Spring is on my dog...

I've been a lazy blogger, and for this I apologize, but please forgive me I've just been taken over by school as it's been coming to an end.

So as we all know spring is coming—or so they say. I'm sitting here looking out the window and can't help but notice all of the snow falling from the sky. WHY!? I've had enough. Another thing that gets old pretty quick is Diesel's muddy paws and wet belly. The beach towels in my house are all either frying form the previous dog wipe-down session or are covered in mud. This may not be a huge problem for those of you with Chihuahuas, but for those of you with a dog like Diesel who runs around like a crazy man and digs just to get dirty, you know exactly what the issue is.

I want him to sleep in my bed but he's so dirty and stinky. Who am I kidding though? That doesn't stop me. My mom thinks I'm insane for letting that guy sleep in my comfy bed. This will always be an issue, there's no stopping the mud. Since we all need to deal with spring I figured maybe I would share a few tips that help me keep my bad dog clean.

Your hose is your saviour.
Right now I can't use my saviour because my shed is still blocked by a mountain of snow but the best thing ever, I've found, is after a walk, hose down the dog's belly, paws, and legs and this will make him really wet, but he'll be more clean than just rubbing him with a towel.

Keep towels close!
If the hose isn't an option, towels are still super awesome. If I know I'm going for a walk or letting Dies outside, I make sure to have dry towels by whichever door I'll be coming in through. Beach towels are the best because they're thin, which helps them not be so heavy, and they're big so they'll soak up more dirt and water than a tea towel, obivously.

Bucket of water on the front steps.
It always seems like majority of the mud on Diesel's paws is in between his bag pad and the rest of his foot pads. It's a sneaky little crevice that loves to hold mud. Sometimes I'll wipe his paws with a towel and think they're clean until he steps on the floor and there's mud everywhere—there crevice strikes again! To get the mud out I fill a bucket with warm water and dip his paw in it. I let the paw soak for a few seconds and then rub the crevice and all of the mud comes right out!

Just a few things that will hopefully keep your floors—and your bed if you're like me—a little cleaner. Spring is on our dogs and that's just the way it is. Also, it's the last day of school so that's all for me folks! Have a safe and happy summer with your doggies ! :)

 Hunting for some rodents.

Donkey ears

Hollywoof! I know, I'm cheesy...

I really haven't been keeping up-to-date with my blog much lately. I was dealing with the magazine project and later dealing with celebrating the magazine project being done. So needless to say, I've been busy.

Anyways! I think a famous dog blog post is way overdue. This is my list of best Hollywood dogs around. And yes, I was born in 1994 so some of the "classics" may not be included.

1. Marley- The movie was based on the 2005 autobiographical book by Josh Grogan. Marley, a yellow lab, was said to be the world's worst dog and I've never read the book but in the movie he seemed to be crazy. He was a dog that would have his owner's going insane from this high-strung personality and his rambunctiousness but he was so livable that they couldn't be mad, even though he was "the world's worst dog." I cry every time. Awesome movie and beautiful dog.

2. Skip- From the 2000 film My Dog Skip. A little boy is bullied and doesn't lead a vey exciting life until Skip, a Jack Russell Terrier comes into his life and changes everything. The spunky little dog becomes known all around the town and known as the boy's best friend. Skip shows the boy love and gives him courage. Once again, I cry every time.

3. Toto- From The Wizard of Oz! Toto was underrated in my opinion. Lots of people describe Toto, a Cairn Terrier, the black  as a minor character that's annoying but I loved him! What would The Wizard of Oz be without Dorothy telling Toto she has a feeling that they're not in Kansas anymore? Toto, way to go.

4. Scooby-Doo- The best! He points in the way that the crime is, he runs through doors, he jumps on Shaggy, he's a Great Dane, and he talks. He also goes Rooby-Dooby-Doo! Because he can't speak properly. Love him.

5. Beethoven - From the 1992 film Beethoven. Beethoven, a St. Bernard, scares off bullies, helps one of the family's daughters talk to her crush and helps the kids overcome all kinds of fears and struggles. He causes all kinds of shenanigans but just like Marley, the family can't help but love him and the skeptical father ends up loving Beethoven. Hilarious movie, awesome dog, full of slobber.

6. All 101 Dalmations- Enough said. Sooooo cute. And they're spotted! And there's 101 of them! I wish I had 101 dogs to roll around with.

7. Max & Maya- From the 2006 film Eight Below. One of the best dog movies ever, but very sad. Both dogs are Siberian Huskies and they're both beautiful. Max is the up and coming head honcho who is heroic and courageous and Maya is the noble and strong leader. The movie shows the adventures and struggles of a man's pack of sled dogs and tells the story of team work, love, commitment, and strength. I CRY EVERY TIME!! But it's unbelievably good. And Paul Walker is in it so that makes it also fantastic. Gorgeous dogs, fantastic movie.

Random number to stop at, but that's my list!

Here's some Diesel.

DOGMA Magazine

I've been working on a magazine with a group, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, since the beginning of January. It's very exciting right now because it is DONE! We've been married to the thing for months and honestly, I'm getting tired of looking at it, but it's awesome. The magazine is called Dogma and as you can probably guess it's all about dogs, which I had also mentioned in a previous post.

Our group consisted of five people so there are five feature articles in the magazine, one about dog training and new methods, one about a hunter, author, and photographer who includes his dogs in all of those hobbies, one about a hearing ear dog and her owner, one about dogs feeling emotion the same as humans, and one about feral dogs and how the problem should be handled. The magazine includes some great stories and photos that anyone who loves dogs would love to read and look at.

On April 4th from noon-four in the atrium at the Red River College Exchange District campus there will be a magazine fair. Dogma and all of the super cool magazines that CreComm students have been losing their minds over will be on display. We will all have booths where we will be giving away free stuff and needless to say Dogma's booth will be worth checking out, especially because i'm bringing Diesel! 

So if you read my blog i'm assuming you probably love dogs, or me, but probably dogs...so come check us out! It will be an exciting day for everyone who comes and for Diesel, he will be such a ham I'm sure.

 Our cover

I took this picture of Diesel and used it in the

 magazine for an ad that I made for a kennel. 

Ridiculous right?

Malamutes

If you have been following my blog you're probably aware that I think bad dogs exist because of bad owners. Well, in this case, I don't believe that.

Tragically on Sunday, a little girl was mauled to death by a pair of Alaskan malmutes. I love these dogs. They're gorgeous creatures that are generally really friendly. The little girl knew these dogs—she wasn't attacked because she was a strange kid who was bothering them. She had played with the dogs numerous times and this freak accident happened.

I read this story the other day. It talked about the little girl, the dogs, the neighbour and then underneath the story was a big story explaining why a breeder was worried this would give a bad reputation to the breed. I really hope these beautiful dogs don't get a bad reputation because of this but as a dog owner and someone who has experienced losing someone to a tragedy, I would not want to see that next to this tragic story. I'm sure people look differently at malamutes because of this, don't you? I do.

It's tragic that malamutes MAYBE won't be adopted as often or bought as often, but that hasn't even happened and isn't even guaranteed to happen. Someone lost a child, maybe a sister, a friend, a grandchild. That is the reality of this. I'm a dog lover—obviously—and i'm also a journalism student. We talk a lot about what's ethical, what's wrong, what's right; and I think this is one of those things that could be considered unethical to this family dealing with this loss. Is it bad that the breeder may have said that? No of course not. What breeder of Alaskan malamutes wouldn't worry about the dogs' reputation after something like this? My question is, is that a bad choice in journalism—to put an article of the bad reputation malamutes MIGHT get right under the story about a little girl that was just killed by two of them. 

It is a beautiful breed; and I truly am sad that these beautiful dogs will be looked at differently from now on. These are all my own opinions. 

I hope that little girl rests in peace and that her family and friends eventually find peace.

Sargent & Victor & Me

Once again, this blog post will be for journalism class purposes.

Tuesday evening, we went to a play called Sargent & Victor & Me and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I had very low expectations going into the play and I came out very impressed. The play was a one woman show with eight different characters that were based on real people who live/have some sort of connection to Sargent and Victor.

Debbie Patterson, the actress in the play, has MS and compared the deterioration of her body to the deterioration of the West End of Winnipeg. The set was a food bank and each character in the play interacted with the food bank some how.

I was skeptical of how Debbie Patterson was going to act as eight different characters and not be offensive. To my surprise she did a fantastic job. I think some of the characters — like the Morden's Chocolates guy and the little girl — were kind of unnecessary. I felt they didn't add much to the story and I felt no emotional connection to them and got no important information. I loved the Theresa character. The way the lighting was darker when her character starred to speak really helped her stand out from everyone else. Her story was unbelievable and I really think Debbie Patterson did a great job with that character. I loved when Gillian would tell her stories about Thunder Bay and the water falls. I felt sympathetic for her when she was speaking. I felt sad that she is unable to do those things anymore and I felt sad for her. She spoke those parts beautifully and made me really picture what she was saying.

I didn't like when newscasts were read and Debbie Patterson would go to the back of the stage area and do those strange movements. I felt like they kind of took away from what the news cast was saying because I was paying more attention to what she was doing with her movements than what the reporter was saying.

I thought it was fantastic how she could have me jaw-dropped listening to Theresa and then have me laughing about something Gillian said. I think that was impressive, and maybe it's because i've never been to a play like this, but I found that the acting was very good. Because I haven't been to a play once grade six that was about bats, I can't really compare Sargent & Victor & Me to anything. It definitely exceeded expectations and made me feel many different emotions.

This play taught me about the West End of Winnipeg definitely. I live outside the perimeter so I never go to that end of the city. This play also taught me that you can't compare a written book to theatre because if this were written it would be a completely different story. Debbie Patterson put little extra bits in because it's theatre and it needs to be entertaining, that's the bottom line. If this were a book, I think it would be putting words in people's mouths and taken in a completely different way because it would be pure journalism and no theatre. There would be less of a creative aspect with a book and with a play, your main thing is the creative aspect.

Overall I loved it. I think Debbie Patterson did a great job of telling these stories in a theatrical yet respectful way.

My thoughts on A Thousand Farewells

This is not a dog-related post. I will be discussing the book A Thousand Farewells by Nahlah Ayed that we read for journalism class.

When I started reading this book I found it so interesting. I was reading about Winnipeg but from the perspective of a young girl from a Third World country. I was amazed at how appreciative Nahlah was to live in a place like Winnipeg. I grew up here so I wasn't appreciative to live here until I got older and realized what was happening in other places in the world.

This book was gut-wrenching at so many different times. Reading about the living conditions in Al-Wihdat, the refugee camp, really gave me a glimpse of what living in a refugee camp is like. Nahlah Ayed referred to the bathroom conditions and how the toilet was a hole in the ground with cockroaches everywhere. She would avoid going to the bathroom for hours just to avoid going in there. That alone is so far from anything we experience here in Winnipeg and it really is a wake-up call about things that people still deal with regularly.

I found the first few chapters were loaded with names of places and people, which was quite hard to follow. It got much better to read after the second chapter because she was mostly telling stories about people she met or people that she was with.

As I read the story of the bomb going off 50 metres from her apartment, it made me feel her anxiety and panic. Even for someone like Nahlah Ayed who had been almost beaten to death at this point, it seems the bomb being that close to her apartment made her stop and think 'wow...that could've been it for me.'

I really enjoyed reading about people that she met and their stories. I think if she had more content from other people in her book it would have been more engaging at times. I wanted to hear more about physical experiences — even though they were horrific — I found myself more engaged in the book when reading those parts rather than when I was reading parts about religion.

I think journalists and all people can learn from this book that passion can overcome fear. Even though after being beaten Nahlah Ayed was terrified to go in crowds, she overcame it. Her passion is journalism. Her passion is to tell stories and show people what is happening in the world as best as she can.

The only non-fiction books I've read are biographies, which aren't comparable to this at all. Because I've watched a few documentaries on conflict and war, I think this book would be extremely effective as a visual. I think some of the political and historical things could be easier to understand in my opinion for me as a visual because I found it hard to follow the names and many different conflicts at times.

I've never known a lot about the Middle East. I've always known about the constant conflict and hardships that people face, but I've never dove into something like A Thousand Farewells to learn more about it. This book really made me understand that journalism is useful for more than just telling us what is happening in our city, country, or even our continent. Journalism helps people who are unaware become aware. It's important we all know about what is happening in other places on this earth so we, the people who live in Canada and in other first First World countries , understand that we're privileged and there is much more more conflict, poverty, tragedy, and death than we can ever imagine.

Goofy Stuff

I was scrolling through my Facebook wall while I was laying in bed last night and I discovered some awesome page with some hilarious/cute/kind of sad at points dog stuff. There is one page that is all pictures of dogs at the vet and their funny reactions. The other is 20 important facts that dog owners should always remember.



I'm always keeping my eyes open for great uplifting dog things to share on my blog. I could sit around for hours looking at funny videos and pictures of dogs and I'm sure that whoever reads my blog probably feels the same. It doesn't get much better than dog.

So you should visit the 20 facts page and the dogs at the vet page for some cute and funny entertainment. After that, watch this ridiculous wiener dog pool party! If you'd like but it's definitely worth it.

And here is a little bit of Diesel.

Sobaka

I'm sure many people have heard about the Sobaka, or dog, problem in Sochi. Thousands of stray dogs have been living around the Olympic construction grounds so the city has hired a company to kill off the dogs. The director general of the company that has been hired told The Associated Press that during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies a dog walked in on the performers. He said if something like that were to happen during the actual olympics it would be a disgrace to the whole country. Well sire, i'm sorry to tell you but a stray dog seems like the least of the countries worries judging by the pictures i've seen of the hotels, bathrooms, and water in Sochi.

If you ask me, dogs would make the olympics that much better! I'm also a dog freak though. Any situation that didn't previously have dogs that gets dogs thrown into it moves up on my list!

It is the same situation with the culls on reserves in Canada because safety is always an issue. Of course it's not safe if these stray dogs are biting children, but why is this a problem in the first place? And why is it only being dealt with once the olympics are starting? Maybe it has always been a problem but we never knew because Sochi is only newsworthy because of the Olympics. A Russian lawyer also said that the dogs elimination is the quickest way. Well no kidding, but you don't solve problems by performing massive killings!

Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire, is helping a charity and shelter to save the animals. The charity members have been driving around on golf carts on the Olympic grounds and in the surrounding area to get all of the dogs together and take them to a shelter on the outskirts of the city. I'm glad to see that dogs are something we can all feel the same about.

It seems dog and music, and food actually, are three things that are a universal language. And that makes me very happy.

Those stray dogs may look something like this

 after about a year of them being rescued.

Cato the Shoplifting Husky

I found a story on The Huffington Post website that is from December, 2013, but I thought it was so funny that I had to share it. The story comes from Clinton, South Carolina where a Husky, Cato, got off his leash and committed some crimes. The manager of a Dollar General noticed some items missing off the shelves such as beef bones, pig ears, dog food, and dog treats. Later when she checked the cameras to see what happened to the items, she saw Cato crusin' in and out of the store with the goods in his mouth.


She called the cops, i'm not sure why, when she realized the thief was a dog and filed a police report. The cops hunted down Cato and I guess he got arrested? I don't know that's what the story says but i'm still trying to figure out how they would cuff a Husky.


Cato was taking his stolen items and burying them behind the car wash beside the Dollar General. By the time he got busted he had a pretty good stash going, but unfortunately, Cato's owner had to pay for the items and Cato didn't get to keep his treats. Another thing that may humour you, this isn't the first time a dog has stolen something from a Dollar General. Back in February, a dog stole a toy off the shelf at another location, apparently it's a "reoccurring problem". They may call it a problem but to me it seems like free entertainment. Maybe one day a dog will come in to the Sobeys where I work and i'll get to see him steal something.

This is a video of the security camera footage from the Dollar General. You can watch the whole news story on The Huffington Post website. It's so cute.

And of course, I can't forget this lucky dog.

Good Tips

Last Friday I interviewed Lisa Rasmussen, the trainer and owner of The Noble Hound Dog Training and Obedience. In school I’m working with a group of five, including myself, on constructing a dog magazine. Lisa gave me some awesome tips and I learned a lot of interesting stuff about dogs’ behaviour, dog breeds, and how dogs work in general. Lisa seems to really know her stuff and I can’t speak from experience but judging by her dogs behaviours and the tips she gave me to stop Diesel from doing certain things, I would recommend getting training or just advice from her.

Her approach of training is not to use aggression to discipline dogs. She ignores dogs to discipline them rather than yelling or being aggressive with them. She says grabbing a dog by the collar is both dangerous and hurtful. She says there’s too many glands around that area and the area is too close to the brain—it’s just dangerous.

Also, thanks to Lisa, I can bring some great leash handling tips to my blog for anyone who has a difficult time controlling their dog on a leash.

1.     Be Patient – If your dog pulls while on a leash, don’t expect to walk two kilometres, work in the driveway. 20 minutes of good leash walking in the driveway is better than a couple of kilometres of pulling. Quality over quantity!

2.     Tight Leash vs. Loose Leash – Don’t let the dog walk with a tight leash. When the leash is tight stop and let the dog loosen it on it’s own.

3.     Yanking Creates Frustration – Yanking and letting the dog pull makes the dog pull more—it’s an opposition reflex. When it’s around they’re neck they feel like they need to counteract your pulling.

4.     Treats – Use a type of treat that keeps the dog interested in you and fade out the treat as the dog improves on the leash.

Another thing I learned, for anyone who has a puppy, socialize your puppy with other dogs when the dog is four-12 weeks. Socializing at this age will help the puppy to learn how to properly treat other dogs, how to respond to the mother, and to deal with other dogs bullying or playing with them.

Also I have to note that this week was a sad week for the Dufault family. Maggie wasn’t doing so great when I wrote my last post but she had to be put down on Wednesday night. She was a sweetie and everyone will miss her. I’m glad she got to spend that last year or so of her life with a family as loving as the Dufaults.

Table Food

All of us dog owners, or most of us, are guilty of giving into our dogs and feeding them our scraps either from the table, from the counter, or saving the leftovers for a treat for them later. There are tons of myths about what's good and what's bad for your dog, what will cut five years off your dog's life, and what will make your dog's coat healthy. I found a great list online at hartz.com of human foods that are good and bad for your dog; the list may surprise you!

I know one of Diesel's favourite snack is cheese and I think most dog's love it as well. The truth about cheese is it's actually hard for dog's to digest because they don't produce large amounts of lactase, which helps break down dairy.

Peanut butter is a great snack for dogs unless they're allergic to it. Also, peanut butter is high in fat and calories so like humans, it's good but only as a snack.

Another good snack food for dogs is eggs. Raw is not good for humans or dogs, but eggs and the yolk in them helps the dog have a healthy looking coat.

Some foods to avoid giving your dog are uncooked bread dough, yeast, and raw-meat; all these things can cause stomach problems. Also, anything with caffeine is bad, as well as macadamia nuts.

As far as raw-meat goes, i give it to Diesel all the time because he was eating it while he lived on the reserve. Every dog is different so some foods will react differently with different dogs. If you haven't given your dog something like nuts or peanut butter, it might be best to get your dog tested for allergies before trying it out.

An update on Maggie, the newfie dog I wrote about a few months back, she is still living but she is doing rough. She recently went blind and her lymph nodes are swollen all over her body. She was said to be gone by Christmas, but she's still here. Poor girl, I hope she goes peacefully and doesn't suffer.

And of course, the weekly dose of Diesel...

Woof Woof Brrrr !

Well, the holidays were fantastic and Diesel's first Christmas with a family was super exciting for him. He got loaded up with treats and clothes and of course, an insane amount of attention.

We were at the cabin over the break and we took Diesel ice fishing. it was a cold day, about -35 with the windchill. As we got to our finishing spot Diesel instantly started whining and lifting his paws. We figured he'd be able to tough it out but he started to shake and whine so much that we got worried. He was already wearing a jacket but he was insanely cold. I put socks on him, held his paws, wrapped him in a towel and held him on my lap as someone drove us back to the cabin.

As we drove back to the cabin through the blowing snow and absolutely freezing wind, I couldn't help but think—wow, there are so many dogs living in these conditions with no one to warm them up, no food, and no where to go. Diesel was in that position less than a year ago and to see how cold he was just from being out for about fifteen minutes, I can't imagine how all the stray dogs feel.

There are about two semi-wild dogs per household on Manitoba reserves. That's a big number of shivering doggies. Rather than ranting and raving i'm going to be doing my part by volunteering with some organizations in 2014.

Next time we complain about how cold it is outside, we should think of my Diesel and all other dogs shivering out there. Maybe we'll think twice about complaining as we're wrapped up in a warm coat and mittens.

Maybe we should all rescue twenty dogs each and call it a day. That would be the best; if only if only!

Santa Dog!