Category Archives: News

All in a Dog Day’s Work

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Apparently, a cash/drug dog sniffed out $140000 in a suitcase outbound from Perth International. The unlucky “owner” of the cash is facing some serious charges and possibly jail time.

So far, Darwin has sniffed out for his owner:

1. One rotten duck egg

2. A dead fruit bat

3. Last week’s chicken wing, which was kept for “just in case” moments in a hole under a cherry tree

4. The visitor who had already been in the house for 15 minutes (Darwin was busy sniffing out some unidentified odour in the back yard)

5. An old sock (Darwin’s owner suspects this was planted by Darwin after he had finished playing with it; the sock has been missing for a bout 6 months).

Darwin feels that his contributions over the course of a lifetime will be of more utility than a mere $140000.

Darwin sniffing Darwin at Clifton Gardens 20150131_133625

 

Happy New Sheep/Ram/Lamb

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Happy New Year to all those who are in touch with the Lunar Calendar. For the Chinese, it is the year of the “some animal with hooves and horns”. The translation is apparently a big hard to get across, but Sheep, Goats and Rams are all acceptable.

Sorry, Bedlington Terriers, no matter how hard they try to look sheepish, are not in the running.

Boutchie_apres_championnat_004

“Boutchie apres championnat 004″ by David Owsiany – http://bedlingtonduberry.free.fr/topic2/page32.html. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s one of our park regulars trying to look like a Bedlington:

terriers

 

The next Year of The Dog will be in 2018. Hang in there guys.


					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Charlie has arrived
			

										

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We welcomed Charlie and his mother, Bella, to the Allen Street Dog Park, for the first time this weekend. Darwin was the only dog around at first to greet them and they really enjoyed running around and sniffing at the park


Darwin and Charlie Park 1


Darwin and Bella Park 1


Darwin and Charlie Park 4


When some other dogs started to arrive, Bella and Charlie became anxious. Bella in particular worried about Charlie meeting the larger dogs.


Bella and Charlie in Park


However, with some persistence from everyone (dogs and owners) Bella relaxed a bit. Charlie also got the idea and, with Darwin keeping an eye on the situation, was chasing and playing with even the big dogs in no time.


Darwin among dogs


So the day ended on a good note. Charlie (and Bella) will need to come to the park quite a bit more to learn socialization skills with other dogs. In particular, Charlie hasn’t met Hendrix yet.


Hendrix 2


Darwin thinks that this is a good warning that most dogs want and in fact need to get out and about to meet other dogs. Otherwise, they can be fine with people but will stress when interacting with their own furry kind.

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Waiting for the change
			

										

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20150124_100936


It is 1:30 pm and a hint of the front that will Bring the change Is just appearing with the wind picking up and some clouds on the horizon.  Next week is expected to be wet and about 10 degrees cooler than this week.


Screenshot_2015-01-25-13-29-04


Darwin doesn’t mind either way, as long as park time continues. His owner is dreaming of snow and the Arctic.

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Beagle found on Mars
			

										

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News companies around the world are wild with excitement over the discovery of a Beagle on Mars. But it’s not the furry, food-loving, wet-nosed variety that Darwin knows. Rather, it is  the Beagle 2, a Mars probe sent to the Red Planet in 2003. A collaboration between British scientists and the European Space Agency, the probe’s name honours Charles Darwin’s ship.


"Beagle 2 replica" by user:geni - Photo by user:geni. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beagle_2_replica.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beagle_2_replica.jpg
“Beagle 2 replica” by user:geni – Photo by user:geni. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beagle_2_replica.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beagle_2_replica.jpg


Unfortunately,  the Beagle 2 did not have successful landing. Contact was never established after the probe set down on Mars and the mission, like almost half of all Mars missions to date, appeared to be a failure. What happened to the probe was much speculated upon.


from: http://www.freakingnews.com/funny-pictures/beagle-pictures.asp
from: http://www.freakingnews.com/funny-pictures/beagle-pictures.asp


It took another Mars mission, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with a high-resolution camera,  to solve the mystery.  Beagle 2 had actually safely touched down, but probably did not deploy one of its 4 solar panels properly.  Because the radio antenna sat behind this panel, it never could make contact with earth.


Nonetheless, some believe the probe has continued gathering and storing data.  If this data could be retrieved,  it would be invaluable.  Unfortunately,  the nearest help is almost 2900 km away (and is not even a mechanic). The NASA rover Curiosity is still active, trundling around on the Mars surface at a maximum speed of 4 cm per second. Even if NASA deigned to send the Curiosity forth, it would take more than 2 years to reach the Beagle 2.


NASA_Mars_Rover


Darwin thinks it is better to just let sleeping dogs lie. Knowing how Darwin is in the morning, we concur with him.


Darwin Canberra with Coat 2014z zzzzz