Einstein. On being neighborly. Not.

That Einstein is pretty smart.  I can really learn a lot from him.  My human was thinking about that yesterday morning when she went to take us out for our morning walk.  And while he may be smart, he’s not exactly neighborly…

It was about 5:30 and still dark, so armed with her trusty headlamp, she  went out with me and Einstein.  We have discovered that the FG is not REALLY a morning dog.  He is quite happy to lounge in his crate until it is his turn to go out. And  he is in no hurry.  Wednesdays are always interesting – it’s garbage day on our road.  Which means my human needs to constantly zig zag back and forth across the road – to keep us from peeing on all the neighbors’ garbage cans.  And on garbage day, Einstein is on HIGH alert -on the chance that some neighbor didn’t put the trash out the night before – and is doing it early in the morning.  Because it is Einstien’s role to bark at every neighbor he sees.  As if he would tear them limb from limb.  But as they know, he will not REALLY do anything – he’s all bark.   Still – my human is not impressed with this Tasmanian Devil behaviour. She’s constantly apologizing and saying “he’s just saying hello.”  Sure he is.  Anyway as we were wandering back and forth and being pulled away from every garbage can, my human heard a neighbor in his yard up ahead.  His garbage wasn’t out yet – so clearly he was going to be dragging it out to the road.  Einstein went on immediate supersonic-stiff-legged-ears-up- high alert.  He knew the neighbor would be coming out.  And he would need to let out the barking alarm.  So my human rushed past the driveway.  And Einstein slowed down and waited looking up the driveway.  My human pulled him along.  Einstein kept looking back over his shoulder.  And he wanted to wait.  He knew that neighbor would be coming.  And she kept walking.  And pulling.  And he kept looking back.  So how to stop the human’s forward movement?  Pee.  Humans will generally not pull you ahead while you are peeing.  Pretty clever Einstein.   Yup, pretty smart indeed.   And all the time he was peeing, he was looking back over his shoulder.  Grumbling.  He walked slowly after peeing, still looking over his shoulder as my human dragged us down the road and out of sight of the late-garbage neighbor’s house.

We went up the road to the start of the trail, sniffed around, did our business and headed back home.  We didn’t walk the trail because it rained the other day, and because it was still dark out Einstein wouldn’t be able to see the puddles on the trail.  Horrors.

By the time we headed back past the neighbor’s driveway, the garbage was already out and he had left for work.  Einstein was still intently looking at the driveway – but he realized he no longer needed to be on alert.  Party over.   No one to “sing” his joyful “good morning “ song to.  

It’s Thursday and we are painfully aware that my human’s staycation will be quickly coming to an end.  She didn’t accomplish much – but we did get a new roof, we played countless games of fetch, she has managed to paint SOME of the trim on the house , we  played countless games of fetch, the furnace was serviced,  we played countless games of fetch,  the doors to the DFZ have been measured and ordered, we played countless games of fetch and she has been able to spend a good deal of time with her mother – which we have also enjoyed.  But we plan to cram in a few more games of fetch before she heads back to the salt mines next week.  OK.  Not REALLY salt mines.  She works in a university.  Personally, I would be MUCH happier if she worked in butcher shop.

Oh and I THINK SOMETHING MAY be happening this weekend.  Yesterday she told Einstein that he is going to get a bath tonight.  I haven’t seen him since.  Wonder what she is planning NOW…

Anyway, have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Killer bunnies

August 30.  On  this day in 1979, then President Jimmy Carter was attacked.  By a rabbit.  My human vaguely remembers this event.  It seems Jimmy was out on a canoe trip, and was fishing and a crazed rabbit, who was probably being chased, started swimming for Jimmy’s boat.  Jimmy splashed his paddle in the water, the loony bunny swam the other direction, hit the shore and took off. Who knew bunnies can swim?!  It apparently was a big news item: Killer Bunny attacks President. Pretty scary news.

Each morning, we are pretty much guaranteed to see a bunny or two.  There are LOADS of them this year.  And they are getting more and more brazen.  Even the FG who was initially just mildly  interested in them, has now become rather excited when he sees one.  He even sniffs the ground where one has been – and if he was off leash, he would probably now try and chase one.  So now we have a houseful of bunny loving dogs!  My lucky human.

And speaking of the FG running, he gave my human a bit of a scare the other day.  We were all hanging out on the deck together.  My human’s mother was visiting and was sitting out on the deck as  well.   Suddenly, my human looked around and noticed that the FG was not on the deck. She began to panic.  How did he escape?  Did he jump OVER the railing?  That would be crazy as the deck is HiGH up.  And then she noticed something.  The gate on the deck, at the top of the stairs was partly open.  It must have been left open by one of the roofing guys.  She raced down the stairs to see if she could catch him.  Good luck.  He realized he was free and off he dashed into the woods and he headed down the trail to the lake.  And this time my human did something she hasn’t done before.  She didn’t chase him.  She waited.  And she said to her mother that if he wasn’t back in 15 minutes she would go to look for him.  But she didn’t need to look – in less than  3 minutes he was racing back through the woods and bolting through the front door when my human opened it.  She WAS heading out to look for him – so much for the 15 minute waiting period.  But he did come back, happy and out of breath.  Clearly he had a zoomie moment.  Hey MAYBE he DID chase a bunny!

Anyway – time to go back on bunny patrol.  Clearly some of those bunnies CAN be dangerous!  Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Dog news

It was terrible news out of Texas the past few days.  Hurricane Harvey hit with a vengeance- and the clean up from the flooding will be going on for a long time. Our thoughts and prayers are with the many people and dogs who lost their homes.  

While I was looking at info about the storm I saw a photo that went viral.  Seems a dog was left in a porch by a man looking after his grandson who was the dogs’s owner.  When they returned, Otis had escaped.  They were not TOO worried as Otis reportedly frequently does walkabouts in his town,  and he is a familiar sight to many.  But while he IS a familiar traveler, this time he decided not to travel light – a photo was snapped of Otis carrying a big bag of dog food. The photo went viral.  I figured when I heard about the story that the dog MUST be a PON.  Given his love for food.  But it turns out he is a German Shepherd cross.  And the good news – Otis was reunited with his family and all are safe and sound.  The other good news will no doubt be for the brand of dog food he was carrying… Isn’t THAT an advertising dream come true?!

 And in other dog news, President Macron of France has a dog!  Nemo is a black lab-griffon cross and he is two years old. They say he is following a tradition of French Presidents having a dog.  I watched the following video, and I was impressed with his behaviour.  It’s hard to believe some dogs can be so well behaved…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yso37josMQ

I don’t know much about the President of France, but he can’t be bad if he has a dog…All presidents should….

And in local news, Einstein has gone into a deep depression.   We all know that he prides himself on his ability to break through ANY gate that my human sets up at the doorway to the DFZ.  And he likes to taunt her by lying JUST inside the DFZ when he sneaks inside.  Well it looks like his days in the restricted room will soon be coming to an end.  Two men came to the house yesterday.  With measuring tapes.  And guess what my human has decided?  To put doors into the DFZ.  Glass doors.  So they won’t really shut the room off – except to us dogs.  Einstein is beside himself.   I think it’s pretty mean too.  Mind you, it will be a wonderful new canvas for our olfactory art.  She may be sorry about this decision ….

Anyway, I hope you have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

He PASSED!!!!

Well well well.  GUESS who passed his Herding Instinct Test?!  Yup.  The FG is interested in sheep.  

He and my human left the house EARLY yesterday morning and drove a bit over an hour to a farm near Lunenburg.  There were 20 dogs booked for the Instinct Test – 10 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon.  They were in the morning group.  Before the testing began, the evaluator instructed the participants that this was just single “snapshot” of how a dog would be with sheep. Remember my “snapshot”?   No action shot there.  It was more like a still life painting.  And that’s all my human could think about.  

My human kept the FG in his crate in Ludwig until just before it was their turn to go in.  The evaluator said she never saw a Picard with sheep before.  Great.  Even more pressure.  He was now representing the entire breed.  Before he even got IN the ring, he discovered my favourite part of Herding.  The snacks.  Those delectable morsels left all over the ground by the sheep.  Déjà vu my human thought.   Here we go again.

This test was a bit different from the one that Einstein and I did.  The evaluator took each dog by the lead and introduced the dog to the sheep.  Not really a formal introduction by names, but she walked to dog toward the sheep.  And the FG was very interested.  And pretty responsive  to feedback  - he didn’t pull the evaluator onto her knees.  It was the first time my human ever saw the FG stay interested in something for more than 3 seconds.  He really thought the sheep were cool.

After the session was over, the evaluator told my human that the FG has potential to become a real herding dog.  She really liked him. My human got so excited, she almost started crying.  I would hate to see what happens to her if she won something like an Academy Award!  Seriously.  And remember it was a “snapshot.”  The full length film could be a whole other story!   But for now we KNOW that the FG IS interested in sheep which is a great starting point and he DID pass the test!  So he GOT a certificate and everything.  Good job little brother.  Good job.

Now.  When are we getting some sheep?

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Big Brother

I

So we know that my human installed Big Brother quite a few months ago.  And she can check in to see what we are doing while she is out of the house. She gets alerts when there is movement in the room, and if she looks on her phone, she can see what is happening…

For the past week or so, I have become obsessed with styling Einstein’s hair. I always like to do it- but I just cannot stop myself lately.   My human is constantly telling me to stop, but if she turns her back, I’m back at it.  Part of the reason I am doing it is out of jealousy.  I heard through the grapevine that Einstein is entered is some kind of beauty pageant next weekend.  And frankly, I don’t think it is fair.  So I keep trying to trim his hair, in the hopes that he won’t be able to go.  OK.  I guess that’s not really very nice of me.  But I really cannot stop styling when I get started.

So yesterday morning, after we had our long walks and breakfast, my human went to visit her mother.  She was sitting and chatting at her mother’s place when Big Brother sent her an alert.  She took a look at her phone.  And there I was, styling away.  And she did something she has not done ever before.  She tried the microphone on her phone – to talk to us.  Well – as you might expect, we jumped up to see where the voice was coming from. Einstein started barking.  We ran to the window and then to the door.  After a minute or two,  we then settled back down.  And I  went back to my styling.  My human called my name.  And  she called Einstein.  Again we went to see where she was and when we couldn’t find her we again settled down.  And I went back to styling.  So my human called my name.  And just as I would do if she were actually in the room, I ignored the voice. Totally. She shouted “Stop that Viktor!”  I looked up for  second, and went back to work.  Then Einstein got up.  And he walked straight over to the camera and settled down right in front of it.  And I followed.  And went back to work. So now my human can watch the proceedings up close.  She tried to make funny noises.  And she even tried knocking on her phone.  Like THAT would work.  She finally had to shut off the camera – she couldn’t stand it any more.  Maybe Big Brother isn’t such a good idea after all…

Well today COULD be a VERY interesting day – if all goes according to plan.  Stay tuned tomorrow to see about the FG’s big adventure….

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

National Dog Day

August 26 and according to the crazy calendar it’s National Dog Day.  As IF every day in our house isn’t Dog Day.   The day is designed to celebrate ALL dogs but a major focus of the day is on adopting rescue animals who all deserve good homes.

So in honor of the day, time to examine MORE of my human’s old dog collection.  We looked at old photos the other day – now let’s take a look at some old postcards.  The first postcard ever sent was in England in the 1840’s but it was until the turn on the 20th century that the craze of sending postcards really took off.  Postcards were created of every subject matter imaginable -including dogs.  Some cards were actual photos and then of course there were loads of illustrations. My human’s collection is small compared to some collectors – she only has a bit over 150 cards.  So let’s take a look at a few…with my comments/titles.

Let’s look at some photo cards today:

This first card is your typical adorable child and adorable dog card. Adorable compliant obedient dog.

This one is titled “We don’t want to fight…but-?”  OK, I wouldn’t want to start a fight with Mr-I-need-dental work, in the first place.  But what really makes me wonder…WHO would you send this card to?  Maybe an anniversary card…

This card comes from Porcupine, a place in Ontario Canada. I guess the vehicle is good on land or water.  But what do the DOGS do when they get to the water…

  

Another cute kid and puppies.  Wonder if it was a bit chilly standing out in the snow…

This one is titled “Kidnapped.”   Seems to me it should be “Dognapped.”

This is a real photo card with a space at the bottom to write your message.  Clearly this is a case of a dog who has a human like mine who makes you wait while she fiddles to get a good photo.  I call this one HURRY up!!

And speaking of my human and her puparazzi shots – we even have photos in horrid attire.  I call this first one Baby Announcement.

This one is actually titled “I must get married.” Think this was an engagement card?  Or a very weird proposal card…

And here we see what my human figured was a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy.  It’s called “Pronouncing the verdict.”  And the verdict?  Bite the human who made you wear this attire !

And here we have some dogs who decided to take puparazzi shots into their own paws…

I call this last one for today “Looking at the solar eclipse.”

We have lots more cards to look at including some breed shots.  Interesting how some dogs today look a bit different….

To be continued for another day!

Have a good one!  Happy National Dog Day!  Peace and paws up!

Blue news

Well time for some news from the world of dogs…

In the 1960’s, an American  artist by the name of George Rodrigue became famous for his paintings of an unusual subject – a Blue Dog.  Apparently the dog was based on a Cajun legend called the loup-garou – a mystical werewolf creature. While that may sound scary, Rodrigue’s Blue Dog was not all that scary looking – mind you he DID have staring yellow eyes.  Rodriguez died in 2013, and today, his Blue Dog paintings sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

So why the talk of the Blue Dog?  Well it seems there are some REAL blue dogs out there that were recently discovered.  And I’m not talking about Australian Cattle dogs which are also known as Blue Heelers.  Or Blue Merle Australian Shepherds or Shetland Sheepdogs.  That “blue” colour is more  mottled grey colour.  I’m talking  REALLY BLUE dogs.  Apparently, some stray dogs have been spotted in India – and these guys are REALLY BLUE.  Check them out:

http://youtu.be/-Vkx5zIkK08

They say that these dogs are healthy.  And they could wash off the blue colouring.  But still.  I’m not sure I would want to be them.  It CAN’T be good for them… And I'm not sure I would want to live the way that they do - no comfy bed, no roof over their heads, and not being sure where their next meal is coming from.  It sure makes me grateful for my home.  Even with required grooming.

The only thing that makes ME blue is when I have a seizure.  And yup.  I had another one.  Yesterday.  Back to the dosage drawing board….Five days since the last one…Needless to say, my human was feeling blue too… The one GOOD thing – the seizures are pretty quick and within an hour, I’m back to my crazy energetic self – and you wouldn’t know anything had ever happened to me.  Now if we can just get them to stop happening all together….

Well it’s Friday and blue skies are forecast. We’ll take that blue any day.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

At the movies..

My human is always  interested in how dogs are treated in other countries.  It seems that some countries are more dog-friendly than in North America.  For example, dogs are allowed on public transport, and there are more dog friendly outdoor cafes.  Now while Halifax DOES have a few cafes that allow pets, a recent bid to have dogs allowed on the local Halifax-Dartmouth ferry was denied.  And I was SO looking forward to taking that ride...

A good example of dog friendly comes from the UK - in London to be exact.  There is a movie theatre that is allowing humans to bring along their dogs for certain screenings.  Check it out:

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-41009367/london-cinema-hosts-dog-friendly-screenings

Is that great or what?  Mind you, my human laughed uncontrollably at the thought of taking us.  First off, NONE of us could settle down to watch the movie.  Especially if it was crowded and we had someone seated right next to us.  And just IMAGINE me trying to steal popcorn from other patrons.  

And what movies do they show?  Any dog film that involved barking at ANY point would be enough to send Einstein over the edge.  Other dogs would no doubt join in as well.  Picture a theatre full of howling dogs as Lassie tries to warn people that Timmy has fallen down the well.  I would THINK the movie would have to be very carefully selected...

I can just see the FG standing with his two paws on the seat ahead of him, licking the head of the person seated there... 

So while the dog-friendly cinema IS a great idea...it's probably not meant for us.

Now.  What WE need is a dog-friendly butcher shop...

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Did ya see that?

So we all endured another morning of Einstein's running commentary on how to replace a roof.  Someone wrote to me yesterday and said that when they had their roof replaced, the roofer paid to put their dogs in a kennel.  Smart roofer.  But the job was completed yesterday.  And as typical of my human's decision making abilities, she is uncertain as to whether she likes the color.  Too late now.  Gotta live with this.  So NOW she wants to paint the trim and change the shutter color.  One of the canine advantages of having limited ability to see a huge range of colors.  Roof color, wall color - it's all the same to us. 

And speaking of seeing things,  I am QUITE the observant guy when it comes to open doors.  Yesterday while my human was having her breakfast, the FG was obsessively bugging Einstein, and the noises from the roof sounded as if it was about to cave in, I noticed something.  The fridge door was somehow not completely closed.  My human had her back to the door.  She heard something behind her and turned around just in time to see me surveying the buffet. "Hey hey HEY," she shouted as she lunged for my collar.  Not enough time to grab anything - but be careful if that door is left open.  I'm IN.

Oh and the other thing about seeing things - we all survived the eclipse the other day.  There was this photo from a pet store circulating on the web, warning humans not to let their dogs out during the eclipse so we wouldn't hurt our eyes looking at the sun.  And, this is sad to say that many people believed it.  AS IF we dogs would be foolish enough to stare at the sun without protection.  Honestly, AS IF we would care to stare at the sun at all!  We clearly have much more important ways to spend OUR time.  Like barking at roofers...

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up.

Roofers and woofers.

Well let me tell you something - it is a GOOD thing my human was home with us yesterday with the roof work being done....

We got her up at 5:15 - and we all went for our walks.  No sooner did my human step into the shower at 7AM, when the roofers arrived.  They had said they would be there at 8...

As you might expect, we went into full blown protection mode.  We heard those trucks arriving and did NOT want them in OUR driveway. And you cannot BEGIN to imagine our reaction when we heard them ON the roof.  This was NOT Santa and his band of jolly reindeer.  Einstein was the worst.  He REPEATEDLY told them to get the heck away from his house.  He paced from window to window as we watched pieces of old roof raining down on our deck.  The deck had been covered with a HUGE tarp by some strange man who appeared out of nowhere.  It was VERY interesting to watch him...

After they were working for a while,  I started to ignore the racket, but Einstein was on continual alert.  

While the chaos was going on, the FG obsessively followed Einstein around.  I think the FG must be going through some "hormonal changes."  In the past week or so, he has become totally and completely OBSESSED with Einstein and with me to a lesser extent.  He wants to lick us.  EVERYWHERE.  I just give him a look - so he pretty much leaves me alone.  But Einstein...he cannot leave him alone.  And he squeaks and moans.  Einstein growls at him.  He shows his teeth.  But the FG doesn't care.  And every chance he gets - he licks Einstein.  It's a BIT much.  My human is continually telling him to stop. Oh and he also likes to lick the floor where Einstein has been before.  Gross.  Surely this behavior will not go on forever?!  WE never did that.  Or - I don't THINK we did...

Anyway, they didn't finish the roof yesterday.  It was too hot.  So they are coming back today.  At one point, my human went to take each of us out for a pee - she had to carry us over the mess of old roofing shingles and nails that they had thrown off the roof.  I was the first to go out.  One of the roofers wanted to make friends with me - but he had no treats - so I just gave him a perfunctory glance.   The guy asked "How many dogs are IN there?"  "Three" my human replied.  "Geez, it sounds like 10!" he responded.  No wonder a neighbor down the road called to see what was going on...

 Well - time to get my human out walking, and to get ready for the roofers.  Again.  Another day of roofers and woofers.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Cannabis update. Medium news….

Well…it’s about time for a cannabis update. Good news.  Bad news.  Medium news.  So I started on my hemp terpene oil and was all excited about the prospect of no seizures.  Within two days, I had one.  I couldn’t even write about it – my human was SO disappointed.  BUT we learned that for a normal starting dose, I should  be taking 1 mg for every kg I weigh.  I’m not exactly a heavyweight – I’m only around 18 kg.  But the first two days, I was only taking 4 mg.  So my human upped my dosage to 12 mg per day.  One week went by.  No seizures.  Two weeks.  No seizures.  Three weeks.  No seizures.  Now keep in mind that before this, I was having one or two seizures every two weeks.  So when we got to the three week mark, my human was ALL excited.  We planned to write an update ( and have a party ) if I made it to one month seizure-free.  On Saturday I was just 4 days short of a month – and I had one.  So it’s not really good news.  But it’s not really bad news either.  I guess it’s medium news.  We have now increased my dosage to 16 mg.  Hopefully this will be the answer...but IF it doesn't work - we CAN continue to go up a fair bit from this starting point.  Paws crossed.

 In GOOD news – my human was overwhelmed with all the birthday greetings she got yesterday.  The world is really not such a big place!  All the more reason to be nice to one another… Thanks to each and every one who sent her best wishes.  She tried to thank everyone - but if she missed someone, she apologizes.  And we boys were good yesterday.  We let her sleep in until 5:30…

And in other news – today we plan to be so bad we will blow off the roof.  Just kidding – but we ARE getting a new roof.  My human says it’s one of those things that costs  a lot of money but you don’t  REALLY appreciate it – like you would new flooring, or a new kitchen or a new bathroom or a marrow bone. But I guess a roof IS kind of important.  My human will be home with us – so Einstein doesn’t bark out instructions for the roofers all day.  Woofers and roofers may not mix well.  We shall see.  This could be interesting….

Anyway, have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

A birthday...

Well, she survived another year with us.  Sometimes she didn't think she would make it because of some of our antics - but she did.  And so my human is celebrating another birthday.  And she's well over 400 in dog years.  The photo you see is of her and her sister, with a neighbor's dog.  They wore kerchiefs when they were in style.  THAT'S how old she is.  I bet if you asked a millennial what a kerchief was, they might not even know.

My human is now at that age where, when you need to add your year of birth on a form on the internet, you need to scroll.  And scroll.  And SCROLL. She remembers when cell phones weighed 10 lbs.  And her family had something called a rotary phone with a party line.

She remembers  feeding chocolate kisses to her grandmother's dachshund and it was no big deal.  Cleo ate table scraps and chocolate kisses, and whatever the grandkids gave her and she lived to like 20 years old.  Dogs just seemed to live longer back in the day...

My human remembers something called record players with and 33's and 78's.  She entered into the techno age when she got her first Texas Instruments calculator.  It did things that she never, ever understood.

She hates to admit this one - but she remembers when a guy named Amstrong walked on the moon - and she has vague recollections of the day President Kennedy was assassinated.  She was super excited when she got her first transistor radio.

She entered her first dog show with their Irish Setter, Mickey at the Erie County Fair in Western New York.  They entered obedience.  She recalls they didn't do everything correctly, but somehow they still got a ribbon.  Maybe it was a consolation prize.

And as she gets older, she thinks of every dog she has been owned by in her "adulthood."  Elroy is number 9.  She is grateful for each and every one and each one holds a special place in her heart...

She is also grateful more and more each year, for family and friends.  Both are precious gifts, that one should never forget or take for granted.

And she is also amazed and grateful for her new circle of friends around the world, that the internet has provided.  Once upon a time, when my human was a girl, she would have a penpal in another land, and she would wait for weeks for a piece of mail from a gal she never met.  Today, she has "penpals" that answer her messages almost instantaneously.  And she has had the pleasure of actually meeting some of them!

And when my human was a girl, she had something called a diary.  She would write her thoughts and feelings and it would be a record of what she had done.  And no one really read it except her.  Today we call it a blog.  And it's out there for all the world to read.  My how times have changed... Now mind you, she doesn't write the blog - I do.  But occasionally I ask for her input.

So today, in honor of my human's birthday, I am going to ask each of you to give her a gift.  A perfect gift.  For her birthday, go out and do ONE random act of kindness.  Heaven knows the world could do with more kindness these days!  Hold a door open for someone.  Let someone ahead of you in line at the grocery store.  Play an extra game of fetch with your dog.  Give your dog an extra treat.  Call someone you haven't talked to in a long time.  Or send them a message.  Pay someone a compliment.  Do ONE thing that you hadn't planned to do today - and that would be a great gift.  And trust me - the gift will be good for you too!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.

Picture this

Today is August 19 and according to the crazy calendar, it is World Photography Day.  It’s probably called that because on this day in 1839, the first publicly available photography process was introduced in France by a man named Louis-Jacques-Mande’ Daguerre.  The daguerreotype photo process involved copper plates and mercury vapours and the result was a shiny, mirror-like photo, that needed to be placed under glass to protect it. They were usually housed in small ornamental cases. It was a process that was used for a short time and was later followed by ambrotypes and tintypes.

Reportedly, Daguerre was a dog lover and some say he may have taken the first pet portrait, of his dog, Mdor. So he’s the guy I should blame for my human’s obsession with taking our photos. Thanks Louis.

Some of you may recall that my human collects old dog stuff.  Old books, wooden carvings of dogs, old prints, old postcards, old figurines – and old photos.  She doesn’t know who the people or dogs are in the photos– but clearly they were loved and their humans wanted to be sure they were immortalized in photos.  I thought you might enjoy seeing some of her collection – she collects ANY old dog photos – not just breeds she is or has been owned by.  The reality – it’s not too easy to find early photos of some of us rare breeds.  But that doesn’t mean she isn’t always on the lookout!,

If there was info on the photo, I am including it.  If there was no info…I’m making it up.

This first photo was labelled as "Austin." One happy girl and one happy dog.

And then we have Bennie Saunders.  No.  Not Bernie Sanders.  Bennie Saunders.  It says he is the son of Stephen and Abbie Robinson Saunders. He's another happy kid with his cute puppy. If you happen to know Bennie - let hm know we have his photo.

Then there are these cute little girls.  No info on them - so we'll just call one girl Dorothy, the other Glenda and the dog, Toto.

This photo is actually a magic lantern glass slide.  It ALMOST looks like a Bernese Mountain Dog.  I call this one Trigger.

Check out this lad and his dog.  I call him Tiny.

Ya think a butcher's dog would weigh more....I call this one Chuck.

Then we have a photo of my human in a draft test with one of her Bernese.

This is an oldie.  It looks like the plate says Llewellen....something.  OK.  Maybe I'm crazy - but do these two look alike - or what?  The white shirt...and really, the noses are the same....

I call this one "Happy Children.  With hats".

I call this one "Frightened dog with frightened child".  Why do they look so stunned?  And is that really a PUG?

Here's why those two are frightened- they saw the "scary sisters".  With bows. Seriously - they look like something out of a Stephen King novel...

And looks at THESE scary sisters.  Wait!  That's my human and her sister - with their first dog - an Irish Setter, named Mickey!  Love the hair on my human...

So those are some of the photos in her collection.  Oh - and the photo at the top of my blog?  That's my human's grandfather.  NOW we know why she takes all these photos....

So go out and take some photos today too– especially of your dog!

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

Parkour. Who knew?

So according to the Crazy Calendar, today is National Soft Ice Cream Day.  A human treat, that REALLY isn't all that good for us dogs - because the lactose COULD cause stomach upset.  But, everything in moderation.  A BITE of an ice cream come will GENERALLY not be harmful to most dogs.  But if you want a non-lactose EASY alternative, freeze two bananas, put them in a blender, and voila - banana soft serve.  Safe for us dogs.  You can also freeze it after blending, if you want a more solid version..

But speaking of soft serve ICE CREAM - GUESS who got to go back on the waterfront for another walk the other night?!  Yup.  The FG.  For SOME reason, Worry Wart thinks he needs socialization.  I'm not sure why - he practically knocks over neighbors if he meets them - and he IS VERY sociable.  Probably a bit more than us PONs.  But she has something up her sleeve - so she wants to get him out.  And get THIS - he even got a BITE of ice cream too. 

In the meantime, Einstein and I continue to enjoy the marrow bone zone.  It's almost a comatose state.  That's a tough call:  soft serve ice cream or a bone.  I think I'll take the bone. 

Hey - you know my human prides herself on THINKING she knows a bit about dog sports.  She's even tried and competed in a number of them including obedience, rally, draft, agility, and a working certificate (which is basic field work).  We also TRIED herding - but we know how that turned out - for us PONs.  And there are LOADS of other activities - tracking, lure coursing, barn hunts, dock diving, and disc catching.  Some sports are better for some dogs than others.  I can't exactly envision a Saint Bernard catching discs.  It probably wouldn't be a good idea. 

Another sport is treibball.  My human saw it on the internet once and went out and bought one of those giant balls to see if she could get us to do it.  It's kind of like a combination of herding and soccer.  Check out this dog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBJ9DVp9dyM

So we have this big ball.  I hate it, Einstein likes to push it around - but where HE wants it to go and the other day, my human witnessed the FG peeing on the ball.  I guess that's his opinion on treibball.

But the latest sport she JUST found out about is canine parkour.  Who knew about this one?!  It's all about a human and dog approaching a variety of obstacles in the environment. Apparently you can even get an international title by sending in a video to the International Dog Parkour Association, demonstrating a series of prescribed exercises.  Check out his novice routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTqirE9epOI 

If you want more info on the details and rules, check out this site:
http://www.dogparkour.org/

Worry Wart thinks Einstein could PROBABLY pass the beginner level.  So you know she'll be getting him to hop up in logs in the woods from now on.  Poor Einstein.

So there are lots of cool things you humans can do with your dog.  And after a hard day at any sport, time for an ice cream.  Or a frozen banana!

Have a good one! 

Enrichment

So do you recall that in an effort to keep Einstein quiet while Worry Wart walks the FG in the morning, she would throw kibble all around to keep us busy searching?  Busy and quiet.  Until of course, we vacuums are finished and then Einstein starts barking anyway.

Well it turns out that there is actually a name for what she is doing.  It’s called Scatter Feeding.  Who knew?  It’s supposedly a great way to make us use our noses and work for our food.  Some people even scatter food in the lawn.  Worry Wart would be too paranoid that we would eat bugs in the process – so I don’t see her trying that any time soon.  Mind you, what’s a little extra protein?

She learned about his partly though this new Facebook page that a friend suggested – called Canine Enrichment.  It’s all about keeping dogs busy – and keeping our brains active so we don’t get bored.  There are lots of great ideas – mind you a lot of the things people put food in would not work for us PONs.  We would eat or destroy the container.  Like there were these “lick mats” that you fill with food, or peanut butter.  Worry Wart figures I would eat the lick mat along with the food.  She’s probably right.  And stuffing treats in toilet paper rolls – what kind of mess would THAT make?    And  clearly, some dogs have more patience.  For example, several people depicted these snuffle mats – which are like thick shaggy carpets.  You put kibble in the mat and your dog has to find the food.  I picture one of us – probably Einstein just picking up the mat so all the kibble falls out.  Let’s face it – that’s a faster technique.  

There are some good treat dispensing toys that are tough – and we have several of those.  Just don’t let us use it in a room that has anything fragile on a table.  It’s like demolition derby when we start batting those toys around and no furniture is safe.

It seems that a fair number of the enrichment activities have to do with scent work. The FG seems to have a good nose – like us PONs.  We can sniff out food ANYWHERE.  Time to get back into scent classes again!

But all in all, enrichment ideas are interesting – and CAN keep us dogs busy.  Check out the ideas.

Well, time to go enrich Worry Wart’s life.  Because enrichment goes both ways!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.

All for the sake of a good photo…

So by now, if you have been following my blog for ANY amount of time, you must know that besides helping me write this daily account on the lives of three crazy canines, Worry Wart likes to take photos of us.  That's my new nickname for my human.  Now I should probably mention that she actually likes to take photos of LOTS of things - but if you looked at the 35,679 stored in some imaginary cloud in outer space, 34,998 are probably of dogs.  Proper thing.  And she is always looking to find a UNIQUE image of us.  I mean she has LOTS of close up shots of us, lots of posed shots, and lots of shots wearing horrid holiday attire.  She also LOVES to catch a candid shot of us - when we are NOT posed.  And those, of course, are the hard photos to catch - as we rarely stay still.  Anyway, those candid shots - IF she manages to get one, are often her favorite photos - and honestly, you would not BELIEVE what she goes through to get them.  And the other night - she almost hung up her smart phone for good - the photo result was almost not worth the effort.

On Monday night Worry Wart decided she needed some of that "relaxation time" that I referred to yesterday.  So after supper, out came the marrow bones.  The three of us went on the deck and proceeded to experience dog heaven on earth.  We went into the chewing frenzy zone.  So after a while, Worry Wart looked out and saw that we were about to have another magnificent sunset.  Her sunset photos don't tie the dog photos in number - but they are right up there.  So she decided to head down to the lake, and she decided to take the FG with her.  Einstein and I didn't care - we were in the "marrow zone." 

Worry Wart hasn't had a chance to trim the grass on the shore for over a week - so she figured it would already be tall.  So she wore her rubber boots.  And off they went.  As they came through the woods, they were greeted by an amazing sunset.  So Worry Wart rushed to snap some shots, while the FG gorged on grass and sniffed around.  So she's shooting away - and of course, the FG suddenly decided HE needed to be IN the water.  So now the sunset photos include a dog.  That's OK - it's the illusive candid dog shot.  She shoots away.  She glances through them after she takes a few and decides they are not all that great, but by now the FG has come back on shore.  Keep in mind - he IS on a leash.  So in her not-so-infinite wisdom, Worry Wart decides to entice the FG back into the water.  She is wearing rubber boots after all, so she steps in.  And he follows.  He wades out.  She thinks she is about to capture the National Geographic award winning candid dog photo.  But nope.  The FG  turns around and BOLTS back onto the shore.  At this point, Worry Wart has her smart phone in her left hand and is holding onto the leash in her right hand.  His sudden movement catches her off balance and her rubber boots IMMEDIATELY fill with water.  And she is heading down.  She CANNOT let her left hand go into the water.  It's one of those slow motion moments. Only one thing to do - hold her left arm above her head and fall onto a rock that's on the shoreline.  Her knee meets it with a crunch and for 2 seconds Einstein and I look up when we hear the shout "THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE PRETTY."    We just shrugged our shoulders and went back to chewing.

Five minutes later, we see one very revved up wet Picard and one achy human limping along with a scraped knee and rubber boots full of water. The phone survived, and THANKFULLY out of the 89 photos she quickly shot - she DID like a few.

Ah, yes.  All for the sake of a good photo.  Good thing we love her...And she calls US crazy...

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.

Relaxation

Today is August 15 and according to the crazy calendar, it is National Relaxation Day.  That is a pretty foreign concept in our house.  We canines like to keep busy – when our human is home.  When she’s not here, we usually relax – she can watch us via BiG Brother.  We are generally relaxing, although we do move around a bit and will chew on the odd nylon -type bone. Yes – we still have them lying around – it’s that or the furniture.  

But now if my HUMAN wants to relax she has found the best answer – those real raw bones.  Especially the big marrow bones.  Not for her – for us canines. If she wants a few minutes of relaxation, all she has to do is pass them out – and she is free to stretch out on the lounge chair on the deck ( the one she has caught us peeing on ) and she can actually READ a BOOK.  She was doing that the other day.  We were all busy chewing away.  She got all comfortable.  And got into reading her book.  And the skies were blue.  With a slight breeze.  The birds were singing.  And she was actually beginning to RELAX.  And clunk.  She heard a noise.  She looked up and there was the FG looking all confused.  He dropped his bone through the rails and off the deck.  We have a rather complicated gate system on the deck – so instead of battling with that, she went back in the house, out the front door, all around the house and had to go under the deck to find the missing bone.  So much for relaxation.  But she was successful and the FG was back in business.  This time my human directed him to lie down AWAY from the edge.

By the time she got all settled again, she looked at us and started wondering if we had been chewing long enough.  She read that some dogs get…uhhhhh….oh what the heck, just say it – soupy poops if they eat too much marrow – so she started wondering if we had had enough.  We certainly didn’t feel we had had enough but you know the Worry Wart – she started envisioning cling-ons and subsequent baths – so she decide we had enough for one day.  We reluctantly traded our bounty for measly treats.  And relaxation was over.  Now time to start bugging her for a walk.  Or a game of fetch.  Or better yet- some supper.  We feel relaxation is overrated.

Anyway, we will celebrate the day with an extra power snooze.  We DO rest sometimes while my human is home with us – just not for very long.  You know our motto Carpe Diem! 

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up.

Mud

Saturday it rained. Pretty much all day.  So yesterday morning, when we headed out for our walk, my human was not going to take us on the public trail, as she knew it would be wet and muddy. But we ended up running into Pig Pen.  That is going to be my new name for Jackson.  Now please don't interpret that as a mean name- because we all LOVE Jackson.  He's the PERFECT dog.  He comes when called. Can be walked off a leash.  He is SUPER friendly.  He's VERY handsome.  As I said, he's the PERFECT dog.  But as I mentioned when I talked about the deer flies - he can LOOK like the cartoon character when they fly around him.  Oh and I SHOULD mention Jackson's ONE vice.  And only ONE.  He likes swamp water.  Not to drink - but to wander in.  The more green and muddy - the better.  So really, the name Pig Pen DOES fit  - at least at times. But I don't want to offend him - so let's call him Perfect Pig Pen.  That's better.

So we ran into Perfect Pig Pen and his human, and they were headed down the trail, so we said we would join them.  Well - my HUMAN said we would.  I was happy to go - but Einstein was mortified.  Mud and puddles.  His worst nightmare.  He didn't know WHERE to walk.  It was like watching a slow moving bag of potatoes - trying to calculate which direction to walk so he would not get wet.  OR dirty.  You know, my human sees pictures and videos of PONs who love mud, and puddles.  So they do exist.  But somehow Einstein is in a different league. Maybe he anticipates having a bath or a rinse after getting muddy - which frankly does NOT happen every time.  Who knows.  It was pretty embarrassing to watch him.  The one good thing - the flies must have still been asleep - they were no problem.  Perfect Pig Pen is able to walk off leash - but at one point, his human put him on a leash as we were approaching a VERY mucky, swampy area.  His human KNEW what would happen - so Perfect Pig Pen was  restrained for a short time.   And then he was again set free. Because he DOES behave.  Unlike some PONs and a Picard we know.

Looks like the weather ahead is going to be great.   Wonder what my human has planned for us.  You know, I JUST realized I have not given HER a nickname.  She suggested Saint.  I don't think so.  I have to think about this....give me some time....

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

Deer flies. And the hooded stranger.

So sometimes I REALLY wonder about the FG.  He seems to be VERY smart sometimes.  And then other times...

It's August.  And with August comes the arrival of some unwelcome guests.  In May it was the dreaded black flies.  Those guys are tiny, but love to bite - humans and animals alike. They have pretty much disappeared and NOW the dive bombing,  triangular-shaped flying piranhas have arrived.  The deer flies.  Google them if you're not familiar with them.  And yes - they are as ugly as they look.  On a calm, hot sunny day, they can be a menace in wooded areas.  In fact, this week my human refused to take us on the public trail down the road certain mornings, because she can't stand the idea of being swarmed.  As she walks, she watches them fly over her head like a group of aircraft, and quickly descend on us canines.  And it's interesting - they prefer dark colors.  So between me and Einstein, I have more following me.  And heaven forbid our friend Jackson, the black Lab is out with us.  Ever see that character, Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown cartoons?   Where he is surrounded by particles of dirt?  Picture those particles being deer flies - all around poor Jackson.  The same used to be true for Paxton.  

The deer flies also LOVE to attack humans too.  Especially their heads.  So in the past few weeks, my human has been sporting a white hooded sweatshirt during our morning walks.  Now I don't want to imply that these cannibals are EVERYWHERE - they seem to like certain areas along the public trail.   The swampy areas.  When my human does take us on the trail, she quickly pulls us along through those areas where they seem to be worse.  And of course, you KNOW that's when we want to poop.  So she stands there with her hood up, praying that we go quickly, while trying to bat off any one that lands on us.

Anyway, this week, my human took the FG out for his walk.  They were walking along the paths at the golf course.  Suddenly, they reached an area where there were some flies.  So my human put up her hood.  So here we have Mr. Observant.  The guy who carefully watches every bird in the heavens.  Who studies blowing leaves.  And notices things like a garbage can placed in a new location.  They are happily walking along and my human puts up her hood.   He glances up, looks at her and jumps backward with his ears back and tail between his legs like he was meeting a burglar in a dark alley.  Seriously.  So my human puts down her hood - and keep in mind that her face was NOT covered, and he is all happy again.  I mean it's not like he hasn't seen her wearing a jacket with a hood.  Or a hat!  Honestly, this guy never ceases to interest me... Ya gotta love him... Maybe he was doing it just to be funny?  Suuuuuuuure he was...

Well another day of fetching ahead.  Hopefully my human can keep the fetch toy off the roof today... yup.  Never a dull moment!

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!



 

The Quagga

August 12.  And did you know that on this day in 1883,  the last quagga died at a zoo in the Netherlands.  Don't know what a quagga is?  Well no wonder.  They became extinct.  They were from Africa - and they looked kind of like zebras - except they were only striped on the front half of their bodies - and the rest of them was a solid brownish color.  Yup - today was the day they disappeared.  BUT - some good news.  Scientists are working with DNA and trying to "bring back" the quagga.  Now some argue that you can't bring back the same species - but with some fancy selective zebra breeding, they are breeding animals that certainly LOOK like quaggas.   They are actually called Rau Quaggas - named after one of the scientists working on the project.  I guess they are quasi quaggas.

I've talked before about the fact that there are currently some dog breeds on the verge of extinction - and it's a topic of relevance in our household because both Polish Lowland Sheepdogs AND Berger Picards were close to becoming extinct after WW II.  I think that's probably the case with many rare breeds.  But a committed group of enthusiasts who love a breed, start looking at what they can do to save it.   And voila - because of the efforts of those early breeders, you are able read about the antics of two of these crazy rare breeds every day.  Sometimes my human understands why we nearly became extinct...

But the bottom line with purebred dogs - ALL purebred dogs, rare or not, is that people need to work together to save breeds from extinction.  Dog show ribbons are pretty - but beneath it all, health is what counts.  People have to be open,  and honest and breeders need to be selective - and KNOW what happens to their puppies.  Otherwise, we could go the way of the quagga...

OK. Time to get off my soapbox and go for a walk. Or play another game of fetch.  And TRY to stay  out of trouble, so I don't become extinct.  Today.

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!

Peter

On Tuesday, we had a much-needed rainy day.  Einstein wouldn’t agree, but in all honesty, we have had a lovely summer, with very little rain.  So Tuesday was a welcome day for gardeners and farmers.  

And you know what we were promised with the next rainy day?  A chance to play with the new bunny.  The stuffed bunny – in case you forgot.  You know the drill.  Two of us are sequestered in the front  hall while one of us gets to play.  We must sit and stay while the bunny is hidden in another room.  Yours truly got to play first.  Simply because my human would not have been able to bear the SCREAMING I would have done if someone else was first.  Yes.  I do tend to become a BIT dramatic when it comes to the stuffed bunny.  Anyway, I waited patiently when told to do so and once released form my stay, off I went to find Peter.  I must confess, it took me a little longer than normal to find him the first time, because he didn’t smell like dog slobber yet. But once I did, I RACED back into the dining room, squeaking his currently functioning noise maker.  We know that won’t last long.  I reluctantly traded him for a treat, and the game was repeated.  I got 6 tries and I quickly found him each time.  Then it was Einstein’s turn.  He’s a good bunny finder and quickly drops the bounty at my human’s feet – he’s more interested in the treat than in squeaking Peter.  And after 6 tries (yes, we count to make sure we each get the same number of attempts), it was the FG’s turn.  As soon as he was released from the hall, he went to look for the bunny.  Even though it had not yet been hidden.   My human called him and squeaked the bunny to let him know it wasn’t yet hidden.  He was too busy searching the bedroom.  My human had to go and get him and SHOW him the bunny, lead him back to the dining room and told him to sit and stay.  As you may recall in the early days, when he was young, she had to tie him to his crate to get him to stay while she hid the bunny.   Now he obediently stays in place.  And when my human comes back and says the magic words “Find the bunny!” he enthusiastically races off.  But  he was gone longer than normal.  My human had basically left the bunny for him in an easy spot in the other room, so he could easily find it.  And he found it. And when my human came in, he was tossing the rabbit in the air.  He had NO intention of bringing that bunny back to her.   She offered a treat to trade for the bunny, and he took it but looked like he was chewing hot tamales.  He didn’t WANT a treat.  He wanted the bunny.  I can’t remember how many turns he got before he decided to just attempt to rip the bunny’s head off.  Game over for him.

The only problem with renewing the bunny hunting game – the FG has now become VERY interested in the REAL bunnies.  As you may recall, he used to just sit and look at them.  Not so much now.  He REALLY wants to see them.  And the bunnies around here like to taunt us.  They seem to know when we are on a leash – and they sit and watch us.  They’re pretty brave.  But they better not let down their guard…

Happy Friday.  Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!