15 posts tagged “bentley”
Bentley and I came up to the lake this weekend, which is predicted to be a beautiful early Fall one, and which I'll spend doing math homework, as well as apple-picking with friends on my dad's farm. We arrived here around 4 PM yesterday; I tend to drive up early to beat rush-hour, and then set to work again right away upon arrival.
Around six, Bentley had just had his dinner, and it was time to take the last walk of the day, before the sun set. In more urban environs, Bentley also gets a walk just prior to bedtime, but out here... the streetlights end quite a ways before you to get our house on the road, and frankly, neither he nor I seem to find it all that appealing to go traipsing out into the very quiet, very dark nights here.
Bentley was on his flexi-leash, and I had just finished convincing him that he didn't want to just go meandering over to the next house over (where some of you may remember, that about this time last year, he fell into the basement in the middle of a terrible storm, and was lost there for an hour or so, until my heroic rescue), and gotten him up to the top of the driveway. I figured we'd turn left, to go down to the end of the road. It's woodsier that way, and very pleasant in the early evening, provided there aren't mosquitos around to feast on us.
Left we turned, and in about 10 feet, Bentley perked right up, and started following a scent across the road, and up an embankment into the woods. I, doing some shoe-gazing for whatever reason, just thought "must be a chipmunk." Squirrels don't usually get Bentley going, but a little chippy, oh how he'd love to catch one of them, and he takes off like a shot after them at every opportunity. As the leash fed out, and was nearing its full extension, I looked up, to find myself about 30 feet (and Bentley 12 feet closer than I) from a big black bear.
I get the impression that both myself and the bear had a moment of pure, unadulterated, "OH. SHIT." S/he immediately turned tail and barreled off deeper into the woods, and I got control of Bentley, and encouraged (read, forced) him to turn up the more populated, less thickly wooded, way on the road, all the while making extra noise for the bear's benefit. ("No worries Bear. We're leaving, Bear. Didn't mean to scare you Bear. Hey Bear. Yo Bear. It's all good Bear.") Of course, by this time the bear was probably a quarter mile away, but other than appearing a little nutty to the neighbors, most of whom have closed up their seasonal houses already and are long gone until next Summer, I figured the noise couldn't hurt.
I think the bear was back late last night. Ben was having some digestive difficulties, and unfortunately for both of us, needed to go outside to the bathroom four times during the course of last night. The first time, around 1:15 AM, I stupidly decided that it'd be okay to just let him out the front door, provided I turned on the lights and supervised him (but without use of a leash). Generally, it's so dark here, and he's made so uncomfortable by it, that he does not stray from me on these potty breaks. Last night, however, just as he finished his business, we both heard a crash in the woods behind him, and he bolted right towards it, barking like I've never heard him bark before. There was definitely an element of terror in the barking, an urgency and posturing, to cover up fear.
And so here I was, in my pajamas, without my glasses, without a flashlight, at 1:15 AM, and I'm reduced to yelling "BENTLEY, COME!" (trying to keep the panic out of my voice) and praying that he'll stand down from what seemed to be a protective mission, and return to me, so that we could both get safely inside. It took him about 20 seconds to listen and respond, but he did eventually come racing back towards me, with the fur running the entire length of his spine standing up stiffly, and his tail between his legs.
It's possible it was a raccoon, or a possum, or a porcupine, or a skunk, but we've encountered three of the four of those before on walks, and never was such a fury of crazed barking elicited. So yeah, I'm thinking it must have been the bear, and I find myself not all that happy that my house seems to be situated smack in the middle of its territory, and a little saddened by the fact that a bear that is living this close to humanity isn't likely to survive hunting season.
An Oscar-worthy one second on film, I'd say. You can view the video on MyFoxBoston. And, here's a still I saved:
Not sure if B has made the local news or not, but he certainly held the attention of a Fox 25 cameraman for a couple of minutes today during our outing to Fresh Pond. When I asked the guy why he was filming, he said it's for a story about how Cambridge is (annoyingly) trying to limit the off-leash use of the Fresh Pond Reservation to Cambridge dogs only. I'll be recording tonight's newscasts, just in case! They're on from 5-6, and from 10-11, on Fox 25.
UPDATE: Bentley was in fact on the 5 o'clock news! I've recorded it, of course!
Bentley and I are doing some fundraising for Woofstock 2007, a big Basset "waddle" that is set to take place on May 19. The proceeds from this event all go to support New England Basset Hound Rescue, and their efforts at finding homeless and needy Bassets in New England the foster and forever homes they desperately need.
As you've probably gathered if you've read my blog in the past, Bentley is a rescue Basset himself, and I couldn't be happier to provide him with his forever home!
I've set up a fundraising site at FirstGiving to try to collect money to sponsor Bentley's attendance at Woofstock. Any money you donate through my FirstGiving page goes directly to New England Basset Hound Rescue. If you're able to lend a hand, any dollar amount, no matter how small, can help a Basset in need!
Visit http://www.firstgiving.com/bostonbasset to make a gift to NEBHR in sponsorship of Bentley! It's secure to donate online using this site, and is tax-deductible!
Thanks very much!
Bentley really likes bagels for dogs. They're about the size of a Lender's mini bagel, or maybe a little bigger, and they're very hard and crunchy. He'll hide one, and seek it out, and hide it again, for months. Almost daily, he'll beg me to chase him around the house while he's got it in his mouth, after we come home from a particularly exhilarating outing. Eventually, the bagels succumb to all of this wear and tear, and break in half, and when they do, he finally eats them up.
Tonight, his latest bagel met its end, after five months of good service.
What does an Internet-savvy dog mom like myself do at a moment like this? Well, turn to Google of course, to find where to order a new one. See, we used to get these bagels at Noah's, and they don't seem to exist out here in Cambridge.
I was somewhat surprised, and frankly, disturbed, when I Googled for "crunchy bagel for dogs" (a bagel dog being something that needs differentiating from a bagel for dogs, in my mind), and my Vox blog came up as the second hit! The Internet is a slightly too small place, it seems.
Bentley and I are back home after a week and a half galavanting around New Hampshire. It was a fun time, and it was particularly wonderful to get to hang out with my brother, his wife, and their baby, who made a very rare trek in from Los Angeles. I could definitely get used to having a cuddly smiley baby around the house, although... I'm sure I'm wearing rose-colored glasses. Being Aunt Jessica is a lot different than being Mom.
I came back to Cambridge with lots of cool loot, which I'm spending the day unpacking and putting away. Woo!
I also came back with a weird mystery illness, for which I am getting an appointment at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. Boo!
I've got painful swelling in my neck, and a lump that just appeared out of nowhere on the floor of my mouth, under my tongue. Two doctors proclaimed it a blocked and infected salivary gland, and put me on antibiotics, and ultimately sent me to a dentist to see about unblocking the thing. The dentist, unfortunately, said that he has no idea what this is, but doesn't think it has anything to do with my salivary glands. I do have a family history, apparently, of lymph nodes in the neck going a bit crazy, in a non-cancerous way, and so maybe that's what's going on. Or maybe it really is my salivary system, and the dentist is missing it. Or maybe it's something totally unrelated to either of those possibilities. Anyway... I don't want to mess around with a weird lump in my mouth, so off I go to the experts. Thank goodness for comprehensive health insurance; I certainly do seem to make more use of it than I'd like.
I need to devote some time today to my linear algebra studies, which ought to have gotten underway a couple of weeks ago, but... well... didn't. If you're reading this, send some good studious vibes my way.
I've come up with a new distraction for myself, too. (Just what I needed!) I bought my first domain last night, and will be starting a website at http://www.bostonbassethounds.com/ to drum up local interest in Basset gatherings & camaraderie. Maybe by this time next month, Bentley will have some new houndy friends, and a few play dates lined up. Hounds do seem to have an affinity for one another, and we have yet to meet any Bassets in our area, although we've seen two walking around here at a distance. Recently, B did fall completely and effusively in love with a Coon Hound at our hangout in Arlington. I would just love to see a big pack of Bassets running around there.
Time for one more cup of coffee, an outing to the park, a trip to the grocery store, and some more unpacking and house cleaning....
I took a bunch of photos while walking with Bentley in Menotomy Rocks park yesterday, and this was my favorite:
Show us something you hold dear.
Submitted by Cindercone.
... of the duck kind.
The park and pond were very still today. Strangely, the ducks all silently glided over to stare at Bentley and me, the only non-duck visitors at the time. It was almost creepy; first one came, then another, and another, and another, and they just kept on coming.
As you can see, Bentley stared back. He was quiet for a minute or two, and then started to get freaked out by it, and began to growl.
It only snowed for a couple of hours, and only lightly at that, but it was enough that Bentley really did get his first snow experience! He ate some, of course, and romped in it a bit, and it collected all along his long long back. Once inside again, he ran around the house, full of exhilaration!
