Well the Westminster dog show in New York City is around the corner and they just announced that two new breeds will be added to the line-up.

First we have the Nederlandse kooikerhondjes.  And I thought the Xoloitzcuintli had the most letters.  And I KNOW you are trying to pronounce it – so here you go:   
NAY-dehr-lahn-seh KOY-kehr-hahnd-jeh.   That was easy.  And particularly easy if you are from the Netherlands – because that’s where they originated.   They are in the sporting group.  Here’s a short little video that is a nice intro to the breed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHoR35vmTvQ

I really like that ear thing they have going on.  Those ears would be awesome to chew on!

The other newcomer to the Big Apple is the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen. These guys are in the hound group.  You may have heard of the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen.  Well this is SIMILAR but a totally different breed. For one thing it is larger than the Petit.  Which makes sense – given the name… The Grand Basset is also longer overall, than the Petit, which is more compact in body.  There are also difference in ear lengths and in tail lengths.  Here is a video about them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZrPO2GLgCE 

OK.  I think we need one of these guys.  They have a shaggy look like us PONs and they come from France- like a Picard.   So they are a combo of PON and Picard.  OK.  I know that’s a stretch – but I DO like them.  They are hounds – so that makes them different.  So we need one.  My human says we don’t.  I say she’ll be retired – she will have PLENTY of time for another dog… OK.  Maybe not enough MONEY – but LOTS of time.  

Well, it’s Saturday.

Rumor has it my human MAY be going into the office today to throw reams of paper into the recycling bins.  We KNOW what a packrat she is – so we can just IMAGINE what her office looks like.  We could go with her and help with shredding….

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 2 

For Auld Lang Syne…  OK.  It’s not New Year’s.  But do you know who WROTE Auld Lang Syne? It’s a poem written by the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns.  Or Robbie Burns as we like to call him in Halifax.  And today is his birthday!

Burns lived from 1759-1796.   Just 37 years. He was a poet and lyrist who is regarded as the National Poet of Scotland – but he is well-known around the world.  Here in Halifax we even have a Burns Club – which celebrates the life of the poet and promotes Scottish culture.  There are only 37 male members in the by-invitation-only club – one member for every year of Burns’ life.  They like to get together and do things like eat haggis.  OK – I don’t know about the haggis part – but they do regularly meet.  And they will be meeting and singing songs under Burns’ statue in the park today – and they will later be having a social – at a local pub.

So that’s all interesting – BUT did you KNOW that Burns loved dogs?!  And he was owned by a border collie named Luath.  Luath was his constant companion, and several sources say that Luath introduced Burns to his future wife – by stealing some of the woman’s laundry! 

In our household, taking out the garbage can be a death defying act.

Our garbage pick up is on a rotating cycle.  One week they will pick up “regular garbage” – basically the stuff that cannot be recycled and the next week they pick up the organics bin and all the recyclables. 

Now to appreciate this story, you also need to keep in mind that our driveway is probably 200 yards long.  And part of it is on an incline.

Two weeks ago was “regular day”.  And for some unknown reason, we had two cans full of stuff.  My human actually lugged the cans into the vehicle and drove them up to the road.  In the dark.  In the early morning hours.  Unfortunately, it was a special weather day.  So before the garbage truck came, the snow plow guys came.  My human came home from work and found both garbage cans in the ditch.  Full. The plow guys had knocked them into the ditch.  There was much joy and laughter trying to get them out.  Not.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Another regular garbage day.  First, my human had to throw herself against the cans because they were frozen to the ground.  We yelled out instructions from in the house as we watched her headlamp moving back and forth, up and down.  She was finally able to extricate the cans.  So she came in to get the FG who would accompany her to the road – one can at a time.

Here’s a secret – when garbage cans freeze to the ground, their wheels also freeze.  So as my human struggled to drag the can up the incline,  it suddenly started making this high pitched LOUD squealing sound.  I mean REALLY loud.  Now remember who is on the other end of the leash.  Mr. Curious.  He stops DEAD in his tracks and stares at the can.  And looks at my human who is dragging it with all her might.  Well, the FG decides the weird sound is  just TOO much “fun.”   So he grabs his leash and starts pulling with all his might.  So we have my human pulling the can up the driveway and the FG attempting to pull HER into the WOODS.  And the squealing continues – which just fuels his pulling and dancing on the other end of the leash.  She makes it up to the road, leaves the can and heads back to the house – with the FG in tow.  The whole procedure is repeated.

As they are headed back to the house, the FG decides to have more fun.  It was just after the full moon – so the moon was bright in the sky.  And as they are walking  the FG stops and STARES at the tree tops.  Which are illuminated by the moon.  And he just stands and stares.  My human looks up, but doesn’t see anything.  But he keeps looking and looking.  As she tugs him along, he now stops to look into the woods.  Like he hears something.  By now my human is starting to get a little freaked out because he won’t move.  And she doesn’t want to KNOW what he hears.   She finally manages to get him moving and he suddenly decides it is time for some zoomies.  Luckily she sees the telltale tail tuck (that’s a tongue twister) so she braces herself and holds on tight.  She has visions of him getting loose on the ice rink yard – in the dark.  Luckily she holds on and manages to get him in the house.  Mission accomplished.

And now it was time for OUR walk.  I did hear her quietly praying as we went out the door. Never a dull moment.  Ever.

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

Well they had the long awaited retirement party for my human yesterday. It apparently was a lovely affair- dinner and everything.  Not that WE were invited.  So we decided to have our own party.  At home.

We have some LOVELY collars that she bought for us – was it last year?  They are made of leather – but the best part is the fact that they have our names on them – on a custom plate.  With our phone number.   JUST in case one of us goes AWOL and needs to be returned.  I have a lovely red one, the FG has purple and Einstein has a light mint green.  As if we really care about color.

Anyway, when my human was grooming Einstein on the weekend – or should I say wrestling with Einstein with a brush in her hand,  she took off his collar.  And she suddenly remembered that the phone number is no longer correct.  When we changed our internet provider, we changed our landline as well (we are probably the last people on the planet with a landline, but my human is slow with this technology stuff).  And with the change, we had to change our phone number.  So as a result – our lovely collars with the identification plates, have the wrong phone number.  So.  Do we try to pry off the old name plates?  Do we add a tag with the correct info?  OR do we get NEW collars?

When we examined the name plates on the collars, there is no way they will come off easily.  Well…one of US could get them off – but the leather collar would not really look the same.  As for ordering dangling tags – well you know our penchant for romping through the woods.  The tag would likely get lost.  Just like my epilepsy tag did.  We have no idea where THAT went – but it’s gone.  So dangling tags in this house don’t work well.  So.  It looks like new collars.

Now trust me – it’s not like we don’t HAVE any collars in this house.  We could probably start a business selling collars.  There are some pretty fancy Swiss Bernese collars in that garage – but for some reason, she can’t part with them.  I could wear them as a belt.  We also have some LOVELY collars in this house with the quick release clasps.   But just like her old-fashioned preference for things like landlines, my human DOES like an old fashioned buckle collar.  To be honest, nice collars on us fuzzy dogs is REALLY a waste of money.  You can’t even SEE them.  But – they are a necessity – and one does like to be fashionable….Or at least SHE likes us to be fashionable. 

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.

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. 

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.