Thursday, September 09, 2010

Labour Day Weekend Day 1

This Labour Day long weekend also happened to be the PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) weekend. PAX is a giant video and computer game festival produced by the guys behind the popular online comic Penny Arcade.


The convention took place at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle.


D-Guy had been dreaming and twitching in his dreams about this event for the longest time so there was no way he was missing it. He also, very nicely bought mum a ticket too because he knew how much mum loved video games!! (mum: uh huh...)

So, mum and the D-Guy decided to take a trip down to Seattle with ME (and STINKY unfortunately). This was my misfortune-ed face,


Look at how much room STINKY took up in the DaleMOBILE.... I barely had any space for a good nap,


To make things worse, he kept on KICKING ME! Watch out for the B*TCH if you get into MY pawsonal space!


Did you notice how pearly white my pearly whites were?

(mum: as Sunshade gets older, she's less and less tolerant of dogs in her personal space especially in a small/confined space. She especially does not like it if a dog touches her. I think that's the dominant nature in her as not wanting to be dominated. She's completely fine with people in her space though, which is a very good thing!)

There was a long wait at the border, the line up ended up on the street. STINKY kept on farting in the car, so D-Guy decided to walk us alongside the DaleMOBILE.


Then we (mum & me & STINKY) slept for the next 2.5 hours (Thank you D-Guy). We drove straight to PAX and dropped D-Guy off so he could enter his tournaments. (mum: it was like dropping a kid at a candy store where my existence became non-existent!)

Mum said since STINKY and I had been stuck in the DaleMOBILE for the longest time ever, she'd take us to a highly recommended park nearby.


We arrived at Warren G. Magnuson Park,


I waited for my pawsonal elevator to finish taking pictures so I can be escalated down to the ground,


This way, follow me please,


Entrance to the off-leash area,


I was let off-leash first because I wasn't acting like a bucking bronco at the sight of other dogs. I was the PERFECT ME, of course,


I stood around to see what I could do, but honestly, I was a little taken back by the stinky pee/poo smell,


A GIANT 6 months old German Shepherd stinky came to say HI to me but I pretended he didn't exist, (mum: stinky = puppy)


He checked out my MUSCLE BUTT, I still pretended he didn't exist,


He took a LOOOOOOONG time checking out my MUSCLE BUTT (I mean, who wouldn't?), so I took a sneak peak at him,


(mum: if there is one breed of dog that Miss Confident is intimidated by, it is the German Shepherd. She was charged and attacked by a huge male German Shepherd about 5 years ago. The Shepherd broke its lead when another dog (Sunshade) came in sight. He came charging up to Sunshade and went for her neck. What happened next was quite astonishing.

Sunshade for whatever reason, did not try to run (a good thing), did not try to fight (which I thought she would have done to defend herself). She just stood there very still with her head looking away (no eye contact, another good thing) while keeping her tail high up in the air, with a slight vibration. For those of you who are familiar with Terriers in general, tail straight up in the air with slight vibration means they are very "serious" aka "don't mess with me" mode. The impact from the German Shepherd hitting Sunshade's neck made her stumble a few steps, but she quickly regained her footing and continued to stand there unfazed.

I don't know if it was the "lack of reaction" from Sunshade that confused the German Sherpherd, but he backed off after that initial impact where his mouth went around Sunshade's neck. He started circling Sunshade from about 5 feet away, with his tail between his legs. Finally, the owner came running (and yelling). The German Shepherd proceeded to taking off further down the path, away from the owner. I went up to see if Sunshade was ok as she was still standing very still. Other than a little bit of slobber on top of her neck, she was fine. She did give out a huge sigh of relief.

Ever since then, everytime she meets a German Sherpherd, her tail would always be up very high, but she would always look away to not create any eye contact. It's like she wants to appear confident, but also wants to think that they don't exist... LOL.

You may have notice in the pictures above, Sunshade had a little rock in front of her. Normally, she would be guarding that rock if a dog came up that close to her for that long period of time like the pictured Shepherd did. However, she does not guard against Shepherds, no growling, no nothing. She waits them out instead.)


Finally, he finished checking out my MUSCLE BUTT and left me alone,


Look at the bootiful rockie I found,


The word spread faster than I thought. Before I knew it, dogs were coming from all directions to check out the Queen of MUSCLE BUTTS! That dog at the top of the picture was asking STINKY for my number.


Thank doG STINKY hasn't memorized my entire 10 digit phone number yet, he's only got down the area code.

Out of no where, a pine cone flew in front of my face. I caught it of course and saved my face. I wonder who sent me such a lovely pressie, since I love pine cones!


(mum: Sunshade really didn't want to walk because of the smell. She kept trying to turn around towards the exit whenever I walked toward her. So I had to keep coming up with ways (ie, rocks, pine cones) to coax her to walk with us. Not to mention, Jaffa was already quite a distance away mingling.)


The bridge is clean, I think I'll just stand here and wait 'til you roll out the red carpet,


Evil-mum kept walking away, she MADE ME WALK ON PEE AND POO! (mum: I had a second child to tend to!!)


(mum: Yes, she kept hanging back hoping that I would turn around and we could get out of there. I tried to bribe her with treats, and she REFUSED them!! Sunshade saying NO to food right now with Atypical Cushings???? Unheard of.

Sunshade has always disliked dog urine/feces smell. However, as she gets older, she seems to be even more sensitive. Her needs of wanting to play and explore seem to have taken a backseat to her sensitivity. Magnuson park is a very nice park, but due to the high volume of dogs that come through there everyday, you do from time to time get a whiff of ammonia and fermented ummm.. meat. She LOVES it when I take her to places where dogs are NOT permitted.... LOL!)


Y-U-K-E! Ok, I walked another 20 steps, can we go now? See that pee stain to my right (your left)?


Evil woman just kept walking because her "other" child, the one with ADHJD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Jaw Disorder) was having an episode and there were victims, (mum: No! Jaffa just wiped slobber all over someone who tried to pet him lol.)


So I had no choice but to follow her, (mum: Sunshade is so good that way. I never have to worry about her running away or going with anyone else.)


Finally, mum got her ADHJD child away from his victims and brought him back. How many dogs do you see here? I see a black dog and STINKY and nodoggie else!


(mum: there's a Shepherd as well LOL!)

STINKY ran off again, leaving me and mum behind,


But then he came back and told me he needed my help because "two of the same same dog" (I quote) was chasing him,


So I was like fine.... I'll help you out... can't have any member of MY SuperPACK being picked on. Here I was, going with STINKY,


(mum: Although Sunshade is the top dog and does boss Jaffa around at home, she will protect Jaffa when we're out. She used to be very protective when he was younger, now that he has matured, she seems to be more relaxed.)


Once I got there, I talked to one of the two German Wire Hair Pointer gentlemen (we're at the back talking). Told him that they shouldn't pick on special needs kids, even if they were indeed extremely ANNOYING. They seemed to understand and stopped,


After that matter was settled, STINKY ran off again,


He then came back and told me there was "water to play play in" (I quote) ahead. Water = clean = no stinky pee/poo smell! So I sped up,


I couldn't wait to get to the water to get some fresh aire,


Ohh, I see the gate! STINKY was already up there,


He opened the gate for me. This kid is finally learning some manners,


I walked through the opened gate, but forgot to hold the gate open for STINKY. OOPS! Oh well!


(mum: It was a push-open gate. Jaffa jumped against the gate and opened the gate enough for one to get through. Of course, Sunshade took the opportunity and walked through!)


Being the caring, considerate aunt that I am, I thought I would open the second gate for him since he opened the first one for me,


Making my way towards the water, yes, that's STINKY up ahead,


Excuse me ladies, coming through,


FINALLY! (please ignore the wild thing in the back ground)


Clean water!!


I found a special rockie right away. It was kind of small, but I had it in my SuperMOUF,


Here, let me show you my special rockie,


Don't worry, I didn't swallow it since mum doesn't want more rockies,


Mum and I played our rockie game,


While STINKY went wild, he's behind that black dog,


Our rockie game went like this:

Mum picked out rockies and show them to me,


She asked me if I was ready, and I told her YES in gazillion different ways. Actually, either by staring or by barking. I chose to stare in this particular case as I had already had a special rockie in my mouf.


She threw the rockies and I ran after the splashes,


I trotted back and forth in water waiting for new splashes to be formed!



I took a break with my special rockie beside my SuperPAW. That was the biggest rockie I could find in all that pebble,


STINKY got bored of playing by the water, so he went and waited by the gate. Mum and I followed, (since when did he dictate where and how long we walk for? GEEZUS!)


Before leaving, I thought I'd leave my SuperMARK behind,


On my way back to mum, I ALMOST STEPPED IN POOOOOO!! That's my "almost step in poo" face,


Can someone please open the gate for us??? I really need to get out, I almost stepped in poo......


I realized we were heading back towards the exit, so I walked enthusiastically (almost STINKY speed!),


I was even in the mood for some TREATS!!


(mum: this girl's mood and her actions are totally dependent on what her "head" is telling her. If she thinks "the ground is gross", then you can't get that out of her head no matter what. Of course, she will begin to act accordingly. If she thinks "YES! We are getting out of this smelly place soon!", then she acts all happy and energetic. She'll even begin to sniff and explore the place knowing that we're getting out of there.)


I saw a hole that I had missed on my way in, so I checked it out thoroughly with my SuperNOSE,


Continuing toward the exit!!!


I can see the exit!!!


Hurrying over! STINKY was ahead because he was going to meet more dogs that were just coming in.


Ahhhh...finally, the gate to fresh aire....!


I couldn't wait to get out of there, look at me puuuuullllll!!!


I took mum and STINKY toward our parking lot,


But before that, I had some very important matter to take care of...

FILL MY TUMMY PLEASE!



I'm still kinda hungry mum.....


Fill my tummy AGAIN!


By the time we got to the DaleMOBILE, look who was all pooped out, who was all energetic!! (mum: camera ran out of battery, iphone quality photos from now on.)


We had some water, and got situated in the DaleMOBILE,


Mum wasn't sure if D-Guy was done his tournament yet (since he *ahem* ignored all her calls and text msgs), so she decided to drive us back to PAX. On the way there, mum stopped at QFC grocery store and got us some din din! Pack of 5 chicken drum sticks, pack of 2 hooooge meaty beef ribs, and a pack of 3 marrow bones. (mum: snacks for the next few days as I already brought their raw patties with us.)


Mum found a cool underground parkade around the Trade Center, and she parked there. She gave me and STINKY each a drum stick before leaving the car to file a missing person report.


(mum: she meant to say to look for Derek... but yea... BTW, another reason to get iPhone4. It has built in flash for the camera, so your pictures won't look like the one above when taken in the dark. Picture taken by a 3GS.)

When mum got into the convention center, she was stopped at the door,


The electronic sign said "badges REQUIRED for entry into all events". Well, since the badges needed to be picked up at the door, D-Guy had picked up both badges when he went earlier. So mum didn't have one. Mum called and text-ed D-Guy and well, got no responses back again. She waited and waited, and then she decided to strike a deal with the door man. She told him that she'd give him her car key so she could go up and get the badge because D-Guy was ignoring her. She told him that if she didn't bring the badge down to show him, then he could have her car (she forgot to mention about what comes with the car...). He thought about it and said why not!

There were many mini games going on,


Mum located the tournament that D-Guy's entered in,


She located D-Guy,


Got her pass (and car key back),


And got the GO AWAY face from D-Guy!!


To make a long night short, D-Guy won his tournament and won A BUNCH (more) OF MAGIC CARRRRRRDS..! (mum: yay...)


When they got back to the DaleMOBILE, I had a surprise for them!!!

I left the pack of 3 marrow bones UNTOUCHED!!!! So much self control, can you believe it???


(mum: I didn't take any pictures because at that moment, I felt like such a stupid, failed, airehead of an owner.... I thought I had taken all the precautions necessary to prevent Miss Piggy from getting into any of the stuff I had just bought. Since I didn't feel like hauling a bag of meat into PAX, I came up what I thought was a smart solution. I wrapped the left over 3 chicken drum sticks, the pack of 2 beef ribs and the pack of 3 marrow bones in plastic bag, then I put that entire bag into Derek's duffel bag and zippered it up. She had never opened zippers before. Then I moved the duffel bag to the foot area of the front passenger seat. On top of that, I placed the 2.5 gallon water container I had just bought on top of the duffel bag. I thought sure enough the water would be too heavy to move, and even if she moved it, she wouldn't be able to open the zipper, so double protection!

WRONG.....

When I came back, the duffel bag had been unzipped, and the entire bag of chicken/ribs/bones were in the back of the car. The left over plates from the drum sticks/ribs were scattered in the back, the pack of 3 marrow bones were just sitting there. She must have gotten too full, that's 4 drum sticks all together plus 2 huge ribs. Yes, Sunshade got them all, I'm sure of it. When food is involved, Jaffa has no chance. She looked like she was in a coma... LOL...)



We checked into our hotel suite - Larkspur Landing in Bellevue,


I led the way,


And we waited for D-Guy for the key,


This was the kitchen area,


Bathroom behind me, bedroom behind STINKY,


Living room area. Please excuse my state in this picture, I was feeling a little umm... heavy. Mum and D-Guy bought Korean take out to eat. I wanted to beg, but I um... couldn't get myself up to do it,


(mum: that was the first time in a LONG time that she did not beg for food during meal time.)


Today was a great day, and now I am sleeping on a full stomach. Hope you've all had a great weekend! Please check back for Day 2 of our Labour Day Weekend Trip!

You can read STINKY's version of his day on his stinky blog..... (was made to write that)

14 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

Wow! What a great day you had, Sunshade, even with the pee-poo smell! We are so glad that nasty GSD didn't hurt you 5 years ago!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Gus said...

Sushade, you are a GOOD DOG. I would have chewed right through that Duffle bag. (and I've done it before!) Now we always have a hard plastic cooler box with a locking top in the Gussiemobile, just in case.

Teka Toy

Jake of Florida said...

Thanks for the amazing reporting, Sunshade. We felt as though we were there -- and Mom remembers just what it was like to share the Dalemobile with you!!!

Wirey woofs,

Jake and Just Harry

the many Bs said...

wow, you really had an exciting day. we love love love love all of those yummy foodables that your mum got for you. our human buys us those kinds of things too, but we never had a drumstick before. now she's getting ideas.

woofs.

Lacy said...

w00fs, what a nice trippie u all had...mayb u can train jodee, she likes to eat cat poop...mama and daddy fuss at hers all the time for that...her a bad girlie...

b safe,
~rocky~

brooke said...

I always felt that Magnusun was a lot stinkier than other dog parks. Im not a huge fan of going there... the water area is great, but it's so small and always so crowded it loses it's appeal. Plus the park mostly has ball dogs and Darwin isn't into fetch, she likes to play with other dogs and most ball dogs only focus on their ball and don't like other dogs in their space.
Yikes about that German Shepherd 5 years ago! How scary! I hope that owner has learned to control their dog more... that could have been a really bad situation.
Oh and we got the little window sign (I sent your mom an email, but thought we should thank YOU personally) and we love it! Where did you find it? I hardly ever see Great Dane stuff.. it's usually always labs, retrievers, small dogs.
Can't wait to see how the rest of your weekend was!

violett said...

Hello sunshade,
I have liked your long picture story very well. I see that your one wonderful excursion had.
Lots of love
Mischka

My Dog Sam - Ruptured Disk said...

Wow, I think that your mum is the best. She takes you and sometimes Stinky just about everywhere. I don't think that your mum is "stoopid", I just think that your mum sometimes underestimates your ability to be extremely adept and creative in getting what you want (food). So I think that maybe mum and D-guy will need to buy a streamline roof-rack mounted travel compartment for the DaleMobile. Oops now that you know about that, maybe mum and D-guy will need to carry the food in their backpacks.

Jemma Chihuahua said...

That is so funny that you don't like to walk around when there is pee and poop smell, Sunshade. But we're glad there was water so you could finally enjoy yourself!

You are sooo smart for being able to get the foodies from under a heavy water bottle AND unzip the duffel!

Love,
Jemma

ellen said...

I love the tours of the northwest.
Sunshade, when are you and your (not) evil mum going to write a book?
xoxox,
ellen

George The Lad said...

Thanks for showing us your day, I'm looking forward to day 2.
You sure have a good nose on you to find the food, mind you I can see it dosen't help if you can smell pee/poo so well!!!
See Yea George xxx

Sherry said...

So sorry we couldn't get together that weekend but glad you had a good time at least some of the time!
Alanis & Miro (and no puppies coming here--Mom says two are plenty to handle)

Lorenza said...

Sunshade!
Every post you make I learn more things about you!
I loved that picture of you telling Jaffa to no bother you!
And all those doggies checking your ... butt! hmmmm....
Good job with that bag! Ooops!
I will be back to see more about your trip!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Peppy Sheppys said...

Miss Sunshade,

Magnuson Park was WALLY'S PARK when he lived in Seattle and he went there almost every day with his sissy Morgan. I bet he even left you some pee mail! We are glad to see you have so much funs!

Sheps w/Pep, Otis & Edgrr.