Doggie DNA

“Step right up and win a prize”, shouts the carnival worker. “Fool the guesser! If I can’t guess your weight within 2 pounds, your age within two years or the month of your birth within 2 months, you win a prize!”

Well, this isn't quite the same thing but I am offering some fun and the prize can be to gloat all you want. The question in need of an answer for the last 3+ years: What Breed Is Toby?

Feel free to post your guesses here. Pomeranian? Chow Chow? Schipperke? Great Dane? Who knows? Well, in a few weeks I will know thanks to The Wisdom Panel mixed breed analysis. It doesn't come cheap but dammit this girl wants to know. I get asked, on average 3 times per week what breeds make up my little, fluffy baby teddy bear and soon I will be able to provide a definitive answer. Please, comment with your own thoughts/guesses on the subject!

For photos of Toby, check out his Dogster page!

Arizona Spring Training Road Trip 2008!

I am happy to say it is that time of year again: when the days are longer, warmer and soon-to-be full of baseball! I traveled again to the lovely town of Scottsdale, Arizona, and stayed with my wonderful pal Bonnie to enjoy two Spring Training games, our dogs and beer.
First game: Saturday, March 8th at HoHoKam Park in Mesa. The Cubs beat the Diamondbacks 4-1 and I got to see all of the Cubs' starting position players throughout most of the game. This was my first time viewing their new right fielder from Japan: Kosuke Fukudome. I scribbled my attempts to spell his name phonetically in my program: "Foo Kah D'oh May" & Fook Uh Dome A". I really hope he has a productive year, otherwise...
One fun distraction from the game was Bonnie's CCI dog, Payton, who she will raise from age 8 weeks to approximately 18 months. Payton could attend the games with us because she is an in-training assistance dog. She was super sweet and slept through the one half inning that had any offensive excitement.
Concessions consumed: Super Dog, Nachos & bottled water (do not be alarmed! I had to save up my beer drinking for the charity brewfest later that afternoon near ASU's campus - adorable picture attached)
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Game #2 - Seattle Mariners v. Milwaukee Brewers in Maryvale. Nice park, sunny skies, Brewers won. Now on to the rest of the details! We first consumed delicious fried chicken & waffles & red velvet cake from Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles, then enjoyed our kick-ass seats eight rows behind home plate, and then 7th inning stretch Sausage Race (the mascots even hung out and I got my picture taken with them!) Later that day we checked out the 50,000 square foot Whole Foods store - oh, the temptation.
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To help burn off some of the calories consumed during my fabulous weekend road trip, I took a solo hike at Pinnacle Peak Park and that was a challenging Monday morning! Toby traveled with me on this journey and was a well-behaved, yet non-functioning navigator. I highly recommend the audio books I listened to on the drive: Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis & Oh, The Things I Know! A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness by Al Franken. I purchased several Spring Training commemorative items including t-shirts, colorful magnets and the winner of the Sausage Race: The Chorizo!!!