Take Your Dog To Work

Tomorrow, Friday, June 26th, 2009 is Take Your Dog To Work Day. The tradition began in 1999. Happy ten year anniversary. My dogs will be with me tomorrow.

Enjoy.

911 Rescuer Cloned

Trakr a German Shepherd from Nova Scotia who responded to New York City to help search for survivors has been cloned. Scientists at BioArts in California cloned the K9 hero free of charge. Five puppies were produced. Trakr died at the old age of 16. His owner was a police officer at the time of 911 and won a contest that resulted in the cloning.

OK- I Admit It

I've never been a fan of dressing dogs up- especially on a routine basis. But every once in a while an image comes along to make us smile.

Memorial Day

In the past, I have featured posts about war dogs- K9 heroes who have served faithfully. Since this is a dog blog I can't neglect these heroes this Memorial Day. While you remember and celebrate the human soldiers who have served- remember their K9 companions too. The following is from www.save-a-vet.org. They seem to have a great mission-great videos too.

The Kiss

I am grateful to the people who send me great dog stuff. This time I'll credit my future-son-in-law, Derek.
Thanks, Al

THE KISS

Thanks Mom

You saved us. We would like to help save other kids. Perhaps someday enough people will look at this site to make a difference.
Love, Xena, Hobo, Ryuu, Nikki, Sissy, Jack and Penny.

Price Check Aisle 3

Several weeks ago I looked at over 20 online vendors to find who had the best price on Frontline. This time I took on the task of looking for the best online price for Heartgard. I picked the 'green' size, six month supply. Many vendors are currently having a sale on Heartgard. After looking at over 14 vendors the best price I could find is: $21.99. The vendor is: www.discountpetdrugs.com.

Regardless of where you get it- remember to protect your dog and provide monthly heart worm treatment.

Finally many stores have generic versions of Heartgard that claim to have the exact same medication. I don't know if this is true or not. Would love to hear from anyone who knows for sure about generics and pet meds.

Happy Birthday Chanel

Chanel, a dachshund celebrated her 21st birthday, making her the oldest dog. Her age is the equivalent of 147 in people years. The previous record holder was a beagle, 28 that died last year.

She has cataracts and the glasses are for protection not fashion. She lives in Port Jefferson, NY.

Closest To Humans

Chimps have long been known to have the closest genetic relationship to humans. However a new report published in Discovery suggests that DOGS have the closest relationship to humans. Dogs understand both verbal and non-verbal and other social interactions better than any other species. This is believed to come from the thousands of years that dogs and humans have evolved and grown together.

Dog Log Cafe Book Review- Broadway Tails

Book Review: Broadway Tails
by Bill Berloni

This is a unique look at animals used in Broadway productions. This book chronicles the life of a young aspiring actor, Berloni as he transitions to his lifelong job as Broadway animal trainer. The tail begins with the production Annie based on the long running comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, that included Sandy the dog. With this very first story Berloni begins to reveal little known or remembered facts about Broadway, the actors and the plays. He also sheds light into the conditions and circumstances surrounding shelters in the late 70's.

He also discusses the real methods, simple, common sense methods he used to train a variety of animals including dogs, cats and a pig to work, on cue, on Broadway. He makes it clear from the beginning that his style of training is non-threatening and non-aggressive- yet highly effective. Berloni is clear on his stand on shelter adoption and how these animals are not disposable, throw away items. The stories are engaging, amusing and sometimes a little sad. The only requirement to enjoy this book is to like animals and to enjoy being entertained.

So if you are interested in reading more about pig CPR, Richard Burton, Hameltta and Ophelia and Vito the deaf Bull Terrier, I highly recommend this book.

Dog Log Cafe Volume 3 Ryuu (Part 1)

Ryuu is our Beagle, the fourth in the pack. One evening I came home from work, said hello to the dogs, plopped down on the couch and was immediately pounced on by a strange dog. A puppy- a beagle puppy. A real cute little guy. My son had 'his own place' along with several roommates and one of them had bought this little guy. They were going on a long day trip and wanted to know if they could drop Ryuu off to stay and play. Of course we said yes. Later that night he was picked up and that was the end of dog number four- for a while.

Several months later the roommates broke up- many moving back home. The young man who owned Ryuu though had no real stable place to return to and after a couple weeks living in a hotel he asked if he could leave Ryuu with us until his situation got better. No way we could say no so we took him in- for a short time or so we thought. Before he left we got the spelling of the dogs name (It's pronounced like Re-You) and it means (supposedly) dragon in Japanese.

Within 24 hours I was desparate to find this kid who left his beagle on my door step and in my house. No way- again I say there was no way I was prepared for the noise, the sound, the volume, this little dog was able to generate. We finally tracked this kid down and gave one command, come pick up your damn dog. He showed up a little while later asking, "What's up"?
(to be continued)

Dog Log Cafe K9 Cop Hero

According to the Hartford Courant a police dog was stabbed several times by a knife wielding suspect. Late Saturday East Hartford police were called to a domestic disturbance. After numerous orders to drop the knife the police released the dog. The K9 officer was taken to a local vet and is expected to recover.

From responding to 911, to service as police officers and using their keen noses to reduce drug traffic- the K9 continues to show many of the reasons they are man's best friend. Please send in any stories you read or hear about these k9 heroes.

Volume 1 The Six Pack Begins

I've had dogs my whole life, as long as I remember. When I got married we got a dog a purebred American Eskimo. He lived a very long life but eventually he ended up with arthritis and cataracts and few teeth. It was too much suffering and eventually he was put down. It still amazes me the things we do for our pets that we can't do for our human loved ones. I know putting a dog down is never easy and can now even see it from the vet's side after reading "Tell Me Where It Hurts", by veterinarian Dr. Nick Trout, a very worthwhile read.


We never set out to have six dogs. We had a dog and two cats and two human children. Our dog is the mother (not natural of course) to one of the cats and to this day they are mother and daughter- not dog and cat. But one day we went to the local Humane Society and we ended up with Xena, warrior dog, warrior princess. We got her as a playmate to our first dog Nikki. We also got her for her personality- for her cuteness and for herself. Having two dogs was a little harder than just one- but not twice as hard. This was probably the reason this trend continued. Next posting will be Hobo- dog three. Please come back.