All Days are Dog Days in Maryland - Week 27: Holms on the Potomac

Norm fell in love with this Australian shepherd, who looks like his family's pet Trixie. 

The dog days of August have given way to the golden days of September. As our months here come and go, we love seeing dogs and their people on our walks.  Some dogs and masters look alike. Others have completely opposite looks and personalities. Some dogs are too big for their owners, and the dog takes the person for a walk. (Or, a drag.) Some tiny or old dogs are carried on their “walk.” 

Both dogs and owners are happy and well-behaved. We love seeing and commenting on every dog-- I don't we've seen an ugly dog. Some are working on behavior-- our friend Gina prays regularly for "Mr. Bordeaux" who has an attitude problem. 

Dogs are serious business in Maryland—since many residents have “fur babies,” stores cater to dog owners. Some stores put dishes of water out front for canines.  We drove past a cafe called “Bark Social,”  which advertises: “Dogs, Beer, Coffee.” 

All dogs have this in common—they poop. (No giggling, grandkids—serious business, remember?) In Maryland, apartment building management and city and county governments provide poop bags and depositories everywhere. There is no excuse for not picking up dog poop, and most owners comply. 

Yet, until the day when dogs can be trained to use the toilet—there will be scofflaws. 

Thus, there are many signs in yards—professional looking, cute, pleading, and gross.  Do they work? 

Apparently not. Some apartment complexes require dog owners to submit DNA tests from their canines so offending owners can be tracked down and punished. 

It’s brilliant. We hope they’ll do the same for the worst sidewalk-soiling offenders: Canadian geese.

 

Gina is in demand as a dog-sitter. She was tending Nellie last week.

In human news. . . we’re busy in the mission. It’s zone conference week, which means Elder Holm has prepared a multi-media vehicle safety presentation on speeding, following too close, Maryland’s “move over law” and missionary mileage allotments.  I’ll help in the kitchen—it’s fun to serve the eager and hungry missionaries. Lately, besides helping missionaries become qualified to drive here, I’ve worked with some wonderful missionary sisters on a new bulletin board. I’ll post photos when it's done. 

These folks were cutting fresh bamboo near Sandy Spring--in case you've wondered where 

 the pandas in the National Zoo get their food. There are stands of bamboo all around this country--the pandas get two truckloads a week.

Fancy moth at mission office.