According to the crazy calendar, on this day in 1893, the Supreme Court in the US made a ruling that a tomato is a vegetable and not a fruit – under the Tariff Act of 1883.  Scientists may beg to differ – but some argue that since it is used as a vegetable in cooking, then it is a vegetable.  Anyway – the court ruled it a vegetable.  But what do courts know?

As far as us dogs and tomatoes, you can call it whatever you WANT – tom-ay-toe, tom-ah-toe- we call it food.  And yes, it is OK for us canines to eat tomatoes- in moderation.  BUT – it’s not OK for us to munch on the leaves or the stems of the plant, or even unripened tomatoes – because they contain a compound called solanine. If consumed in large quantities – solanine can be harmful to us dogs.  We end up with something called tomatine poisoning.  Symptoms can include gastric problems, and if advanced enough could include cardiac problems, muscle weakness and even seizures.  Apparently it doesn’t happen all that frequently – but it COULD if we ate a lot of the green stuff.  So while we CAN eat ripe tomatoes in moderation – we need to stay away from the plants.

Speaking of greenery – isn’t spring just the BEST time of the year to munch on new grass?! Who needs sheep when you have us canines?  The FG particularly loves to find a clump of grass – and he’ll dig in grabbing a mouthful.  While some seem to think that dogs eat grass to make ourselves vomit, because we are not feeling well, (ewwwwww) there apparently is no scientific evidence to prove this claim.   It could be a possibility – but just because we munch on grass it does NOT mean we are feeling sick.  Resources DO say though, that if we are showing other signs of illness like weight loss, or diarrhea and we suddenly start craving grass, that there may be underlying gastric issues as the cause.  So get us to the vet.

Some theorize another reason for eating grass.  They say that because undomesticated dogs are omnivores (eating both meats and plants), we domesticated dogs still have that craving for salad with our meals.  One site suggested that you grow an indoor grass tray to give us our grass fix – rather than eating potentially chemically laden grass outdoors.  Sure.  Can you envision a grass try in OUR house?  That would last all of 15.8 seconds.  My human doesn’t use any chemicals on our lawn.  That’s why it is mostly weeds.  So we are pretty safe in having the odd snack out there.  Not to mention all the nutrients in dandelions.  She grows them JUST for us.  Sure she does….They should begin opening any time now.   A lovely sea of yellow….

Well, it’s Friday and we survived a week of guard duty.  Let the weekend BEGIN!

Have a good one.  Peacea dn paws up.
Seizure free days: 8

Time for some updates on the relatives.  The CANINE relatives.

First off, the FG is an uncle.  A distant uncle.  His half brother, James Bond is the father to a new treasury of Picards!!!!!!  A very lovely girl by the name of Mia, had eight puppies – 3 girls and 5 boys!!!!!!!   Mother and babies are doing great.  Rumor has it, my human plans to visit them some time in June.  We’ll just see about that.  And before anyone asks – no she is not bringing home a puppy.  I mean can you IMAGINE four dogs in this household?!  TWO Picards and TWO PONs?!  She says she doesn’t have enough money to buy the extra costumes at the Dollar Store.  Nope.  It isn’t going to happen.  But she IS looking forward to seeing them – and rumor has it, the FG might be going along for the ride….

Meanwhile, my niece, Ginny (Einstien’s daughter) has all grown up.  She passed her first obedience class and LOVES her Wheaten sister, Prim.  Her only vice…..Surprise, surprise – she likes to bark.  ALL the time.  Sound familiar?  The biscuit doesn’t fall far from the bowl.

In blog news…this week, Canada is leading the USA.   Followed by the UK, Australia and Switzerland.  Leading in what?  Visits to my blog site.     I can’t see WHO is clicking on my ads – but they actually do narrow it down by country!  My readership stats never ever got straightened out from the problem I had in the fall.  All I know is back in October EVERYBODY who has a blog had a major hit in the number of visitors to their blogs.  And it has never returned to that number of pageviews.  It’s a bit depressing because you can’t figure out your growth – if you have growth.  I’m so happy for those of you who DO take the time out to read about my adventures.  I also welcome your feedback and ideas about how I can make my blog better.  I added the Instagram link – which has photos not always seen on my blog.  But I’m always trying to think of ways to spice things up.

Tomorrow is FRIDAY and we are starting to see the light at the end of the work tunnel.  We want our human back – and it won’t be long now!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free. days: 7

The canines in our house have a great little game that we play.  It’s called solar light bowling.  The objective?   To go out and knock down as many solar lights in the garden as possible.  You get points for every light knocked down.

Right now, I appear to be leading in the game.  It can APPEAR that the knocking down of solar lights is accidental – but I am here to tell you…..we do it on purpose.  Peeing on solar lights is also fun – but a total knock down is what earns you the points.

My human bought the first set of solar lights years ago, when they were pretty novel.  And she paid a fair bit for them.  But as they became more popular, the prices dropped dramatically – so that NOW you can even get them at the dreaded costume palace – the Dollar Store.  The second set she bought were at a discount place and while they LOOK really cute – they are VERY easy to knock down.  They have a base that goes in the ground, and then a little cylinder-like piece that sits on that base.  My human liked the look of those lights so put them in the bed right in front of the house.  Bad move.  Not a DAY goes by that we don’t play solar light bowling on our way to the backyard.  Sometimes we fake our moves and go around them, only to suddenly veer out and score.

Solar lights are funny things too.  At least our solar lights.  They tend to act up.  I mean they can go dark for a few days and JUST when you think you should MAYBE throw them away, they suddenly light up again!  I guess that’s what happens when you routinely play bowling with them.  Or you pee on them.

She also bought two of those solar spotlights.  THAT was money well spent.  About as well spent as costumes from the Dollar Store.  SURE – they light up.  But the spotlight beam only extends about 2 feet from the device.   I should add that you get EXTRA points in bowling when you knock down the spotlights.

I started thinking that solar lights are kind of a metaphor for life.   They can be knocked down, or peed on, yet they still work when propped back up and supported.  Sometimes you THINK that they are DONE – and will never light again.  But then suddenly – they come back.  Yup.  just like the ups and downs in life.

Anyway, she just bought ANOTHER new set of them – because they were a REALLY good price.  Cough.  Cough.  Pretty soon pilots will be mistaking our house for a landing strip.  That IS – when they are working….

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 6

It’s May 7 – and it’s also National Teacher’s Day.  A day to honor those hard working individuals whose life goal is to educate, challenge and inspire others to be the best they can be.  A good teacher can change your world – and support you in learning and expanding your knowledge about a subject.  And a good teacher, when it comes to us canines, can help you humans to better understand how to motivate us – and how to live in harmony with us – so that we are ALL happy.

My human is a firm believer that we canines should be introduced to a good dog teacher (or trainer) when we are little puppies.  She believes that every pup should go to a puppy socialization class – to learn how to interact with other dogs and with other humans.  A good puppy class will also teach the humans about how to support us canines in learning basic manners. Keep in mind though, that training cannot JUST take place at class – it needs to be done routinely and consistently at home!   An hour a week in a puppy class will not likely result in a well-mannered dog. You NEED to do your homework.

The challenge for humans is in finding a GOOD trainer.  And that’s where your homework begins.  Before you sign on the dotted line to take a class, find out about the trainer. Do they use positive training methods?  Do they believe in humane, science-based methods?  Do they train with treats and play?  Do they recommend a particular training collar?  What is the typical class size?  Will you get much one-on-one attention?  What kind of experience/qualifications does the trainer have?

The world of dog training has exploded in the last 50 years.  People understand the reasoning behind early classes, and you see all kinds of options available in most cities.  But along with that comes the challenge that without any kind of “regulation” – anyone can call themselves a trainer. 

Now I’m not suggesting that a trainer have a degree in Animal Behavior – but you DO need to know something about who is offering your class.  How well-behaved are the trainer’s dogs?  Does or has the trainer competed in obedience or agility or any dog sport with his/her dogs?  Does the trainer attend workshops to learn about dog training?

There are organizations to which professional trainers can belong:
https://apdt.com/

http://www.cappdt.ca/

Beyond all of this, you also need to LIKE your trainer.  You know of course, that a good trainer isn’t training your DOG – a good trainer is training YOU.  And if you don’t feel comfortable with the training methods – don’t stay!  My human knows of horror stories where methods are not humane – and she has also seen people train without rewards because we dogs “should just do something because you tell us to”.   Some argue that treats are overused.  I do agree that treats CAN be overused – but I also ask – would you go to work without being paid?  It’s all about reward and positive reinforcement.  And knowing WHEN and how much reward to give.  Some dogs don’t LIKE treats – so then you need to find what does motivate them.  Maybe it’s a toy.  Or a tug on a rope.   But a good trainer will help you find that positive motivator and will show you how to use it with your dog – so you get a happy, obedient dog.

So cheers today to teachers of canines – and teachers of humans too.  You are SO important – and you do change our world!!!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 5

My human visited with her sister this weekend.  Losing a canine companion is never, every easy.  And sometimes I think it is even a tiny bit more difficult when you are owned by one dog.  Returning  to an empty home must be terrible.   At least when you have more than one of us – you still have a companion who will try to ease your pain.  Research has shown that loss of a pet can feel equally devastating to loss of a human.  The idea that “it’s just a dog” is now recognized as not being true.

Time for some dog news…

So have you heard about the latest canine singing sensation to hit the airwaves?  His name is Buddy Mercury – and he is a singing, piano playing beagle.  Check him out:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXWdM6P5II

It seems Buddy has had a quick rise to stardom with his own Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages.  AND he already has his own album. Really. You can download your favorite tune and make it the ringtone on your phone.  He even has his own merchandise.   Clearly he has a good manager.  And while I’m an obvious supporter of all things canine….I’m thinking that Lady Gaga doesn’t have to worry about competition from him.  Einstein says I’m just jealous.  He caught me trying to reach the keys on that old piano in the rec room.  I think the three of us should try to play.  All at the same time.  Now THAT would be entertainment.

I was also looking at upcoming dog events – and here is a reminder to all you canines out there ….May 11 is National Dog Mom’s day.  It apparently became “official” way back in 2018.  Anyway – it’s a reminder to all my canine buddies that we had better start thinking about what we can do for our Dog Moms on that Day.  Some kind of special olfactory painting on the deck door might be nice.  Or spelling out a message in muddy pawprints on the kitchen floor.  You know, with all these crafty dog ideas, I thought I should see if there is a page to share them.  Turns out that if you are into that Pinterest thing on the net, you can find a page called Pawterest – with dog ideas.  Apparently some humans become addicted to Pinterest.  My human has not allowed herself to get sucked into that vortex.  But if you DO like it – check out Pawterest.

And lastly a fun story – about Emerson – a puppy who contracted Parvovirus and became deaf.  He ended up in a shelter – where he was adopted by a Nick – a man who also happens to be deaf.  Nick has been teaching Emerson sign language – and as you will see in this video – he is a quick learner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIfjOWH1eO0

I’m not sure who picked who in this story – but one thing for sure – it is a perfect match!

Yesterday morning I was diligent in getting my human up at 4:30.  I forgot it was Saturday.  She actually DID get up and took us out in the dark.  In the rain… But today promises to be sunny- which means maybe a walk on the trail.  Paws crossed!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 3

So my human started this little “game” with the FG.  And is beginning to regret it…

It was Wednesday morning.  4:45 AM.  Still dark out.  No rain – in fact the skies are clear and the stars are still out.  It’s peaceful.   You can hear the sound of the loons on the lake.  And if you listen carefully, you can hear the Barred Owl – which none of us has ever seen – but we have heard his haunting calls in the dark.  Two shaggy dogs are marching down the road.  And in this peaceful scene you hear the human they own, repeating in a loud whisper:   “NO – don’t pee on the neighbor’s garbage can!!!!!  Stop.  Whoa!!  AGH!!!!!! Frodo I said don’t PEE there. Viktor.  Viktor, no.  Don’t pee there.”  The message is repeated as they march down the road.  Ah yes – it’s Wednesday.  Garbage Day.

We often end up walking down the middle of the road on garbage day.   But let’s face it – we can’t pee there.  So we DO need to walk along the side of the road too.  My human must be VERY careful if one of us happens to poop anywhere NEAR a garbage can.  Because while she is picking up, someone else is attempting to pee on the can.  Why pee on the can?  Because it’s there.

And speaking of peeing…

I read that on this day in 2018, some scientists discovered that plants “talk to each other” through their roots.  They did some work with corn seedlings and supposedly discovered that the plants secrete some chemicals into the soil to basically inform other plants that they are there – prompting the other plants to grow more actively.   It was published in a journal called Plos One. I’m not really sure about all this plant communication stuff – but it DID get me thinking.  Can you imagine if the plants in our yard could communicate to one another?   The conversation would be like this:  “Look out Joe – here they come.  Duck down your leaves.  Don’t pick me.  Don’t pick me.  Aghhhhh.  The first one is peeing on me.  You KNOW another one is coming!!!   Hey – warn the new guy who was just planted.  You KNOW he will be hit.  They always love the new guys.  Sam over there doesn’t look so good.  He was pretty accessible all winter – and he was their first target almost every day.  But Bart looks fine – those Hosta guys are tough.” 

Can you imagine those scientists when they analyze those transcripts….

Ah yes.  The joys of be owned by us boy dogs…

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

Well it seems the World Dog show is taking place right now.  I have written about this show before – at least once:
https://viktorsviews.blogspot.com/2017/11/dog-shows.html

The show happens every year.  However- this year there was a fair bit of controversy about it as it is taking place in Shanghai.   China is known for it’s custom in some areas of ummmm….using us canines as a delicacy.   As a result of this practice, the British Kennel Club, the UKC, boycotted attendance at the event this year.  And I think lots of other people boycotted the show as well…

I was curious to see the numbers in the entry.  Here ‘s a link to the numbers.  I didn’t add them up, but I’m thinking it doesn’t look like 20,000+ – which seems to be typical for this show.   I don’t see any Picards or PONs entered…

http://www.wds2019.cn/image/catalog/website/WDS2019-ShowEntryStatistic.pdf?_=f71305e6a73a9bea63ce151c31d15118

I’ll just end my discussion of this topic right here.  Talking about the topic of dog meat is  kind of like watching a horror film to us canines.  I’d rather think of chasing bunnies.

Speaking of which – those rabbits are very plentiful in our neighborhood right now.  EVERY morning now, when my human opens the front door – at least one is sitting on the front lawn.  Yesterday we had a repeat performance with Einstein as my human was getting ready to leave for work.  You would have thought that my human learned her lesson after a few days of this.  But what was WORSE – was the fact that she opened the door, he bolted out, I pulled like MAD on the leash – and she forgot to close the front door behind her.  She realized when she was about 20 feet from the door – and I began to pee.  A really LONG pee.   She didn’t want to pull me – but was watching the door and PRAYING that the lazy Picard did not realize it was open.  She KNEW it would be game over if he discovered it.  I am NOT joking when I say that her heart was pounding in her chest.  She waited until I stopped peeing and raced with me to the front door.  Luckily Mr. Morning Laziness, was on the dog bed – dreaming of racing in a field somewhere.  Little did he know that his dream could have become a reality.  My human honestly said a prayer of thanks!

Well it’s hump day!  And no rain in the forecast.  Life is good.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 28