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PokePON

Hey – ever hear of that video game called Pokemon?  Personally, I have never played it – I’m STILL waiting to get my OWN iPawd. Anyway, I guess the game has been popular for a long time.   Well we have our OWN version of a game.  It’s called PokePON.    It is generally played by a Picard.  At least the Picard in this house.  The one with the death wish.

Here are the rules:
1.  A PON must be engaged in some stationary activity – like drinking water, or chewing on a bone.
2.  The Picard must quietly and stealthily approach said PON from the rear.
3.  The next step is for the Picard to poke the PON in the rear end with his nose, or his paw.  
4.  The Picard must then jump backward as if having received an electric shock, and must dodge the teeth of the irritated PON.  
5.  After the jump, it is ESSENTIAL that BOTH dogs bark during the game. 

The game is usually continued until the human in the houselhold can no longer tolerate the PONdemonium.

Sometimes one will see tufts of PON hair rolling across the floor when the POKE includes a grab.  As well, tufts of Picard hair are also observed when said Picard doesn’t jump back quickly enough.  But keep in mind, that this does NOT deter the Picard from playing the game.  Ah yes. Fun and games….

Thanks for all of your birthday wishes yesterday.  As usual, I received more than my human.  But who is counting?

It’s SATURDAY.  My human is home, so no doubt there will be LOTS of games played today.  Including PokePON.

Have a good one.   Peace and paws up!


WORLD holiday

October 27.  It’s a WORLD holiday.  In my mind anyway.  Why?  Because it’s my birthday!  I am 6 years young today.  Happy birthday to me.

My human attempted to take my photo with the well-used birthday crown.  It has seen better days.  The candles kept flopping down and I was more interested in eating the thing than posing with it.  I have done the crown photo in the past – I voted that we skip it this year.  We need a new crown.  (Suuuuuuuure we do.)  So my human agreed and the photo you see is better in my opinion.  Although my human said I should have had a big grooming for my big day. Personally, I like my rugged look.

So for my birthday, I have one wish. That every reader does one nice thing for someone else today.  And as I have wished in the past – it doesn’t need to be anything huge- like giving a charity a contribution (although that would be nice!) – it can be as simple as holding a door open, smiling at someone passing by, calling an old friend, sending someone a quick e-mail greeting, playing an extra game of fetch with your dog, giving your dog an extra treat….and think of me when you do it!

Now excuse me while I go and enjoy my birthday treats!  And some extra banana for me!!! Although if I follow my request to do something nice, perhaps I really should share….OK.  I will.  But maybe just a little extra for me – because it IS my day!!!

 Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!!!!

National Pumpkin Day

So what can help BOTH diarrhea AND constipation in dogs?  Pumpkin!  The fiber-rich vegetable, which contains Vitamins A, C and E as well as potassium and iron can be a go-to source if your dog is having gastrointestinal problem.  Which is a problem not only for the dog – but you humans too….
Now keep in mind that we are talking about use of pumpkin if you are dealing with a “typical” case of diarrhea from something like a change in diet – not a serious problem like an obstruction or some underlying disease.  You need to see your vet to help you in those cases.
But if you know the cause, you can help your dog by adding anywhere from 1-4 tablespoons of canned pumpkin to your dog’s food.  But make sure it is the PURE canned pumpkin – and NOT pumpkin pie filling.  That stuff includes too much sugar and it may include xylitol – a substance that can be toxic to dogs.
At this time of the year, pumpkins are easy to come by.  You can actually feed your dog FRESH pumpkin, but interestingly, it has more water than canned, and not as great a concentration of nutrients. 
I’m not sure how many nutrients are in the stems.  That’s the part that the FG and I prefer to eat.  The  FG actually would prefer using the pumpkin as a ball.  And not a dietary supplement.

Anyway, go pick out your pumpkin and don’t forget to carve your dog o’lantern.  I found the following site with lots of dog pattern stencils to download for free.  Unfortunately, there is no PON or Picard.
I did find these photos by Marta Amundson – who shared her pattern for making a Picard:

I couldn’t find a good PON…  I found an Old English drawing which might work…scroll to the bottom of the page.

Happy pumpkin day!
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up. 

Human-dog matching

She’s at it again.  Another on-line quiz.  This time, the quiz analyzes your personality based on the Myers-Briggs assessment.  And then, based on your personalty type, it tells you what kind of DOG you should have.  So I looked at the dog breeds which were options:  Labrador Retreiver, Siberian Husky, Collie, Border collie, Saluki, English Toy Spaniel, Standard Poodle,  Schipperke, Papillon, German Shorthaired Pointer, Dalmation, Newfoundland, Tibetan Mastiff, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Shar-pei, and Briard.   Note there is no PON.  Or Picard.  Because WE are TRULY unique. 

Anyway my human took the quiz.  And admittedly, she filled it out VERY quickly.  So can you GUESS what kind of dog fits her personality??  We PONs and Picards don’t “fit” any particular type of human – because we mold them as we go.

So given that we were not ON the list you will NOT believe what she got.  She kind of figured a Lab – since she had one before.  Nope.  Then she thought MAYBE a Newf – as they are KIND of like Bernese.  Nope. Then she figured Briard.  Herding breed.  Smart.  Yada. Yada.  Nope.  Are you ready….based on her personality type….she got…..a POODLE.  A POODLE.  Now mind you, the description DOES sound a BIT like my human – although she is rather shy and not very outgoing.  JUST KIDDING.  She can find out someone’s life story in an elevator – going between two floors.  If you ever meet her, let her tell you the story about the day that she went shopping with a friend in a small town, and managed to get a tour of three people’s homes in the process.  And no – the homes were not for sale.  

But given that she keeps her own hair short since it is “easy” and she enjoys grooming us abut as much as we enjoy it, she cannot figure how she would EVER be owned by a POODLE.  I’m hoping she doesn’t bring one home – just to find out.

If you want to find out what kind of dog would be a good “match” for you (this sounds a bit like a dating site for dogs and humans) – here is the link:

https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/2015/11/10/which-dog-breed-fits-your-mbti-type/

If you don’t know your personality type, first you take the quiz, THEN you look back at the dogs that match your type.

Excuse me now, while I go and put my hair in a topknot.  Not.

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

Leaf me alone.

So my human gets this crazy idea the other day.  She decides she “needs” a photo of us in the leaves.  So she gets the leaf blower out and blows the leaves into a big pile.  Then like somebody going on a safari, she outfits herself to prepare for the photo shoot.  She puts on this fanny pack thing that is never used for anything but dog walking or dog photo shoots.  She fills it with extra special treats. But first she must entice us with them. We get a sample, just for sitting while still in the house.  Like serving a fine wine to special dinner guests, she has to break out the GOOD treats for these things.  Then she has to find some toy that makes a weird sound that we have never heard before. Good luck with that.  And heaven knows she has made every noise a human can possibly make to get our attention. Then she lets us loose. Well, Einstein and I were loose – the FG was on a long line because there was a good chance he would take off – if given the chance.

So she directed us to the leaf pile.  Where Einstein and I immediately peed.  She shouted “no – not THERE!!!!”  Too late.  She moved the peed leaves around and lined us up and told us to sit.  And stay.  Which she said probably 458 times. Now getting us to sit and stay is one thing.  And we actually DID stay because we REALLY liked the treats.  But the next challenge is to get EVERYONE looking at her.  AND everyone smiling.  It never fails.  Two of us smile and one of us looks like you just took away our favorite bone.  Or alternatively, NONE of us smiles.  Like in these photos.  Cute photos.  But we DO look rather cranky.

 But after numerous attempts she DID get the following photo – which was her “THANK YOU” to the heavens above photo.  It resulted in DOUBLE the treats.

So AFTER that fiasco, she then decided she wanted INDIVIDUAL leaf shots.   She really is a glutton for punishment.  So she started with our “model” dog – Einstein.  All you have to do is set him up and he does whatever you want.   My human covered him in leaves and he willingly stayed in place.  ALTHOUGH, like a temperamental model, he DID get into the “pout” mode. 

Getting him to smile involved telling him to speak. Which he does QUITE well.  But he threw back his head to do so. 

Let’s just say that our “model dog” ended up taking WAY more shots than were even required for the group photo. 

Then it was MY turn.  I wasn’t big into lying down for the shot – but agreed to sit in the leaf pile.  Unlike the pout face of Einstein, yours truly does the “funny lip” thing.  My human kept telling me to stop with the lip thing – but I had NO idea what she was talking about.  Well….actually I DID, but in order to get me to stop the lip thing, she would give me a treat.   

After numerous treats, I finally gave her the smile she was looking for.

And THEN came the FG.  He had been watching the proceedings with me and Einstein from the deck.  He couldn’t WAIT to get out.   But just TRY and cover him with leaves.  It was impossible.  She would cover him.  He would get up and shake them off.  Again and again.  Finally she gave up with that and let him just stay on top of the leaves.  But he is a picnore pro – and he refused to look at her.  

She would toss leaves in the air and he would LUNGE for them.  Or he would bury his head in the leaves. 

In the end – she DID get a shot she liked.  THANK GOODNESS.

What IS it with humans and your urge to take photos of us?  Don’t you have enough photos of us ALREADY?  Imagine if we dogs did the same thing to you.  I really need a Go Pro camera.  Wouldn’t it be GREAT fun getting photos of my human when she gets up in the morning – while she is walking us wearing her headlamp?  Now THAT would be entertaining….

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

E-learning

So my human is signed up for a webinar tomorrow night.  It’s about Canine epilepsy – and she is hopeful that it may provide some good info about treatment. Now hopefully most of you reading this don’t need info about epilepsy – however, you may find other webinars on the site which would be helpful.  The particular epilepsy webinar is free.  Yes – FREE.  You can register as a member on the site for free – but there is also a paid membership which affords people access to more webinars.  Check it out- you can find other upcoming webinars as well:
Here’s another site that has a lot of webinars for pet owners.  Now it appears most of these have a fee attached – but they might be worth investigating.
Here are webinars that deal with dog safety and human safety – with education about bite protection and dog behaviour.  I see that you need to pay for the webinars – but again, there might be some good info to enjoy in the comfort of your own home!
These are just a FEW sites.   I’m sure the are more.  The internet is FULL of resources about us canines. But PLEASE be careful and look at the SOURCE of the info.  Anyone can call themselves an “expert” but check outs credentials!  
My human is a member of several dog clubs – one of which is the American Polish Lowland Sheepdog Association. And THEY are offering a FREE webinar for ALL breeds about Mental Stimulation for dogs.  Can’t WAIT to see the activities that will be suggested.  I see some new entertainment coming our way.

 Anyway happy – learning!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

If at first you don’t succeed…

If at  first you don’t succeed, try again in two years.
So yesterday was Saturday, and technically, a day for my human to sleep in.  At least she thought so.  But not me.  I thought it was a weekday – so at 4:30, I started trying to get her up.  I began licking her, I jumped on the bed and off the bed.  I paced.  I licked her again.  OK.  Truth be told – I knew it was Saturday – but I just wanted to get her up.  FINALLY at 5AM, I was successful.  She rolled off the bed, threw on her hair covered dog walking clothes, and took us for our morning constitutional.  Wearing her headlamp on the dark, cool morning, she wasn’t exactly walking with a spring in her step.  She brought us home and the march was continued with the FG.  Then she fed us.  The time was about 6:15, and she decided she could still snooze until 7.  And that’s when she made her mistake.
You see, Einstein and I sleep loose in the bedroom.  The FG is in a crate.  But recently, she began to wonder if she could let HIM be loose at night.  The last time she tried this, it was a disaster.  There was no way he would settle down, so he ended up back in his crate.  But since she was JUST going to have a quick nap, she thought she would give it a try.  Without me and Einstein.  She took the FG in the bedroom and closed the door behind them.  Einstein and I just stared at the door.  My human figured the fewer distractions, the better – and the more likely he would settle down.  Wrongo.  As soon as he came in the room he made a huge jump onto the bed.  He spun around three times – fast – throwing himself onto the pillows.  He got up and did it again.  At this point, my human attempted to lie down as well.  He immediately tried to eat her socks.  On her feet.  She curled her legs away from the piranha, and pretended to be sleeping.  But she had one eye open – to watch his response.   He got up and promptly lay down over her sideways.  Then he attempted to roll onto his back – with her underneath him.  Then he got up, lay next to her, and began a face cleansing routine.   Then he jumped off the bed, went to the door and started squeaking because both of us PONs were right on the other side.  He then spun around and catapulted back onto the bed.  At this point, my human gave up.  This was 45 minutes after she started the experiment, so it’s not like she didn’t try.  But she looked at him and said “Buddy, you STILL aren’t ready for this yet.”  She opened the door and he joyfully greeted Einstein and me.  
I want her to try the experiment again tonight – I love free entertainment.  But my human said no.  Not for at least another two years…
Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Failure? Or not…

The last few days I have mentioned dogs that have a job to do.  Like those who help individuals with physical or mental health challenges.  Then we also have dogs who work in the military or with the police.  Some of these dogs are detection dogs – who sniff out drugs, contraband and explosives.  I read the following article about Lulu.  She was in training with the CIA to learn to detect explosives.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41679118

In the article, you see that Lulu failed the program.  She isn’t going to make it as a detection dog.  Detection dogs work very hard – and are always on call.  Their work is amazing.  And it’s too bad when dogs don’t make the grade – but they no doubt end up in great homes.  But then I started thinking….maybe Lulu wasn’t REALLY bad at sniffing out bombs.   MAYBE she was really SMART and she realized that the potential for being blown into bits was quite high – so she preferred the life of a household guard dog – like us- who lounge around all day, barking at the sound of the oil truck or a delivery man or blowing leaves.  Maybe Lulu was a LOT smarter than she is being given credit for…

I’m not sure I would want the job of an explosive detection dog.  I mean I admire those dogs – but count me out. On the OTHER hand, I would make an excellent airport detection dog.  But not for drugs.  I don’t care about that. What I would LOVE to do is detect illegal meat products brought into the country.   I bet I could get that job with MINIMAL training.  I can detect dog treats in a coat pocket from 20 yards away.  Wonder what the salary is like for the job…

Well, it’s Saturday so you know what that means – EXTRA LONG WALKS!!!  Gotta go!

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

Olly-like

OK.  Maybe what I am about to post is something you have seen before.  But for some reason – I JUST saw this for the first time this week.  Or at least I think it’s the first time.  But even if you have seen it, you will no doubt enjoy seeing it again.  This is a video of Olly – a terrier -cross who competed in agility at Crufts.  And when you see the first few seconds you may say “OH no!!” because it looks like Olly might have hurt himself.  But he gets up – no worse for wear – and keeps on going!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=477F71a_A9Q

I love Olly.  I think Olly is the face of resiliance.  And joy.  Just LOOK at how he keeps on going – and clearly does so with total reckless abandon.  While some agility competitors  may cringe at the clearly faulty perfomance, I think he is the embodiment of what we dogs represent.  Fun.  Curiousity.  A willingness to fall down and get back up.   Excitement.  No worries – not a care in the world.

Humans could take a lesson from Olly.

I hope YOUR day is truly Olly-like!  Just don’t break any bones!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Mental health

So a good news story – instead of a rant today.   I just read about a cool study going on in Australia.  They are looking at the use of assistance dogs with individuals who have dementia!  The dogs are trained to sense the mood of the individual and help if the person wanders or gets lost.  How cool is THAT!  I’ll be watching for the results of this one.  Yet another example of how brilliant we dogs are.  

Mind you, brilliant dogs do not always equate with well behaved dogs.  Like in this household.  Like yesterday.  My human’s mother came for a visit and it never fails – while my human is helping her get settled in the house, we dogs see that momentary inattention on us as an excellent opportunity to take off. Well, just me and Einstein.  Because we had gone out to pee but the FG was still in the house.  My human had literally not watched us for about a minute, and we were gone.  What was worrisome was the fact that it was almost dark out – and my human is  aware that creatures come out in the night.  My human shouted our names, ran in the house and grabbed our leashes and she started up the driveway.  She wasn’t even 1/4 way up when yours truly came racing down the driveway.  At about 200 miles per hour.  Like a cheetah.  And I raced right past her, ran to the house, pushed open the warped screen door and ran in.  One lost dog accounted for.  She figured my partner in crime was not far behind and sure enough – she took a few more steps and there he came racing down and dodged past her on his way to the house.  We knew we were busted.  We also knew it was supper time.  It’s in those situations that humans don’t know what to do with us.  They are angry because we took off, and didn’t come immediately when called. But then we DID come back.  Then to top it off, we raced into the kennel in the garage to see if we could find any food in the 50 treat balls that are in there.  My human promptly closed the kennel door on us, barricaded the gate and turned off the lights.  That was her “punishment” for us going AWOL.  As if that was such a punishment.  Because while we were in “solitary – together” and she went to take the FG out, Houdini did his magic on the gate and pushed the barricade out of the way too. We promptly knocked over a garbage can, looking for anything to devour, but fortunately for my human, she had emptied it that morning.  When she came back to release us, she found both of us free and running around the garage, desperately trying to jump up to get the dog food which is stored in bins about 3 feet off the ground.  
She looked at us and told us she was going to take  our photo to put it on Petfinder.  That’s a dog adoption site.  We just rolled our eyes.  We knew she was bluffing.  Besides, she has PLENTY of photos she could use. 
So the FG got the “good dog of the week” award.  Mind you – he didn’t have the chance to take off.  Trust me – he would have joined us if he had the chance.
We know that dogs can help individuals with all kinds of challenges – visual, auditory, mobility, and now even dementia!  They assist people also who have physical problems like seizures and diabetes.  They can even help individuals with mental health challenges.  In this household, we do things differently.  We CAUSE the mental health challenges.  No lowering of blood pressure in THIS house.  But she loves us anyway.  THANK GOODNESS! 
Have a good one! Peace and paws up”