Tenzing Norgay day

Frodo here. Again. I honestly deserve overtime this week.

I’m here with some useless dog trivia. Then again, if you are ever a contestant on Jeopardy, or if you happen to own or breed Lhasa Apsos you may find this information helpful. Mind you, if you breed Lhasa Apsos you probably already know this story. Dog people often know interesting historical tidbits about their breeds. And then they discuss them at dog clubs….

Anyway, today we celebrate the birthday of Tenzing Norgay. I’m assuming you know who he is (but don’t worry if you don’t- I didn’t know either. But her highness did – so she said I ought to write about him. So I am. I’m doing it for a biscuit). Anyway, Tenzing Norgay was the Sherpa who made the first successful climb and return from Mount Everest – with Edmund Hillary. After that famous climb, Tenzing became pretty famous. He was knighted for his accomplishment and was reportedly one of the first Sherpas to be recognized as a “full-fledged” climber and he was no longer considered a porter.

With his fame came a bigger house, several marriages, children AND he began breeding dogs. He was supposedly given two Lhasas by a Tibetan monk – and he founded a kennel. One source said that he gave dogs away, because Sherpas were superstitious about selling dogs. Now that’s an interesting tidbit.

When Tenzing passed away at the age of 71, he reportedly owned 25 dogs. I bet his dogs ate that those Himalayan Yak cheese dog chews you can get at pet stores. Ever try those things? They’re like rocks. We had them once and her highness thought I would break my already cracked teeth on them – so they somehow disappeared after a few minutes of chewing. She has this distraction technique where if we have something that could cause gastrointestinal issues if we chew them too long (like fresh marrow bones) or they have the potential to crack teeth, she gets yummy treats and distracts us so we leave the danger chew, and go for the treats. Then she runs and grabs the danger chew. We know what she’s doing – but we’ve usually been working at the danger chew for some time, so we’re ready for a break anyway. But we let her think she has tricked us.

I don’t think those Yak chews are bad for everyone- but I quickly broke off chunks – and swallowing them can be dangerous. One site said you could microwave them to create “a cheesy puffed treat.” We didn’t try that. Ours became the Houdini treat.

So that’s your trivia for today. It’s Friday according to the calendar. Who knows – I just know it’s not garbage day.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.