The Dog Company: Newsletter

0&&parent.frames.length) { d=parent.frames[n.substring(p+1)].document; n=n.substring(0,p);} if(!(x=d[n])&&d.all) x=d.all[n];tml" onMouseOut="swapImgRestore()" onMouseOver="swapImage('testimonials','','_images/row3_menu_testimonials_on.gif',0)">

Volume 55 - November 14, 2003

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

HIGH FIVE & THE WAVE

Everyone knows this trick. Say, "Shake a paw," and the dog gives you his paw. If he doesn't, you just pick it up and give it a gentle shake. You can just repeat it over and over and soon "Mindy" will be giving you her paw in no time. You can add to this by saying, "Left paw," and you put out your right hand ..."Right paw," and you put out your left hand. Your dog will lift their paw for many reasons ...just to paw you for attention or a treat.. when they are not sure of what to do and just lift their paw in apprehension ... anyway they do it, use it to get the dog to shake a paw.

Now the "high five" just means you have your dog giving a paw on a consistent level; you're going to now get your dog to raise their paw a little higher and paw the air. You reach in with your palm up facing the dog and say, "High Five." You can just ever so gently and swiftly brush your hand up to the pad side of the dog's paw, so the palm of your hand and the pad of the dog's paw touch. Your dog love will this and soon will be sitting right up as high as they can or they stand up on their hind legs for the "high five" ... Now you know they will want to have both paws up ... so just add the two paws at the same time. Lot of enthusiasm and praise goes a long way!

The Wave ! An added bonus to this is most dogs will be up high pawing the air with both paws together......give this a name...."Give a wave" or "Wave goodbye" You dogs, of course, can take credit for teaching yourself this trick......but I'll bet your owner will take the credit....that's O.K. as long as they are happy, you are happy!

Woofing & "Waving " ...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.)

Announcements:

Happy Birthday: to Cleocatra who turns 8 on Saturday, but still has her kittenish figure! Lots of woofs from the gang at the Woof.

Wanted: Your 'articles', your 'For Sales', your 'Want Ads', your birthday wishes, your letters to Mam'selle, your ......... ????? By Wed. Nov.26 .... 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

My people and I are having a great big argument about food. I want a share of what they're eating, and they want me to eat just plain old dog food. So tell us... who's right? Is there any real good reason why I shouldn't have people food?

Sincerely yours,
Pugsley

Dear Pugsley,

A balanced diet of dog food is the foundation of mental and physical health. A good diet is a brand name dry food. Dry food is easy, stores well, and is better for our teeth than canned or people foods. We dogs don't need variety. Changing our food can cause stomach upset and behavioural changes. When we find a good food that works, we should stick with it. By works....I mean that we eat it, our stools are brown and firm, our coat is shiny and our skin is supple. Dog foods are researched and balanced; they do not need supplements. Unless your vet recommends it, do not add anything to a brand name food. Vitamins and minerals work together. If you give one without the others, you can create imbalances.

We do get extra Glucosamine with ours now as we are getting older and are still very active in hiking and dog sports. My home mate, Jiggs (he just passed over in March) was 14 years old and had a beautiful coat and skin. My house mates Slick (15) and my sister Sweep and myself (we are now 10.5 years old) all have beautiful coats and skin too. We have been eating the same dry food all our life......regular grooming (brushing daily) helps us as well. We eat twice a day, early morning and early evening. Remember fat dogs die younger, have more health problems and cannot run and jump with ease.

Love is not a treat. Love is doing what is best for the loved one, (that's us) which means not giving us what we want.....Let your folks love you and keep you slim. Veggies, like carrots and green beans, raw or steamed, make great, low calorie treats.

Woof "Poutine" ^..^~~!

(Thanks to Paul and Parker for this.)

I've been to a couple of special events over the last while, and while I've already written a bit about one, the Halloween party, I've not told you about the latest. That was the afternoon we took over the hall place where Aunt Jessie plays badminton; I didn't know what it really was about, but I heard Couch Potatoes, so figured there might be a soft place to sleep and something to eat so I was interested.

Now, I need to explain about this place. First off, you have to go up these stairs; that's not too bad, 'cause they're solid. But when you get in the door, you have to step off a bit of carpet stuff onto this shiny, slippery green and white floor. Now, a pup could maybe cope with that, but when you go farther, and go into the big hall part, the floor is shiny, slippery wood. Do you see where I'm going with this? With some coaxing, I managed to get across the green and white stuff, and stay upright, and even got a little way into the big place, where I lay on my blanket and watched everyone else work.

Eventually, all was ready to the humans' satisfaction, and then I had to go back out into the place where the shiny green and white floor was. It took me awhile, but I finally made it to where my blanket was waiting for me.

Mom sat at a table, and talked to different humans when they came in; I saw lots of dogs who were strange to me, but after I growled at one, and got royally scolded, I sort of ignored them.

The humans all settled down, with all their dogs lying beside them, behind them, in front of them, or in some cases, on them (don't know if Chinook tried that 'cause I've heard he's a lap dog wannabe.) Peni said hello and then this nice lady started to talk to them, and everyone paid attention. Of course, Mom wanted to be able to hear properly too, so she decided we'd go out into the big place and sit on one of the chairs like everyone else. I took a few steps out onto that shiny floor and that's when the trouble started. I began to do my "Bambi on ice" imitation. My legs started to spread out, my belly headed for the floor, and I tried to put on the brakes. Didn't do any good though. Mom kept hold of my leash, and sort of pulled - by the time we got to the chair she'd picked out, I was about the same height as a chihuahua. Luckily most humans were looking forward and listening - only a few in the back saw and were laughing at me.

We listened to that human speak, and then another one and then had a "p" break for the pups, and coffee and cookies for the humans. Then it was two more humans talking so I just sort of snoozed.. still hadn't seen any sight of a couch.... just my blanket on the floor! Mom left me there a few times when she went up to help give out prizes.. to the humans, not us.

After the last speaker finished, it was time for the fashion show, as they called it. We furfaces who took part wore doggy clothing that was intended to keep us safe or warm or dry - except for me! For some reason, Peni and Susan had decided that I would be a biker girl - so I had on a black leather Harley Davidson jacket, a leather helmet with goggles, and a scarf! I would have looked really cool and tough but.........

We were supposed to walk across this place (they called it a stage) up in front of all the people...... everyone in turn marched out and looked so good, Rabbit in his wetsuit, Cricket in her lifejacket and doggles, Finnegan in his vest, Chinook in a raincoat and vest, Winston in his sweater... I was in there somewhere too... but I didn't actually march... I sort of slunk across the space and back again... it was that shiny floor thing again, and it was high! All those humans were way, way down below me. "Easy Rider" I wasn't. I did a little bit better when some of us went back out again with pack saddles on - I even managed to look around a bit. I was sure glad to get off there and back to my blanket though.

It was a different way to spend an afternoon for a lot of us; I think if I had a choice, I could have picked something I enjoyed more, but the humans were all quite happy. Guess they have to get their way sometimes. Oh, you're wondering about all the other dogs? They had no problem with the floors at all..... go figure! And those Halloween pictures? Mom still hasn't been able to get them to go on the webpage... she's trying, but I've heard her muttering about "computers!"

HRH Trouble (athlete with attitude)

Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.

...... Mark Twain

Is Rover Sad or only frustrated? Bowlingual will tell you.

A Japanese toy maker claims to have developed a gadget that translates dog barks, yips, whines and whatever, into human language and plans to begin selling the product -- under the name Bowlingual -- in the US pet stores, gift shops and retail outlets. Tokyo-based Takara Co. Ltd. says about 300,000 of the dog translator devices have been sold since its launch in Japan late last year. It was supposed to hit the market in August, with a US dollar price of around $120.00. The Bowlingual package consists of a collar with built-in microphone and a transmitter, plus a handheld unit that receives data from the collar and attempts to puzzle out what the dog is saying. The system classifies the dog's feelings into six categories: sadness, frustration, anger, desire, happiness or assertion. Bowlingual then assigns a common phrase to the emotion, such as "You're ticking me off." Takara says it has spent hundreds of millions of yen developing the device in cooperation with acoustics expert and animal behaviourists, and has high expectations for good sales in North America.

Although having at first said that they had no plans for developing a similar device for cats, as they are "too unpredictable", a spokesman for the Takara company several months later said that it would be launching a cat based device, called the Meowlingual, with a price tag of around $75.00 US.

(source -Offbeat News)

1. When your spouse's shocked voice shouts from the shop, "Honey, come quick, I've had a terrible accident!", you show up breathless with a mop and scent neutralizer.

2. You wake panicked in the middle of the night when you sense you suddenly have room to move your body around the bed.

3. You can't sleep unles you hear lots of heavy breathing in your bedroom.

4. The emergency number on your speed dialer is for the dog's veterinarian.

5. When someone taps you on the shoulder, you tell them firmly, "Off!" then "Down!"

6. When tempers flare among your family membrs, you pull out the long forefinger, pointedly rasie your voice, and shout, "Go to your crates, now!"

7. When someone asks what's for dinner, you automatically reply, "Kibbles and Bits."

8. When you are walking a ring around the local park and someone points at you and your dog, you raise both arms over your head, whoop, and go looking for a ribbon.

9. When shopping, your best friend asks you what you think of that snappy suit in the window, and you scowl and mutter, "Useless. It's the same colour as my dog and has no pockets." (Or if you show in obedience, "It's a different colour than my dog and has no pockets."

10. When your neighbour points to her crawling infant and asks you what you thnk of her new baby, you study it for a minute and reply, "Well a little short on the coat and long in the hock, but that kid has a great topline."

11. Dog cookies are starting to look good.

12. What's a vacation?

(Thanks to the Gordon Report via Ebbonie)

Dogs have been doing tricks for thousands of years; Plutarch tells about a poodlelike dog named Zoppico who performed for the Emperor Vespasian. The dog bit a piece of meat and chewed it, but suddenly opening its eyes wide, it had a nervous seizure, gave a death rattle and lay limp on the ground, as if poisoned. Applause revived it, returning liveliness to its cheerful tail.

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: ROOMMATES (108 min) Peter Falk & D.B. Sweeney. A relationship between a grandson and the grandfather who raised him. Comedy. (Has a few touching moments.)

P.G. SEE SPOT RUN (comedy) David Arquette & Michael Clarke..."Duncan," the pooch hating mailman, (David Arquette) finds himself dog sitting an FBI canine that has escaped from the witness safety program. It is very funny with lots of HOT canines in this.

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

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."
- Unknown

There's been no further word on the fate of Blu. I'm afraid to think about it. Does the silence mean he's ........... Blu, write to us!

While I've been waiting to hear about Blu, I've given some hard thoughts to this matter of living in the same household as a dog or dogs. You know what? They get preferential treatment! Do you ever hear of the family cat getting taken to agility? Do you ever see them being taken for a walk with a bunch of their friends? Do you ever see them being taken for a car ride just because? And what about day care? You see people doing all these things for dogs, but I challenge you to tell me of a cat who gets the same perks.

Just picture it. Agility for cats. Instead of a dog walk, we'd have a railing of a sundeck just a couple of paw widths wide. We wouldn't have to worry about the height of the jumps and the cement floor; we can jump much, much higher than a dog can jump. (or higher than most dogs, for that matter!) After all, we have 527 muscles. And if we were to fall off something, we'd land on our feet; we first rotate our head, then our spine, align our hind legs and arch our backs to lessen the impact of landing. Yeah, I know - you're going to say you've seen a cat land some other way. If the distance is too short, we don't have quite enough time to do all this. Chutes and tunnels? Hey, have you ever seen a cat scoot under the covers, or a towel or the bed? Nothing to it.

Now think of the walks. A group of fabulous felines, (that would be called a clowder, by the way) all trailing little long lines. We'd not be trying to eat the horse stuff on the trails, or jumping in the water. We're well suited for walking; we move both left feet and then both right feet; this promotes speed, agility and silence. You've seen those dogs come running down the trail when they're called? We can run up to 30 miles per hour if we want to. No, I didn't say we'd come running if you called; I said we could run that fast if we want to. We have been known to be adventuresome and go on hikes; in 1950, a four month old kitten from Geneva, Switzerland, followed a group of climbers to the top of the Matterhorn.

Car rides? Well, some cats seem to enjoy this; personally, I don't. I tend to protest quite loudly and this does seem to get on everyone's nerves. I have seen and read of cats who do travel with their people all over the place, but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

And then there's that day care thing. Sheesshh - we cats are often left to fend for ourselves when the people go away for a holiday, let alone just to work. I've heard of people just leaving food and water out and not even having someone come by to check on them. Now that is one thing I'll have to give my people credit for; if they don't have someone actually come and stay in the house to look after us, they make sure that either Aunt Jessie or Uncle Jack come to feed and talk to us.

Yep... when you consider that in 1987, cats reached the number one spot in popularity, and replaced dogs as the favorite pet, we've not been treated equally at all. I've heard a rumour though, that we're now tied with the mutts again; anyone who can get the true facts, let me know.

Cleocatra
(Cats rule .... dogs drool!)

[ back to newsletter page ]