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October 3, 2003 - Volume 52 Materials in this newsletter are the sole possession of the authors and Dog Company. Please do not copy or use in any fashion without written permission |
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Tricks by Sweep FIND THE BALL (a version of Smell It, Find It) We dogs love to play Smell It, Find It! We just love to take the opportunity to use our specialized abilities. This version of Smell It, Find It adapts well if you have more than one or two dogs. This way we all get to play at once. Of course, the dog that finds the ball first wins. Now you don't need to keep score, we dogs couldn't care less. Our fun is the game! Now you have mastered the cookie or food bit, it's time to move on to more! So let's play with a ball! To play properly, you will have taught your dog to retrieve. This way, when he finds the ball, he will fetch it and bring it back to you for his praise. In fact ..... you can send him to another room for him to find the hidden ball while you wait in another room for him to bring it back to you. He'll get a real kick out of working independently and it will do a lot to help raise his confidence and self esteem. BEGIN by letting your dog sniff the ball. Tell him to "WAIT" and proceed slowly as in the previous trick. Once he has made increasingly difficult finds consistently with exuberant praise from you, begin to have him "TAKE IT" and back up, calling him to come all the way to way to where the game began. This is how to teach him to make a find, retrieve it, and return to you. Now use obvious hiding places and slowly progress to more difficult ones. Remember the point is not to outwit your dog but to teach him, step by step, to always succeed. This game is a great way to teach your dog new words. One at a time, have him find a ball, a glove, a box of cracker Jacks, an eyeglasses case, etc. anything that is everyday and he is able to pick up easily. Then begin to line up two or three things and ask him to find and bring them to you you one at a time by name. This will all be helped by your prior work on having him retrieve all these objects. Please be patient and do not try to move ahead too quickly; make sure you and your dog have a solid foundation to each aspect of the game. woof...Let's play ball......."Sweep"
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Classified (To our advertisers: we'd love to hear if your ad in the Woof was successful. Please drop us a line and let us know.) Ta Dah!!! Tucker wishes to announce the arrival of his new baby person ... a bouncing boy... happy parents are Rob and Gaylene. Congratulations from all the gang at the Woof and the Strait Chuters.. Wanted: PEOPLE! Wuf to all my dog friends. After a long day and when I've been at my agility training, my mom, Carina, gives me great massages ... I just lay back, and wooooo - it feels so good! She's done it all my life. Just me, me, me! But then on Wednesday night on our town walkabout, I overheard Sweep's mom being told about how my mom gives people massages...I could hardly believe my ears! I thought it was just for me! I just thought people liked to have their faces licked. So, do your parents get sore from your walking or running them around? Are you just looking for some time where they're not constantly checking to see what you're up to? If you answered yes to either of these questions, I have a solution. Carina (my mom) has experience in massaging humans, like your owners, and helping them to relax and relieve unnecessary tension and built up stress. She's a Certified Massage Practioner. If you think your owner would enjoy this, show this to them and get them to talk to Carina at class or email her at horelc@shaw.ca. Chinook (the wolf!) Wanted: Your 'articles', your 'For Sales', your 'Want Ads', your birthday wishes, your letters to Mam'selle, your names, your ......... ????? By Wed. Oct.15th .... for the next Woof, please...... mailto:barknboogie@shaw.ca (Disclaimer: Advertisements posted by the Woof are done as a service, not as an endorsement. Please communicate directly with the ad contact for further information on any items.)
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ASK MAM'SELLE Dear Mam'selle I'm a pup with a problem, or a dog with a dilemma if you prefer to think of it that way. I love to go for walks, and do stuff, but I'm being bothered by a touch of arthuritis (or something like that) I think my person called it. It doesn't hurt a big lot, but it's enough at times to make me limp for a bit. What can I do? Should I become a complete couch potato or what? Sincerely, Dear Muttly, This happens to all of us. I am not as young as I look. Being an all white dog, any greying is totally unnoticeable and my mom keeps a close eye on how I look and behave. Here are a few things I have learned. Generally a pet is considered a senior when we have reached 75 - 80% of our life expectancy. Here are a few guide lines for your parents and you to read about. As a senior you need to see your vet every 6 months or so for blood work to help your Vet keep you as healthy and pain free for all your life. Normal aging, like in people, gives us aches and pains and yes, arthritis. (That's what it's called... you were close) What you can expect with normal aging in dogs:
It is important to keep mobile but not to the extreme where you are exhausted. This means no longer being able to go on long hikes or walks. There are a number of medications for the pain; your Vet will be happy to tell your parents about, as well as Accupressure and Acupuncture. Here are a few more clues for you and your parents. Signs of Illness to watch for. Changes of behaviour: Oral problems: Appetite changes: Weight Changes: Changes in water Consumption: Changes in urination: Vomiting Diarrhea or Constipation: General Appearance: So don't just sit around...move it or lose it.......just don't move too fast - pace yourself. Woof "Poutine" ^..^~~! "Old age is a life stage, not a disease"
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Emperor Shanu reporting from the Shiba Court! In attendance at the formal function were Jack & Ivy, Pepper & Link, Niko, Yoko, and of course my own royal person. Well, the event started off with two strange noses invading my personal space - imagine that! Apparently Niko and Yoko haven't learned to defer to my royalness properly, so I had to let them know. Queen Mum and King Dad thought I was being a little too vocal and put the Royal Gag Order into effect (I think they call it a "muzzle"). Eventually all of the pretenders to the throne showed up with their loyal servants (the ones on two legs); the servants just kept barking and barking so I decided to go check out some of the local gardens. My, oh my, the leaves at Pacific Centre sure are tasty (they pale in comparison to Doodle Dogs but I was HUNGRY!) Once my co-emperor and the usurper, Ivy, showed up, things really picked up. I finally got to put on my royal collar and we decided to tour the Japanese gardens. I was very impressed with the grounds and its peculiar smells, but disliked the creek that ran through it. I think most of the other royalty also disliked this creek, although for some unDOGly reason, Ivy actually swam in it! Imagine getting her coat wet. Jeesh! Once I evaluated the bloodlines of the other supposed royalty, I managed to have the Royal Gag Order lifted. At this point, Jack and I continued the shenanigans from our Saturday morning walk at Elk Lake. The young empress, Yoko, was quite enamoured of my royal presence so I tolerated her attention. I am so generous! We had a group portrait taken to commemorate this momentous occasion (see attached.) Aren't we the most handsome group you have ever seen? I like to think so. The event concluded with a mass Shiba wrestling game going on in an enclosed playground. I chased a lot of the royalty but was a little flustered at having more than one to wrestle at a time. Besides, being the elder ruler by 3 years, I was tired. Speaking of which, it's time to go to sleep... Emperor Shanu Woof.......Sweep, Truby, Rabbit, Saffron, Bela, Slick, Pouie, Jodie, Jasmine, Kayla
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Life Under the Grooming Table - Chapter 2 - Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nooooooooo! "Car ride! Car ride! Car car car car car ride! Yippee! Where are we going? Hurry up! Never mind your shoes. Quick! We gotta go! I'm going for my first grooming appointment? Ummm, seems to me I decided I didn't want anything to do with this grooming business. Can't we just drive around in our little red car with the top down? You know how much I love to have my hair blowing in the wind. No. Well, how about if we just go for a visit. Susan does have nice treats. Maybe I can just sit on her lap and she can massage my bod like she does. It feels soooooo good. Oh, she'll massage me while she's grooming me. Okay, if I must. But, only for a few minutes. Does this mean I'll get two car rides? Yippee!!!!" After a very short ride (what a gyp) we arrived at a rather weird looking hotel. Mom called it an apartment building. The door didn't even open when I ran up to it, like it does at my own place. Mom had to push a button gypped again - they never lift me up so that I can push the buttons). Then there was this horrible staticy noise and a spooky voice spoke to us. Mom opened the door and upstairs we went. Eventually we came to the end of a hall and Susan was standing in a doorway. It was good to see her, but I still wasn't sure about this grooming stuff. Susan's place was pretty small and smelled funny. I kept hearing thump, slish, thump, slish. Then I saw them - ALIENS from outer space. ET off the big screen - lots of him. "They're backing me into a corner. No, no, no! Don't hurt me! Mom, help! Pick me up, quick! Don't leave me here!" Susan took me from mom and then started to feed me to the aliens. "What, you aren't feeding me to them. You want to introduce me to them. Their names are: Miss Piggy, Baby, Ruby, Mini Mouse and Phoebe. What did you call them? Red Eared Sliders? Oh, turtles. They live with you and are used to being around dogs. Wow, some of them weigh over 2 lbs. They won't hurt me - honest? They're very social - eat out of your hand. Phoebe likes you to wrap her in her "cuddle blanket" and rock her like a human baby. Weird. They stay in their tanks most of the time - but you let them out for a walk every day. What? If you forget to give them their walk, they let themselves out of their tanks. Double weird. Hey, I heard that turtles are really dirty creatures and can give you diseases. They can if they aren't looked after properly, but you spend 3 hours a week cleaning tanks and wash your turtles every time you let them walk around. They don't go pee on the floor - just in their tanks. You also take them to the vet twice yearly for checkups (don't even get a group rate). They're really healthy and clean. You also disinfect your hands after you've handled them. Oh, okay. I guess I'll stay. Hey, mom? Where are you going? I have to stay to get groomed. Okay. Come back soon, real soon." Well, Susan started the grooming process. She put me on a funny table with a grooved rubber top. She said it was to help prevent me from slipping around when she worked on me. She then rubbed me all over with her hands and separated my hairs - said she was looking for any sign of bumps (whatever those are), sores, parasites (yuk - those are fleas, ticks and lice), rashes, etc. Nothing - I could have told her that. Then she wrapped me up tightly in a nice, warm towel - right out of the dryer. It felt so good. Susan laid me on my side facing away from her and then carefully checked each of my eyes by pulling carefully on the lids so she could see inside. Apparently she was looking for hair, dirt, scratches or discharge. She said I had beautiful eyes. I didn't even have any discharge - something she said a lot of dogs have, especially hairy white dogs like me. Nothing more needed to be done to my beautiful eyes, but Susan said that some dogs need to have the hair/dirt carefully removed with a tissue or cloth soaked in saline (1 tsp salt to 1 cup warm water). You pull back one of the lids and then place a bit of the wet tissue in the inside corner of the eye. There should be enough saline on it to flush the eye and drain the bad stuff to the inside corner where you can carefully remove it with the tissue. Never poke anything rough into the eye, and don't use tissues/cloths that have perfume or softners on them. If you see a scratch or something imbedded - take your dog to the vet to have it checked out. Scratches usually aren't a big deal, but they can become infected. Then there could really be trouble (sorry, Miss Trouble - I'm not talking about you). (Miss Trouble says we've run out of room in the Woof, so this chapter is to be continued in the next issue... when Susan looks at my ears and mouth!) Winston
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Slick's Flicks GRRR ... Wuff! Yep, it's time to pop the popcorn ( I like mine with a bit of butter and a big bowl of water.) Adult: SHANGHAI KNIGHTS - Jackie Chan ... action, action and more action; 119 minutes of kicking, punching, spinning and Jackie Chan humour. Family: PIGLETS MOVIE - Well, the little pig goes and gets himself lost .. now all his friends on the farm go out to find him; 75 min. of animated comedy. My grand-girls loved it. Now these girls know how to share popcorn and all the goodies. Geeesh.......... I can smell the popcorn now! REMEMBER TO LICK UP ALL THE CRUMBS OFF THE FLOOR!
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The Purrrrrrr Felines are responding to Blu's plight. Here's what Kiki from Sidney writes. -------------------- Hi Blu, Kiki ---------------- and from Victoria, Dear Cleocatra: My name is Max. I'm the ginger tabby in the photo, along with my brother Chevy. We are Monty's (the springer spaniel) big brothers. I wanted to write you so you can let Blu know that, although we have never been in this situation ourselves, he has our total support and we hope that the judge will show him some mercy. After all, just because Blu may have inadvertently knocked the telephone book to the ground, that doesn't make it okay for those dogs to rip it to shreds - they should know better! Pawed in Blu's support, Max --------------------- And finally from Texas, we hear from Minnie. WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: THERE'S A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE! Hi folks, my name is Minnie and I live in Texas. Here it is: another of our household dilemmas that they are trying to blame on me. Wildlife strikes again! Last night Roland, my Dad, and me, Minnie (the beloved cat,) had retired early as he wasn't feeling well, and mom, Penny, decided to sit up late hooking. Rug hooking that is. For those of you who don't know, her latest craft endeavor is rug hooking. Mom was in the living room ensconced on the sofa, surrounded by strips of cut wool, scissors, patterns, and this wonderful rug hooking hoop a friend made for her. All of a sudden she could hear Me coming through the kitchen, growling and mewing all at the same time. Now, mom has learned over the years that sound means I have something I want to show her. Geesh ... she jumped up, tossed her wool supplies aside and confronted me as I was emerging from the kitchen with a cute little bitty mouse in my mouth. Mom of course had instantaneous sympathy for the mouse and was, "Tesk, tesk, tesking," me. So I promptly dropped the mouse. Feeling freedom in its grasp, the mouse started running toward mom for protection. Needless to say that cute little bitty mouse grew in size right before mom's eyes and in a flash, it lost its charisma! Mom quickly switched camps and started cheering, "Get it Minnie!" The mouse, realizing it had lost its only ally, changed directions and headed for under the microwave stand. I crouched down on my belly and pulled myself under the stand just as the mouse darted out and under the bookcase. Not to be deterred I was close behind. I laid down on my side and stretched my front paws under the bookshelf to within about 2 inches of the cowering mouse. If I could just reach that darn mouse! At this point I looked over at mom...she had that look - does she choose between waking Dad and incurring his wrath, or bravely continue in the quest of the mouse. Smart girl - she decided she would rather risk the mouse, even though by this time it had grown to at least six inches! Oh, the human mind is a tricky place. Mom tried to help me; she pulled the bookshelf away from the wall, and I dove behind it as the mouse leaped and now streaked across the floor and headed for the living room. Yes! Yes! right into mom's piles of wool strips! That will be great fun! Ahhh, darn! As luck would have it, the mouse darted under the sofa instead. I was hot on its rear by now. This was 'My territory'. Under the sofa is where I hide from the thunderstorms! We played "cat and mouse" under the sofa until I came out exhausted, but with no mouse. Well, mom decided she had all the excitement she could handle for a few minutes and needed a breather, so she sat down in the recliner across from the sofa, to watch for the errant mouse. Mom & I must have dosed off. It was 2:00 am at this point. I was asleep with one eye open when the mouse decided to come out and I was ready to follow it .. The next thing I knew, I had to jump up on the back of the recliner. That woke Mom up with a start ... the chair was where she was napping .. Mom yelled at me not to climb on the chair so I jumped down. When mom got up to admonish me further, I was sitting with my nose to the crack between the wall and the air-cleaning machine. Now that machine sits about 12 inches away from the recliner, so it suddenly hit Mom that I had saved her from that mouse. Now you know that mouse had grown another 12 inches by now in Mom's mind! Once again Mom and I teamed up. Mom slowly inched the machine away from the wall and I dove behind it. The Mouse ran out with Me in hot pursuit! We both hit the tile entryway by the front door and slid across it. We hit the wall headfirst. I was stunned and stepped back. To mom's horror, the mouse was wedged between the floor and the wallboard with its hind legs, butt, and tail sticking out! Geesh! Now Mom was back to feeling sorry for the mouse. I think YES ... as it should be! All was still. No movement showed from the mouse's tail, but I couldn't stand the suspense so I went over and pulled at it with my paw. The mouse seized this opportunity and escaped under the TV. I circled the TV for a while but then I was feeling dizzy so I lay on my side for at least 45 minutes with my front legs under the TV trying to drive that mouse crazy and maybe coax the mouse out; ahhhh, but to no avail. It was 3:00 pm by now and Mom was exhausted so she went in the bedroom and shut the door so the mouse couldn't get in. When the folks arose in the morning, Mom told Dad what had transpired. He got out the yardstick and started poking around under the TV. Scoffer that Mom is, she said, "That mouse is long gone by now!" Well, she no sooner had this out of her mouth when that mouse came scurrying out. Dad swung at it with the yardstick landing a direct hit. Then berated me for his having to finish my work! Humans just don't get it. It is ALL about the hunt and the chase and how long you can drag it out! Minnie " Texas Huntress " ---------- See what's happening here? Another feline unjustly accused! But at least Minnie isn't going to trial. C'mon, you felines... write to help Blu. Cleocatra |
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