Dogville

Sunday before Westminster is a great day for dogdom. Here at Bonhams Gallery, visitors are greeted by the first of hundreds of exceptional pieces of dog art, all up for auction. I attended, as usual, with my co-author and dear friend, Chris Miele.

Maggie and Scottie are practicing their "stay" technique. It requires extreme concentration on the part of Scottie. She is an over-achiever when food is involved.

This is one of my favorite pictures of our old girl, Maggie, on a walk in Tallman Park. She is 11 now, and this was five years ago. She still dances on a cool afternoon walk.

The autumn is my absolute favorite time of year! We have so many beautiful parks and trails along the Hudson River where we can wander with our two Goldens.

Well it's all over the news this week that Trouble, the lucky Maltese that once shared a life with Leona Helmsley, has been named as the beneficiary of a $12,000,000 trust. It sounds a little over the top even to me, a lover of dogs beyond reason. But according to conservative calculations, that amount of capital could easily throw off over $500,000 per year which is a lot for such a little one. If we could measure love by money, then she truly loved Trouble. And who's to say what we should do with our worldly assests once we depart? It was her call, and she made her exit much like she lived her life: on her own terms.

If her heirs are unhappy, there may not be much they can do. According to slate.com:

If the heirs can't invalidate the will, they might still be able to get their hands on Trouble's money. If Helmsley provided for the dog under what's called a "statutory pet trust," then a court can rule that some of the $12 million should be redistributed.

In New York, a statutory pet trust can be challenged if it "substantially exceeds the amount required for the intended use." If a judge decides to shift money out of the trust, it's more likely to end up going to her charitable trust than to her relatives, since that's where the bulk of her property—worth a reputed $2.5 billion—went. On the other hand, if Helmsley set up a traditional pet trust for Trouble, the courts would be less likely to reduce its size.* (Statutory trusts provide more court supervision and can be very easy to draw up, but they're not available everywhere.)

Without a successful challenge, the $12 million trust can easily generate $600,000 a year in income for the dog. But what will happen to the money left over when Trouble finally joins Helmsley and her husband in their million-dollar mausoleum?

We can't know for sure, since the trust (unlike the will) isn't a public document. We do know from the will that the money in the trusts for her grandchildren and brother will go to her charitable trust after they die; the pet trust might be set up in the same way. In the meantime, Trouble joins the ranks of trust-fund pets like Rodeo, a Shar-Pei that received a $100,000 trust from tobacco heiress Doris Duke. British pop star Dusty Springfield provided for her cat Nicholas with a very specific set of instructions in her will. He was to be given baby food, a bed lined with her nightgown, and the opportunity to "marry" another cat. Her songs were also to be played to him each night.

A site that addresses the issue of caring for pets longterm is http://www.estateplanningforpets.org/  It's worth a visit. A quote they display on their home page says, "Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."  —Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from The Little Prince

Something to think about.

Anyway, the one really great thing that came out of all this is that my friend Robin got a call from her groomer (not HER groomer, but the groomer of Sparkle, her beautiful Maltese) who got a call from her agent (Sparkle's agent, Robin took the call) who got a call from the Ellen Degeneres show last Thursday and they were looking for a Maltese for a humorous sketch about all of the above. Long doggie short, she got the part! Down side, had to get up at 5:30am to primp for a 6:30am call. Up side, got to be on major tv show AND meet Hillary Clinton and Usher!

It airs Tuesday, September 4th, 2007.

Thank you, Trouble. Let's do lunch!

At a loss for clichés? Thanks to Cliché Finder, the nightmare is over. Here is a list of things people often say about dogs. Some are better known than others.
 

you can't teach an old dog new tricks

sick as a dog

it's raining cats and dogs

putting on the dog

man bites dog

let sleeping dogs lie

let loose the dogs of war

in the doghouse

hair of the dog that bit you

go to the dogs

it's a dog's life

a dog in the manger

dog eat dog

dirty dog

looking like a lost dog in a meat house

it takes a big dog to weigh a ton let sleeping dogs lie

if you lie down with dogs, you rise up with fleas

I wouldn't send a dog out on a night like this

that dog won't hunt

small as a dog

as crooked as a dogs hind leg

dog earred

a dog and pony show

It's raining cats and dogs

every dog has his day

He was on that like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat.

panting like a dog in august

hungry like a big dog (southern)

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.

a dog day afternoon

dog gone it

getting dogged

It's like talking a dog off of a meat wagon

dog day afternoon

like two fleas on a dog arguing who owns the dog

all over the place like a dogs breakfast

an old dog for a hard road

kick the dog and cat

never pet a burning dog

that dog will hunt.

dog days of summer

let sleeping dogs lay

all his dogs aren't barking

every dog has his day.

dog tired

when you lie with dogs you get fleas.

it takes a big dog to weigh a ton

every dog has its day

enough money to burn a wet dog.

let sleeping dogs lie

my dogs are barking (meaning: "my feet hurt")

He's anybody's dog that will hunt with him.

Thick as the hair on a dogs back

The sun don't shine on the same dog's behind everyday

A few fleas are good for the dog

she would make a bull dog chew his chain

you could talk a dog off a meat wagon

let a sleeping dog lie

it's a dog eat dog world

every dog has its day

work like a dog

That dog won't hunt

tail wagging the dog

These three lucky dogs had a fine afternoon of swimming and chasing and jumping and flopping after The Stick. This beach is on Lake Superior just north of Marquette and it is pristine, clean, beautiful and empty. Don't tell anyone.