Adventures in Chow Chow Sitting.

2010-11-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Del Val Dog show in Pleasanton, CA

A couple weeks ago we were asked to take photos for our Chow Chow breeder friends at the Del Val dog show in Pleasanton. It is a fun, odd group of dogs and people and of course the chow chows are our favorites!

Here are some pics we took for the group which we've been told are likely to be published (some, one, none) in a Chow Life magazine. So here they are and enjoy....

2010-03-06T07:48:00.001-08:00

Chris's new friend.

As posted on facebook we had a visit at the house by a Burrowing Owl yesterday and he hung around near Chris and even flew back to her when she called him.

They sounds like a neat species:
http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Athene&species=cunicularia

Now.. time for some pictures.

2009-03-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

The year goes on

We're sorry we haven't been blogging much for the past year. We have truely had our hands full with our living for our dogs which can be good and bad.

This year we plan on doing a lot more outdoors and getting back into our favorite hobby, photography again which will bring some new posts.

We hope you are all having a good 2009 and that you have happy safe travels!

2008-10-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, a year already!

Can you believe the first anniversary has come and gone already? Amazing how time flies.

We actually went up to Tahoe to celebrate our anniversary and were gifted by mother nature with a show. Apparently, back in the 1940's, Lake Tahoe was stocked with Kokonee salmon. As most people know but few people have seen, those salmon truely do spawn and since they are already "up there" they don't have much of a stream to spawn "up".

While driving down the highway past Taylor Creek on the south side of Lake Tahoe we saw a group of 20+ people standing around, on a bridge looking over. We stopped and sure enough thee was a show in progress.

View Larger Map

The Kokonee Salmon were huddled up in Taylor Creek, swimming upstream by the thousands. We attached a couple pictures of the salmon in the stream.

While we were there looking around we found someone out fishing and can you believe it, he didn't even have a license!!! It was a young brown bear, splashing around looking for some dinner and he was even able to catch some. Sorry.. we didn't have our camera with us at the moment! :(

Hope you enjoy the pictures, if you would like to see more let us know!

Mark & Chris

2008-08-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Catching Up - Athena

In April Chris and I were trying to help the Chow Chow rescue by visiting a local shelter to meet and greet a dog they were thinking of rescuing. We stopped at the city animal shelter in Tracy, CA to check out a female chow-shepherd mix and although the staff was afraid of her.. we adored the sweet girl.

She was a black dog, mostly german shepherd and sweet... so we spent a 1/2 hour with her and took pictures and got to know her personality, both of which we sent back to the rescue group. Unfortunately the rescue was full so they determined they could not help her.... That is when the fun began.

We received a phone call the next day to let us know they shelter was full and if the dog was not rescued by noon she was to be put down. What else could we do but rescue her ourselves!!

Our house was already full so we found a kennel close by and Chris went over everyday to spend time with her while we found her a home and within a couple weeks she had a new home in Santa Cruz, CA. A nice young family with a little girl decided it was time for a new dog in their family and so we delivered her to their home and spent some nice time with them. Athena was promptly at home and was running around their huge yard checking things out.

We received a couple follow up emails from them and they are all doing well. Along with her new family, Athena received a new name from the family's little girl, which is very cute though odd... and what was it? "Ding Dong"

What a happy ending to a sad situation! Good job Chris!

2008-08-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing New To See Here

Thanks for visiting our new name and please come back soon... check out the new subscribe link to the left which should work out much easier!

We should be adding a lot of new content soon, sorry for our delays in interesting content this year. We'll try to do better! See you soon!

2008-05-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Staying Busy

Chris and I have been very busy helping the chow chow rescue group where we adopted our boy Rocco. The group consists of a few volunteers with the main individuals in the Sacramento area and other volunteers like us spread across the area. If we want to see some great dogs.. or happen to want to donate to the group...

http://www.norcalchowrescue.com/

Chris spends her free time checking local shelters in our area that kill the dogs within a few days then she contacts the rescue group to see if they can help the dog. Sometimes they can find a foster home for the dog, sometimes they can take the dog to Prudences.. where she cares for the dog until they can find a home. Prudence is an intersting character.... http://www.sacbee.com/pets/story/663448.html

On a few of our weekends we have also travelled to Prudences' to visit the dogs, spend time with the furry creatures. We pet, walk and groom them as well as take as many good photos as we can for posting on the internet so people can see them. So far we think it helps everyone and it sure makes us feel good! (yes, it's all about us!!! :) ) We're not sure yet if Rocco and Atilla like or dislike the smell of other dogs on our clothes when we come home but they sure excercise their noses upon our return.

At some point we'll get some more photo's posted of the boys and us!

Please spay and neuter your pets......

2008-04-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

Surprised by the response to our need for assistance....

Rocco has his vet visit to the UC Davis Medical center next month so he'll be going there for an evaluation of his hips by them and hopefully they have some type of fund to help out, otherwise the poor guy likely won't get a surgery for a while.

Ah, the joy of having kids!!

Happy Birthday to Leroy!!!!

2007-11-27T19:37:00.001-08:00

Our Wedding Video

One of our wedding guests was gracious enough to take a movie of our wedding and here it is.... in all it's glory.

Also.. our favorite creation, our wedding announcement!!!

Thanks for visiting!

2007-11-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

Honeymoon Holiday

Chris and I were lucky enough to get to take a honeymoon right after our wedding and we chose to visit Kauai, Hawaii. We stayed on the north shore of the island and greatly enjoyed the beauty of the island, a horseback ride, some snorkling and touristing around the island. We only wished our rental condo had been kept cool by an air conditioner.

Below are some photos from around the island and our journey!

Salt Pond Beach, South Shore

Private Waterfall on Princeville Stables Property, North Shore

Above Waterfall on Princeville Stables Property, North Shore

Horseback Riding at Princeville Stables, North Shore

Sunset Outside Condo, Princeville

Northeast Tip of Tunnels Beach, North Shore

Waimea Canyon, West Central Shore

Chris and Mark outside the Sheraton Inn, Poipu, South Shore

Kilauea Lighthouse, North Shore

Shining Through the Clouds, Over Central Kauai

Surfer at Sunset at Haena Beach State Park, North Shore

Rain Clouds Passing By at Haena Beach State Park, North Shore

2007-11-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

THE WEDDING

The wedding date finally arrived and what a beautiful day we had. On October 13th, Chris and I were joined by our immediate families for a simple, sweet ceremony overlooking Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe in California.

The week leading up to our wedding was dreary and rainy and almost gave us some concern for our outside wedding but we were determined not to let it get us down.

Mark's Father and his wife as well as Marks' sister and her twin boys few in on the 11th so we had some time during that evening to visit and reminisce. On Friday we met up with Chris's mother and brother and drove to Lake Tahoe.

On Saturday we awoke to clear blue skies and 50+ degree temperatures and had a great day for a wedding. Our wedding limo, supplied by our wedding service showed up at 1pm and we headed off to our ceremony at Emerald Bay on the west side of the lake. Our ceremony was a nice sweet 20 minutes with beautiful backdrop and great family, a great way to start our lives off together!!!

Our families joined us for a nice dinner overlooking the lake that evening to complete the perfect wedding day!!!

2007-05-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Just something important!

We (Chris and I) have set a date to get married for October 14th most likely here in California. The plans are to still have a nice small wedding with our immediate families followed after by some well deserved R&R in Hawaii....

The other new news is I start a new job right after Memorial Day. The company I consult for has decided to bring me in-house to manage the company's own network/servers and so on. It will be a great break after the last 9 months on my current contract with a startup company which has serious growing pains (but I never said that). Ther are some great people but the company as a whole has a lot of growing up to do.

It's nice to have some great news to share!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Mark & Chris

2007-04-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Scoping out new places to play...

Today we took a leisurely trip to Fremont and pulled Atilla around the park at Lake Elizabeth. It's a 450 acre park centered around a small lake where people can rent paddle boats, kayaks and spend time with their family just playing in the park. We took Atilla there for us all to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful weather.

We spent a couple hours wandering around the park, playing in the water with our "kid", sniffing other dogs and trying to chase birds. It was a nice day out in the park.

2007-04-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

How can it get that hot?

Just a simple thought for today... How can that microwave apple cobbler desert get hotter than the surface of the sun in 5 minutes or less?

2007-03-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Atilla's First Ocean Visit

Three weeks ago Atilla made his first real outing since his pace-maker surgery. We drove to Monterey/Carmel and went for a few short walks. We stopped in Monterey on our way to the "Doggie Beach" and walked along the rocky coast in Monterey. The weather was nice, almost 70's and the area was crowded already. The Fisherman's wharf area and Cannery Row were just packed with people so Atilla just enjoyed the view out the window while we drove past them all to the shoreline. Atilla, Chris and I went for a couple short walks and Atilla met a new buddy, a black and white cocker spaniel..... I think the picture says it all!

The weather was great so Chris was busy taking pictures.. thanks Chris!

After enjoying the rocky shore along Monterey we drove to Carmel where the public beach allows dogs... and dogs off leash. Poor Atilla though, he's such a baby and a wanderer we didn't dare let him off leash. He did however get a chance to dip his paws in the Pacific Ocean. If you didn't know, Chow Chows don't like water and though the waves looked enticing, when they rolled in and the paws got wet the dog was not happy (we had a delightful jump in the air however). It was enjoyable for us all, some of us laughed more than others.

Even though we're living for our dog right now we all enjoyed our trip and Atilla found out the taste of salt water and he was allowed to sniff a little!

2007-02-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

New Subscriber Link

I have added a subscriber link for those that want to know of updates. Thanks to the Sawatzky's for the idea!

I wanted to stop spamming everyone and this way those of you that would like to know of updates can be aware of the udpates without my spams!

BTW, if you haven't noticed, Valentines day is Wednesday!!!

2007-02-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Frankendog is Recovering

Atilla is recovering at a great pace and though you can tell he has some sore muscles, one would never know he has a pace maker. He wanted us to share a couple photos so everyone could see how he is half the dog he used to be.

Before his surgery his heart rate was in the 20-30 beats per minute and now with his new pace maker it is in the 80's and it is motion sensitive so it will speed up when he moves around. Amazing to see how easy it is for him to breath now, no more gasping to get enough oxygen to fuel his body. We're very lucky to have him still with us and now so healthy looking.

For those that are not familiar with pace makers, they are just like human pace makers. They implant an electrical device (in Atilla's right shoulder area under the skin) that sends electrical signals to the heart telling it when to beat. The pace maker has a lead which goes from the pace maker down through the carotid artery to the heart where the lead is embedded. The pace makers batteries will last about 5 years and he will need to visit the vet a couple times a year to have the device checked. Pretty simple as todays' surgeries go..........

2007-02-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

The Bionic Dog Comes Home

Over Christmas holiday we found out Atilla, our black 7 year old Chow Chow has a heart problem. The poor dog was lethargic, quiet, completely listless and was panting/breathing hard all the time. So off to the vet we went to get the dog over his "cold". The vets had a different idea though.........the veterinarians said he has a 3rd degree heart block which means his brain does not send the right signals to his heart to make it beat at the proper rate. His heart rate was in the 40's around Christmas and would not speed up when his activity changed. The vets thought he probably had the heart problem most of his life and that we would have to watch his activity.

Since that time he got better, he got worse and better again but last week, he really got worse. Upon checking his pulse it was down to 28 beats per minute... note the normal resting heart rate for a dog is in the 70 beats per minute range.

We went back to the clinic on Monday (Feb 5th) and met the owner vet of our clinic, Dr Scharg. He checked Atilla over and said you have two choices, take your dog in for a pace maker or Atilla would die. Wow.....both options were scary. He referred us to UC-Davis Veterinary clinic.... which he said would be cheaper than a private veterinarian that does pace makers.

As soon as we got home we called UC Davis, our vet had already called and they got us in on Wednesday for a preliminary check. The vets reviewed our previous exams, did their own tests and said he needs a pace maker and they could do it tomorrow (Thursday).

Today (Friday) we drove to Davis and picked up our new bionic dog with his own little pace maker. He looks like a mess but he is not panting anymore and could even breath with his mouth closed. Amazing what a regular heart beat can do. Someday the hair on the right side of his body and his legs will grow back and he'll look like a normal dog again. Maybe even the cut on his shoulder where the pace maker is embedded will heal and no one will even know the bionic dog is on the loose.

If you cannot tell, we're now broke but happy as all that he's healthy and will be in our lives for many more years!!!

2007-02-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

1st Trip of the New Year!

The new year arrived after a not so fun Holiday Season. The holidays brought with it a sick dog, a couple colds and lots of stress. Over the Christmas break we found out Atilla has a heart problem and we have been nursing him ever since. We were desperately in the need of a short vacation and our dog sitter was nice enough to attend to Atilla.

Last weekend we finally made it away on a short getaway and we headed north to the coast this trip. We stayed inland at Rohnert Park, CA which is a small college town and used that as our base for trips to the coast 30 miles away.

After checking in at our hotel we headed to the coast, drove by Bodega Bay (famous for Hitchcocks "The Birds") and enjoyed the view along the coast. Just north of Bodega Bay we stopped and viewed the ocean from one of the many turn outs and grabbed this photo of the coast.

A little farther north and Chris caught one of the actors from the movie practicing his moves.

The weather was overcast with a few sprinkles but winter is California is nothing compared to other parts of the country.
As you proceed north along the coast we crossed the Russian River where it dumps into the Pacific. Easy to imagine this peaceful looking spot is where some species of salmon spawn each year.

We continued along the coast to Timber Cove which is a popular place for scuba divers, stopped had a warm drink then decided to return to our hotel for the night.

On our trip back down the coast to the south we had what a person could call a "spectacular" sunset. We managed to grab a dozen fantastic photos before the sun dipped behind the horizon....here is one of our favorites.

On Sunday we visited Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve just north of Guerneville, CA located along the sometimes scenic Russian River. What I mean by scenic? In so many places the river is a scenic wide river passing amongst the trees and in other places, the shoreline is lined in trash.. very sad.

This photo was taken inside the park among the redwood trees.
It was a great crisp 46 degree morning with few people, clean air and an almost secluded feeling. Unfortunately we were cold.......... so our visit was rather short.

We left the reserve and headed back towards the coast again, towards Jenner and back north along the coast.

The weather was much nicer but not gorgeous so we took a few photos but not a lots. One of the scenic shots from the day. We then enjoyed our trip home.......... end of the journey.

2006-12-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Finally...... a real trip away

This last weekend we finally made it for a desperately needed weekend getaway. Our dog sitter was nice enough to provide the woosie dog Atilla a warm place to stay while we were away... Thanks Kevin!

We set our sights on Monterey and headed down the freeway for warmer climates and oh yes.. it was warm. Saturday the weather was so nice... no wind, temperature in the 60's... yes... 60's in December........ah so nice. We checked in at our quaint little hotel, The Knights Inn, which had great reviews online and didn't look too bad. After entering the room it looked very nice, newly remodeled.. not bad at all............but.....

After checking in, we took a drive down the coast (Hwy 1) towards the Big Sur area and made a few stops along the way. The weather was perfect for taking pictures and we did........we took pictures... oh did we take pictures.

This photo is of the Bixby Bridge (built back in 1932) and of the coastline around the bridge. If you look carefully, you can see a home on the left near the point but what you cannot see is the wooden stairs that used to go down to the sea which appear to have been lost in a previous storm. Sorry but you couldn't have forced either of us down "those" stairs!

We continued south to Julia Pfeiffer State Park south of Big Sur and took in the sights and sounds of this waterfall that dumps into the ocean. By now it was approaching sunset and Chris was clicking away with her camera and caught these stunning photos. (I'm so proud)

Just as we were gathering to leave Chris told me to look behind me and wow, what a sight ... what a great finish to a beautiful day.

After the sun finally set we hopped back in the truck and headed north.. back to Monterey. If you have never been to Monterey, is partly a quaint city with great history along the bay and part tourist trap. It was founded back in the 1700's and since I could never do its' history justice, read all about it here:http://www.monterey.org/museum/history.html. The city has a beautiful shoreline with trails for walking and some great golf courses, most notably "Pebble Beach".

Saturday night was as not as much "fun" as the day had been. We found out that even though the room looked pretty decent, it let in all types of sounds which include the non-stop traffic and our neighbors. Most of the affordable hotels in Monterey are along a couple strips and are just above "dive" in quality and they all face the busy streets so you will have noise. Visiting in the winter in the best time in our opinion because not only is there less traffic, the hotels prices are 1/4 to 1/3 of the summer prices!! Oh yeah, back to our hotel..... The best part of the whole hotel.. was the floor! Yes.. the floor was the most entertaining thing. During the hotel remodeling they put in marble or marble-like tiling in the bathroom area. Invisible to our naked eye however, these tiles were cooled with 0 Kelvin cooling systems that made you either wear shoes or hop around like a idiot and since shoes would just be silly.......

Sunday rolled around after a long night in a noisy hotel and we hit the road again. Heading back South again on Hwy 1 we had to stop near Carmel (again a quaint little sea side town known best for architecture of local homes). But back to the story.... we had to stop at the Black Bear Diner for breakfast......if you have never been to one........ go there (enough said).

Sunday we stopped at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and walked through the red woods and snapped a couple photos Pfeiffer waterfall. This is one of our favorites from the location.

Our last stop before heading home was a quick visit to Point Lobos State Preserve. This area along the coast was set aside back in the early 1900's due in part to its' unique trees, the Monterey Cypress, found nowhere else in the world. The preserve is as much an underwater preserve as well, popular for scuba divers and other recreationalists. My favorite part is the rocks on the West end of the park where the seals hang out and bark like my dog Atilla!!! he he he

Happy Tripping!!!!

2006-11-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

Big Announcement - Furniture!

Not much "interesting" has happened over the last 2 weeks other than getting adjusted to apartment life again. Chris and I were extremely excited for Saturday though as we had our sofa delivered. YES....... Up until now, the living room consisted of the TV, DVD player and a foam bed cushion. You would not believe how much we all take sofa's for granted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We spent almost the entire weekend watching movies on the new sofa.

Another exciting change has been the arrival of our child Atilla! He came to live with us last Saturday and oh what a change for the poor guy. He used to live in an apartment, then we moved to CA and he lived in a house for 4 years now he's back to an apartment again. The first few days Chris had a stalker, everywhere she went so did Atilla. Amazing how loving a dog can be when he's not sure what is going on! He's getting more settled now though and we are all much happier to have a relaxed dog even ....er cat........er dog.......well, whatever the furball is. One little happy family.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here already? I hope you are aware of the great things in your life that you can be grateful for........my list just goes on and one and keeps getting longer! If I'm slow to post, Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to announce that the hardest part of moving into the new apartment is over!!! Schewwww...... Now once the sore muscles, sprained ankles and pinched nerves go away we'll be able to stand upright again and go out in public. Oh, it wasn't that bad and we survived and we're both very happy to actually see each other on a daily basis.

Obviously for good reason I won't post our new mailing address or phone number here but if somehow forget to send it to you and you want to contact us, please send us an email and we'll fire that information off to you.

Yes I know..... you have read to the end of the entry already and are yearning for more and thinking "is that it?" but unfortunately that is all for the moment. We will try to get more relavant news posted soon.

Cheers!!!!

2006-10-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

It Finally Rained!!!

Happy October 1st everyone and oh how it started. Today Chris and I were driving around, she said, "You know the first of the month is lucky". Oh how she was right. At that time, we were off to tour an apartment complex in Pleasanton, CA that would take dogs and... people too! I knew where we were driving and Chris did too and she was driving.. I was riding and to my surprise we went right on past where I knew we were going. On we went, over around a couple left turns down the straight-away and finally to our destination which was NOT where we were planning to go. Chris thought she had been to the complex we were enroute to fortunately for us both, she took us to a place she and her mother had visited last year.

We decided, hey, we're here lets take a look at the place and see how nice the apartments are, the parking, the amenities and of course the most important and scary thing - the price. Before the day was over, we had done it, our first place together!! Soooooo exciting. And to top if off, we received some rain too, the first rain I can recall since April or May. Yes, as you can see the month started out with a surprise. We move in at the end of the month so if anyone has any extra "C" notes lying around feel free to send them our way for those good old move-in deposits!

As always I loooove to share our photos so here are a couple from this Spring in Yosemite National Park. The first photo is of Yosemite Falls and the later is obviously a photo of Chris and I (I am the one on the right!) with Bridal Veil falls in the distant.

2006-09-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

October is Almost Here

Wow, can you believe October is almost here? Where does the time go? This past week was not an exciting week and "if" we are able to squeeze in some traveling, it will have to happen tomorrow.

Since we have nothing "new" to share, we will share something from our Labor Day journey! We had the opportunit to visit a new area for us, the Lassen Volcanic National Park in north central California. The area is a highly active geothermal area, similar but in a much smaller scale than Yellowstone. Mount Lassen last erupted in 1917 so we are seeing history in the making, the trees in some areas are almost 90 years young and luckily for us, humans were there taking photo's in 1917 as well. It is a scenic area, there are great views and some creatures for the viewing though the word "wild" doesn't exactly apply to them all.

While in the park, we took a nice walk around Manzanita Lake on the West side of the mountain. Chris took a beautiful photo of the peak which I feel is worthy of sharing... so enjoy and imagine yourself there!

On our return trip home we decided to take the scenic route across the state to the West and down Hwy 101 through Humboldt Redwood State Park. Now if you have never seen large Redwood trees, there is no way to truely describe them and photos will never do them justice. Some of these trees are 2000-3000 years old and are large enough that in the past, some parks felt cutting a tunnel for cars was the impressive thing to do. Though it is impressive in one way it is saddening in another. Here is another photo that shows the scale of these massive trees, though the photo is not a great shot, my pickup in the background is about 18 1/2 feet long and those are just the average trees! It is humbling, awe inspiring and calming just to be amoungst them.........

Thank you for checking in, happy traveling!

2006-09-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

The dog days of summer......

Well they are almost over but Atilla is looking forward to the cooler weather. As you can see by the photo, the poor furry guy has been waiting all summer for the weather to cool off.

He's just hoping there is a move in the near future to a climate more appropriate than the temperatures in the central valley of Cali! When that happens, we will be sure to let you know.

2006-09-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

Visit from Chris P

This last week Mark was lucky enough to have a friend from Wyoming visit. Chris P. was in the area for a training class and spent the week in the area which allowed us to treat him to some local cuisine and show him some sights. Although we did not get to see enough of him, it was great to get together and re-hash some old experiences as well as catch up on some of the newer events in our lives. Next time, hopefully he will visit with his family! Thanks for the visit Chris P!

You can visit Chris's Blog at Chris's Blogspot

2006-09-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings Friends and Family

Welcome to the inaugural posting for our new web site intended to keep everyone up to date with activities in our lives and a place to share some of our thoughts and photos.

Thanks for joining us!