Valentine's Day goes to the dogs

For Valentine's Day, I had been made aware via a Roanoke Times article on Thursday that - by and large - we Americans would be spending a good bit less on V-Day gifts this year due to a sluggish economy: roughly, $100 each, down from $125 last year. This was a little surprising, I have to say, since even in a good year I wouldn't spend $100 on just a gift (excluding activities).

Apparently, my wife was of the same mind because my gift from her only cost us gas to get to the Salem Civic Center for the AKC Agility, Obedience, and Rally Trials.

I had no idea they were going on, but I enjoy working with our own dogs on the agility equipment I got for Christmas.

We went in the morning and stayed 'til about 1pm, enjoying the two sections of trials amid perhaps 200 other spectators. On one side were larger dogs, with amateur and smaller dogs on the other. Having a bird's eye view of the process gave me tons of ideas for training my girls, as well as reinforced some intuitive steps I was already taking.

The crowds were more vocal and supportive than during the daytime trials of the annual horse show, which may speak to the tightness of dog-training circles or it could be that making too much hoopla while around skittish horses is a faux pas.

There were all manner of trainers: quite young to much older, most in workout garb so they could run alongside their dogs and not slow them down. Some were totally serious where others praised their dogs no matter how well they did or what facets of the complex course they might have tripped up on.

Inspired by the event and my recent (and successful) training sessions with my mutts, my wife and I are going to join the next class of the Star City Canine Training Club.

Despite a slightly pricey (but very good) Valentine lunch at Abuelo's thereafter, followed by a fun night of good conversation over a shrimp pot with friends, we managed to keep this Valentine's Day under budget, full of fun, and with plenty of the most important element: time together.

The Roanoke Rush

During an inevitable and long put-off trip to Wally World, I discover that dog food is still missing in any significant quantity, forcing my to buy a paltry 17 pound bag for my 45 pound dog.

As you might imagine, this is the aftermath of the mad rush to stock up on anything from bread to milk to dog food whenever inclement weather threatens like it did late last week.

Friends and co-workers alike knew of and acknowledge the indefatigable routine of Salemites and Roanokers stocking up like it's the Armageddon when a day or two of ice or snow looms, and yet they still likewise acknowledge the need to "pick a few things up" despite the rush.

I spent a few winters in Montana where maybe such a habit is justified, but Roanoke? A friend of mine who works at Atlas Cold Storage (which supplies frozen goods to Kroger's) tells me how business there booms whenever weather predictions turn gray, like some pre-cognition of winter storms if anyone missed the weather update on the way to work.

Now, this might have some historical context, like maybe back in 1903 Roanokers faced a giant winter storm for which they failed to prepare, resulting in dozens of unfortunate souls sealed in their homes without a spot of food or wood to burn.

That or some likened story might have been the catalyst for this mysterious hoarding instinct (and if so, I'd love to hear about it), but otherwise, it's a little odd from bird's eye view.