Well well well.  Exactly one year ago year ago today, my human met a special guy.  It was actually the result of some on-line “dating”.  She  remembers the instant she saw him. She had driven for hours and hours to meet him with her good friend, Glenda and it was a beautiful day. 

He had dark eyes and sandy colored hair.  And the most enticing expression.  He won her over within nanoseconds of their meeting.  And life in our house would never be the same. Yup. A year ago today my human met Elroy for the first time. 

So did you know that as early as the 17th century, humans began to describe the barking sounds that we dogs make?  Back then, our barking sound was described as “waff”.  By the 19th century, it appears that our barking changed to “woof”.

And of course, there are other sounds to describe the sounds we dogs make.  Like yip and yap and arf, and bow wow and grrrrrr…

And here’s a site to tell you how to woof in a variety of languages:
http://stories.barkpost.com/woof-other-languages/

This whole topic began because yesterday I described the FG’s boof.  Now in our house,  a boof is not a bark – or a “woowoowoo”.  It is not a full out “get the heck off my property” kind of sound.  And it’s not a “rowf” which means hurry up and get my supper- that’s Einstein favorite.  And then we have the “mmmmmmm” with a melodic tone that rises and falls when we are bored or want a treat.  And then we have Einstein’s rarawwwwww when he yawns in the morning.  No a boof is none of these.  A boof is quieter than a woowoowoo.  And one makes a single boof at a time.  It’s not done in sequence.  It’s a “I’m bold but scared” kind of sound.  It’s a boof.

Now you may be reading this and thinking that my human has lost her mind since her vacation started.  But there are scientists who actually study the acoustic properties of dog barks in response to different situations. And they have found that we dogs interpret the sounds of other dogs and humans can also tell the differences in our sounds as well.  And like humans, if we have a high-pitched bark in response to something, it usually signifies something happy.  Whereas a low-pitched bark signifies warning, or that we are not happy.  Just like humans!  And did you know the longest recorded barks (for a Cocker Spaniel) in a 10 minute period was 907 – or more than 90 a minute.  That’s even more annoying than Einstein.  Clearly that dog had a LOT to say.  Now HE could have run for politics…

So no new critter sightings when we got my human up at 5:30 yesterday.  I got her up – I wanted her to make THE most of her first day off.  She was not impressed.  She took me out, waited for me to pee – and then pretended she was going to get dressed to take us for our walks.  So she went in the bedroom and closed the door.  But she TRICKED us – she went back to bed.  We actually let her sleep until 6.  And then Einstein began to rowf.  He had enough sleep.

Have a super Sunday!  Peace and paws up!  May all your rowfs today be happy – and rewarded with good treats!

Holy moly.  You humans are sure interesting.  I learned something yesterday – if you want to get ‘hits” to your blog – put the word “cannabis” in the blog title for the day.   Whoa. 

Well –  my human isn’t feeling so great.  She took Einstein to the Vet yesterday.  Remember how I said she would soon be on vacation?  Well she’ll probably be looking for another job during that time – to pay for Einstein’s dental bill.  Looks like old snaggletooth has ANOTHER cracked tooth as well. And it looks like they BOTH have to come out. And the projected bill?  Just under $2000.  She is NOT a happy camper.  Plus I’m thinking that the deer antlers that we LOVE so much may be disappearing.  They must be the culprits.  She immediately came home and examined my teeth.  And the FG’s.  But they look fine.  Completely fine.  Poor old snaggle.  The date isn’t booked yet – probably some time next week when my human is off. My human was so depressed.  I suggested she take a swig from my cannabis stuff.  I THOUGHT I saw her put some in her coffee – but I’m not sure….

In much more pleasant news – it seems the FG really IS growing up.  Are you ready for this?  He played fetch in the yard – AND DIDN’T RUN AWAY.  Usually his brain explodes during fetch and he suddenly takes off into the woods – dropping the fetch toy.  Somewhere.  But he played the other night and never ran off ONCE.  Now he WAS wearing a long line – but he was loose – and my human wasn’t holding on to it.  Mind you,  he did not always come BACK with the toy.  BUT he never disappeared.  You may not think this is a big deal, but trust me – this is progress. MAJOR progress.

Today is Thursday – and if all goes well at my human’s work and she finishes ALL her reports, tomorrow will be her LAST day until September.  Paws crossed.  Mind you she will be searching for that second job… Clearly it won’t be in the field of dog training….

Have a good one! Peace and paws up.

So here’s the third part of the blue day….

I haven’t written about my health in the last little bit – but unfortunately, I have continued to have seizures.  Like every two weeks.  Last Friday I had one and then on Sunday night (post blueberries) I actually had another one.  The seizure lasts about a minute or two- and I don’t remember much about it.  It’s the “after seizure” part that is particularly challenging. I go into a bit of a disoriented frenzy and I become completely RAVENOUS.  I mean REALLY ravenous.  More than typical PON hungry.  I squeak, moan and bark at the garage door.  Where the dog food is stored.  Take me outside for a walk and I could strangle myself trying to get back home because I want to EAT.  I am in a real frenzy.  And even after I am fed – I want MORE.  The frenzy lasts anywhere from 1-2 hours.  Sometimes my human will put me in a crate, just to help me settle down.  But it doesn’t always work – as I just bark to be let out.  My medications have been adjusted numerous times – and while that seems frustrating, the adjustment process is apparently very common for some dogs.  It’s finding the RIGHT medication and dose.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago after yet another seizure and frenzy, my human started surfing the net.  And she started reading about the use of medical marijuana and pets.  And there is some evidence that it CAN be helpful in controlling seizures.  So my human sent away for some cannabis for me.  On-line.  But WAIT.  Before you have visions of me sitting around on a beanbag chair, wearing a psychedelic t-shirt and smoking a joint – you need to understand something.  What I am taking is actually hemp terpenes oil – which contains little to none of the THC mind-bending properties of cannabis .  Think of what I am taking as non-alcoholic beer – with health benefits. 

So my human bought the “stuff” and it arrived in a plain brown box.  But THEN she chickened out about giving it to me – because she didn’t know if it would interact with my medications.  Perhaps she SHOULD have thought of that BEFORE she bought the stuff.  Anyway, she decided to e-mail one of my Vets.  Now the Vets in the practice are quite used to my human.  Heaven help them.  I can picture the discussion in the Vet office:  “check out the latest e-mail from Linda! You answer this one!”  Anyway, the Vet e-mailed her back and said, “go ahead” – there was no evidence it would interact with my meds.  So I tried the first dose Monday night.  Now I have no idea IF this stuff will work – but I can tell you I sure slept well Monday night – and never bugged my human even ONCE.

Please note -you need to keep in mind that REAL marijuana can be harmful to pets – which is no laughing matter.  So don’t try THAT with your dog.

If you want to see what I am using – it’s the hemp terpene oils:
https://www.apawthecarypets.com/

Anyway, we’ll see what happens.  I have officially gone from being a PONhead to being a POThead.  

Excuse me now – I have this desire to go and watch some YouTube videos about Woodstock.  And I’m feeling like I need a snack.  But then – I always have the munchies.  Peace brothers and sisters!

Have a good one!
 

OK.  So yesterday, I shared the “good part” of the blue day.   Well – good for Einstein and me – but not so good for my human with the blueberry cravings. But then there was the not-so-good parts of that day…

In the morning, before the grocery shopping hunt, my human went to take Einstein and I out for our morning walk.  And she thought the FG would be happy in his run outside while we went.  Guess what?  He wasn’t.  He started squeaking and barking and moaning – like he was being tortured.  And this was OF COURSE at like 6 AM.  So she raced back down the driveway and gave him one of those Yak chew things.  Your remember them?  The things that Einstein and I tried to devour – and we ended up with the poops.  Well the FG is a much more careful chewer – so they were not a problem for him.  So my human took one outside, gave it to the FG  and attempted again to take Einstein and I for our constitutional.  The FG dropped it and proceeded to let out his mournful tune again.  So my human took him back in the house.   She grabbed the Yak thing on the way in.  She noted that it was shorter – clearly the end broke off when he dropped it.  But she didn’t search for it and took him (and the longer piece back in the house).  By now you are no doubt wondering why the long discussion of Yak treats.  Trust me there is a reason I am yakking on about this.  So with the FG now in the house, with the windows closed and his Yak treat IN his crate,  off  we went for our walks.   Then the FG went for his.  All was right with the world.

After getting the groceries, and after the blueberry frenzy, my human started doing some much overdue housecleaning.  She claimed you could “grow tomatoes” on our kitchen floor.  Talk about dramatic.  Anyway while she was cleaning, she decided to put ALL of us in the run outside.  So off we went.  But yours truly doesn’t really like it out there – so I started barking.  AND barking.  She decided to let us back in so she opened the door to the garage and we ran through and into the house.  And she noted that Einstein was unusually quiet…and he raced under the dining room table.

And that’s when she heard a crack and some chewing.  “WHAT do you have?” my human asked Einstein.  And her often slow brain quickly made the connection – he found that piece of Yak treat and was trying desperately to chew it up.  She got a hold of him and pulled the thing out of his mouth.  Phew.  Poop problem averted.

It wasn’t until later in the day that she noticed Einstein pawing at his face.  She wondered if he had been stung by something.  She looked his face over, but couldn’t see anything.  He stopped the pawing and she forgot about it.  But later in the day, he was at it again.  So she whisked him onto the grooming/operating table.  She looked all over his face.  His ears.  And then decided to look at his teeth.  Well GUESS what?!  If one tries really hard to chew a Yak treat, one can BREAK OFF his canine tooth.  Well, not the WHOLE tooth.  Just 2/3.  “AAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” my human shouted.  Einstein just looked at her.  No more beauty pageants for old snaggletooth.

He has an appointment with the Vet on Thursday.  He doesn’t seem to be in major discomfort – and it certainly hasn’t changed his appetite.  Never a dull moment.  We figured our Vet hasn’t gone on a nice vacation lately – so we should help with paying for the holiday.

And if THAT wasn’t enough of a blue story – stay tuned tomorrow for the REST of the story…and my new journey into the world of cannabis….

So yesterday was a blue day.  Literally…

My human went grocery shopping in the morning.  And she bought a LOAD of stuff.  She has been pretty busy lately and so she hasn’t really had time to get the BIG grocery order for awhile.  Yet it seems we never run out of OUR food.  And I have to admit – most days lately, we were eating better than her.  I really should learn how to cook – now THAT would be a good dog trick.  Mind you – I think cooking food is a waste of time.  Throw it raw in a bowl, and we canines are happy.  No special bearnaise sauce required.

Anyway, my human brought the grocery bags in and we demonstrated typical canine “curiocery” – that curious desire to know what is in the bags when our human comes home from the hunt. She put the bags on the counter and started to unload the contents.  The FG was in his kennel and Einstein and I were watching.  She looked at the array of bags on the counter and realized one was missing.  So she went back into the garage to get it.  And she wasn’t gone more than a minute.  48 seconds to be exact.  But when she returned, she found two PONs racing frantically around the kitchen and vacuuming up a sea of blueberries that had mysteriously ended up on the kitchen floor.  She shouted “stop” as IF we would.  So she calmly tried to grab as many as she could – knowing that her desire to now eat this particular batch was now diminished.  And you know, I THOUGHT she had forgotten about Big Brother.  And she did, initially.  She didn’t check the tape immediately.  But when she did, several hours later – who do you think was the culprit? Yup – you’re looking at him.  To pose for this photo was sheer agony – I wanted to polish off the last of those tasty morsels.  But I figured I had better behave and take the shot.  Besides, my human gave me one for being cooperative.  And despite the fact that she was NOT impressed with my counter surfing – she was just very thankful it wasn’t the chicken for dinner.  Always look at the bright side – no point in being blue.  Sorry I couldn’t resist.

Have a good one!

It’s July 22 and the birthday of my favorite Canadian game show host – Alex Trebek!  Alex is the host of Jeopardy.  Alex appears to be a pretty smart guy – but then again, he is the one who reads the questions – I don ‘t think he makes them up.  He once owned a dog who was taken away by a coyote.  Yowza.  BIG bummer.  On a lighter note, geography is his favorite category.  He is a philanthropist and has traveled to many countries with World Vision.  So there is some Alex trivia for you – if Alex himself is ever a category.

So while we are on the Jeopardy topic – try the following link to see what you know about dog breeds. Just press start to try it out.

https://jeopardylabs.com/play/enter-title54311

How much money did you win?  Or lose?

And the following question was the final Jeopardy question on May 24, 2017.  Do you know the answer?

This popular small dog breed is named for the man who was the Vicar of Swimbridge for almost 50 years, beginning in 1832.

And the answer is……..






What is a Jack Russell terrier?

 And here’s a final Jeopardy question from April 6, 2017.
Old circuses like “Gentry’s Equine & Canine Paradox” gave rise to this idiom referring to any elaborate presentation.

And the answer is.…….. 






What is a dog and pony show?

My human says if she was on the show and they asked those  questions, she would have gotten them correct.  But with her luck, the question would have been about quantum physics.  Not her forte.  

Anyway – Happy Birthday Alex.  And hey – do you know Liam Neeson?  Any idea when he is moving in?

Have a good one.