Whippet Snippets

Whippet-o-latern

Presto - This year's pumpkin. Presenting the whippet-o-latern. Racing through Halloween at the speed of hound.

And tomorrow - Ribsy will don his Seabiscuit costume to hand out treats to all the little witches and Borats who come by his quaint little home.

Camo Ribsy

So it's no secret that Girl loves her hometown, and one of the big reasons why is all the consumerism! She doesn't just splurge on herself, though. Part of the fun is finding stuff in Vancouver that you can't get in small towns like Victoria. She was searching high and low for a camouflage collar and leash set for Ribsy, and lo and behold in the Tisol Pet Supermarket on Main Street, she found the perfect match - and all for under $25 bucks.

Next on the wish list? A oil-treated, warm, pratical yet delightfully stylish reflective raincoat from the fashion hounds at Wagwear. The owner at Barking Babies swears that this jacket is ideal for whippets.

Were you at Wag'o Ween?

Ribsy's got a bark-out to all the attendees of Saturday's Wagoween event at Market Square. He was happy to report to Girl on Sunday that he won the Costume contest!
Yes, his Seabiscuit ensemble managed to dazzle the judges enough to earn him - along with the other winner (a pug in a lobster and pot costume) - a gift certificate to Woofles and a basket of yummy treats, including an orange-glazed cat and pig-ear sausage links. Unfortunately his handler, his grandma Linda, was unable to capture any photos from the event. And Ribsy really wants to show Boy and Girl how well he did disguied as a race horse, standing and balancing with a saddle, jockey, hankerchief, and Doggles on.

Is there anyone out there with photos from the event?

Woof - thanks, Ribsy

Ribsy's Halloween, Part III

So Halloween is just around the corner. And what would a whippet do without a costume? Why, shiver! Of course there are plenty of bad dog costumes out there - and Ribsy's already been an airplane - not once, but twice. He even caught the attention of the local paper with that sophomore effort.

So this year he's moving away from the aviation theme and onto a more natural one. His costume will be unveiled at this weekend's WereWoofles Wag'oween event at Market Square.

In the meantime, Boy's got his costume and Girl's frantically trying to think up of one for herself. Well, she actually has two costumes, but neither of them really have that killer factor. Other tasks - carve a whippet-0-latern pumpkin and buying more candy. Just incase.

Bods and Babes

Here's Boy about to be educated, fascinated, and slightly squeamish over the specimens that is the controversial Body Worlds 3 exhibit at Science World - which they caught last weekend during their quick pit stop in Vancouver. No photography was allowed inside, but as the brochure reminded Boy, Girl and friend: eyes and genitals remained; a section of the exhibition highlighted prenatal development, and included embryos and fetuses at various phases of development. Highlights included a walking tour of body parts gone wrong, a brain with all the nerve pathways dissected, and a very touching piece called The Juxtaposed Couple, with a boy and girl intertwined (sliced, spliced and cored however).

Speaking of bodies, they also saw the newest one in Castle Welwynstein, little Gabby!Ensconsed in a snazzy tie dye blue sling for most of the evening, the cuteness gurgled, cried and cooed to the delight and fascination of her house guests. While noshing on tasty vegetarian fare from The Foundation, the 'rents and the visitors discovered how eerily similar they are starting to look like. Four-eyed bald guys and slinged-out Asian sisters - hey! They could be a pair of Doublemint Twins for Halloween. Or maybe dust off an old costume from years past? 

Wedding Pack plans

Ribsy's been on and off again. He's having mixed feelings about this whole Boy-meets-Girl and Boy-and-Girl go away to get hitched kind of thing. On one paw, it means that they will be spending the rest of their lives together as a tightly-knit pack. On the other paw, it means that Boy and Girl will be leaving Ribsy for the longest time ever. It's like, the Japan 2004 and Japan 2005 trips put together.

You may be wondering too what Boy and Girl will be doing over in Hobbit-land for their wedding. Ribsy sniffed around and dug out some Wedding Pack planning details.

Here's the Church of the Good Shepherd, where it's all going to go down. This tiny stone church is located in Lake Tekapo on the South Island, by the edge of a glacier-fed, brilliantly turquoise lake.

Here's an example of our photographer's work. Fortunately she lives in Lake Tekapo, so she'll be able to capture Boy and Girl from all the right angles.

And no, Girl will not be wearing a traditional wedding dress. Forget satin and lace, long train, updo's and all that bother! Over the weekend she found the perfect dress (this is her fourth attempt at securing a perfect wedding dress). After discarding previous attempts with Mel en Stel, J. Crew and Calvin Klein, she has gone Canadian with her choice of a Dagg & Stacey dress. Now comes the teeny tiny matter of shoes...

And the wedding bouquet flower choice? The simple gerbera, which will match Boy's equally simply wedding attire - short-sleeved dress shirt, linen shorts, and leather flip flops.

A lovely dinner at Missy's Kitchen in nearby Lake Wanaka awaits after the wedding. Too bad it's too late by then to indulge in some snowboarding at nearby Cardrona or Treble Cone.

And what happens after the wedding? A stay at this lovely stone cottage in Wanaka, followed by an epic shower-free camping trip in the Spaceship camper! Places to be explored include the black stilt bird sanctuary, penguin colonies, jet-boating, the NZ fighter pilot's museum, the art deco architecture of Napier, noshing Bambi burgers, kayaking in Abel Tasman, and digging up hot springs at Hot Water Beach.

And of course, the final homecoming to an eagerly awaiting skinny dog and the beginning of the forever Pack.

Hound for the cure

  Ribsy was a fantastic supporter during Girl's participation in this morning's Run for the Cure event at the university. He started off by donning the t-shirt (this also helped to keep him warm in the rapidly dropping temperatures heralding the start of autumn). However, he couldn't keep it on during the event, as a size Medium draped too low and dragged on the ground.

 

Many other dogs were at the event, cheering on their people. There was even a scrappy little dog that was spray-pinked in head-to-tail pink. Plus another whippet named Cougar. And oh boy! Two Italian greyhounds - Abba the brown girl and Max the blue boy - stole Boy's attention and has him eagerly thinking about getting an IG pup.

Ribsy poked his nose in jealousy. There can only be one Boy's dog around here, keeping an eye out for those rascally university rabbits!