Archive for June, 2007
A black Labrador Retriever, rescued during Hurricane Katrina, is scheduled to fly back from here in Denver where she has been fostered, to her home in New Orleans this week.
The Lakewood, Colorado based Misha (Mutts in Safe Homes Always) May Foundation rescued Tasha, as she was known then, from a New Orleans shelter in October 2005. Sunni Rodgers and Brendan Landry took the dog into their home 18 months ago and decided to adopt her eight months later. They called her Rita. Three months ago, Lorraine May, the executive director of the Misha May Foundation, called Rodgers and Landry to tell them Rita’s original owners wanted the dog back. Rodgers says the news came as a shock.
“We waited probably eight months before we even adopted her thinking eight months – that’s a long time,” she said. Rodgers says she has talked on the phone to Sandra, Rita’s owner. “I wanted to talk about what was best for the animal because she’s pretty much been here all her life. Was it best for her to go back or stay here? And they wanted her back, definitely,” Rodgers said.
Rita had a pre-flight checkup Monday at the Colfax East Animal Hospital in Denver.
“I think there’s two good things that came out of this,” Landry said. “One, that Sandra gets her dog back, which is a good thing for her, and that because of people like Lorraine, being dog lovers that we are, is hopefully having another opportunity to rescue and provide another good home for another dog.”
“We’ll definitely miss Rita. She’s grown in our hearts. She’s our little girl, so she’ll definitely be missed here,” Rodgers said.
Source: 9news.com
On a side note to this bittersweet story, we found out about the Misha May Foundation just last month and they’re really a wonderful group. We even donated a portrait, coincidentally of a Black Lab, for a silent auction at their annual fund raiser. You can learn more about the great work they do on their website.
Having trouble controlling your dog on the walk? Here are a few pointers on how you can … Master the Walk:
1) Give yourself time. If you can, allow a full hour for the activity. At the very least, I recommend setting aside 30 minutes. 
2) Walk during the day. Dogs are diurnal animals, just like humans. This is what is most natural for both species.
3) Wait until the mind is calm. Don’t even put the leash on until your dog is in a calm-submissive state.
4) Leave first. Don’t let your dog dart out when the door opens. Again, wait until your dog is in a calm-submissive state. Then you can exit, followed by your dog.
5) Lead. Make sure your dog is behind you or next to you during the walk. He should never be out in front.
6) Use a short leash. This will allow you to have more control over the walk. Need more help? Check out the Illusion collar.
7) Let your dog explore. After your dog has maintained the proper state of mind, you can reward him by allowing him to relieve himself. After this time, he may also sniff around.
8) Pick up after your dog. Be a responsible dog guardian. Don’t leave the poop for others to scoop!
9) Walk in first. When you get home, be sure to enter your territory before your dog.
10) Have a plan. Don’t stop leading after the walk. Let your dog know what is expected of him. Is there a place you would like your dog to sit and wait while you put away his leash?
11) Share food and water. It’s reward time! After the walk is the best time to feed your pup. Some dogs may prefer rest before eating, but all dogs can benefit from access to water. By ending the walk with a meal, you have helped to give your dog the natural experience of having “worked” for food and water.
Source: Yahoo
Every year we like to check out this list and see if we need to move for Kylie’s sake, but since we’re only 45 minutes from the current #1 city I guess we can stay put for now. We thought we should share it with you so you can see where your city ranks:
Nearly 74 million dogs are living with their owners in this country. But it’s where they live that may just give them a leg up on their canine colleagues. Men’s Health has released their ranking of the Top 50 cities for dogs. From the number of dog parks, to the number of vets and pet stores in the area — all of these and more were considered when picking the best locations.
5. Seattle, WA
Seattle veterinarians report one of the lowest numbers of heartworm cases in dogs, a parasitic infection transmitted through mosquitoes. Either the mosquito population is low (surprising, as 40 percent of the city is water), or dog owners are just as proactive about heartworm prevention as they are about pushing for more dog parks. In 1995, Citizens for Off-Leash Areas (COLA) was formed to push for a piece of the city’s nearly 400 parks. Today, there are almost a dozen dog parks in the city, with more in the surrounding suburbs.
4. Tucson, AZ
Dog don’t get nine lives, but one should be enough in Tucson, where there are more veterinary practices accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association than in any other city in our rankings. Keep your hound well-hydrated and you’ll not only avoid a visit to the vet, but you’ll also be able to enjoy the perpetually sunny skies. For those without a dog (or who want to give their current canine a companion), the city’s local Channel 12 TV station shows a program called “Pet Connection” that tries to make lifelong matches between owners and animals.
3. Albuquerque, NM
Even though the largest animal gathering in the city (a.k.a. the Rio Grande Zoo) doesn’t allow dogs, it does provide kennel services for visitors, a small touch that highlights the pervasive atmosphere of affection for dogs. Another clue: Everywhere you go, someone’s holding a leash — New Mexico has the second highest dog ownership rates. This passion for pooches even extends to the Mayor’s office. For the past four years, the city has sponsored the Mayor’s Dog Ball, a charity event that supports efforts to education children about the humane treatment of animals.
2. Portland, OR
Portland has plenty of parks for humans, including one of the largest in the U.S. (Forest Park, with over 4,000 acres), but dogs aren’t left out in the cold: The city boasts the most dog parks per resident. When throwing a stick gets old, dog owners have their pick of the litter when it comes to finding a new toy at one of the many pet supply stores in the area. And while your hound might want to do the doggie paddle in one of the city’s many famous fountains, tell him to heel — even when he sees the group entitled “Animals in Pools.â€
1. Colorado Springs, CO
With about 250 days of pure sunshine a year and an abundance of outdoor activities, the entire city is practically a playground for pooches. (If you’re really adventurous, you can even try “skijoring” a sport/activity that involves getting on cross-country skis and having a large, energetic dog pull you dogsled style.) Colorado Springs also earns top marks for its number of boarding and doggie daycare facilities, and it levies the highest maximum fine for animal cruelty — $500,000.
Source: MSNBC
Obviously dogs have their own language, and they learn the words you teach them like “sit,” “wait,” etc.; but something we have noticed living with Kylie is that she knows lots of words we never taught her (at least not on purpose). For example, once during a casual conversation about actor/comedian Tom Green, we noticed Kylie was getting very excited about what we were saying. We were perplexed and asked her, “Do you like Tom Green?” and she went nuts! We were starting to think that we better stop leaving the tv on for Kylie while she’s home alone, when we figured out that she thought we were talking about her then favorite treats, “greenies”. We never taught her the word “greenie” she just knew what they were and assumed that “Green” was short for greenie – pretty smart! She associated the sound of the word with the object that she knew, even when it was completely out of context. This is how dogs often learn the name of their favorite toy or activity, you don’t have to teach them – they just get it.
So we found this article on Yahoo about how dogs learn the english language, and even body language on their own, very interesting and wanted to share part of it with you.:
As acute as a dog’s hearing is, we ought to give them a little more credit for understanding our language. We know we can teach our dogs verbal commands, but many dogs learn to understand words we haven’t purposely taught them. We may find ourselves saying, “Let’s go for a walk†as we pick up the leash. The dog first associates the leash with the promise of going for a walk. He may also pick up on the word “walk†without his owner making a move toward the door or picking up the leash.
Astute owners who notice their dog’s linguistic talent have tried to develop it further by teaching words rather than commands. Some dogs are able to find their ball when the owner says, “Where’s your ball?†Some dogs appear to have an extensive vocabulary and can follow detailed directions like, “go to my desk and bring me my pen.†While this ability astounds dog owners, and anyone watching, scientists have tested dogs who show such prowess, and the findings are less or more impressive, depending upon how you look at it.
Dogs can learn many words, without a doubt, especially names of objects or commands. But to follow more complex directions, dogs rely on other skills. According to Stanley Coren in How to Speak Dog, a dog will listen to your words, and watch your subtle, even subconscious body language, and then add his most reasonable guess to figure out what you want him to do.
In the above command, for example, the dog may know what a pen is because his owner taught him that word-object association. The person giving the direction made a subconscious glance in the direction of the desk, which told the dog which way to go. Most dogs are masters at reading body language. The dog goes to the desk and sees the pen. The most reasonable and obvious thing for a good, well-trained dog to do with an object, is to retrieve it. This creates a very convincing illusion that the dog understood English well enough to follow a complex command.
In How to Speak Dog, to test the theory that dogs rely more on our body language than words, a dog was told to go to one place, but the person speaking glanced in a different direction. The dog always went to where the person was looking.
Dogs may never have a complete command of our spoken language, but their ability and interest in listening to our words and observing our body language in order to do what we ask of them, to ultimately please us, is really truly impressive.
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If they think that’s impressive they should meet Kylie, because she even knows how to spell! We realized years ago that it did no good to say “c-o-o-k-i-e,” she knew exactly what we were talking about. She also knows what “K-y-l-i-e” spells, and will respond just like you said her name, and we never used flashcards or anything!
We took a business trip recently to Seattle and had the pleasure of meeting one of our most favorite and definitely our most famous clients, Elise.
Elise is the owner, and very hands-on operator, of Downtown Dog Lounge which is opening up it’s third location in the heart of Seattle just this week. We first met Elise when she contacted us to commission custom Pop Art portraits of her pooches, Lily, a Weimaraner with an overactive appetite, and Gunner, a very gentle German Short-haired Pointer. At that time she was just in the process of opening her second location and had lots of wall space to fill. We were happy to oblige with four pop portraits of the lovely Lily in the original Belltown location; and a quite comical portrait of Gunner with Lily on his mind for the new, lounge on Elliott Way.
We were so excited to meet Elise, Lily and Gunner in person and see their awesome digs – and we were not disappointed! The trio is one big bundle of energy and the Downtown Dog Lounge is amazing (noisy, but amazing). We even got to tour the new location at Capitol Hill while it was still under construction. With it’s coffee bar inside, and drive-thru, drop-off service outside, it will cater to Seattle’s hippest pups and their parents in style!
But the most exciting part is that Elise, Lily, Gunner, and the whole gang at Downtown Dog Lounge are now the stars of “Adventures in Doggie Daycare,” the reality show on WEtv (Women’s Entertainment television network). And let me tell you it is definitely entertaining!
The show exposes the doggone insanity that is every day life at the lounge with nearly a hundred canines coming and/or going at any given time. It reveals the challenges the crew faces, between training, grooming, and supervising unruly pups, plus pleasing their nutty parents. They also focus on Elise and her crazy life since she gave up her previous career, traveling as a
seafood-marketing rep to Denver, Atlanta, New York — even as far away as Chile, Scotland and Thailand. Lily spent a lot of time in boarding facilities then, and during one stay she developed a serious case of bloat, which can come from eating too fast or exercising too soon after eating. She needed emergency surgery, and the vet told Elise, “You’ll be lucky if she pulls through.” Elise, in tears on the floor of the vet’s office made a vow that if Lily made it through this, she was going to change everything. And change everything she did – the following year the first Downtown Dog Lounge opened, and Elise is the first to admit that Lily is the real boss!
We could not be more proud of Elise, Lily, and Gunner for not having let their sudden stardom go to their heads! We are also proud that a new, fabulous comic portrait of Lily and Gunner will be prominently placed in the new location.
Adventures in Doggie Daycare could not be more captivating, please check your local listings, set your TiVo, and visit WE’s website for more info and even go behind the scenes.
(You can click here to see more pictures from our day at the lounge.)
