This morning as I opened my Outlook calendar I saw a small notation in purple, the color I use to denote birthdays and anniversaries, stating “Trivia Arrives (1975).” It was thirty-five years ago today that I brought home my first dog, a cute little ball of black fluff I would name Trivia and end up calling “Trivy” for short.
Posts Tagged ‘In Memory’
Memories of My First Dog - Trivia Thirty Five Years Later
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
In Memory of Orca
Sunday, June 28th, 2009In the summer of 2001 I attended an intensive, six day course on canine and wolf behavior at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, IN. Taught by noted wolf ethologist, Dr. Erich Klinghammer, author and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Ray Coppinger, and author and dog trainer Terry Ryan, the course focused on the many behavioral similarities between the wolf and the family dog, and even more important, the differences in their behavior. It remains one of the two best courses I have attended, not only for the knowledge gained but the many friendships made; both human and canine.
Our course work consisted of observing and documenting wolf behavior in the early hours of the morning, followed by lectures the remainder of the day. The highlights were the opportunities we had to interact with the wolves in their enclosures. During those encounters I had the opportunity to meet Orca and before the week was over I would become one of his “adopted” parents.
Wolf Park is a nonprofit education and research facility that studies wolf behavior and provides seminars and interpretive programs for people such as myself as well as local schools. Much of their funding comes from program like their Adopt-A-Wolf program. After a few days at Wolf Park I knew I wanted to do my small part to support their work, and after meeting Orca I knew I wanted to support Wolf Park by becoming one of his sponsors.
I was captivated by all of the wolves I met at Wolf Park, but Orca had a special story. In 1997, just 3 and half years into his life, Orca became paralyzed from the waist down. His inspiration to keep going and to not be hindered by his disability was an inspiration to many. Thanks to his guardians at Wolf Park Orca lived a full life, quietly passing in his sleep on June 20th at the age of fifteen.
For more information on Wolf Park and Orca, check these web links: http://www.wolfpark.org - http://www.wolfpark.org/memoriam_Orca.html - http://www.wolfpark.org/orca_update/index.html
Don and Orca - JUN 2001
In Memory of Gus (1991 - 2004)
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
It was 18 years ago yesterday, the Saturday before Easter, when Paula and I walked into a pet shop at the East Towne Mall in Madison, WI and met Gus for the first time. We had a new home and decided that it was time that we add a dog to our lives. We had been advised against getting a dog from a pet store; however, when we walked in we told ourselves we were “just looking.” Paula’s boss at the time, Dr. Warner, had recommended we consider getting a Cairn Terrier. Since neither of us had seen many Cairn’s we want
ed to at least see if the store had one that we could look at.
At 12 weeks of age Gus was already extremely cute, with lots of personality. Food was a major focus even then. Out of all the caged puppies, Gus was the only one with his muzzle buried in his dish eating, while every other puppy was trying to get the attention of the people in the store. We played with Gus in the introduction room and he was very alert and very interactive with us. It was at that point that I started calling him Gus. He just looked and acted like a Gus to me. Gus had helped us reach the conclusion that a Cairn Terrier was the breed for us, but we left him in the store because we did not want to get a pet store puppy.
