Monday, March 31, 2008

In translation!

We read a lot of dog blogs - love keeping up with all our pup friends all over the world. Some of our pup friends have blogs in different languages which makes it challenging sometimes. But there are a couple of tools we use to help us find out what they've been up to.

We have two favorites - Google Translator and Windows Live Translator. They are our favorites because they both do a pretty doggone good job of translating and you provide url of the page your want to read and it will translate the entire web page. Makes it a whole lot easier than cutting and pasting the contents of the blog and then getting the translation.

We just wish both of them would add on some other languages to make it easier.

What do all of you use to translate some of your favorite blogs?

Hanging out!

The weather was nice most of the weekend. And my kittie bros, Wolfie and Wiggy, just couldn't resist treading on my territory - the yard.

Wiggy wanted to check out the weaves, so I thought I'd herd him into doing them right. But he just didn't get the hang of them. Maybe we should use those big fiberglass columns to get him started on weaving?

Wolfie kept peaking out the door, but he knows better than to venture out or get chased by some feisty dogs.

Gracie has something firm on her mind that was down at the pond.

I just wanted to play!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Big congrats to the winners of the AKC National Agility Championships!

The 2008 AKC National Agility Championships are history. Great competition, great dogs, great handlers. Big congratulations to all those who competed!

8" Finals
1 - MACH2 Pal O'Mine Allie (Papillon) - Owner: Daneka Hedges
2 - MACH3 Kt's Double Trouble (Toy Fox Terrier) - Owner: Nancy Louise Jones
3 - NAC MACH17 Pinpaps Jonquil Of Skipnlena MXF (Papillon) - Owner: Robin Cohen

12" Finals
1 - MACH4 Hilltop Kelsi Lee Kinsella (Shetland Sheepdog) - Owner: Dee Anna Gamel
2 - NAC MACH9 Blue Moon Shine On Willow XF (Australian Shepherd) - Owner: Michelle Beardsley
3 - MACH Majestykbelcroftblinkofaneye (Shetland Sheepdog) - Owner: John Nys

16" Finals
1 - Contact Point's Driven To Win MX MXJ XF (Border Collie) - Owner: Kate Moureaux
2 - MACH3 Triune's Feelin Hot Hot Hot (Shetland Sheepdog) - Owner: Karen Holik
3 - MACH2 Devil's Surprise OF (Shetland Sheepdog) - Owner: Diane Goodspeed

20" Finals
1 - MACH Hidden Valley's Crew Of Two (Border Collie) - Owner: Kendall Fairchild
2 - Artemis Von Schoerling CD MX MXJ OF (Belgian Malinois) - Owner: Anne Riba
3 - MACH3 MS. Hankey's Penny Rose (Australian Shepherd) - Owner: James Jayko
4 - NAC MACH2 Sagehill Happily Ever After XF (Border Collie) - Owner: Paulena Renee Hope

24" Finals
1 - MACH2 Sagehill's Time Steppin' Jive (Border Collie) - Owner: Carrie K Jones
2 - Brasstax Lyrical Skylar MX MXJ MXF (Border Collie) - Owner: Ann Zarr
3 - NAC CH MACH8 Super Star XF (Border Collie) - Owner: Linda Mecklenburg

26" Finals
1 - MACH Hob Nob Sharper Image XF (Border Collie) - Owner: Geri Hernandez
2 - MACH Bluefire Causin' Commotion NF (Border Collie) - Owner: Ann L Braue
3 - Riv Streaker MX MXJ NF (Border Collie) - Owner: Alicia Nicholas

Next year's 2009 AKC National Agility Championship will be held in Concord, North Carolina at the Cabarrus Arena on March 27, 28 & 29, 2009. The qualifying requirements will be 6 Double Q's and 400 points. The qualifying period started on 12/1/07 and will go through 11/30/08.

Here are a couple of videos of some of my favorite teams to watch!

This is Luka with Ashley Deacon, last year's winners in the 16" class! They are always super fun to watch.

This is Pam Fish with Flash. We see them at trials throughout the year and they have always been so nice to us newbies! Nice run! They came in 8th in the 16" class.

This is Sherry Kluever and Ramson. Sherry is a former World Team Member and we see her at trials many times throughout the year. She has been very helpful to us, especially with Snooker strategy now and then! Nice run!

A little training this weekend!

The weather was a little nicer this weekend and we got in some practice. Mum was very tired, but she tried to keep going as much as she could. Been a lot of work for her this week...

Gracie and I are both having teeter issues. Everyplace we go the teeter is different and we just aren't doing the same things on all the different teeters, so we worked on that, as best we could on our own teeter.

Mum wanted to do some work on sending Gracie to the tunnel. She did well! And we wanted to continue working on my weave speed, as well as remind me what distance is.

We're signed up for a trial in Columbus, Ohio for next weekend. Got the kittie sitter lined up! Mum has signed me up for four trials coming up in the next six weeks, two USDAA (gotta get one more Standard for my MAD title) and two AKC trials - right now we sticking with dirt and grass, since I'm not doing too well on other surfaces right now, just being too cautious.

We are really looking forward to being in a trial again. Just love the place we're going next weekend, should be loads of fun. Hope Mum can keep up, she is so out of shape trying to get me back in shape and I'm taking up all the treadmill time. Looking at her, you'd think she was wearing maternity clothes or somthin', just kidding Mum!

Here's a vid of some of the training this weekend...

AKC National Agility Championships - Day 3!

We're a little slow going today - lazy day. We went to check on the progress on the AKC website and they've already completed the Hybrid class! Seems our friends Ruth and Zina didn't get in a clean run this morning, but they sure did really well for their first time at Nationals.

We saw that a couple of nice folks we met from Tennessee at the Corydon trial are set for the finals this afternoon - Joel and Marvel, and Jean and Keesha, good for them! Also big congrats to Jenn and Guess. It will be a really nice 16" final! Looking forward to that.

It looks like two handlers will have two dogs each in the finals - wonder how common that is? Should be really competitive in all the heights! Good luck to everyone.

If you want to see the results for the Hybrid - which is round 3, click here. And you can watch for more results coming tonight for the Challenger and Final Rounds.

Check out this link for some videos from the event - they seem to be pouring in...

The creators of one of the blogs I read pretty often is attending and has had many clean runs in a row - not sure if they made the finals, but if they didn't they surely should have!

And the 2009 AKC National Agility Championship will be held in Concord, NC. The Cabarrus Arena will be home to the Nationals March 27, 28 & 29, 2009. The qualifying requirements will be 6 Double Q's and 400 points. The qualifying period started on 12/1/07 and will go through 11/30/08.

Here's the course for the finals later today!

Good luck everyone and everypup!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

AKC National Agility Championships - Update Day 2!

Day two of the AKC National Agility Championships are complete and included Standard in Round 1 and Jumpers in Round 2.

Cumulative Standings through Round 2 include:


8"
1 Phoebe, Kimberly Sisak Papillon
2 Pip, Nancy Louise Jones, Toy Fox Terrier
3 Pierre, Diane Overstreet, Papillon

12"
1 Willow, Michelle Beardsley, Australian Shepherd
2 April, Gail Donaldson, Pomeranian
3 Leo, Lyndsay Mulligan, Papillon

16"
1 Flash, Pamela Fish, Border Collie
2 Vixen, Robin Kletke, Border Collie
3 Luka, Ashley Deacon, Pyrenean Shepherd

20"
1 Streak, Diane Sanders, Border Collie
2 Tessa, Frank Lafata, Border Collie
3 Teak, Kendall Fairchild, Border Collie

24"
1 Jive, Carrie Jones, Border Collie
2 Skylar, Ann Zarr, Border Collie
3 Kestrel, Bridget McKnight, Border Collie

26"
1 Scream, Ann Braue, Border Collie
2 Focus, Geri Hernandez, Border Collie
3 Pickle, Alicia Nicholas, Border Collie

Our good friends, Zina and Ruth Goode, are at 40th place with two clean runs in Round 1 and Round 2 (way to go you two)!

Tomorrow's Round 3 will be a Hybrid course (Standard course times will be set between Standard class course times and JWW class course times based on the equipment used.), Round 4, Challenger's, (which may be a Standard, JWW or Hybrid course) and Round 5, the Finals, will be a Standard course.

AKC National Agility Championship - Day two!

The individual competition gets underway today at the AKC National Agility Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Here are the courses for the day: Standard and JWW.

Yesterday's final results are in for the International State Competition. The winners are:

26" Class
1st: MACH Hob Nob I.O. Ewe, Border Collie - Owner: Jef Blake
2nd: MACH Hob Nob Shaper Image XF, Border Collie - Owner: Geri Hernandez
3rd: MACH Bluefire Causin' Commotion NF, Border Collie - Owner: Ann Braue

18" Class
1st: MACH Dylan MXF, Rat Terrier - Owner: Angie Benacquisto
2nd: MACH4 Romayne's Prairie Skye VCD1 TDX XF, Shetland Sheepdog - Owner: Lori Michaels
3rd: MACH2 Devil's Surprise OF, Shetland Sheepdog - Owner: Diane Goodspeed

14" Class
1st: MACH4 Hilltop Kelsi Lee Kinsella, Shetland Sheepdog - Owner: Dee Anna Gamel
2nd: MACH3 Tell-Tail's Tri to Imagine XF, Cocker Spaniel - Owner: Irene Barrie
3rd: MACH 2 Cosmo Omega Edward-Jones, Poodle - Owners: Lynne Edwards & Tom Jones

And the winning state was Wisconsin with Ann Braue with Spree & Scream; Doug Brejcha and Lexi; Tammy Cutsforth and Skye.

Enjoy some of the action from day one!

Friday, March 28, 2008

AKC National Agility Championships: Update!

Some of the results are coming in for the International State Tournament being held today at the AKC National Agility Championships.

The first round of JWW and Standard have been completed and results posted. Over 700 dogs competed in the first round and we were really happy to see a couple of our friends qualified in Round one! Results from portions of round two are just now being posted. Be sure and click here for all the results. The state team finals will be held at approximately 4:30 PM Tulsa time.

Tomorrow starts the individual competition with the following schedule:

7:45 am Course Map Distribution (Information Booth)
7:45 - 8:15 am Exhibitor Check-in at Information Booth
8:00 - 8:30 am General Walk-through’s (All heights)
8:45 am Opening ceremony - National Anthem & Judge’s Briefing
9:00 am Individual Group Walk-through’s
9:10 am Judging Begins

We'll be following the action throughout the day and bring you any news and results we find.

Fence? Say what?

After my fun time the other day off leash, Mum still hasn't decided if she'll let me do it again. Guess she'll just have to see what my 'mood' is for the day and go from there.

You couldn't see it very well in the video, but while I was out hiking several days ago, I headed out for a nice inspection of an amazing pool on the back lot of one of the humongous houses on the edge of the wooded area. But Mum called me back before I could inspect fully. And then the house next door to them I couldn't even get to because they had this amazing fence around their property.

We live in a really nice area, but have one of the least expensive homes around. Mum thought it was a good idea for resale value. We think she's gonna be right! But I have to tell you about this amazing fence! The fence looked like a concrete fence, but it wasn't. It was one of those vinyl fences that looks like concrete.

It was very cool, but the only thing I didn't like is that you could see through it, but it sure did give a lot of privacy - I couldn't get into their yard no matter how hard I tried.

So this weekend is supposed to be really nice. We're going to do some agility in the backyard, some spring cleaning, work some for Mum's clients, and hopefully, hopefully, go for another hike - off lead? TBD!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend, with pawsome weather to enjoy!

AKC National Agility Championships get underway!

Today the AKC National Agility Championships get underway in Tulsa, Oklahoma with the International State Team Tournament.

The Jumpers, Standard and Finals courses have been posted. (These are PDF files and may take a bit to load). We'll be back later today to post more. In the meantime, here is a full schedule of events. And a little about what one of the bloggers is saying who is attending and competing at the event:

Adventures of the Miller Pack

And here's a bit of news from around the US:

From high school teacher to dog agility trainer, competitor - courtesy of the The Herald in Puyallup, WA
Quad-City Doberman pinscher ranked nationally for agility skills - courtesy of the Quad-City Times in Davenport, IA
Local dog to compete in AKC agility championship - courtesy of the Battlecreek Inquirer in Battlecreek, MI

Canine CPR reaches 4th top lens on Squidoo!

Wow, we achieve a really big milestone today! Our Canine CPR lens is the 4th top ranked lens overall, and the #1 ranked lens in the Animals and Nature category on Squidoo today! Woo, hoo!

There are over 500,000 lenses on Squidoo. To be ranked this high is an incredible honor.

In August of 2007, we created this lens in honor of our great blogging friend, Tish and her pup Cruella. Because, in February of 2007, Tish and Cruella had a really big scare. Cruella choked on a piece of hot dog and couldn't breath.

Tish told the story on her blog, "Cruella became disoriented and started to stumble around the room. I started screaming, and I continued to whack her between the shoulders, hoping to dislodge the food." Every time I read Tish's post about this terrifying night, I start to get those scary chills and go over and hug my Mum. It really makes me scared and at the same time grateful that I'm alive.

Recently, Tish attended a Red Cross training and became certified in pet first aid and cpr. It's an incredibly important and life saving program they offer, and Tish's program only cost $25.00.

Please, sign up for a first aid training course near you, as soon as you can. Your pups life is too important, and you just never know when something can go terribly wrong. What you know may be just the help your pup needs in times of crisis.


Stuff on dog cars!

When you do stuff with your dog and travel, you see just about everything. Especially the personalization of cars.

Dog folks somehow love putting stuff on their cars. Like those magnets and stickers, and the obligatory bumper sticker. And we see a lot of folks doing those window films now for their back car windows, showing amazing action shows of their pups doing agility.

We only have one thing on our car now, and that's a JohannTheDog.com license plate holder. Someday we may do a little more advertising on the car. Maybe try out car magnets to advertise the website.

VistaPrint has a wide range of things that they can print for you at very affordable prices including checks, business cards, rubber stamps, calenders, postcards, note cards, sticky notes, and now they are offering car magnets. VistaPrint has over 12 million customer worldwide and they are the leading online supplier of high quality and easy graphic design services for customized printed products.

All you have to do is upload your design and have them print it. And their work is fully guaranteed. We uploaded one of our logos to see what it would look like on a car magnet. Wadda ya think?

Thursday, March 27, 2008

2008 Midwest Championships announced!

Mark your calendars for October 24-26, 2008.

The 2008 Midwest Championships will offer 3 days of Agility, Rally and Obedience competition as well as Agility Team events and Super Rally just to name a few! The event will be held at the Regional Sports Center in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

This exciting 3 day event will indeed have a championship atmosphere with huge trophies and ribbons as well cash…yes you heard right…$$CASH PRIZES$$ to be awarded to the top teams. There will be an abundance of vendors on site to provide products and services to delight your canine best friends!

Max 200 has signed on as a major sponsor and will provide all the equipment for all three areas of competition!

This event is for everyone. There are no qualifications or number of points required for the current year. While this is going to be much more than an average trial we to encourage the average weekend competitor along with the top handler to come out and try your hand. You will be tested to see what you and your dog can do — but we will strive to make it a fun and fair experience for everyone!

Join the new Yahoo Group to keep up-to-date, and visit their website for more information!

I love gadgets!

I just love gadgets. My Mum does too, anything to make life more fun, interesting and easier!

We often frequent a site called PetGadgets.com - Innovative Pet Products. They have all the latest and greatest pet gadgets on the market. Here are just a few of our favorites that we'd like to try?
  • Vibrating Pet Massager - for all those sore muscles after agility.
  • Canine Cooler - to keep me cool on the blasting hot days at trials.
  • Staywell Eco Clean Dog Waste Disposal System - to be more green about disposing of the doo.
  • Panasonic Network Camera and Pet Cam - so you could all keep an eye on me!
  • A Paint Kit for Dog by Pup-Casso - I was once a budding artist, maybe I could pick it up again and add to the family income?
  • Pooch IQ Kit - I always knew I was smart, maybe now I could prove it!
And they have lots more fun, useful products, including the Pawsitive I.D.™ is a DNA testing kit for dogs & cats, so you can really know what your pet's made of.

A dog whisperer of another kind!

I posted this on my other blog, Rescue Me, but wanted to share it with you too!

We found an interesting article in the London Telegraph about a dog whisperer of another sort. Christopher Middleton on a vicar who believes godliness is next to dogliness, writes about the sermons of the Dog Whisperer...
"It was 9.45 in the morning and I was going to the pub to get blotto. My company had gone bankrupt and I had lost my house, my cars and all my money," he recalls. "Suddenly, I saw this border collie lying in the middle of the road, about to be run over by a truck.

"I don't know why, but I called out 'Annie!', as in Orphan Annie, and she ran straight over to me, the truck missing her only by inches. It was a moment that completely changed my life."

No question about it. A rescue dog in more ways than one, Annie accompanied the newly impoverished Graeme and his wife, Maureen, to their new, downsized life in Devon ("We went there because at least the fresh air was free").

It soon became clear that, although he had in the past been a chef, a soldier, a gardener, a painter and the creative director of a large advertising agency, Graeme's true vocation lay in training - and talking to - dogs.

Put simply, Graeme, now 71, believes that we all have the ability to communicate with our four-pawed friends, and they with us. "Everyone knows that if a dog is wagging its tail, it's happy, don't they?" he says. "What I do just takes things a stage further."
Read more!

Sun protection!

Now that it's coming up on main agility season here in the Midwest, Mum is always looking for clothing that's comfy, breathable, looks good and has great sun protection. She doesn't want to get those agility trial day sun burns - they can be dangerous!

She came across a site today that sells sun protective clothing - everything from hats and shirts, to pants, shorts and jackets - for men, women and children. Their UV protective clothing provides a UPF of 50+ so you can play outdoors with confidence.

Mum really liked this cute shirt, and now that's she's been loosing those Winter inches, she just may be ready to wear it come hot weather time.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

AKC National Agility Championships!

It's that time of year again - time for the AKC National Agility Championships! This year they will be held on starting this Friday, March 28-30 at Ford Truck Arena and Mustang Arena at Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Check back here, we may be able to gather some results info and vids!

To be eligible for this competition, dogs must have earned 6 Double Q's and 400 MACH points from the Regular Excellent B Standard and Jumpers with Weaves classes during the qualifying dates of December 1, 2006 through and including November 30, 2007.

Judges for this years event include: Laura English, Evansville, IN; Donald Farage, Jr., Bartlett, TN; Zera Holm, Fresno, CA; Rachel Long, Rosharon, TX; Jean Munger, Hampshire, IL; and Pamela Sturtz, Afton, NY. The event will include the AKC National Championship, and the AKC International State Team Tournament.

The American Kennel Club is announcing the addition of the National Agility Champion title this year. This title will be awarded to dogs that win their jump height at the AKC National Agility Championship. The overall winner for each jump height at the end of the event will be entitled to be designated the AKC “National Agility Champion” (NAC) of (year) and will be permitted to use the letters “NAC” preceding the AKC registered name of each dog winning this title.

The National Agility Championship will consist of Round #1 Excellent B Standard agility (all dogs). Round #2 Excellent B JWW Agility (all dogs). Round #3 Hybrid Standard/JWW Class (all dogs). Round #4 Challenger’s Class (only open to top 4 dogs per jump height as noted below from each of Rounds #1 through #3). Round #5 Championship Class (open only to top 57 [dependent on dogs entered in the 26” jump height] dogs overall through 3 Rounds of competition plus a maximum of 1 additional dog per jump height represented by the winners from the Challenger’s class).

Standard Course Times by jump height:
8” minimum of 2.55 yards per second
12” minimum of 2.70 yards per second
16” minimum of 2.85 yards per second
20” minimum of 3.10 yards per second
24” minimum of 3.10 yards per second
26” minimum of 3.10 yards per second

Jumpers With Weaves Course Times by jump height
8” minimum of 3.25 yards per second
12” minimum of 3.25 yards per second
16” minimum of 3.50 yards per second
20” minimum of 3.75 yards per second
24” minimum of 3.75 yards per second
26” minimum of 3.75 yards per second

Photography and video services will be provided by Great Dane Photo Bow Wow Video, and Sirius Photography.

Other key links for information:
Good luck everyone! And special good luck wishes to my friends competing from Indiana! I'll be sitting back on my teak outdoor furniture, cheering you on!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

An adventure!

Mum found a great place last week that we could go and get in a little hiking, just about a block or so away. The land belongs to one of the largest Churches in the city and they have about 50 acres, right in the middle of town.

We had walked over there before, but never ventured into the wooded areas, because it was too cold, too wet, or, or, or. But the past week Mum has taken us over there several times and we have had a blast!

Once we get into the property, we are pretty far from the roads, so Mum has let me off leash. And I've been really good about staying close or coming when she calls me and I'm getting a little too far from her.

The land has an amazing stretch of lawn, that eventually leads to a woodland type area - rare around here in the city. We have a lot of fun running on the lawn, chasing Mum and playing in the brush, jumping over sticks and fallen trees. I even jumped right into the pond the other day to cool off. (Got a quick rinse off when I got home). And there are some amazing homes that back up to the woodland area, you can see them in the video.

Yesterday we took our usual walk back there. Mum had Gracie on a long line and working with her on her 'come when called'. I was off lead some, but I was being a bit stubborn yesterday and not coming immediately when Mum called me. So she put us both back on short leads. We walked into the furthest parts of the land in the wooded area, and just then we all heard something in the brush. It was a red fox! And dog, did I ever want to chase that thing. It took one look at the three of us and took off! We went berserk!

In all the years (and, there are many) that Mum has lived in Indiana, she has never seen a fox. And she used to spend lots of time in rural Indiana, roaming the creeks and woods, and farmland behind where she grew up. A possum, yes. Raccoons, you bet. Field mice, all the time. Deer, of course! But never had she seen a wild red fox. She just stood there and watched the quick thing, and never thought to get out the camera (the pic is one we found). It would have been gone too soon anyway.

So, then we were pretty worked up for a while. Mum walked us more in the grassy areas, and finally thought I was calm enough to run a bit off lead. But what happened then? You guessed it. My nemeses, the bird! Just as Mum let me off lead, here comes a bird swooping down nearly touching my head. So what did I do - gave chase, of course.

And did I hear Mum calling? Nope, not until I got about 300 yards away from her. And she was yelling very loudly! About gave her a heart attack. As the birds headed for the trees, I went over the hill and Mum couldn't see me. But just a half-second later, I came running back to her at full speed.

Whew, what a scare. Mum loved on me and had had enough of my antics for the day. So we headed home.

Every time (well, except yesterday) Mum calls me I come back to her. I am soooo good about that. I may go a little further than she wants (even without those legal steroids, just kidding!), but I always come when called. Yesterday it took me way too long for her taste.

She so wants me to be able to hike off lead with her - it's amazing exercise, jumping over sticks and brush, up and down hills, and it is much better for my neck and back than being on lead. I do amazing long distance stays for her, every time we go for a walk. I come when I'm called 99.9% of the time, right away.

Do you think this means it's the end of off lead for me? Will we never find a safe place to hike? Mum has yet to decide, but any decision probably won't happen for at least a couple of days until her heart rate goes back to normal.

Just one more reason to have an organic lawn!

Many of you know that we have an organic lawn. No unnatural fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides have ever been used on our property since we bought the land and built our house on it in 2000. And before we got the property it was idle farm land for about 15 years.

Why do we not use these 'chemicals'? Because we believe that those unnatural fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are very dangerous - not only to us pups and the kitties, but to my Mum, and children who visit, as well. Despite the non-use of these 'chemicals,' we have beautiful flowering plants, birds, bees, butterflies, and a lush green (mostly weed free) lawn.

Mum grew up in an organic environment. GrandMum was organic, before organic was cool. Mum ate organically grown veggies from GrandMum's garden all the time. And she turned the entire family into vegetarians when Mum was 16. So it's no surprise that my Mum has continued the practice - all that Scott's 4 step program is really foreign to her and really unnecessary.

Because of our 'green' belief, we started a blog devoted to ways in which you can help your pup go green and have a healthier, happier pup and environment. Check it out sometime. And be sure and read our post about keeping your lawn safe and green!

The other day on Raise A Green Dog, we posted about all natural lawn and garden care alternatives and the dangers that chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides pose for children and pets. We received a comment that we just had to share.

Melinda, at ElementsInTime, told us about what happened to her kittie, Raisin, after the vineyard behind their home was sprayed. It's a tail with a happy ending, luckily, but one that is incredibly important. Be sure and stop by and read her post - Don't Use Herbicides or Pesticides, ever!

And keep safe out there!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

A smart dog!

Guess if your two-leggers gets tennis elbow, you could get yourself one of these!

The pups two-legger says he built the ball machine because he thought his dog Jerry, might like it and that it would be something fun for him to build. So after two years of on and off work, with many safety features such as IR proximity sensors to protect Jerry and his son from the machine, he finally completed it. Guess he won't need term insurance with all those safety features. Good going!

Fun vids on Squidoo!

We've been Squidooing again and put together some fun lenses! All videos, all the time!

If you need a break for a few minutes check out these:


Warning: After watching some of the funny dog videos you may need to check out wrinkle cream reviews 'cause you're gonna get some laugh lines!

CNN - Dogs have blogs, well, duh!

Interesting article on CNN.com they other day...we were wondering where they've been?
Even your dog has a blog

(LifeWire) -- It goes without saying that Max, a 3-year-old golden retriever can't talk. But that doesn't stop him from chronicling his dog's life -- as told to his owner Aubrey Jones -- on the blog Max the Golden Retriever.
art.max.lw.jpg

Max the golden retriever blogs about tennis balls, romps in the park and getting his humans to give him treats.

There are trips to the dog park, musings on his owners' socks, confessions about crushes on poodles and, of course, his passion for tennis balls.

"Hey, look, a tennis ball," a December 17, 2007, post reads. "My long-lost tennis ball. ... How many hours has it been since I saw you last?"

These days, it seems everyone from the UPS man to your mother-in-law is a blogger. At last count, the blog search engine Technorati.com shows nearly 113 million blogs on the Internet, and it estimates that more than 120,000 blogs are created each day.

So why shouldn't pets have voices? At least that's the sentiment of lots of pet owners who have set up blogs for their dogs, cats, goldfish and hamsters to channel their household companions online.

Read more!

It's getting to be bird watching and herding time!

I just love watching and herding birds. To me it's one of my favorite pass times. And since Spring has hit here in Indiana, the birds are back!!!!

So when we came across a site that has all the pupular brands of telescopes and binoculars we had to share it with ya! Anacortes Telescope & Wild Bird carries Bushnell, as well as Leica binoculars, and Celestron. And they have all types of bird-watching clothing, supplies and accessories.

Now I could really use something like this! Keeping a closer eye on those birds would be great! I could see if they are coming near our yard from far, far away. And as they swoop closer, I could be ready to herd them out of the yard!

I don't know if you remember, but Mum finally got a vid of me herding birds last Summer. We thought we'd share it with ya, again!

Friday, March 21, 2008

It's National Poison Prevention Week!

This week is National Poison Prevention week. So we thought it was a great time to bring awareness to all those dangers out there for us pups!

The ASPCA website has a great page devoted to keep your pup safe. They are the premier animal poison control center in North America, the APCC is a great resource for any animal poison-related emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I have to admit that we've used their wonderful hotline on one occasion when Gracie got into something she shouldn't have. And they helped us a lot, keeping her from getting sick and suffering ill affects.

If you think that your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, make the call that can make all the difference: (888) 426-4435. A $60 consultation fee may be applied to your credit card.

They also have a free Pet Safety Pack that you can order from their website. We ordered it recently and are really glad we have all their info handy. The kit includes a pet rescue window decal to alert rescue personnel that pets are inside your home. The pack also includes an ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet—a great way to keep the APCC's toll-free emergency number handy at all times!

When you get a chance stop by and visit some of their great resource articles, including:

17 Common Poisonous Plants
Pet Poison Tips: All You Need To Know
What To Do If Your Pet Is Poisoned
Okay or No Way?

This just in...Free ASPCA Day Kits!

Sign up for ASPCA News Alert and you'll get a chance to win one of 100 free ASPCA Day kits. Each contains a T-shirt, bandana, and 10 wristbands to share with friends and fellow animal lovers in your community.

My identity!

Being a prolific Internet pup, keeping my identity safe is important. Did you know that identity theft can happen to anyone. Itchmo.com posted last year that "people are not the only victims of identify theft, pets can be victims too."

Their story tells about Blue, a prize-winning standard poodle in the UK, who had his identity stolen over the Internet. Lynne Day, Blue’s owner, said that they were targeted after his pedigree details were accidentally posted online.

If you are looking for a way to protect your identity, we came across a company called lifelock, that could help! They offer proactive identity theft protection that they say is a proven solution that prevents your identity from being stolen before it happens. For $10 per month they will protect your identity and personal information with a guarantee of up to $1,000,000.

I wonder if they protect a dog's identity too?

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Help find the Dogwise trailer!

We just got an email from our friends at Dogwise.com! Their truck was stolen here in Indianapolis in early February. Read more and see if you can help find their stolen truck, especially if you live in and around the Indy area! Here's their email...

As many of you may know, the Dogwise.com show booth and staff were recently in Indianapolis, Indiana to sell books at the Indy Winter Classic in early February. Unfortunately we were unable to attend the show when our truck and trailer, with all of our equipment and inventory, were stolen the day before setting up. It was disappointing to our customers and for Bill and Judy--the Dogwise.com "Road Warriors." No inventory meant no show.

A piece of good news is that our truck was recently found abandoned in the parking lot of a strip club in Indianapolis. But our trailer is still out there somewhere, we suspect somewhere in the Midwest within 500 miles of Indianapolis. While we are actively working with the Indianapolis Police Department to recover our trailer and contents, we realized that we have many loyal customers in the area who could help us out. If you see a Wells Cargo Gooseneck Trailer that looks like it might be lost, abandoned, or generally out of place, would you please contact us? Also, if you see or hear about someone or some business having lots of dog books (who but Dogwise carries thousands of dog books and videos?) let us know right away. Please call 509-679-6966 anytime, or call the Dogwise office 8am-4pm Pacific Time at 800-776-2665. You can also call the Indianapolis Police Department Automobile Theft Department 317-327-2695, Trailer case #dp08019982.

The trailer we are looking for is similar to the one pictured here. It is white with no lettering on it. It had a Washington state license plate number 8092SY, but the plates may have been switched. We believe that the thieves thought there was something exciting in the trailer, like a race car or antiques, and once they realize their haul is more educational in nature, they'll just walk away. It could be anywhere, so keep a lookout. We sincerely appreciate your help.

Doing yoga!

If you've ever done yoga (like my Mum) then you know that the right yoga clothes are important. Can't have anything baggy, it ends up over your head when you're doing the downward facing dog! So you need something tighter, but yet very comfy so you can bend and stretch every which way.

Mum is always looking for resources for good quality clothing for workouts and she came across a site today that has some really nice clothing just fit for yoga. They have all types and colors of shirts, tanks and pants for men and women. And they have yoga mats and other accessories, like the new Yogitoes, and blocks, straps, pillows and more!

Agility training, yeah!

On our way to agility training last night, we saw that the White River was way, way, up after all the rain we had! Check that out!

We got to go to agility training last night. A couple of friends and Mum rented the ring at the training center and we had so much fun! Mum was definitely having an off night, but I wasn't. I'm getting faster and more confident every week. Mum is really happy to see me getting back to my usual self more and more after my muscle pull.

Both Gracie and I were faster tonight, than last week. We had Mum huffing and puffing. Gracie didn't run off as much, and she was really having some fun, tail wagging the entire time. Her contacts are looking pretty good (teeter needs work) and more independent all the time, she still needs Mum to be close a lot of the time, although her distance is getting better and better. And she had some weave trouble last week, but seemed to get over it this week. (Mum's fault.) Since she's getting faster, Mum needs to work on her timing to keep Gracie's attention, fur sure!

I was more confident, and my speed was much better - not running full out but getting closer all the time. Even my weaves were looking a little better on this flooring, this week. And we got to work on a little gamble which was fun, too!

Mum's handling stunk last night, did I mention that. Her head just wasn't quite there, she forgot the course, was really slow and off on the cues for both of us, got in my way and Gracie's, well, it just wasn't her day. But we still had loads of fun!

Here's a quick vid of some of our training last night. Mum is sore this morning, but I'm feeling good! We hope you enjoy, and you may want to turn the sound down, Mum and us pups make a lot of noise!

I hate that doggone Dyson!

I hate the Dyson! Yep, you heard me. Of course Mum absolutely loves the doggone thing. She used to have another vac. One day she was using it to clean out the car, pulled the car into the garage and ran over the hose. But she was glad, 'cause then she could run out and get a Dyson! And she did, she wouldn't have any other vacuum now.

She has the one with the ball, but we see that they have a new one out called the Dyson DC17 animal absolute. This one has that cyclone technology that makes sure you have strong and constant suction. And you can certainly tell, she has to empty the doggone thing at least three times when she uses it.

Why don't I like it? It's noisy, it's sneaky, it's spooky, an it always seems like it's chasing me! But Mum is not about to part with it, that fur sure!

A little trick fun on a rainy day!

It's been raining a lot here lately, and that doesn't make for much outdoor fun for me and Gracie. Today is supposed to be nicer and maybe we'll be able to get outside. Last night we did get to go to agility practice, which we'll post about soon. In the meantime, Mum has been working on some tricks with us again.

We did the usual, sit, down, bang, go target, beg, dance, rollover and more. Gracie's learned a new trick that you can see, it's bye, bye - and she does it so well! I love the little head tilt she does when she waves.

Mum introduced a box to both of us the other day. Gracie isn't quite the type of pup to offer up as many behaviors as I am, yet, and she wasn't that interested in the box, but she had a little fun with it. The first time Mum showed me the box the other day, I was on it, literally, right from the beginning. This is the second time Gracie and I have seen box and exploring all it's possibilities and opportunities. We found this trick on the DogTricksAcademy.com website - they are having their monthly contest featuring pup interaction with a box and we thought it would be fun to try.

We also have started learning another new trick - leaving a treat until Mum says the right number for us to grab it. Obviously she is encouraging us at this point when to take the treat with a difference in voice inflection, but soon she will be fading that.

We'll hope you enjoy the vid, and happy tricking, oh wait, that's not right! BOL!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Crufts agility vids!

Wanna see some fun agility run at Crufts last week? Here you go!

Large Dog Finals - Part 1 and Part 2

Medium Dog Finals - Part 1 and Part 2
Small Dog Finals

Team Semi


Enjoy! And if you'd like to see more, click here, or go to YouTube and search for Crufts 2008 agility

A home office fit for a dog!

Every Internet and computer savvy dog, like me and my sis, Gracie, needs a nice place to work. We have a great office that takes up most of our living room. There's even a treadmill, for when we need to get a little exercise when it's too cold, or too hot to be outside for long.

If you're looking for some nice home office furniture like we have, why not try out this site. They have great armoires, desks, credenzas, chairs and much more to get your comfy and organized!

AKC National Championships and Invitational to be combined in 2009!

According to the AKC the AKC will Celebrate their 125th Anniversary at the 2009 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship

Entries For 2009 Show Open To All Competitors --

NEW YORK, NY . – The American Kennel Club® is pleased to announce that the 2009 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship will be the platform for AKC’s 125th anniversary celebration. In recognition of this milestone, the AKC will waive the invitational format. As was the case for AKC’s centennial show in 1984, classes will be offered at the breed level and championship points will be awarded.

The event will take place in Long Beach, CA on Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13, 2009 and will continue to showcase the top American dogs as well as offer the popular Bred-by-Exhibitor competition and Eukanuba World Challenge . AKC anticipates a very significant entry and therefore an entry limit may be necessary. the panel for this show will consist of almost 90 judges.

To further commemorate the anniversary, AKC Parent Clubs are invited to hold a specialty or supported entry in conjunction with this show. If a Parent Club chooses not to participate, then local specialty clubs will be given the opportunity to join us. The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship will return to an invitation-only format in 2010. All dogs who would have qualified for the 2009 show will be invited to attend the 2010 show, along with the 2010 qualifiers.

The AKC National Obedience Invitational and AKC Agility Invitational will be held in conjunction with the 2009 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. The Los Encinos Kennel Club, Kennel Club of Beverly Hills and Long Beach Kennel Club shows will precede the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship at the same site on Dec. 9-11, 2009.

Digital frames!

If you're like my Mum, you have scads of photos of me, well, of your pup anyway, BOL! And she's started to accummulate scads of photos in frames all around the house, a bit too many in my opinion, and the cats opinion. It's getting so crowded on some of the table tops with photos that they are running out of space to jump when Gracie and I give chase.

We've always drooled when we saw others with a digital photo frames , but now the prices are coming down and they are becoming much more affordable. A digital photo frame would be just the ticket for Mum to enjoy me, her photography, oh yeah, Gracie, Wolfie and Wiggy too, with crowding up the entire desk top!

Animal Planet's new show - Groomer Has It!

Animal Planet premieres a new show on April 19 at 9:00 PM ET, called "Groomer Has It". Twelve of America's best dog groomers compete to test their desire, creativity and affinity for animals.

At the end of the 14 episodes, one groomer will be crowned "Groomer of the Year' by panel of three judges: Karen Halligan, Xavier Santiago and Joey Villani. Jai Rodriquez, of Queer Eye fame, will host the show, which includes everything from pampering the tiniest pups to taming the largest aned fiercest dogs on the block, according to Animal Planet.

Here's a link to Animal Planet. Once it gets closer to the time, I'm sure they will have some information on their site.

I love fruit!

I love fruit and vegetables - bananas, blueberries, oranges, seedless watermelon, carrots, green beans - just love it. And Mum lets us have some now and then, but only in moderations. So when I saw this opportunity this morning, I had to go for it.

What is it? It's the Fruit Of The Month Club! Wow, now this is my cup of tea. Great gift ideas for the pup lover, who could even share with their pup! And this company was even featured on Oprah, and was one of the Internet Retailer’s Top 50 “Best of the Web."

Next up? I'd like to try some strawberries, maybe a tad of pineapple, apples, OK, OK, now I'm drooling, pears... But all in moderation!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Irish Wolfhounds to lead St. Patrick's Day parade in NY!

Monday will be a big day in New York for a couple of Irish Wolfhounds, as New York's 69th Regiment, a unit of the Army National Guard, will be opening the Annual St. Patrick's Day parade with their Mascots.

The Irish Wolfhound is the mascot of The Fighting 69th - officially the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry (Mechanized) NYARNG. The Irish Wolfhounds are prominent on the Regiment's coat of arms, and it was the traits and disposition of the Irish Wolfhound that inspired the 69th Regimental Motto "Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked".

On March 17, 1953, two Irish Wolfhounds were adopted by the 69th as Regimental Mascots. They were clad in green coats with the gold numerals "69", and paraded immediately to the rear of the Regimental Color Guard. There have been two wolfhounds as mascots ever since.

If you're a pup in New York, getting around isn't that easy. Taxi's don't allow dogs unless they are service dogs, you can ride the MTA, or call in a pet taxi. But we found out today that NYC Car Service by Dial 7 allows dogs (and cats, too, if they are in carriers). Wow, good for them!

With their fleet of over 450 town cars, they provide transportation to and from Manhattan, Brooklyn, NJ and New York City. So the next time you need LGA car service, you may want to try Dial7.

Dog tricks!

Maybe we're the last to know, but we came across a site the other day that we've been having some fun with, it's called The Dog Trick Academy.

The Dog Trick Academy was founded to encourage and aid dog owners around the globe to create an harmonious relationship with their dog. It is their belief that dog tricks training contributes significantly to the psychological, physiological and emotional needs of dogs. We agree!

They have lots to explore including a forum, classroom, articles, blogs and loads more.

After we signed up - which is free - we headed right over to the forum, where we found a monthly dog trick contest. This month the objective is to shape a behavior which involves a cardboard box, training anything you want that involved a cardboard box.

The rules state that you must not have practiced or been taught the behavior before the beginning of the month, the behavior must be taught by using clicker training / shaping, and you have to submit a video of your dog performing the behavior. The prize is the Dog Trick of the Month award, that you can place on your profile.

Oh this is something we haven't done yet, guess we better get busy!

Pavlov's drooling dog!

We found this over at Tummy Scratch and thought it was pretty cool - had to share it.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), was a Russian scientist born in 1849 in Ryazan, where his father worked as a village priest. In 1870 Ivan Pavlov abandoned the religious career for which he had been preparing, and instead went into science. There he had a great impact on the field of physiology by studying the mechanisms underlying the digestive system in mammals.

Now about Pavlov's drooling dog. While Ivan Pavlov worked to unveil the secrets of the digestive system, he also studied what signals triggered related phenomena, such as the secretion of saliva. When a dog encounters food, saliva starts to pour from the salivary glands located in the back of its oral cavity. This saliva is needed in order to make the food easier to swallow. The fluid also contains enzymes that break down certain compounds in the food. In humans, for example, saliva contains the enzyme amylase, an effective processor of starch.

Pavlov became interested in studying reflexes when he saw that the dogs drooled without the proper stimulus. Although no food was in sight, their saliva still dribbled. It turned out that the dogs were reacting to lab coats. Every time the dogs were served food, the person who served the food was wearing a lab coat. Therefore, the dogs reacted as if food was on its way whenever they saw a lab coat.

In a series of experiments, Pavlov then tried to figure out how these phenomena were linked. For example, he struck a bell when the dogs were fed. If the bell was sounded in close association with their meal, the dogs learnt to associate the sound of the bell with food. After a while, at the mere sound of the bell, they responded by drooling.

In this game, you will find out if you can train a dog to drool on command! Ivan Pavlov's description on how animals (and humans) can be trained to respond in a certain way to a particular stimulus, has drawn a tremendous amount of interest ever since he first presented his findings. His work paved the way for a new and objective method of studying animal and human behavior.

Pull up a few comforter sets, get comfy and play the game. Oh, and try to do it without reading the directions first, K?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Carrie Jones and Jive at Crufts!

Check out Carrie Jones and her Border Collie Jive running the final round of agility at Crufts!


Really great job on the run. I particularly liked the threadle moves, wow! They have represented the US incredibly well. Big, big congratulations...

Friday, March 14, 2008

What I've been up to...

We've been busy this week. Before I head off to take a nap, thought I'd catch you up on what we've been up to.

Mum has been working a lot for her clients, and she's working on closing out GrandMum's estate - talking with tax people, attorney's and banks. It's taking a lot of her time and my job is to support her in anything she does. Did I tell you I take my job very seriously! :)

Exercise is a big priority with us right now, too. Me for my injury and for Mum to get back in shape for agility. Since she hasn't been running me regularly for months, she got a little, well, flabby. We've been walking a couple of miles a day, doing a little more treadmill, and Mum's working on that Yoga thing. She's been massaging and stretching me regularly, Gracie too!

I'm healing up really nicely, getting a lot of my muscle mass back, and not experiencing any nasty affects from the exercise, or some agility practice. Mum's been really happy with me being back to my usual crazy self. I herded some birds in the yard the last couple of days, guarded the house with exuberance, and kept my kittie bros in line. Yesterday I was up all day 'working' at my jobs.

We headed off last Wednesday to a open agility practice at the training center. Had an absolute blast! Gracie and I both got in four runs each on some short courses. (That meant 8 runs for Mum in two hours - can you say sore?) One of our agility buds watched me run and she said that most all the time I was running full out; just alittle gallopy off the start line (something we can easily work on). But it looks like my confidence and drive is back. Mum did notice I had a little teeter trouble - just eager to get off the thing and run!

Gracie did great too. There were probably 20 some dogs at the center for this open practice, and Mum tried to treat it like a trial situation for Gracie. She ran off some, only one time way out from the ring, but she came back to Mum every single time without any outside assistance, and quickly. Mum's just been bending down on the ground when Gracie runs off and calling her. She's getting so much better!

She's still not ready for trialling in Mum's opinion. Mum doesn't want her to get in the 'bad run-off habit' again. She wants to be pretty darn sure that Gracie will focus well and at least come back to Mum in a trial situation.

So I guess that means it's time to enter some trials, finally! At least for me. Mum's filling out the forms and sending in the money for several upcoming trials. We just can't wait to get back to agility!

Hope everyone has a super weekend and that you have great weather to enjoy!

Urban legends!

Did you ever wonder if some of those stories you read on the Internet are true? Like if leaving jugs of water on your lawn will keep your pup from doing the doo? Or, if it's true that a little girl who wrote a letter to God about her pup that passed away received a letter and a book to help her with her grief?

We'll there's a site out there than can help you decipher what's true, false, and even if they are still in the process of determining the truth! It's called Snopes.com.

Remember when these photos were circulating on the Internet - wow, big cats! Wouldn't want to get in a cat chase with these dudes! But according to Snopes, I wouldn't be chasing the cat on the left, because it wasn't real. But the one on the right (which looks a lot like my kittie, bro, Wiggy, BTW), would put up a good fight when I gave chase - because that cat is for real (according to Snops.com).

So the next time your friend sends you an unbelievable pup story, check out Snopes to find out if it's true!

Time change!

I love Spring forward! Yeah, I know many of my pup pals don't like it. But it's Fall back that disrupts our household a lot more. Since we almost always get up at 5:00 AM, in the Fall when the times change, we get Mum up at about 4:00 AM for our backyard business and for breakfast. She just can't handle that very well. And it's about a month before we can adjust our internal time clocks.

Now that the times have changed for Spring, Mum wakes up on her own and we don't even think to start bugging her until about 6:00 AM. She loves that! And besides there is a lot more daylight in the evenings and we can get in little agility practice in the back yard. And Mum can get a lot more work done in the early morning when it's dark - she likes that a lot.

But one thing that has to be fixed. We need some blinds to keep the sun out of our eyes while we're working on the computer. The minute the sun comes up it's right in Mum's eyes when she typing in my blog and working on my website. This weekend we're going search around and find some inexpensive aluminum vertical blinds, or wooden slat blinds. We're going to check out JustBlinds.com - we heard about them today. We need to get some work done!

Moving?

If you've been reading my blog recently, you know that Mum and I have been thinking about moving. We'd really like more land, a place to hike off leash, more room for agility, and a smaller house to take care of.

But one of the things that has been holding us up is the moving part - yuck, what a big job. But we could always hire it done. We were doing some searching around the Internet to find out about some companies that could help out once we may be ready and came across a site that not only moves your stuff but will also provide car transport, and International support.

You contact them through the website and you get free quotes fast! May be worth looking into when we're ready.

Agility history made!

Mum and I were perusing one of our agility boards the other day and found out that history was made the other day!

At the Seattle Kennel Club agility trial on March 8th, Robin Kletke's little Papillon, Tigger, a multiple AKC National Champion in the 8" class became the very first MACH 18 dog!

Wow, that is an unbelievable accomplishment. Here is a pic of them and all the winners of the AKC Invitational in 2007! They are on the far left. Thanks GoodNewsForPets.com for the pic!

Big congrats to Robin and Tigger!

Goofy thinnking or a brilliant idea?

Mum and I are always looking for ways to promote our website - JohannTheDog.com. Why? Because we think it's one of the very best dog shopping sites on the web. Shameless promotion, I know.

We started JohannTheDog.com as an experiment. First it started as just a fun site while Mum was wondering if she could make a website. Then someone told us about affiliate marketing. That was at a time when Mum was looking for 'stuff' for me when she first rescued me and had lots of trouble finding the types and kinds of products she wanted for me - she's particular! So JohannTheDog.com was born, and we've had loads of fun with it ever since.

It's not our primary source of income by any means, just alleviates some of the financial aspects of our agility addiction. We kind of look at it as a hobby, a chance to meet new pups, make new friends, and hopefully bring cool stuff we find to other cool dogs!

But we are always open to finding ways to promote the site, more for fun than anything. We were watching some direct response advertisements on TV (you know infomercials) the other day and thought, wouldn't that be fun to do with JohannTheDog.com? We could have pup friends demonstrating products, playing with toys, testing treats, wow it wouldn't be like work at all, more like a fun dog party! Guess all we would need is a direct response agency, and we would be good to go!

We could try out an agency we learned about today, Hawthorne Direct. They specialize in DRTV (direct response television), infomercial production, commercial production, and media buying and have done work for Lawn Boy, and other notable companies!
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