Monthly Archives: December 2009

For Christmas my mother in law gave me a book that I’ve really been enjoying – Beyond Fetch. Of course I saw the border collie and borzoi on the front and instantly liked it, but I had done a bit of research before putting the book on my wish list and its living up to its reputation as a book that has some meat to it with new ideas that will entertain you and your dog.
I think a big problem for people these days is staying active with their dogs, something that is healthy for both ends of the equation and builds up trust and respect, resulting in a stronger bond. This book has some awesome activities for when its freezing out side, like right now, outside games, sports, parties, toys, etc… (more…)

This Christmas we went over to my parent’s in the Seattle area. They have a great black standard poodle named Monty. He’s around 5, has a bad hip and generally likes everything that walks in the front door, especially if he can manage to stick his nose in its crotch. Unfortunately Ellie, my border collie, has never been so happy about living with him (even if its only for four days). Ellie has a snarkilpetic tendency and Monty is playful: like a little brother that likes to poke his older sister just to annoy her.

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Well my dog has caught it, has yours? She woke up one morning with some bright green eye goupies, a sneeze and itchy eyes. She’s had eye goupies before and I think that perhaps that might be the first sign that her white blood cells are going to town on something. She had them so often this spring without other apparent symptoms that it looked like she had a minor allergy. This time, one of her best doggy friends (Suka) had green eye amigos and then a couple days latter so did my dog Ellie. Is it a cold or a flu? My guess is a simple cold since Suka is already over it.

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I am shamelessly copying this statement from Ahimsa’s blog – I added the italics.

Association of Pet Dog Trainers Position Statement

There has been a resurgence in citing “dominance” as a factor in dog behavior and dog-human relationships. This concept is based on outdated wolf studies that have long since been disproven. Contrary to popular belief, research studies of wolves in their natural habitat demonstrate that wolves are not dominated by an “alpha wolf” who is the most aggressive pack member. Rather, wolves operate with a social structure similar to a human family and depend on each other for mutual support to ensure the group’s survival.
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