Dog Brag

  • Happy Blog-a-versary to Us!

    One year ago yesterday, Lilly and I began our blogging career. Many thanks to all of you loyal visitors and subscribers (including the oodles of you who read but do not comment). I can
    see through my stats that our page views are growing … sometimes well over 200 a day (across the blog, not just that day’s entries). I think that’s pretty good for a young blog. I really hope to
    see that continue to increase this year. …

  • Rude Dogs Article Gets Attention

    My latest piece for HealthyPet magazine is getting noticed. How fun is that? In addition to the 3 million people who will see it in first run, we got a request last week from the
    Papillon Club of America to reprint it in their newsletter. Plus, I got permission from the publisher for my big-picture trainer (Gigi) to give copies to her puppy K and beginning obedience students.
    …

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    Resource guarding revisited

    Last week, I lamented about Lilly’s penchant for turning into a mean, rotten girl when other dogs get close to her darling daddy. There are certain toys that might cause a similar
    reaction in the wrong circumstances, especially if they involve food — like a rawhide or a stuffed kong. But, the other day, Lilly and Ginko enjoyed a bit of chewing fun practically side by side.
    Take a look. …

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    Body slam!

    Way back when we were looking for a second dog, the prime concern was Ginko. His needs outranked anything. We needed a dog small enough not to re-injury Ginko’s two blown knees that
    we’d spent a small fortune to fix surgically. We also, however, needed a dog big enough for Ginko to play with without hurting. He’s a strong, muscular 68 pounds or so. It’s a good thing Lilly is
    tough as nails because last week Ginko accidently body slammed her. …

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    Lilly grows thumbs

    Tom swears that the pads on the back of Lilly’s forelegs are oversized — like thumbs. Since she *is* good at gripping things, opening things and general dexterity, I’m inclined to
    agree. If we don’t watch out, soon she’ll be climbing ropes, scaling ravines and other mischief. Check it out. …

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    Tom voted firefighter of the year (again)

    Tom, my hubby and Lilly’s most excellent daddy, was voted 2007 firefighter of the year. Since he joined the fire department 5 years ago, he has won 3 big awards, including rookie of the
    year and firefighter of the year twice. I’m always proud of his hard work, but it’s especially nice when others recognize it too. It’s super-duper nice when other firefighters (yes, men) go out of
    their way to tell me how much they think of Tom. …

  • Accidentally spreading cheer

    As she often does, Lilly went shopping with me on Saturday. Many of the little stores on our “main street” allow dogs, so while I cruised for a few final gifts, Lilly came along. She
    befriended a woman in one particular store, delivering a gentle POKE with her nose to the woman’s hand when offered and accepting being petted and praised. Hey, who wouldn’t want that? Then, as the
    woman left the store, she said something that brought tears to my eyes. …

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    These are the contacts in our neighborhood

    Sing along with me — ye, of the Mr. Rogers generation. These are the contacts in our neighborhood … in our neighborhood … in our neigh-bor-hood. One of my made-up strategies for
    getting Lilly used to performing agility in public settings is to use things we find on our walks (especially in town) as obstacles. I figure if I can get her to do various agility-like things while
    other people and dogs are walking by, while cars are zooming past, that it may someday translate onto the training field or the competitive ring. So, here’s a photo tour of a …