New Caney Flyball Tournament

Last Sunday was pretty exciting -- I got to go to a flyball tournament! No, I wasn't IN it -- I'm still learning. C and I drove to New Caney to the Albert Sallas Showbarn to check it out. If you've never seen flyball before you should take a peek at this link so you semi-know what's goin' on. Basically it's a relay race between two teams of very fast dogs!

Here's the two lanes with dogs racing to the boxes to grab the balls. Figures C didn't get any in-focus pictures of dogs in action -- why would you want to do that at a flyball tournament?? ;-D Hope she can find that camera manual she's been lookin' for!

You sure can tell these dogs are really hustlin'! Yeah, those blurs are dogs!

Here's two dogs I know on the Texas Twisters team, Bullet and Fiona, gettin' ready to run. Bullet's sayin' "Kick butt, Fiona!" She usually does!

Fiona and Tang are rarin' ta go! Looks like Mack gets the last word though.

Katie's another F.F. on the Texas Twisters team. (fast female!)

Breezy understands hand signals! Not only an athlete but knows a different language!

Shorty waitin' for his race, or maybe it's a heat, to start. Short dogs are really important 'cause they set the height of the hurdle for the shortest dog. Shorty's short and enthusiastic, and he's stylin' a cool halter!

Next up, Willie in front and Tigger in back. Willie's a labradoodle, and he's a start dog. While we were there, he had a perfect start, which means when he passed the start sensor dealie, it said .000. Everyone started cheering and clapping -- I thought a celebrity dog had just come in!

So Willie's a hero, but they give the tee shirt to Kelly, his human. Wouldn't ya know it! But hey, the humans work hard too.

Sometimes they strategize....

...and other times they just kick back and socialize (between races of course). I saw a lotta food on a table and I managed to get a few licks of spilled oatmeal! Wish I coulda copped a cupcake!

The dogs get to kick back too. Here's Tang and LJ (they're roommates) takin' a break.

And here's where I spent most of the flyball tournament -- apartment 1B of Mike's dog condo! You can feel sorry for me if ya want, but I also got to watch some races and walk around on the leash and get treats and pets, so it wasn't total incarceration.

Congratulations to all of the Texas Twisters! Woof woof! XXX Sparky

Sparky's Holiday Weekend

Hey you guys, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I did -- not that anyone offered me any turkey! But we had company and it's always fun to have new people to jump on and to pet me.

So this post was supposed to be "Cool People That Went to the Art Crawl," but apparently not that many cool people went to the Art Crawl. Or at least not many of 'em e mailed me their picture with the painting of me. I do have two to share, thanks to C, and then I'll just have to wing it for the rest of the post. Not a problem! I'm a guy who thinks on his four feet! I'll just tell ya what's going on with me today!

So besides M, this is probably the coolest guy at the Art Crawl! You probably know Daddy Dawg himself, John Runnels! (If ya don't, ya weren't payin' attention to my last post!)

And, here's my little sweetie Ann Marie, the coolest female at the Art Crawl besides C! Well, that's it for the cool people at the Art Crawl! Let's get on to what's up with me!

I didn't have a big day planned today. Tomorrow I have flyball practice, but today I'm just workin' on a few projects around the house. This is a big gourd that Martin bought and put on the front porch, with another gourd and a pumpkin, for some kinda "holiday decor." Huh? I don't get it. But I did discover last week, when I ate the other one, that gourds are pretty tasty! Nothing you'd want to eat too quickly -- it lasted me about a week -- and now I'm workin' on the second one.

Here's a closer look. Not bad! I'm thinkin' of goin' vegan. But don't tell the vegans about that bone behind the gourd!

Here's somethin' else I'm workin' on -- my latest stick pile. I love sticks! I like to chase 'em; chew 'em; collect' em. I like to make piles outside the kitchen door. Seems like whenever I get a good pile goin', the whole pile disappears and I hafta start all over again. I don't mind -- I enjoy the work!

Oh well, now here's something that caught me by surprise and made my day! M went to Petco and bought me a new squeaky!!! This one's a rabbit!

I could hardly wait to grab it but I was expected to show my good manners.

But finally it was mine, all mine!

I'll share with anyone who's willing to play tug-a-war, my favorite game!

Then it's time to take it to my chewing platform and get to work on removing the squeakers. I told ya before, I love the squeaking! But I have an irresistible urge to rip them out of there as soon as I can! I may be a little obsessive...

So this cat Llano thinks my chewing platform is called a "cat's scratching post." She's delusional! Look at her -- she's eaten up with jealousy over my new squeaky!

So that's what's up with me! Thanksgiving weekend is a great time to have fun with your friends or family, so woof woof to you and yours!

XXX Sparky

Sparky's Art Crawl Preview

Hi guys! Guess what? I'm gonna be in the Art Crawl!!! Well, not me actually, but a painting of me is in the Art Crawl! Is that cool or what?

Whoa!!! Did I just hear someone say "what's an art crawl??" Wow -- get out much?? The Art Crawl is tomorrow -- Saturday -- and it' s like the most fun arty event ever -- or so I hear. I'm not invited. It's for humans. I'll be chewin' on a bone, guarding our house.

Here's the official Art Crawl blather: "Since 1992, the tradition of the artists 'open studios' takes place on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Visitors have the opportunity to pARTicipate in the live/work/show spaces of these neighborhood 'urban pioneers.' The mission of the ARTCRAWL is to assist the public in understanding contemporary art by directly involving the visitors in a dialogue with local artists in the Artists Warehouse District of downtown Houston." Hey, you might also find some food or somethin' ta drink, meet some friends, and have some fun!

The coolest place on the art crawl, and the one with my picture, is MotherDog Studios. Pretty cool name, huh? About time they had a show with some dogs! That's MotherDog herself, Charlie Sartwelle on the left, and the co-founder of MotherDog, John Runnels -- Daddy Dawg -- on the right. These guys couldn't be any more hip unless they owned a pet treats bakery!

So the artists that live/work/show at MotherDog will be there, but as an extra treat you can also see the invitational show "Raining Cats and Dogs." Here's the invitation to that -- consider yourself invited! The only thing better than a show with cats and dogs would be a show with dogs called "No Cats Allowed!" What's up with lettin' the cats in anyway??

Here's a partial map of the Art Crawl, but if were you I'd go over to artcrawlhouston.com and print out your own map. And if you've never driven around the warehouse district before, ya better bring your compass, some more maps, any other navigational tools ya got lyin' around, and maybe a weapon. Or so I hear! Kidding! I'm kidding! About the weapon that is.

So ta-da!!! Here's a painting of me! A watercolor, actually. Yeah, there's a human in there too; that's C, she painted it. I think it's a great painting! The only thing that could improve it is maybe if it was just me by myself? But whatever...she's the artist. M has a painting in the show too -- he painted it on the computer! It's good, but, well... I'm not in it.

So go to the Art Crawl -- you'll have a blast! Go to Mother Dog and have someone take a picture of you with my picture, and then e mail it to me at sparkyreid@earthlink.net Next week I'm gonna write a post called "Cool people that went to the Art Crawl" and you'll be in it! Till then -- woof woof!

Halloween Photo Shoot

So it's Halloween and nothin's goin' on around here. No party, no celebrating, no bones. No little kid is gonna walk down our long scary driveway for a bag of M&Ms, especially with me on border patrol! So M and C got this stupid idea -- let's take pictures of Sparky in costumes for his blog! Cripes! Number one -- costumes are for little wimpy dogs; I call 'em yappers! Number two -- they didn't even get me a real costume, ya know, somethin' cool like Superman or Darth Vader. Just used bits and pieces of old costumes, adding insult to injury. But hey -- I'll work for treats. So wanna see how that all went down?

A skeleton is a decent costume. It's scary and black and white, just like me. This is not a costume -- it's just a freakin' mask!

I like to wear a mask the same way I wear a hat -- between my teeth!

Actually I was informed that this hat is a true piece of Texas folk art, made by Billy Ray Gipson of Conroe. Whatever. Don't worry -- the damage was minimal.

Anyone know where I left my purple pumps?

Beldar Conesnout -- I don't think so!

Oh yeah -- a ghost. Now there's an original idea! Let's go all out -- spare no expense!

I like to wear it this way, ballgown style. Don't get me wrong -- I don't cross dress. In fact I usually don't dress at all.

Anyone ready for some salsa? Flamenco? Merengue?

Hey -- don't laugh! I'm a darn good dancer, and I gotta flair for that Latin style!

What am I -- Little White Riding Hood??

I'd rather be the Big Bad Wolf!

Now this hat is cool -- who knows who I'm impersonating here?

You gotta be kidding!!! Angel wings? Now this is the ultimate humiliation!

Treats or no treats, it's time I took control here!

Yeah!!! Here's how I like to wear angel wings! Let's play "try and get the angel wings away from Sparky!"

Again, minimal damage. Jamie can still wear these some Halloween when she's feeling angelic. Or not. Whatever.

And another thing. Can you believe how last minute this blog is? A Halloween blog on Halloween? So much for the big build-up! But Happy Halloween everyone, woof woof!