Tag Archives: dogs

Health, Shelters, Top Ten List, Training

Tuesday’s Top Ten: Ways to Prepare Your Dog for a Natural Disaster

Leave a comment

dorothyWe are getting into storm season here in the Midwest.  Have you ever given any thought to what you would do with your dog if you had to evacuate your home due to flooding, a tornado, or some other natural disaster?  One of the other hats I wear (besides blogger extraordinaire) is Red Cross volunteer.  One of our campaigns for this year is to encourage people to be “Red Cross Ready,” and for those of us with pets, it means having our pets ready, too!

Continue reading Tuesday’s Top Ten: Ways to Prepare Your Dog for a Natural Disaster →

Shelters

Shout Out to the Greg Biffle Foundation for Animals

3 Comments

Kudos to Nascars Greg Biffle and his wife Nicole on their foundation to help companion animals.  According to their website, the foundation was created in 2005 “to create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry. Financial support for the foundation comes from a variety of sources including individual contributions, NASCAR Pets calendars, and the sale of various racing and other sports memorabilia. ” 

The calendars look really neat – I’ll have to remember to buy one for 2010.  They also offer other merchandise such as T-shirts, caps, and dog dish holders made of granite – very attractive!

The foundation makes grants to animal shelters and humane societies around the country to represent the best interests of animals.

Greg and Nicole have four dogs – Foster and his daughter Gracie, a pair of Boxers who are very familiar to race fans across the country. Foster even graced the front of a Milk Bones box in 2004. The latest addition is Savannah, who was rescued from a Georgia shelter.  Not sure who the fourth one is.

They both serve on the board of Iredell Friends of Animals, trying to increase the number of pet adoptions and decrease the number of animals that must be euthanized each year. 

What a worthy cause!

Until next time,

Good day, and good dog!

Dog Fun, Dog News

Who Says Dogs Don’t Understand Religion?

Leave a comment

seder

Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company, based in Wheeling, Illinois has come out with a line of kosher pet foods.  To promote the line – what else? –  they are sponsoring a series of dog Seders around the country for the past several years. 

Owner Holly Sher says prizes are given for the dog that can sing the four questions posed at a Seder and for the dog that finds the hidden matzoh.  However, they often have trouble finding a winner for the matzoh contest, as dogs tend to be not so interested in finding it!   “None of the dogs like matzoh,” Sher says.

For those of you, like me, that are not Jewish, here is a website that can help you understand some of the traditions, such as the four questions which are generally answered by the youngest child at the Passover Seder.

My favorite part of the whole article I read was the picture (shown above) of the dog with the yarmulke on his head!  Too cute!

Photo by Joshua Lott, courtesy of Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food.

Dog Accessories

Dishes fit for a King…er…First Dog

Leave a comment

A comment posted from Thomas told me about this, but I thought it was too good to be left as just a comment – wanted to make everyone saw this.  Here’s the complete press release.  Thanks to Thomas for alerting me to it!

Barack Obama is bringing from Europe unique presents – Luxury accessories for the America’s First Dog

Prague, April 7th, 2009

WOW! All America can see now what will the future presidential dog eat from and where he or she will live. Barack Obama, the president of the USA, is bringing from just finished visit of Europe interesting gifts.

Political leaders of European Union prepared for the First American Couple original and witty gifts indeed. On Sunday, Barack and Michelle Obama received in Prague luxury dog bowls and dog bed for their sweet pet that they should be getting on Easter. Special edition of products prepared exclusively for America’s First Dog includes logo that was specially designed for the dog that we all cannot wait to see! The First American Couple seemed evidently excited by receiving these gifts. We can expect that the future american dogstar will really use these gifts.

You will not be able to find so high-quality dog products anywhere in the world but in the Czech Republic, where they are manufactured by company Lillibed. Indeed, the official counciler’s gifts for American presidential couple bear the stamp of best quality. Made from world-renowned Carlsbad porcelain, the bowl for American first dog is gilt and coated by Swarovski crystals. The future first American pet will even receive two dog bowls, because every dog needs two bowls– one for food and one for water.

American presidential couple is bringing home also a dog bed to provide a place to sleep for presidential family’s pet. The bed is made from luxury all-natural materials and just as the dogs bowls bears the American First Dog’s logo. Manufacturers even kept in mind the allergy of Obama’s daughter Malia. Therefore, only special hypoallergenic materials were selected to enable Malia to take care of the family dog without troubles.

If you want to see them, here is the official website:  www.firstdogbowl.com

Don’t know how firm the Easter date is, but I thought the deluxe acoutrements were hysterical.  (My dogs eat from stainless steel bowls we bought at Wally World and they sleep on the floor when they’re not on my bed!)  I mean, honestly, Swarovski for a dog????

Until next time,

Good day, and good dog!

Dog Shows, Welcome

Levi: FBI dog

1 Comment

Do you remember the PAX series, Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye that aired from 2002 – 07?  One of the major stars of the show was Levi, the golden retriever who served as an assistance dog to Ms. Thomas.  The series was based on the true story of Sue Thomas, who served first as a fingerprint specialist for the FBI, then was promoted to a surveillance team with the help of her assistance dog.

Because of the involvement of Levi, Animal Planet has picked up the syndication option on the show and is broadcasting repeats on Monday nights at 9 pm.  If things go well, they may even have more episodes produced.

If you didn’t see the show the first time around, it’s worth checking out.  Not terribly dramatic or suspenseful, but a good way to see how differently-abled people interact with their assistance dogs, and not a bad story about the type of cases the FBI pursues.

Until next time,

Good day, and good dog!

Behavior and Psychology, Breed Specific, Dog Fun

Tuesday’s Top Ten: Funnest Dog Breeds

5 Comments

OK, so I’m not sure funnest is even a word, and there is no science to this list – it is simply the dog breeds I have known that I have had fun with.  This topic came to mind because my dogs are having  some serious playtime in my office – running all over the place and play-biting each other. 

Some dogs, like the Basset Hound, turn into doorstops soon after leaving puppyhood, so they’re not what I would call fun.  Other dogs, like German Shepherds, are too serious about being a guard dog, so I’ve never seen one having fun.  (OK, the address is “[email protected], for all of you Basset and German Shepherd owners!)

Continue reading Tuesday’s Top Ten: Funnest Dog Breeds →