There are many, many off-leash dog parks in the Seattle Metro/King County area, which, of course, means endless hours of joy for local pups.  Our favorite off-leash area is in Marymoor Park and offers 40 acres of adventures for every sort of dog.  The water dogs congregate at one of the five watering holes, which are a series of steps leading down to what I believe is the Sammamish River.  The rough and tumble pack dogs find themselves in one of two large open areas, where the dogs romp and roll about sizing each other up for who is top dog.  The hunter gatherers tend to be out in the tall grass chasing down tennis balls and Frisbees that their owners patiently toss for them all afternoon.  And, finally there is the group of dogs who are pretty much oblivious to the other dogs in the park, preferring to stroll leisurely smelling every little thing that catches their fancy.  That, of course, would be our dog.  As much as we want to see him frolicking with his canine brethren, he prefers to walk to the beat of a different doggie drum.  It's still, however, his favorite place on earth; a doggie-Disneyland if you will.  And speaking of Off-Leash culture there is also at play certain behaviors among the human packs keeping their best friends company.  But, I will save that for another post.

b.

I'm looking for anyone who can read Japanese to help me make some sense out of this website:  Beetle Calcium

I found it a little over a year ago and keep meaning to figure out how I can order this outfit in particular, because my dog can't get enough of being put in stupid outfits.  See Exhibits A & B below.

So if you can make either hide or hair out of this please let me know, and I'll be sure to send you a photo of Willy in his space suit!

b.

One of the BEST dog lovers magazines out there is BARK , after I buy a new issue I literally skip home with anticipation.  The writing is brilliant and the photgraphs frame worthy.  Definitely on my top ten list of best magazines ever (but that's for another post on another day).  In the latest issue, there was a advert for a website,  Dogster: For the Love of Dog.  If you are familiar with Friendster, it's the same concept but for jet setting-pups rather than humans. 

The first thing that struck me when I arrived the site was "how the heck did I miss this?!".  I mean this site was made for obsessed dog owners like me, and had been around long enough for me to notice.  Always better to be late to a good party than to not attend, I made a page for Willie and got started finding him some puppy pals. 

The second thing that struck me was the pool of talent that founded the site.  After scrolling to the bottom I also noticed in the "thank you" section a shout out to Howard Rheingold .  I had the pleasure to meet him a couple of years ago in a small group setting.  He spent a couple of hours with us talking about social computing and the unique nature of virtual communites.  Oh yah and he wore his painted shoes. 

b.