The Dog Company: Newsletter

June 27, 2003 - Volume 47

Materials in this newsletter are the sole possession of the authors and Dog Company. Please do not copy or use in any fashion without written permission

"I thought I'd have a loyal fitness buddy who would nudge me to walk or run every day and who'd never fluff out. But my dog pulls, stops to pee on everything, trips me, etc." We hear this all the time and geesh, with the nice weather coming, we're seeing a lot of people and dogs out there struggling with this situation.

To run with your dog, you must condition him or her like you do yourself. Warm up, and take time to stretch out. Then start off at a walk; after a bit, start to speed up and the first few times, just go at a nice easy pace. Young pups should never be expected to run long distances. Sure they can and will if you let them. But they rely on you to know what's best for them. Running is brutal on young joints and bones. Check this out with your vet as well. Avoiding these potential injuries will help your dog have a long, healthy painfree life.

O.K. your dog is over a year old ... now you can start to build stamina. Here is where all those obedience lessons come in. Start walking quickly, with the dog on leash - just like when you're walking. Use the same rules - he or she is right beside you and paying attention. Now you can start to move faster. If your dog can do a couple of km and not be stiff when they get up after they cool down, (just like you) you can add a bit of distance and perhaps pick it up a notch.

The leash is teaching your dog not to stray away from you or get in front to trip you up, or jump up on other people or dogs. You're a running team and you stay together. When can he go to the bathroom? Well, hopefully, he will want to stop and go on your warm up to the run.

Should you keep on going if he stop to go? .... NO. Jog on the spot till he's finished. Remember, you need to be a responsible dog owner and always pick up after your dog. YES, even on a trail in the woods.

A cool down is important too, so bring lots of water for you both. Everyone will love you for having a well trained dog.

woof.. & happy trails "Sweep" ^..^~~!

(To our advertisers: we'd love to hear if your ad in the Woof was successful. Please drop us a line and let us know.)

Found: Stag found a home! Remember him.... big, black, beautiful and gentle? He's happy in a new home with someone who's able to play with him and give him the care and attention he needed.

For Sale: One really, really, large crate. (I'm a great Dane!) Call 881-1870 .. or mailto:guilloos@shaw.ca

Wanted: Large size crate, (36 X 20 X 26 approx.) Call Pete at 382-2531

Wanted: Your 'articles', your 'For Sales', your 'Want Ads', your birthday wishes, your letters to Mam'selle, your names, your ......... ???? By Wed. July 9 .... for the next Woof, please...... mailto:peni@dogcompany.com

(Disclaimer: Advertisements posted by the Woof are done as a service, not as an endorsement. Please communicate directly with the ad contact for further information on any items.)

Dear Mam'selle,
I'm a dog with a problem. I really like to do this stuff they call agility, but I sort of get excited and bounce around. You know what I mean; we come to a jump and I do the twist, and the back flip and the twirl arounds, or the grab the leash or her hand thing. Then my mom isn't really happy with me because she thinks I'm not "focused." I'm a big guy and I guess I make it hard for her. Have you any tips for us?

Bouncing Buster

Dear B.B:
Well, big guy ...... you're not focused yet! She's right. You need to try to take the jumps at a slower pace. It's hard, I know ..... but you must focus on where you have lift off and that you are springing up for the jump with your back legs, not powering off with your front legs. It is very important to know where you're going to land so you can jump the next jump.

Grabbing the leash is not a good idea nor is twirling and trying to get away so you can just run and jump whenever. That's not how the game is played. You will only hurt yourself or your mom. This game of agility is about focus and team work. Don't forget your mom is learning too. Humans aren't as brillant as we are, so you need to help them out by listening and following their lead, so they will be able to have fun too.

Woof "Poutine" ^..^~~!

A list of things a good dog needs to remember.

1. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
2. I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table.
3. I will not roll my toys behind the fridge, behind the sofa or under the bed.
4. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house.
5. I will not eat the cats' food, before they eat it or after they throw it up.
6. I will stop trying to find the few remaining pieces of clean carpet in the house when I am about to get sick. 7. I will not throw up in the car.
8. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, deer, etc. just because I like the way they smell.
9. "Kitty box crunchies," although they are tasty, are not food.
10. I will not eat any more Kleenex or napkins and then redeposit them in the backyard after processing.
11. The diaper pail is not a cookie jar.
12. I will not chew my human's toothbrush and not tell them.
13. I will not chew crayons or pens, especially not the red ones, or my people will think I am hemorrhaging.
14. When in the car, I will not insist on having the window rolled down when it's raining outside.
15. We do not have a doorbell. I will not bark each time I hear one on TV.
16. I will not steal my mom's underwear and dance all over the backyard with it.
17. The sofa is not a face towel. Neither are mom & dad's laps.
18. My head does not belong in the refrigerator.
19. I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for mom's driver's license and car registration.
20. I will not play tug-of-war with dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
21. I will not eat mint flavored dental floss out of the bathroom garbage to avoid having a string hanging out of my butt.
22. I will not use "roll around in the dirt" as an option after just getting a bath.
23. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is not an acceptable way of saying hello.
24. I will not hump on any person's leg just because I thought it was the right thing to do.
25. I will not fart in my owners face while sleeping on the pillow next to their head.
26. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.
27. The toilet bowl is not a never ending water supply and, just because the water is blue, it doesn't mean it is cleaner.
28. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch in front of company.
29. Suddenly turning around and smelling my butt can quickly clear a room.
30. The cat is not a squeaky toy, so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

(Thanks to Heidi, Sal & Emily, and Meredith who all sent in versions of this list!)

Well, Mom and I tried out something different last Saturday. We baby-sat. Mmmmm, maybe I shouldn't call it baby-sitting, because after all, he is six years old. It all went like this. Kaleb's people had to go somewhere and they couldn't take him along because it would be just too boring; he'd have to ride in the car, then wait in someone's house, and then go back in the car and go home. Can you imagine a day like that? No fun at all. So Mom and I said he could spend the day with us.

His Mom brought him to the trailwalk and after she handed over his bag of goodies and his bed, she sort of snuck off so he couldn't see her go. Who was she trying to fool? He knew she'd left, but being such a good natured guy, he stayed with us with only looks back to where the car had been. We did the trailwalk (in the rain for the first part!) and Kaleb thoroughly enjoyed himself. He put up with Mom holding onto the end of his rope (she was afraid that he might leave us, but I knew better) and was a perfect gentleman the whole time.

When it was time to leave the park so the human peoples could go for their breakfast thing, I generously gave up the back seat of our car so Kaleb had room to stretch out and got in the front. I hadn't ridden there for quite awhile and it wasn't bad at all. Maybe I should trade places with Dad.......

Anyway, after that, we came home to our place. Kaleb was shy and unsure of himself, so I took him down to the beach, and then showed him around the house. He wanted to stay with Mom when she was in the kitchen, so the folks put his bed in there, and then Dad thought I needed mine, so he put it in too. The kitchen isn't that big, but we managed. He started to relax after a bit, and I let him look in my toybox. It turns out he likes squeaky toys, just like I do, so I let him play with some of them. When he'd leave one to go and get another, I'd check it over just to make sure he hadn't chewed it too hard. He does have bigger teeth than me, after all.

Later in the afternoon, we went out to Sidney to do the Canine Good Neighbour thing. I don't know if Kaleb had ever done any of it before, but he and Mom did some of the things when I was having a rest, and he did just fine. We took time out lying under a tree in the shade with a few of the others who were there, while the human people talked.

Uncle Gary came over for supper and he was some impressed with Kaleb. Of course, by now, Kaleb was completely relaxed and quite willing to lean up against him or come when he was called. Mom made him his supper, and so I wouldn't feel left out, she gave me some too. The humans did that barbecue thing, so we just kind of watched. When they'd finished, they'd each left just a tiny little bit of their steak, so Mom cut it small and gave each of us a bit. Dessert was the usual little dollop of whipped cream; Kaleb seemed to like that. I wonder if he's talked his Mom into giving him some at home. We went for a bit of a walk after that.

Later on, Kaleb's Mom and Dad came for him; I'm sure he thought he was having a sleepover even though Mom had told us he wasn't. He'd got up on the lounge out on the deck and was really quite comfortable 'til he heard the car. We both got quite excited, actually, and I had to tell him off and to let me do the welcoming. After all, it was my house!

Mom took pictures of us, of course. Click here to see them.

HRH Trouble (athlete with attitude)

A dog can express more with his tail in minutes, than his owner can express with his tongue in hours.
.... Unknown

MOCHI is a Komondor, which is known as "the king of the working dogs." It's the largest of Hungary's herding breeds but the title has more to do with their fiercely protective nature than with their size. This breed first came to Central Europe during the Mongolian invasions of the thirteenth century. The Mongolians, admiring their vigilance and courage, used other dogs for rounding up the herds and looked to the Komondor for protection. Komondors are very popular in Eastern Europe and are gaining popularity in Canada and the U.S. These white coated dogs have fur like "dredlocks." Mochi and her family moved up island this spring and have shared this story with us.

".........also was able to see why I got her in the first place. My husband went for a walk up the logging road next to the house. Edd was getting mad at Mochi because she kept getting in front of him and stopping him. Finally they were turning down the trail back to the house and she stopped in front of him and refused to go. He gave her a shove and then a black bear (a 2 or 3 year old) went up a tree about 30 yards in front of him on the trail. Mochi immediately assumed the stance. (the stance that says get closer and I'll kill you.) Edd by now has just about had a heart attack. He told Mochi to leave it and come, which she did right away, and then she led him out of there quick as scat. So there you have it. Reason justified. "

HRH Trouble (athlete with attitude)

Most dogs have pink tongues except for two...the Chow-chow and the Shar-pei. Both have black tongues.

GRRR ... Wuff! Yep, it's time to pop the popcorn ( I like mine with a bit of butter and a big bowl of water.) (These are all available at the video store)

Adult /Family Movie..............
HEART CONDITION: Bob Hoskins & Denzel Washington ... comedy - 100 minutes of laughing.

MAN FROM ELYSIAN: Andy Garcia & Mick Jagger.....
yep thats right; "Lips" himself! He does a good job in this acting role! He still looks weird in a suit though. Comedy-Drama

FAMILY MOVIE
INSPECTOR GADGET 2: If you liked the first one, you might like this one too.

Geeesh.......... I can smell the popcorn now! REMEMBER TO LICK UP ALL THE CRUMBS OFF THE FLOOR!

Well, you've all heard of weather rocks, weather men and weather sticks... but have you ever heard of Weather Dogs ?

Go to your back door, and look for the dog.

If the dog is at the door, and he is wet, it's probably raining.

But if the dog is standing there really soaking wet, it's probably raining really hard.

If the dog's fur looks like it's been rubbed the wrong way, it's probably windy.

If the dog has snow on his back, it's probably snowing.

Of course to be able to tell the weather like this, you have to leave the dog outside all the time, especially if you expect bad weather. But that's a good thing..

This kind of makes up for the "How to Wash a Cat", doesn't it, Mikey? And that's a good thing!

Cleocatra

LITTLE FALLS, N. J. (USA) Little Falls emergency teams typically respond to a few thousand calls per year, protecting over 13,000 human residents. But this month was the first time they had a chance to apply their life-saving CPR expertise on a dog.

The North Jersey Record newspaper reports that the Little Falls Fire Department battled a house fire on Haines Place. Homeowner David Smith and his 4-year-old son, Ian, managed to escape unharmed. But the family's pets, a Pug dog and two cats, remained trapped in the home as flames consumed the lower floor.

Mr. Smith told rescuers that the confused Pug had panicked and bolted straight for the basement. Firefighter Nick Brown describes, "He kept saying to me, 'My dog is in the house.' "

Nick and his fellow firefighters, Tom DeFrancisci and Jim Docherty, entered the structure and kicked open the basement door where they found the dog lying motionless in a puddle of water that had accumulated as the fire was being put out. The two cats were never found, the Record reports.

At first, it seemed to be a total loss. The dog had been breathing faintly but stopped once he was taken outside. "I thought he was dead," says firefighter DeFrancisci.

But rescuers wasted no time in initiating the same revival procedures they perform on all victims. Jim Docherty initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation while police arrived with oxygen tanks. Then Officer John Conti took over.

"I did it exactly like I would a baby," Says Officer Conti. "We weren't even sure it was going to work, but we gave it our best shot."

After lying dead for five minutes, the pooch started breathing again, much to the shock and delight of the Smiths, bystanders and soon all of Little Falls, which hailed the men as celebrities.

Says Officer Conti, "You do CPR on people all the time and no one thanks you. But you save a dog, and you're the town hero."

CPR? That's easy. Let's see you try the Heimlich maneuver on this pup.
This is "Hapa", a nine-year-old, male Pug who was abandoned because he "was getting old".

(Thanks to our friends at Dogs in the News for this article)

Last issue's picture and captions are:
"Where's that Noah guy when you need him?" John E
"Gotta love this summer time fun!" Susan and Sam in Winnipeg
"Us Girls always walk softly and carry BIG Sticks!" Wendy B

And this week ..... Captions please!

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