Musings about dog life, canine couture, and dog-friendly events.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Are You Ready for Some Football?!!

This afternoon, I had the playdates of all doggie playdates called the Super Dog Bowl -- Schnauzers vs. Boston Terriers at Animal Haven in Soho, a no-kill shelter/playspace. It was awesome!!

My friends and fellow doggie playgroup organizers Karen, Savannah, Jennifer and I hosted the event and I believe it was truly a 5 star event. We had games to entertain the dogs and humans, including treat-eating, fastest tricks in 30 seconds, and dog racing, to name a few.

Sadly, the Bostons beat the Schnauzers by a nose. So, they will have the bragging rights of Top Dog for the time being. The Schnauzers won't go home defeated, no!! We will rise up and beat those furry munchkins at the next playdate!!

In the meantime, here's a few highlights of today's snout-to-tail action. Enjoy!



Thursday, January 25, 2007

Oh My Dogness!


How cute is this? A Beagle-shaped bed & breakfast in Idaho. Yes! It's real and people do stay there overnight. Talk about being in the dog house! hahaha!

I love to stay in bed & breakfasts and I'm always on the lookout for cool places to stay and just relax. Since I'm so dog crazy, I instantly fell in love with this cute little B&B called The Dog Bark Inn and the dog is named "Sweet Willy." I have no intentions of ever setting foot in Idaho - what is the tourist draw anyway? - but this place is surely a sight to see when driving up the road.

Whether you're long in the tooth or still smelling of puppy breath, check out this spot the next time you're in Idaho. It's fun for the whole family.

Hey, I wonder if the tail wags!

Here's more info . . .

From AOL Travel Guide: Beagle-Shaped B&B

Dog-loving families won’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind bed-and-breakfast experience in Idaho. The Dog Bark Park Inn is like no B&B you have ever seen; it is in the shape of a beagle. In fact, it is the world’s biggest beagle. It was created by Dennis Sullivan, a self-taught chainsaw artist, who sold his wooden dog carvings on QVC. He and his wife took his QVC earnings to create the ultimate wooden dog on their property.Guests enter the body of the beagle, nicknamed "Sweet Willy' from a private, spacious second story deck. Inside and up another level in the head of the dog are a loft room for additional sleeping accommodations and a cozy reading nook in the dog's muzzle. The beagle sleeps up to four people. And the price is right for almost any family budget, $88 per night, including breakfast, for two people; $8 for each additional person.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Blue Light Special


My latest obsession just arrived in the mail. . .

It was on my Amazon Christmas wish list for two years in a row and no one ever purchased it. That’s the kinda luck I have, everyone buys me things they think I’d like instead of just going off the damn list. That really irks me! But I’ll digress and stay on topic today.

It’s called the Simple Solution 11350 Spot Spotter Ultraviolet Urine Detector and costs less than $20. I have been weirdly intrigued by what you can find with a “blue light.” I secretly wondered, “what kind of yucky doggie fluids will I find in my own home?” Today I get to find out!

I inserted the 8 AA batteries it requires, turned off all the lights in my living room, and at first saw nothing. I thought it didn’t work, but after a few steps I could see a couple spots near Roxie’s wee wee pad were urine. Success!!

I moved on to the kitchen and discovered the microwave door handle was quite filthy and so was the refrigerator door and every single doorknob in our tiny condo. Yikes! Needless to say, I found quite a few surprises in the bathroom where the other “magic happens” and now I’m totally skeeved out. No wonder nasty stomach viruses are lurking inside my home . . . all the doorknobs are incubators for filth and germs!

Funny how I got the blue light to find Roxie's bodily fluids and discovered the humans who trample through my home are the main contributors.

This week, my mission is to clean all the doorknobs in the house along with the rest of our home and then check back with the blue light to make sure I didn’t miss anything. So don't go around telling folks my house is nasty!! LOL

If you’re curious what you may find in your own home, go ahead and order one on Amazon.com I highly recommend it.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

What do you do about dog doo?

It’s hot, fresh, and waiting for you to pick it up. And I don’t mean Krispy Kreme donuts. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s dog poo that’s waiting for you!

According to Newsday.com, one town in Long Island is doing something about its dog doo …

In an effort to curb harmful runoff from animal waste, Babylon town officials will hand out free pooper scoopers to residents today at the West Babylon Animal Shelter.

I think it’s great the animal shelter is trying to help out the community it serves, but I’d think people can handle picking up a little dog dropping on their own. Geez! If you own a dog, you’re no stranger to smelly turds that fall out of your dog 3-6 times a day. Why on Earth do people need a scooper? Just grab a plastic grocery bag and grab it up with gusto! Haha Well, just pick it up and dispose of it in the trash.

I’d prefer Babylon’s animal shelter focus on saving dogs and placing them in needy homes than catering to a bunch of lazy people.

So, I'd like to know from you: What do you do about dog doo? Do you pick it up with no problem? Or would you like to get one of those snazzy pooper scoopers? Share your views in the comments section. Thanks!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Doggie Discount

Pssst! Do you love to pamper your pooch without looking at the price tag? Good for you!

Well, I'd love to lavish luxuries upon Roxie, but my husband would have a fit and then I'd feel guilty about it. So, to keep our marriage happy, I've become a bigtime sale watcher. Here's a couple bargains I discovered recently:

A friend of mine walked by the Humane Society the other night and noticed in the window that they had beautiful carriers on sale for $10 with the money going to the Humane Society. She said they were from a good company, but she doesn't remember which, and they were very pretty. They are a good buy and the proceeds go to helping dogs. You should check it out if you need an extra carrier.

Stop by the Humane Society and see for yourself! The Humane Society is located on East 59th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, closer to 2nd Avenue. It is on the south side of the Queensborough Bridge.


* * *


I read about this doggie discount on the NYCityPets blog:

Housing Works has a deal for dogs and their walkers. Bring a dog into their 90th Street shop on Wednesdays and you get 15% off while your pooch gets a snack. All purchases support Housing Works, an AIDS advocacy organization. How can you say no to that?

Wednesday hours: 11 am-7 pm
1730 2nd Avenue at 90th Street
Phone: 212-722-8306
Subway: 4, 5, 6 Trains to 86th Street

Got information on other discounts? Please post them in the comments and I'll share them in my next post.

Cheers!

Monday, January 15, 2007

Dog Philosophy ~ Part One

I can truly say having a dog has made me a more patient, kind, and playful person. Every day I'm rewarded with sloppy kisses, wet-nose rubs, and a wagging tail. What more could you ask for!

Here's some great quotes about dogs for you to enjoy. I'll post more at a later date.

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. -- Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. -- Ann Landers
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. -- Will Rogers
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. -- Ben Williams
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than she loves herself. -- Josh Billings
The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. -- Andy Rooney
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made. -- M. Adkan

Friday, January 12, 2007

Cesar Says...


In an effort to keep my New Year's resolution to nip my pup Roxie's off-and-on aggression issues in the bud. I started watching reruns of the Dog Whisperer. Very interesting show! However, he does has many detractors. So I take his advice with a grain of salt.

Here's some tips he has for the New Year...
New Year's Resolutions for Dog Owners
by Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer)

I encourage owners to make a commitment to their dogs a priority in 2007! Here are a few New Year's Resolutions I recommend.

1. Walk your dog every day for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Walking with your dog twice a day for 30 minutes is the first step toward improving your relationship with your dog. The walk is the foundation of your relationship. It is a powerful tool that will help you connect with all aspects of your dog's mind.

2. Set rules, boundaries and limitations every day. As a pack leader, you need to set the rules both inside and outside the house. What you allow and don't allow is up to you, but be consistent, use calm-assertive energy, and never, ever correct out of anger.

3. Live in the moment. Start the New Year with a clean slate for you and your dog. Let go of the past. Don't worry about the future. With your dog and in your day-to-day life, you will find many benefits.


4. Schedule playtime with your dog once a week. Play fetch. Go for a swim. Play Frisbee. Run an obstacle course. Just make sure your dog has had a long walk beforehand, and only play for the time you have decided in advance to allot.

5. Share affection...at the right times only. After your dog has exercised or eaten. After your dog has changed an unwanted behavior into a behavior that you asked for. After your dog has responded to a rule or command. Share affection only when the dog is in a calm-submissive state!
You can watch Cesar at work on his show on the National Geographic Channel or online: http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Whoa is me ...


Ah! The joys of puppy parenthood…


Roxie has been a part of my life for more than a year and I’ve seen it all, including waking my husband and I up at 3 a.m. with her newborn whimpers, the biting of our heels because that’s what puppies do, the loose stool after changing her dog food brand too many times, and the chunks of puppy vomit that appears on the floor after she’s tried to eat something she should have.

So why am I so freaked out by own vomit and feces?

This past weekend, I got the horrendous stomach virus that’s been making it’s way up each and every city block in my neighborhood. I can’t tell you how many people I know were knocked down by this nasty illness. It was my turn and I didn’t know it, until I spent 7 hours at work at my new job in Long Island. Geez!

I sat in the company’s bathroom stall for so long that I heard someone whisper in the hallway “psst! There’s a lady sleeping in one of the stalls! Who is it?!” I had just started my job and didn’t want to become a hot topic of discussion so I mustered up the energy to drag myself to my car and start the one-hour commute home. Talk about torture!

I made it home only to start the vomiting and diarrhea all over again. I was so sick that my bathroom looked like a crime scene. Arggh! The sight of it all freaked me out and also made me vomit some more.

So know that I’m nearly recovered, I’m wondering, “how come I can pick up my dog’s hot, steamy poop off a sidewalk in the rain, but I can’t handle my own bodily fluids?”

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

New Year, New Dog?

OK, so the New Year is upon us and everyone starts rattling off about how they want to be a better person, yadda, yadda. Personally, I’d like to work on my dog’s behavior.

I do take some blame. She’s a bit aggressive toward strangers and I’ve tried many things to nip it in the bud, but mostly my husband and I believed that socialization would break her out of it. Not so!

So, my New Year’s resolution is to work harder on solving our little pesky problem. I am going to enroll her in what humans might call “anger management” classes. Haha! I’ll keep ya posted on how we’re doing.

Check out this very cool image from the Chinese calendar. 2006 was year of the dog -- it certainly was for me!

Got dog training suggestions or recommendations? Post 'em here.

Me and Ro

Me and Ro
Roxie and I attend the 2007 Canine Cocktail Pawty hosted by Jenna Gates

Adopt a Pet

Animal Breed Zip Code