Zoorasia

Yesterday I took the children in my class on their final field trip, to a zoo in Yokohama called Zoorasia. A lot of zoos in Japan are a pitiful site and made me upset. Zoorasia however is a zoo set in what seems like a huge botanical garden and where the animals are in enclosures that are more naturalistic settings. Not many of the animals are caged. This zoo is dedicated to the display and preservation of endangered species. The rain held off and everyone had a good day. I'm sure Jazz and Dixie could smell some of the animals on me as when I got home I got a very good sniffing over.

School Days

I haven't posted pictures from Jazz and Dixie's school days for a while so here's a collection from their last three weeks at school. The Jack Russel, Ingo is a staff dog that Jazz and Dixie get on really well with.

Another Great Dog Run!

Last week was Jazz's Birthday and we had to postpone her special outing to today. We were starting to worry that we may need to postpone it again as rain was forcast for the day but we went ahead anyway. Instead of rain we had a fine sunny morning and found a great new dog run about an hour out of Tokyo, called Dog Garden. It was green, spacious and had plenty of shade and water. Jazz and Dixie were so excited they ran around like crazy. There were not that many other dogs there but Jazz and Dixie did play around with a beagle, shiba, dachs mix. Of course we brought Jazz's ball and she retrieved that many times. The girls also did some jumps, Dixie with a little coaxing and Jazz just for the fun of it. We will definately be going back to that dog run. It will be ok to use in the summer too as there are a lot of trees around and nice green grass.

Jazz did her commando crawl a lot as the cool grass must have felt nice on her tummy and Dixie did her usuall jumping up on things such as benches, tables and rocks. We had a great morning and beat the rain back home.

Giveaways, New Harnesses, Sun Lizards and a Trip to the Vet!

Its been another busy week! With only two more weeks left of school there are a lot of things to do! Thanks for the Birthday wishes for Jazz - she had a great day and the postponed car trip is set for tomorrow but may have to be to an indoor dog run as rain is forcast.

On Sunday in the park there was a dog event with trainers, a talk show, photographers, the Komazawa Dog Run Supporters Group and people giving away samples. We got a goody bag with treats and poop bags. We have never tried the Science Diet treats but Jazz and Dixie seemed to like them a lot.

I also bought Jazz and Dixie new harnesses this week as walking has become a little difficult lately with both of them pulling in different directions. With the new harnesses they are back to walking pretty much together and at a good pace. Jazz still lies down everytime we meet other doggies in the park.

Its really starting to heat up here. We got a taste of summer today with a 28.5 degree day today. Even so Jazz and Dixie still enjoy their mornings after walks lying in the sun.

Today I took the girls to the vet to get their heartworm tablets and their Frontline. I have been meaning to get Jazz and Dixie microchipped for a long time so today I thought was the day. I almost backed out though when I saw how thick the needle was! Poor sensitive Jazz really yelped and squirmed but Dixie just stood there and took it. Both girls got treats after that!!

Jazz's 5th Birthday

Today we are celebrating Jazz's 5th Birthday! Wow 5 years old already! Originally we had planned to rent a car and take her somewhere special today but that has be postponed to next week. Instead I gave Jazz (and of course Dixie) cake for breakfast on the balcony in the sun. She
also got some new toys which she was very posessive of. Later we will go on a special walk. Looking back on my last post I realised that I have posted since Dixie's Birthday! Over the last two weeks I have been madly writing reports and having Parent Teacher Conferences so there was no time to blog or visit everyone's blog so I will try to catch up on what everyone is doing over the weekend.

A New Dog Run, Dixie's 2nd B'day and a Flower Show

Yesterday was Dixie's 2nd Birthday (Children's Day in Japan) and day 1 of our little getaway. We went to the mountains to a dog friendly hotel in Karuizawa, Nagano. Before going to the hotel we took Jazz and Dixie to a dog run that was part of a farm center, complete with cows, goats, horses and chickens. They ran around and had fun rolling in the lush green grass before the rain set in. We went over to introduce J and D to some of the farm animals, most of which Dixie has never seen and all of which both Jazz and Dixie were a little scared of! After that we headed to our hotel in heavy holiday traffic and rain but made it and were welcomed warmly by the manager. After a run in the hotel's dog run in the fog and drizzle we went back to our room to celebrate Dixie's 2nd Birthday with cakes and a little present for the birthday girl. Of course she shared both the cake and her new glove toy with her big sister, Jazz. I can't believe Dixie is already 2 and Jazz will be 5 in two weeks!

This morning after a very fine Japanese breakfast we checked out and let the girls have their last run in the dog run before setting off. On the way back to Tokyo we stopped in Takasaki City which was having a flower show in the parks and gardens so we got out to take a walk around the beautiful gardens with Jazz and Dixie. We all had a great time, a special thanks to the driver!

I also posted some pics on my Holidays in Japan blog.

Flower Watch

Komazawa Park looks wonderful at the moment with all the new green leaves, wisteria and azaleas. I took these pics while on our morning walks this week and only had my mobile phone so the quality is not very good. There is always something blooming in the park which is one of the reasons I love this park so much.