Dog Updates

After Don's article on Sadie appeared in the U.B. he received cards and E-Mails as far away as Singapore. One of the nicest letters came from neighboring College Place and was printed in the Sunday U.B.:

Fond farewell to good friend Sadie

I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears today, when I read the paper. A friend of mine had passed away.

It shouldn't have surprised me since she was getting up in years and hints had been dropped that she was dealing with health Issues. Still, expectation and reality are very different things.

It was an unusual friendship. I never saw, spoke, or touched this friend. But, in a special way, she shared her life with me in her column about her travels and adventures. It was kind of the human she owned to transcribe her stories so she could share them with readers like me.

Being owned by a pack of similar family members, it was easy to relate to her stories. I love the outdoors, but I don't hunt or fish so I seldom read the column if pictures of her weren't included or if her name wasn't prominently displayed in the title.

I hope my friend is now bounding through the endless expanses of meadows, forests, rivers and mountains in heaven. I bet she is getting to know the "lay of the land" so when her human joins her they can go romping through eternity, one adventure after another.

Farewell Sadie, I'm going to miss you. Thank you, Mr. Davis for sharing your "best friend" with us these many years.

Please Accept our condolences. I hope you will soon be owned by another "best friend and that we will learn to love that friend as we did Sadie. God Bless.

Guillermo F. Garcia


As news of Sadie's passing spread, several people offered to give Don and Darlene a new dog. They ended up getting a very cute schnauzer puppy. They named her Nora and they seem to be extremely happy with her.

Since we rescued Zorro from the drain pipe under the 4th avenue bridge we have been providing him with lots of exercise, discipline and affection. Today Dawn Took Zoro around as she ran errands and he did well. She also let him run in the park with out his leash...and he came back. He is making progress everyday. He is very smart and sweet dog. I along with Dawn Marie and Buddy will continue to help Zorro become a calmer more stable poodle. Then, hopefully we will find him a nice home.

An Amazing Dog Story!!

The last Week and a half has been a K-9 roller coaster ride.

We new Sadie the dalmatian didn't have much time left. Dawn was on a mission to find her parents the perfect dog. On December 17th Dawn, Buddy and I interviewed two dogs. One was an 85lb labradoodle the the other was a pure bred poodle. The lab mix was to big, but Dawn thought the poodle was perfect. I had reservations about the poodle because he was very frightened when we held him.

Tuesday the 18th was the sad day that we put Sadie down(union bulletin obit/story with my name in it is "HERE" ).
After we got through with that trauma I was hoping we would put the dog search off utill after Christmas.

Wednesday Dawn called me at work. She bought the poodle and one of the vets at the clinic offered to neuter it for free. Dawn left the poodle "Zoro" at the clinic Wednesday night.

Thursday Dawn called me and told me that when she opened the dogs cage it bolted out and then ran into the break room and hid under the couch. We decided it would be best to take the dog over to our house and let it adjust for a few days. But, Dawn parents begged her to bring the poodle over right away(they couldn't stand not having a dog in the house). Against Dawns better judgment she took the poodle over to her parents house on Thursday the 20th.

Early Friday morning Dawn called to inform me that the poodle had escaped from her parents back yard. The 12 pound poodle found a hole in the fence and it was no where to be found.

We went door to door we combed the neighborhood and we put an add in the paper.
We had no luck. Monday we got a report of a found poodle, but it wasn't the right one.

Christmas came and went and still no Zoro. I had lost all hope. It had been five days and it had been below freezing in Walla Walla.

This morning I went back to work after Christmas thinking sadly that the poodle was probably dead by now.

This afternoon Dawn called me at work and told me that the poodle Zoro was in the Mill creek channel. When I arrived Dawn was already their by the corp of engineers bldg looking down at zoro. Dawn wanted to go down at get him but, the firemen would not let her go down. Zoro was near fourth street and started sprinting up the channel
towards ninth I sprinted five blocks as well. When I got to ninth street Zoro was still in the channel and a couple of fire engines and a ambulance arrived on the scene. I watched as the firemen slowly closed the distance on Zoro. It looked like our six days of stress were over. Then Zoro jumped in the creek. One of the firemen
fished him out with a net, but once Zoro was clear of the water he jumped out of the net, then another firemen had him for a moment but he wiggled away. Zoro the did some Walter payton like moves and was off to the races.

Then the firemen were unable to find Zoro. They gave up, packed up their equipment and went home.

I had to go back to work. I pleaded with Dawn not to go down in the channel and look for the dog(it's dangerous and it's a $1,ooo fine). I also new that Dawn would go looking no matter what I said.

Two hours latter I got off work worried about Dawn and hoping against hope that she had found the poodle.


When I first got home no Dawn. I was concerned. I started to drive around and look for her car. Then I decide I would go back home and catch my breath. When I got home Dawn's car was parked out front, I was relieved. then I walk in the house and saw Zoro. I celebrated like a Red Sox fan after they had broke the curse of the Bambino.

I first met Zoro nine days ago. I saw a little gray poodle that seem to love it's family (which consisted of several kids from toddlers to elementary school age). The kids as well as the parents seemed to love Zoro, but for some reason the parents had decided they needed to sell off all their pets. The image of the happy little poodle
playing with his family has been stuck in my head along with an image of the same poodle hiding under a porch in freezing temperatures and dying of exposure.

Right now Zoro is sleeping in our bed with Dawn and Buddy. We are all very relieved

P.S. Amongst all the commotion today Dawn said to me "If we find this dog were keeping it". I said "you're darn right". Well in the future will have a decision to make. For now were just happy Zoro is safe and sound.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

 

Whoooooo!

It's hard to say goodbye

 

Have you met Sadie? Whats Sadie like?
I would often get these question when people found out I was dating Don Davis's daughter.

Sadie was allot of things.

Beautiful Dalmatian
A local celebrity due to Don's outdoors column in the Union Bulletin
A high strung nervous nellie
Don's best friend and traveling partner
Beloved member of the family

Sadly Tuesday we had to put Sadie down.
It was time.
But, it was still hard to say goodbye

TEAL TUESDAY

Earlier this year we saw the movie Magnolia. Dawn really enjoyed the soundtrack so we purchased the CD. It' been a regular fixture in our CD player. The most popular song being Aimee Mann's Save Me.

Every Monday evening Dawn exclaims that tomorrow is Teal Tuesday at the clinic. Being the goof ball I am I automatically translate Teal Tuesday to Til' Tuesday which causes me to have the 80's song Voices Carry by Til' Tuesday stuck in my brain for an entire day.

What I was wasn't aware of until today was that Aimee Mann And the spikee haired singer of Til' Tuesday are the same person.

At least I learned something today.

Laugh Or Cry?

I'm Just A Bill On Capitol Hill

What A Difference 39 Years Makes

Last year on ESPN I watched freestyle Motor cross star Mike Metzger jump the fountain at Caesars palace with a back flip thrown in for style points.

I found two clips on you tube that chronicled the quest to jump the fountain at Caesars. The attempts span 39 years and demonstrate tremendous progress in technology.

I also find these clips interesting in terms of comparing the charisma and presence of the the men who attempted the jumps.

Gary Wells and Robbie Knievel were charismatically challenged.
Mike Metzger has charisma and makes some money in endorsements,but their was not a Mike Metzger action figure in every kids stocking last holiday season. Evel Knievel had a larger than life aura, his type of fame is becoming rare in a world where their are so many different entertainment options.

Talking heads

I listened to talking heads all week tell me that Pitsburg had no chance of beating West Virginia. They were wrong.

I am developing an aversion to talking heads. I don't need a college or pro football "expert" to tell me what to think.

Please inform me of some thing I don't already know. For instance when a team leads the league in run defense then gives up 300 hundred yards rushing maybe you could use some of your "expertise" to explain what happened.

I don't watch the pre and post game shows to have my opinions validated I watch hoping I can learn something.