on their little ropes against a very flat background. Then I got to worrying; was that the way I saw it because my reference photos were that way?

squirrels

I got out my Photoshop and experimented.

Red?

ltr-red

Yellow?

ltr-yellow

A darker blue?

ltr-blue

I got out some reference material about mood decisions. Should it be gray for fear?

ltr-gray

I spent most of the day thinking about this (I also worked, but who needs to think there…)

It finally occurred to me that it was my painting and the worst that could happen would be it would suck. So I went with my gut.

learningtheropes

“Learning the Ropes” – with background; wet sheen

I like it and I’m excited to take the next step.

I think this whole exercise in insecurity is a theme I need to work on. One of my goals for the year it to allow myself to draw more; I’ve been relying on photos and tracing. Instead of tracing this piece, which would have been easy to do with such good reference photos that I could blow up, I sketched it out. And now I’m chucking all my materials about the “correct” color.

Progress!?!