There goes the neighborhood

When I was looking for a house 4 1/2 years ago, my dream was to find a place where I could bike to work in the heart of Washington DC but still live surrounded by trees, woods, nature, and wildlife. 

I found my house. It was bounded on the back by woods and on one side by an empty lot, which was split off from my house's property and put on the market separately by my house's previous owners.

The lot next door

My house is perfect. I've lived there all these years with my eccentric nudist Swiss dude and my succession of poorly trained, impulsive, loud foster dogs of widely varying dispositions, and no one has ever said a peep. Most of my neighbors are far enough away that they're not bothered by my menagerie, and the ones who are close are for the most part mellow, friendly animal lovers.

Among my greatest joys is the sanctuary and wildness, not to mention privacy, of my backyard, where I can garden, train dogs, sunbathe, and make noise in any state of dress or undress without fear of judgement or of imposing on neighbors who may have different values and interests. 

The property next door has been on the market all these years, and no one has bought it because it is narrow, steep, has several large trees that can't be removed per Takoma Park's tree regulations, and sports a cool asking price of $240,000.

Help!

Now, some people are looking at the property. They came over to talk to me when I was in the back with Fozzie the other day, planting an azalea and some blackberries. 

In the course of the conversation I realized that Our Worst Nightmare has a possibility of being realized in the property next door. 

No, the prospective buyer did not want to build a meth lab, a crack house, a brothel, or an adult video emporium. 


It's worse, way worse. 


The woman who spoke to me, who came with her two toddlers in tow, one of whom kept sticking her hands through my fence and ran away screaming when Fozzie barked once at the intrusion, wants to build a daycare. 

Not to be mean or to give the impression that I don't love kids, but I can't imagine anything more horrifying.

Anything more destructive to the peace and sanctuary of this little pocket of wildness, than the screams of dozens of little darlings as they scamper amok through these formerly wildlife-rich woods, or the disapproving glares of Takoma Park soccer moms every time I foster a new poorly socialized fireball, or fail to stop Fozzie from barreling into the backyard after a squirrel like a raging tornado of poor impulse control, or every time Florian steps onto the back porch for a smoke clad only in his dance belt.  


The good news is that the realtor says any proposed development of a commercial property would require special permits and hearings at which neighbors would be able to testify.



And while I welcome that opportunity, I also fear that the powers that be will not look sympathetically upon a pit bull rescuer and naked Swiss guy going up against people who are of course doing it all for the children. 


So in the hopes of obviating the need for me to testify, I'm considering various tactics for convincing the prospective buyers that they really don't want to put a daycare on that lot. Here are a few ideas:

• Explosives. Imagine Florian and his son Quentin's delight when I lift the restrictions on rockets, firecrackers, and small thermonuclear devices in the back yard. Wildlife might not like it in the short term, but they'll thank me when buyers beat a hasty retreat.
  
• Ditch the positive training, at least when people are looking at the property. Adopt a communication style with dogs and partner that relies heavily on confrontation and loud expletives.
  
• Scrap metal, and old cars, left to molder, randomly scattered on sidewalk in front of my property and one next door.
  
• More nudity.

What are YOUR favorite ideas for scaring off prospective buyers?

Is that really comfortable?

Flower dogs

After 4 1/2 years in my house, finally my front yard is starting to take shape.

Every year I've planted a few new bushes, and I guess it takes a few years for them to really reach their potential.  

The yard is still no stop on the Takoma Park home and garden tour, but at least its not the tattered wasteland of bare ground, weeds, and shredded plastic flower pots that it was when Lars and Fozzie were tearing around it. 

Collette is an energetic little person, but she and Fozzie don't get into wild playing together the way Lars or Sandy did with Fozzie. 






 

Two dogs who really have a good chemistry together are fun to watch, no question about it. 



 







But its also kind of nice not to spend every moment they're outside together cringing as my pretty plants get smashed into the ground. 

And to actually have a relatively healthy rose bush, with roses that are  fragrant and somewhat abundant, makes me feel pretty darn accomplished. 








 


For some reason, Fozzie and Collette just seem to get along OK without having any particular feeling about each other.

Collette tries to engage, but Fozzie's just not that into it. 












I'm proud of Fozzie. 

For such an impulsive dog, he's pretty nice about how he lets a pesky youngster know he wants to be left alone. 

Is it just that he's out of that blush of youth that fostered such an intense bromance between him and Lars? 




 






Is it just that Collette's not as insistent as Sandy was, so its easier for Fozzie to resist getting pulled into a game of tug or chase?






 
 












I'm not complaining. I love my dogs but I also love my flowers. 










And I especially love days where I can enjoy them both together. 
























I hope your week is full of sunshine and flowers, and that all the beauty in the world fortifies you to fight even harder to preserve what's left of it!

Enforcing boundaries is not being a meano (or so they say)

While I've seen some students of mine struggle with the idea that new behaviors can be taught more quickly and efficiently with positive reinforcement than with leash tugs and alpha rolls, my own struggle is with being a bit "tough" when it's called for. 

Occasionally, everyone is able to just Chill Out together on the bed

In my ongoing struggle with Fozzie and Lamar's nighttime turf battles, it's been hard for me to just lay down some rules about where everyone should sleep. Fozzie craves physical contact so much, and looks so sweet and innocent as he approaches the bed, I couldn't bear to just tell him to stay in the living room and sleep on the couch--even though I know he's quite happy there. I thought that by just giving everyone treats, I could stay on the right side of positive and make everyone happy.


In our TTouch session with Lamar, one of the things Pam really emphasized was that the easiest solution to our nighttime grumpiness dilemma is just better management. 


It won't kill Fozzie to stay in the other room, at least until Lamar is asleep. In fact, it may make him feel safe and content to have his human tell him exactly where he needs to go. 

When I've actually done it, he goes right out to sleep on the couch and doesn't come back. Sometimes since we started doing this, he's just chosen to go out to the couch on his own, seemingly relieved to escape poor Lamar's drama. 

Sometimes, I just tell Fozzie to stay on his bed, where he can look at us but not be in Lamar's space. He's able to do it! 

What self control to be able to look at us and resist being close to us, to feel the tension of Lamar looking at him too but feel secure enough in himself that he didn't need to anxiously seek out human contact. 


A good exercise indeed for dogs to learn valuable life skills of impulse control...while this human learns to control my own impulse to cuddle Fozzie every minute I possibly can. 

Do I get some yummy vegan human treats if I get better at it?

More Potomac Explorations-Scotts Run

With Florian's thesis behind us, we've started getting some weekends with free time for a walk. This one was before we acquired our newest member of the family.

Florian has a new ballet student near Great Falls, VA so for our latest adventure we took the pups on yet another new hike in that area.

This one is called Scotts Run. I swear we've been on this hike before, as I remembered the initial steep hike down the slope to the river and the early panorama over the Potomac. 










 

As we walked downstream though, we came upon a surprise: a long spooky ladder up the bank










 

leading to a house up on the cliff that must have the most incredible views of the river.

Then there were these rocky dams across the river, which created perfect swimming holes. Who put them there? Why? Could they be natural?

We don't know! Let's come back in the summer to do some more investigation.

Fozzie wasn't about to wait

and Lamar found total refreshment and relaxation cooling down and getting a drinkie.

As global warming wreaks havoc with our climate systems and we get balmy summerlike weather in April, the dogs are right to enjoy it!

Who knows what the true summer months will bring.

Maryland's abominable new law

Taking a break from the happy news of my new foster pup and my beloved two other dogs to acknowledge the devastating blow that has been dealt to dogs less fortunate throughout the state of Maryland. 

On April 26, the Maryland Court of Appeals rendered a decision in the case of Tracey v. Solesky that says pit bulls and pit bull-mix dogs are inherently dangerous animals. 

Previously, and currently for all dogs other than pit bulls, if your dog bit someone you could only be held strictly liable if the dog had bitten someone before--in other words, if you knew the dog was dangerous and didn't take precautions. 

Now, if your pit bull or pittie mix dog bites someone, you can be sued because you should have known that the dog was inherently dangerous--it's a pit bull, after all!

Note, this decision does not have a huge impact on you if you own a pit bull and own your own home. As long as your dog doesn't bite anyone, this decision does not affect your right to have a pit bull-type dog.

But it is devastating news for pit bulls not lucky enough to live in homes owned by their lovers and advocates. For those who languish in shelters in Maryland--whose situation was already dire--this decision means death is far more likely. 

Shelters and rescues will not want the liability of adopting out an "inherently dangerous" dog, and many landlords will insist at first opportunity (when the lease is up) that pit bull type dogs not be on the premises.

Fortunately, pit bulls have strong advocates in this state and they are working to undo this ruling. For updates, check out the terrific group B-More Dog, the same group that holds monthly pit bull walks in Baltimore. Their Facebook page is being updated regularly with the latest on this ruling, the opposition to it, and what you can do to help. 

In the meantime, hug your pit bull and tell him or her that you'll never allow him to be in a situation that puts him in danger. If you live anywhere outside of Maryland, please consider volunteering to transport and foster a pit bull or pittie mix from a MD shelter. Let's save as many lives as we can until this terrible ruling goes away.