You gotta admire her persistence.

Chase was just hanging around in his backyard in Richton Park, Illinois, when a tornado swept through, taking him along for the ride.  “People started coming up and saying ‘we saw your dog in flight,’” said Holmes, Chase’s owner. Miraculously, Chase was found a block away, baffled and terrified, but alive.

Sarah, an outgoing black lab, was swept out of her owner’s home when a tornado hit Windsor, Colorado.  Fortunately, the local Sheriff’s department created a plan four years ago to deal with reuniting pets with their owners after a natural disaster.  After almost 24 hours of frantic searching, Sarah was found at the Emergency Operations Center where all kinds of bedraggled pets were given refuge. Besides a few bruises and one scar across her eye, Sarah is well and grateful to be back home.

Is your dog afraid of thunderstorms?

I live in the desert, and rain is always an occasion for joy.  After almost two months of sunshine and a week of the weatherman’s no good promises, it finally rained today.  I sat outside, just watching, for almost an hour.  I made coffee and listened to Joni Mitchell.

In my frantic gratitude, I kind of forgot about what my dog was up to.  Delinquent, guilty mom, I started looking around in his usual spots.  No luck.  hmm…

Finally, I called for him, and a terrified little black face emerged from the closet.  Stranger, when scared, seems much smaller.  His ears curl in, and his entire body kind of gravitates into a curl.  After calling him  a few times, he crawled out and went straight for my lap, taking shelter.

It was the weirdest thing.  Stranger is not afraid of too many things.  He’s one of those dogs you worry about being friendly to moving cars or robbers, overly eager and curious.  But there was a lot of thunder, and I was outside.

Luckily for him, the sky’s cleared up again and the only ruckus is my radio, which he also seems weary of.

The Latest Question:

Does K9 Cuisine carry a dry dog food that is suitable for a 10 year old
diabetic black lab mix? His disease is in control and he is of a proper
weight. He doesn”t care much for the Science Diet prescription food he is
now being fed. Thank you.

Sue

The Latest Answer:

When I was younger, Wishbone was my favorite show. I never stopped to consider the dog behind the elaborate recreations and costumes; I think I even assumed the dog talked(though curiously without moving his mouth). I was a happy book worm and thought I’d found my kindred canine spirit. My own dog hates it when I read and will squirm his way until he’s laying on my book, belly up, ready to free me from this silly collection of papers. Usually, I do give in, but today I am successfully ignoring him long enough to read what Wikipedia has to say about the brilliantly expressive jack russel terrier that played the part of Wishbone.

His name was Soccer, inspired by his affinity for soccer balls. He appeared in almost every episode of the show for the three years that it ran. Soccer had four stunt doubles that did the dirty work (he hated swimming). He also starred in commercials for Nike and Mighty Dog Dog Food. In 1999, he was nominated for a BIMP award. (Wonder if he was allowed to chew it?) The show won four Emmys and a Peabody, and Soccer appeared in People Magazine and The Tonight Show. He lived with his trainer in Texas until he died in 2001 at 13 years of age.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget him reciting Shakespeare in tights.

RIP Soccer.

I realized I haven’t spent nearly enough time in my life appreciating the beautiful Doberman!  I was just watching a PBS special on dogs, and they briefly mentioned the history of the breed.  I had always been intrigued (and maybe a little intimidated) by the Doberman’s strength and beauty so I decided to do a little bit of research.  As it turns out, the beginning of the Doberman is a pretty interesting story.

The Doberman was first realized in Germany by the breeding of a tax collector named Louis Dobermann.  Louis often traveled with money and wanted a dog for self protection.  He was also in charge of the local dog pound, so he began to try to breed his dream dog, a dog with a short smooth coat, average build, incredible stamina, intelligence, alertness, and if necessary, even aggression.  He meticulously chose the dogs whose genes would go into the making of the Doberman.  Unfortunately, he kept no record of his choices.

I’d love to see the different dogs that came between the intention and the animal.  Many sites speculate that the German Pinscher was the foundation breed that Louis Dobermann began with.  Other possible ancestors include the Rottweiler, the Manchester Terrier, and the Beauceron.

Herr Dobermann passed away in the late 1800’s, but the Doberman “patent” and dog were left in the care of Otto Goeller, who may have added the Greyhound to the mix.

In 1990, The German Kennel Club officially recognized the Doberman as a legitimate new breed.

Stranger and I are back from our roadtrip! California was beautiful, gas prices were shocking, and allergens were everywhere.

I wonder, has anyone else observed that dogs have twice as much energy when traveling? At first, I blamed it on the car ride, being bored and pent up for hours at a time, but even after hours of fetch by the beach, Stranger was still running around, utterly inexhaustible. Luckily, he charmed most of our friends into days full of doting, belly rubs and ball throws.

In San Francisco, he had a couple sneeze attacks. I blamed it on allergies and didn’t give it any thought until he started discharging this green snot like substance from his right eye.

and you thought i was just going to gush about sunsets on the ocean front : )

We took him to the vet today, who told us not to worry. She said his eyes were just irritated and gave us some ointment.

But this is the kicker!

Did you know dogs have three eyelids!?

“Each eye of a dog has three eyelids, the main upper and lower lids and a third lid hidden between them in the inner corner of the eye. The third eyelid can sweep across the transparent cornea of the eye and clean it like a windshield wiper.”

It turns out that Stranger’s third eyelid is a little weaker, which explains his constant sleepies and sensitivity to allergens.

Learn something new every day, heh. Anyways, glad to be back and can’t wait to catch up on all your blogs.

Tomorrow, Stranger and I are traveling to California, land of the towering redwoods, the majestic pacific, and all the “dude” you’ll ever need. We’ve traveled quite a bit with him, and we’ve learned some important things to keep in mind while roadtripping with a dog, especially in the summertime.

1) (and probably the most important) Don’t leave your dog in the car while you’re running an errand. Summer temperatures inside the car can get up to 120 degrees, and dogs don’t sweat. They can only release heat by the soles of their paws and panting. During food stops, either my boyfriend or me will stay in the car with Stranger and keep the AC running.

2) Make sure to allow your pet plenty of exercise. Play fetch at a rest stop, or take a walk around the gas station. (I can’t wait to run on the beach with him!)

3) Keep a toy with him in the back seat to occupy him during the long hours of driving. Anything filled with peanut butter can keep Stranger busy for at least 600 miles.

4) Keep your dog close and on leash when you take him to public places. I know you’re thinking, duh, but! Travel does interrupt your dog’s routine, and even a well behaved dog can become anxious or disoriented and snap and growl at strangers.

5) Don’t over feed them. Try feeding them several small meals to avoid car sickness.

6) Make sure their tags are up to date.

7) And most importantly, use the time together to explore, bond, and strengthen your trust.

I’ll take lots of pictures and be back soon. : )

As most of you know, Stranger is my first dog, and I’ve thrown myself into “how to do it right” with all my energy, all that google has to offer, and the occasional ambushing of strangers with well behaved dogs.  Still, he was essentially a beautiful mystery to me for the first couple of months.

I could get him to respond to basic commands.  I knew his basic likes and dislikes.  I knew I could try to explain the social contract to him and get my nose licked.   But, who was he?

I realize now that what was missing at the beginning was real communication founded on common ground.  I made many mistakes confusing this bond for obedience and sometimes trying to treat and talk to him like a person.  I was just on a website about playing with your dog when I realized how much games have helped us understand each other.  Playing fetch and find the treat.

I spent the last ten minutes playing hide and seek with him, and I couldn’t believe how much fun it was.  I would tell him to sit and wait, while I ran and hid.  Then, I’d say “come find me!”  And he would prance around and investigate until he found me, and then we’d both laugh.  He licked me and looked genuinely proud and happy.

The game left us both, feeling closer and happier.

i love this dog : )