Posts Tagged ‘corky’

If you didn’t know already, pets DO celebrate holidays! This 2011 Valentine card for me, Corky, arrived Saturday in the mail.

Today is Valentine’s Day and the photo here shows me, Corky the shelter dog, reading a card from my cutie patootie puppy pal @Niqqi on Twitter. She lives in Illinois which is far far away from Florida, so the mailman brought me the card. Inside it reads:

Dear Corky,

Wishing you the pinkest Valentine’s Day ever!

Fluffs,

Niqqi – 2011

The photo features a closeup of the Valentine’s card (center), and then me looking up (left) while holding the card, and then me looking down (right) and reading the card.

Thank you! Thank you, Niqqi!

Today was another spoiled day in the life with Corky the shelter dog story as I got this stuffed toy owl from the flea market. For those from another state or planet, a flea market is NOT a place to get fleas, and besides that doggies should never have to buy them.

In some places a flea market is called a swap meet where people sell new or used stuff for a bargain. I didn’t see anyone swap stuff so why swap meet and I didn’t see any fleas, so why flea market? Humans are confusing!

Whatever you call it, Mom and Dad took me to the Orange County Fairgrounds Flea Market because they allow dogs. Last time we went I barked at half the people I met and some were scared. They don’t know the difference between a friendly bark and a you’re-gonna-get-bit bark. I only have a friendly bark (*Psst – look for the wagging tail as a sign of a friendly bark).

Anyway, the stuffed toy owl shown here was brand spanking new and made like the raccoon stuffed animal I got for Christmas. It’s lasted for months and months without a squeakerectomy, so the parents thought the owl was a good idea! Guess what. It wasn’t for sale.

Today I didn’t bark at half the people I met – maybe 1 in 10, and not at the man selling the owl toy. He LOVED doggies and thought I was extra extra cute and said “For Corky, it’s free!” He even gave me water and ice from his ice chest for a cool treat.

There you have it pals. If going to the flea market don’t worry about fleas. Next, always be friendly and extra cute and you might get free toys, too!

The residents of Winter Park should consider electing Steve Leary and Sarah Sprinkel to the city commission on March 8th for their public stand on Fleet Peeples Dog Park support.

The photo shown and taken earlier today is me, Corky the shelter dog, posing on a tree stump while exploring the wooded area of the park. Why do I endorse these candidates?

The city of Winter Park in Florida is home to Fleet Peeples Dog Park on Lake Baldwin, and last fall the city imposed a fee per dog to use the park effective January 1, 2011.

For now collecting the fee at the park is in limbo because the machine intended to collect the fee and issue a receipt has not been installed. Mr. Leary and Ms. Sprinkel are in favor of repealing the fee.

Quoting Mr. Leary from his website in reference to the park fee he states “The fees collected will not come close to equaling the expense required to enforce the fees. Only in government can you make such a fiscally, lopsided decision”.

Visitors to my website, my 3,200+ friends on Twitter, and fans of my blog and YouTube videos are encouraged to tweet their support for these candidates. Help me help them protect my most favorite place in the universe!

Visit their individual websites to learn more at Elect Steve Leary for Winter Park City Commission Seat #1 and Elect Sarah Sprinkel for Winter Park City Commission Seat #2 on March 8, 2011.

UPDATE 9 March 2011: Both candidates I endorsed won yesterday! Congratulations to Sarah Sprinkel and Steve Leary. With their support the repeal of the dog park fee at Fleet Peeples is one step closer to success! Puppy power may have helped!

FINAL UPDATE: Success! The access fee was repealed on a 3-2 vote by Ms Sprinkel and Mr Leary plus mayor Ken Bradley as reported in this article repeal announced in the Orlando Sentinel.

It took 2 years since I came to my forever home to become friends with the family cat, yet I can now say Sam our cat and I are pals. He’s shown here waiting by my cowbell at the back door. He doesn’t go outside but he understands the cowbell is my signal to ring when I want out.

Recently in a conversation with some Twitter pawpals I mentioned that Sam and I now play wrestle. I get low on the floor and let him attack (and win). I promised Dad would get some video footage to post on my site or YouTube and that’s coming soon. He needs to get around to compiling the intro, outro, and footage plus narration.

Lots can happen in 2 years. Sam was not very friendly when I joined the family. When asking kitty pals in Twitter in 2009 for tips on living with a cat one said there’s 2 rules: “When a cat is sleeping, leave them alone. Whenever they are awake, leave them alone.” Okie dokie.

Here I am, Corky the shelter dog, being a lazy boy on my La-Z-Boy recliner and watching television in one of several versions of this photograph. The blue background is a Snuggie™ blankie just in time for cooler Florida weather. That and the chair are MINE but I let Mom think she owns both!

The cropped version of the photo displayed here shows me reading the TV Guide and smoking a pipe while sitting in Mom’s chair! That’s digital trickery because 1) I am too young to smoke and 2) won’t smoke when I get older either! You can see the uncropped version of this trick photo of Corky on Twitpic or look at the original untouched photo on Flickr without the pipe or TV Guide.

Check out enlarged views of the TwitPic and Flickr versions for 1200px wide wallpaper to download, too!

While at Fleet Peeples Dog Park near Orlando yesterday Corky the shelter dog had the opportunity to show off how he learned fireman rescue techniques. On the beach and not far from the edge of the lake other dogs had dug a deep pit in the wet sand.

While play wrestling with another puppy, Corky decided to show what he calls the Corky fireman rescue demonstration. In the photograph you can see how he climbs out of the sand pit while carrying a doggy actor who is pretending to be injured.

The same method of rescue could be used in a house fire, drowning rescue, mountain rescue, and maybe even situations like Timmy fell down the well! Take a closer look and you may notice that Corky stopped to smile for the camera to show he is super strong and has no problem carrying a doggy pal to safety.

This gives a whole new meaning to doggy rescue!

Earlier this afternoon when it was time to review Twitter new followers and tweets I checked in and won on Twitter! Yes, pals, talk about great timing.

My brand happens to be Nutro dog food (and Greenies), so I follow their reps and Natalie was doing a contest for the fastest answer to a product question. The photo here shows what I won including a NEW flavor of Nutro for small breeds.

Special thanks to Natalie at Nutro aka @NatalieatNutro on Twitter for such great timing, and Dad for being a fast typist! If you’re not already, follow Natalie plus ReneeatNutro and EdnaatNutro who are the other Nutro reps on Twitter (*pssst – all 3 are giving away daily prize packages this week).

I’m so excited I’ll be sitting at the window looking for the mailman every day, and promise I won’t scare or bite him!!

Footnote: Photo credit: Twitpic – would not load properly, so a copy was placed on this site rather than leave a BIG blank space there.

What started out as a shopping trip for a jingle bell for training me ended up as a cowbell and puppy training lesson for humans. The photo below shows me, Corky the shelter dog, and a cowbell that hangs by the back door that I ring to let my parents know I want to go for a walk.

When looking for a jingle bell to hang on a ribbon, Mom got excited seeing the cowbell and decided on that instead. Dad hung it nose high using a piece of old nylon leash. Here’s how the training began. Each time we left for walkies they’d ring the bell on the way out. Eventually I caught on, and would ring the bell with my snout to signal I wanted out.

Guess what? They’d come running to take me for a walk! The next lesson was teaching them that I wanted out 5-6 times a day! Weak bladder? No. Mom complained that we walked and walked but I would never pee, and said the bell idea wasn’t working. Dad chimed in and said the training works just fine! Corky rings the bell when he wants to go out, not when he needs to go out.

Keep an eye on Corky. He may want driving lessons next!

When taking pix of me for blog post illustrations, Twitpic, Flickr, or desktop wallpaper, my Dad envisions an imaginary frame for pet photos. As shown here, this is me Corky the shelter dog in the lake at Fleet Peeples Dog Park near Orlando on a recent visit.

Dad uses a simple point and shoot camera, specifically a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150, and to his credit around 2/3rds of his photos are keepers. That same camera has created all my YouTube puppy video footage, too.

Like anything, practice practice practice. You too can get great photographs of your pet using this imaginary frame for pet photos.

During Twitter chat yesterday a Corky puppy pal had a wish list to pick just one fun thing for the weekend that included: dog park, bacon, long nap, long walk, or cheese. Dad decided we could try to do all in one day, and almost did.

The photo above was taken earlier today at Mill Slough Dog Park in Kissimmee, Florida, and shows Corky the shelter dog peeking over a tree stump. The long nap, long walk, and cheese were a snap. I’ll get bacon tomorrow to complete the weekend quadfecta.

Any day is a good day going to the dog park, and after days and days of rain today was perfect. The wish list and Dog Park Weekend Challenge will be a huge success even if we miss that bacon tomorrow. With so many pals still in animal shelters waiting to be adopted, I really am a lucky dog.

Thinking of adding a pet to your family? Visit your local animal shelter to rescue a cat or dog today.