UrbanGrounds

Texas Democrat Law Maker Wants to Tax the State’s Dog Owners

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 10:42 am 3 Responses »

Feb 112011

At our Great Dane meet up at one of Austin's leash-free dog parks

Stupid Idea of the Day comes from State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio):

[McClendon] has introduced a bill that would require any Texan who owns a male dog which weighs 20 pounds or more and is not neutered to have an insurance policy covering injuries or damage caused by that dog when it is off the leash or out of the dog’s yard, 1200 WOAI’s Michael Board reports.

This is nothing more than a new tax on Texas dog owners and another political money grab. Am I little biased? Yeah…we have two male dogs that weigh 120 lbs and 160 lbs apiece. Now, granted, both of our dogs are neutered, so would not, I presume be affected by this new tax on dog owners.

Oh wait…it would:

…under McClendon’s bill, a person would have to buy insurance before taking their dog to a dog park.

Austin has at least 12 leash free dog parks that are used by almost every single dog owner in Austin on a pretty regular basis (my guestimate, based on keen observation, is that approximately 92% of all Austinites own a dog). Which means we’d all have to buy this mandatory insurance for our pooches — even the little 4 lb, spayed female lap dogs that were supposedly exempt from the “over 20-lb, un-neutered male dog” category.

The main reason this is such a stupid idea is because we already have laws in place to punish dog owners whose dogs hurt other dogs/animals or people, or that destroy property. If someone’s dog attacks and injures my dog, I can already legally seek damages against that owner.

We don’t need more laws that are simply disguised taxes.

__________

UPDATE: Bryan Preston adds:

There are at least two things wrong with this. One, Texans like our dogs. And two, Texans increasingly don’t like our Democrats. Force us to choose between the two, and we’re happy to.

The (not so) Daily Dog: Snowpocalypse 2011!

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 8:30 am 3 Responses »

Feb 042011

Dammit, Jackie, don't eat the yellow snow...

It’s been below freezing for a longer period of time here in the ATX than I can ever remember. Typically, if we have temps that dip below 32 degrees, it’s typically at night/early morning, but then the temp rises to above freezing at some point during the same day.

Well, the last time it was above freezing here was on Tuesday. But, up until last night around midnight, it had been completely dry and extremely windy.

We didn’t get much snow…just a dusting, really. But with the streets being frigid from the last several days of freezing temps, that means that it stuck to the streets:

It's hard to tell from this picture, but hill down our street is steep enough to make you (and your car) slide all the way to the bottom)

So, most of Austin is closed down today — which is fine with us.

Looking for a spot to do her morning business

And, a little later, around 12:45, after most of the snow melted:

Our giant puppy next to our dwarf snowman

Great Dane Saves Little Girl from Attack in Chicago

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 11:12 am 5 Responses »

Jan 252011

Several people have sent me this story over the last couple of weeks:

Scooby the Great Dane and Larry Smith the crook

Scooby the Great Dane and Larry Smith the thug: My money is on Scooby

Great Dane rescues little girl:

A man walking his Great Dane, Scooby, rescued a 14-year-old girl who was being attacked in the Logan Square neighborhood Thursday afternoon and then held the attacker at bay until police arrived.

The alleged attacker, Larry E. Smith, 28, of the 3700 block of South Wells, was ordered held on $200,000 bond on Friday.

The attack happened at 4:44 p.m. in the 2800 block of North Whipple Street, according to Shakespeare District police Capt. Marc Buslik.

The girl had just gotten off the Diversey Avenue bus and was walking home when she noticed a man beginning to follow her, police said. Smith allegedly ran towards the girl and lunged at her as she ran up a set of stairs to her building, authorities said.

“He grabbed her and threw her to the ground,’’ Buslik said.

The building’s owner said Friday afternoon she heard the girl scream, and saw the man try to kiss her, before he ran away when confronted by the neighbor and his dog.

The neighbor “is very brave,” the building owner said.

The man and his dog cornered Smith in an alley and held him until police arrived, authorities said. The girl was not seriously injured.

Smith was charged with one count of attempted criminal sexual assault.

Smith has three drug felony convictions and was convicted in 2009 of public indecency for which he spent nine days in Cook County Jail, authorities said.

There is a common stereotype about black people and their fear of large dogs. As the owner of Great Danes, I can tell you that this stereotype is grounded in some truth, based on my experiences of having our dogs out in public. So I can also imagine how easily it would be for one of these giant Danes to back somebody into a corner and keep them at bay.

Not many people want to tangle with a 160+ lb giant dog with jaws designed to snap the neck of a wild boar.

Also, I can attest to the amazing guard dog/protection dog that these magnificent animals are. I have little doubt what our dogs would do to someone who either 1) broke into our home, or 2) tried to hurt either one of us. They would be shredded. I can’t even pretend fight or wrestle with my lovely wife without our Dane getting between us and trying to protect her from even me…

I often times joke with my wife that if someone breaks into our house at night while we’re home, they will never even see our giant black Dane lunging through the dark at their jugular vein. But they’ll hear ‘em coming. And I’ll have enough time while our dogs are chewing and gnawing on the burglar to pick out exactly which .45 ACP cartridge that I’m planning on putting center mass to stop the threat. Maybe polish the casing for a few minutes first while I listen to the screams of agony from the would-be crook. Then I’d saunter out, call of the dogs, and terminally end the threat who has made the poor decision to invade my home.

The (not so) Daily Dog: Yawning

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 8:50 pm 2 Responses »

Jan 212011

I’ve been busy all afternoon putting up our new OTA antenna on our roof (a fairly steep-sloped roof that drops off about 45′ to the backyard below). I still have a little wiring left to do (tomorrow), but for now, I’m pulling in 20 HD channels over-the-air (for FREE), and we couldn’t be happier about our decision to cut cable television out of our lives).

With that said, I haven’t had time for any blogging today, so here are a few pics of Jersey instead:

A big 'ol Jersey yawn, tongue-a-flopping

Jersey and his mamma...another big 'ol Jersey yawn...

And one where I finally got him to shut his mouth:

A face only a mother could love

The (not so) Daily Dog: It’s a Dog’s Life

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 11:50 am 5 Responses »

Jan 092011

The lovely missus is out of town visiting my mother (yes, my wife is that awesome). So I’m home babysitting dogs.

Yesterday was a perfectly gorgeous sunny Austin winter day — we hit nearly 70 degrees, so I took the boys down to Town Lake on Auditorium Shores to play with the other dogs and to swim in the lake:

Otis and Jersey taking a dip in chilly Town Lake...errr...Lake Lady Bird, or whatever they call it now...

We spent about 3 hours there…quite a few other large Great Danes for Jersey to play with, while Otis simply wanted to play with everybody.

Fast forward to this morning — the cold front and rain came through last night, which means that today is the perfect day to lay around and watch a little NFL football:

Jersey using Otis' butt for a pillow

The (not so) Daily Dog: Happy Birthday, Jersey

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 12:02 pm 12 Responses »

Jan 062011

Today is our puppy Jersey’s 2nd birthday:

Happy 2nd birthday to our little puppy

Though at nearly 36″ tall (at the shoulders) and 162 lbs, he’s hardly a puppy any more. Compared to the 8 week old puppy we brought home nearly two years ago:

Jersey at 8 weeks with his big brother Angus (RIP)

Pit Bull Attack Stopped by CHL Holder in San Antonio

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 11:51 am 7 Responses »

Jan 062011

Natural born (and bred) killers

Just another sweet, would-never-hurt-a-fly family pet pit bull. Mauling (nearly to death) an innocent San Antonio woman who made the mistake of walking down the same street where this dangerous animal was running free.

The attack happened around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in the 900 block of North Zarzamora. Police said a pit bull attacked the 58-year-old woman as she was walking along Zarzamora.

Thankfully for the unidentified woman a responsible citizen (how do I know he was responsible? he has a CHL license) witnessed the attack and pulled out his handgun and shot the dog to save the woman’s life.

A man who police said is a local business owner and has a concealed handgun permit was driving to work when he spotted the attack and pulled over. The man pulled a gun and shot the dog several times.

Police told News 4 WOAI the woman was bit several times on her head, neck, and face. She was taken by EMS to Santa Rosa Hospital. Her condition is not known.

The dog was picked up by Animal Care Services. Investigators are now trying to determine who owns the dog.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were discussing this story — one of the DJs made the case that this was “exactly why all responsible citizens should have a CHL license.” Except that the man was driving his car, which means that he did not have to have a CHL in order to carry a concealed weapon in his vehicle. Though, it appears that the dog was not killed by the gun shot, which means that the owner needs to get a bigger caliber — I now my .45 ACP would have left a fatal hole in that canine’s corpse.

Also, as soon as the DJ opened up the lines to callers, I knew before the first person started talking that the pit bull apologists would be tearing down the phone lines to regurgitate the “pit bulls are awesome and friendly” meme, and that there are no “bad pit bulls, only bad pit bull owners.”

I wasn’t let down.

The DJs also discussed what should happen to the owner of this dog if/when they are found. one of the more outraged DJs suggested 10 years in prison. Now…not even I agree with that for this case. But I do believe that pit bull owners should be severely and harshly punished when their dogs maul people. I think at least 1 year in jail and a $15K-20K fine would be appropriate. Much longer if there is a death or a child is mauled. And longer yet if there is a provable history of negligence on the owner’s part.

The (Not So) Daily Dog: R.I.P to My Best Friend, Angus

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 7:51 am 26 Responses »

Nov 222010

UPDATED to add this video of my good buddy that I’d forgotten I had taken (back when he was 17 months old):

For those who’ve been reading here for awhile, you know that I occasionally post a feature I call The (not so) Daily Dog.

Angus posing at the edge of the waterfall behind our house.

R.I.P Angus: April 24, 2007 - November, 22 2010

Well, it’s with the heaviest of hearts that I sadly write that the leader of our dog pack, Angus, was put to rest about 1:00 a.m. this morning after being diagnosed with bloat (with volvulus). I held his giant head in my arms and lap while the Veterinarian administered the lethal overdose.My wife and I both cried as his eyes darkened and he took his last quiet breath.

Angus the Greatest Great Dane of them all

This is how I'll always remember his expressive face --- he seemed to always have at least one ear flipped back and a look of anticipation on his face

I know with children you’re not supposed to admit you love or like one of your kids more than any of the others — but Angus was the true leader of our other dogs (Jersey, Otis, and Jackie), and he was easily my favorite. Of all of our dogs, he was mine. We had such a special bond — he was my dog, and he made it abundantly clear through his constant leaning on me and constant presence at my side that I was his person.

Just a boy and his dog

Angus (left) and his two brothers on their favorite couch

Angus and Otis --- another one of my favorite pics of Angus' beautiful face

He was a magnificent beast — majestic, powerful, graceful, exceptionally athletic. He had a nose for the hunt, too. Countless hours spent hiking and running the greenbelts together with Angus, and he was always on the trail of a deer, rabbit, wild pig to chase down. I’ll never forget his crazed addiction with the squirrels in the trees who tormented him from just out of his considerable reach. His conformation was near-perfect, as was his temperament. Even amongst other Great Danes, Angus stood out. He was truly one of the most beautiful dogs I’ve ever seen. Great Danes are a royal breed — but even amongst other Danes, Angus stood apart. He knew he was special, and other dogs knew it about him too.

Our big black boy (Goose, as we affectionately called him) would have been 4 in April. He’ll be forever missed, and leaves a hole in our family bigger than the giant heart that beat through that giant dog. Other than my lovely wife, Angus was the greatest joy in my life.

Rest in peace, buddy.

Angus' shadow in the creek behind our house

The (not so) Daily Dog: Perfect Day for a Nap Outside

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 1:16 pm 4 Responses »

Oct 032010

Walked out onto the back deck, and looked down and saw Angus (our 3.5 year old Great Dane) laying down in the grass in the backyard underneath our Texas longhorn sign:

Such a tough life...

If you’re familiar at all with Great Danes, you know that they’re not “outdoor” dogs. Don’t get me wrong, they love to go outside to run, play, swim, and hunt. But at home they’re usually amongst the most pampered of pups, not well suited to living outdoors.

But the weather is so perfect out here in the Texas Hill Country today that Angus couldn’t help himself and just had to go outside to take a little roll in the grass.

Such a pretty dog...

The (not so) Daily Dog: Blowing Spit Bubbles

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 6:56 pm 3 Responses »

Oct 022010

Jersey, our almost-2-year old Great Dane puppy (if being 160 lbs can still be called a puppy) was passed out on the office floor this morning after a strenuous day of tree shopping with me and the missus (a new Lacebark Elm and a Monterey Oak are now planted in the backyard.

Last I checked on him, he had this huge spit bubble just dangling from his lip while he dreamed of chasing squirrels out behind the house:

Jersey the bubble blowing black Great Dane

The (Not So) Daily Dog: Hill Country Rain Storm

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 6:45 pm 10 Responses »

Jul 262010

We really needed some rain out here in the hills west of Austin, and this evening we got it in Biblical amounts in a very short time. It ended just in time to take the dogs out back to play in the wet weather creek right behind the house:

Jersey inspecting the waterfall that wasn't there earlier this afternoon

This little waterfall cascades about 8′ into a shallow pool right behind our house (about 30′ from our back property line):

Angus stops to pose for a picture

I couldn’t get Otis to hold still long enough for a picture — old guy was running around a like a puppy playing in the creek and water holes.

We hiked up the canyon a bit but turned back before we got to the bigger falls (~15′ tall) because it was starting to rain again:

Looking back down the canyon at our house

And from the back porch, a brilliant evening rainbow:

The view from our back porch

Can’t see it in this picture, but there was a double rainbow (another rainbow above this one) — simply spectacular. Which is why we love living out in the hill country so much.

Dog vs. Vuvuzela!

Posted by no2liberals at 9:01 am 5 Responses »

Jun 272010

This round goes to the happy hound.

GOOD DOG!

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