Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 18, 2012

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

10

 Mountain Views-News Saturday August 18, 2012 

If you are a dog owner in Sierra Madre or 
in one of the other foothill communities, 
you are most likely among the many locals 
who’ve become quite concerned about how 
to protect their pets from harm in the heat, 
and keep a good healthy exercise regimen 
for them at the same time. We all want to 
do what it takes to keep our four legged 
furry friends cool during the summer 
months, but at the same time we don’t want 
them becoming calorie-collecting canine 
couch potatoes due to lack of exercise. A 
client of mine told me about a creative and 
fantastically fun way she chose to beat the 
heat with one of her pups last weekend, and 
I immediately thought her story was worth 
sharing.

When I first moved to California in the 
early eighties, I lived in the Redondo & 
Hermosa Beach communities. I have happy 
memories of playing fetch in the sand, 
and swimming and wading through the 
breakers with “Lady”, my dog at the time, 
followed by leisurely walks on the strand in 
the late afternoon cool ocean breezes. Back 
then, in the South Bay, there were a couple 
of areas where you could get away with 
having a dog on the beach, so I took full 
advantage of that privilege, particularly on a 
hot summer day. Living in the foothills now, 
I truly treasure those memories, because the 
distance and drive make going to the beach 
less convenient, and finding a beach that 
will allow dogs is not as easy as it used to be. 
However, there are still a few canine-kind 
beaches out there, and when you find them 
it is definitely worth the drive, if it means 
helping keep you and your canine cool.

Sierra Madre residents, Mike Bieber and 
Jennifer Cichocki, are pleased to be the 
proud owners of three delightful and 
absolutely gorgeous dogs named “Sid”, 
“Gunner” and “Elijah”. Their 3 beloved 
’boys’ sure got lucky when they found a 
home where they are treated with the utmost 
respect and unconditional love that they 
indeed deserve, and for that they are very 
grateful dogs. I enjoy spending time with 
Mike and Jennifer’s dogs when they need 
me for walks or visits, and I consider it an 
honor to call them my canine companions. 
Some readers might remember a story I 
wrote in this column several months ago, 
about ‘Sid doing the twist‘. Well, while I 
am still very impressed with Sid’s dancing 
talents and techniques, I recently learned 
this precious pointer/pit mix is an agile 
athlete both on and off the dance floor! In 
fact, as it turns out, 

Sid is a rather impressive paddle-boarder! 
That’s right, Sid is one cool canine whose 
balancing act on a board is potentially more 
impressive than that of some humans you 
might see on the surf. And, what better way 
for a canine to keep it cool than by hanging 
out with his favorite humans, taking a dip 
in the refreshing ocean water and strutting 
his stuff in front of the other doggy dudes & 
dudettes at the beach?

When I heard about Jennifer & Sid’s 
weekend water excursion in San Diego, 
it prompted me to look into dog-friendly 
water sports in hopes of sharing a few fresh 
ideas on ways to help pet owners avoid 
the heat with their dogs while ensuring 
that they are still getting the exercise they 
need. Apparently one of the most popular 
water sports for canines is dock diving 
which I find quite fascinating, but to me the 
most impressive canine water sport is dog 
surfing! I had heard about it before, and had 
seen a few dogs known to be skilled surfers 
on Animal Planet, one of which appeared 
on a float in this year’s Tournament of 
Roses Parade! However, I had no idea how 
popular dog surfing had become until I 
saw a video on Youtube of an annual dog 
surfing event designed to benefit animal 
adoption and education programs, and I 
must say even if didn’t help place animals 
in loving homes, I would still be in absolute 
awe of those darling dogs riding it in on the 
waves with their surfboards! Anyone who 
likes dogs and enjoys a good laugh should 
see the surfing video entitled ‘Best of 2010 
Helen Woodward Surf Dog Surfing Contest’ 
posted by user: SoCalBeachesMagazine. 
After seeing that video, I guarantee you 
will want to attend the next event with 
your own cool canine. This year’s contest 
will be held on September 9th from 8:00 am 
- 2:00 pm at Del Mar Dog Beach. For more 
information, visit animalcenter.org.

There are lots of other ways to keep it cool 
with your canine right here at home, too. 
Backyard doggie pool and sprinkler parties 
are a great alternative for beating the heat 
if you are not up to taking a drive to the 
beach. Whichever method you choose 
to keep your canine cool, remember to 
enjoy the time you have together. Take 
good care of your pets, give them lots of 
love and respect, and I guarantee they will 
reciprocate in more ways than you expect!


KEEP IT COOL WITH YOUR CANINE


Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

Jennifer and Sid keeping it cool in San Diego


PET OF THE WEEK: STAN Animal ID #A4469967

Meet a handsome and intelligent gentleman, Stan (A4469967). Stan is a magnificent three 
year old brown male purebred Boxer who was found in 
La Puente on August 1st and brought to the Baldwin 
Park Animal Care Center. Weighing fifty-five impressive 
pounds, Stan walks obediently on the leash, sits on 
command and is generally well-behaved. A very playful 
boy, Stan is friendly with people and other dogs and we 
think he is the ideal playmate for kids. A handsome 
example of the Boxer breed, Stan will be a fantastic 
indoor pet for an active individual or family living in a 
private home. To watch a video of Stan please visit: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=qMhGVfUENhA

To meet Stan in person, please see him at the Baldwin 
Park Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, Baldwin Park, CA 
91706 (Phone: 626-430-2378 or 626-962-3577). He is 
currently available now. For any inquiries about Stand, 
please reference his animal ID number: A4469967. The 
shelter is open seven days a week, 12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-
Sunday. This is a high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. 

For more information about Stan or the adoption process, contact United Hope for Animals 
Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at samanthasayon@gmail.com or 661-309-
2674. To learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the Baldwin Park 
Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, 
and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.org/
about-us/shelter-support-program/. 


SPORTS


The Baseball Reliquary & Burbank Public Library Present

SUMMER OF ’68: THE SEASON THAT CHANGED BASEBALL—
AND AMERICA—FOREVER Discussion and book signing with Tim Wendel

 In conjunction with the exhibition, “Bad Moon Rising: Baseball and the Summer 
of ‘68” (currently on view through September 27, 2012 at the Burbank Central 
Library), the Baseball Reliquary and Burbank Public Library present a discussion 
and book signing with Tim Wendel, author of Summer of ’68: The Season That 
Changed Baseball—and America—Forever, on Thursday, August 23, at 7:00 p.m., 
at the Burbank Central Library Auditorium, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, 
California. Wendel will also narrate a PowerPoint presentation of images from the 
book.

 Published in 2012 by Da Capo Press, Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed 
Baseball—and America—Forever chronicles the extraordinary baseball season of 
1968, played out against the backdrop of one of the most divisive years in American 
history, marked by national tragedy and sweeping change. In the book’s preface, 
Wendel writes, “In 1968, the gods were angry. It’s been called ‘the year that rocked 
the world,’ and it rarely showed any mercy. How else to describe a single year 
in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by an assassin’s bullet and weeks 
later Robert Kennedy met the same fate? In which riots broke out in the streets in 
cities across the country, and millions gathered to protest the issues surrounding 
the Vietnam War and civil rights, often to be met with resistance and in some 
cases brutality. In which everything boiled over late that summer in the streets 
of Chicago. Thanks to television, our world in 1968 was shrink-wrapped forever. 
We were able to view all this on a nightly basis, with much of it cued up for instant 
replay. Seemingly overnight we had become Marshall McLuhan’s ‘global village,’ 
and what we saw was that things everywhere were unraveling, being pulled apart at 
the seams, often with unbearable force.”

 While much has been written about the impact of this traumatic year on politics, music, and culture, what has often 
been overlooked is the pivotal role that sports, and particularly baseball, played as both an important diversion and 
as a catalyst for change and healing. Wendel’s book examines how ballplayers responded to the upheaval in 1968, 
often in surprising ways. In Detroit, for instance, the Tigers put together a World Championship season in the 
aftermath of one of the deadliest riots in American history. “We quickly learned that if we could pull together as a 
team – that meant everybody, blacks and whites – perhaps we could set an example for the rest of the city,” Tigers’ 
outfielder Willie Horton said. “There was a lot more riding on that ’68 season for us, for the city, than just wins and 
losses.”

 Tim Wendel is the author of nine books, including High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable 
Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time, which was an Editor’s Selection by the New York Times Book Review. His 
writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Weekend, Washingtonian, National Geographic 
Traveler, Huffington Post, GQ, and Esquire. 

 Wendel teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins University, where he received the 2009 Award for Teaching Excellence and the Professional Achievement Award 
in 2004 and 2010. He is a Walter E. Dakin Fellow and Tennessee Williams Scholar to the Sewanee Writing Conference, and a Pen/Faulkner visiting writer to the Washington, D.C. Public 
Schools. He received his Master’s in writing from Johns Hopkins and a Bachelor’s in magazine journalism from Syracuse University. Born in Philadelphia, Wendel was raised in Lockport, 
New York. One of his first jobs was writing music reviews for the Buffalo Courier-Express. Since then he’s worked on both coasts and in between, covering everything from the Olympics to 
politics to the America’s Cup. Wendel lives in Vienna, Virginia with his wife and their two children.

 For further information, contact the Baseball Reliquary by phone at (626) 791-7647 or by e-mail at terymar@earthlink.net. For directions or parking information, phone the Burbank 
Central Library at (818) 238-5600 during library hours.

 The program is free of charge and is made possible, in part, by a grant to the Baseball Reliquary from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County 
Arts Commission. 

 Thursday, August 23, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

 Burbank Central Library Auditorium 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California

 (626) 791-7647 or terymar@earthlink.net


Author Tim Wendel