OK.  I have NO idea how I missed this news item last fall.  LAST FALL.  But I JUST became aware of this video – so I thought I should share it.  And it gives the dogs in this house something to aspire to.  Bwhahahahahahhaha.

It seems last fall that a Parson Rusell terrier by the name of Smurf made his way into the Guinness Book of World records.  Not for the smallest dog, or the fastest dog – but for the dog who could do the most tricks in one minute.  Check him out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx3mwsZmEvw

So of COURSE you know my human wants to see how many WE can do. Sure we can do some of them – but it’s more like a trick a minute.  Not ALL of them in a minute.  And lots of treats are required.  Too much work to break this record – I vote that we try for something we are REALLY good at.  Like the dog who can eat the food in his bowl the fastest.  I’ve got that one.  Or the dog who can most quickly steal food off a counter.  Or the dining  room table.   I have a good shot at that record.  Or the dog who can bark incessantly when my human takes another dog out for a walk.  Einstein would get the trophy for that.  I’m not quite sure what the FG’s talent is – oh wait – the dog who can most quickly slobber my human’s clothing before she leaves for work.  Bingo.  And speaking of that talent – here’s another reason why I question that humans are said to be the smarter beings.  White pants.  Seriously.  What a RIDICULOUS form of attire – ESPECIALLY for humans owned by dogs.  Come ON.  WHAT is the point in even attempting to wear white pants?  You know the pristine look will never last.  Yet you keep trying.  Hey – there’s a record!  The human owned by dogs who can keep his/her white pants clean the longest.  Now THAT would be a challenge!!

It’s Friday and today my human ends a special program at work.  Then it’s just paperwork next week – and after THAT she is FREE.  For August!!!!!!!!  Let the fetching begin!!!

Have a good one!

OK.  We have an all WAR going on in our house.  I’m calling it the battle of the Poles.  It’s not between me and Einstein.  It’s between Einstein and MY HUMAN.

Let’s set the background for this particular war.  Since the beginning of May, my human has been working long hours at work.  It’s her busy time – and tomorrow it comes to an end.  Not that she doesn’t still have to go to work to get money for our treats, but the hours will be MUCH more manageable.  Basically back to a normal work week.  I should add that there are “other things” happening on top of work – so she has been going flat out.  Beginning at 5 AM when she takes us out on our long, daily  morning walk and often ending around midnight.

Anyway, all this to say that in the last week, Einstein has had ENOUGH of my human’s work.  He continues his morning chorus and is as loud as ever – even with the 3,396 pieces of kibble we search for while my human is walking the FG.  Einstein is FAST – so he can begin the chorus. 

And to further demonstrate his protest, he has “forgotten” how to sit and wait while our food is being prepared.  And THAT put my human over the edge Monday night – and the official war began.

My human gets our bowls prepared – and while she is doing so, we are asked to sit and stay.  And honestly, the preparation takes like .907  minutes.  Or even less.  Now Elroy just lies down – he needs more obedience work – but my human excuses his behavior – because she needs to train him more.  I sit and wait fairly patiently.  But Einstein?  The GOOD dog?  The one with the CD obedience title?  And several Rally titles?  As SOON as my human turns her back to get our bowls ready – he stands up.  Or lies down.  My human returns to him and instructs him to “sit”.  Which he does.  And as SOON as she is 15 feet away, he either lies down or stands up.  Again.  The other night my human hit the “non-dog-stay-breaking-point.”  She looked at him after he broke his sit stay for like the 4th time – and she decided to go ahead and feed me and the FG.  THANK goodness.  She told Einstein to “sit” and she set a timer on the microwave for 2 minutes.  She meant business.  As soon as she set the timer, he went down.  Oooooooo—eeeeeeeeeeeee.  These two ARE stubborn.  She told him to “sit and stay” again, and set the timer AGAIN.  This time he didn’t move a muscle.  She quickly fed him when the timer went off. 

Now for those who don’t know Einstein, you MAY think my human was being tough on him.  Trust me – he KNOWS about sit-stays.  He has done them for 5 minutes or even LONGER in training sessions – and has done FINE.  But honestly, we dogs are pretty darn smart.  We will attempt to get  attention even by doing bad things.  Which my human TOTALLY understands – the last couple of months have been a challenge.  For everyone.  But Einstein really does need to give her a break – and simply WAIT until SATURDAY – when life will return to our regular level of craziness.  

By the way – Einstein  DID “stay” last night – so I think he does understand that he NEEDS to behave right now. Oh yeah – but he still IS barking….

Have a good one!

First off – thank you for the all the wonderful blog congratulations!  Your support is so greatly appreciated!  You have NO idea!

And now onto our mystery for the week….so Monday morning, my human got up EXTRA early.  Probably because I was breathing in her face. She was dressed and ready to take the FG out by 4:45.  Yes, 4:45 AM.  Since it was just before sunup,  she wore her headlamp.  And it was foggy.    She and the FG went up to the golf course – even before any of the workers were there.  They walked the cart paths, and despite the calm, rather spooky atmosphere, it was actually rather relaxing.  In the meantime, Einstein and I were madly vacuuming kibble from room to room.  We are getting faster and faster at scooping up the stuff.  So that by the time my human and the FG returned, Einstein was barking.  My human  raced down the driveway, making loud footsteps – in the chance that Einstein would hear her and will stop barking.  Nah.  He waited until she OPENED the door – and he fell silent.  The war continues.

So my human put the FG in his pony-sized crate, while she went to take Einstein and I out for our walk.  She opened the door.  It was now starting to get light out.  And within .00056 seconds, Einstein spotted “it” on the lawn.  And in that .00056 seconds, before my human’s still sleeping brain could fully register what he was looking at, she actually braced herself and held on tightly to my leash – but let Einstein go.  And he RACED over to “it.” “It” was our large, heavy squirrel-proof bird feeder – you know – the one that the squirrel got caught inside.   The one that hangs on a tree branch not far from the front door.  Einstein barked madly at the offending object.  The tree branch was broken, and the feeder, which had been pretty much empty, was lying on the ground with the cover off.  I pulled my human over to the feeder and inspected it.  We wondered what caused the branch to break and the feeder to fall…. Maybe the bear!  Well he probably wouldn’t have been tall enough to reach it from the ground and if he tried to go out on the branch, I’m sure it would have broken closer to the trunk of the tree.  Maybe it was a raccoon.  We haven’t seen any – but there are no doubt some around.  Then again – maybe it was Bigfoot.  Sure it was.

After we fully examined the downed feeder, we continued on our walk up the road – to go on the trail.  And JUST before we turned off the road and onto the trail, my human heard a noise in the woods.  Bigger than a bird.  She looked down the trail – and not 50 yards away was a beautiful deer.  We couldn’t see him, because of the angle where we were standing.  Humans do have the height advantage thing.  My human waited until Bambi raced away and we followed on the trail.  We knew SOMETHING had been there just before us – but we never got to see the deer.

So that’s the mystery for now.  But get THIS.  So the feeder went down Monday.  The FG went by the downed feeder at least THREE times on Monday (not counting his first walk in the morning).  It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that HE noticed “it”.  And boy oh boy – you should have heard the big dog bark that came out of him.  He cautiously leaped around the mysterious object, barking and growling.  Einstein and I watched from in the house, rolling our eyes.  He’s not exactly got this “observant guard dog thing” down just yet.  But I have to hand it to him – he does have a great bark.

So what do YOU think?   What caused the branch to break?  Hey – maybe a really heavy squirrel!  Nah.  I still like the Bigfoot idea.

Anyway, it’s hump day.  Have a good one!  And don’t go out on a limb. At least not a skinny one.

Well today is a special day.  For me anyway. Today marks my… are you ready… my 1000th blog posting.  Seriously!  1000 postings about historical dog trivia, dog product reviews, commentaries about world dog news and most importantly – the sharing of our personal stories about the day to day life of three canines and the human they own.  In Nova Scotia, Canada, of all places.  We have shared our triumphs – like if we get a 25 cent  ribbon at a dog show or we manage to steal something without being caught (although this is much more difficult since Big Brother arrived) and we have shared our tragedies – like the loss of Paxton or my battle with seizures.  It’s pretty hard to believe we have hit the 1000 entries mark – seems we should be getting some kind of 75 cent ribbon for this!!!

Some days we find it hard to come up with a topic – and we think it’s time to hang up the iPawd.  But we carry on – and are reinforced by your comments – and by you sharing your own dog stories!  Or ideas that you think we would enjoy.  My human is also grateful for the many friends she has made around the world – who she would probably never had connected with had it not been for this crazy blog.  It’s nice to know there are other bad dogs out there too – misery loves company!   One thing we do know about this blog thing – we do love to make you laugh.  And while some may think we embellish our stories for that purpose – I assure you – this stuff is real.  Really real.  We are REALLY that bad.  No doubt some readers shake their heads about our disobedient nature, and may even become annoyed with the fact that we create such havoc. But seriously – what kind of blog would one write if the dogs were always well behaved?  How boring would THAT be?  “Today I walked obediently  at my human’s side.  I came when called.  I waited patiently and silently while my meal was being prepared.  I only chewed on my bones.  I loved being groomed.  I slept obediently on my dog bed.”  The end.   Do dogs like that even exist?!  OK.  Don’t answer that.  I know they do.  And that’s OK.  We won’t hold it against them.  Good for them.  But we DO have our OWN talents – hey not every dog is cut out to be a comedian.  Or a storyteller,  Or an escape artist.  Or a full-time singer.  Or a vacuum cleaner.  Or an aquamaniac.  That’s my new title for the FG with this whole water bowl thing.

For those who may have read 100 of these postings – we thank you very much!  For those who have read 500, we truly admire your resilience!  And for those who have read almost ALL of these postings – the check is in the mail.  Along with a bag of dog treats.  If one of us doesn’t steal them first.

Have a fabulous day and remember to smile.  And wag.  It always makes others feel better – and it will make you feel better too!

Thank you for reading – and have a good one!

So every now and then, my human comes across some dog related product on the internet, she’ll purchase it, and I’ll do a Vik-advisor review.  Like those educational puzzles.  That we tried to eat.  Or the cool rubber eggs.  That made the most obnoxious sounds.  Until we pushed the squeakers inside them.  So they are now soundless – and now we don’t want to play with them.  Or all the dog beds we have destroyed.  So far those fetch toys are still holding up.  Mind you – we are not left alone with them.  You KNOW we would destroy them too.

Anyway, my human saw the following video, and started thinking what it would be like if the dogs in this household tried this invention…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8RyWF8vo5s&feature=youtu.be

CAN YOU IMAGINE what this would be like?! Keep in mind that we PONs do not LOVE the rain – so perhaps we would be happy with this.  OK – Einstein would be happy.  But me?  Not so much.  And the FG?  Picture a Picard racing down the driveway trying to attack the thing over his head.  Plus my human would no doubt end up with some kind of elbow injury trying to keep the thing steady.  Not to mention his darting back and forth while walking.  Yes, indeed – this could be very entertaining.  VERY entertaining. 

My human also saw a device that you attach to the garden hose.  And your dog can step on a pedal to shoot water up – like a drinking fountain.  Picture the FG with THIS device.  Knowing his enjoyment at splashing in water bowls – well… I think we have THE perfect Christmas gift for him.  I’ll put it on his list.

http://odditymall.com/pawcet-a-drinking-fountain-for-your-dog

Tomorrow is a VERY special day. A LANDMARK day.  Check in to see why I will be celebrating!

Have a good one!

Well we have a new neighbor.  It’s the talk of the neighborhood.  And the new neighbor was actually spotted in Jackson’s backyard.  Others had seen evidence of the newcomer – including tipped over green organics bins.  Yup – we are not talking bunnies.  We have a BEAR.

We haven’t seen the bruin yet – but we were madly smelling something on the trail the other morning.  No doubt he heard us wild canines coming – and headed for his den. It’s a black bear – so they are generally not too dangerous.  Unless of course you run across a mother bear with cubs.  Now THAT could be dicey.   But for the MOST part, black bears don’t look to go out and attack people.  Unlike grizzlies or polar bears – who are MUCH more dangerous.  But we have no grizzlies here and no polar bears – unless one happens to swim around 1000 km from northern Newfoundland. Not likely.   

One neighbor claimed they saw bear poop on the road.  So of COURSE, my human HAD to go and see if she could find it in the place where it was spotted.  All she found was dog poop – and to be clear – that poop does not belong to any of the dogs in this house – we are scoopers.  Maybe it was from a coyote.  But we didn’t find the bear poop.  Mind you, my human is not EXACTLY a poopologist.  She once got all excited because she found “moose poop” in the backyard.  It turned out to be mushrooms.  Thank goodness she didn’t report the sighting to Lands and Forests…

The FG spotted some wildlife the other day and for a change, became QUITE interested in it.  A bunny.  One of the MANY bunnies running around here.  It’s actually kind of crazy.  They run up and down the driveway and are not the least bit afraid of my human or the FG.  That’s because he is on a leash.  On the other hand, the bunnies ARE quite afraid if I happen to be loose. Anyway, the FG has not generally been interested in four-legged creatures – he’s more into birds.  He watches ALL the birds and is especially enamored with crows.  He loves to listen to them – and watch them fly.  But our resident ornithologist became QUITE interested in Mr. Bunny the other morning.  And my human KNEW that if she didn’t hold on tightly to his leash, that he would be off and running.  I told him that bunny chasing is fun – so he decided he would like to give it a try.  My human did NOT want that to happen.

So every year,  a shelter in Cuyahoga County Ohio, compiles a list of the all the licensed dogs in the county – and publishes the most popular names.  And here was their list for 2016:

 1. Bella
 2. Buddy
 3. Max
 4. Molly
 5. Bailey
 6. Daisy
 7. Lucy
 8. Charlie
 9. Maggie
 10. Sadie

There, of course, were other names as well – but these are the most popular.  For example, two dogs were named Grover Cleveland after the 22nd US President.  I’ve never met a dog named Grover Cleveland before.   I didn’t see Donald Trump mentioned…

In addition to this list, the AKC published the top names in pairs – male and female.  And here they are:

1.  Max and Molly
2.  Jake and Bella
3.  Buddy and Daisy
4.  Jack and Maggie
5.  Cody and Lucy
6.  Charlie and Ginger
7.  Bailey and Bonnie
8.  Rocky and Sadie
9.  Sam and Sophie
10. Buster and Lady

Looks like consistency with the dogs in Ohio…

I’ve talked before about the variety of names we have in this household – so it is no wonder we don’t come when called.  I’m Viktor, Viktorino, Baby V, Trino, and sometimes some other names which cannot be printed here.  Einstein is of course, Frodo, Doe-dee-oh-doe, and Doe.  And now the FG has a variety as well.  He is, of course, Elroy, but he is also called Baby Schmaby (heaven KNOWS how she came up with THAT one), Elmo, El, and Elmer Fudd. 

When I look at the list of popular names, I don’t see any Viktor, Frodo or Elroy….  Mind you – we ARE very unique…And if anyone reads this blog, they will never name their dog after us – for fear that they may get a dog with the same behavior.  None of us has “Angel” as a middle name.  

Anyway, as they say – you can call me whatever you want – just don’t call me late for dinner!  Happy Friday!!!

Well those who know my human, know that she LOVES to take photos of us canines.  It is an ODD day if she doesn’t take a photo of ONE of us doing SOMETHING.  If she wants a POSED photo, Einstein and I are the two to take.  Well.. if the truth be told, EINSTEIN is the best subject.  Tell him to sit, lie down, stand, stay put his head up, put his head down and he does it.   It’s like he is stuffed.  I’m PRETTY good – depends on the surroundings.  Sometimes I just cant resist the temptation to sniff the ground.  Or I simply exhibit picnore – the obvious ignoring of my human while she tries in earnest to get a shot.  But if you put Einstein and I together, I DO like to compete – so I WILL GENERALLY cooperate.  And as for the FG.  It’s total LUCK if you get a good shot of him.  Yes – my human DOES manage to get some photos – but he is NOT usually big on looking at the camera.  And my human has run out of unusual humanly possible strange and wonderful noises to get his attention.  Everything from whistling to snorting to screeching – he is used to everything now. IF he decides to look at her she had better snap the shot QUICKLY.  

And of course, I need not tell you how challenging it is to get ALL three of us in a shot.  It requires patience, a handful of THE best treats ever, and lots of luck.  LOTS of luck.

So my human really appreciates good dog photography.  She’s often happy with our photos – but then she saw THESE shots – and REALLY LIKES some of these.   Check them out.

https://petapixel.com/2017/06/24/best-dog-photos-2017/

The only problem with her looking at these photos – is that now she wants to take even MORE pictures of us…. 

Oh well.    Bring on the treats.  And smile. 

And have a good one.

So according to the crazy calendar, today is called Simplicity Day.  A day to keep things simple – and not sweat the small stuff.  WHAT an anomaly in THIS house!  NOTHING is EVER simple here!  For example, “simply” letting us out for a pee after my human gets home from a VERY long day – is not so simple -and all heck breaks loose…

We have a routine.  She gets home, puts the FG in the fenced side run, while she lets Einstein and I out front to pee.  And we race around barking like mad, make a dash around to the back of the house, have a HUGE pee and race back in to get supper.  Then the FG goes out again – but on a leash.  Simple right?  Nah.  On Monday my human was STARVING – she had no lunch – so she let us out and went to quickly take something out of the freezer – to start defrosting it.  She was inside 34 more seconds than usual – so when she came out, we were G-O-N-E.  Yup – up at the new neighbors, who aren’t so new anymore but we still call them new.  The nice tolerant-of-crazy-dogs new neighbors.  Who own a Lab called Hudson.  THANKFULLY, Hudson is a low key dog and doesn’t attack us when we invade his yard and we promptly pee on every plant we can.  Oh and of course by the time my human raced up to get us (in less than a minute), BOTH of us had also pooped on their property as well.  My human was REPEATEDLY calling us and while Einstein came over to her, I was running like in a trance.  Even the neighbor remarked “It’s kind of like he’s deaf.”  It’s called selective deafness.  My human FINALLY caught me, while I had stopped to pee on yet another garden flower and promptly put on my leash.  In the meantime, Hudson had disappeared.  No doubt he didn’t want to have anything to do with the maniacs who had invaded his home.  Smart dog.  As my human was dragging us home and apologizing for the multiple poops deposited in their yard (because she hadn’t grabbed any poop bags in her haste to find us), Hudson reappeared from the woods.  I think I saw him look at his human and roll his eyes.

Ah yes.  Another simple day in Nova Scotia. Ya gotta love us….

Hope your day is carefree AND simple!  Have a good one.