Are you a fan of the DogTown series on National Geographic channel? They sent me information on the start of the 3rd season, scheduled for 3/20 at 10 pm ET.
My animals sleeping arrangements, in case you’re interested
I am (obviously) having trouble sleeping, so I thought I’d tell you what’s on my mind tonight. As I look around my bedroom, I am amused by where my animals choose to sleep.
Continue reading My animals sleeping arrangements, in case you’re interested
Lance Mackey Three-Peats at Iditarod
After battling winds so strong yesterday that some of the dogs actually sat down and refused to run, Lance Mackey has won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for the 3rd consecutive time. Mackey, wearing bib #47, arrived in Nome today at 11:38 am with 15 happy, healthy dogs. Only two previous mushers have accomplished three consecutive wins: Susan Butcher and Doug Swingley.
For his efforts, Mackey will receive a Dodge Ram Quad Cab Pick-up truck from Anchorage Chrysler Dodge and a check for $69,000 from Wells Fargo, in addition to a congratulatory call from everyone’s favorite governor, Sarah Palin. The dogs? They get another bucket of sludge and the two lead dogs, Maple & Lucy, get a garland of roses from ExxonMobil and GCI.
Bruce, the official Iditarod site’s blogger, reports on the 30 – 35 mph windy conditions: “I stopped in Shaktoolik briefly and as I walked out of the checkpoint one of the Iditarod staff handed me a sandwich to eat. I took it with me as I walked out the door for the 200 yard walk down to the ice where an airplane was waiting to fly me on up the trail to Koyuk. By the time I got to the plane the sandwich was starting to freeze with ice crystals.” Can you imagine? I whine when my hot chocolate cools down on the way to work!
Meanwhile, three rookie mushers were reported late for check-in at Shageluk. Lou Packer was found by an Iditarod Air Force (IAF) pilot about 22 miles past the town of Iditarod. He signaled distress, at which time the pilot landed and found that 2 of his 15 dogs had died. In a move that should make animal activists feel at least a bit better about this race, a plane load of dogs were immediately airlifted from the site, and a 2nd flight was organized to pick up Packer and the remainder of the dogs.
Local residents took to the trail to try to find the other two lost mushers, Kim Darst and Blake Matray. They were both found between Shageluk and Iditarod and both decided it would be in the best interest of their teams to scratch from the race. They have been safely transported to Unalakleet and are waiting for transportation to take them back to the starting point in Anchorage.
So, drink a cup of hot chocolate for the competitors and snuggle up in front of your fireplace while you read this.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
A Dog-Lover’s Story
Thanks to friend-of-the-blogger Wendy for sending me this.
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An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’ The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: ‘He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?’ |
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Dog to star in “House” TV show?
If you’ve never seen the TV show House, it centers on a crabby doctor named Gregory House, who has exceptional diagnostic skills. Of course, he’s wrong about 3 times and nearly kills every patient before he stumbles on to the right diagnosis, but I digress. Anyways, according to a story on MSNBC.com, many dogs combine their keen sense of smell with their intuition and daily observations of us to be able to tell when something is wrong.
Saturday Survey: Iditarod = Dog Cruelty?
With the death of 6-year old sled dog Victor at this year’s Iditarod, animal activists are again calling for the Iditarod to be shut down. On the other side, people say that these dogs are happiest when they are running and are, in fact, bred to run. In addition, the argument goes, there are over 900 dogs competing, and the loss of 1 or 2 dogs over a two week period, is probably no different than in the general population. So, what do you think? Should the Iditarod be stopped because at least one dog dies every year?
Dog Dies at 2009 Iditarod
I guess I’ve never followed this race too closely in the past, but animal activists have had it on their radar for years, as at least one dog usually dies during the two week race. and this year is no exception. Victor, a 6-year old sled dog on Jeff Holt’s team, died between the Rainy Pass and Rohn checkpoints this week.
Join the doggies community now!
As the blog writer here at doggies.com, I get lots of e-mails from readers, asking for my advice. I’ve also noticed that we get lots of comments on the blog that don’t necessarily pertain to the posting, but the commenter wants advice or wants to ask a question. While both of these are totally fine, we felt the need to add a forums section to allow our readers to interact with each other, rather than with just me (through e-mail) or rather than posting an un-related comment which may not get read widely.
Choosing a Dog Breeder
I had a question come in via e-mail that I thought a lot of people might be interested in, so the writer, Colleen, very graciously allowed me to post it.
Hi Beth,
My husband and I are interested in purchasing a dog from a breeder. What are some of the things we should know before hand. The breeder is registered with AKC. What are some of the questions we should ask the breeder?
Thank you
At a minimum, you should ask to see the parents. Sometimes they will not both be on-site, but at least the mother should be. The purpose of seeing the parents is that you can get a general sense of their health. If you are lucky, the breeder will take you to the kennel area when showing the parents, which means you can check out the living conditions. Run, don’t walk, away if the conditions are not clean, adequately heated/cooled, and humane. You can also see whether they breed several breeds or specialize
in just one or two (which is usually better). Check to see how many dogs they have who are pregnant or still nursing. Ideally, they will space out their litters, especially for each mama, rather than breeding each dog every time she comes into heat.
Ask to see the vet records for the parents, including an OFA certification for hip dysplasia and a CERF record for eye problems. Also, make sure that the parents are up-to-date on their shots and that initial puppy shots and worming have been done on the puppies. If you are buying a breed with a docked tail or other alterations, you might ask if the breeder does these procedures himself, and ask to see where, so you can make sure the facility is clean.
Depending on whether or not you plan to show the dog, you will want to discuss the breed standard, and how the breeder tries to further the quality of the breed. Ask to see breeding records so you can see that he is making an effort to prevent in-breeding and to try to bring out certain traits or suppress others.
Follow your instincts. If you get a bad feeling about a breeder,it is probaby best that you don’t buy there. A good breeder will also want to ask you questions to make sure his dog is going to a good home. He may also have a waiting list, indicating that he doesn’t overbreed just to make money.
Thanks for writing, a good luck! Let me know when you get your little bundle of joy – I’d love to see pix.
P.S. Do you mind if I post your question and my response on the site for others to see?
Thank you so much and yes feel free to post my question. May I ask one more how do I determine what price is appropriate for the breed?
The way I’ve always done it is to check with several breeders and see what they charge. I rarely take the highest or lowest price.
One other thing. Once you have several breeders’ prices, you may be able to negotiate with the breeder you have chosen for a puppy you really like, telling him that you can get a similar dog at a lesser price and would he be willing to come down some? Also, some (but by no means all) breeders will give you a price break if you are buying with no intention of breeding your puppy.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Today Show Hosts at Westminster Dog Show
Since I’ve been home recovering from surgery for the past few days, I’ve gotten to watch NBC’s Today Show for more than the first five minutes or so. They are running a series on the hosts trying out new things. For example, today, they took art lessons and “learned” how to paint a nude! Monday and Tuesday, the feature was the hosts showing dogs at Westminster. If you’re not a handler, you may have never imagined how hard it is to run a dog around the ring! I had always thought that conformance showing was pretty easy, especially compared to something like agility training, where the handler has to be nearly as agile as the dog. I was pretty surprised to learn that there is a definite technique to handling a show dog, too.
Anyways, you can see the clip here. Monday’s show (the 2nd clip on the list) is about the preparations they had to go through, while Tuesday’s show (the one that pops up when you open the link) shows the actual competition, which is pretty funny, in and of itself!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!