Sniff, sniff, sniff....

Farewell dear Oscar.....'til we meet again.

We are sad. We learned very recently that one of our newest blogging buddies has passed to the rainbow bridge.

Oscar was young and talented, and he was into agility. He was a faithful friend to all those in Dogs With Blogs, and welcomed us there with open paw. He participated in our Love those Fruits and Veggies Link Love Project - contributing Cherries, which I had no idea were good! Thanks for that Oscar. We enjoyed you buddy and will miss you....

Gettin' it together!

Mum was dealing with the car situation a lot yesterday, on and off the phone, laying down a lot, giving out a little grunt and moan every time she moved, and talking with a couple of friends. She just doesn't seem herself, and sure can't play with us like she usually does.

She's been encouraging us to go outside in the early AM and late PM to play together. She threw a few sticks and that got us going. This morning we got the mad, mad zoomies together. Sure was fun to run with my sis and destress a little!

Mum says the car is back in Indy now and at a repair shop. We still don't have a car to drive, but she's gonna call today to get us one. We're gonna have to miss practice tonight, 'cause Mum says she just couldn't do either one of us justice, and it wouldn't be fair.

We have a trial this weekend, a USDAA. Which means really long days. We may have to cut some short if we aren't all recuperated by then.

I have a chiro adjustment scheduled for Thursday. I'm feeling less sore, but Mum thinks we should get a check up, just to be sure. Mum has called someone to check her out as well. Gracie has been showing signs of stress, chewing up stuff more, chasing the cats more, and getting scared with loud trucks and stuff. Mum just keeps calm when she does that and puts her in working mode to get her mind off stuff. Me? As long as I'm with my Mum, I'm good.

We'll be OK, but it's taking a little more time than we all thought. Just because you walk away from a car accident seemingly unhurt, sure doesn't mean it things go right back to normal. They don't! We're gonna take it easy again today. Mum has to work, but at least she works at home and can lay down when she needs to.

Thank you everyone for your notes of concern and well wishes. We really, really appreciate it. We're a little slow in getting back to everyone, but we will, we promise!!! 'Cause you guys rock!!!!

The car accident, a contest win, two Giant Schnauzers, and two NQ's!

We're back from the trial and thank DOG we are safe and sound. We had a couple of really close calls. But we did win the contest!!!

Yesterday has to be one of the worst days of my life. Well maybe one of the three worst days of my life. The first and second being attacked by a pack of dogs, and getting my broken foot at the boarding facility last fall.

And now that Mum thinks about it, she remembers that I didn't want to go to the trial yesterday - she had a lot of trouble getting me to get in the car at 5:00 AM to head to Dayton, OH. Mum you just shoulda listened to me!!!!

We headed off to the trail, the trip uneventful. Got there in plenty of time and Mum walked the course. Then she came back to get me from the car and my crate. When I got out of my crate, two Giant Schnauzers who were in an x-pen beside us, started after me. They growled and barked very aggressively at me and tried to get out of their x-pen. Scared the living daylights out of me.

Then just about 20 minutes later I ran my first course. I didn't run very well. Mum says I looked stressed the entire run, wasn't running my usual fast self, and plowed into the triple jump. She was a little worried about me, so we walked around outside after to de-stress, and there was a lady giving free doggie massages, so I got one of those.

Then it was back in my crate, while Mum walked our Jumpers course. She tried really hard to keep me confident and focused just on her, but I didn't want to run again and sniffed a lot on the course. A sure sign of stress, then I popped the weaves, so no Q again. Mum gave me lots of lovin' and some great treats, but I just wanted to go home.

We packed up the car and headed home. About 30 minutes west of Dayton we were on Interstate 70, going about 65 MPH, the speed limit, when suddenly cars were braking hard, spinning out and smoke was all over the place.

Mum braked and went to the berm to avoid some cars, when another car in front of her did the same thing, so we went further into the median (the grass space between the four interstate lanes). Then we were all over the median, back and forth, left and right. Mum worked real hard to keep from rolling the car and keep from going into the oncoming lanes of traffic. Just then another car ended up in the median too and Mum jcouldn't avoid that car without going into oncoming traffic.

We were going at a much lesser speed by then and hit the car on the left front. Kind of like we both met our left and right fronts. Then we finally came to a stop.

Mum jumped out of the car, opened the back end of the Discovery to check on us. We were scared, but doing OK. Then she went and checked on the other people in the other car. They were OK and were calling the police. Three other cars involved were pulled over on the right side of the traffic across the road from us. They were unhurt too.

Considering the circumstances, Mum thinks everyone was pretty smart about how they handled the flood of braking cars, spinning cars, and smoke so thick you could barely see. Luckily no one was hurt in the entire accident - in all five or six cars. It could have been a real disaster.

We couldn't drive the car home because it was so damaged, so my friend Cosmo's Mum drove 90 minutes to come and get us, then nearly two hours to take us home. We are so grateful to her Mum, we could lick her silly!!!!!!! We are so grateful that we have such a good friend.

All three of us are pretty sore today, from being roughed up and from the stress and trauma. But we have to say that coming home to see that we had won the contest cheered us up a lot!!! Thank you soo much to all of you who voted. We'll keep you posted on the pressies!

Mum is setting us up an appointment for a chiropractic adjustment. Then she has to figure out how to get the car back and repaired, and get herself destressed.

We thank DOG that we are home, safe and sound, and that no one was hurt in the accident.

Mum also wants to share that she is really glad she works so hard to keep us safe in the car. She makes sure that we are in our crates and that the crates are secured with bungee cords. If we would have been loose in the car...well, I hate to think how Gracie and I would be today...

Give your loved ones - two legged and four legged - a big hug today, and thank them for being your friend, K? 'Cause you just never know.....

Licks,
Johann

Getting in shape!

Mum and I have been doing agility now for about two years - training for two, competing for about 1.5 years. We absolutely love it. I love it because I get to do all kinds of neat running, jumping and weaving stuff. And Mum loves it to spend time with me (and Gracie, of course).

But she also loves it for the great shape it's getting her in. Mum used to walk about 4 miles a day, but slacked off on that as she got older. Then she took up agility with me and, dog, you should see the muscles on her legs. (Yeah, I know, maybe a little TMI!).

She says that running full out with me during a run (or two, or three, or four - three to four times a week) has gotten her in better shape than taking an hour, or more, to walk a whole four miles.

So folks out there, agility is not only good for us pups, but it's a great way for you two-leggers to get some great exercise too!

And now that Mum is looking better and better, she says that maybe she'll check out some new 7 Seven jeans. Way to go Mum!

We're back early!

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great weekend.

We just got back a while ago from the Dayton Dog Training Club AKC Agility Trial in Dayton, Ohio. As you can see I'm pretty tired.

We left about 5:00 am this morning and got there right on time. But it was real foggy, tough driving, Mum said.

The trail was indoors with air conditioning, I loved it but Mum got cold. What? She sure didn't care if she was cold, as long as I was comfy and she warmed up running me. The flooring was matted rubber flooring, which Mum and I are learning I just absolute love running on. It's tough for some dogs because they slip, but I think it's great.

I ran Standard and JWW, both runs really clean and smooth, not super fast, but at a good fast pace. And we just can't believe it - I Double Q'd, again. Mum just keeps telling folks she is in awe of me. Hey, Mum, I am to please!!!

We got our two Q ribbons, and they had these really neat 'congrats on your DQ' ribbons, we had never seen before! We are on a pretty cool high!

When we got back we checked on the voting for getting my sis Gracie a birthday present. You guys are really rockin'!!! Thank you sooooo, sooooo much for voting for me. Only about 19 hours left to vote, so get 'em in OK. And then on Sunday, I think, we find out the winner, cool!

Click here to vote!

Also, be sure and stop by and visit with my friends who are participating in Blogathon 2007. They are going to need your help to keep it going - 24 hours of blogging is a marathon!

Blogsweluv.com
One Dog and Two Birds

We're off to rest up for the second day of the trail tomorrow!

The Dog Poop Initiative!

You may remember my blog post about poo a couple of weeks ago. One of the highlights was a website we found called The Dog Poop Initiative. Kirk Weisler who wrote the book emailed me when he saw my post and wanted to send me his book, and...

...we got it today! Here we are checking out all the smells on the package...

Then Mum started opening it for us, 'cause no matter how we tried we couldn't get it open without opposable thumbs. Here we are waiting impatiently for Mum to open it...


Then she finally got it open and here's what was in our package...the book that Kirk said he was sending...


But wait, what is that that came with the book, could it...could it...could it be??? Yep, fake poo! I gave it a good sniff, and the book too, then went on my merry way. But Gracie????

She had to get right in there and check it out...then before I knew it, she was off with that thing, she thought it was a toy! Well Happy Birthday again, Gracie! BOL!

While Gracie was off playing with the poo. Mum read me the book. It's based on a true story about a Dad with his son at a soccer game, a big pile of poo, what a ruckus that poo made throughout the game, lots of folks that pointed to the poo but did nothing about it, and one man's determination and initiative to put an end to the ruckus and save the day.

It's a nice quick little read, with a great moral; "Life is full of people who are pointers....and they're only scoring zeroes. The players who take the initiative are the winners and the heroes."

Mum and me, we've always been initiative takers; want me to jump, I'm there...need me to go through that tunnel, I'm on it, round up some sheep, let me at 'em! And Gracie is much like that too. And we seem to have many friends that are like this, as well. Maybe initiative takers, hang with initiative takers. Who knows. But we sure enjoyed the book and are glad that Kirk sent it to us.

Kirk has taken his story on the road, throughout the US and in lots of other countries. And he talks to as many people as he can about the Scooper Movement. He's talked to folks at FedEx, AC Neilsen, WRGrace, Purdue University, just to name a few. Onward and upward, Kirk, and here's to the power of the poo!

Envy!

Lately I've started thinking about different subjects and elaborating on them in my blog. First it was poo, then the other day it was pacemakers for dogs. Today, it's envy.

What is the definition of envy? According to Wikipedia:

"Envy is an emotion that 'occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.' Envy is one of the Seven deadly sins. At the core of envy seems to be an upward social comparison that threatens a person's self-esteem: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have.

The word jealous is often used to describe an envious state. In its correct usage, jealousy is the fear of losing something to another person (a loved one in the prototypical form), while envy is the pain or frustration caused by another person having something that one does not have oneself.

In some cultures, envy is often associated with the color green, as in "green with envy". The phrase "green-eyed monster" refers to an individual whose current actions appear motivated by envy. This is based on a line from Shakespeare's Othello."

Now us pups don't really experience envy, but we know that two-leggers will occasionally. But perhaps it's all in how you handle it??? We Googled the word 'envy' and found:

Make Envy Your Friend - An interesting post from Success from the Nest that begins with, “Nothing sharpens sight like envy.” ~ Thomas Fuller; Envy has a bad rap. It doesn’t have to poison.
San Diego Envy Nightclub - Envy is the new nightclub at Downtown's Ivy Hotel. Just as the Ivy Hotel is the envy of all boutique hotels in San Diego, Envy promises to be the hottest new nightclub experience in the Gaslamp nightlife scene.
Envy, the movie - Ben Stiller and Jack Black starred as Tim and Nick, best friends, neighbors and co-workers, whose equal footing is suddenly tripped up when one of Nick's harebrained get-rich-quick schemes actually succeeds: Vapoorizer, a spray that literally makes dog poop, evaporate into thin air.
Envy - Envy, in Vancouver, is for those who know that the elegant and the environmentally friendly are quite often the same thing. For your health and the planet's, we bring you Envy. Renowned architect Ray Letkeman has created a building that proves one need not sacrifice aesthetics for health and ecology.
Tips to Avoid iPhone Envy - From PCWorld; yes, the iPhone is sleek and sexy, and it has a slick interface that performs so many techno-tricks even confirmed Luddites are salivating. But there's no reason to junk your current handset--in fact, Your Phone is more than ready to meet the iPhone challenge head on.

My thoughts? I learned a lot from Googling this word and this emotion, and came to the conclusion - if you're human, one time or another you'll probably feel envy; but the important thing is what you do with it.

We are off for the weekend early in the AM!

Gracie, Mum and I are off to an AKC agility trial in Dayton, Ohio. And leaving quite early in the morning. We decided to drive back and forth the two hours each way, both Saturday and Sunday, 'cause we all like sleeping in our own beds and we need to take care of the kitties, too!

After a quick days bout with loose 'output' yesterday, I am back and raring to go. Mum's slipped up on putting yogurt in with my kibble. That yogurt stuff is really helping my tummy!

Wish us luck at the trial, K?

Voting at the TipTail.com contest is going really well, you guys are rockin'!!!! Thank you so much for helping us out. We are ahead, but I'm a little nervous that while we're gone we may fall behind. So, tie a string around your paws, K? And remember to vote - we would sure, sure appreciate it!!!

Click here to vote!!!!

And stop by my friend Tish's blog at The Kat House, our friend Mike's at Ordinary Folk, and our friend Bala's at One Dog and Two Birds - tomorrow. They are participating in the Blogathon 2007 and helping to raise money for great causes. They are going to be blogging for 24 hours and I'm sure would love the encouragement and support. Mike and Tish are raising money for the Glaucoma Foundation. And Bala is raising money for the Eau Claire County Humane Society! And if you can be sure and sponsor them, K?

We can always use a little training!

My view? Us pups can always use some training.

When I was a wee pup, Mum taught me all kinds of fun behaviors - sit, stay, lie down, come and more - but when she got me out in public, it was a whole different story. I was so ill-behaved! So she signed me up for an obedience class, where I could learn with a lot of distractions around me - other dogs, people, commotion.

It really helped. I spent the first two lessons, pulling and barking and wanting to play with the other dogs and humans. But at the end of the class, I was deemed 'most improved'! I even did sit, stay, down and come all with just hand signals from Mum.

I really think that formal dog training classes should be a huge part of our learning experience. And Mum thinks so too. She is considering enrolling Gracie in a formal obedience class to help with her stress and focus. And, she'd make a great Canine Good Citizen candidate.

Eating out!

Mum doesn't eat out much, primarily because she can't take us along and doesn't like leaving us at home. Only restaurants that have outdoor seating accept us dogs around here. So she spends some time now and then browsing to find some great recipes or entertaining ideas, 'cause sometimes she will invite friends over for a get together.

When she has these little parties she likes to try brand new recipes. One time she had a big holiday party and made all new things to eat. She made sure to tell folks when they arrived that they were 'taste and tries' - that's what she calls her new recipes. The party goers think it's kind of fun! And makes for a real conversation starter - especially if it doesn't taste so good!

She was searching around the other day and found a San Diego banquets site that has incredible Mediterranean foods that she's never tried before. She says she going to try some at her next get together! Maybe she'll let me sample some, think?

Voting is getting heated!

Wow, the voting for the TipTail.com contest is really heating up! I need all the votes I can get. So keep 'em coming, OK? We sure do appreciate it. Click here to vote!

I have a few items picked out for Gracie if I win the contest:

This Sport Player tug would be an amazing toy for Gracie. She loves to tug and will tug for hours, with me and with Mum. It would be a great reward for when she dogs agility too.

I really like this Fling Thing. They say it can handle your dog's teeth without ripping apart. And it flies 50 some feet. Wow! She'd love that. Now if we can teach her to bring stuff back, BOL!


When looking around Doggonegood.com, I saw this book that I thought would be perfect for Gracie. She absolutely loves agility and I know she wants to compete like me, but she gets real stressed in the agility ring. Maybe this book can help her feel more confident. I'd love to help her with that.

What do you think of my pics?

Mum and I are going to be gone most of this weekend to an agility trial in Dayton, Ohio and won't be able to remind everyone about voting. So tie a string around your paw, K?

A few of our buds qualified for the AKC Agility Invitationals!

The 2007 AKC Agility Invitationls will be held in conjunction with the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and the National Obedience Invitational in Long Beach, California, at the Long Beach Convention Center, December 1-2, 2007.

The AKC Agility Invitational invites the top dogs ranked in agility events during the qualifying period (July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007) and is based on the Top MACH Dog formula (Double Q's x 10 + MACH points earned during the qualifying period). The top five ranked agility dogs in each of the AKC recognized breeds will be invited to attend this prestigious event.

We are proud to say that a few of our buds have been invited this year. Buster Brown, Chili and Cait. We are so proud of them.

Maybe if we get to go see them compete we could head on down to San Diego. It's so beautiful there. We'd use the San Diego yellow pages to help us find fun stuff to do!

Congrats to Buster, Chili and Cait!

Pacemakers for dogs!

The New York Post reports that a beloved 4-year-old German shepherd police dog who collapsed on the job at Rikers Island after his heart suddenly stopped is miraculously back on the beat recently after doctors implanted a lifesaving pacemaker made for humans.

I thought this was very interesting. So I did some more of my research and Googled - dog pacemaker. Here is what I found:

Sunshine, The Pacemaker Dog - A great story about a rescued dog and their family's journey through getting Sunshine a pacemaker.
Pacemakers for Pooches: A Surprisingly Feasible Option for Older Dogs - A 1997 article from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine that states over 200 dogs a year receive pacemakers. I bet it's well over 400 by now.
Pacemaker Humor Dog T-Shirt - They say "celebrate the joy of going bionic with this funny take on getting a pacemaker. Give some heartfelt thanks to those who made it all possible."
Dog Parks USA - A great article on the history of pacemakers in dogs, includes an interesting x-ray of one of the implants.
PetCare Pet Insurance pays for pacemaker - An article in Animal Wellness Magazine that quotes Mark Warren, President of PetCare Pet Insurance, saying they paid out for a pacemaker for a dog.
Woman's Unusual Last Wish Saves Dog's Life -The story of Dorothea Edwards who left instructions with her family that her pacemaker be donated to an animal, when she died. The pacemaker was donated and implanted in Sunshine.

Wow! Now that's something to bark about!

Personally I am very thankful and grateful that there are such great advances in medicine for us pups. Keep it up!

Don't forget to vote to help me get Gracie a birthday present!

Morning, and afternoon, evening to our friends across the pond. Voting is going well on the TipTail.com contest. I'm ever so much closer to helping get Gracie a really cool birthday present. The last time I checked we were tied for first place. Wow, you guys rock!!!!

Keep those votes a coming!!!! We found out that you can vote every 24 hours. So if the voting doesn't display when you check, be sure and check back later, K?

And I give you a big ole thank you for helping me out!!!!!

Licks,
Johann

My sis Gracie is two years old!

Today is my sister's birthday. Gracie is two years old!!!

I remember the first day I met her. She was at a vet's office that was keeping her while she was listed on Petfinder.com. Mum took me into one of the rooms and here was this chubby, cute, obnoxious, little girl pup. She tried to play with me, but I told her off. (I'm a little testy sometimes). She took it so well, I knew she was going to be a great pal.

Gracie is goofy, she's still very much a puppy, and I couldn't imagine my life without her. She's fun, happy, cheerful, crazy, wild, manic, and the most loving pup I've every met. Here's to many more years together my best pal.



You can read more about Gracie here.

Against cats spitting!

Our good friend Frog The Dog recently had a run in with a spitting cat. I soooooo know what that's like! I have two kittie brothers, Wolfie and Wiggy, and they sometimes spit at me too.

Mum tells them not to ('cause kitties can be trained, you know) but they don't always listen.

So listen to this Wolfie and Wiggy! I'm joining the D.A.F.T.'s club - Dogs Against Felines that Spit. And now, every time I see that spit starting to aim it's way toward me, I'm gonna show you my certificate!

Back from training!

We are back from training today down in Columbus, Indiana. It's kind of a long drive, but both Gracie, Mum and I think it was well worth it.

Mum worked with Gracie first and tried to get her to do a full course. Well, she was sniffing and crazy wild all over the course, barely paid attention to Mum. So Mum had to carry her off the course. Then Gracie ran right over to the corner and poo'd. What?

Now Mum always poo's and pee's us before we go into training, and even tried to get Gracie to go this morning, but nooooo; she wouldn't have of either. But I guess running around and doing some jumps and stuff gave her the urge. Once she was done, Mum took her out to do some backchaining of the course. Dog, she looked like a pro out there. Drove me crazy!! She was fast, accurate, driven - kind of like a different dog in Gracie skin. Good girl!

Then it was my time and we worked on some gambles. The first one was really difficult - chute, jump, then an out turn to the teeter then way, way out to the tunnel. Well Mum found out that I'm not good on the teeter in a gamble, so that's something we're gonna work on. Then, we did another gamble - tunnel to the frame and then chute, with Mum having to layer the weaves. I was about 15-18 feet from Mum and did it like a pro, even made my contact. Woo Hoo, I got bunches of treats for that.

Then it was Gracie's turn again. They worked on sending Gracie to the table, then added in a jump before and another jump before. Gracie was going out really well, even when Mum didn't go but half way from the first to the second jump. Good girl, again. They are going to work on sending more at home this coming week.

Then it was my time again. And Mum wanted to work on my weave speed. Sometimes I'm real fast, sometimes not. She want my weaves to always be fast. Now I have to say I'm real accurate with my weaves, even when Mum gives me bad entrances. So we tried some experiments. The first one we tried worked like a charm.

Our friend put a treat on a foot stool about 4 feet out from the end of the weaves. Mum showed it to me and took me to the other end of the weaves, sent me into a tunnel, then into the weaves. The first time I pulled out. So they set up just six weaves. I got the idea then, so they immediate put back in 12 weaves and I barreled my way through them to get at that treat.

Mum wants to keep working on this at home, but without another person to 'guard' the treat. So we practiced Mum putting the treat on the 'target', showing me, and then taking me back to do a jump or tunnel before the weaves. I did great, and kept my speed for about 6-7 times in a row. Yee haw!!! And Mum didn't have to stay with me at the weaves, she was about 5-6 feet out parallel. Cool! I kept my head down and really focused on the end, instead of focusing on Mum. That's key!

Mum then ran Gracie through the entire course and she only went to sniff once and quickly came back to Mum. She did great! Really nice weaves, very enthusiastic frame, and gorgeous chute.

Great time, great fun, great running, and great treats. We had a blast today. Came home and we snoozed for a couple of hours. Now I'm out to herd some birds - see ya!

Blogger reflection!

We have a new friend in the nice folks at GollyLog. Thank you! Today they bestowed on me the Blogger Reflection Award!

...Reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy… of knowing them and being blessed by them.

I select the follow to present this coveted award:

FrogBlogDogLog!!!!
A dog, a cat, and a girl in fabulous shoes
The Adventures of Oscar the Airedale
TipTail
Dogs' Aye View

There are other wonderful pups and pup Mums and Dads who comment regularly and even though there wasn't space and time to mention others, please know that you are deeply appreciated for being an encouragement and souce of joy to this blog author.

If any of you would like to pass this award on, you can read more about it here.

Thank you!!! And keep it coming!

UPDATE: You can vote again! Yeah! So be sure and vote everyday, K?

Hi everyone, Mum and I sure are grateful that you are voting for me in the contest! We're not sure if you can vote multiple times, we're checking. But if you get a minute click here and see if you can vote again, K? I'm just a tad behind, last time I checked.

Our great friends Gomer and Opie, and their DogMom, at Dogs' Aye View were every so kind to post on their blog about me being in the contest. Thank you guys/gals!!!!!! Welcome home, we are glad you are back safe and sound from your long road trip.

We are off to train with our friend in Columbus, south of Indy, today. We're taking a little road trip of our own. Mum's got lots of work to catch up on before and after. So I have to give up the computer. Wish she would get that laptop fixed so we could both get our stuff done, grrrrrr.

Later! And thanks again!

Help me get my sis Gracie a surprise birthday present!

Our good friends at TipTail.com are having a great contest and we entered not too long ago. Read our entry here! The voting started today.

Go and vote for me in the contest and help me win a great gift certificate to Doggonegood.com, so I can get my sis Gracie a birthday present! She's gonna be two on the 25th of this month.

You can vote once every day, but be sure and do it before Sunday, July 29th, K?

And thanks!!! I sure appreciate the support.

Hmmm...this is interesting!

We just came across a new service, and potentially a new way to make money. Since Mum and I are always looking for ways to make for JohannTheDog, Inc., and be able to donate more of our profits to dog rescues and shelters, we took a long look at a new service called OblinQ.

OblinQ allows anyone and everyone to have a webstore in seconds. You can create your own boutique store in the form of adding products from any company on the web. And, if you add products from the OblinQ's participating companies, then sell one of those items, you will earn the company's standard affiliate commission. Some of their participating companies are Walmart, Amazon.com, Target, Overstock.com, Drugstore.com and more.

The service is integrated with the affiliate networks supported by the merchants. The affiliate networks (e.g. Linkshare, Commission Junction) report commissions on sales generated from all OblinQ stores. Oblinq in turn reports those sales back to you as the store operator. Merchants decide the commission rates.

The only down side I see initially is that you will need a $100 minimum in commissions before you get paid...having done some affiliate marketing in the past, we know it may take a while in the beginning before you reach your first $100. However, you still receive the entire affiliate commission and the service does not cost a thing. So, it is still something I think we may look into further.

Fun weekend!

We had a great weekend. It was cooler and sunny....great running around weather. Mum did laundry and cleaned, we gave the Dyson fits (we think we are starting to get to that thing). Mum also mowed the lawn and cleaned up our car crates, and (wonders never cease) she cooked.

Wait - did I say she cooked? Yep, it's a miracle. Mum really doesn't like to cook, and she's always so busy with work and us. But yesterday she wanted to start getting ready for Gracie's birthday coming up. So she went to the grocery and started in the minute she got back.

First she made something for herself. Usually Mum eats pretty good for her food. But yesterday she made herself a new recipe she found in a flyer. Enchilada casserole. And dog, did it smell good! We hung around the kitchen watching her the entire time, and hoping...

Then she got out more stuff from the fridge and we smelled familiar smells. Yogurt, peanut butter, blueberries. Oh my.... She mixed the yogurt and peanut butter, then got the blueberries ready. What is she making???? Homemade frosty paws!!!! Yeah!!!!

After she mixed everything up...she was nice enough to give us a taste.......


Wow, are in for a treat or what? Don't worry the knife looks dangerous, but it's not sharp at all.

She stuck them in the freezer and we went out to play for awhile....

Then, just about an hour or so later, she brought out a couple of those frosty paws for us to taste! She just about didn't get the camera ready before they were gone...Yummy!!!!!

We loved them! Mum packaged up a few of those frosty paws and gave some to the neighbor dogs. Then she let my kitty brother Wiggy out for a little fresh air. If you look closely you can see Wolfie at the door. Mum doesn't let Wolfie out, 'cause he runs from us and can easily scale the fence and get away, but Wiggy is pretty dog savvy and doesn't mind us too much.

But it wasn't long before we got the evil eye from him...and it was back inside to safety for him.

Overall, it was a pretty doggone good weekend. Lots of fun and rest...and we got to go on a couple of long walks around the neighborhood. We love that!

Hope you had a great weekend, too!

Friends foster needs a home!

On my Rescue Me blog this morning, I posted a dog that one of our friends is fostering.

His name is Zazoo! He's a 15 month old JRT that needs an active home. And he'd make a great agility dog.

He's currently being fostered with an agility family, and quickly learning commands, behaviors and basic agility. In just a week, he already loves the dog walk.

Zazoo could be rehomed anywhere in the country, as long as there is a volunteer to do a rehome check, and the adopter pays the travel costs.

For more info, click here to read about Zazoo!

Trimming the shrubs!

Gracie was helping Mum trim the shrubs the other day. Her method of trimming is to take a limb and tug, tug, tug, and tug until the limb is ripped from the main trunk of the shrub. Not Mum's preferred method, but it works really well for Gracie! Since we got her, Mum rarely has to get out the trimmers anymore.

Here's Gracie with one of her big 'catches'.....

But it doesn't take her long to get distracted....


That's when I swoop in to grab it away.....


And sit back and enjoy a good chew......

But, as predicted, Gracie is right in there with another one of her big 'catches'....and quickly distracted by the pups next door.

Mum thinks she needs to provide more exercise for the Gracester, she's bored!!!

Training fun!

Our usual trainer is out of town for a couple of weeks. So Mum lined us up to go to Columbus, Indiana to train with a friend of ours. She lives way out in the country on a terrific piece of land and has a nice barn for practicing agility. So off we went this morning.

It took us about a little over an hour to get there. And had planned to spend about an hour and a half, sometime for Gracie and sometime for me. I got to go first, of course!

We worked on some discriminations, since I've been having troubles with those. That's when the tunnel is right next to the Aframe or dog walk. Mum has found the secret to get me 'in' to the tunnel, or 'out' to the frame or dogwalk, even at a distance. So we are real happy with that!

We worked on some pinwheels, 'cause they can be so demotivating for us pups and we picked up some tips to keep them speedy. Instead of Mum sending me out to the middle jump, we're gonna work on Mum running out to the middle jump and then taking off as fast as she can to the third jump. Worked great as we practiced it.

Then it was Gracie's turn for a little while. As many of you know, Gracie has real focus issues in the ring. She just wants to go around sniffing and playing with bar setters. So we worked on leaving the treats at the ring entrance, going and doing a few jumps, and then running back to get her treats. Seemed to work pretty well. She kept motivated and was having fun. We're gonna keep working on that with her. She is such a great girl on the obstacles - just a shame no one gets to see her run. But she is maturing some too, so that helps a lot.

We also worked on lining both of us up better at the start so it's real clear what the first obstacle is. Mum gets kind of lax on that sometimes in practice, duh, Mum!!!

And we worked with Gracie on driving to the end of the teeter. She's still hesitating on the tipping point. Our friend also gave us some tips on using trash cans and barrels to keep focus with Gracie. That's something we can do in the house where it's cooler; using chairs and such!

We had a great time, the barn was very nice, and we didn't get that dirty. But oh....Gracie did a bad, bad thing! While she was waiting her turn, she was screaming up a storm most of the time. She can be so impatient. We opened the door where she was in her crate and, yep, you guess it, she tore right through her crate. Luckily we have a great friend that's going to fix it for us. But Gracie? You have to control yourself!!! Mum always lets you have your turn!

We go back next Tuesday for some more practice and want to work on weave speed, general speed, gambles and Gracie's focus again. Can't wait. Oh and Mum wants me to tell you her muscles are aching bad! I give her quite a workout.

It's a contest!

One of my best blogging buds - TipTail.com - is having a really cool reader appreciation contest! And the prize is a $30.00 gift certificate from Doggonegood.com. Wow!

Now I am always up for a challenge! To enter the contest I need to write a blog post about why I should win. I've been thinking, and thinking a lot about this. And then it hit me, right in the face, literally!

June 25th is my sis Gracie's birthday. Yep, she will officially be two (well, best guess anyway) years old. Being that I'm just a pup myself, it's kind of difficult for me to get out and shop for a gift for my sis. And since I'm pretty Internet savvy, it would be easy for me to log on to Dogggonegood.com, order her a new treat bag (since she tore up the other one) and new toy. And I could do it all pretty much without her knowing about it. And I wouldn't have to ask Mum for money!

Now some of you may know my sis' story. But if you don't we're gonna share it with ya. Gracie was born in a very unpleasant place. After she was born, she lived on a rural farm with 70 other dogs. She lived with a hoarder, grew up wild, had to beg and fight for anything and everything. It was a rough place to live.

One day the Sheriff of the county went to the hoarder and took away all her dogs. She just couldn't take care of them all. The adults were euthanized because of illness and aggression, we were told. A nice lady that lived in the county worked with the Sheriff and a local vet to help the remaining pups find homes. The local vet took in the 20 puppies until the nice lady could list them on Petfinder.com and get them all adopted.

Well, staying with a vet sounds like a great place to be. But they didn't have the facilities, room or staff to take care of 20 puppies. So they put them four to a crate, never took them out and fed them all they wanted, so they wouldn't fight with each other. Four weeks later, Mum found Gracie on Petfinder.com.

We drove two hours to see Gracie. And boy did she smell real bad. She was so loving and happy playing with my Mum and my Mum's friend that went with us.

Then when I met her, I gave her a little warning bark ('cause I'm the boss, you know) and she backed right off. That was a great sign. I'm not always the easiest to get along with, so we knew should would be a great addition to our family. So we took her home.

Now Gracie and I are the best of buddies. Mum even swears that I run better in agility when Gracie is there to support me. It's amazing she turned out to be so sweet after all she went through. She is the best playmate and sis a pup like me could ever ask for.

So here's to our Gracie girl. The goofiest, funnest, funniest, happiest, craziest, most loving pup on the planet. And here's hoping that I win the contest so I can get her a great present!

A dog's worst nightmare!

I'm a blidget!

We thought we'd get in on the act and make a blidget. Yeah, you heard me right a blidget. What is a blidget?

It's a widget that contains your blog, or at least post and snippet info! And they are very easy to install in Blogger, MySpace, Typepad, and more - or you can just pick up the code and put it on any website or blog. It's real easy.

If you'd like to pick up my blidget, we'd love it!

Underdog - coming August 3rd to a theater near you!

There's a new dog in town and he is here to save the day.

"There's no need to fear. Underdog is here!" The superhero canine with a gift for rhyme returns in an all new live-action re-imagination of the classic cartoon, Underdog.

After an accident in the mysterious lab of maniacal scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), an ordinary beagle unexpectedly finds himself with unimaginable powers and the ability to speak. Armed with a fetching superhero costume, Underdog (voiced by comedian Jason Lee) vows to protect the beleaguered citizens of Capitol City and, in particular, one beautiful spaniel named Polly Purebread (voiced by Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams). When a sinister plot by Barsinister and his overgrown henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton) threatens to destroy Capitol City only Underdog can save the day.

Utilizing state-of-the-art CGI special effects mixed with live-action, Underdog flies into theaters August 3rd.

Be sure and check out the website and try your paw at a couple of the fun games, view the trailers, download wallpaper and pick up a couple of buddy icons.

The Trailer:



And check out these bloopers!

Saving up for.....

We are always looking for a deal and ways to save money. 'Cause we want to do more agility, get that 5 acres of land we've been wanting, maybe rent a recreational vehicle (like this one) to get to Scottsdale for the Nationals, finally get a dogwalk and aframe.

Oh yeah, and I need a new bed (I chewed up the old one), Gracie needs her teeth cleaned (she came to us with tarter, poor girl), Wolfie and Wiggy (the cats) need an outdoor enclosure so they can enjoy the sunshine and fresh air more. Well, we could go on and on....

So when we have to buy 'stuff' we always look for coupons, ways to save on shipping, special deals. Sometimes we even find it's less expensive to shop on the Internet than to drive with gas prices the way they are now. Yikes!

We found this shopping discount site, and we got kind of excited. It's like finding all the coupons, sales, special deals, free shipping and more, all in one place.

Hopefully it will save us time and keep us from searching all over the Internet looking for free shipping or $$ off, because a lot of our favorite stores are listed on their site.

Don't forget about the Fruits and Veggies!

Hey everyone. We don't want you to forget about the Love Those Fruits and Veggies Link Love Project......we don't have enough fruits/veggies listed to satisfy us pups!

So, if you have info you can tell us on what fruits and veggies are good for us pups, and want to share in some link love at the same time - join in.

Us pups need you to add variety to our diet!

Summer vacation!

It's summer vacation time and what better way to spend your vacation than with your 'best friend'.

Thank goodness times are changing! There are so many fun things to do with your pup and so many places that they are accepted.

If you're planning your next trip and need some help, here are some great sites that you can use to plan ahead and have the best vacation ever:

Petswelcome.com - a great site with thousands of hotels, campgrounds, beaches and other petfriendly locations.
Travelingdogs.com - a small site with petfriendly resort destinations for the west coast, Florida and the New England area.
Urbanhound.com - for those living or visiting NY, San Francisco, or Chicago.
Petsonthego.com - it's pet travel unleashed!
Dogfriendly.com - the destination for everything dog travel related.

And don't forget to be prepared! Here are some great links to help you get you and Fido ready for the big trip:

Hitting the road with your four-legged friend
Top 10 tips for traveling with your dog
How to travel safely with your pup
Summary of Airline Pet-Transport Policies
Traveling by Car

And always remember, take along your first aid kit - for both human and canine, wear your ID at all times, be safe and have loads of fun!

Reuse and limit waste!

If you're like me and Mum, we have way too many books lying around that we don't need anymore. And there are other books that we'd like to have. Well we found a solution we may try out, it's SwitchPlanet.com - a 'use more - waste less' trading site for books, DVDs, CDs and games!

Now we are all for keeping the planet from waste, well except my 'output' waste of course. But if we can contribute to the good of the planet and get new stuff, well that's cause for action.

SwitchPlanet.com is a place to trade stuff you don't need anymore and get stuff you want. Right now you can trade DVDs, CDs, Books and Games, but soon they say you will be able to trade clothing, electronics, tools and much more.

And its 100% FREE to use.

The goal of SwitchPlanet.com is to establish their site as a premier online community that is committed to helping reduce the impact waste is having on the planet by trading things we no longer use to get the things we want.

And the company and its members proudly support non-profit organizations through cash and product contributions. Organizations like The Red Cross, Boys and Girls Club, Nature Conservancy, American Cancer Society and Child's Play Charity.

Now that's something to bark about!

Yikes, tagged again!

I gotta work on my speed, 'cause I got tagged again. Tagged by The Flying Beagle no less. Do Beagles really fly, no way! But none the less we can always share some info, so here goes:

The Rules: "Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples' sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do."

Maybe instead of writing about me this time, I'll share 8 things about my Mum:

1. My Mum is a freelance marketing consultant to technology companies and is my secretary running my blogs and website in her spare time. Lucky for us she works from home!

2. She loves classical music. We listen to Internet radio all day while she works. That's one of the reasons why she named me Johann, my kitty brothers Wolfie and Wiggy (which is short for Ludwig) and my sis Gracie. Oh and she loves all kinds of other music.

3. Mum loves photography, particularly B&W. But she doesn't get a chance to work in her darkroom much since she got me and Gracie. She secretly wishes for a new Canon EOS5D Digital SLR with a telephoto lens.

4. My Mum grew up in rural Indiana and moved to Indianapolis in her 20's. She spent about 9 years living and working in Texas - Houston and Dallas. But came back to Indiana 'cause she missed the seasons and her friends.

5. Not by choice, but more by happenstance, Mum has been single all her life. She hopes someday to find a great human Dad for us. One that loves animals, of course!

6. Mum was an accomplished flutist when she was younger and played in symphonies during high school. Another reason for our names. She gave it up though to concentrate on her career. Occasionally she's get that 'noisy thing' out and plays it - I howl and the kitties run for the hills!

7. She has been called nice, friendly, sociable, tenacious, determined, cute, athletic, healthy, diplomatic, stubborn, forthright, open minded, resourceful, creative, direct and many other adjectives. Sometimes she is those things, sometimes not.

8. Mum came by training us pups pretty naturally. She even trained my kittie brother, Wolfie, to stay in the yard by voice command when he is outside, and my kittie brother, Wiggy, to play fetch. She loves working/playing with us.

With all the tagging going on lately. I've decided not to tag anyone. But if you'd like to play along, feel free and let us know - we'll link to you!

I'm a thoughtful blogger? Cool!

I am so humbled! My friend Tish has presented me with the Thoughtful Blogger Award. Wow what an honor, thank you Tish!



The Thoughtful Blogger Award was created by Kristy at Writer’s Reviews. The award is for “those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others’ feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping other bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.”

I now present the award to five other thoughtful bloggers.

1. Tip Tail - when I started really getting to know other bloggers this year, I was very fortunate to meet the dog lover behind Tip Tail. She is at the top of my list of two-leggers to meet in person. Not only does Cyn love dogs, agility and rescue, she shares her blogging expertise with us. Thank you!

2. Dogs' Aye View - Talk about a dog lover with a heart of gold! Opie and Gomer's Dog Mum takes the cake. Recently she orchestrated a wonderful blog project to help raise funds for dog rescue - and what a great success it was!

3. Life with a Newf - We met up with Ayla and her Mum recently. Ayla is a Newf; she and her family live in Germany. There is a lot of cool stuff on Life with a Newf - and her Mum shares all kinds of great info for dogs. We've learned a lot from reading their blog. One of our favorite features is the weekly Ayla's Awesome Assays. But I have to say our latest recent favorite post is the one they did on homemade Frosty Paws. Oh my gosh!!! Since I've had tummy troubles the last week, Mum hasn't made me any yet, but she promises she will, very soon.

4. PetsitUSA - There is a lot of dog news to keep up on, with all the recalls and things happening in our lives. We are grateful to know the folks at PetsitUSA.com, they keep us up to date on all kinds of news that's important.

5. AbbyK9 - If I remember correctly, we met AbbyK9 on the Dogs with Blogs forum, and were very impressed with a great project they were doing on keeping your dog cool in the summer, as well as other great info they share in their blog, including terrific product reviews. Can't wait to get a bone to chew and sit down to read their summer heat study.

Congratulations to all these thoughtful bloggers! You now get to pass the award to five other bloggers. Be sure to link to the original post where Kristy describes the award.

1Q, 1NQ!

Back from the trial. Mum, Gracie and I are beat! Mum's tired and sore from running me on that deep sandy dirt, and working the trial all day. I am beat, because I had to run in the stuff. And Gracie is tired because she got to socialize all day with folks and play with other dogs. What a ruff life! We sure had fun.

The day's runs were pretty good. Had a really tough standard course, think only a handful of dogs qualified. And guess what? I was one of 'em! Mum was particularly concerned with a nasty tunnel/dog walk discrimination in the run, as well as a couple of other things. We started the run, and I was running good. She put me in the tunnel, then into the chute....then a double to a single.....then we were facing the tunnel/dogwalk. Mum did something new - she backed up some, got my attention, then shot me up the dogwalk and I did it great!!! Woo hoo! Mum got real excited about that. We've had lots of troubles with these discriminations lately, so it was really cool to get a bit of a handle on how to run 'em clean and have fun doing it.

The rest of the run went real well, despite the fact that Mum worried about having to run completely around a jump, as I took the tire and another jump, but it worked. Then it was on to the table, where Mum always gives me lots of good boys......then jump and a 90 degree turn to the weaves. I made the entrance great, but started to try and snif (that dirt is really smelly), but Mum gave me a good 'weave, buddy, weave' and I perked right up through my weaves. We finished clean and I got loads of treats after that run.

And I have to say it was so great to get real treats, again. Since my tummy hasn't been so good from the gastroenteritis last week, today was the first day Mum gave me real treats. Love 'em!!!

Had our JWW run a couple of hours later. Looked like a good course when Mum walked it. But dogs were dropping bars, taking off courses, and missing weaves over and over. Then it was my turn. We were running really, really well - great speed - then I hit my weaves and this smell just overcame me!!! Mum thought I pulled out of the weaves, but the judge didn't call it. Then we had two tunnels in a row, and I got real confused about which one to go in. Mum got me straightened out and we were off through the rest of the jumps at really good speed again.

Later Mum checked the results and we were over time from all the sniffing and tunnel mixups, but had no other faults. Hmmm, did that judge see Mum touched the weaves by accident, or me try to go in a wrong tunnel, or me miss a weave pole. Guess not! Ha!

Seems we were in good company not q'ing on this run. Only four dogs of the entire class Q'd. Yikes!

So we finished the weekend with three Q's, 1 DQ, a second, a third and a fourth place. Not too shabby for the first time running on loose, deep sand.

Trainer J is gone for the next couple of weeks so we are heading down to Columbus to train with a friend of Mum's. We are so looking forward to our trip and training sessions. Mum says I have to work on my discriminations, weave speed, and gambles. And Gracie needs to work on her ring focus - 'cause guess what Mum did? She entered Gracie in a trial on August 8th and 9th. One run a day. Hope Gracie can keep her head on her runs!!!!

Hee, Hee! NQ!!!

Mum and I were back at the trail again this morning. What a beautiful weather weekend we are having. It may be 86, but there is so little humidity and a real nice breeze. Great running weather.

Think I told you yesterday that we are running in a horse arena this weekend. They grated the sandy dirt last night and rolled. But for some reason, it was a lot deeper today in the jumpers ring. I ran jumpers and nearly sank in spots. So I dropped a few bars, and didn't make some turns. But gotta say that running in that stuff is the BEST!!!! I love it and am having a ball!

Our standard run Mum did a front cross too early for me on a double and I trashed it. So no Q, but we used the rest of the run for practice. Again, way fun running on that stuff. And since we didn't Q, we worked on some new stuff and did some experimenting (some gamble stuff, leading out, etc.) I love it when Mum mixes it up, keeps me on my toes!

Tomorrow is the last day of the trail. Wish us luck, K?

DQ!!!

Mum and I headed off for the agility trial this morning. It was cool and damp and a little drizzly. We have never been at this venue before, but we heard it may be kind of neat! Well it was!!!

A great horse arena, under cover from the sun, and about 3 inches of sandy dirty to run through. Mum's kinda sore from running in it. But when I saw that stuff for the first time, I thought I was in our Winter training barn. Yaaahoooo!!!!

Our first run was Exec B Standard. The course was open, no real discriminations (that have been killing us). So we were hopeful. Mum led out a bit, good thing, because once I started running on that sand, it was like I was shot out of a cannon! She barely made it to the end of the dog walk to manage my contact. But we did, ran the rest of the course pretty well and with good speed. I even got a good sniff in after the chute. Just for ole times sake.

Then we had Exec B JWW. The course had - count them - three pinwheels. That means we have to run in a circle doing three jumps when our handlers pretty much stay in the same spot. Well they are the most demotivating things on earth. I like to run with my Mum! Well she tried some new stuff - some of that backing up stuff when I was in the pinwheel and I kept my speed up pretty well.

The course were good, but the times on the course were really tight. Some that have Q'd in the past didn't make time today. Good thing I'm feeling better and running pretty fine.

We ended up Q'ing both runs, another DQ! Yippee!!!! That makes 5 DQ's and 141 MACH points. We on our way.

And the best part - is we get to go back tomorrow and Sunday!

Now here's a deal!

On our website - JohannTheDog.com - we carry a huge selection of all natural, organic, and good for you treats, vitamins, supplements and foods through our affiliation with OnlyNaturalPet.com.

OnlyNaturalPet.com carries a wide variety of brands like; Ark Naturals, Dogswell, Honest Kitchen, Wellness, Halo, Newman's Own, Merrick, Nutri-Vet, Raw Advantage, Whole Life, Zukes and many, many more!

And now they have a great deal! If you are a first time customer you get 5% off your first order by entering code SS15 at checkout. And, if you've purchase from them before you can still get 5% off your order if you spend $75.00 or more, by entering code SS75!

Sam's Yams are my personal favorite. They are great, healthy chews that are good for you, and a very nice alternative to rawhides. We highly recommend them.

So if you're crunched for time, or having a hard time finding really great foods and supplements for your pup - try out OnlyNaturalPet.com sometime.