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November 1, 2002 - Volume 30 Materials in this newsletter are the sole possession of the authors and Dog Company. Please Note: Our publisher, Miss Sweep, is taking a vacation from writing so will not be contributing her article this edition. Classified
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Puppy Dog Training: (big or small) GRRWuuufff !! Lucius here!! I am Rommel's little brother and I am now 5 months old - LOOK AT ME GROW! I'm all settled in with my family and my new brothers! I get a real kick out of my kitty cat brother, Fox. It's now my turn for Dog Training School, my big brother is a great role model because he went to school. So my Mom now takes me to see Auntie Peni (The Dog Company) a couple of times a week so I can learn my manners and all of the important commands like Sit, Down, Come and MORE! My Mom and I learn new things from Peni and we get to interact with other new fur and skin friends while we learn. It's supposed to be good for me to practice being distracted by all my new friends so I can learn to pay attention to what my Mom wants me to do. We practice what we have learned a little bit everyday at home for a few minutes at a time, so I get better and better everyday. I sometimes have days where I seem to forget everything, but my Mom reminds me gently and it all rushes back into my big head. I like to lie down, so my Mom is pretty happy about that; seems like a very natural place for me and my ever growing body - the sleeping position !! Peni and Mom tell me it's extra important for me to learn to listen and obey my Mom because I am growing so VERY fast and am going to be VERY big. By the time I'm 6 months old, I'll be bigger than my older brother, Rommel, and he is 5 and a half years old na na na na na! I am trying to remember it's important - but I love being a puppy!! I have some rules at home that help me along the way to being a good boy! Like when my Mom and Dad go to work, I get to stay in the kitchen by myself behind a baby gate. Mom has to put a chair up beside the baby gate, just in case, but I like my kitchen space, so I stay in there. I have some toys and a blanket to sleep on and a little drink of water in case I get thirsty. What more could I ask for? My Mom comes home at lunchtime to let me out for a pee and sometimes I get a Kong ball with a bit of my dinner in it and some peanut butter.YUMMY!!! Another one of my rules is that I am not allowed to chase the cat I am getting pretty good, but it's SO HARD. He teases me, running past me like that so fast. Sometimes I get frustrated and bark right in his face. Mom frowns on that and makes me stop and sit or lie down. I'll try harder next time. Mom says that when I chase him I make the fish sea sick because when I jump down the stairs, I make their tank move and they slosh around like there's been an earthquake or something. No wonder no one in my house felt that earthquake; my brother and I can recreate that - NO SWEAT! Did I mention that I am an English Mastiff and when I reach my adult size and it won't be long now, I will weigh 240 pounds. Well, all this computer work is hard; I think it's time for me to go.. YAWN it must be time for another nap. I feel another pound coming on 79 here I come. Till next time!.Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z.
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Woofs of Wisdom I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.
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Ask Mam'selle Dear Mam'selle, Dear B.B. It's hard to know just how much input you should use when you're driven by instinct to guard your territory. You have the right idea ...... Bark to let your people know there are people but listen to when they say, "Enough." Then stop barking! Usually when you bark a couple of times, it alerts them to look outside. You might want to watch your people closer for those cues (they look out the window or open the door.) That should make you stop right there. Pay close attention that you are not barking at the leaves blowing or a crow flying under 10,000 feet. That is just darn right annoying. Look the situation over and make a choice .... you know you shouldn't bark at the cat that cuts through your yard everyday...that's just pure fun...he speeds up like you might even want to chase him...... PLEASE.!!!! It's just a big plot to get you into trouble. So don't go there! You know the expression, "Cats Rule, Dogs Drool" Yep, you got it ...made up by those evil felines to discredit us canines. There is no level they won't stoop to. Get the movie "Cats & Dogs." It's pretty much spelled out there! Just hang back and watch him go; if you don't make a sound, he will get bored and not cut through any more and you will be in your people's good books. Make sure you really have something to say, and you're not just barking for attention or because you love to hear yourself bark. It is not the right kind of attention! I will say, "Keep up the good work, and remember .."Be worthy of being looked up too; trust and respect goes both ways."
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Phydeaux Phun Dear God,
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The Sporty Dog Beat (with a twist)....... Jazz cooks too! One of my favorite things to do, well after flyball, chasing the ball, stick or frisbee, and swimming, is eat and chew bones. Mom says I'd eat her out of house and home if she hadn't started to re-stuff my marrow bones. This is one of my favorite recipes. Sweep, Poutine, Slick and Jiggs like this recipe too. Stuffed Marrow Bones Save all the used marrow bones that your people have given you. I think I have hundreds. You should also make sure your bones are raw and you're used to chewing bones. I can digest the raw bones. Also, make sure to use big beef bones. Pork and Lamb are only small bones and shatter. Have your Mom or Dad help you with the next bit....
Anytime I'm a good girl or Mom wants a break, I get a treat bone. Gotta go. It must be my turn for a bone.
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Did You Know? The distance between an alligator's eyes is directly in proportion to the length of its feet.
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 Our judge, Miss Stuart (aka BoPeep's dark side) overseeing the Agility Club costume party winners |
Tips and Tales by Miss Trouble Guess what I did!! I went to a costume party - a Hallowe'en costume party. It was really neat. You're probably thinking, "Oh, yeah, I bet she did," but really - I did. It was on Sunday, at Agility Club. See, Peni came up with this idea that it would be fun if we fur faces who go to Club wore costumes. I'm not sure who it was supposed to be fun for... I didn't hear any of us laughing. She also said our people could wear costumes too, but hey, you know humans. Only one of them was brave enough. That was Spencer's Mom. I heard someone say something about her wearing a poodle skirt, but it didn't look like Spencer or Jello to me. (They're both poodles.) But that was only part of her costume. She had a hook type thing and everyone called Spencer a sheep. He still looked like a poodle to me, but he did have neat red bows on his ears, so maybe that made him a sheep, whatever a sheep is. Heston, Sweep, Poutine and Finnegan all seemed to have flying on their minds. Heston was a ladybug, Sweep and Poutine were butterflies, and Finnegan was Batman. Jazz and Cocoa stayed a little closer to earth... they were pumpkins. Me? I was a witch. We did Agility stuff like we always do in Club, and everyone tried to wear their costumes. Mine didn't last long .. I kept stepping on my hair so Mom took it off. Poutine's wings went flying by themselves when she went through the tire. I guess Batman got too hot, because I noticed he was running around naked after awhile. (Can I say that in a family newsletter?) If they gave us prizes for the costume that stayed on the longest, it would have been given to Heston and Jazz. They wore theirs the whole time, and didn't have any trouble with them. Think Mom better talk to Joan and Stacey for next year. People parties always have treats, and so did we. Heston's Mom made some really delicious liver things.... boy, were they good. She gave us all some. Quite a few of the regular club fur faces weren't able to be there - that was a sad thing, but that made more treats for the rest of us - that was a good thing! I'm not sure if there's another party next year but I hope so. Never mind the costume bit... bring on the treats!
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What's in a Name? Magellan ..... for the dog who likes to wander
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A bit about my friend, Elaine Elaine Ingalls Hogg wrote the award-winning, children's book, 'Remembering Honey'. The book is fully illustrated and was written to help young children understand terminal illness, death and bereavement. 'Remembering Honey' has earned a place on the year 2000 Resource Links List of Best Picture Books and the Marianna Dempster Award presented by the NS Branch of the Canadian Author's Association. Elaine sent me this story, and gave us permission to publish it in the Woof. (Please do not copy without the written permission of the author.) Ben Nevis' Finds A Home ..... Elaine Ingalls Hogg Aidan Alexander had one wish. When he woke up in the morning he said, "I wish," but his mother said, "Shhh! I know what you are wishing and you can't have it." But Aidan Alexander wished his wish every morning. He wished his wish when he went to school and he wished his wish when he went to bed at night. Aidan Alexander said, "I wish I had a real live wiggly puppy." One day a small white puppy named Ben Nevis came to visit Aidan at his home. "Oh look, a real live wiggly puppy!" Aidan exclaimed. "My wish came true!" "Well he's only here for a visit," Mrs. Alexander told her son. "I don't want a puppy around this house. Puppies are too messy." "But mom, this puppy is so cute. I think that every small boy should have a puppy," Aidan whispered his wish in the puppy's floppy white ear. I hope Ben can stay, he thought, then my wish will come true. I will have a real live wiggly puppy at last. Ben chased his tail and Aidan laughed. Ben crawled on top of Aidan and put his big white paws on his tummy. He chewed his hair and kissed his ears. Aidan and Ben were friends. At noon time Aidan's mother called him to come for lunch. Ben was watching. Ben was waiting. He wanted his lunch too. Mrs. Alexander did not give Ben any lunch. So he put his small pink mouth around the tablecloth and he tugged. The bowl moved a teensy weensy bit. He tugged again. The bowl moved a teensy weensy bit closer. This time when he tugged the bowl moved so fast that it fell on the floor! Crash! "Look at this mess! I told you that little dogs are messy," Mrs. Alexander scolded. "Ben, be good," Aidan whispered in the puppy's floppy ear. "I want you to stay at my house." After lunch Ben and Aidan went for a walk. Aidan said, "Let's play hide and seek." Aidan hid in the closet. Ben's small black nose went sniff, sniff. He smelled Aidan in the closet. But he smelled something else in the closet too, a fuzzy pair of blue slippers. He put the fuzzy blue slippers in his mouth and he began to chew. "No, no," whispered Aidan. "Give me those slippers Ben." Aidan pulled on the slipper. Ben pulled on the slipper too. Aidan pulled harder. Ben pulled harder too. Ben tugged one way and Aidan tugged the other. Aidan pulled on one side and Ben pulled on the other and the slipper went R-I-I-I-P! R-I-I-I-P! "What was that?" Mrs. Alexander came running and when she saw her fuzzy blue slipper, she was not very happy. No, Mrs. Alexander was not happy at all! Mrs. Alexander scolded Ben. "Don't eat my slippers," she said in an angry voice. Ben sat on the mat and went to sleep. When he woke up Mrs. Alexander was talking on the phone. The long red cord hung down right in front of Ben's small black nose. Ben began to chew. He chewed a tiny weeny bit then he chewed a tiny weeny bit more. At last he chewed the telephone cord in two. Mrs. Cameron stopped talking on the phone. But she started talking at Ben Nevis. In fact she was talking in a very loud voice. "Ben you have to be a good puppy if you want to stay in this house," Mrs. Alexander said in her loud voice. Ben listened. "Woof, woof!" he said. Then Ben Nevis did the worst thing that a puppy can do. He peed on Mrs. Alexander's clean floor. "Ben Nevis I don't want a puppy that pulls the dishes off the table. I don't want a puppy that rips my best fuzzy blue slippers. I don't want a puppy that chews the telephone cord when I'm talking on the phone. But most of all I don't want a puppy that pees on my floor!" And she sat down to think what she should do with the messy puppy named Ben Nevis. Ben saw Mrs. Alexander's empty lap. This was his very last chance. He ran over and crawled up on her lap. He sat ever so quietly. She gave him a few pats but she did not look at him. She gave him a few more pats. He kissed her ear. "Look Aidan," Mrs. Alexander said. "I think Ben Nevis likes me." And that is how Ben Nevis found his new home.
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