January 2019 – Page 2 – Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter.

The carpet…

January 20, 2019Leave a Comment

Well we are having a “special” day today. Really special. You know what that means. Snow. Several inches. Followed by high winds and torrential rain. And THEN the temperature will plummet. So we get a luge run driveway and a skating rink lawn. I’m moving to Florida.

So let’s talk about a topic that isn’t new – but one I neglected (or chose not) to highlight. If you took my trivia quiz the other day, you probably noted that I mentioned the dining room area carpet…

My human has been quite diligent about keeping the corners of the carpet covered with chairs. Chairs that are placed on their sides. My human’s sister said that whenever she comes in, it looks like there has been a brawl. Or a tornado – that touched down around the perimeter of the dining room table.

My human has been diligent. Very diligent. But all it took was ONE day when she was in a rush (it may have been the day that Einstein did his walk about down the road) – and she forgot to assemble the chairs in wall formation. And guess who seized the opportunity to do some creative rug work. Yup. Another corner has been nibbled.

The handiwork or should I say the teethiwork was not as complete as the previous corner. But it HAS begun. My human will have to get out her needle and thread again. But for now, there is an upside down stool, with the seat covering the chewed carpet. All the time.

My human will NOT be going anywhere on this “special” day – so there is an upside to this weather. Time to get the bunny out. But don’t bother with the cup game – it’s too boring -we would rather watch paint dry. Or carpets being sewn….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 4

Memory

January 19, 2019Leave a Comment

January 19. And according to the crazy calendar, today is also Good Memory Day. The timing is perfect- because my human just read an article in Psychology Today that looked at dog intelligence. They did a study at the University of Arizona, and they concluded that bigger dogs are smarter than smaller dogs. ( Now don’t shoot me – I’m just the messenger on this one. ). And the results were particularly interesting in a test of memory.

The study looked at data that was reported by humans owned by dogs – through the results of an on-line “intelligence” test. The test has the dog perform a number of exercises. And while there ARE limitations to this study – one exercise that measured “delayed memory” showed a definite trend toward better memory in bigger dogs than in smaller dogs. The exercise required the following:

A dog was shown a treat and then it was placed under one of two cups. With the dog watching. The dog had to then wait for four different time periods and at the end of each time period was released to find the treat. They said that four trials were done – I am assuming four times for each of the time periods of 60, 90, 120 and 150 seconds.

You, of course, know what comes next. We had to test the theory.

My human started with the FG. She put him in a “down stay” and showed him the treat. She then covered it with a cup and put another cup a few feet away.

You know how when you are late for something, and you have one minute to do something- and that one minute FLIES BY? Yeah- well one minute when you are waiting with a dog in a “stay” somehow goes MUCH more slowly. The good news? The FG pretty much stays where you tell him. I was not nearly as patient and Einstein was the worst. He kept squeaking and breaking his down. The only dog in this house who has an obedience title. Go figure.

So the results? I bet you are all thinking that we chowhound PONs with the great memories would ACE this exercise. While the non-attentive non-food liking Picard would fail. Well I am here to tell you – we PONs blew it. For the 60 second time period , Einstein and I only scored correctly on 1/4 trials. The FG? Who almost looked like he could fall asleep waiting? 4/4.

The FG tried the 90 second exercise and got 2/4. When they got to 120 and 150 seconds, he failed the initial trial for each time period and was CLEARLY getting bored- so they didn’t do the 4 trials for those times. Given our abysmal performance at 60 seconds, my human didn’t even bother to try the longer times for us. I think that was a mistake. Maybe we just thought it was too easy – so didn’t pass at 60 seconds because we weren’t even trying. I bet we would have been bang on at 150 seconds. Sure we would.

So with our limited data and sketchy methodology, our results concluded that the bigger dog in this house is smarter – or at least was for this exercise. I am demanding a recount.

I think it’s interesting that my human can give the FG kibble to search for while she walks me and Einstein each day. And I cannot WAIT to get in the house, knowing that he likely didn’t find every kibble. I remember it was left out. And our walk takes longer than 60 seconds. So one would THINK I have a good memory. Perhaps it’s the routine – but my human knows that we DO REMEMBER things very well. So why we failed so miserably- who knows.

Let me know if you try this out. And if you have several dogs of different sizes, see if the bigger dogs do better. Given this theory, Bucket Head should have been a genius. Adorable, loving, sweet-yes. But super smart? Remember, he’s the one that swallowed my human’s sling. Mind you… I eat dryer lint….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 3

Here’s the link to that article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201901/are-big-dogs-smarter-small-dogs?amp

Temperamental. And strange.

January 18, 2019Leave a Comment

I’m SURE I have talked about this before – but it bears repeating. Picards are temperamental. You never quite know what kind of mood the FG will wake up in. Really. Some days he is all rolled up in his crate (which has no door on it) and doesn’t even move a MUSCLE when my human gets up and goes to take us out. He opens one eye, looks at us PONs who are spinning like tops – and rolls over. That means he is in a “mood.” He takes his time getting up on those days. Mind you – once he is UP and hits the fresh air, well it’s like when my human gets that cup of coffee. He is suddenly ALIVE. So I guess, first off, he is not a morning dog. But he can also be temperamental, as we know, with eating. The other morning when my human put his breakfast down, he looked at it and said no thanks. She is used to that. So at supper time, she added some raw food. He wouldn’t touch it. His third chance was right before bed. We always get a snack (so I can get my CBD dose). He STILL didn’t want to eat. He would eat biscuits – but his own food – nope. So that bowl of raw went in the compost. Now the next morning, he was STARVING and ate everything down to the last tiny bit. Just watching him not eating for a day is like watching a horror film to me. I cannot IMAGINE why he does that. HOW he does that.

He is also inconsistent in his delivery skills. Delivery skills? The newspaper. He and my human go up to the road each morning to get the paper. Now keep in mind the following: It is dark out. It is icy out. My human is dressed like she is going on a polar expedition – so her mobility is rather restricted. She is also super cautious about not falling.

When she picks up the paper, it is often in a plastic bag. And the FG wants it. She CANNOT give it to him if there is no bag, because he takes it, drops it and then tears it up. So no bag, no game. And the game is pretty much played by his rules. Although sometimes my human calls the shots.

So if it IS in a bag, he wants it. She gives it to him and instructs him to “be a good boy and hold it.” He takes two steps and drops it. And then STARES at it like it is some kind of meteor that just dropped from the sky. She tells him “take it.” He stares at it. She bends over, and picks it up. And of course he wants it. She gives him the same instructions. This time he prances and throws the paper in the air. Which lands on the ice at the side of the driveway and slides down into the ditch. Unhappy ditties come from my human. She knows that the likelihood that he will go down in the ditch and get it are pretty slim. Which means she has to find a non-icy vantage point where she can climb down. As she is scanning for her climbing point, the FG decides to jump down into the ditch. Back before my time, my human had a Labrador, who could be instructed to retrieve the paper from the ditch – and he was 100% reliable in getting it. He could even retrieve garbage can lids. But I digress. And we’re talking about the FG.

Anyway, much to my human’s amazement, he gets it!!! And jumps back up onto the driveway. Score! My human is telling him how brilliant he is as he proudly carries his prize. For 4 feet. Then he drops it. And stares at it.

It is at this point that my humam announces the “three strikes and you’re out” rule, she bends over, picks up the paper and tucks it under her arm. The FG shrugs his shoulders and begins to tug on the leash . At which point the announcement is made that “ALL GAMES ARE OVER.”

He trots happily down the driveway. Where he is headed in to stare at his food dish.

Yes. These Picards are a VERY interesting breed….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 2

A trivia game!!!!

January 17, 2019Leave a Comment

We had a good day yesterday. My human worked from home – to keep an eye on me. And good news – no additional seizures. She kept herself sequestered in the DFZ, so she could actually get work done -but could watch me all day. Now we hope to get back on the seizure-free road.

We have some other good news…thanks to you! Thanks for clicking on the ads on my blog. We will soon be getting another dog biscuit payment!!!!!!! We appreciate your support!!!!

And speaking of my blog…we decided it’s time to do a little blog trivia. We have published over 1500 posts. My human goes back to read some of them and has a chuckle. She thankfully doesn’t remember ALL the bad things we do – so she reads them like it’s the first time she has ever seen them! All of our badness blends together.

So here’s some trivia for you loyal readers. Some is general trivia – and the rest is info from 2018. Kind of a year in review. We are not including sad news..like people or pets passing or about my seizures – we want to make this FUN. So let’s go…

1. First a general one. What does FG stand for?
2. What business establishment do we dread seeing bags from?
3. What product did that business run out of this year?
4. What breed of dog won Westminster last year?
5. What breed of dog won Crufts last year?
6. Who is Pig Pen (NOT the one from the Peanuts cartoon).
7. Who in our household is a rollaholic on patches of snow (and ice)?
8. My human and her sister made a lamb for Easter last year out of what?
9. When is Dyngus Day?
10. Who had to wear a cone of shame because he had an abrasion on his nether parts?
11. What unique visitor did we have in May?
12. What article of home decor has been replaced repeatedly in our household? Why?
13. What is my favorite non-palatable snack?
14. What is a smirk smack?
15. What is poket?
16. What can be used to attract butterflies in Central Africa? Hint: this topic probably occurs more frequently than any topic on my blog. The topic my human’s mother most disliked…
17. How many dog sitters did we have last year? Hint: my human went away TWICE.
18. What colorful attire did we get as guilt gifts when she went to Cape Breton?
19. What are Galgos?
20. What is happening at the end of January?

Drum roll……..

So how do you think you did? Let’s see…
1. Friendly Giant!
2. The dreaded Dollar store. AKA Pet torture supply shop.
3. Poop bags!! The ones we love. With the handles. But I forgot to tell you this WONDERFUL NEWS – they have brought them back!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw something in the paper about protest marches – and I think public pressure made them again carry them. There is a God.
4. Bichon Frise AKA cute fuzzy puff head
5. Whippet Don’t worry if you didn’t remember these. Either did we….
6. The black Labrador, Jackson, from down the road
7. Einstein. The FG rolls on grass – but Einstein is famous for his snow dangels.
8. Butter. Wonder if they’ll attempt it again this year..
9. The day after Easter!!! It’s a Polish holiday.
10. Einstein . Remember he is a DRAMA KING. So we ALL suffered.
11. A BEAR!!!!
12. The dining room carpet. Because the FG likes to chew the corners. Speaking of which…(to be continued)
13. Dryer lint!!! And pillowcases.
14. It’s a term from my Viktionary. That’s when we canines stare at a human and smack our lips after we have eaten something BAD. And the more gross the better!
15. Another Viktionary term – it’s a verb. It’s the action of poking at a human’s pocket when we KNOW there in a treat inside. Or even a salt grain sized piece of a treat.
16. DOG POOP!!!!!!
17. TWO!
18. Tartan scarves
19. Spanish sighthounds.
20. MY HUMAN IS RETIRING!!!!!!

So here is the scoring:
1-10 You are a newbie. Welcome to my blog. We can become a bit addictive. Partly because people like saying “glad those aren’t MY dogs…”
10-15 You have been reading us for awhile – and you clearly pay attention!
16-20 You know more about us than we know about ourselves. And you would like to meet us – knowing that you can leave at the end of the day and not live with us.

We have free pawtographed photos for anyone who got ALL 20. Postage not included. OR we will come and stay at your house. For a week…

THANKS FOR READING!!!

Have a good one! Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 1

Pockets. The EDIBLE kind.

January 16, 2019Leave a Comment

So I am thinking this retirement thing is going to be a really good thing. I told you about what a great day we had on Monday. Even with the hat thing. But I forgot to tell you the OTHER thing my human did…

Now my human is NO gourmet. Yeah – she CAN cook, but doesn’t always have time to make big meals. And we know that her baking skills are pretty meager. She depends on friends and family at Christmas time to give her baked goods so she can serve them and look like she made them. She never SAYS she made them. And she will obviously say something if someone asks. But I can’t remember the last time I saw something made from scratch here. Baked or otherwise. So on Monday when she came back from a quick trip to the grocery store, imagine my SHOCK when she said she was making something for ME.

As you know, I take medication for my seizures. In pill, tablet and liquid forms. Liquids are no problem – she squirts them on my food and they are inhaled. She could PROBABLY just pass me my pills and tablets – we know I will eat anything – but that’s kind of dicey.

Now what I am about to say…she actually hates to admit. But we might as well fess up – because we have a new plan. Up until now, she has been buying those chemical laden play doh-like pill pockets. I know. I know. There are other options. Like putting my pills in peanut butter. (The all natural type with NO xylitol). The problem is, we end up with peanut butter everywhere. We DO use it when we need to – but it’s a messy option. We can put my pills in soft bread. That works too. But it has to be the RIGHT bread or it gets crumbly. So on Monday, she decided to MAKE pill pockets. Really. Miss non-chef made me pill pockets. And they were simple:

1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons coconut flour ( the recipe called for regular flour – but she SUBSTITUTED this ingredient. Who IS this woman?)

You basically mix up the stuff, knead the “dough”, make little balls, take a straw to make a hole in the ball, and then put them in the fridge. Or the freezer.

I had my first pocket that same day – and whoosh – it was gone. Mind you, I will eat anything. But my human thinks these are better than the other commercial pockets. Kind of like going off junk food.

If people have other pill pocket recipes, please feel free to share them. She told me she’s encouraged by this initial success. Oh, it’s the little things in life… This retriement thing is going to be VERY interesting!!!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 0.

Bad news. As my human was getting ready for bed last night, the FG started barking a funny bark. She instantly knew something was wrong. She raced out of the bathroom- and sure enough, I was having a seizure. That made her go and look through all the video of the whole day. And I had had another one around noon. So we are back to zero…

Hats off to us!

January 15, 2019Leave a Comment

According to the crazy calendar, today is National Hat Day.

And guess what my human got the other day in the mail? No. Not a hat. But a Christmas present. To herself. A big 5×7 backdrop for taking photos. It came in a small flat circle and then it springs open to be the big backdrop. Getting it to go BACK into the flat circle was VERY entertaining to watch. VERY VERY entertaining.

Anyway if you combine a new photo backdrop AND National Hat Day – WHAT do you assume you get? I’m SURE I don’t need to tell you.

She started with the easy model. Who was QUITE cooperative, but whose head did not really work with the selected chapeaux ! Here are his best results.

Then we had moi. And surprisingly- I discovered I am a hat guy. I look adorable, if I do say so myself!

And then we had the FG. We KNOW, he is not really fond of any kind of attire- even though he gets to PLAY tug between each and every shot!!!! I think his are the most entertaining…

We had a great day yesterday. My human was off so we had several long walks, we had marrow bones as a treat (for 20 minutes and then they were confiscated so no one gets soupy poops) and we had the photo shoots – which some of us enjoyed more than others. Just think- we’ll do this ALL THE TIME very soon!!! We can’t wait!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 37

Important research

January 14, 2019Leave a Comment

My human saw a meme on Facebook the other day and it made her chuckle. It was as follows:

Does anyone else tell their pets “I’ll be back soon” when you leave the house or is it just me?

I don’t know if they have done any studies on this ( I’m guessing SOMEONE got a big grant somewhere to answer this question), but I know it happens in our house. All the time.

And there are different messages, depending on the day and the destination. My human likes to tell us everything- because she thinks we want to be informed. Frankly, unless she is going to the pet store, we don’t REALLY care if she is going out to a friend’s place, or for dinner with her sister, or shopping or to work or to church… whatever. And her “I won’t be long” line is a bit of a stretch. If you say that one human year is like 7 dog years- well HER hour is NOT equivalent to OUR hour.

But we are used to the drill. “See you later. I won’t be long today. Be good boys and watch the house.” Bla bla bla. We turn around and head for a comfy napping spot.

But don’t think we don’t actually associate those words with something. And my human discovered a funny thing the other day. She was trying to get another photo of us. As if she doesn’t have plenty. She was trying to get all of us looking at her. She was making all of her weird repertoire of sounds. Was throwing her mittens in the air. Was whistling and calling our names. Nothing was working. And then she said it “See you later. I won’t be long.” And ALL of us immediately stared at her. Magic words. Photo captured.

It has worked for several other shots, but we have now clearly caught on. So like the weird sounds and the whistling, we are on to her. We’re making her work harder.

She came back from the dreaded Dollar Store on Friday. Antlers are over…hopefully she didn’t find head bands with Valentine hearts. And then we have the rabbit ears after that. She had better come up with some REALLY interesting lines to get our attention for those shots…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 36

If you do use those kinds of lines when you leave the house, take your dog outside and say them. See if you do get their attention. And let us know!!! We have no funding for this study, so you will not be paid for your participation, but the benefit is that you will be contributing to important research on canine photography tips. Let us know!!!!

She has a new name….

January 13, 2019Leave a Comment

Well the chunky monkey will soon be going to her new home. Who is the chunky monkey – why my niece of course. Indi continues to grow and GROW. Here are some recent photos – at just around 6 weeks. Yup. She’s a new variety of giant PON. Is she cute or what?

Rumor has it that she has been escaping from her pen. Perhaps my human should have warned them about Einstein’s ability to get out of ANY enclosure. Looks like he has passed down the PONdini gene.

We thought initially that Indi might be staying with her treasurer (remember I don’t like the word breeder) but it turns out she is moving closer to us! She is moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba. OK – it’s not THAT close to us. But it’s slightly closer than BC. And she will have a new alias. She is going to be called Ginny. Her new humans picked that name. They probably have read my blog and prefer not to start this puppy off in the shadow of our bad behavior. Kind of like going into the witness protection program, where you change your identity. Mind you, I just blew her cover.

Her humans have connected with my human on Facebook – so we look forward to hearing all about her new adventures. And MAYBE she will even go to dog shows – like her father did. Somebody in the family needs to get some ribbons again- we have been pretty slack on our end the last year.

No running around on the lawn yesterday – but we did go for long walks on the road. My human TRIES to actually keep me off the side of the road – because it’s all ice. And since I had to increase my meds back to the regular level after those seizures last month, I’m back to my wobbly stage. So when you think Bambi on ice – that is ME. Yet I insist on walking on the ice because that’s where all the good smells are. You know that old Simon and Garfunkel song, Slip Slidin’ Away? That’s my theme song. It’s tough with the side effects of the meds – but seizures are worse. At least that’s what we think.

Anyway, time to get my human moving again. We have to keep to our New Years resolution!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 35

Resolutions

January 12, 2019Leave a Comment

According to the crazy calendar, today is “Stick to your New Years Resolution” day AND it is also “Work harder” day. They go together.

So let’s look at our resolutions. I think we resolved that we would help my human get more exercise, but so far we have failed miserably. Why? Because of special weather! You see, we have had several special weather days – where we get snow -just a couple of inches- followed by rain. And then the temperatures go down and we get an instant skating rink on our lawn and on our driveway. Every morning is a new adventure in determining our poop route. Will we TRY to go up the driveway to the road? Or will we TRY to walk around our own property? For the past week or two we have never made it up the driveway to the road. It was just too treacherous. But FINALLY we were able to walk on the road yesterday. We were thrilled. And so was my human – she clearly needs the exercise because all those Christmas cookies and candies have not done her any favors. But they WERE good.

So we get up to the road. It’s dark (because we are still talking pre-daylight). And we are so happy to be going for a REAL walk. We walk along and do our thing. And as we head for home – my human spots “the light.” Which can only mean one thing. Max and his human are coming. Because just like my human – they wear a headlamp for walking in the dark.

Remember, we HAVE met Max. And we thought he was OK. But at 6:15 AM, in the dark, we are not so sure. My human sees them coming – Max and his human. She immediately says to Einstein “LEAVE IT.” Which means “don’t start barking and snarling like a rabid dog and pulling on the leash to drag me across the road.” She didn’t warn yours truly, as I really don’t care about other dogs. Usually.

My human shoves some treats in Einstein’s face – which surprisingly he is not OVERLY interested in. Nope. He is MUCH more interested in the light that is approaching and in Max.

As they approach on the other side of the road – she shouts out a “Good morning” in a happy sounding voice so Einstein will stay calm. Max’s human shouts out a hello – at which point Einstein decides HE needs to say hello. His tone is NOT so cheerful. And in a sudden sense of brotherhood, yours truly decides to join in. AND we both decide we should be close to Max to say hello. So now my human has two TASMANIAN PONs on the end of leashes. She struggles to hold onto us AND the FULL poop bags she is carrying. They are swinging and swaying as the PONdemonium occurs. Not a graceful sight. Good thing it is dark out.

She drags us along and within probably 150 yards we stop barking. She breathes a sigh of relief and she mumbles all the way down the driveway about our “exuberant” behavior. And she says a few words not publishable here.

We, on the other hand have a different perspective. Mission accomplished. We walked. She walked. AND she got some upper body exercise holding onto those pulling leashes. Score.

Sometimes it is hard to be a coach for humans. They need SO MUCH work. But not to worry. We vow that she won’t be wearing those ugly “comfy” sweat pants by this summer. We can’t WAIT until she retires….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 34

Bugs.

January 11, 2019Leave a Comment

Just when you think the battles about dog food couldn’t get any more interesting (like the whole issue of kibble vs raw), we have a NEW player on the field. Bugs. Yup. Bugs. Bugs for us dogs to eat. You know how you typically try to rid us of bugs, like fleas and ticks – well now you can FEED us bugs. A company in the UK is now making a dog food from insects. The insects used are the larve from black soldier flies – and they are mixed with oats, potatoes and natural botanicals. Here is their website:

https://www.yorapetfoods.com/yora-pet-foods

The consumption of insects by humans is not something new. In Cambodia you can munch on fried tarantulas and in Thailand you can have deep fried crickets. One statistic I found said that there are over 1000 types of insects that are edible to humans. Eating insects is seen as a way to tackle world hunger – and even the UN is looking at this concept.

Now. What do I think about eating bugs? Well – you are talking to a guy who eats dryer lint and chews pillowcases like gum. Would it BOTHER me to eat bugs? Nah. I’m a PON after all. Now the FG….THAT could take more convincing. He would probably need to thoroughly examine every kibble – which really don’t look anything like bugs. Just sayin’. I see on the company website that they do not YET have a moist variety. Now THAT could look more gross. But the food is supposed to be a good source of protein, fats and amino acids and is supposed to be easy to digest. Easier for US to digest than maybe the IDEA for some humans.

Interesting concept…chew on the idea and let me know what you think. (I couldn’t resist…sorry – hope that didn’t bug you…).

Have a good one. Peace and paws up! It’s Friday!!!!
Seizure free days: 33