Canine Country Club

Other than weather reports and ground conditions, that is.  Bob & I have learned that we're going to get our first grandchild in September! Our dear daughter and favorite son-in-law have made us very happy.   I hope you've noticed the stone we've had put down in the park, and that we've tried to improve the drainage system.  The trees we planted last week are some we saw advertised on TV.  They're supposed to grow as much as 6 feet per year!  We thought we'd give them a try, so we planted some for wind breaks on the north side of our yard, where we lost several trees last winter, and then the 2 in the park are shade trees, which hopefully one day will provide shade for both the main park and the training yard.  We spruced up the agility equipment and got classes underway last week.  Agility classes are Tuesday nights, and Obedience classes are held on Monday nights when the park is usually closed.    I'd like to encourage all our members to consider taking our classes (or classes elsewhere),  especially our new members with puppies or young dogs--obedience training is very important for all dogs, and is mentioned in our rules.  Please see the "Classes" section of our web site for class descriptions, requirements, and bios of our instructors.

"Canine and Human members and visitors of Canine Country Club are expected to behave with common courtesy and respect for this property as well as the park users. Dogs are expected to have basic obedience training and respond to voice commands. Owners are expected to control their dogs, and to encourage and supervise them as they move around the park. "  I

I'll have to continue this another day.  I'm up too late, once again!  Goodnight...

As the snow melted today and combined with the melting ice, a world of trouble was revealed.  There is water running down the street, into our basement, and into the dog park.  It does NOT seem to be leaving the park, however.  Once again the entrance to the training yard is flooded.  There are puddles where we've never seen puddles before!  While we go through this rain to snow weather pattern once AGAIN, the park will be closed.  It's supposed to get cold again, so the best we can hope for is that the water will freeze and enough snow will fall to provide safe traction on the ice!  I know those of you that were here, today especially, know what I'm talking about...  It was worse than we'd hoped... I guess we had a false sense of optimism.  It's going to be another rough month, I'm afraid.  We'll be closed Tuesday for sure.  Once again, I'll keep the phone message updated as well as the web site.  I just don't think there's going to be an easy way out of this situation.    

OK, who's the artist who did this lovely sculpture on Friday?  I love the tennis ball eyes!  Unfortunately, it has been decorated with some yellow snow, but what else do you expect in the dog park, right?  We're hoping for a nice weekend, although with the sun and higher temperatures it is going to turn slushy out there.  I'm afraid there's no other way to GET RID OF the snow and ice....  Wear your boots, and please, be careful out there!

We'll be in the office on Saturday from 10-4.  We'll keep an eye on the comings and goings out there.  The park WILL be closed as usual on Monday.  I can't BELIEVE the weather forecast!!!

I just watched the Oscars and then the news and weather--unbelievable!  The guy I watched said 6-9 inches of snow after some freezing rain!  Here we go again!  As I reported in the "news" section this afternoon, we rigged up something to cover the unbreakable unmeltable ice in front of training yard entry.  It ain't pretty, but its best we could do.  We had a few visitors this afternoon and are planning on leaving it open tomorrow, since the past few weeks have been so bad and now this week sounds awful too.  This is very discouraging...  Remember, we usually don't get plowed until mid-late morning...  We'll keep the site and the phone message updated.

Talk about the dog days of winter!  What we have out in the park is frozen ground covered by frozen water covered by frozen slush!  Even in our yard, on grass, every step is treacherous.  We can not and will not risk the injury of any of our members, human or canine, on CCC property.  So for now, the park will remain closed.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience and understanding.

Just off the phone with my favorite daughter and son-in-law, and, after a brief tutorial, I'm going to give this a quick try!  I wish there was better news to report about the condition of the park, but it has only gone from bad to worse tonight.  This has been the worst winter that we've had since opening the CCC five winters ago.  It's not a fit night out for man nor beast, to quote W. C. Fields!  I hope you will use the comment portion of the new blog to ask questions and express ideas and suggestions--and I hope that it will enable me to be able to post important news immediately, rather than have to rely and impose upon my daughter in San Diego!  I will look out the window in the morning, but I can tell you, the park will definitely NOT be open tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 6th.  Good night! 

I will be starting a new blog on the new site, but in case you want to catch up on old news, you can visit the old dog park diaries here.