Herding Instinct Test

Here's a bit of personal news ... the potential adopter (PA) of my foster dog (FD) wanted to take her to a Herding Instinct Test. I thought that was a great idea since the FD has spent the last month or so trying to figure out how to herd my ducks.

Unfortunately, when the PA called ahead to see if there was space, all the spots were filled (pre-registered) and there was already a waiting list.

Featured Rescue - Jack A Roo the Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler

Today I thought I'd feature an Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler. There are currently 3,192 ACD's available on Petfinder.com.

I had a Heeler/Border Collie mix when I was growing up (have I mentioned this yet?) and she was great. We had a fair amount of problem behaviours with her (think two young children plus she didn't join the family until she was 8 months old ... plenty of bad habits

News Reel - Internet Scam

I found this one when reading some of the headlines this week and thought I'd share with you.

Internet Scam Targets People Wanting to Buy Dogs


Ok, so seriously. If you're dumb enough to buy a dog through a "secure" site on the internet, sight unseen with no guarantee ... well, I'm sorry but maybe you really should learn a lesson and lose your money.

Who's the bigger Asshat in this scenario?

New Wave Dog Training?

Check this one out. I found it while wandering through the CL postings this morning!



You too can have someone else train your dog while you're on vacation! They "train dogs to overcome a variety of issues" Doesn't that sound just dandy?



What a load of dog poo.



Good grief! Here's the problem with doing this ... I expect that 6 weeks after the dog goes home it will have totally regressed.

News Reel - Brighter Days A-Coming

I thought I'd put up some upbeat stories about animals today. They aren't all dog related - sorry for the off topic-ness (I know, it's not a word, but I'm having troubles waking up today!).

Hero horse recommended for bravery medal in Australia
(Neat story! I could close my eyes and see it play out)

Pet owners' job easier at dog wash
(Interesting idea. Don't know how the groomers in the area

Training Rant - Fear

There are so many people out there who think it is ok that their dog will cower behind them when other dogs/people approach. What's wrong with it? The dog is physically managed - beside / behind the owner ... so why is there a problem? Never mind that the dog is nowhere close to the place mentally where she should be!

I get so frustrated when people say something along those lines! I just want

Make Mondays Matter 2

I thought I'd publish another Make Mondays Matter for this week. I really like this idea from Mrs Zeee - a great way to start the week! I did some thinking and decided to tell you about something we did that lasted the entire weekend, not only Monday.

This weekend we dog-sat a friend's dog. They were going away for the weekend and needed someone to watch their four legged family member. They

Featured Rescue - Washington the Beagle

In most shelters, you will find Beagles. Why? There are many theories to this; some say that beagles are runners and unless you have a fenced yard, they will follow their nose and run away (that's crap - I've had a beagle for 14 years and she's still around - she's constantly following her nose ... ? ... before her we had a hound of undetermined breed with the same habits), some say that they are

OT - Cat Food Recall

This is a bit off topic, but I thought I'd post it anyway. There was a cat food recall earlier this week.

Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care and Nutro Max dry cat foods has announced a voluntary recall of select varieties. If you feed this food, please read the following article for more information.

Popular Pet Food Recall

I posted this entry on my other blog, Drowning In Cats, as well

Why veterinary behaviorists can't stand Cesar Millan

I stumbled across this one the other day during my 'free time' and thought I'd share it with you all. I didn't write it so don't give me credit for it.


Why veterinary behaviorists can't stand Cesar Millan


Nicely written. Check out some of the comments written in reply to the article. There are some for and against Cesar's techniques. I found it just as interesting to read some of the comments

Post Exchange - "Making Dollar Online"

I found this opportunity in my list of potential post exchanges and I thought that it would be a good one to do based on my post earlier this week about advertising. This blog is called "Making Dollar Online" and it is all about how to make money online, get the most out of search engine optimization (SEO) and basically work the system.

Don't ask me what search engine optimization (SEO) is

News Reel - Michael Vick Released

For those of you who aren't aware of what's been going on in the Michael Vick case, he was released to serve the rest of his sentence in house arrest on May 20, 2009. That was yesterday. He will still have two months to serve under house arrest, but he is no longer in prison.

Here is the news article:
Michael Vick Release Date Begins Uncertain Next Step for Vick

Personally, I think he should

Charitable Donation - Advertising

Do you remember a while back I posted about the Google Ads that I put up on the blog? I'm sure you've noticed by now that I've been experimenting with different types of advertising here. (To date, I've only made $3.81 from Google Ads and they have been running here since January - I am contemplating removing them completely)


Way back in January when I decided to start selling advertising space

LinkLove and Awards

Ok, so I'm not really sure how this whole thing works, but Jaime over at ThoughtsFurPaws gave me this award.


I'm thinking it's something like LinkLove, but am not sure.
The rules are that we must link to the friend that gave us the award - ThoughtsFurPaws - and give the award to up to 15 recently discovered blogs.
I don't know who would want to be listed, so I am simply going to grab the 15

Featured Rescue - Priscilla the Shih Tzu

Having posted about a Shih Tzu this weekend, I thought I'd post one currently in rescue! This is Priscilla~Princess. She is approx. 8 years old and a special needs case. Her vet surgically removed a mammary tumour believed to be malignant ...


Do I need to remind everyone of the various reasons it is beneficial to Spay and Neuter your pets? No ... I'd be preaching to the choir.
Anyway, if you

Post Exchange - SearchEngineRankingsSystems

Well I couldn't pass up this opportunity; it's specific to dog training! "Search Engine Rankings Systems - Train Pet Dog" was the name of the opportunity (minus the spaces).

There is always a lot of discussion when it comes to training one's pet dog. There are those who strongly believe that "This Is The Way To Train A Dog." Period. No discussion. Then there are those who believe that every dog

Post Exchange - Hummingbirds Are Coming!

For those of us in the southern parts of Canada and northern United States, we are starting to see the Hummingbirds set up house. I love to watch the hummers and for such a small bird they can be pretty aggressive!

Hummingbirds are coming so get those feeders out there if you want them to stick around!

We feed them every year and this year we have more than ever before. We have somewhere in the

Make Mondays Matter

Mrs Zeee has a challenge on her site that asks everyone to blog about how they Make Mondays Matter. Since there is such a bad rap that Mondays get, the challenge is to go out and make Monday a positive one.





A quote from Mrs Zeee's site of examples of ways you can Make Mondays Matter:


"Some examples: volunteering, helping a friend move a sofa, donating time or a few dollars to charity,

BlogRoll Cleanup May and Thanks

You might have noticed that some links have been added and some removed from my BlogRoll this weekend. That is because I have removed those blogs whose authors haven't posted for over a month or two.


There are a few exceptions to this and those are the people who I know come and comment on my blog regularly. For those who comment, I have kept your blog on my blogroll regardless of how often you

CL Asshat Rant - Studly Shih Tzu

When I run across ads like this and haven't got anything to say other than *Asshat* that's a problem. I always have something to say!


This one wants to breed their one year old Shih Tzu. There are a few things I'm going to point out ...


Why are you looking to breed this dog? What makes him "Studly"?



What are you trying to gain/prove? You are obviously looking to get something out of this

Featured Rescue Followups April

Well, here's the Featured Rescue Followups for April and all those who weren't adopted from previous months. I'm not posting the pictures again this month. Check out the original post if you're interested in seeing the pics.


Kobe Swims the "Rottweiler" mix
Status: NOT adopted
Featured on December 5, 2008
Follow link here to see blog entry


Tahne the Cocker Spaniel
Status: Home Visit - wow!

Training Rant - The New Puppy

Have you ever noticed that when people get new puppies, they let them do whatever they want? In my discussion with the person who just got a Border Collie puppy, one of the things that she said was that the breeder told her not to use the word "No" for a few weeks. (Now, I have to warn you that I have quite a lot to say about this conversation and my ranting may go on for a few days about this ..

Featured Rescue - Eubie the Border Collie

I know, I already ran a Border Collie a while back, but one of my client's secretaries just bought a Border Collie so my brain is on them. Also, there's a Border Collie close by here whose owner died and they are trying to figure out what to do with him - I'm encouraging the Estate to keep him out of the shelters ... many Border Collies I've met don't do well in shelter environments. I am hoping

News Reel - Higher Fines

Check out this article, DeRidder adopts new ordinances regarding dogs. Apparently city council has increased the fines for loose dogs and strongly encourages dog licensing. It also addresses dangerous dog legislation. Here is another article that explains specifically what these new "ordinances" are: City Council approves John Gott as Chief of Police

I would like to take a moment and applaud the

CL Rant - OT Raccoons

Well I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. We spent some good quality time with family this weekend; flowers and cards and hugs and kisses (oh my!) for the moms as well as dinner. I was reminded again how great my sh!thead dog is with kids (the permadog that is still in basic training). He reminds me that just because a dog isn't great on one side of the trianing, doesn't mean

Post Exchange - Floods and Disaster Planning

Disaster planning is becoming a big thing in recent years, there are seminars, kits you can buy, and other ways to prepare yourself. Or perhaps it is simply that I have only just recently began paying attention to this topic? I'm not sure which it is, but I do know that every dog owner out there should have a disaster plan.

What do you do in the event of a natural disaster such as a flood?

Do

Featured Rescue - the Welsh Corgi

Today's feature is the Welsh Corgi. I wasn't a big fan of this breed until I met one owned by a friend of mine and I have since withdrawn my previous opinion. The family recently welcomed a new baby into the house and again - I'm impressed with her.

This little guy hasn't had it as easy as the Corgi I know. This is Codi. You probably noticed that he hasn't got any eyes - they were both removed

What's your Favourite Rainy-Day Game?

Well, it's supposed to rain all weekend here, so we're going to be inside more that normal here. That just means that instead of being outside from the time we are up to the time we sleep, we are in and out all day to dry off and/or change.

I always look for new and exciting games to play with the dogs for days like this. Some that my guys love are:

Hide and Seek

Treasure Hunts

Cookie Toys (

Photo Contest - American Greetings

I got an email regarding a pet photo contest and I thought I'd pass on the message

American Greetings, who sponsors ThoughtsFurPaws.com, is holding this pet photo contest.

The Furry Faceoff Challenge, also sponsored by Frontline, pits cats against dogs to see who is cuter.

The grand prize, worth $350, includes a $250 PetSmart gift card, a $50 PhotoWorks.com gift certificate, a one-year

Monthly Followup April

April followup

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Beware of the Dog

On March 2, I posted a blog entry called "Beware of the Dog". I last I told you was that I had been told to submit a letter to them in complaint before they could consider removing the toy from the shelf. I submitted my letter but never heard anything from them. I went into the

Featured Rescue - China the Weimaraner

There are 709 Weimaraners looking for homes on Petfinder.com. Though I haven't met a Weimaraner I didn't like, I have found this to be a delicate breed that often has vaccination reactions.

This is China. She's 2.5 years old and was brought to the shelter by someone who found her living conditions somewhat lacking. She does have heartworm and will require treatment.

Sorry for the small pic -

Post Exchange - Web Hosting

I have found that there are so many people out there who foster animals that don't have any record of them. I know one lady who has fostered uncountable cats and dogs over the 20 years she has been opening her home up, but she has no records of them. She has a few pictures, but that's about it.

From the discussion I had with her, I suggested that she keep a scrapbook about the animals and she

Post Exchange - Myx-It-Up

I was parusing around and stumbled on this post exchange for Myxitup and I have to say ... what an interesting blog! The first post I read was titled "Swede indicted for hacking NASA computers". Fascinating read. After reading this, I decided that I would take the exchange.

I'm sure by now you all know that I'm a "computer-tech-by-day" and an "unlicenced-volunteer-canine-rehabilitator-by-choice"

Dog Fight

Someone asked me a while back to post an entry about what to do when a dog is attacking your dog ... I'm sorry - I can't remember where it was or who it was who asked for this. I am finally getting around to posting an entry about it! Why now? You'll see at the end of my post. Sorry for this one being so long - I have been trying to keep them shorter!

Note that I did post an entry back in

Training Rant - Resource Guarding

I often hear about dogs that guard things like food, toys and people. This is what is called "Resource Guarding".
Many dog owners don't see Resource Guarding as a problem. They accept this behaviour because they love their dog and don't want to think that their dog has problems. Or they don't know how to deal with this problem.
It seems like an innocent behaviour but by allowing it to continue

Training Tools - Martingale Collar

To me, the martingale collar is an interesting training tool. It is generally made of a combination of nylon and chain.

I've heard the martingale called many things including a hybrid between the flat collar and a choke chain. Many trainers encourage people to use the martingale because of its durability as well as its flexibility.

The collar can be adjusted to the proper size for the dog's

Posted pics

Just a quick note - I posted some pictures on Drowning In Cats of the TNR cat we have currently at our house. She was too far along in her preganancy to abort the kittens (without euthanizing them as they came out), so she is living in our spare room until they are all ready for new homes. I figure that everyone loves kitten pictures - yes, even dog people - so I'd share them with you all.

While

How many is too many?

A comment has spurned this post. I couldn't help it ... I just had to. This post is burning in my brain and I have to get it out there. You know, sort of like how money burns a hole in one's pocket? Ok, so I may not end up with a hole in my head, but some days ... well, let's move on.

I have a question to ask everyone out there ... How many is Too Many? Where is the line drawn? 2 dogs? 5 dogs?

Post Exchange - Organic Pet Food

There have been a lot of posts lately about pet food so I took this opportunity since it was related. The following information is regarding an Organic Pet Food on the market called Essential2Pets Life's Abundance Holistic Natural Pet Food. That's a mouthful, eh?

Here are some of the claims the company makes ... It is made from 100% Fresh and Natural ingredients formulated by nationally renowned