So according to the Crazy Calendar, today is National Soft Ice Cream Day.  A human treat, that REALLY isn’t all that good for us dogs – because the lactose COULD cause stomach upset.  But, everything in moderation.  A BITE of an ice cream come will GENERALLY not be harmful to most dogs.  But if you want a non-lactose EASY alternative, freeze two bananas, put them in a blender, and voila – banana soft serve.  Safe for us dogs.  You can also freeze it after blending, if you want a more solid version..

But speaking of soft serve ICE CREAM – GUESS who got to go back on the waterfront for another walk the other night?!  Yup.  The FG.  For SOME reason, Worry Wart thinks he needs socialization.  I’m not sure why – he practically knocks over neighbors if he meets them – and he IS VERY sociable.  Probably a bit more than us PONs.  But she has something up her sleeve – so she wants to get him out.  And get THIS – he even got a BITE of ice cream too. 

In the meantime, Einstein and I continue to enjoy the marrow bone zone.  It’s almost a comatose state.  That’s a tough call:  soft serve ice cream or a bone.  I think I’ll take the bone. 

Hey – you know my human prides herself on THINKING she knows a bit about dog sports.  She’s even tried and competed in a number of them including obedience, rally, draft, agility, and a working certificate (which is basic field work).  We also TRIED herding – but we know how that turned out – for us PONs.  And there are LOADS of other activities – tracking, lure coursing, barn hunts, dock diving, and disc catching.  Some sports are better for some dogs than others.  I can’t exactly envision a Saint Bernard catching discs.  It probably wouldn’t be a good idea. 

Another sport is treibball.  My human saw it on the internet once and went out and bought one of those giant balls to see if she could get us to do it.  It’s kind of like a combination of herding and soccer.  Check out this dog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBJ9DVp9dyM

So we have this big ball.  I hate it, Einstein likes to push it around – but where HE wants it to go and the other day, my human witnessed the FG peeing on the ball.  I guess that’s his opinion on treibball.

But the latest sport she JUST found out about is canine parkour.  Who knew about this one?!  It’s all about a human and dog approaching a variety of obstacles in the environment. Apparently you can even get an international title by sending in a video to the International Dog Parkour Association, demonstrating a series of prescribed exercises.  Check out his novice routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTqirE9epOI 

If you want more info on the details and rules, check out this site:
http://www.dogparkour.org/

Worry Wart thinks Einstein could PROBABLY pass the beginner level.  So you know she’ll be getting him to hop up in logs in the woods from now on.  Poor Einstein.

So there are lots of cool things you humans can do with your dog.  And after a hard day at any sport, time for an ice cream.  Or a frozen banana!

Have a good one! 

So by now, if you have been following my blog for ANY amount of time, you must know that besides helping me write this daily account on the lives of three crazy canines, Worry Wart likes to take photos of us.  That’s my new nickname for my human.  Now I should probably mention that she actually likes to take photos of LOTS of things – but if you looked at the 35,679 stored in some imaginary cloud in outer space, 34,998 are probably of dogs.  Proper thing.  And she is always looking to find a UNIQUE image of us.  I mean she has LOTS of close up shots of us, lots of posed shots, and lots of shots wearing horrid holiday attire.  She also LOVES to catch a candid shot of us – when we are NOT posed.  And those, of course, are the hard photos to catch – as we rarely stay still.  Anyway, those candid shots – IF she manages to get one, are often her favorite photos – and honestly, you would not BELIEVE what she goes through to get them.  And the other night – she almost hung up her smart phone for good – the photo result was almost not worth the effort.

On Monday night Worry Wart decided she needed some of that “relaxation time” that I referred to yesterday.  So after supper, out came the marrow bones.  The three of us went on the deck and proceeded to experience dog heaven on earth.  We went into the chewing frenzy zone.  So after a while, Worry Wart looked out and saw that we were about to have another magnificent sunset.  Her sunset photos don’t tie the dog photos in number – but they are right up there.  So she decided to head down to the lake, and she decided to take the FG with her.  Einstein and I didn’t care – we were in the “marrow zone.” 

Worry Wart hasn’t had a chance to trim the grass on the shore for over a week – so she figured it would already be tall.  So she wore her rubber boots.  And off they went.  As they came through the woods, they were greeted by an amazing sunset.  So Worry Wart rushed to snap some shots, while the FG gorged on grass and sniffed around.  So she’s shooting away – and of course, the FG suddenly decided HE needed to be IN the water.  So now the sunset photos include a dog.  That’s OK – it’s the illusive candid dog shot.  She shoots away.  She glances through them after she takes a few and decides they are not all that great, but by now the FG has come back on shore.  Keep in mind – he IS on a leash.  So in her not-so-infinite wisdom, Worry Wart decides to entice the FG back into the water.  She is wearing rubber boots after all, so she steps in.  And he follows.  He wades out.  She thinks she is about to capture the National Geographic award winning candid dog photo.  But nope.  The FG  turns around and BOLTS back onto the shore.  At this point, Worry Wart has her smart phone in her left hand and is holding onto the leash in her right hand.  His sudden movement catches her off balance and her rubber boots IMMEDIATELY fill with water.  And she is heading down.  She CANNOT let her left hand go into the water.  It’s one of those slow motion moments. Only one thing to do – hold her left arm above her head and fall onto a rock that’s on the shoreline.  Her knee meets it with a crunch and for 2 seconds Einstein and I look up when we hear the shout “THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE PRETTY.”    We just shrugged our shoulders and went back to chewing.

Five minutes later, we see one very revved up wet Picard and one achy human limping along with a scraped knee and rubber boots full of water. The phone survived, and THANKFULLY out of the 89 photos she quickly shot – she DID like a few.

Saturday it rained. Pretty much all day.  So yesterday morning, when we headed out for our walk, my human was not going to take us on the public trail, as she knew it would be wet and muddy. But we ended up running into Pig Pen.  That is going to be my new name for Jackson.  Now please don’t interpret that as a mean name- because we all LOVE Jackson.  He’s the PERFECT dog.  He comes when called. Can be walked off a leash.  He is SUPER friendly.  He’s VERY handsome.  As I said, he’s the PERFECT dog.  But as I mentioned when I talked about the deer flies – he can LOOK like the cartoon character when they fly around him.  Oh and I SHOULD mention Jackson’s ONE vice.  And only ONE.  He likes swamp water.  Not to drink – but to wander in.  The more green and muddy – the better.  So really, the name Pig Pen DOES fit  – at least at times. But I don’t want to offend him – so let’s call him Perfect Pig Pen.  That’s better.

So we ran into Perfect Pig Pen and his human, and they were headed down the trail, so we said we would join them.  Well – my HUMAN said we would.  I was happy to go – but Einstein was mortified.  Mud and puddles.  His worst nightmare.  He didn’t know WHERE to walk.  It was like watching a slow moving bag of potatoes – trying to calculate which direction to walk so he would not get wet.  OR dirty.  You know, my human sees pictures and videos of PONs who love mud, and puddles.  So they do exist.  But somehow Einstein is in a different league. Maybe he anticipates having a bath or a rinse after getting muddy – which frankly does NOT happen every time.  Who knows.  It was pretty embarrassing to watch him.  The one good thing – the flies must have still been asleep – they were no problem.  Perfect Pig Pen is able to walk off leash – but at one point, his human put him on a leash as we were approaching a VERY mucky, swampy area.  His human KNEW what would happen – so Perfect Pig Pen was  restrained for a short time.   And then he was again set free. Because he DOES behave.  Unlike some PONs and a Picard we know.

Looks like the weather ahead is going to be great.   Wonder what my human has planned for us.  You know, I JUST realized I have not given HER a nickname.  She suggested Saint.  I don’t think so.  I have to think about this….give me some time….

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

So sometimes I REALLY wonder about the FG.  He seems to be VERY smart sometimes.  And then other times…

It’s August.  And with August comes the arrival of some unwelcome guests.  In May it was the dreaded black flies.  Those guys are tiny, but love to bite – humans and animals alike. They have pretty much disappeared and NOW the dive bombing,  triangular-shaped flying piranhas have arrived.  The deer flies.  Google them if you’re not familiar with them.  And yes – they are as ugly as they look.  On a calm, hot sunny day, they can be a menace in wooded areas.  In fact, this week my human refused to take us on the public trail down the road certain mornings, because she can’t stand the idea of being swarmed.  As she walks, she watches them fly over her head like a group of aircraft, and quickly descend on us canines.  And it’s interesting – they prefer dark colors.  So between me and Einstein, I have more following me.  And heaven forbid our friend Jackson, the black Lab is out with us.  Ever see that character, Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown cartoons?   Where he is surrounded by particles of dirt?  Picture those particles being deer flies – all around poor Jackson.  The same used to be true for Paxton.  

The deer flies also LOVE to attack humans too.  Especially their heads.  So in the past few weeks, my human has been sporting a white hooded sweatshirt during our morning walks.  Now I don’t want to imply that these cannibals are EVERYWHERE – they seem to like certain areas along the public trail.   The swampy areas.  When my human does take us on the trail, she quickly pulls us along through those areas where they seem to be worse.  And of course, you KNOW that’s when we want to poop.  So she stands there with her hood up, praying that we go quickly, while trying to bat off any one that lands on us.

Anyway, this week, my human took the FG out for his walk.  They were walking along the paths at the golf course.  Suddenly, they reached an area where there were some flies.  So my human put up her hood.  So here we have Mr. Observant.  The guy who carefully watches every bird in the heavens.  Who studies blowing leaves.  And notices things like a garbage can placed in a new location.  They are happily walking along and my human puts up her hood.   He glances up, looks at her and jumps backward with his ears back and tail between his legs like he was meeting a burglar in a dark alley.  Seriously.  So my human puts down her hood – and keep in mind that her face was NOT covered, and he is all happy again.  I mean it’s not like he hasn’t seen her wearing a jacket with a hood.  Or a hat!  Honestly, this guy never ceases to interest me… Ya gotta love him… Maybe he was doing it just to be funny?  Suuuuuuuure he was…

Well another day of fetching ahead.  Hopefully my human can keep the fetch toy off the roof today… yup.  Never a dull moment!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

August 12.  And did you know that on this day in 1883,  the last quagga died at a zoo in the Netherlands.  Don’t know what a quagga is?  Well no wonder.  They became extinct.  They were from Africa – and they looked kind of like zebras – except they were only striped on the front half of their bodies – and the rest of them was a solid brownish color.  Yup – today was the day they disappeared.  BUT – some good news.  Scientists are working with DNA and trying to “bring back” the quagga.  Now some argue that you can’t bring back the same species – but with some fancy selective zebra breeding, they are breeding animals that certainly LOOK like quaggas.   They are actually called Rau Quaggas – named after one of the scientists working on the project.  I guess they are quasi quaggas.

I’ve talked before about the fact that there are currently some dog breeds on the verge of extinction – and it’s a topic of relevance in our household because both Polish Lowland Sheepdogs AND Berger Picards were close to becoming extinct after WW II.  I think that’s probably the case with many rare breeds.  But a committed group of enthusiasts who love a breed, start looking at what they can do to save it.   And voila – because of the efforts of those early breeders, you are able read about the antics of two of these crazy rare breeds every day.  Sometimes my human understands why we nearly became extinct…

But the bottom line with purebred dogs – ALL purebred dogs, rare or not, is that people need to work together to save breeds from extinction.  Dog show ribbons are pretty – but beneath it all, health is what counts.  People have to be open,  and honest and breeders need to be selective – and KNOW what happens to their puppies.  Otherwise, we could go the way of the quagga…

OK. Time to get off my soapbox and go for a walk. Or play another game of fetch.  And TRY to stay  out of trouble, so I don’t become extinct.  Today.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!