There’s Just One Thing That All Dogs Want To Know

By Harrison’s Natural Dog Training

There’s just one thing that all dogs want to know, and they need you to answer it.

Between raising the kids and making meals, working a shift, going to soccer games, swimming lessons, making time for your better half, going to the gym walking the dog..well.. the list could go on and on, but there is no doubt about one thing..at the end of the day your energy is spent, taking off your shoes seems to be a chore that might require some assistance.

With all the things we do daily that drain our energy, the very act of doing them causes stress to our bodies and our minds, and stress as we all know can have very negative effect on us if we don’t deal with it.

So..we have learned that in order to alleviate some of this stress so that we don’t explode..(emotionally speaking,) there are certain activities that help to keep us in balance so we can get up the next day and do it all again.

You might enjoy listening to music, yoga class, reading a good book, massage, sitting on the porch watching the sun go down, smoking a pipe., the possibilities are endless, and individual to you..what works for you might not work for others.

Now let’s consider the daily life of most dogs..not all dogs but most.

A dogs day starts the same time your’s does, if not before..and they have even more energy that you have to start their day..but, instead of getting ready to go to work …they will be lucky to get out for 5 minutes to use the bathroom, come inside and have 10 minutes to eat…a quick pat on the head from you, and a be a good boy till I get back..and then they are sequestered in their assigned areas until you come back.

For most dogs their day is spent either tied in the yard, behind a fence, in a crate, locked in the house.

One thing  is for sure their range of movement is restricted to some degree.

Still he is constantly bombarded by energy coming from life going on around him.

Someone repeatedly knocks on the door because no one there to answer it, a squirrel runs across the yard, the dog next door is in heat, the boom of a passing thunderstorm, needs to relieve himself but it will be two hours before anyone comes to let him outside.

Over the span of the 6-8 hours most people are away from the house the dog has absorbed vast quantities of stress, but has burned very little energy..so when you finally get home, your dog is a quivering emotional stressed out mess..as soon as you open the door or let him out of the crate he jumps up on you, runs around the house maybe knocking over plants and what not.

He paws at you for attention, barks non stop at you or someone passing on the street, surfs the counters, chases the cats, and if you do talk him for a walk he pull you down the street with your feet practically off the ground, and stops only when another dog approaches him and he starts to growl and lunge dragging you toward the strange dog.

The reason a dog does all these different and sometimes annoying behaviors is due to the fact that he is stressed out and is searching for something, anything to satisfy his emotional state of mind, which brings me to the main point of my article..there’s just one thing all dogs want to know.. and what natural dog training strives to help you discover, the answer to this fundamental question…

What do I do with all my energy?

In my next post we will discuss one technique that will help you to answer that question.

All the best,

Harley

Under Obama Over 1,200 Military Dogs Put Down by Regime

Dogs of War Remembered

Moonbattery:  Eating dogs was bad enough. Killing over 1,200 faithful military dogs who were protecting American troops in Afghanistan is worse:

The heroic service dogs were euthanized because they were deemed too “dangerous” for civilian adoption or jobs with law enforcement agencies, as well as for medical reasons according to U.S. Air Force reports given to Congress.

The dogs were used as guards and to sniff out terrorist bombs.

It’s not as if no homes could be found:

Currently more than 300 people are waiting to adopt a military dog, with an average waiting time of 18 months.

Betraying those who loyally served in Afghanistan and Iraq has been characteristic of the current administration.

Is there anything these people do right?

No wonder Bo is trying to get away from him!!

On a tip from Dragon’s Lair.

*All but ‘1’ of the dogs rescued from Mike Vick’s fighting ring were rehabbed and re-homed without any problems!!  This is horrible and ridiculous!  Everyone of these military K-9’s who served for us deserved better… a home and family to retire to after their service.  And if after the ongoing VA scandal, anyone out there still believes that ‘they’ care any more about our 2-legged veterans than the 4-legged ones… Houston, We have a problem!!

Technorati Tags: Military Dogs,Military K-9’s,Military Canines,Obamaland,Scandals,Get-Involved,Politics,Shameful,JOMP,Just one More Pet

Dogs of War – Photos From the Frontlines Revisited

Thursday’s Awesome Photos From The Frontlines: The Dogs Of War – Pat Dollard

Mar 21, 2013 – Jake Hammer – Originally Cross-Posted at Just One More Pet and at Ask Marion on 3.22.13

Related:

Ronald Reagan Honors America and Our Troops Past and Present

Memorial Day 2014

Hero Dogs of 9/11

Memorial Day Weekend Health Safety Tip Reminders

Nation’s oldest Memorial Day Parade returns to Bay Ridge 

Memorial Day and Summer Cautions and Safety Tips For Pet Owners

Military Heroes and Their Dogs

Sergeant Stubby

1st national monument for war dogs honors four-legged pup soldiers of World War II and beyond

Military dogs euthanized as ‘equipment’ under cruel law

Slain Marine’s service dog dies.. (Sad story.. Pictures of Lex and Lee)

HEART-WRENCHING IMAGE: DOG KEEPS WATCH OVER FALLEN SEAL’S CASKET DURING FUNERAL

Help Save USMC Sergeant Rex – Updated

Senate Approves Bill that Legalizes Sodomy and Bestiality in U.S. Military

Dog Killers Convicted For Murdering Navy Seal Hero’s Beloved Companion

Heart-Wrenching Image: Dog Keeps Watch Over Fallen Seal’s Casket During Funeral

Update: Retired Disabled Military Dog Rocky Has Been Saved

The Dog that Cornered Osama Bin Laden

Arizona Worker Fired For Euthanizing War Hero Dog – Is It Enough?

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’

“Tails of Love”  -  Tails of Love – Book

Military Punishment for Dog Killer, Abuser a Joke! No Justice! VIDEO

Humane Society of the U.S. finally changes its policy on fighting dogs

Father Arrested for Allegedly Killing Family Dog in Front of Children

Tucson: Pets, Vets, Veterans Day

Honoring Military Dogs on Veteran’s Day

And the Verdict is Guilty – YES!

Can the US Become a No-Kill Nation?

Lone Survivor – Book

Department of Islamic Justice Bows Down to Muslims Irrational Hatred of Dogs……. SHEER INSANITY !!!!

1st national monument for war dogs honors four-legged pup soldiers of World War II and beyond

Senate Approves Bill that Legalizes Sodomy and Bestiality in U.S. Military – Really?

The 9/11 rescue dogs: Portraits of the last surviving animals who scoured Ground Zero one decade on

Technorati Tags: dogs of war,service dogs,military dogs,dog partners,military canines,frontline photos,military dog photos,dogs,JOMP,Just One More Pet,Heroes,Troops

There Will Never Be Another Secretariat: Thank you, Miss Penny

Penny Chenery

by Gary Spina – The Independent Sentinel

This Saturday, May 3, 2014, will be the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby – the greatest two minutes in sports, as the racing crowd would tell you. Of course, so much goes into those two minutes, and all of it legendary. And you cannot think of the Kentucky Derby or the Triple Crown and legends without remembering Secretariat. Simply stated, there will never be another Secretariat.

In the spring of 2011, I had the privilege and honor of meeting Miss Penny Chenery, the owner of Secretariat and sitting down for an interview with her. The interview was published in the Caroline Progress and in Horse Talk Magazine.

Today, I went into my old files and pulled out the article and realized that it read exactly as it happened – awkward at first and going nowhere, and me trying to capture an ending quote to wrap it up and get out of an interview I had no business being any part of. And then it suddenly changed, and I’m not sure why. But for the briefest of moments, with a hundred people partying and hovering around us, it was just the two of us alone, and Miss Penny going back in time to share a very special memory with me.

Penny Chenery and Diane Lane who played Miss Penny in the movie: Secretariat (Blu-ray)

Original Article, 2011:

The other day, I met Penny Chenery, the owner of Secretariat, at a fund raiser for the future Museum of the Virginia Horse. The museum will sit on what was once the Chenery family farm and stables in Doswell, Virginia. The Virginia State Fair also enjoys its prominence on the land the Chenerys called the Meadow, or the Meadow Farm – the birthplace of Riva Ridge, their first Kentucky Derby winner, and Secretariat, their legendary Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner.

Secretariat

But you can never bring back what’s gone — the tears and laughter, the struggles and losses, and the sweet, delicious victories too long in coming for the Chenerys who carved and scratched a glorious legacy from a backwoods wetland they cleared for paddocks, pastures, and rolling Meadows.

Outside on the front grass, Rain Away, the great-grandson of the famed Secretariat was being paraded for a photo shoot. It was almost like watching a ghost of greatness-past. Rain Away was handsome and sleek with a big chest and big shoulders, though not the massive size and deep red color of his great-grandfather. He was eighteen years old, but he pranced like a spirited colt.

The fund raiser crowd were people of all ages – all horse lovers who had come mostly to meet Penny Chenery, who in 1973 had gambled on a big red horse to win the Triple Crown and save the family farm from bankruptcy.

It was a pretty fancy affair. Horse people are not known to do things by half. There was a cocktail hour with marvelous hors d’oeuvres and wait staff coming and going with trays of drinks and food. I didn’t actually see the open bar, but my contact person there kept bringing me vodka martinis. There was a fabulous dinner afterwards. Great food, great people. It was all nice. But I was there to interview with Penny Chenery for a story.

Penny Chenery is 89 years old, and she gets around with the help of a cane now. And maybe it was the Jersey wise-guy in me, but as she walked by me into the reception area, I showed her I, too, walk with a cane, and before I knew it, the words came out of my mouth: “Wanna race?”

And just for a fleeting half second, Penny Chenery was a young girl again. She looked at me and her eyes came alive and a pretty smile crossed her face – pretty and ever so slightly wicked as my challenge awakened a fighting spirit that still languishes just below the surface. As far as she was concerned, the race was on! I had to beg off.

“No, no,” I said quickly, trying to smile away the challenge. “I concede. I know you’d win the race — no matter how you had to do it!” I said the last part under my breath, but I suspect she heard me.

Penny Chenery granted me an interview, and immediately I could sense the warmth and generosity of a lady of good southern stock. It was just the two of us sitting quietly near the wall, and she gave me her undivided attention. Old friends would come up and hug and kiss her and gush their enthusiasm, and of course, she was happy to see them. But to each it was always the same: “I am so happy you’re here. Thank you so much for coming. But just let me finish interviewing with this gentleman – and then there’s so much I want to talk to you about.”

Wayne Mount came by. “Remember me?” he asked her. After a quick jog of her memory, of course, she did. Wayne had been the exercise boy who was the first to break and ride Riva Ridge. With Riva Ridge, the Chenerys had their first Kentucky Derby win. That was in 1972. Even then, every breeder aspired to the Triple Crown – The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont – but in 1972, no horse had won the Triple Crown in twenty-four years, and back then it was beginning to look as if no horse could ever do it again.

Wayne Mount jogged another memory – a name from the past.

“Mert would always say of Secretariat, ‘You will read about this horse someday.’ He said it repeatedly,” Mount said.

“I had never heard that,” Penny answered. You could see a renew pride swell in her.

“Who was Mert?” I asked.

“Mert. His name was Meredith Bailes, but they called him Mert. He was our farm trainer, and he was the first to break Secretariat.”

“Was he the trainer you fired?”

“No, he was our farm trainer. I fired the racing trainer.”

I was learning, and she was graciously patient – or patiently gracious. I learned there was a farm manager named Howard Gentry who foaled all the mares. From the very beginning, Gentry was impressed with Secretariat.

Mark Atkinson came by to greet Penny. Mark’s father was Ted Atkinson who had ridden both Bold Ruler and Somethingroyal – Secretariat’s sire and dam. It was Ted Atkinson who in 1946 was the first jockey whose mounts won over one million dollars. It was Ted Atkinson who was inducted into the Virginia Jockey Hall of Fame, the National Jockey Hall of Fame, the United States Horseracing Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Horseracing Hall of Fame.

Penny was obviously happy to see both Wayne Mount and Mark Atkinson, but they could see she was interviewing and they stepped back. Both men had been as conversant with me, both as affable and polite with me as they were with Penny, and I was beginning to get a sense of the genuine warmth and camaraderie of these “horse people.”

Again and again old friends and acquaintances came up to greet Penny Chenery, and always she was cordial, but always first and foremost she was attentive to me – gracious always even when my questions bordered on the foolish. Old friends had come from New York, Houston, Colorado – from near and far, and I was beginning to feel like an intruder in what was surely one of Penny Chenery’s last hurrahs. Still, my poor old Jersey heart so very much appreciated the courtesy and consideration she reserved for me, and I appreciated her time.

“I guess, without you, there’d have been no Secretariat,” I heard myself say to Penny. It was a foolish lead, but I was feeling the need to wrap things up, and I was searching for a good quote.

“No, there’d be no Secretariat without Riva Ridge,” Penny answered. “For thirty years my Dad had been breeding horses. His goal was to win the Derby. We had two thousand acres of land worth only about $350 thousand. I mean we were so far out in the country with no real roads in or out, so our land was not that valuable.

“Riva Ridge was our first Derby Winner. Now, for the first time we had some real profit. Riva Ridge saved The Meadow and broke trail for Secretariat to come along after him. And every day I watched Secretariat grow in size and strength and experience. There was an excitement, a promise of great things ahead. Only Daddy never lived to see it.”

On January 3, 1973, her daddy, Christopher T. Chenery died in the 87th year of his life, leaving an estate tax of $11 million. It was a figure the “revenue” folks in Washington came up with, and I guess they were rubbing their palms together in anticipation. But $11 million dollars was money the family could not pay. Their beloved Meadow would be lost unless they sold Secretariat, not yet a three year old who had won most of his races in impressive fashion and was named Horse of the Year. But Penny would not sell her big red horse, not with the Triple Crown ahead.

“Where did you get your fighting spirit,” I asked her.

“From my daddy,” she said.

The rest is history and legend. For champions are born to run the great races. And there are legends among the champions. The legends run with the sun, and then they’re gone beyond a far horizon. And when they’re gone all that we have of them are the memories we hold close and deep, somewhere safe from death itself and oblivion. And that’s why they’re legends.

Finally, I asked Penny her fondest memory of the Meadow. Only now I wasn’t fishing for a quote. I loved this woman, and I just wanted her to take me back with her to “how it was.”

“Oh, I suppose one among many memories was the broodmare barn where there was perhaps twenty mares and their foals,” she said. Her eyes were opened, but Penny Chenery was looking inside herself and going back through the years.

“We always sat down to a formal dinner in the evening, and after dinner, as the day was softening into darkness, Daddy would love to take a walk down to the broodmare barn. And I’d walk with him – and as we walked, maybe we’d talk, or there were times we wouldn’t say a word because as the shadows spread across the Meadow there was nothing that needed to be said. Even now I can see just the two of us walking together. We’d go down to see the mares and their babies – and I remember the smell of the sweet hay and the sound of the mares munching away – and everything so peaceful in the quiet evening – like time standing still.

“And the barn had Dutch doors and the top of the doors would be open and the new foals – once in awhile you’d see one of them just stretch his neck and get his nose over the door. It was special. It was our moment, just my daddy and me – an owner’s moment.”

I leaned close to her and said, “You just painted a picture.” I spoke in almost a whisper because the moment was too pastel soft to speak otherwise.

“I guess I did,” she said, and she smiled to herself, soft and pretty and lonesome.

Now, I’m a tough old Jersey boy — down here in Virginia close to twenty years. I’ve seen the Southland’s elegance, charm, and grace, but I’ve never seen it so tender and so beautiful and so real.

I will forever be grateful, Miss Penny, for your time and your memories.

Technorati Tags: Horses,Horse Racing,‘HOrse of the Century’,Secretariat,Legends,Sport of Kings,Penny Chenery,Triple Crown,Love,Equine,Kentucky Derby,Remembering,Americana,JOMP,Sports Events,Just One MOre Pet,Equestrian

Tribute to Movie Dogs – Rin Tin Tin Lassie Benji Asta Toto +

Video: Tribute to Movie Dogs – Rin Tin Tin Lassie Benji Asta Toto +

Technorati Tags: Movie Dogs,Movies,Movie Animals,Dogs,Rin Tin Tin,Lassie,Benji,Asta,Toto,JOMP,Just One More Pet

World’s Best Skateboarding Cat

Posted Tuesday, January 21st 2014 @ 12pm

The Patriot – AM1150: World’s BEST Skateboarding CAT! Go Didga! The Action starts when Ollie, a skateboard, takes his friend Didga, a CAT, for a ride around a beautiful beach town. On the way Didga "shows off" by jumping on, off, up and even over obstacles. One of those obstacles happens to be a large Rottweiler dog.

Video: CAT Super Skateboarding Adventure! Go Didga! (ORIGINAL)

Technorati Tags: Cats,Skateboarding Cat,Pet Fun,JOMP,Just One More Pet

The Iditarod on 12,000 calories a day

Extreme cold in Alaska makes the race even more challenging – and dangerous

Guest essay by Paul Driessen – What’s Up With That? – Cross-Posted at True Health Is True Wealth

This winter’s record Midwestern freeze made any outdoor activity a real challenge. It also made us appreciate modern housing, heating, transportation and hydrocarbons – and what our frontline troops have endured in the Aleutians, Korea and Afghanistan. I’ve been in minus 20-50 F weather, and it is brutal. 

The nasty weather reminded me of the Iditarod racers and spirited sled dogs I met last summer in Alaska. Trekking 1,100 miles from Anchorage to Nome, across Sam McGee’s wilderness in the dead of winter in nine to twelve days, is not for faint-hearted humans or canines. It’s equivalent to jogging from Chicago to Tampa or from Washington, DC to Kansas City – with temperatures ranging from a “balmy” 10 or 20 degrees F (-7 to -12 C) above to a bone-rattling and deadly minus 50 (-46 C) or lower for the entire trip.

It helps explain why far more people have reached the summit of Mt. Everest than have finished the annual Iditarod race.

This difference: some 4,000 to Everest’s peak versus around 900 individual dogsledders, many of whom are the same hardy men and women racing year after year. About 2,550 dog teams of 16 dogs each have competed since Dorothy Page and Joe Redington, Sr. launched the Iditarod dogsled race in 1973.

Rick Swenson has entered the race 33 times and won it five times, logging more than 82,000 miles in training and racing. DeeDee Jonrowe has started 27 races and finished 25, including 2003 when she began three weeks after finishing chemotherapy for breast cancer! (Go here for still more Iditarod trivia.)

“The coldest I’ve ever been in during the Iditarod was minus 60, and I actually camped out on the trail that night with the dogs,” Rick Casillo told me. “It’s by far the coldest I have ever been. I went to sleep after taking care of the dogs, woke up two hours later and was starting to get hypothermic. I had to get out of my bag and get moving fast. When you’re dealing with temperatures like that, there is no room for error. You have to plan and execute each step perfectly.” Jack London’s “To build a fire” comes to mind.

Rick and his wife Jennifer operate Battle Dawgs Racing, Aurora Heli-Expeditions and the Knik River Lodge west of Palmer. But Battle Dawgs is not just their dog kennel. By partnering with Alaska’s Healing Hearts, they’ve made it a wounded veterans rehabilitation program that enables military personnel and their families and loved ones to experience wild Alaska, restore their souls, and meet kindred spirits through hunting, fishing, mushing, flying, hiking and snowmobiling.

James Hastings, director of operations for AHH and a retired U.S. Army veteran, says their goal with Battle Dawgs is to have a year-round camp with cabins and facilities that can accommodate warriors in wheel chairs. Adds Jennifer, an Air Force veteran and reservist, aircraft mechanic and chopper pilot: “For a wounded veteran, the true battle often begins when they get home.” That’s why the dogs are important. “The healing capabilities of canines are legendary,” Rick says. “You can’t spend time with these men and women, and not want to help out by offering them some life changing experiences.”

Some of warriors will actually be members of Rick’s “pit crew” during dog races. One will be on his sled for the “ceremonial” portion of the 2014 Iditarod, from Anchorage to Eagle River, where the teams regroup and start the actual race. Few can imagine what goes into this race.

Pre-season racing is like pre-season football, Rick says. “You use it to gauge younger dogs and give them valuable racing experience. I’m looking for attitude, recovery time, eating habits, drive and desire. These dogs are all born to run, but I need dogs that can do these runs over and over, willingly and happily.” Usually he spots these characteristics by opening day, but sometimes there are surprises.

“The toughest situation I was ever in was easily in 2007 when I was going up the Alaska Range from Rainey Pass,” Rick recalls. “The temperature was minus 30, with 40 mph winds – making it feel like minus 71 – and we were climbing in a complete whiteout. My goggles froze up solid and were useless. I was forced to take them off. Minutes later, frostbite set in on my nose, cheeks and eyelids. Sometimes I had to walk in front of the team to find the trail. All of a sudden, an 18-month-old dog started demanding to be up front, leading. Normally I would never rely on a young dog in a situation like that, but Grisman was jumping five feet in the air, howling to go. So I gave him a chance. Once I put Gris in lead, he never balked once. Not only did he take us up and over the range. He continued to be one of best dogs in that race and went on to be the best dog I have ever run.”

That experience underscores what are perhaps the six most important factors in Iditarod racing. (1) Bond and trust. “If you don’t have the dogs’ trust, you have nothing,” Rick emphasizes. (2) Mental and physical toughness, for dogs and musher alike. By the end of the race, each musher is tired, battered and cut up – attesting to the difficulty of the trail and weather, and to the need to just keep going, no matter what. (3) Logistics. More on that in a minute. (4-6) “Dog care, dog care, dog care. As the dogs go, you go.”

For UPS and Amazon, logistics are vital. “Brown” even has a jingle about logistics, and Amazon.com hires numerous veterans because of their logistical skills. But for the military and Iditarod racers, logistics mean the difference between success and failure, life or death. “We’re on our own out there,” Rick told me. “No cell phones, no communications. Careful planning and preparation are critical.”

Each dog burns 12,000 calories a day during the Iditarod, Rick points out. That’s what Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps reportedly consumes on racing days. Rick’s dogs eat a combination of beef, horse, fish and chicken; beef fat and turkey and chicken skins; tripe and high-grade dry dog food; salmon oil and natural supplements. They wear booties to protect their feet from the cold and bruising.

Mushers are required to carry a sleeping bag, ax, snow shoes, extra dog booties, a veterinary care book, a dog food cooker and sufficient food for the dogs, in their sleds at all times. So they are hauling about 60 pounds of food and gear in sleds similar to what Inupiaq and Yup’ik Natives used for centuries. For each musher, some 3,000 pairs of booties and 2,000 pounds of food and personal gear are divided up and airlifted by volunteer flyers two weeks before the race to each of 20 check points along the route.

“We cover 125 to 150 miles a day. Our average runs are 60 miles, followed by a four-to-five-hour break to eat, rest, massage and care for the dogs – and then we do it again, and again, until we reach Nome,” Rick explains. Mushers are also required to shut down completely for two 8-hour and one 24-hour rest periods. Tough hills, rocks, swollen creeks, high winds, frigid temperatures, storms, whiteout conditions, accidents and injuries to dogs or mushers, and other adventures can slow that pace down. But somehow they need to make it to the next check point, where volunteer veterinarians examine the dogs and they can replenish their supplies. More volunteers fly any injured dogs from the nearest checkpoint back to Eagle River, where Hiland Mountain Correctional Center inmates care for them until the mushers finish the race.

The hard training and careful preparation pay off. Rick has entered and finished four Iditarod races and is now preparing for his fifth. He’s also competed in many other dogsled races. This year he plans to run at a slower pace that requires less exertion and less rest – and results in less fatigue and healthier dogs that can chew up miles. That’s a bit different from a musher who “ran” all 188 miles to Rohn with minimal breaks in the first race of the 2013-14 season. It will be fascinating to watch all the mushers’ strategies in action.

They’re all straining, sweating and freezing for the $50,000 first place prize – and smaller cash prizes for the next 30 top finishers, plus the joys and thrills of just being in this premier race. But competing in the Iditarod costs $30,000 or more in fees, supplies, dog care, preparation, training and prelims.

So follow Rick Casillo on BattleDawgsRacing.com and all the mushers, preparations, history and thrills of this amazing race at Iditarod.com. Buy some gear and DVDs. Support your favorite mushers and dogs with donations or by volunteering. And watch the race on television. It starts March 1 – and now you know enough to really understand and appreciate “the last great race,” the Iditarod.

_______________

Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power Black Death (Kindle), and a huge fan of Rick Casillo, Battle Dawgs and all they do.

Related: 

Iditarod Trail Race Headquarters, Palin and Alaskan Tourism 

Iditarod Dog Found 7-Days After Disappearing From Team 

Pet Detectives Capture Iditarod Dog on the Lam in East King Co. for 6 Weeks 

Iditarod Dog Saved With Mouth-To-Snout CPR 

Alaskan Breeds Only True American Breeds Study Shows…

Technorati Tags: Iditarod,Dogs,Alaska,Todd Palin,The Palins,Dog Races,Cold Weather,Calories,Mushers,Alaskan Dog Breeds

Conga Dog Project [photo]

h/t to The Doggie Stylish Blog

Technorati Tags: Dog Photo,Circus,funny,JOMP,Just One More Pets

At the Dog Park: Red Alert Behavior Series: Tail Tucked Plus Risks to Small Dogs

Video: At the Dog Park: Red Alert Behavior Series: Tail Tucked Plus Risks to Small Dogs

NoDogAboutIt:

Over the holiday weekend, my dogs enjoyed daily visits to the dog park. They loved getting to walk in the woods every day and to meet up with some of their old friends and hang out. Daisy is more comfortable exploring when she knows her friends. She knows what to expect from them and she knows they will respect her space.

Going to the dog park can be quite an eye opener for the new dog owner. Not all dogs have doggie social skills or a respect for other dogs’ space. You have to know what to watch for and have an understanding of what is really going on.

I have been known to intervene in situations where I feel a dog is in danger, afraid or in need of a little assistance. I am used to hearing people say “Dogs can work it out themselves.” or “Let them be. They’ll work it out,” but that is not always the case. We as dog owners have a responsibility to protect our dogs and to prevent them from harm. In some cases, that means not going to a dog park at all. In others, it means you need to be aware and know what to watch for in case trouble starts.

The video below was taken at a dog park and demonstrates some of the dog behaviors that every dog owner should not only be aware of, but also be ready to intervene in, if they see it. It’s worth watching if you do not understand dog body language. The commentator does a good job of describing what is going on. I have already shared it with my dog park friends, please feel free to share it with yours.

Honor and Friendship – Remembering on Veteran’s Day