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May 24.  On this day in 2001, Sherpa Temba Tsheri, at age 15 became the youngest person to ever scale Mount Everest.  Which got me thinking…has a dog ever made it to the top?

It seems in 2013, there were news reports that a dog by the name of Rupee, made it to the top of the world’s highest summit.  BUT – on closer study, it seems that Rupee, who was rescued from life as a stray in India, made it to the BASE camp of Everest.  Not that climbing to the base camp isn’t remarkable, but let’s face it – it’s not the same as hitting the summit.  Rupee’s owner took him to raise awareness about rescuing strays – and Rupee even had his own assistant in the event that he found the climb to base camp a bit too much.

There are reports of stray dogs reaching the base camp on their own – and also following climbers part way up to the summit.  Those are pretty tough dogs.  I am trying to convince my human that we should try it. JUST kidding.  She cycled 50 KM the other day and the next day we never heard the END of her complaining about her aches and pains.  So I’m thinking Everest is NOT on the Bucket List.  Perhaps we could start with the highest mountain here in Nova Scotia – The Pinnacle which is 1533 ft in elevation.  It ranks as the 9974th highest peak on Canada.  A perfect place for us to start. And then Everest.  With an elevation of 29, 029 ft.  So that’s the plan.  At least it’s MY plan.  Dare to dream?  Right?  It’s all about the journey….

Have a good one!

©  Linda Wozniak

My human is worried that something is wrong with me.  Little does she know that my odd behavior is simply what one calls intermittent reinforcement.

Yesterday morning, we let her sleep in until 5:30.  And that was enough sleep as far as we were concerned.  Especially on a weekend. So just as we were getting ready to go out for our morning constitutional aka bunny hunt, my human got a text from our neighbor – Jackson’s human.  Did we all want to go for a run/walk together?  Sure!  So off we went to meet Jackson.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that Jackson behaves.  Yes, he goes in EVERY puddle, pond, body of water he sees, but he’s a Lab, and otherwise he is very well behaved.  So he gets to run free.  And Velcro dog got to run free.  But moi?  Well my human was hesitant as we KNOW I DO have a tendency, ON OCCASION, to go off exploring.  But my human decided to roll the dice and take a chance.  And here is where the intermittent reinforcement comes into play.  Not only did I NOT run off, I didn’t want to leave her side.  It got to the point where she had to keep saying “Go – free – be free – go play.” In fact, I was SO well behaved that she started to wonder if something was wrong with me.  But you see, it is all part of training.  You behave on one walk, and not only do you get extra treats, but the next time you go for a run, you are assured that you will be allowed off leash again.  Trust me- this is part of a bigger plan.  Training humans is SUCH great fun.

Have a super Monday!

So last weekend, my human participated in something called a “phone seminar.”  Basically, humans call a number and are able to listen to a presentation on a particular topic and they can ask questions.  And it is critical to keep your line on “mute” so the other participants can’t hear your dogs barking at you while you are just sitting around.  I was hoping the topic would be “Baking for your dogs,” or “How to build up your throwing arm.”  But no.  It was on “Grooming your Polish Lowland Sheepdog.”  Seriously.  It should have been called “How to torture defenseless animals without being arrested.” Of ALL the topics on dogs, it HAD to be grooming?!  So of COURSE, my human got new ideas and found out about new instruments of torture, so you KNOW she is going to be looking for them on-line, and trying them out on us.  And if THAT wasn’t bad enough, all that talk of fluff-ify-ing us inspired her to ENTER us in a BEAUTY PAGEANT in a few weeks.  Which is crazy.  Because the seminar included no information about how to make my self-trimmed back legs look good enough for a dog show.  Now THIS will be interesting.  I don’t know if my human ASSUMES my hair will grow in 3 weeks, but I don’t think hair extensions will really work.  Humans.

And if my human really plans to take us to a show, perhaps she should lay off the garlic tablets for a few days.  I mean if the judge gets a whiff of my breath, I don’t stand a CHANCE of getting any 25 cent ribbons.  And really what makes this whole pageant thing crazy – I will be competing against Velcro dog.  And we all know that it’s hard for me to beat him a beauty contest.  He wins for his coat alone.  Apparently there will ALSO be a girl dog there.  Now THAT will be interesting.  I’ll have to see if I can impress her with my rugged, outdoorsy look.  If there is a prize for congeniality, I’ll definitely get THAT.

Well today is Saturday, and we got my human up at 5.  No point in wasting the day.  We are just about to head out for our morning walk.  And then we will come home, have breakfast and multiple games of fetch.  I love weekends.  

Have a good one!

©  Linda Wozniak

May 20.  On this day in 1916, the Saturday Evening Post paper featured it’s first cover by a man by the name of Norman Rockwell.  Mr. Rockwell’s art would eventually grace the cover 323 times.  His art depicted common, everyday life – and each painting could tell a story.  And the best part?  He had a HUGE affection for dogs – who frequently appeared in his paintings.  Some of my personal favorites include:

• “Breaking Home Ties” – the heartfelt painting of a boy who appears to be leaving home for school – with his hard-working father, sitting and waiting for the train.  He sits with his suitcase, and his sad looking collie type dog, is mournfully resting his head on the boy’s knee…Awwwwww.
•  “Good friends” – the happy scene of a Boy Scout feeding a treasury of puppies
• “No Swimming” – the painting of three boys RACING from a spot that says “No swimming”with their trusty dog racing right along with them.
• “The Veterinarian” – the scene of a little boy holding his dog while the Vet examines him.

Rockwell had dogs himself, and they were frequently found lying next to him in his studio while he worked.  My human says THAT is why she will never be a famous artist like Rockwell – we don’t lie next to her calmly – we HAVE to be on her lap.  It is difficult to paint that way… That’s HER excuse.  we know she’ll never be famous because she just can’t paint! 

I wish Norman Rockwell could have painted a picture of me and Velcro dog. Just THINK of the stories he could have depicted with US!  The title of one would be “The bunny chase…”

Have a good one – IT’S FRIDAY!!!

©  Linda Wozniak

May 19.  Today in 1848 the first department store in the US opened in New York City. It was called the Marble Dry Goods Palace and it was the largest department store in the world at that time.  I wonder if it had a pet department…

Today there are all kinds of stores that sell pet supplies – some large chains and of course, smaller individually operated businesses.  Once upon a time it was very common to see puppies sold in pet stores.  Thankfully, that practice has largely disappeared – and people understand where pet shop puppies come from.  If you want a purebred puppy – get it from a reputable breeder.  Or, if you prefer to adopt a forever friend, you can go to a shelter. And don’t forget,  that most purebred dog clubs also have Rescue Committees – that help to re-home dogs.  But do NOT buy your puppy in a pet store.  Ever.  You might think you are helping that puppy – but you are just supporting puppy mills.  This is a topic I am passionate about!  

Back in 1848, if you wanted to buy something – you went to the store.  Today though, if you want to buy something, you can just sit down in front of your computer. And there is NO shortage of places to buy things for us dogs.  And my human has  sampled MANY of them.  Here are just a FEW of her favorites – and of course, MINE as well.  Except for the places where you get grooming supplies….

This place is in the US – but it ships anywhere.  It carries EVERYTHING.  Including the dreaded grooming supplies. 
www.petedge.com

Here is another place in the US that carries everything.  They also ship to MANY countries.  But I’m not sure about Mongolia…
www.ryanspet.com/

This place is in the UK.  For North Americans bored with the usual training dumbbells, they have some cool options.  My human has purchased from them before:
www.dogstuff.co.uk/index.html

This place carries dog apparel.  Frodo has the 1970’s style Lycra bodysuit and I have the more stylish Gortex coat.
www.k9topcoat.com

Here is the site of the ONLY dog bed we have NOT destroyed:
kuranda.com/

If you are into dog agility or obedience, here is a site in the US that has lots of good training information and equipment. 
www.cleanrun.com

Want some games for us?  Here is the place in Sweden that my human…errr…Santa got us some toys:
www.nina-ottosson.com/

This is a German company that has lots of cool things – including some LOVELY collars and leashes.  Guess who got one from Crufts!?  Purple.  Leather elk leather.  I love it.  It looks like you may not be able to buy from them directly but if you Google their product name, you will find other places that carry them.
 www.hunter.de/en/our-collection/unterkategorien/ext/np/4/0/16261/Dog.html

As I said, this is just a TINY, TINY sampling of the sites that sell dog stuff.  Personally, I prefer to go in the pet stores myself, as I can grab something off the shelf and then my human HAS to buy it.  Mind you, being able to shop any time of the day or night using my human’s iPawd is also convenient.  As long as the place we are shopping has treats – I’m OK with whatever. Now.  If I could JUST get my own credit card….

Happy shopping!

Y

So last night my human went to a concert.  By some guy named James Taylor.  She was all excited.  But it was funny – when she told her grad students that she was going to see James Taylor, they didn’t know who he was. It made my human feel old.  REALLY old.  And so it should.  She IS old.

Reportedly it was a great concert.  I wouldn’t know. We were not invited.

I understand James Taylor is a very famous singer and songwriter.  He has won loads of awards.  And it seems he is a nice guy too.  You may have heard about the awful wildfires out west in Canada.  Well it seems Mr Taylor is performing two concerts out west in June and 100% of the profits will go to the community ravaged by the fire.   Very nice.

Jim had an album called One Man Dog, so I’m assuming he likes dogs.  I know he had a pug named Ting – and maybe he still does.  I heard he sang LOTS of his famous hit songs last night- and one that was written by his friend Carole King.  I call it the canine theme song.  You’ve Got a Friend.  REALLY.  I think it is all about dogs.  Mind you the part about “You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running…”  well that’s true – unless I am chasing a bunny.

My human came home all happy and singing.  Of course we were happy to see her – but we could have done without the singing.  She certainly isn’t going to be joining a choir any time soon.  But don’t tell her I said so.

So the next time you listen to the words in that song – think of your dog.  And if don’t know the song – Google it.  I think you’ll like it!  And if you DO know the song, well…you’re not THAT old.

Have a great day.

May 17.  THE day to celebrate my human.  Is it her birthday?  No.  Is she retiring?  No.  Fat chance.  It’s not Christmas.  Or World Pet Owner day.  It is….Pack Rat Day.   And she will be SO annoyed that I am saying this.  But let’s face it, she IS a pack rat.  Now don’t jump to conclusions that our house could be featured on the reality TV show “Hoarders” – it is NOT THAT bad.  But she does collect things.  I’ve talked about it before.  And I ALSO mentioned that she was on a Spring cleaning binge – and a selling spree.  And she HAS managed to get rid of some stuff.  The dog ramp for the car that none of us ever used, the automatic dog feeder – which would have been useless with me and Velcro dog if we ever managed to a hold of it, a leather carting harness…  Hey.  All of the stuff was dog stuff so far.  What’s with THAT?  How about I go in the mystery closet and pick some things to sell.  See how she likes that!

And speaking of not liking things.  I was traumatized last night.  It was THE first time I EVER had to stay in the house by myself.  For an HOUR and a HALF.  Velcro dog had an appointment at the Vet and my human didn’t want to take both of us.  So the question: would I be more happy waiting in the vehicle, or in the house?  She opted for the house.  You see, living in the three dog household has meant that no dog has ever been left behind.  Until last night – because we are no longer a three dog household.  Well I survived.  My human loaded three treat dispensing toys with food, and honestly, I didn’t even CARE that they were leaving me.  But when they got home, I acted all sheepish. My human thought it was because I was nervous being alone.  Nope.  I was sheepish because I pooped on the stairs.   One could argue that I was nervous on my own, but honestly, I was just mad because they left me.  

I have NO idea why Velcro dog went to the Vet.  I heard something about good swimmers.  Velcro dog doesn’t even LIKE the water so WHAT was going on?  All I know is that he came home with a smile on his face. And I was traumatized.  Or I pretended to be.

No Vet appointments for today.  THANK goodness.  I’m sure I’ll get over this traumatic experience.  Just give me 15 more biscuits, and I’ll forget it ever happened.  Maybe.

 Now.  When do I get to go swimming?

©  Linda Wozniak

So.  I have a sore on my nose.  The question is – how did I get it?  Was it when I was roughhousing  with Velcro dog?  Or in my exuberance trying to chase the ball?  Or did I scrape it when I went on my short bunny chase?  It is kind of pink and raw – at least that’s what my human tells me – I didn’t look in the mirror.  And she can’t really put any cream on it – I’ll just lick it off.  It’s a dilemma.  Good thing I’m not booked for any beauty pageants in the near future.

We had a horrible Saturday.  OK – maybe in human terms it was far from horrible, but Velcro dog and I were NOT happy.  First off, it was RAINING when we went for our morning walk.  And we KNOW that we usually get an extra long walk on Saturdays – but no such luck in the rain.  And we are talking the dreaded raincoat rain.  My human had to haul Velcro dog out the door.