Mike and Chowda

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome back to another edition of the Dog Park Chronicle.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Okay, I'm here at the Dog Park with Mike. Mike is a uh Florida resident who comes up to uh Cape Cod in the summertime, and Mike brings with him his dog Chowder. Uh Mike, tell us a little about Chowder. How'd you where'd you get him? How old is he? And what you can tell us about.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yeah, I had had a couple of Las Opsos in the past. And my neighbor from Florida called me one time while I was up on Cape Cod and asked me if I'd be interested in having another Lars. And I said, yeah. So his mother had a litter of like seven Lars Opsos. And when we got back to Florida, we took a nine-hour drive the next day up to South Carolina to pick up chowder. He had sent me uh uh video showing all the different dogs, and we really liked the way he looked, so that's how we got him.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

So you drove nine hours to get chowder. Yeah, and nine hours back. And nine hours back? Yeah. Boy, you really had an eye for that. What what do you like about Lasa Apsus?

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Um they're they're uh type dogs that are very close to the owners. They follow you everywhere you go and always want to be sitting next to you. They they like a lot of attention and they like playing around with different toys all the time. They're fun to watch in action. And how old is Chowder now?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

He's turning three years old later this month. Okay, and and and Chowder's the only chowder in this park. How did how did you come up with the name Chowder?

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Well, I wanted to have a name for him so when we were down in Florida, everybody would know where his family's from. And uh now I have everybody sounding like me with the accent down there, one at least when they're saying his name. Now you don't spell a chowder, right? How do you spell his name?

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Yeah, it's C-H-O-W-D-A. So that's a real Boston thing. Chowder. Yeah, for sure. That's funny. That's good. And what is how how how is Chowder? You do a lot of traveling between, well, you travel between my Florida and here. How is Chowder traveling?

SPEAKER_01 2:18

He's great in a car. He does a fantastic job. Not so good on airplanes, though. He's been on airplanes though.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yeah, yeah. And what's uh what's how how how come not on airplanes?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Well, we tried taking him when he was about a year old on a flight, and I had bought a new one of those carrier bags and put them underneath the seat in front of me while he tore through the screening on the bag, and and then he broke the zipper also, and he kept popping his head out trying to climb out of there. So the whole flight I was I had to bend over and hold him down with one hand.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Um that's not fun.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

He was fine once the flight stopped, and I took him out on my lap while we were waiting for people to leave the plane, but they're not allowed to do that. And whatever the pill was that the vet gave to calm him down, that had no effect on him whatsoever.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Really? Oh, that's interesting. Usually they I know that I've given my dog pills to, you know, after surgeries or whatever, and it kind of knocks him out, but I guess it's not that strong for just going on a plane or whatever. Interesting. Now I owe now I've known Chowder for a year or two now, and Chowder is uh kind of like my dog, where he's uh a little obsessive with balls. How did he learn that? I really don't know how that happened.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

My other two dogs had no interest in balls at all, and this guy's obsessed. In fact, you know, our drive to the park, which is about 20 minutes, he's got a ball in his mouth the entire time, and you'd think his jaw would be tired, but uh he seems to enjoy that. Now, do you have a dog park in Florida? Yeah, we do have one, but it's a little small one that has both the big and small dogs together.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

And that's not a problem for Chowder with the big dogs in there. He's because he's a pretty tough dog, Chowder. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Yeah, for a 15-pound dog, he's pretty tough. He's not afraid of the big dogs at all, though. So how's Chowder, how's Chowder at home? Can you leave Chowder alone at home? Uh yeah, we can actually. Uh, because sometimes when we get back from the park, if he's been chasing balls for a long time or whatever, he's real tired. So he goes into our back room and lies on the couch and doesn't want to go with us when we're heading out. Oh, that's right. But when he comes, when we come back, he's all excited to see us.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Oh, that's very good. That's that's so no separation anxiety from Chowder. Yeah. That's awesome. And uh was oh, I had just a question in my head. So uh so chowder cut i in Florida, it it is it does chowder mind the heat? I mean, I know you're there in the wintertime usually, but it and it doesn't get terrible, but how's he in the heat?

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yeah, he seems to do okay in the heat. Well, I take him for like one mile walks once or twice a day, and sometimes when it's real hot, he runs out of gas at certain points and lays down, and I'm trying to get him going again, and oftentimes I gotta carry him about the last fourth of the trip. But, you know, in the normal weather he's fine. But being having the uh black and white coat, the black gets very hot on them sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Now, I don't know anything about lasapsos. Where are they from? What's their and you know anything about their background, their what they were bred to do, and that kind of stuff?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, the the lasapsos are from Tibet, you know, in China, and uh they um actually believe in the religion over there that when uh the emperors die they come back reincarnated as Larsapsos. So that's maybe why these dogs like Chowdh act like they're a little royal. Really? Yeah. Yeah, and then another interesting thing I learned recently is a couple centuries ago they breeded the Larses with the Pekanese. And I guess the Pekinese must be from Peking, because that's in their name. But they breeded them together and that's how they came out with the Shih Tzu, which is a popular dog. Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Okay, that's interesting. That's how the Shih Tzu occurred. Okay. So uh is there anything uh Chowder does that amuses you all the time? Any any habits he has or things like that?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Um Well, there's a lot of different things that that he does um that amuses me. And um he he um he likes to play with all different toys and and balls, and anytime somebody can comes in the house, we had a physical therapist who came in the house to work with my wife. He sat on the couch and the dog jumped on his lap and dropped the ball in his lap. And then he came back a couple minutes later with his toy squirrel and dropped it in the guy's lap. Everybody who comes in the house, chowder thinks they're there to play with him.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Very good, very good. Uh anything else you want to add about chowder?

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Um, I think that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Okay. No, that's good. I'm glad. It's good to we always see chowder in the summertime. It's always good to see you and Chowder come. So uh thanks for being uh being interviewed on this podcast. And uh any suggestion for what we should title the podcast? Hmm. Probably gonna call it Chowder. But yeah, that's a creative uh one to use. But okay, okay. But anyway, thank you, Mike. Appreciate your time and uh give yourself for the opportunity. And I'll let you know when the podcast comes out. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, and we'll see you next time.