There is nothing better than spending the weekend on the back of a horse but unfortunately I live in town and don't have the extra money to have a horse of my own. However, I am lucky to have a best friend (Rebecca) with a Tennessee Walker who boards her horse at a wonderful lady's farm. The lady has always said that I could take out whatever one of her horses I wanted to but I have always chosen Tucker (as seen in the photos) even though they both told me he could be a bit of a bugger. Sure enough Tucker would try to pull crap with me - turning around to head back to the barn when we were heading out, refusing to turn, or stopping to eat (he's always hungry lol) ... just little stuff to prove that he was the boss. It got to the point where I was about to give up on him- the constant power struggles were beginning to take the fun out of riding- so you can imagine how surprised I was this year when he was the perfect gentleman with me. I haven't had any problems with him (knock on wood that it continues).

As you can see in the pictures I am so comfortable with him I have begun to mess around on him. The picture of me standing on him was to prove a point... ok, and also to show off a little in front of a bunch of good looking guys. One of the guys asked how I didn't fall off when riding (I ride bareback all the time) and I said it was because Tucker is so big its like sitting on a couch. There isn't a picture but I also stood up on one foot. The next challenge will be to stand up while he's walking...

My sister has already reminded me to book the weekend of June 13th off so I can attend Woofstock again this year in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Last year was my first year attending and it was a beautiful sunny day for it. We got off the subway at Union Station (I think) and went to the street level... the first thing I saw was crowds of people and hundreds of dogs all walking around the streets (which were blocked off to traffic). Then I noticed the booths selling everything dog related you can think of - collars and clothes, tents and beds, food and flavored water (Dinglehopper liked the beef flavor the best)... and then there was the great big pool set up for dock diving competitions! It was just a huge dog lover meeting in the streets - I had a great time and can't wait to see what its like this year.

For those of you who don't know what Woofstock is or for those who want to know what is going on for this year - check out their website - www.woofstock.ca/ini.html

My sister's dog Dinglehopper is getting more attention- this time appearing on the website "One Bark at a Time: An amateur's notes on giving voice to abandoned dogs "  see onebarkatatime.blogspot.com/2009/03/pjs-...

Dingle also now has his own blog spot "The Life of Dinglehopper the Pomeranian" - see dinglehopperthepomeranian.blogspot.com/

I'm really proud of my sister for doing her part in raising awareness on Pet Stores and Puppymills.

I just wanted to shout out a thank you to the Toronto Humane Society (THS) for adding a link to the Marketplace website regarding the 'how not to buy a puppy' segment that was aired on March 6, 2009. This will really help spread the word- Thank You!!!

Did anyone happen to watch the CBC program 'Marketplace' last night??? If so you saw my sister Michelle and her pomeranian Dinglehopper :) My sister was one of those "oh its a cute puppy, and its from a petstore so it must be ok" type people until she bought Dingle from PJ's Pets in Toronto, Ontario.  Long story short, Dingle was actually from a puppymill in Missouri, USA and was shipped across the country to be sold in Toronto, Canada. My sister has spent over $10,000 in vet bills to get Dingle healthy, and now at age 3 he is slowly going blind. If you didn't watch the show last night you should check out the website www.cbc.ca/marketplace/20... and watch it. Great info... not to mention you get to see how cute Dinglehopper is!

For more information on Dinglehopper, check out the website my sister made for him www.freewebs.com/michelle...