Kisses.

July 6, 2015Leave a Comment

July 6. International Kissing Day. In our household, none of us dogs are big into kissing humans. I mean yes, we do it sometimes, but not a lot. You see dogs who LOVE to lick people – but we would rather snuggle, or in Paxton’s case, sit on your feet.

On the other hand, we DO like to lick and kiss each other. I love to lick Frodo’s ears – and to mess up his face. Especially after my human has spent 2 hours grooming him. And Paxton, well I like to lick Paxton whenever I can. I LOVE to lick and kiss his face, particularly after he has had his share of cleaning my human’s yoghurt container at breakfast. He often has bits of yoghurt on his face – and it is my DUTY to make sure he doesn’t walk around with food on his face.

Some believe that we lick and kiss certain dogs that we think have a higher ranking than us. It’s true Paxton is the oldest – AND the biggest. And I DO respect him. But sometimes, well…. I try to challenge him too. It’s the baby-in-the-family syndrome. And the problem is that Paxton is so good-natured, he let’s me get away with murder. He puts up with my tormenting. EXCEPT if I try to push him out of the way while he is eating. THEN he gives me the warning, and I’m smart enough to back off!

So today go out and kiss someone. But again – preferably someone you know. And big kisses to all of you!

I need a Coonhound

July 5, 2015Leave a Comment

Well. Yesterday I was talking about all the Coonhounds from the US. And I joked that I need one. Well maybe I REALLY do.

There was a story here in Nova Scotia about a raccoon – and I learned something I didn’t know. It seems that a woman in a town about 2 hours from here, has a hunting dog – who looks to me to be a spaniel of some type. Anyway, the dog took off after some animal (sound familiar?) and when the woman went to find her dog she saw that the dog had been chasing a raccoon. And the raccoon was backing up into a pond – with the dog in hot pursuit. Who knew that raccoons when cornered will purposely draw the dog INTO the water – so they can then attack them and try to drown them?!!!! Well it’s good thing the woman knew it – because sure enough – it started to happen right before her eyes!!!! She ran into the water and fought off the raccoon – who WAS trying to drown her dog!!!!!! Long story short, the woman won the battle – despite having lots of scratches and bites – and her dog was saved. The woman has to undergo lots of shots to protect her in case the raccoon was rabid – but she doesn’t care because her dog is safe.

I would like to think my human would do the same thing…and I THINK she would. For example, about 4 years ago, in the early spring, the ice was melting on the lake – and had separated from the shoreline. Bucket Head took off one day and my human kept calling and calling him. She raced down to the shore and found him ON the ice – about 10 feet from shore. The ice went out quite a ways – and my human KNEW she didn’t want him to run out further, because he would likely fall in. And NOT be able to get out. She pleaded with him to come to her – but he kept racing on the ice and didn’t want to go back into the icy water. So my human, didn’t think twice – and went into the freezing water to get him. Bad enough she was in waste-deep water – she was also wearing rubber boots, which INSTANTLY filled with water. She went to the ice and coaxed Paxton over to her. She grabbed him by the collar and somehow pulled him off the ice and into the water – so he immediately went for the shore. She then trudged out and went quickly back to the house – as she was quite cold. Paxton on the other hand thought the whole adventure was great fun. Needless to say, we are not allowed off leash when ice is melting on the lake.

So those are the adventure stories here. As for whether a raccoon could draw me or Frodo into the water – it’s doubtful. Remember – we are the guys who jump around puddles, in an effort to avoid getting wet. Just the same – my human never wants to find out!

Happy July 4th!

July 4, 2015Leave a Comment

July 4. Independence Day in the United States. My human is both a Canadian AND a US citizen so we get to celebrate another national birthday. Paxton is also a US citizen – he was born in Michigan – so he is in charge of setting off the fireworks.

So in honor of all things American – time to look at those dog breeds that came from the US. When I went to research this topic, I was surprised how many there were. But many of them I had never heard of. Like the Alaskan Klee Kai. It looks kind of like a Malamute or Siberian Husky. It’s in the Rare Breed Category. And there are others in that Rare Breed bunch – the Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, the King Shepherd, the Plott Hound , Olde English Bulldogge, Shiloh Shepherd, Boykin Spaniel and the Chinook to name a few.

Besides these lesser known breeds, there are lots of very familiar breeds who call the US their home – the Alaskan Malamute, American Staffordshire Terrier, the American Foxhound, American Water Spaniel, Australian Shepherd, Black and Tan Coonhound, Treeing Walker Coonhound, Bluetick Coonhound, Redbone Coonhound, Boston Terrier, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, American Cocker Spaniel, and the American Eskimo Dog. Those Coonhound varieties really seem to be prevalent. I think we need one – a raccoon keeps knocking over our garbage can. I bet if we had a coonhound, it woudn’t happen.

No doubt many of these breeds had ancestors in other countries – and they immigrated to America. The US is a melting pot of people – and I’m sure the same is true with us canines!

I’m also sure I’m missing some breeds – forgive me if I’m missing your favorite. I wonder if all these breeds like Apple Pie, grits, macaroni and cheese, Clam chowder, lobster rolls, Buffalo Wings, hotdogs, Philly Cheese Steaks, chocolate chip cookies and baked beans. My guess is, they probably WOULD like most of those American dishes – but they probably shouldn’t eat many of them – without some unfortunate dietary upset.

So happy Independence Day to all my American friends. Have a hotdog on me!

© Linda Wozniak

The full moon.

July 3, 2015Leave a Comment

Clearly it was the full moon. And I have a secret. The full moon brings out the WORST in me. I have been in BIG trouble the last couple of days. BIG trouble.

First there was my runaway episode. My human let all of us out for a romp in the yard after she got home from shopping. Frodo and Paxton were QUITE happy to run around and play. Me? I SAW something in the yard – and I ran out the door, raced across the lawn and BOLTED into the woods. Gone. And then my human could hear me barking. At something. She had visions of me with porcupine quills all over my face. She called. She shouted. She pleaded. She blew a whistle. She attempted to follow me – but the woods are too dense. Her friend who is staying with us called too. And blew a whistle. But I was on the trail. And my human could hear me barking further and further in the distance. She jumped in the car to see if she could spot me up the road somewhere. Nope. No sign of me. She drove to the next road over. There are only about 4 homes on that road – and she asked a woman out in her yard if she had seen a dog. Nope. No sign of me. By now, about 25 minutes had passed since my departure. Just as my human was about to cry, the phone rang. Her friend called. I was home. Full of sticks in my hair, muddy and smelling like a swamp – but home. My human was so happy, she forgot for 1 minute to be mad at me. After that, it was the cold shoulder for about an hour. But then, of course, I won her over.

Then my next escapade….the deck. My human and her friend have been working on the deck for about two months. The stain had peeled off – so it required a total scraping before a new finish could be applied. They have been scraping and scraping to get the old finish off. You would think Frodo, the dog who digs at everything would have helped. But he didn’t. FINALLY, last week it was done. And the NEW finish was applied last weekend. The deck looked FANTASTIC. Absolutely fantastic. And then, yours truly came along. I went out on the deck on Wednesday, and became OBSESSED with one spot. I mean OBSESSED. I kept sniffing. And sniffing. AND sniffing. And when I was left alone on the deck for 15 minutes, I began to dig and chew and sniff at that same spot. When my human came out she took one look at me and saw my new rust-colored face, she yelled “STOP”. Too late. I had removed all the new deck finish in a one foot square area. She and her friend were NOT happy.

They couldn’t understand WHY I was doing it. I had never done THAT on the deck before. So her friend went to investigate UNDER the deck. And GUESS what he found?????? A bird’s nest!!! Yup. I could smell those baby birds and I just wanted to say hello. What’s wrong with that???!!! Paxton and Frodo are clearly not as sociable as I am. Their noses obviously aren’t as good either.

I have now been banished from that area of the deck. Until it is repainted. And the birds are gone.

But seriously, NONE of this is my fault. It was a full moon!!!

Speaking of Frodo

July 2, 2015Leave a Comment

July 2. Today is Freedom from Fear of Speaking Day. Remember – I don’t make these up…

Anyway. I know that in some places in the world, people have a fear of speaking up – due to the political environment. And some people just have a general fear of speaking – maybe because they have a speech or language problem – or they are just shy. But in our household, it is EVIDENT that Frodo has NO fear of speaking. Ever.

He and my human have an ongoing battle as to who can speak more. And honestly, I think Frodo is winning. He barks when he gets up. When he wants food. When he wants attention. When he hears something. And when he just wants to hear himself speak. The BEST is when my human tells him to be quiet. It’s kind of like putting a stick in the water and expecting that it will block the flow of Niagara Falls. It’s actually fun to watch. For example, while my human is getting our meals ready, this is the typical scenario:

Frodo: “Speed it up. Speed it up. Speed it up”. (spoken rather loudly)

Human turns to him: “Be quiet Frodo.”

Frodo looks at her: “Speed it up. Speed it up.”

Human: In a louder voice: “Frodo – I SAID be quiet”.

Frodo. Silent for 2.3 seconds. In a quieter voice: “Speed it up.”

Human: In an even louder voice. “I MEAN it.”

Frodo: Silent for 5.3 seconds. In a whisper. “NOW.”

Human: Agggggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frodo is obviously no wallflower, and he has NO fear of speaking. He would be good to have on a debate team. He always wins…..

Hug Holiday Day

June 29, 2015Leave a Comment

June 29. Today is Hug Holiday Day. Now what I am about to say, may surprise some people – but the truth is….we dogs don’t REALLY love to be hugged. Really. Yes – some dogs DO allow humans to hug them – and it is likely they were conditioned from the time they were VERY little puppies to be hugged and squeezed. But MANY dogs see hugging as a sign of dominance – and they may find it uncomfortable. Some dogs are able to “sense” the positive feelings that the human feels when hugging – so the dogs like that. But truth be known, many of us would prefer a good belly rub or a scratch behind our ears – rather than a hug. That’s why it’s important to warn kids not to run up and hug strange dogs. It could have bad results.

When it comes to affection in our house, Paxton is fine with hugging. You could drape three kids over him and he would be in his glory. Frodo is probably the most independent of us. He likes a belly rub and some good ear scratches – but only for a few minutes. And he WILL let you hug him. For 23.6 seconds. That’s enough for him. And me? I do like to cuddle and LOVE belly rubs. And I’ll sneak up and snuggle with my human – when she’s asleep. And I DO enjoy a hug – but probably not as much as Pax. Keep in mind, that to hug- you need to stand still. And that’s the tough part for me. I’d rather retrieve.

Now I’m not saying to NEVER hug your dog. Just do it when we’re relaxed and comfortable. And if we ARE the huggable type – by all means – go ahead and hug away. I think most of us would be happy for a hug today – since it IS the holiday. And if your dog doesn’t want to be hugged – go find a human. But preferably one you know. It’s not a great idea to go up and randomly hug strangers. Without asking. I think I read that somewhere.

Have a good one! And big hugs to all of you!!!!

The art of "picnore"

June 28, 2015Leave a Comment

Good heavens. She’s at it again. The human “joy” of taking photos of us dogs in ridiculous attire. It started with the dreaded Halloween headbands with the pumpkins. Then there were the dreaded Christmas antlers. And then the New Years stars. And of course we had the headbands with the Valentine hearts too. Once we had to wear the Easter rabbit ears, I thought we were in the clear for this year. But no. I forgot Canada Day. And of course, I saw my human with a big bag from the Dollar Store the other day. Sure enough. A “wonderful” surprise for us canines. The obligatory photo shoot was yesterday. 4,760 shots taken. The reason for the unusually HUGE number? I refused to look at the camera. TOTAL picnore. For those who don’t recall that term – it’s a Viktionary term by yours truly – and it refers to that unique canine behavior of ignoring our humans when they try to take our photo. As you may recall, Pax and I are PROS at it. Frodo, the “model” dog always behaves for photos. And as expected, Frodo behaved wonderfully and stared at the camera. Pax and I looked at trees, birds, dust particles flying in the air…We counted blades of grass and looked for shapes in the clouds passing overhead.

I have to hand it to my human – she’s as stubborn as I am! So she DID get one or two good shots. You’ll see the best results of the 4000+ photos on Wednesday.

PLEASE tell me there are no more “holidays” until the fall….

Sunglasses Day

June 27, 2015Leave a Comment

June 27. Sunglasses day. As you might imagine, it was a bit of a circus getting this photo. Note that my feet are green. That’s because I did a half hour of retrieving before the photo. My human figured I would then be calm enough to take the photo. That plan didn’t work. This was one of 1328 photos – none of which she was totally happy with. Probably because in 1326 of the photos, I refused to look at the camera.

These glasses are obviously human glasses. But you know, you CAN get dog sunglasses. Seriously. They look like goggles. I want a pair. I’ll put them on the Christmas list. I also found these mesh dog glasses that are also supposed to protect your eyes. They look a bit like those sleep masks that humans wear. You wouldn’t catch me wearing those.

But this whole sunglass topic got me looking into whether we long-haired dogs even NEED eye protection. I always thought that our hair protected us from dust, dirt and sun. And that’s what I’ve read in books about PONs. Imagine my surprise when I found that there is a HUGE amount of controversy about the topic – when it comes to Old English Sheepdogs. Some claim that having hair over the eyes is detrimental to the OES – and can cause eye damage. A number of sources say that Sheepdogs should wear their hair in a topknot, unless they are in a dog show. Those sources claim that dogs with hair over their eyes can’t see as well – their vision is occluded by the hair.

Now being the non-confrontational, somewhat democratic PON that I am (remember, I am still thinking about running for politics), I don’t want to stir the pot on this subject. HOWEVER…I DO wonder how anyone REALLY knows the answer to the question about whether we dogs can see as well with hair covering our eyes. Has anyone done a scientific experiment looking at this? If not, who do I see about having it done? I mean I WILL wear my hair up – and I have some great bars to hold up my hair, but I also like the “au naturel” look too. So who do I see about having this research funded? When you look at some of the stuff that gets funded – well this is CLEARLY an important issue. Or maybe the research has been done – but I just couldn’t find it.

Anyway, in the meantime, I will still be a half and half dog. Half the time my hair is up – and half the time I have the shaggy look. And I WILL keep those goggles on my Christmas list!

Hope your day is sunny – so you get to wear those sunglasses!

Take your dog to work. Not.

June 26, 2015Leave a Comment

June 26. OK. I must confess. I am annoyed with my human. Do you know what day it is? It is “Take your Dog to Work Day”. And she won’t take me. Or any of us for that matter.

Yes. She HAS taken me to work in the past. Usually when she has a day off and she has to run in the office for something. The last time she did, I acted all shy when I was meeting people. I didn’t LOVE the elevator, but I did go on it – and I was QUITE happy to get off. I was quiet as a mouse in her office. Unlike Frodo – who went in once and barked whenever anyone came to the office door. That was HIS last visit. And Paxton got to go once too – after one of his surgeries – and he was wearing the cone of shame. My human didn’t trust him at home the first day after surgery – so she took him to the office with her. He was a pretty imposing creature – 100+lbs of dog wearing a lampshade. AND he gets incredibly excited when he sees people. Picture THAT. That was also HIS only visit.

Right now my human is very, very busy at work. And the idea of taking any of us in to work is just too much to imagine. She says that we could not double as therapy dogs – anyone who spends any time with us then NEEDS therapy. She’s lucky today is Friday – she can make it up to us on the weekend.

Have fun all you dogs who go to work today. I am so jealous…

June 25

June 25, 2015Leave a Comment

June 25. You know what day this is?! 6 months until Christmas!! Yipppppeeeeeee. I have to start my list. It will be here before you know it! How many of you groaned when you read that? We haven’t REALLY even started summer yet! Someone pointed out that the temperature last December 25 was warmer than we had two days ago. The weather is crazy. Is it my imagination, or is there something about bad weather on the news EVERY night? We had very bad rain the other night – so much that the next morning, Frodo was again in NO hurry to go out. Even though it wasn’t even raining – puddle jumping was necessary.

So. For that Christmas list…. GoPro camera. GoPro camera. GoPro camera. I think if I keep saying it – it will happen. And I want my human to get that Dog TV channel. Really. That or Animal Planet. I keep trying to get my human to upgrade from Basic Cable. We need more options to watch when she goes to work. I will continue to add things to my list. Although time is running out. I only have 6 months left…..

Happy holidays!