Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter.

Happy birthday Abe!

February 12, 2016Leave a Comment

February 12. Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, the 16^thPresident of the United States. Now while some may know Lincoln as a humanitarian who helped to put an end to slavery in the U.S., what some may not know is the fact that he was an early animal rights advocate – who loved all animals. He was against hunting and cruelty to animals in any form. In fact, here is a famous quote attributed to Lincoln: “I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”

Before Lincoln became President, he and his family had a dog named Fido. Really – his name was Fido! Apparently Fido was nervous around loud sounds, like bells and firecrackers and crowds, so when Lincoln was moving to the White House, he thought it best that Fido remain with a family in his hometown. But he had special instructions for the family – Fido was not to be chained outdoors and was to be allowed in the house. Fido had his favorite sofa – which Lincoln had moved to the new family’s home. Lincoln and his family reportedly fed Fido scraps at mealtime – so the new family was instructed to carry out the same routine. So I think Fido had it pretty good!

The first photo of a Presidential dog was of Fido. Some speculate that Lincoln took the photo before he left for the White House – to remember Fido by.

Lincoln was also said to like cats. But we won’t hold that against him. Just kidding. Sort of. His children also had ponies, goats and white rabbits – and a turkey that was initially raised to become Thanksgiving dinner. When his son became quite attached to the turkey, Lincoln spared the bird – and he didn’t end up on the menu after all.

There are even several books written about Lincoln’s love of animals. My human and her Book Club are currently reading the book “Killing Lincoln.” Obviously the ending is no surprise. Personally, I think one of the animal books would have been a better choice.

So today we celebrate and toast the birthday of Honest Abe! Two paws up! And while I do admire the man, I’m just so thankful that they don’t sell Stovepipe Hats at the Dollar Store…

National Inventor’s Day

February 11, 2016Leave a Comment

February 11. Today is National Inventor’s Day. A day to celebrate all those clever people who create things that we less-creative–beings use every day.

So I decided to look up some “dog inventions” – things that are supposed to make life with us dogs so much better. As far as I can see, not ALL inventions are such a great idea…

For example, there is a pet escalator for your home. It works kind of like those things that help disabled humans to get up and down stairs. This one is actually designed for obese dogs. I kid you not. And it ONLY costs $2300. First off – no dog in THIS house would sit on such a moving object without jumping off. And it SEEMS that maybe Fido SHOULD be using the stairs if he is obese?! I give this one a paws down.

I nearly died when I found the Ikea Hundstol – a highchair for dogs. After a bit of exploration, I found that it was an April Fools joke. THANK goodness. Imagine the size highchair that Paxton would need.

It looks like the Freedom Leash didn’t turn out to be such a great invention – I don’t think you can even buy them any more. The leash supposedly had a retracting spinning mechanism allowing a human to walk two dogs at once – holding onto one device. I could just SEE what Frodo and I could have done to that thing. No wonder you can’t find one.

Here’s another gem – a dog muzzle that looks like a duck’s bill. Seriously? Embarrassing enough that the dog HAS to wear a muzzle – and you make him look like a platypus besides?! Paws down on this one.

The Breeze Guard Car window screen. Ever see our screen door to the deck? A screen for a car window? That would last .0059 seconds with us. Paws down for this one too.

The Bow Lingual Bark Translator is supposed to be able to translate what your dog is saying. This was obviously created as a joke. But the best part was reading the reviews about it. Some people, I THINK, thought the thing would REALLY work. And they were disappointed when they tried it out. Hmmmm…..

There is this device that you attach to your garden hose, and when your dog steps on it, he immediately gets a blast of water for a drink. Like we PONs EVER want a blast of water shot in our faces…

An inflatable dog bath. Kind of like those inflatable kiddie pools only smaller. I can see all the “fun” when it deflates…

Now there ARE some good inventions…the portable camping chair that has a built-in soft-sided dog crate under the seat seems like a good idea. For SMALL dogs obviously. And LED collars and leashes are good at night. The poo trap that is attached to a dog’s rear end – like a horse uses in a parade – is just plain silly. Make sure you don’t ask Fido to “sit” after he uses it.

My human has a great idea for an invention. She was looking on-line for a plow-like device that Paxton could pull behind him in the driveway to clear the snow. She couldn’t find one. So there you go all you inventive folks – the dog snow plow. And when you make your millions, be sure to remember us!

Storm stayed

February 10, 2016Leave a Comment

Today is Ash Wednesday. And the beginning of Lent. 40 days of behaving. It will never happen in this house.

We had a blizzard on Monday. A real, honest to goodness blizzard. High winds and LOTS of snow. Of course before it started, my human had to take us out for a good run to exhaust us – she knew we would be stormed stayed for a bit. The photos you see are pre-storm. The winds were stronger than our jet engine hair dryer. It was crazy. We loved it. Well – I did. Frodo was annoyed that it messed up his hair.

My human’s mother was talking yesterday about “the losing battle.” You know what she’s referring to – she puts my toys away in the toy bin and no sooner does she finish, than I pull them all out. Just like when my human is vacuuming. I actually think she thought she could get away with it this time. Nope. I never forget my job.

So far we have been behaving. Although, Paxton was a bit naughty. When my human took Frodo and I out for our run, her mother was in the other room – and she glanced up from reading – and saw Paxton DASH across the room from the kitchen. She went to see what was going on. He had stolen a whole roll of paper towel from the counter, and was about to make confetti. Busted. She took it away from him – get this – in exchange for a treat! We have her pretty well trained.

I like how she slices up our banana for us. My human just tears off pieces – which I think, sometimes results in us getting varied sizes. Her mother is much more fair.

Well time to go and stare at her. Maybe I can convince her to slice up another banana…

Paczki Day!!!

February 9, 2016Leave a Comment

February 9. Well. We have lots of names for today. Shrove Tuesday. Fat Tuesday. Pancake Tuesday. Mardi Gras. The reason for all these names is basically the same – to celebrate the last binge that humans have before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. So you party. You eat pancakes. But for ME – the best name for today is Paczki Day! And for those non-Polish readers – paczki (pronounced kind of like POONCH-KEY) are Polish donuts. And they are EXTREMELY yummy. They often come filled with jelly – and my human thinks her grandmother made the BEST paczki ever. Historically, people used to use up all the ingredients they were supposed to avoid during lent – lard, sugar, eggs…and they made paczki. In Poland, Paczki Day is actually celebrated the Thursday before Ash Wednesday – which really is a better idea – because you have more days to eat those donuts!

In the US, many cities that have lots of Polish immigrants, have Paczki celebrations. The reported record for paczki eating is 22 in ten minutes. Obviously it wasn’t a PON who competed – I am SURE I could consume more than 22.

If you want to see some paczki – check out this short clip. My human was drooling like Paxton after she watched it:

http://www.imdb.com/video/withoutabox/vi2184578073?ref_=tt_pv_vi_1

Now I just need to figure out what I will give up for Lent…It doesn’t HAVE to be food…. Hmmmm….I KNOW! I’ll give up grooming. This is kind of like New Year’s Resolutions all over again. And it makes sense – because by now, most humans have probably given up their resolutions. So this is their second chance to be good. And don’t I know about second chances…third chances….

Anyway – today, have a donut and celebrate on me! And don’t give those 425 calories a second thought! I certainly won’t!

Clean up. And behave.

February 8, 2016Leave a Comment

February 7. According to the Crazy Calendar, today is Clean Out your Computer Day. Heaven help us. We won’t see our human all day. Actually we probably wouldn’t see her for several days. Last week she deleted over 4,000 emails from her Inbox. I’m not joking. It took her hours. NO WONDER her computer acts slow sometimes.

I’m a great cleaner myself. I do a fantastic job of cleaning out our toy bin. Particularly if my human has juuuuuuuust put all of our toys away when she is vacuuming. I will take everything back out as soon as she is done. Well, I often do it BEFORE she is even done. I just want to be sure everything is actually IN the bin and in good order– we wouldn’t want any of our toys to go missing.

And speaking of vacuuming, we knew something was up yesterday when our human was vacuuming for like the second time in two days. It always means someone is coming. And sure enough – my human’s mother arrived for a week-long stay. The octogenarian arrived with her laptop in tow and quickly made sure the wifi was working. Now I have to go back to behaving, in my never-ending quest to become favorite grand-dog. I know the rules:

1. No jumping on her

2. Take treats/bananas/carrots GENTLY

3. No breaking into the DFZ.

4. No stealing tissues from her pockets

5. No racing down the stairs

6. Stay OUT of her bedroom

7. No stealing slippers when she is watching TV and has casually removed them

Within one hour of her arriving – I already broke Rule #3. Actually, we all did. My human and her mother were relaxing and reading in the DFZ and all three of us marched in- with Frodo leading the way – pushing the gate open. We DID behave though…

We are supposed to get LOTS of snow today and tomorrow. I’m hoping we get snowed in and my human can’t go to work tomorrow. Mind you, when she does go to work – we will still have her mother here to entertain us. And vice versa…

Have a good one!

Super Sunday

February 7, 20161 Comment

Today is something called Superbowl Sunday. It’s where people sit around and watch guys try to pass a ball around and try to knock each other down. And the people who are watching, eat all kinds of junk food. It’s a really healthy day. This year, there are animals competing – broncos and panthers. I don’t REALLY have a preference myself – but my human would probably be in trouble with her relatives from North Carolina if she didn’t root for those mountain lions. The only reason I like to watch the game is for the commercials. Especially the DOG commercials. Some beer company has done some very cute commercials the last two years with puppies and horses. Check them out – but before you do, my apologies for the commentary – I could not find good examples without the descriptions:

Here is one from 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_3lITiK_Q

And another one from 2015:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWeKtqWc2EA

And here’s one clever rescue dog from 2012:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9IxS6fGw1s

And this gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvaQMzh7B30

And then we have THIS new commercial for 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxsG8bXfHs

And I thought wearing antlers was bad!

Clearly these companies KNOW that dogs can sell a product. I couldn’t find any with PONs though…gotta work on that.

Yesterday I must confess, I was QUITE annoyed with my human. An old friend had contacted her to see if they could get together and take us dogs for a walk. Her friend just recently adopted a 2 year old Australian Shepherd girl, and her friend is looking for canine playmates. They decided they would go to a HUGE park in Halifax, which allows dogs off leash on some trails. So my human’s dilemma? Which of us to take. She thought about Paxton – he is friendly with EVERYBODY – canine and human. But my human didn’t trust him off leash – and to keep him on leash would have been a nightmare, because the ground was still icy in spots. So he was off the list. She thought about taking me for .008 seconds because I AM friendly too – but my recall is not as reliable as Paxton’s. And we know he’s pretty bad. So GUESS who got to go? Frodo! Yup. Mr. Perfect got to go into the big city. And he went in the giant park. And he even went OFF leash. And never took off. He pretty much ignores other dogs, so he wasn’t exactly the most robust playmate. And then there was that point on the walk where he came to a small “stream” of water that went across the trail and he refused to cross it on the chance that he might get his feet wet. We are talking about a 6-inch wide stream. Talk about embarrassing. My human had to go back and get him. Reportedly, he was very well behaved, though, on the whole walk. Boring. But well behaved. Maybe SOME day, I will be well behaved. And then I can go. Who am I kidding….

Have a super Sunday! Go cougars!

Wandering. Indoors.

February 6, 2016Leave a Comment

Today I would like to talk with all my canine friends about a “new” technique that I have been trying out with my human. With relatively good success. I haven’t run any REAL research on this technique – so what I am about to report is based on a limited case study. Me being the case. The new technique is called “indoor wandering.” The objective? To GET attention. And a secondary objective- to drive humans crazy.

If you look back to one of my earliest blogs, you will see I talk about another technique – the Stare Down. We canines employ this when humans are sleeping – to wake them up- or while they are doing something like eating – to get their attention and to get some food. While they are sleeping, we sit VERY close and STARE – so they wake up. Heavy breathing during this time is also helpful. Or we watch them while they are eating, on the off chance that they will drop something – or they will give us a bite when they are done. This is a proven technique – and it works very well.

The new technique – indoor wandering – is PERFECT when a human is doing something like talking on the phone – or working on the computer. It must be done casually with an innocent air. And it’s easy. AND good exercise. You just wander. From room to room. And around the room where your human is doing something else. And you must look as if you are looking for something. OR you need to go out to pee or poo. The result? In my experience, my human will stop what she is doing – and take me out. Even though – I don’t REALLY need to go out. If you add a TINY squeak, it makes the technique even MORE effective.

I was actually becoming an expert at this technique – so much that when I came upstairs after a wander – she went down to see if I had done anything bad. The only warning – DO NOT do this immediately after you have come in from a walk. It will quickly tip off your human that you are faking – and that you do NOT need to go out. THAT was my one error. Now I think she may be on to me. But humans have short memories – so I will try it again.

Yesterday, my human’s university was closed so she had a holiday. We were THRILLED that she was home with us – the only bad thing was that it was raining – so our play time had to be indoors. We had several rounds of Find the Bunny – and the only problem was that my human let Paxton play first – while Frodo and I were sequestered in the hall watching and screaming out of control. The bad thing about playing AFTER Paxton is that the bunny is all soggy. Since I have been enrolled in my scent class, my human hides the bunny in very difficult places for ME to find. And my accuracy rate is 100%. My biggest issue is giving UP the bunny – even though he IS soggy. If I have to work extra hard to find him, I want to keep him. And tear his head off. Which is not exactly the objective of the game.

Well. It’s about time to wake my human up – no sleeping in on the weekend in THIS house! Have a great Saturday!

Facebook

February 4, 2016Leave a Comment

February 4. On this day in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg , started this “thing” called Facebook while he was a student at Harvard. Kind of a clever little idea. And boy oh boy, humans really seem to like it. I checked some info about Facebook, and here are some interesting stats- but keep in mind that these stats will probably change by the time you read them:

· There are more Facebook users from the US than US citizens who voted in the last election. (Given the current state of the upcoming election with some of the crazy candidates, this stat will probably remain the same).

· Facebook has over 1.038 billion active daily users. 1.039….1.040….

· More 350 million photos are uploaded daily. (250 million are pup-arazzi shots taken by my human of me, Paxton and Frodo).

· The average time a human spends on Facebook each day is 21 minutes. (I THINK our human MAY actually go above that stat…)

· The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Personally, I have over 150 “likes” so when I saw that stat, I thought of myself as above average. And I was pretty excited. But then I found some OTHER dogs who have Facebook pages, and I became QUITE depressed. Boo, a Pomeranian, has 16 MILLION “likes.” 16 MILLION. OK. So he IS cute. Beast, a Puli has 2 million “likes.” BUT – his human is Mark Zuckerberg. So I think those stats may be inflated a bit. Jiff, ANOTHER Pomeranian – has 1.3 million “likes.” What is it with these Pomeranians????????? PONS are JUST as cute! And have you SEEN a Bernese puppy?! Anyway, there are some pugs and a French Bulldog who have 900,000+ “likes” and a talking husky who has over 600,000 “likes.” Hey – Frodo can talk!! OK, I can understand the two legged pit bull who has over 300,000 and the Senior Dogs site with over 200,000. But a Labrador who has a guilty look when he gets in trouble? With over 175,000 “likes?” Come on. I have a guilty look almost every day!!!!! What does one have to do to get their stats up? Run for President? Oh WAIT – I want people to LIKE me…

But besides entertainment and making friends, Facebook CAN be a place for news and education. Here are some pages that dog owners may find interesting if you are a Facebook user:

The American Veterinary Medicine Association page – lots of info and material here about pet health.

Nova Scotia’s own Rodney Habib – Pet Nutrition Blogger. Rodney is a SUPER bright guy who knows a LOT about Pet Nutrition! Check him out!

A place to find the perfect pet sitter- Dog Vacay. We already HAVE the perfect sitter – but for those who are looking – it might provide some options.

Another health and wellness page for pets- PetMD.

A GREAT page with old dog photos is Vintage Dog a Day. It’s cool to see how breeds USED to look.

And a page about the American Museum of the Dog – which is on my human’s Bucket list!

Of course there are probably hundreds of pages for different breeds, clubs, shows….you name it. And another very cool thing about Facebook are those pages that help to place rescue dogs and the pages for LOST dogs. I know of several cases in Nova Scotia where people quickly came together to help in finding a lost dog when the info was posted on Facebook. My human actually envisioned my picture on that page one day – but as you may recall, I came home on my own. And I was ONLY gone…..well…..long enough to make her think about it.

And then we have all the businesses related to dogs – everything from food companies to the dreaded dog apparel companies. The words “Follow us on Facebook” are heard ALL the time.

I think, Facebook brings the world together. And it CAN be a good thing. But also keep in mind that not EVERYTHING you read on Facebook is TRUE. Nothing drives my human more crazy than when people forward things that are made up. Facebook can innocently spread bad things around – like accidentally stepping in dog poo and not noticing until you come in the house. BE careful. Check the facts.

I know also know there ARE people who do not use it…hard to believe – but there ARE!!! But given the cautions- I think of what they are missing. In fact, if it weren’t for Facebook, many of you probably wouldn’t be reading about the unusual adventures of a Polish Lowland Sheepdog in Nova Scotia, Canada, now would you?!

So Mr. Zuckerberg, even though your dog has more “likes” than I do, I think I’ll still keep using your site. Until I can come up with a better idea….because after all, I AM a PON!

Take a Cruise Day

February 3, 2016Leave a Comment

February 3. Today is Take a Cruise Day. I didn’t think I would have much to write about this topic – as my human has never been on a cruise. Unless you count taking the ferry from Halifax across the harbor to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. And I don’t think kayaking on the lake really counts as a cruise either. I haven’t even been in a rowboat. Mind you, I’m not a huge water-loving dog – I’m a landlubber. Frodo is the only one who has been on the water – he took the ferry to Prince Edward Island a couple of times to go – of all things – sheep herding. That was a couple of years ago. He had to stay in the vehicle – dogs were not allowed on the deck. Which doesn’t seem fair to me. So his recollection of taking to the high seas is pretty boring. And clearly, his memory for sheep herding isn’t all that great either!

BUT – did you know that there ARE cruises that people can take with their dogs?! Even the Queen Mary II– which is a HUGE ocean liner – allows people to take their dogs! Now mind you, the description of the cruise talks about a “kennel master” who walks the dogs. So I guess we canines don’t EXACTLY have free run of the ship. Imagine Paxton at the buffet….

I found quite a few other boating tours for dogs – several in California, Washington state, something in Florida, Massachusetts, Baltimore and Chicago… And I am sure there are others. If you are into cruises – just Google “dog cruise” and you’ll see all kinds of options! Who knew?!

And in other news, our prognosticating overgrown chipmunk, Shubenacadie Sam, had some good news yesterday!! He forecast an early spring! Since he WAS correct with his forecast last year, we will go with his prediction for this year. He and Punxsutawney Phil gave the same forecast. So it MUST be true. Oh joy. Oh happiness. No luge run this year. We hope.

Have a happy Wednesday! I know I will!

Groundhog Day 2016

February 2, 20162 Comments

February 2. The infamous Groundhog Day. Celebrated across North America, the first official reference to Groundhog Day in the US was back in 1841, in Pennsylvania. Some say it was connected to another holiday on the 2^nd of February – Candlemas – which is a Catholic holiday that is 40 days after Christmas. Candlemas is also known as Crepes Day or Pancake Day. According to German belief, on Candlemas, if a groundhog emerges from his den and sees his shadow, he runs back into his den for another 6 weeks of winter napping. If he doesn’t see his shadow, there will be an early spring. There are a bunch of these weather prognosticating rodents all over North America – and we even have our very own guy here in Nova Scotia – Shubenacadie Sam. Last year, the furry fella said – surprise, surprise – we would have 6 more weeks of wintery weather. And if you recall my stories about our luge run driveway last year, he was correct. Now since I am writing this EARLY in the morning – and it’s still dark outside, Sam has not come out yet to check out the skies. I hope it is cloudy – so the turf dwelling oversized chipmunk stays outside and doesn’t return to his den. I’m a bit worried because the meteorologists are predicting a mainly sunny day today. But then, we KNOW how often THOSE guys are right.

You know, PONs are just as good as the chubby rodent at predicting the weather. If you open the front door, and we won’t go out, it’s raining. And we do that with 100% accuracy. They should name a day after us.

I’ll let you know tomorrow what the forecast will be. Paws crossed for an early spring….

Oh – and scent class was cancelled last night – so no report this week about my outstanding skills. Next week.