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October 16 – and it’s National Dictionary Day.  When my human saw that, she thought about something that she had been meaning to look up in the dictionary – something from the Canadian Standard of the Berger Picard.  For those who are reading this and are not into dog terminology – every purebred dog has a “standard” – a picture of what the “perfect” example of the breed should look like.  In a perfect world.  The standard includes a description about the breed – everything from height to eyes to coat to the way the dog should carry his tail. 

My human had read the standard for the Picard, and when she did, she came across two terms that she didn’t know.  Here are quotes from the standard using the two terms: 

Teething.  Will it EVER end?  Seriously.  It seems that Jaws has been teething longer than Trump has been running for President.  And it is equally painful for all.  Jaws is still at it.  We were thinking that things had slowed down, but right now, every chance he gets he wants to chew on something.  He JUST turned 5 months old this week.  My human saw him smacking his lips while playing with Frodo the other night and she assumed he had a mouthful of Frodo hair.  They were lying down and taking turns chewing on each others ears.  And then she noticed something on his leg.  A tooth!  A molar in fact.  It’s been a long time since she found a dog tooth.  Frodo and I probably just ate ours.

Along with his ravenous chewing frenzies, we also noticed that his ears have gone down.  My human remembered hearing that it could happen when he is teething.  So he has the Flying Nun thing going on again.  Just when we thought those ears were up for good.

I was wondering if Jaws would be visited by the tooth fairy, with a treat under his pillow.  Wait – he has no pillow as he would chew it…

And in thinking about this whole tooth thing, GUESS what my human found on the net?   Are you ready?  This is for the human who has everything… You can get a custom made sterling silver necklace, made from your dog’s tooth.   You send them the tooth, they make a mold out of silver and then return the tooth.   Quite the conversation fashion statement.  That’s right up there with the custom nose print necklaces.  Wonder if anyone has made custom silver poop necklaces….Now THAT would be interesting….

Just some ideas for you to chew on today – hope you have a good one!

Sometimes humans just need to sit back and be thankful for the “little things in life…”

On Monday, the day that Frodo refused to go out in the rain, we had quite a bad storm.  Around 4:30 in the afternoon, JUST after my human put her dinner in the oven, we lost power.  Now we dogs didn’t REALLY care – our dinner doesn’t require heating.  And being without electricity wasn’t all that bad.  Initially.  We went outside and played.  My human could still do things around the house.  But as the hours wore on, it got darker and darker.  She was wearing her trusty headlamp and attempted to read some materials for work. And it was in that moment…That moment of total silence – no sound of the refrigerator, no buzzing of a light, no music playing…that she looked around her and low and behold, there in the impending darkness was a miracle.  Within three feet of her, THREE sleeping dogs.  Totally content.  No one chewing on the carpet…or chairs…or the table—or someone else’s ears. No barking.  No wrestling.  No squeaking.  She attempted to take pictures of all three of us, without moving – for fear that the magic moment would end.  And in that moment she gave thanks – because after all, it WAS Thanksgiving Day…

Last night Elroy had his last performance puppy class.  And as far as I can tell, he still can’t play the piano.  Or dance.  He went with my human and the little girl from down the street.  She adores Elroy – and of course thinks he is THE best puppy in the class.  My human hates to tell her she is biased. He reportedly had a FEW moments of brilliance, but apparently the word “sit” was not in his vocabulary last night.  Which makes a puppy obedience class just a BIT of a challenge.  That word is pretty basic.  But he decided he just didn’t know what it meant.   I think he is going to be like me – he likes the “action” and “moving” stuff in obedience, like heeling, but the stationary stuff – not so much.  He didn’t get any diploma or anything last night – so I’m not sure he is ready for the next “level” of classes.  And I think my human is starting to appreciate MY brilliance even more these days.  Thanks to Elroy.  But as I said, he DID have moments of looking like the neurons WERE firing – and for THAT my human again gave thanks.

Yup.  It’s these little things in life…

Happy Friday!

Today is October 13 – and it is National Train Your Brain Day.  And I found an EXCELLENT site that summarizes what happens in our brains when humans train us dogs.  Check it out:

http://visual.ly/effect-training-dog-brain

I’m not so sure, though, about the list of easiest and most difficult dogs to train.  I mean we PONs didn’t appear at all.  In either list.  Really – we could go in both.  Depends on the treats.  And as for girls being easier to train – well I don’t know about that.  We certainly find it a challenge to train our human.

All sources say that to keep our brains active, humans should play games with us.  This site has some excellent examples of games to play.  

http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/10-brain-games-to-play-with-your-dog
Frodo and I have certainly played the Treasure Hunt game – in our house it is known as Find the Bunny.   We have also done that game with treats.  We must try it with Elroy.

Hide and Seek is not really a favorite game in our house.  We don’t have someone else to hold us while our human hides, and her experience has been that when she tries this outdoors, on the trail, she finds herself alone in the woods.  We don’t bother looking for her.  OK, OK.  Frodo does.  But Elroy and I have other things to find.  Like bunnies.  And flying leaves.

I like the idea of the Hot and Cold game.  Seems like a simple way to get LOTS of treats.  As for 52 Pick up – that’s my human’s job to put away our toys.  I wouldn’t want to take that from her.

The Red Light Green Light game is something my human has been trying with Elroy.  So far, his red light is kind of yellow.  They have more work to do.

As for Jumping Rope….good luck with that.  My HUMAN isn’t coordinated enough to jump rope – so forget training us dogs to do it.  I envision someone being strangled by the rope…

 Anyway, these games ARE a good way to help us improve our brain health.  And when our brains are active, it can tire us out.  Which in OUR house spells a golden moment – three tired dogs equals pure bliss.  Too bad it happens so infrequently!

October 13.  It’s National Fossil Day.  And no – it’s not my human’s birthday.  It’s a day to celebrate  remains and traces of animals, and plants from a LONG time ago found in rocks and sediment.  The cool thing about fossils is that they give us a picture of life way back when and an idea about how all of us have evolved.

There have been many findings of fossils of dogs – including the Paleolithic dog – whose fossilized remains have been found across Europe.  Skulls of those early dogs have been found alongside the remains of mammoths – and in the hunting camps of humans – possibly indicating the early domestication of us canines.  You humans  THINK you domesticated us, but of COURSE, we know it is the other way around.  Think about it.  You feed us, wash us, pick up our poop… who is controlling who?

In looking for information about dog fossils, I found two REALLY cool facts:

• Just this past year, some researchers in Maryland unearthed the fossil of a “new dog” believed to have existed 12 MILLION years ago.  Even before humans.  They lived on a diet of plants, insects and meat.  The scientific name is Cynarctus wangi, and they were believed to be about the size of a coyote.  Given the timeline here – I think we have even MORE evidence about domestication…..Yup.   We were here FIRST.
• There is a cave in Southern France – the Chauvet Cave- which was discovered to have some of the earliest cave paintings ever.  They were created over 32,000 years ago.  And while the paintings themselves are quite amazing, I LOVED this other fact….in the cave was a 50metre trail…believed to have been made by a young boy of about ten who was carrying a torch.  And longside his footprints were those of a large canid – a wolf or a dog.  So it looks like the little boy had a friend way back then…How COOL is that?! Wonder what his name was…

Nova Scotia is known for several areas where important fossilized remains have been found.  I’ve never heard about a fossilized dog though.  I’ll have to get Elroy working on it – he LOVES to dig…

Have a rockin’ good day!

 

So yesterday was the “official” Thanksgiving day – even though my human celebrated with the traditional turkey dinner the day before with her family.  Because it was a holiday, it was a day off for most people.  Which for many people might spell the opportunity to sleep in and relax.  Not in our house.

We dogs are creatures of habit.  We are used to getting up at 5AM.  Holiday or not.  So of course, we made sure our human did not mess up her circadian rhythm by sleeping in.  We care about her.  That’s WHY we wake her up.  The only problem – it was POURING rain.

We have not had a POURING rain morning in some time.  Yes, we have had showers – but yesterday we were talking Niagara Falls type rain.  So you KNOW what that means. Pull-a-PON.  It was actually a bit ironic – here we begged our human to get up – and then we didn’t want to go out.  Elroy is FINE with the rain.  He stands there and just stares at the heavens.  I tell ya- he IS different.

Next it was my turn.  I was sporting my cobalt blue raincoat, and I understand that one must “go” quickly in such weather.  So I was out and back in.

But then there is Frodo.  As SOON as he saw the raincoats come out, he was gone.  So that’s why my human took me first – she figured she would catch him afterward.

We came back in and my soaking coat was removed.  My human towel dried my head and then had to go and catch Frodo.  After several loops around the dining room table, she got him by the collar and led him to the door.  He stood and put on his 70’s style ill-fitting plaid coat.  I think that’s part of the problem.  Well.  Maybe not.  Even if he goes WITHOUT a coat, he’s not happy.  He gets to the open door and puts on the brakes.  So the sport of Pull-a-PON begins.  Complete with treat enticement and begging.  He finally agreed to go out the doorway and began his funeral march.  It’s interesting to see how much faster he moves AFTER he makes his “deposit” and is headed for home.

This phenomenon of dogs disliking rain it not completely breed specific.  Although, according to some sources, fear of rain and thunderstorms occurs more frequently in herding breeds – and German Shepherds and Collies were named as examples of breeds disliking the rain.  I get the thunderstorm thing – the loud noise and changes in barometric pressure CAN affect dogs.  And that could be scary.  Interestingly, though, Frodo and I don’t care about thunder.  Not sure about Elroy yet – he hasn’t heard any.

Some sites say that because we dogs have such good hearing, the sound of the rain actually hurts our ears.  Clearly Frodo’s ears are not sensitive to the the sound of his own barking.  I still think he just doesn’t LIKE getting wet.

Anyway, by 6 AM all of us had “done our thing” and were raring to go and DO something else.  Isn’t that what holidays are for?  But for some odd reason, my human just wanted to go back to bed.  GO figure.

Have a good one!

OK.  So we have to change his name.  But, CAN you change dog’s name once he has it?   I’m talking about REALLY changing a name – besides the “aliases” that you humans come up with for us dogs – like Trino for Viktorino for Viktor.  I think Elroy needs to start off with a WHOLE new name.  Because right now his name is Elroyelroyelroyelroyelroyelroyelroy.   Not JUST Elroy. Elroy alone does not work.

When my human goes to Elroy’s performance puppy class (where I THINK he is learning to play the piano – because he is clearly not excelling at obedience), they do this exercise called “The Name Game.”  You basically call your puppy when he is on a leash, and not paying attention, and if he turns to you when you call, he gets a treat.  I’m here to tell you that on a leash, in a stimulus free environment, with halfway decent treats –  the task works like a charm.  Elroy consistently responds to his name.  BUT – take him outside on a long line, when he is “free” and you could be wearing a T-bone steak around your neck, and say his name – and well, let’s just say his response accuracy is reduced.  GREATLY reduced.  So it becomes Elroy…
EL-ROY…Elroyelroyelroyelroy…ELLLLLLLLLLL_ROYYYYYYYYYYY.  You combine a non-responsive dog with a new 50 foot long line and you have one very interesting “name game.”  Watching my human rope him in is like watching some kind of rodeo calf-roping event complete with a variety of new “names.”

So I’m thinking we need to go back to basics and start with a whole new name.  And here are MY choices:   

• Ludwig.  Just because I think he LOOKS like a Ludwig.
• Bozo.   Because he can be QUITE a clown.
• Antoine.  Because I don’t personally know any dogs named Antoine.
• Einstein.  Only because his hair looks like Einstein.  I’m not so sure about the genius part.  He’s an awful lot like Pax – he STILL can’t figure out which way a door opens…
• Mario.   Because Mario Andretti was a famous race car driver – and when Elroy gets moving, he goes REALLY fast.
• Wile E.  Because there was a cartoon character named Wile E Coyote – and SOMETIMES, Elroy reminds me of a coyote.  Crossed with an Irish Wolfhound.
• Digger.  For obvious reasons. 

Personally I think the guy is just mixed up.  He’s not sure WHAT his name is……Elroyelroyelroyeloryelroy….or STOP…or Trrrrrrrrade…..I think we just need to come up with ONE good name – and stick to it.  You know, maybe we  should just stick to Elroy, as it DOES suit him.  The challenge is in training my HUMAN to stick to it. Honestly, between the two of them, I’m not sure WHO is more challenging to train.  I REALLY have my work cut out for me…

Have a good one!

He’s crazy.  Elroy IS crazy. I am convinced of it.  He gets these “spurts” when he just goes flat out, looney-tunes-squirrel-nutso-Hannibal-Lecter-Johnny-from-the-Shining, C-R-A-Z-Y.  And LOOK OUT when that Tasmanian devil appears. It is like a combination of a cyclone and a shark feeding frenzy.

The other day my human came home from work and we all went for a run down to the lake.  Me with my bell and Jaws with his Dollar Store long line.  He rips through the woods and along the trail and has a care-free speed demon race.  We returned back to the house huffing and puffing and anxious for our supper.  All three accounted for. 

We ate our meals, my human made some food for herself and we sat around her waiting to see if there would be any leftovers.   No such luck.  She ate all her pasta. 

She cleaned up the dishes and then she told us it was play time.  First she took Jaws out and played ball with him until he decided the Jolly Ball was more tasty than retrieveable.  So she put Jaws in the dog run, and brought Frodo and I out for a game of fetch.  And Jaws watched us.  Actually, Frodo didn’t feel like retrieving – so every time my human would throw the bumper a long distance for me, she would do obedience work with Frodo while I went to get it.  This woman knows how to multi-task.  Heave bumper, get other dog to do a recall, take bumper, heave bumper, ask other dog to heel, take bumper, heave bumper, practice signals with other dog….You get the idea.  And Jaws was watching all the proceedings.  With GREAT interest.

So when I was finally starting to slow down after about 400 retrieves, and Frodo didn’t feel like doing any more obedience work, my human put the two of us PONs in the house.  And she went to let Jaws out of the run.  Now. Ordinarily she immediately attaches his long line. And he sits and waits. But he was pretty keyed up after watching Frodo and I.   So as she went to open the door to the run and bent down to get the line, he burst out and OFF he went.  It was like the helium balloon with a pin in it scenario. He raced past her, grabbed his Jolly Ball, and he was GONE. G-O-N-E.  Into the woods.  With my human in hot pursuit.  But the area of woods that he entered is VERY dense.  She couldn’t even walk through it without potentially putting out an eye.  So she decided to go another direction to a path where she could cut him off.  She could hear him crashing about through the woods and sure enough, she caught him as he came out where she had anticipated.  Minus one Jolly Ball.

So she attached the long line while he snapped at her like a piranha on speed.  He was clearly OUT-OF-CONTROL.  I call it a puppy brain-fart meltdown.  She somehow managed to wrestle him and get the line on him and he ran to the end of it.  Then he raced toward her and catapulted off her leg.  He raced out and ran back at her.  She dodged as he raced by. She then began to reel him in like some kind of sport fisherman landing a 1000 lb tuna.  She kept shouting “Just be calm.”  FINALLY he settled down.  Now.  Where was the Jolly Ball?  Clearly the name needs to be changed.  She decided to tie Jaws to the tree on the lawn – the one with the 2 foot hole underneath it that he likes to dig.  He has never actually been tied to the tree, but my human figured it would be fine while she went into the woods.  He sat and watched her as she made her way into the woods and through the dense brush – breaking branches as she went.  Where was that blasted ball?  Ah.  She could see it ahead.  She was crouched over trying to make her way through the maze of branches and just as she went to pick up the ball, she felt a tug at her jacket from behind.  She thought she had caught it on a branch.  Nope.  Guess who?  The piranha.  Here’s the deal – those clips on the Dollar Store long lines cannot be trusted. 

She spun around and took him by the collar.  She had to get back through the brush holding onto a now bucking bronco.  While also holding onto the oh-so-not-Jolly-ball. She managed to make her way out of the woods and onto the lawn.  And there she released her death grip and heaved the ball as hard as she could.  He raced out for it, grabbed it, headed for her and at the last second veered around her as if he was going to go back in the woods.  “STOP” she cried.  And miracle of miracles, he did.  She struggled to loop the broken-clip long line around his collar, while he was licking her face.  Then they trotted back into the house.  Well – he did.  Hers was more like a trudge.

And by the time they got back in the house, Frodo and I were all ready and raring for another game of fetch!  While my human continued to mutter “Just be calm” as she collapsed on the couch. 

He’s crazy I tell ya.  Totally crazy!

Never EVER a dull moment in OUR house!
Happy Friday!