Dogs, Gardens & More!

05/07: It doesn't take a computer to grow a garden

It doesn't take a computer to grow a garden. Fortunately. But it does take one to get the garden onto a blog.

I'm sure there's a lot this computer could do if I spent time figuring out how, rather than figuring out how to avoid learning how.
Those of you who read my first two posts and gave up looking for more know I�m good at avoiding. I promise I�ll start posting more.
Hopefully that�s a good thing.

This year the garden was an experiment. The vegetable garden moved to a new bed behind my house. Too small to sell this year at the Ashland Farmers Market like I have in the past, but plenty for me.















In the old garden I�m trying the meadow flowers I�ve been learning from Hanover Naturally�s guest speakers and wildflower walks in Poor Farm and North Anna Parks. here�s much to learn but this is a start.

I ordered a hummingbird/butterfly mix from Ernst Conservation Seeds in northwestern Pennsylvania. The seeds came up....in abundance. And now I'm learning what they are, what they like, and what I did wrong (planted too thickly). So far the flowers are abundant but the hummingbirds and butterflies have yet to put in an appearance.
Perhaps 2000 sq feet just isn't enough to make a flight across cultivated fields worth it. Or perhaps they're well fed somewhere else.















Wallflower (cheiranthus allionii) a sun loving bienniel naturalized from Europe.
















Also growing in this new garden are 2 kinds of Coreopsis, blue Cornflower, Rudbeckia (black eyed susan), pink Coneflower, Little Bluestem and much more (I hope). Here begins their sharing. More photos to come.

08/04: What Are You Really Paying Attention To? Ask Your Dog?

The well groomed and shiny black lab stepped hesitantly into the vets office. It was obvious she was cautious but willing to follow her person. She stood close by as he spoke to the receptionist, looking up at him as if to ask for reassurance, a pat on the head. When he continued with his business she stepped away, restless and unsure. Then he noticed her and jerked on the leash, drawing her in close to him. Again at his side with leash hanging loose, she silently gazed up at him, asking for attention. He ignored her.

We may know that our dogs have a mind of their own, and we may be sure that they are plotting and planning to do just what we don't want, when it is the most inconvenient for us. But in reality dogs follow the same learning principles that work for people. They do what is reinforced. And often for dogs, as well as for people, what is reinforcing is attention. Even negative attention can be better than no attention at all.

But it is hard to remember to pay attention to our dog when she is lying quietly, and so easy to remember when she is leaping at the window to warn of impending squirrel trespassers, or heading for the trash can to see if we threw away a treasure.

Try an experiment for the next few days. Without giving any command or telling your dog what to do, whenever you see her sitting or lying down, whichever is most comfortable, pay attention to her. Pet and praise her. Give her a treat if you want. Tell her “what a good sit! Make her feel wonderful. Do whatever she likes, DO NOT give any commands. It's your job to notice and pay attention when she voluntarily offers a sit or down. You may notice that she starts sitting when she sees you coming. Praise her. If there is a behavior you do not like, such as jumping on you or scratching for attention, do not give that attention but ignore her. Pay attention to her when she is sitting and ignore her when she is jumping.

After a few days, start adding a new trick. When you feed her, wait for her to sit before you set her bowl down. Again, do not tell her to sit or give any command. Just stand and wait silently. She will probably go through a whole list of tricks to try to get you to obey. But wait until she sits. Then feed her, praise and pet her. Tell her how awesome she is. There may be the occasional dog that needs a lure or guidance to go into the sit, and if it is painful or uncomfortable, a dog will not be as willing, but most of our dogs take readily to this new way of learning. They enjoy the credit for being able to figure out what we want, the opportunity to “train" us, and the chance to be an important part of our team. They revel in the attention.

As you go through your day, notice what you are paying attention to with your dog. No matter what our relationship with our dogs or why we have them, every dog is telling us something about who we are. What are you paying attention to?

28/03:

Nancy Pecsok is the owner of Alternatives Pet Sitting, LLC and a grower at the Ashland Farmers Market. Her dog stories come from the dogs she's fostered and rehabilitated through local rescue groups as well as the ones who came and then stayed. Her garden stories come from her naturally grown garden, and the woods and natural areas in Hanover.

Here begins her effort to move from the printed page to cyberspace.

This first post is from an article first published in a dog column in the Herald Progress.

Mirrors

It started with a phone call. All I wanted to do was donate my no longer needed dog crate to the humane society. It had been several years since my Brittanies had died and another dog had not showed up yet. The crate was just taking up space. Somehow during that call I lost control of the conversation and ended up with five 4-day-old orphan puppies to safehouse. The puppies lived and thrived. When it was time for them to be adopted I had to hold myself back from telling these strangers who had come to look for a puppy to get their hands off the little black one with white-tipped front toes. I figured that meant she was mine.

Now, eleven years later, I see what a difference Molly Bear has made in my life, the doors she has opened for me, the opportunities to share in her unique view of the world, her joyful approach to life and all the other creatures with which she shares this earth.

Through her I have come to know many fascinating and diverse people...park dog walkers whose random encounters are a history and culture of their own, elderly friends who live in the convalescent center--and their families, the people from WCVE Channel 23 who documented our visits, dog loving store owners, and strangers who will stop and chat with a person and a dog. I have made friends with far away nieces who would kindly talk to friendly Molly Bear through the experience of watching their mother slowly die of cancer.

And through her introduction, I have come to know many other dogs in our community. Dogs who, like Molly Bear at first got lost somewhere in the shuffle.

Our animals are a mirror of our community, a measure of our values and beliefs. Because of their spirit, their strength and ability, their devotion and commitment, and their ability to work as a pack and respect a leader, we have invited each of our dogs into our lives for a purpose. Every dog in Hanover, the starving homeless hound, the lonely barking lab chained up forever in the back yard, the gentle and loved family pet, and the eager enthusiastic search and rescue dog working mightily to find a lost child, is a reflection of someone's value or belief, someones' dream, someone's heart. And at their best, our dogs are creators of the kind of community we would be lucky to share.