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Post by Sir Black Fox on Sept 1, 2006 19:18:58 GMT -5
Most faires, not all, restrict animals from attending the event except service animals and those that are part of the cast. Yet. . . Many of us have garb for our critters and are responsible "parents." Speaking for only Cyn and myself, we always clean up after our animals, even in our own yard. We understand that the feces left behind by domesticated animals, because of their store-bought diet, is bad for the environment so clean up is a must. Other than the clean up, our pooches have their shots, are loving animals and when outside of their fenced yard or in a home, their always leashed. Maggie (Queen Margaret of Scotland) and Lizzie (Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII) are of course, small Cairn Terriers and as anyone who's met either of them can attest to, are wonderful animals. Of course they were raised and socialized correctly. The Maryland Faerie Festival is a favorite of ours because we can dress up the pooches in their Black Fox garb and parade them around. What are your thoughts about pets at faire?
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Post by Ana on Sept 1, 2006 20:37:24 GMT -5
I've been kind of on again off again wishing I could take my pup ( img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/anaili/dc/clyde.jpg ) with me to the MDRF but then I think... Not only would I have to carry bags to clean up after him with, I'd want to carry treats for him, and possibly a water bottle (I have one of the ones with a bowl stuck on it), I'd have to make sure that the people around me didn't mind him being around, if it was hot, we'd have to have plenty of extra shade (dark, thick fur ). And he probably wouldn't want to put up with being out there all day like I would. As much fun as it'd be to have him with me (I adore taking him places he's allowed to go) something like that could easily turn into just as much work as fun.
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Post by skumfan on Sept 2, 2006 22:28:34 GMT -5
I would love to bring these little guys to the festival. They are lineolated parakeets. You will never see them in a pet store and rarely a bird store. They are sought after because they are usually so quiet and docile, yet they talk and love to snuggle. They are the main reason I don't make the pub sing as much anymore. I also used to have a cockatiel that whistled "Health to the Company" with gusto, first thing every morning. (autocensor got me again)
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Post by willpaisley on Sept 5, 2006 13:52:14 GMT -5
I would love to bring these little guys to the festival. They are lineolated parakeets. You will never see them in a pet store and rarely a bird store. They are sought after because they are usually so quiet and docile, yet they talk and love to snuggle. They are the main reason I don't make the pub sing as much anymore. I also used to have a cosikatiel that whistled "Health to the Company" with gusto, first thing every morning. (autocensor got me again) I believe you ran into my other half at Pub Sing on Sunday - mention birds to her or me when you've got a good thre or four hours to dedicate to the topic. I would love to be able to bring our conure to faire, especially on pirate weekends, but I see all the potential problems: 1) There are often other animals at faires, some of which see your cute little pet and think "yum, lunch" 2) Yes, I know you take good care of your animal, never let him run amok and always clean up after him. However, for every one of you, there are a dozen schmucks who would love to bring their untrained and unhousebroken wolfhound or doberman or whatever and let him run loose at faire (just look at the unsupervised children at MDRF). Unfortunately, there's no "responsible pet owner" certification tattoo you can get that the security guards can check to differentiate yourself from the other folks out there. 3) Even if only responsible pet owners had their animals at faire, enough people with a pet would say "How come they get to bring theirs in and I can't?" to create a huge management headache. As much as I'd like to see them at faire, I can understand the problems involved. At VA faire this past season, a guy showed up with an umbrella cockatoo on a leash. He was clipped, couldn't fly anywhere, couldn't walk any further away than the leash, and wouldn't have been able to crap on anything much other than the guy's shoulder. He and his group had come from several hours away, and he had only brought the bird because he had seen other birds and animals at that faire in years past. He was still told he couldn't come in with the bird. Luckily, he was very good natured about it, and they took turns babysitting the bird outside the gate. (Then again, if one of the greyhounds had gotten loose and turned his $1500 parrot into dog food, he probably wouldn't have taken it so well).
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Post by skumfan on Sept 6, 2006 2:03:55 GMT -5
I believe you ran into my other half at Pub Sing on Sunday - mention birds to her or me...I would love to be able to bring our conure to faire, especially on pirate weekends, but I see all the potential problems:
Yes, that was me. She mentioned your web site and I immediately realized who you guys were. Good thing she pointed you out, I'd have never known it was you. As to bringing my birds to faire - AAAGGH, NEVER!! That was just wishful thinking, I take no chances with my birds. Beyond that, it's against policy, isn't it? I like seeing the rose girl's sun conure, but he's only tethered by a ribbon, and it scares me to think what could happen. On Labor Day, I saw a guy bicycling the B&A Trail with an Amazon on his shoulder. That was a little scary.
NYRF has a booth with several parrots perched about freely. A grey, an eclectus, and a couple others. Once the grey went up in a tree and didn't come back down for 24 hours, IIRC. There's a guy who uses parrots in his act, I think he's at one of the Texas faires. Most know Master Tallis has two macaws. There's someone on this board named Madam Macaw, but she's not an active poster, AFAIK.
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Post by jubilee on Sept 6, 2006 2:17:51 GMT -5
I would LOVE to bring Miss Ginsie with me to faire. I know she'd have a blast and happily follow me on her leash everywhere. I've taken her to many SCA events and the Potomac Celtic fest...she loves to go. She loves the people and the fun of being with her "mom". But, yes, I can see the problems. However, I think if they did something as simple as proof of shots, 6 feet or shorter leash rule, and proof of doggie clean up bags and maybe a doggie potty area there really wouldn't be many problems. Yes, there are a few idiots that would bring an unsocialized dog or something akin to that...but those same idiots get thrown out of faire each year for other issues. You can't stop idiots.
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Post by willpaisley on Sept 6, 2006 8:21:40 GMT -5
Yes, that was me. She mentioned your web site and I immediately realized who you guys were. Good thing she pointed you out, I'd have never known it was you. As to bringing my birds to faire - AAAGGH, NEVER!! That was just wishful thinking, I take no chances with my birds. Beyond that, it's against policy, isn't it? I like seeing the rose girl's sun conure, but he's only tethered by a ribbon, and it scares me to think what could happen. On Labor Day, I saw a guy bicycling the B&A Trail with an Amazon on his shoulder. That was a little scary. 1) Wow, guess I need to feature my ponytail more in my pic (as well as my prominent girth) 2) My apologies - I majorly shifted gears between the first and second paragraph without signalling, tapping the brakes or anything. The 'You" referred to throughout my discussion was meant to be a generic you, not you personally. 3) Jubilee, I'm not sure if that would work in a place like VARF where they course greyhounds who've been trained to chase and catch things that are about the same size and degree of furriness as the dog pictured in your post. At faires like Maryland, I'd be afraid of getting something that small kicked or trampled (I'd have similar fears about my conure). While I agree there are always idiots who come to faire, I'm also not sure I agree that the potential pet owner idiots I brought up are the same idiots currently getting thrown out for other reasons (though if you know of people being removed from faire for letting their children run amok, please let me know and I'll stand corrected).
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Post by Mistress Pepper on Sept 6, 2006 8:54:14 GMT -5
The no pet policy is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.
Sure, we're responsible with our well-behaved dogs, short leashes, pockets full of poop bags, concealed doggy watering devices. But for everyone of us, there's at least one person who's a complete idiot and another two that tread the line.
I work most Faires with my dogs -- although not Maryland and it's hard to leave them home. "Look, Mom's got a bodice on, we're going to Faire, we're going to Faire!" The looks I get as I drag them back in the house, past the car..."Um, Mom, we're walking past the car. Um, we go in the back of the wagon, hey, what are we going back inside for?" No dog does disappointed like a greyhound...
There are just a couple of events left that allow pets -- and while I love having my guys with me -- and know that mine are as bullet and festival-proof as they come, I totally understand the rule....and am the BOB who won't let folks into Virginia with pets anymore.
Here's what I've seen in the last few years at the events that allow pets:
People who get tired of dealing with their dog, have had a few beers and think that putting the dog back in the car on a hot day is a good idea. (NCRF)
People who have no idea that a dog with red flushed inner ears and a tongue that looks like a giant lollipop is a heat-stressed dog that needs immediate care. (NCRF, VARF)
People with dog-aggressive dogs who think that their dog will be okay at a festival because it's "mostly" people. Which wasn't much consolation to my dogs who were lunged at. (Southern Maryland Celtic)
People who step on dogs, whack dogs in heads, butts, etc. with blades, pouches, bags, etc. not realizing that they're there. (NCRF, SMCF, Maryland Faerie Festival)
People who aren't paying constant attention and don't notice or don't care that their dog is lifting a leg on a merchant's tent, wares, or the maypole (Maryland Faerie, SMCF, NCRF, VARF)
Dogs can slip their leads, either because they're misbehaving or in fear/startlement (NCRF)
Even my festival-proof dogs have been pushed to the edge a few times -- screaming kids running up and throwing their arms around the dogs, cannonfire, sudden eruptions of bagpipes.
When you have animals at a Festival performing, you run the risk of having the guest animals eaten or damaged, or the performing animals distracted, startled or hurt. (Any of you who witnessed Percy's great escape into the jousting paddock...watching him run back and forth behind the horses. Thank goodness they were patient and calm, but one hoof and I would have had a dead dog.) And yeah, you put feathers near Willow -- on a bird or off them -- and they're HERS. She's like a rattlesnake striking.
These are all incidents at much smaller festivals....at Maryland, with sheer numbers they have, heck even if you figure one idiot for every 100 people, that's a lot of idiots on a daily basis! As much as Percy & Willow would love to hang all day at the Pyrate camp, and as much money as it would save me on dogwalking services, I can totally understand why the rules say "no".
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Post by ladyneysa on Sept 6, 2006 12:05:52 GMT -5
I hope no one minds if this post is a bit off topic, but with folks talking about their beloved pets, it made me want to express my sadness over the death of Steve Irwin. My kids have grown up watching The Crocodile Hunter and Animal Planet, and watched his show all the time. Mr. Irwin helped to instill in them a love of nature and animals, including snakes and reptiles (they want another lizard.) Steve was one of a kind and shall be missed.
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Post by skumfan on Sept 6, 2006 22:57:34 GMT -5
1) Wow, guess I need to feature my ponytail more in my pic
Yes, the ponytail completely threw me. 100x100 pixels is not a lot to work with anyway. You could always drag your lute around with you. I wish there were more musicians at Mdrf playing period instruments, but that's another topic...
2) My apologies
No apology needed : ) Every night on the net i read at least one preventable bird tragedy, so vigilance is good, imho. What kind of conure do you have?
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Post by willpaisley on Sept 7, 2006 13:24:54 GMT -5
You could always drag your lute around with you. I wish there were more musicians at Mdrf playing period instruments, but that's another topic... The lute I'm holding cost over $400 and is completely unplayable. Not a single pair of strings can be tuned without detuning the others. It would cost another $200 to get the thing (possibly) into a playable condition, and then it would still be too quiet to hear without standing right next to it. That's one reason why you don't see more period instruments at MDRF. What kind of conure do you have? Typical sun conure, with the even more typical name of "Skittles" (there is probably a law requiring all sun conures to be named that). S/he also has the typical styrofoam fingers down a rubber balloon blackboard during a car alarm festival sun conure screech. We also have a mating pair of tiels and three six month old chicks awaiting homes (all of whom sound like a pair of traffic cops having an argument with their whistles).
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Post by Sir Black Fox on Sept 7, 2006 17:01:07 GMT -5
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell management or security. . . . but I smuggle in my pet bacteria named Eddie every day of MDRF.
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Post by tigerlily on Sept 7, 2006 18:12:28 GMT -5
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell management or security. . . . but I smuggle in my pet bacteria named Eddie every day of MDRF. Since you're a Warner Bros. cartoon fan (i.e. "ain't I a stinker?")...I shall reply to this...in the words of Daffy Duck..."ha ha, it is to laugh..." (actually, I really thought it was!! )
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Post by jubilee on Sept 8, 2006 6:07:56 GMT -5
Actually, Miss Ginsie is a smaller/medium sized dog. She's 22 pounds but she's definatly not small enough for a kickin' dog. She looks like a smaller than average cocker spaniel because of the mix. I know she'd be able to fend for herself (she has multiple times around much larger breeds. She was one of the few dogs let out to the main area at the pound where I got her.) So, honestly, I don't think she'd have much of a problem around the greyhounds.
As for idiots with pets well....they had the pets before they got to faire. Honestly, if they are putting their pet in a hot car or don't know the warning signs of heat problems, it's probably not the first time they've gotten into such a situation....and won't be the last. I'm not saying let bygones be bygones by any stretch but that I'm sure there is a way to regulate the allowance of pets into the faire. Dogs are period, darnit! :-)
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