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So.  What do Theodore Roosevelt (26th US President) , Emily Post (authority on manners and etiquette), Dylan Thomas (poet), John Gotti (mafia head), John Cleese (actor and comedian), Patty Sheehan (American golfer) and I have in common?  We all share the same BIRTHDAY – and it’s today!  

And when I look at my fellow birthdayers, I think we share other things in common as well.  I like to rule the roost at home (or I THINK I rule the roost), I am the poster child for manners – although not exactly GOOD manners,  I enjoy writing, I can be just a little bit of a bully,  I am clearly comedic, AND I enjoy chasing a ball.  

I am looking forward to extra treats and bananas today.  And an extra long walk with JUST me and my human.  Just think – 5 years of adventure and entertainment – she’s so lucky I picked her.

Happy birthday to ME!

October 26.  And it’s Hillary Clinton’s birthday.  Right now, probably half of my readers are rolling their eyes. Well, according to the polls…less than half. 

This election is older than Elroy.   And what a dog and pony show.  I take that back – dogs and ponies behave better than both of the candidates.   One makes things up.  The other lies.  One is sexist.  The other deletes things.  Many people say they don’t like either candidate.  But let’s face it – one is going to win.  And the winner gets the Best in Show ribbon, even though they may or may not be the best example of the breed.

People also say, “is this the BEST America could do”?  Honestly, I should have kept my name on the ticket.   But really who would want the job?  Half the time, people don’t like you.  They complain no matter what you do.  And after 4 years (or 8!) you look awful.  More grey.  Lots of wrinkles.  You look like a Shar Pei by the end of your term. 

You need a really tough skin to have that job.  I’m too sensitive.  Not to mention the fact that my life already includes too many photos.  And I’m not much of a debater.  Frodo is the fast talker in this house. 

When it comes down to it, you could flip a coin to make your choice.  Or, perhaps select the candidate who has a dog.  Seems like a reasonable way to do it – whoever owns a dog can’t be ALL bad. 

Anyway, Happy Birthday Hillary.  Bet I know what you’ll be wishing for when you blow out those candles!

You know, it’s truly interesting what we dogs learn – just from watching one another.  AND how we learn routines…

Every day, our feeding routine is the same.  My human gets our food from the garage, while Frodo barks incessantly at her to hurry up.  And she repeatedly tells him to be quiet.  Clearly it isn’t working.  She brings in our bowls and we watch as she adds a bit of water to our kibble.  Or sometimes something else – like some yogurt. Or blueberries.   And then we go to our “assigned” meal locations – Elroy is fed in the hallway, on his own and Frodo and are are fed in different areas of the kitchen.  And Elroy knows where his place is.  So when my human finishes adding water or whatever to our bowls, he runs to his spot.  And he sits.  He has learned that he gets nothing if he jumps around like a crazy dog.  Not only does he sit, he waits when my human puts down his bowl.  He sits.  And he waits.  Until she says it’s OK to eat.  And then he dives in.  And he learned this with very little training.  I think he learned by watching me and Frodo.  He was kind of slow with his eating when he first arrived but I think when he watched Frodo and I vacuum our food, he also figured he should do the same. So he no longer wanders around when eating.  He is given the “OK” to begin and he never stops.

We have another routine at night.  Just before bed, my human goes to the treat jar and gets out 3 treats.  Then she instructs Elroy to go to his crate, which he does by following her.  She tosses in his treat and he is set for the night.  Then Frodo and I get our treats and we are free to sleep wherever we choose.  Generally ON our human’s bed.  On Sunday, during the day, Elroy discovered for the first time that he could get on my human’s bed.  And he thought it was great.  He would also have enjoyed eating the pillows if allowed to stay on his own.  So Sunday night, when we all went to the treat jar at bed time, my human quickly noticed that the Friendly Giant wasn’t there.  Where WAS he???  He had been right there in the kitchen two minutes before she went to get the treats.  A quick search found him.  All snuggled up on my human’s bed.  And he did NOT want to get off.  Talk about learning a new routine. Very quickly.  Unfortunately for him, my human feels that at just over 5 months old, the crate is the best place for him to sleep.  Especially if SHE is going to get any rest.

Now if he would just learn to bring BACK the ball when it is thrown.  Something tells me he eventually will…

The Reality Show continues…

Saturday night, well Sunday morning, around 2:30AM it all began.  I was restless.  Which always wakes up my human.  She was fearful I was going to have a seizure.  So she sat staring at me.  And then she realized, I wasn’t the ONLY restless one.  Frodo was also restless.  Elroy was sound asleep in his crate, but we PON boys couldn’t seem to get settled.  It was rather warm in the bedroom – we have had some VERY nice warm weather – so maybe that was it.  My human opened the window.  And that only made us more restless.  We had had a rainy day all day Saturday, and although the rain had stopped, it was CRAZY windy.  CRAZY windy.  Maybe we are both getting sensitive to wind sounds – some dogs are – but we never have been before.  Anyway, it took quite some time for us to settle down.

My human eventually fell asleep but not to worry – Elroy was sure to do his job of getting her up at 5AM – it didn’t matter to him that it was Sunday. Besides, he slept through the 2AM wake up call.  So my human dragged herself out of bed and took us out for our walks and fed us our breakfast.  And as she was doing it, she battled with Elroy, who I will now refer to as the Friendly Giant,  to keep his paws off the counter.  He is so big now, he stands up and can pretty much take anything off the counter.  What a great skill.  And of course, my human has been TRYING to keep him off by saying “off” and taking him by the collar every time.  Yeah – well that works if she is standing right next to him – but when she’s on the other side of the room “off” means the same as “come.”  Or “stay”.   Or “sit.”  They are not exactly ingrained in his vocabulary.  So she decided she really needed to do something.  A friend had suggested that my human take some mouse traps and set them under newspapers at the edge of the counter.  That way the traps would go off, not injure the dog but would frighten the dog from going on the counter in the future.  Now my human is NOT into aversive conditioning so she was nervous about the idea and not too crazy about it.  But after the wrestling match,  she decided perhaps she should give it a try.  And she would only try it since she could monitor the situation – and she would make sure that he could not possibly get hurt.

Well.  Picture this.  One very overtired human battling three dogs who are intrigued by these new “things” she is fiddling with.  She painstakingly sets three traps and strategically places them on the counter.  Then she puts newspaper on top.  SNAP, SNAP SNAP.  All of us just look at her.  She sets them again.  But she faces them well away from the edge of the counter because she doesn’t want there to be ANY chance that the traps would go off and hit him.  She’s quite nervous about this whole idea.  She gently lays the paper on top.  And she waits.

Well she didn’t have to wait long as counter surfing is the Friendly Giant’s favorite sport.  He puts his paws up and hits the paper. And nothing happens.  Clearly putting the traps facing the other way will not work.    She says “off” and after he has concluded that there is no food up there, he gets down.  And jumps up further along the counter.  Where there is no paper.  Or traps.  So much for THAT brilliant plan.  We all just look at her and then stare as we see her go to the counter and deliberately set off each trap. Snap. Snap. Snap.   She wasn’t sure about this idea to start with, and clearly it wasn’t such a good plan for our household.  Time to start googling other solutions.  Although I quite like that he can reach things – I’m thinking this could come in handy – as long as he agrees to share…

Happy Monday!

October 23.  And according to the crazy calendar, it’s National Mole Day.  When I saw that, I became QUITE annoyed – I mean a day to celebrate those creatures that have made our back lawn look like a construction site?   But no – this mole refers to a unit of measurement in chemistry. Guess those chemists had to come up with something celebratory – National Funnel Day or National Bunsen Burner Day doesn’t seem very interesting.  Mind you, there are probably days for those as well.

And speaking of our moles – they truly have taken over.  You can see the tunnels in the grass. Mowing the lawn is QUITE the challenge – as the ground is so soft in the numerous areas with the tunnels running underneath – that the mower gets caught up in the dirt.

Moles are not easy to get rid of – and my human definitely does NOT want to use poison.  Too much risk to us.  Traps are also hard to use as you have to bury them IN a tunnel and the mole cannot suspect someone has been there – which they can determine by the moved dirt.  So how to get the trap IN the tunnel.  Beats me.  

I think the easiest solution is to borrow somebody’s terrier.  One that really wants to catch vermin.  Elroy likes to dig and MIGHT get one, but the thought of him making even BIGGER holes, ending up covered in mud and then POTENTIALLY holding a mole is just too much for my human to consider.  But SURELY someone has a ratter in the area who would like to come out to our place and catch some moles?  Apparently there ARE people who take their terriers out to catch rats – like in New York city.  I’m not certain about the moles – but if there isn’t, I BET this could be a good business idea.  I think I’ll take it to Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den to get some funding for this endeavor.  Now I just need to convince my human that we need a pack of terriers…

I think I need to dig further into this idea.  Pun intended. 

Have a good one.

Well it’s Saturday and the forecast is calling for heavy rain.  Which means all the lovely colorful leaves will be coming down.  And it also means that Frodo and I will be doing our funeral march when we go out for our daily walks.  In fact, we even let our human sleep in – because we HEARD the rain this morning and we were in no hurry to go out.  But I suppose the good news is that my human will not be able to take more Halloween photos.  At least not outdoors.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- getting the three of us to pose for photos is like getting three monkeys with their tails on fire to stay still and pay attention.  I have coined the phrase picnore – which means:

 

Who would EVER imagine we PONs would be the GOOD dogs?!  These photos are clearly proof.   We look stuffed.  Actually, with all the treats we received, we WERE a bit stuffed….

Have a great day!

Well – it’s about time for a health update.  As you may recall, I had some seizures that started back in August.  I had quite a bit of health testing and the best guess is Epilepsy.  Epilepsy seems to be the diagnosis of choice if there are no other causes for a seizure – no toxins, metabolic changes, or head trauma.  It’s a bit unusual as there does not seem to be any traces of epilepsy in my family tree – but these things happen.  

The drug of choice for epilepsy is phenobarbitol.  It’s a good news, bad news kind of drug.  The good news – it usually works well, and is inexpensive.  The bad news – it can be hard on your liver, it initially often has side effects, and it must be taken consistently twice daily.  Initially I was put on a high dosage – although considered to be an appropriate amount for my weight.  I had side effects within days – I couldn’t control which way my rear legs were going.  My human was MORTIFIED and immediately requested a reduction in dosage.  Which the Vet reluctantly agreed to do -as she said the side effects would wear off.  The only problem after the reduction- the dosage was now SO low – that I was at a barely therapeutic level according to blood tests.  And because I was at such a low level – it was CRITICAL that I get the dose exactly at 7AM and 7 PM each day.  On two occasions, my human was late in giving me my meds – once because she was detained getting home from an errand and once because she simply forgot the time!  She was playing with us, took us for walks – was home with us – and just FORGOT.  On both occasions, I ended up having seizures in the middle of the night.  My human was devastated – and frankly, couldn’t even share this info as she KNEW it was her fault.  BUT – we seem to have remedied the problem.  First, she now has two alarms programmed in her phone at 7 AM and 7 PM.  They go off every day.  In fact, when the alarm goes off, I head for the kitchen where I have figured out that I will be getting my pill – in a dollop of peanut butter.  Second, we have increased my dosage gradually – not to the original level – but to a level in between.  And I have had no side effects.  My human spoke with the pharmacist when she picked up my prescription, and he said that the effects of the medication will last longer now – so IF I am late in getting a pill, the likelihood of having a seizure will be less.  

There are other medications for epilepsy, and my human and her Vet will be looking at those.  New options are always coming out – and my human wants to use what is safest for me – with the least amount of side effects.  For now, we want to get these things under control – and paws crossed – so far so good.

Another side effect of the drug though, is hunger.  My human isn’t certain that has changed – let’s face it – I’m a PON and I’m ALWAYS hungry.   My energy level is the same – I will retrieve until I am ready to collapse and in the past week, I have started to chase Elroy when we go out for a run.  And vice versa.  I’m am really starting to warm up to him.  At least that’s what I want my human to think.  Truth be told – this whole “ignoring” thing is a big ploy by the two of us.  We wanted my human to think we weren’t chums – so that she wouldn’t know that we are actually working together.  It’s brilliant, really.  When my human sits down for dinner, it’s Elroy’s job to go and scratch at the door.  Or chew the carpet.  Or grab something off the counter.  Then when my human goes to stop him, it’s my opportunity to move in for her meal.  You should see how QUICKLY I can move when she steps away from her food.  And Elroy benefits too – as he usually gets something for a “trade.”  And all this time, she thought I didn’t like him….

So things here are under control.  Well – as “under control ” as anything gets in THIS house!

Have a good one.

Free-dom!!!  Free-dom!!!  No, I’m not singing that song by Pharrell Williams, although my human could have been singing it yesterday. Nope – I’m talking about a new way to take Jaws for a walk – the Freedom No-Pull Harness.  https://freedomnopullharness.com/  Yes, I am about to do a commercial message for a product that has yet to be extensively tested in our household – but what SEEMS to work on its initial trial.

Teaching us dogs to walk on a leash can be a challenging task.  Yes – my human KNOWS you should not let us pull – because once when we learn that behavior,  it’s hard to break.  So when walking on a leash, if we do start pulling,  the human should stop and only proceed when we are not pulling. We dogs should be rewarded for loose leash walking.  Some suggest going a different direction if a dog starts pulling.  So you end up zig zagging down the street or going in circles so that you eventually become dizzy and never get to your destination.  Patience is the key.  And that’s all well and good if you have 6 hours to train us each day.  Yes – I KNOW it can be done.  But sometimes when you have an overly enthusiastic puppy and you DO want to go for a walk, you need to come up with a solution to stop the pulling.  Slip collars usually end up strangling us.  Not that we haven’t used them, but they definitely do not stop the pulling.  Some people use prong collars – which lots of people oppose.  Like anything, if used correctly it can make a difference for some people and dogs.  Some people like the Gentle Leader type of bridle.  Again they seem to work for some – but you also need to be careful with them as well.

My human always thought that a harness would result in MORE pulling.  But the Amazing Amy – the woman who took Jaws into her home for a puppy play date, recommended the Freedom Harness.  So my human went out and got one.  Getting the bucking bronco to stand still while she adjusted it was an amusing sight.  At first when it was on, he wouldn’t even move.  But with treat rewards to entice him and encouragement to keep a loose leash – well it was like a MIRACLE.  He walked down the road and walked right at her side.  No attempts to drag her into the ditch.  No chafed hands.  No strangulation.  Waggy tail.  Happy human.  A real miracle.

The jury is out on whether the effectiveness will last – but so far so good.   I figured that Frodo and I were well behaved enough that we wouldn’t need one.  Cough.  Cough.  But I DID see my human on-line looking at sizes.  That better not be a Christmas gift.  That’s like giving a gift of clothing to a  4 year old.  NOT cool.  We’ll see.  

But for now – Elroy has FREEDOM.  Actually the freedom belongs to my human…

Have a good one!

We’ve talked before about the Fear Periods that puppies go through and I think Jaws may be going through another one.  For example, he saw his reflection in the patio door the other night and half scared himself to death.  First he ran away.  Then he started growling at himself.

Then the next morning at 5 AM when he took my human out, in the dark – he stared into the woods, put his nose in the air, and BOLTED in the other direction – on a leash of course.  Which then made my human worried as well.  I mean – WHAT could be out there?  When she went to take Frodo and I out for our walk, I tried to pull INTO the woods.  So did Frodo.  There obviously WAS something out there.  And as the sun began to rise, my human saw what the terrible apparition probably was.  A bunny.  Yup – pretty scary.

There’s not a whole lot that I fear.  I may be a tad shy when I meet people, but I usually get over that pretty quickly.  I suppose I do have one HUGE fear though. Grooming.  Well maybe fear is a strong word.  Maybe more like intense DISLIKE.

Oh and I fear running out of food.  Now THAT would be scary.  REALLY scary. Almost as scary as Donald Trump.  Sorry I – couldn’t resist.

So today – try to face your fears.  Go skydiving.  Swim with Sharks.  Take your dog to an obedience class.  Or better yet – enter a dog show.

October 17.  And today is the birthday of Rick Mercer.  Now folks from Canada would have to be living under a dead maple tree not to know who Rick Mercer is.  But for those from other lands, who may not know him – well you are missing a pretty funny guy.  Rick is a Canadian political satirist, comedian and actor.  And he has his own television show on CBC.

Now I’m not sure that Rick owns a dog himself – he’s a very busy guy.  But he certainly has done a number of segments about dogs, so I have picked three of my favorites and I’d like to share them with you.  This one is about a big dog show in Canada – the Purina National:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkW3-hMY_CA

And here is one about Police Dogs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeDXiS8Yeho

And the last is about a big dog festival that takes place in Toronto each year, called Woofstock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wT5O0k7SR0

Rick has more videos if you google him.  We enjoyed these – and pretty much barked whenever we heard a dog in the segment.  I would suggest you keep the volume down – but not so much that you can’t hear the monologue.  Good luck with that.

In our household, things are good, although I am thinking that the “trade” command is not working as it should.  That’s the instruction my human uses when Jaws has taken something that he should not have, or he picks up something, like a rock and tries to eat it.  He’s supposed to “trade” the item for a treat. It’s actually quite amusing to watch.  Like yesterday when he stole a poop bag from the pocket of her ugly dog sweat pants while she was working at the computer.  An empty poop bag – obviously.  He’s becoming a decent pick pocket.  As soon as he takes something, he casually walks away.  And then he quickens his pace.  At which point my human begins the futile “trade” command.  Now apparently you aren’t SUPPOSED to chase the dog – as it becomes a game, but visions of a swallowed poop bag are too much for my human to ignore.  Remember Paxton and the 2 foot long sling.  So around and around the dining table they go.  With my human chanting “trade” and “just be calm.”  Honestly, I wish someone would give ME a go pro camera to record the spectacle.

Well it’s Monday – but BONUS – my human is off today.  We’ll make sure she does not get bored.

Oh and Happy birthday Rick! Have a good one!