Keeley met an Irish Terrier named Lucy

As long as dogs are allowed, we take Keeley with us everywhere we go. He often visits Muttland Meadows, Runway Dog Park, Lake Park, and the Menomonee River Parkway. He's been all over Milwaukee. He's made several trips up to Madison. He even went up to Nova Scotia last year. But he's never met another Irish Terrier. That changed today when he met Lucy, a 3 year old Irish Terrier at Runway. They looked so cute together! He also met Lucy's cousin, Eszti, a 2 year old Viszla. The 3 of them seem well matched since they are all about the same size and all have great temperments. And it was very exciting (for Keeley's people) to finally meet another Irish Terrier.

one pathetic squirrel

Keeley's favorite kind of toys are stuffed animals. Up until now, he's never distroyed one. Well, I've retired one or two in the past, when they got ripped while playing tug-o-war with Ryan. But I blame Ryan for that because Keeley is always nice to them on his own. Anyhow, we got Keeley this big-eyed squirrel because we thought the big eyes would speak to him and well, I guess they did, just not in the way I thought they would. This toy got taken away today because the one eye is about to fall out.

What's this?!

Keeley is so funny when he discovers something that he never noticed before. Earlier this summer it was moths. Boy, he sure thought those were cool and he brought 2 into the house to play with. He still likes to chase the occasional butterfly around the yard, but hasn't caught one of those yet. Next it was fireflies, but their season must be over now because we haven't seen many of those lately. Then it was worms. In fact, he brought 4 worms into the house this past week alone. Today he discovered grasshoppers and crickets. I sure hope he doesn't bring any of those into the house. The moths were bad enough but I sure don't want any crickets chirping away inside the house.

happy that it's finally stopped raining

Keeley does not care for rainy weather and he really dislikes thunderstorms. So he's very happy today that it's not raining since it's been raining all week long.
Looks like I had better mow the lawn!

Freshly Groomed

Keeley got a haircut today. His people went to Irish Fest without him and all they bought him was a bandana.

Irish Dog Irish Music

We were surprised to find there was a free concert of Irish music in the parkway during Keeley's evening walk. Keeley was fascinated by it. Instead of turning at the bridge, Keeley decided that he wanted to go check it out. He got to meet a lot of kids with the same hair color as him. And he got to meet a couple of dogs too.
Keeley is so used to being the center of attention, that he couldn't understand why all the full-sized humans were all standing with their backs to him and why they didn't seem at all interested in meeting him. I tried to explain to him that they were watching the stage but I don't think he got it.

Washington Bark Dog Day

Today Keeley got to go to Washington Bark Dog Day at Washington Park. He tried his paw at painting, attempted the lure course (but was a little too distracted by everything else going on), got a lot of goodies to sample, and met a lot of dogs. Even though it was very hot out, he had a great time.

Romare visits

Today Keeley got a visit from his best buddy, Romare, the giant airedale. First we met up with Romare and his parents at the dog park and then all went back to our house. Keeley and Romare had a blast together as usual. They play together like they're brothers, rough-housing and play wrestling each other. Whenever one of them is peaceful for a second, the other one has to come over and instigate. They're always sad when it's time to part.

Keeley found a toad at the parkway

While Keeley was marking a tree, he noticed something move. It was a toad! This was something new that Keeley had never seen before. Keeley would hit it with his paw and the toad would hop. So he would hit it again and the toad would hop again. This went on for several hops. Then Keeley tried to pick up the toad in his mouth, at which point the dad (Keeley's grandpa)stepped in. He picked up the toad and threw it into the river. It's a good thing that the dad was there. I didn't think there was anything wrong with letting Keeley have the toad so I would have let it continue. The dad said that he didn't think it was a good idea because toads excrete toxins. So I looked it up and this is what I found on www.doctordog.com:
"Toad Poisoning - Since all toads have a bad taste, dogs who mouth them slobber, spit and drool. In southern states a tropical toad (Bujo marinus) secretes a potent toxin that appears to affect the heart and circulation of dogs, bringing on death in as short a time as fifteen minutes. Symptoms in dogs depend upon the toxicity of the toad and the amount of poison absorbed. Signs vary from merely slobbering to convulsions and death. Treatment: Flush your dog's mouth out with a garden hose and attempt to induce vomiting. Be prepared to administer artificial respiration."
So I have to give the dad credit for this one. He made the right call. Thanks to the dad, Keeley never did get the toad into his mouth and enjoyed the rest of his evening walk toadfree.

Nutrition

Keeley eats a variety of foods. For the main part of his diet, he gets 4 to 5 medallions of Nature’s Variety Raw with Prozyme added to it. His favorite kind of raw is Lamb. His least favorite is Venison. He also eats 2 Kongs filled with Nature’s Variety Instinct grain-free kibble with Nordic Naturals Omega-3 fish oil added to it. He loves this kibble so much that we can even use single pieces as rewards when training. Keeley gets table scraps at dinnertime too. His favorite human food is pizza.

For occasional treats, Keeley gets stuff like Zuke’s Hip Action, Robbie Dawg Biscuits, Yummy Chummies, Honey Crunchers and Carob Waffers from The Colorado Barkery. Keeley also snacks on raw vegetables like carrots, broccoli, and snap peas. Dad often cooks up some liver for him too.

When Keeley needs something to chew on, he gets frozen raw bones, or Flossies, Whizzers, and Beef Puffs by Merrick. Sometimes he’ll take a rawhide but it’s not his favorite thing.

Keeley is also taking Glyco-Flex II (a bone & joint supplement) since his foot is still healing. And a table spoon of pumpkin each day helps to keep him regular.