I recently joined the volunteer team for the Missoula chapter of the Street Dog Coalition. This Colorado-based organization provides “pop-up” vet clinics for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Its 60+ chapters served more than 9,000 pets and their humans in 2025.

In Missoula, the vet clinics occur once a month and are advertised at shelters, food pantries, and other places people who might need them might be. The vets and vet techs, along with a dozen or so pet-loving volunteers, serve a seemingly unending stream of people of all ages with dogs and cats of all sizes over a few very busy hours.

The vets provide vaccines, check-ups, advice, and vouchers for to get the pets spayed or neutered. The vet techs clean ears, trim nails, and more. The volunteers weigh the pets, dispense food, donated leashes, collars, and toys, fill in paperwork, hold squirming pets for nail trims, clean messes, and hand out treats. Lots of treats.

Assigned to assist one of the vets, I got to hold dogs ranging from a 9-week-old puppy to an older dog who had been through a lot before finding her current human, a warm and loving woman who was working every angle to try to get the dog some care she urgently needed.

The chaos of vets, techs, and volunteers, along with a crowd of waiting patients, didn’t help reassure the already nervous dogs. (The cats were in a separate, quieter space.) Many of the dogs were too stressed to even take treats. Those dogs generally skipped the nail trim.

It’s still pretty chilly in Missoula, and many of the pets come in wearing sweaters, jackets, and onesies of all types and colors. Donated dog- and cat-clothing is popular and disappears quickly from the giveaway table.

Next to the giveaway table is a second table, piled high with bags of dog and cat food, separated into adult and puppy or kitten foods, most of it donated by area pet stores. At this clinic, the vets were also giving out flea & tick preventive and heartworm preventive, also donated by clinics that were clearing out stock that is close to expiring.

Chatting with one of the vets, I heard about a continuing ed seminar she’d been to recently about mosquito-borne illnesses, including heartworm. Since we barely  had winter this year, she said that we should be giving the preventive tablets year-round, since we can’t count on having enough days of weather cold enough to kill the mosquitos. That’s probably as surprising to most Montanans as it was to me!

 

An Austrian cow (a pampered pet named Veronika) has become world famous for her ability to use tools.

A New York Times discussion of Veronika and the study comments that “perhaps one reason cows have been underestimated is because very few of them get the opportunity to develop or demonstrate their cognitive abilities…” Longtime readers will recognize that I have made this argument regarding dogs.

Thinking dogs across the years have demonstrated their tool-using abilities, notably Koala using a toy to hold still another toy, Cali simply employing the backyard, and Orly (briefly!) summoning her doorperson with a bell.

As the accompanying photos show, Orly continues the tradition; she recently used a door frame to hold her Kong still. That a dog like Orly would apply her intelligence and any handy object (a tool) to help her obtain food seems obvious; she is a golden retriever, after all.

And none of this is surprising when you consider that dogs’ ancestors, wolves, use tools. Why wouldn’t that intelligence and ability be found in wolves clever descendants?

But back to Veronika: I am happy to add her — and and cows — to the long list of non-humans that use tools, which ranges from primates to elephants, parrots to crows, even octopuses and fish!

 

One of the highlights of winter in Missoula for me, and for many other families that include dogs, is running free on the golf course. This is a tradition that starts as soon as the golf course closes for the season, usually by Thanksgiving.

The golf course is part of the University of Montana campus. When there is enough snow, a local organization grooms Nordic Skiing trails, but even then, there’s room for dogs. On half the area, dog-hating skiers get a dog-free zone. On the other, people ski with their dogs or walk with their dogs.

On an early season visit (not much snow yet), we were wandering around, when suddenly, Orly spotted something very strange. She started chasing it and barking.

Only problem was, it was in the sky: Two para-gliders, coming in for a landing. Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that the athletic practice fields next to the golf course are a popular landing spot for people who para-glide from the top of Mt. Sentinel in Missoula.

Orly had never seen humans falling from the sky before!

To be honest, I’d never been that close to anyone landing, either.

I called her, but in the excitement, and with another — equally excited — dog chasing her, Orly was unable to understand what I meant by “Come HERE. NOW!”

So she didn’t.

The first glider landed and Orly ran over to greet her. Fortunately, she was a  normal Missoulian and loved dogs.

I managed to corral Orly about the time the second glider landed. Orly wanted to go say hi, but I dragged my wagging, barking, pulling, very excited girl off the field. Unfortunately, I had my hands full and did not manage to snap a photo of the gliders, so the image above is not from our adventure.

 

Driving home from my synagogue on an early fall holiday, I debated driving right to the riverside park where members of the community were meeting. I decided to stop at home first, though, to see whether Orly was home and wanted to come along.

As I am sure you know, Orly is a dog. If she wasn’t with me, why wouldn’t she be home?

But she wasn’t; Orly was still out hiking with her friends.

Orly has a more active social life than I do, yet she’s always looking for new friends. Like many goldens, she has no concept of a ‘stranger.’ All new humans, dogs, cats, deer, and birds are unmet friends.

That’s why I wasn’t worried about her recent ‘orientation’ at a nearby dog boarding, training, and daycare facility where she might need to spend a few nights soon. Part of the mandatory half-day session is spent introducing her to different potential playmates to see how well she interacts with other dogs.

Orly, it turns out, plays very nicely with others. She also excelled at using the dog door, taking treats (do dogs really flunk that?), walking on a leash (THAT was a nice surprise), and not fence-fighting or barking.

My little social butterfly, transformed from a fuzzy golden ball of fur into a dripping ball of mud, seemed to have enjoyed her morning at camp. She was less happy about the bath that followed … but returned home a tired dog indeed.

By the next morning, she was wide awake and ready for her next adventure.

Orly turned four on a spectacular fall day. A Wednesday afternoon with golden sunlight, temperatures in the mid-60s, and red and gold trees in full fall glory.

After a weekly meeting, I took my lunch break, and walked with Orly around the neighborhood, through the park, and to the ice-cream stand. There was no line, and the bored-looking young man working there was eager to help.

I asked for a kid-size cone of vanilla in a cup. So far, so ordinary. He asked if I wanted a pup cone for Orly. I said no, thanks, but this cup is for her. It’s her birthday. He pushed back: But the pup cones are free!

I know, I told him. We come here often (Orly disagreed with “often”). But it’s her birthday, I added, and I always get my dogs their own cup on their birthday. With a huge smile, he said, well, then, I will give her the cup for free. I said he didn’t need to do that … he insisted and asked: Is yellow cake ok? that’s what we usually give to dogs.

I said it was. I have never tasted the Big Dipper’s yellow cake ice cream, but if that is what they usually give to dogs, I am certain that Orly loves it.

He asked if I wanted anything for myself. I did, but I asked him to give me Orly’s first. I paid for my mocha-chip in a waffle cone, added a tip to the tip jar, took Orly’s cup, and led Orly to a table.

One advantage to dog ice cream in a cup is that the dog has to lick it out, and it lasts for a few minutes, versus the nanosecond it takes Orly to inhale a pup cone.

As Orly was working on her ice cream, a woman came out of the ice-cream stand and started fiddling with the lock on the ice-cream truck door. She noticed us, said hello, then added, “We give out free pup cones, you know.”

I again explained that we love the pup cones, but that Orly gets a whole scoop for her birthday.

Soon, Orly finished her ice cream, and I got up and collected mine. We decided that I could eat my cone while walking home. Orly kept a close eye on the cone in case it happened to fall out of my hands…

It did not.

However, the end of the cone, as it always does, found its way into Orly’s mouth.

Happy Birthday, Orly!

On a recent walk, Orly and I had an unexpected encounter. We have a ‘usual’ morning route (with several variations). On this particular chilly gray morning, we did not detour.

At a corner, I noticed a bag. Missoulians have a habit of placing unwanted things on the corner, in the grassy area that belongs to the city, with a sign indicating that these ‘treasures’ are free. Usually, it’s just trash that they are too lazy to toss in the trash or take to the dump, but not this time:

Of course, we had to investigate. When I looked inside, imagine my surprise when a near-perfect hedgehog toy peered back! Ever since living with Labrador roommate Maverick, I have known that hedgehogs are the Premier dog toy, especially the ones that grunt (rather than squeaking). Alas, this hedgehog, clad in a superhero cape, is mute.

Orly excitedly took hold of Super Hedgie and wagged her tail enthusiastically. OK, this one is going home with us.

She led onward, tail high, a spring in her step.

Orly carried her new toy for the rest of our walk (about a half hour), never stopping to sniff, pee, or bark — no matter what another dog said to her. She ignored squirrels and deer alike. Only once safely home did she agree to relinquish Super Hedgie so he could have his portrait taken.

Hedgie is now one of her favorites — and among the select few toys employed when greeting guests. The guest-welcome ritual, invented by Jana and handed down by Cali to both Orly and Dotty, requires that the golden retriever greet entering guests at the door, then:

• Rush off to find a favorite toy
• Return to show the toy to the guest
• Do a little welcome dance (this element was added by Cali)
• Allow the guest to pet the golden (but never, ever to take the toy).

We’ve gone on many walks since then, and, though Orly has been on the lookout for more treasures, Finding Super Hedgie was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Though she did find part of an ice-cream cone a few days ago (the delicious homemade waffle kind from the Big Dipper).