The Titanic.

April 15.  And on this day in 1912, in the early morning hours, the Titanic sank off the coast of Newfoundland.  It struck an iceberg and more than 1500 people died making it the second largest ocean liner disaster in history.  Ships were launched from Halifax in the relief effort - and there are three cemeteries in Halifax where many of the victims were buried.  There's even an exhibit at our Maritime Museum all about the Titanic - with some artifacts from the ship.  (That's my plug for Nova Scotia tourism - the check better be in the mail.)  Anyway, three small dogs apparently survived the sinking - a Pekinese and two Pomeranians.  Nine other dogs lost their lives. Who knew the ship was reportedly dog-friendly, with an on-board dog show scheduled for the 15th! But only first class passengers could bring dogs - and they had special kennels. There are tragic tales of people having to leave their pets behind.   One woman, Ann Isham, refused to leave without her Great Dane.  They both tragically perished.  

Einstein and I are not crazy about the water, so a cruise is not on our Bucket lists.  Although Einstein has been on a ferry ride a couple of times.  He stayed in the vehicle - so said he doesn't remember much about the ride.

And then we have the FG and water... He QUITE likes it - but is still not completely sure about the "swimming" part.  He went for a run with Jackson the other morning - and Jackson LOVES to swim in the many ponds on the golf course.  The FG races in, but stops when it is getting too deep.  He DID at one point go in over his head - and did a rather awkward looking dog paddle and came back out.  He may need a life jacket.....And it was all great fun and games racing along the course, holding onto JACKSON'S retrieving toy.  My human thinks they could do commercials for that toy - it is definitely standing up to the durability test.  Anyway as soon as they started to head for home, the FG disappeared.  And was replaced by Dr. Jekyll.  He became a TASMANIAN DEVIL - trying to pull Jackson's tail, ears - just generally beating him up.  And as my human and Jackson's human tried to grab him, he raced around and around them - JUST out of reach.  My human was getting dizzy trying to catch him.  It went on for a few minutes - but felt like an hour.  FINALLY, Jackson's human GRABBED the FG's collar and my human put the snapping-turtle-on-speed back on a leash.  He pranced back home, wet, and muddy and TOTALLY happy.  This was all before 8AM....

Anyway,  I hope you have a wonderful day!  And be careful if you go out on the water!

The accomplice.

Today is April 14 and it's also Good Friday.  It's an important day in Christian religions - just before Easter Sunday.  And also this week, people of the Jewish faith are celebrating Passover, another important holiday.

I've never been in a church before.  I SHOULD be able to go to the church where my human goes - because the priest is Polish.  And how could he NOT love us PONs?!  But my human said something about the potential for peeing on church pews - and how that would be VERY strictly frowned upon.  Now I do know of at least ONE PON who goes to church regularly in California- her name is Arwen.  She CLEARLY has more manners than we do.  My human said the rafters would shake if we came inside.  Not funny.

Besides the religious holidays, it is also some "holiday" called Reach As High as You Can Day.  It's a day to encourage humans to reach for their dreams - and push themselves to strive to be the best they can be.  Honestly, I thought it was a dog holiday all about counter surfing.  It would make sense.  The FG is THE best counter surfer EVER.  Probably because he is so big and agile. Einstein generally barks if the FG steals something.  He's such a tattletale.

Mind you, Einstein was quiet the other evening...  It was JUST before lights out and my human was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.  She came to bed and found Einstein in his comfy place on the end of the bed.  And there was yours truly, at the head of the bed.  Eating my human's pillow.  Yup.  Another pillowcase goes the way of the oven mitt and I actually managed to take a chunk of pillow too.  My human was not impressed.  And the first thing she did, well actually second after she said the classic "what did you do " was turn to Einstein and say "WHY didn't you call me?"  He shrugged his shoulders and rolled over.   So he was branded as an accomplice.   I owe him.  Big time.

Well, time to go for a NICE long walk.  And search for that Easter bunny - I KNOW he's out there.

Have a good one.

Escaping.

Well I always thought Einstein aka Pondini was an amazing escape artist.  But he has MET his match.  Did you hear the story about the Great Pyrenees who was being boarded at a local animal hospital - and he decided he didn't feel like staying?  The video footage of General opening door after door is truly amazing.  And the good news is that he was later found safe and sound and has been returned to his family.  Check it out - scroll down for the video footage:
 http://www.insidenova.com/headlines/general-found-after-dog-escapes-stafford-animal-hospital/article_a48fda42-1e52-11e7-b399-bb3c42e116f1.html

But you know, after watching his amazing fete, there is actually something that, personally, I think is even MORE amazing than the whole escape thing.  If you watch the video carefully you will notice General walking through the hospital and past bags and bags of dog food.  Seriously.  Einstein might be able to escape like General - but he would have cleaned out the shelves before he left. 

Well my human had the biggest scare the other night while walking the FG.  It was just after dusk, and they had a great walk up the trail and around part of the golf course at the end of our road.  And they were returning home and walking down the road and what should appear in the driveway of the home across the road but a cat.  The cat came around some trees at the end of the driveway and was about 15 ft away from my human and the FG.  The cat stopped in his tracks - and so did the FG.  They were both startled to see each other.  And my human slowly braced herself for what she quickly envisioned was going to be a Picard explosion on the end of the leash.  She held her breath...the cat slowly stepped back and dashed back into the bushes.  And the FG?  Did NOTHING!  Just looked at my human as if to say "well WHAT was THAT?"  Quite unlike Einstein and I the next morning when we spotted a bunny just as we walked out the door, and created enough double pulling power that my human HAD to let go of our leashes.  And OFF we went.  But LUCKILY, we started into the woods and came back.  Probably because we realized that escaping at 6:30AM would mean no bananas. Or MAYBE we are starting to behave.  Bwhahahahahaha.  Nah.  It was the bananas.

Tomorrow begins my human's long Easter weekend.  Long weekend.  Long walks.  Perfect.

Have a good one!

Bird watching

Somebody lied.  They said that Picards were in the Herding group.  Now I don't know if the FG is going to like all things herd-able- like sheep or cows.  But one thing I do know, he is a BIRD dog.  I swear he has some Sporting dog in him somewhere.  He is absolutely fascinated with birds.  He watches them in the bushes.  He looks overhead in the sky.  He likes little birds like chickadees and bigger birds like doves and crows.  And you SHOULD have seen his face when he spotted some Canada geese on the golf course the other night.  His brain exploded.  He was suspended.  And completely mesmerized.  You want him to behave?  Release a flock of birds and you can be sure you've got his attention.

I must say, he IS pretty comical.  My human decided to do some little obedience exercises with us as a trio the other night.  You know - the standard sit, down, stand, spin, twist, back up stuff.  The FG has the sit.  But once he goes into the down, that's it.  He just lies there and listens to the commands and watches Einstein and I acting all frenzied and doing everything like little robots.  And just TRY to get him to sit up again once he has gone down.  It got to the point my human would say "Frodo stand."  And he would do it and get his treat.  "Viktor stand" and ditto for my performance.  And then she gave up giving the FG instructions and just said "Elroy down" because he basically wasn't going to do anything else anyway.  So he would look at her and he got a treat for that.  Which in MY opinion is a bit of a rip off.  Don't kid yourself - it's not that he isn't smart.  I mean just think about it - he got rewarded for doing nothing.  Who's the smart one after all?  The moral of the story - he is better working on obedience when he does his work solo.  I'll blame it on the fact that he is in awe of our performance and just can't even move.  It's like watching birds to him.  

Well it's Wednesday and just ONE more day of work for my human after today.  And then a four day weekend - AND we get to go on an Easter Egg Hunt.  My human's mother is also coming to hang out with us - so you know what THAT means - EXTRA bananas!  Especially for her favorite grand-dog.

Have a good one!

My Christmas list has begun.

OK. I JUST saw something on Facebook that I want.  I mean I REALLY want this.  It's a remote controlled Flying Shark.  Seriously.  I WANT one.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwzluqPcG8Q&feature=youtu.be 

Can you IMAGINE what would happen in this household if one of these things appeared from another room?!  Honestly - THIS is our chance to get on Funniest Videos.  We would become famous.  Especially when we deflate the shark.   I am putting it on my Christmas list...

Well the snow is melting quickly and the monuments are appearing.  Anyone who lives in a snowy climate knows that when the snow melts, the dog poop that wasn't scooped up during the blizzards, appears.  My human was on monument patrol on Sunday.  She was also doing general garden cleanup.  We couldn't hang out in the dog run on the side of the house because there is a loose paving stone in the run - the earth underneath must have eroded - so the stone tips down when you walk on it.  My human, being the neurotic dog owner that she is, is afraid one of us would get a paw caught.  She actually moved the stone herself about two weeks ago to fix it.  There was much groaning and the odd bad word - those stones are HEAVY.  It took her about 45 minutes.  She filled the hole with gravel and rocks and then had to move the stone back.  After much heaving and jostling she managed to get the stone back in place. And it still moved.  So she needs to recruit a friend to help.  In the meantime, we were forced to watch her yard and monument cleanup from the front hall.  With a baby gate against the screen door.  It's an entertaining show.  She really needs to get pruning shears that are painted in florescent colors.  Because, she inevitably puts them down - and then can't  find them.  So she wanders around the yard looking for them. Einstein just looks at me and rolls his eyes.  She didn't even GO in the backyard - the mole mud zone was too depressing.  She's back to her idea of hiring some terriers - or ANY dog that catches moles.  The ferret poop quest has not been successful.   

Well, I have to go and start my Christmas list.  I know it's early - but I REALLY want one of those sharks!!  Admit it - the vision of it makes you chuckle.  I NEED one.

Have a good one!

Talk to the animals...

Well, well, well.  So my human is smarter than I thought.  Seems there was a new study that has come out of the University of Chicago and it claims that if you talk to your dog - you are smart.  Go figure.  Wonder how big a grant they got to look at that one!  They say that humans have the capacity to anthropomorphize pets - which basically means, giving them human-like characteristics.  So they do things like talk to them.  And supposedly, it signifies someone who has an active, socially cognizant brain.  People treat things other than pets as having human-like characteristics too,  for example  they do things like name their vehicles.  Like Ludiwg.  Or our old buddy Harry.  Who has either gone to a farm or the old car graveyard.  I prefer to think of him as living somewhere else.  Or MAYBE they were able to transplant some of his parts to another vehicle....Hey - I think I am anthropomorphising too!!!   All that to say, if you talk to your dog, you are smart.  But not necessarily as smart as us dogs.

I got the stink eye when my human came home from work on Friday - no talking was really required.  Remember when I was caught on tape destroying the red oven mitt a few weeks back?  Well now we have a matching pair.  Actually not completely matching.  This time I just took off the TIP of the thumb and the tip where the other four ringers go.  So it's still usable.  Kind of.

And remember my no-more-snow forecast.   It's looking like I was CORRECT.  Warmer temperatures forecast for the REST of the week.  Look out groundhog - the PON is taking over.

Have a good one!!!  You know I will!

Antique dogs

April 9.  And according to the crazy calendar, it is something called National Cherish an Antique Day.  I joked that it's a day to cherish my human.  My brilliant sense of humor was met with an icy glare.

My human likes antiques. And while her antique collecting tastes have changed over the years, there is still something that she cannot pass up.  Antique and vintage DOG stuff.  She has old dog books, dog bowls, lots of old dog photos, prints and paintings and all sorts of dog figurines.  So in honor of this "holiday" let's take a look at her "oldest" dog thing.  It's a series of pages from the 1793 Encyclopedia Britannica.  Who KNEW encyclopedias were around that long ago? They were actually first published in Edinburgh Scotland between 1768 and 1771!  They were around until 2012 - when the age of digital took over and they stopped printing volumes.

So here are the three pages:

Lots of modern breeds look QUITE different than the dogs we see here.  Although some DO look close to their early ancestors....

The Dalmation

The Greyhound

The lion dog (which I am thinking might be the Lowchen) and the pug

The bulldog

Then there is the King Charles dog - which actually doesn't look a whole lot like a Cavalier...

 
But the big problem -  there was no PON OR Picard listed.  I am guessing we probably both came from the Shepherds dog - which if you SQUINT from 16 feet away could look almost Picard like. But let's face it - it doesn't look anything like  PON...

Although the Great Water dog LOOKS kind of PON like, I'm thinking that's one of the sporting breeds like the Portuguese Water dog - or MAYBE even the Newfoundland.

 So we looked at all of the breeds, but none really fit.  And we then spotted a little dog in the corner that ALMOST looks PON-like.  And the name would fit. It's called a Shock dog.  How perfect is THAT?  We all know the behavior of the PONs in THIS household is FREQUENTLY shocking.  So that MUST be it.   It's our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather,   Zap.  That's what I'll call him. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this peek into history - and I hope you have a great old day!