When we first told Sid we were going to stop putting our food scraps into the garbage can, he got really excited. This didn’t last long, though, as we explained further that we meant that we were going to be composting our food scraps (not dumping them into his food bowl as he had hoped).

There’s a quaint community garden on the south side of Park Slope called the 6/15 Green. The name is actually just the intersection where it’s located – 6th Ave and 15th Street. I have been dropping off our compostables here for the last few months during their open hours, but I recently became a full-fledged “Compost Member”. This is helpful because it means I now have keys so I can drop off the compost whenever I want in exchange for serving for some of the garden’s open hours and doing one compost turning. They also have a “Garden Member” option if you eventually want to garden in one of the plots. The best way to find out more about joining the garden is to attend one of the monthly meetings.

This was Sid’s first time to the garden and he wanted to say one last goodbye to those oh so delicious chunks of rotting veggies.

He also enjoyed the smell of the compost, though we didn’t want to let him get too close for fear that we might never be able to pry him away from the bins. Also, while dogs can hang out in the front sitting area of the garden they aren’t allowed on-foot in the main section & compost areas. (I think Sid may start a petition to change that rule. 😀 )

Besides the composting area, the garden is also just a very relaxing place to hang out. When the gates are open, anyone can stop in, so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop on by.

This is a good time of year to go as the gardeners are all busy working on their plots, flowers are blooming everywhere, and lots of plants / veggies are starting to fill in. The garden also hosts different community events throughout the year. The Spring Festival is Saturday, May 7th, and there will be live music, activities, and lots of plants for sale.

Well it’s finally getting warmer here. We had a day last week that was just gorgeous. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Sid was feverishly chomping on his Kong.

Let me back up a minute.

Jenn and I both work from home, so we were lucky enough to be able to bring our lunch outside and eat on the stoop. The stoop is a great place to hang out as there are always people, dogs, and kids passing by. As an added bonus, the front of our building gets a lot of sun, so it was nice to be able to soak in some rays and replenish our Vitamin D supply.

In order to keep the Hooth occupied while we ate, we loaded up the Kong with his favorite comestibles: apples slices, venison jerky, and peanut butter. Yeah, I know – It makes me a little nauseous to think of it all mixed together, too.

He, however, has no such fear of exotic flavor combinations and within minutes had propped up the Kong into the ideal peanut-butter-slurping position.

Who needs a knife and fork when you’ve got a well-trained tongue?

Unfortunately, the poor little guy doesn’t realize that the Kong eventually does get empty. He has tried barking at the Kong, but so far that hasn’t proved successful. He’s wizened up a little though, and now he gazes at us when he wants the Kong refilled. How can we say no to that happy face?!

Okay, a little backstory: Sid hates going for walks.  Unlike most dogs, who tend to get super excited when they see their leash, Sid suddenly becomes OH SO EXHAUSTED when we get out his walking gear.  It’s quite the act; there’s a lot of dramatic yawning and and sighing involved.  By the time we’re done strapping on his harness he’s flopping around like a wet noodle*.  We often need to carry him out the door because he won’t stand on his own legs.  For real, we’ll pick him up from his bed and put his feet on the floor, and his legs just collapse, over and over.  It’s like he thinks he can fool us into believing his skeletal system somehow disappeared while we were putting on his collar.

ANYWAY.

It was a little brisk outside the other night, so we wanted to put a tee-shirt on him for his evening walk.  This is as far as we got:

[ continue… ]

Forget belly rubs.

Move over back scratches.

According to Sid, the chest rub is where it’s at.

This is his new procedure whenever Jenn and I are sitting on the couch:
1.) Jump up onto couch, preferably directly on top of one or more humans.
2.) Flip completely onto back, and hold front arms in a cute floppy fashion (a la T-Rex).
3.) Stretch head back to allow for maximum pectoral and neck region exposure.
4.) Receive extensive neck and chest rubbing.

Just like bath time, a good chest rub puts Sid into a peaceful zen state and he usually starts pug purring.

What is your dog’s favorite place to be scratched and/or pet?

On this very blustery Saturday, we met up with our neighbor Sara and her dog Ruby with plans to walk through the park up to Grand Army Plaza to check out the Farmer’s Market.

Ruby is a sophisticated older lady, but don’t think she doesn’t have a wild side. If you are a bird or squirrel, you best stay far away from this ginger gal.

On our way through the park, Ruby found a nice spot of grass to graze on. Sid was very intrigued as soon as he saw Ruby nibbling away and flew over to inspect what she was chowing down on. When he got to her grazing spot, he sniffed intently but couldn’t figure out what she was enjoying so much (Sara said Ruby was just getting her “daily serving of greens”). Thank goodness for us, and the plant-world at large, Sid did not find grass all that appetizing. If he did, Prospect Park would soon become a giant dirt patch.

There were quite a few trees starting to bloom and Sid took an interest in a large flower that had fallen to the ground. Maybe this was what Ruby was so excitedly eating before, when he’d run over and only found yucky grass?  After some close inspection and intense sniffing, he deemed it, too, to be inedible. Flowers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.

We finally arrived at the farmer’s market, and despite the strong winds and general hum-drum weather, there was a decent crowd there. We took Sid to what he might call “heaven” – the apple stand. The apples were as large as Sid’s cranium, but I’m sure that would not have stopped him from trying to wolf down one (or a hundred).

Much to Sid’s delight, the farmer’s market is a place where scraps of food on the ground are plentiful. In order for us to actually continue on our way through the market without Sid stopping to sniff at each and every bit of something on the ground, we had to pick him up. Ruby didn’t like that one bit and demanded that Sid be put back on the ground so he could enjoy the scraps that dogs are entitled to. When Ruby speaks, one listens, so Sid was back to hovering the grounds of the farmer’s market for the rest of the excursion.

On our trek back home through the park, Ruby found a nice smelly spot on the grass to roll around in and was soon flipped over on her back, swishing around with fervor.

Sid wasn’t sure what to make of what was going on and ran over to make sure Ruby was ok. He knows all about sniffing smelly spots but he’s never tried rolling around on them. Luckily Sid’s diva-like tendencies kept him from joining in, and we were able to make it home with our fresh veggies and bread before the rain began to fall.

The seventh installment of TWISB: Whenever we create a pile of miscellaneous stuff (in this case: a book, papers, pants, receipts, etc.) Sid thinks we are putting it there just so he can rest his head on it. Not only does he just rest his head on the pile, he often will spin around, dig/nest for a bit, and then stretch out on top of everything. Somehow he’s always able to make the most odd spot seem comfortable.

Did some sketches while Jenn and I were watching and episode of the new series of Law & Order. I started just doing some drawings of Sid lounging around (his usual state of being) but then moved on to the two lead detectives as they both looked very comical to me.