Heart of Dogness

JoJo sleeps

Sketch of JoJo about twenty minutes ago, sleeping through Brian Schweitzer's speech to the DNC. To be fair, it was a rebroadcast, and she may have been more enthusiastic the first time around. This guy's fun to watch.

Nearly 1,000 dogs rescued in West Virginia

On August 24, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, local officials and representatives of the Humane Society of the United States rescued nearly 1,000 dogs from the Whispering Oaks Kennel, an industrial puppy mill that had operated for almost two decades.

The raid was prompted by neighbors' complaints about pollution in a nearby stream. Shouldn't be any surprise that anyone too self-absorbed to care about the cruelty they inflict on animals is also too self-absorbed to care about the slop they pass on to others.

Michelle Obama in Denver

I know I said I'd try to keep my politics out of this blog, but I've just been watching Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic convention in Denver, and once again I'm struck by how these are SUCH BETTER PEOPLE than anybody the Republicans will ever think about nominating, and SUCH BETTER PEOPLE than John McCain has let himself become.

I swear, if you even consider voting against these folks, you do not own a soul.

German Shepherd

What we once called a German Shepherd is now, with annoying precision, officially called a German Shepherd Dog. This is, evidently, intended to distinguish the breed from the more common German Shepherd Fish and German Shepherd Telephone.

German Shepherds are descended from a long line of sheep-herding dogs of various abilities and appearances, but the breed was standardized beginning in 1899 by an obsessive character named Max von Stephanitz, who inbred them to the point that several of the offspring actually collapsed and spontaneously combusted. Max nevertheless persisted, and the German Shepherd is today the third-most popular dog in the United States, ranking just below Yorkshire Terriers and just above Golden Retrievers.

Modern German Shepherds seldom herd sheep, who are now heavily unionized and have ironclad contracts with wolves that limit predation to a specified level. Each flock now has a Sheep Steward whose function is to make sure the sheep uphold their end of the contract, and to convey grievances to management. So German Shepherds have long been associated with other parts of the security industry; when I was growing up, if you said "Police Dog" this is the breed you were talking about.

Now, in the age of bomb-sniffing beagles and attack chihuahuas, increasing numbers of German Shepherds are finding work in the transport sector (I'll use any excuse to link to this video).

Sources: Wikipedia, American Kennel Club

Rescue: German Shepherd Rescue

"In Dog We Trust" in Time

My good friend Andrea called my attention to this article in TIME. "In Dog We Trust" is about Barack Obama's biggest post-election decision: what kind of dog to get.

Although I try not to let my politics intrude on this blog, I would like to weigh in on the side of mutts in this matter. As Americans, we're pretty much all mutts. No matter how far back you can trace your family in this country, it's a sure bet that there's more than one name Auntie Macassar quietly pruned from the family tree. And that you're swimming in a bigger gene pool than you know.

Hybrid vigor's what America's all about. Helping the least fortunate among us is what we do, at any rate when nobody's trying to scare us into cowering in our basements with the family silver. So come on, Barack, get a shelter dog, the more undefinable, the better.

Correction: In my story on Bruno a while back, I mistakenly identified him as an American Bulldog. I'm now informed that he's an Old English Bulldog. This, it turns out, is an example of what I'm talking about above: nothing about Bruno's dress, behavior or speech indicated that he was foreign-born, and I'm proud to say that I just took him for one of us. In a larger sense, we're all one of us. No word on whether Bruno's a Naturalized American Bulldog.

Doggies in France don't lift their legs

These delightful pooches are at the base of the statue of Diana the Huntress (not related to Diana the Waitress) in the gardens of Fontainbleau, a swank former residence near Paris, now open to the public.

It clearly shows that either French dogs are very different from regular dogs, or that you shouldn't hunt your dogs till they're too tired to lift their legs. A clever variation on the tired old manneken-pis, who does, however, have a more extensive wardrobe. There's another that claims to be the original in Geraardsbergen.

Are there statues of other critters taking a leak? Where? For that matter, why?

Update: Since I have both an insatiable curiosity and way too much time on my hands, I did a search for "Peeing Statues". There are a couple high-tech models in Prague, but it appears that Brussels refuses to be outdone in this realm. Turns out doggies DO lift their legs in Belgium. Truth be told, I'm beginning to regret having opened up this can of worms.

Guest Post: Why My Dog Lexie Stars in my Mystery Series

My name is Linda O. Johnston, and I'm a writer.  Among other things, I am the author of the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series.

The protagonist, Kendra, is a lawyer.  So am I.  She lives in the Hollywood Hills.  So do I.  She is a litigator, though, and I am a real estate transactional attorney.  That's one difference between us.  Another, even more major, is that she is a murder magnet and solves a lot of mysteries.  I, on the other hand, just create them.

One of the most important similarities between us, though, is that we both own tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniels named Lexie.  Or maybe we're owned by them.  For as different as Kendra and I may be in some of the ways that count, we're both suckers for snuggly, loving animals.  And that's what Cavaliers are all about!

As you probably figured, Kendra is an alter ego of mine.  She sometimes does things I wish I could do--like have a much better trained and socialized Lexie than mine.  (Okay, Cavaliers are people-pleasers, so my Lexie would be better trained if I trained her!)

But my Lexie helped to inspire the creation of Kendra and her Lexie.  She's my companion and muse, and she enjoys lying at my feet as I write.  She loves to be on my lap, too, when I'm reviewing things on the computer, but she's annoyed when I'm not paying full attention to her and dare to disturb her by using my hands to type on the keyboard. 

She's especially unhappy when I don't allow her to fool me at dinnertime.  She can tell when it's six PM, which is when I always feed her.  She stands up on the floor beside me, her paws on my chair, and snorts for my attention, to make sure I'm aware of what time it is.  But now and then, she decides she'd rather eat earlier and--especially when I'm so deeply engrossed in my writing that I'm not really aware of anything else--she stands up and tries to convince me it's six!

I recently acquired another Cavalier--a puppy named Mystie, who's a real character.  She loves to chase shadows and bugs and reflections.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if, eventually, Kendra and her Lexie find a Cavalier puppy as complicated and charming in their lives... 

Come visit me at my website: www.LindaOJohnston.com   I also blog weekly, on Thursdays, at www.KillerHobbies.blogspot.com

Heart of Dogness is Cool Dog Site of the Day

Today's the day! Heart of Dogness is Cool Dog Site of the Day on August 15, 2008 at Dogmark.net. This award-winning site has been selecting Cool Dog Sites since 1996. I'm expecting a million visitors, so I've got to go clean up the living room. Does this blog make me look fat?

Introducing my Blogroll

OK, it's about time I put up a blogroll so all of my reader can find out what I read and what other wonderful stuff is out there, since I'm dedicated to broadening your horizons. I know everybody's time is precious, but reading just this blog is a lot like eating a high-class, runny, stinky cheese without the crackers. Today's additions are: Achenblog, Joel Achenbach's blog in The Washington Post. Seldom if ever about dogs, but always fascinating. My Heart Dog, Tamandra Michaels's terrific blog about her life with Borias. Don't miss the video. Wag Reflex, a multi-author, multi-pet blog at Amazon Cowbelly Blog, Jamie Pflughoeft's gorgeous dog-photo blog Dogster's For the Love of Dog, which is pretty self-explanatory The Bark Blog, from my favorite dog magazine. Jake and Tycho, the video adventures of the long-suffering Tycho and the way-too-inquisitive Jake. Sophie Rules the World. She does: check her blog and see. The Poodle and Dog Blog, which recently celebrated its third birthday More to follow as I become aware of them.

True Dog Story du jour

Well, it didn't exactly hit the fan, but it broke a few windows. Airborne turds at Dogster's For the Love of Dog.

On a more useful note, they've got a great post on Doggie Park Etiquette.

Then there's this. As if the puppy cloning story weren't weird enough on its own. Click through to the AP story for the full flavor of, um, just, um, here.

Gus and JoJo get a bath

So, anyway, Gus was beginning to stink, and had his usual summer excess of hair; and JoJo still had the road dirt on her from when we picked her up. We bundled them into the car and hauled them down to The Grateful Dog in Hyannis.

This is a high-class wash-your-own-dog facility with several raised dogwash tubs (saves the back, and there are ramps for the dogs to walk up; not that either Gus or JoJo would walk up; still, it's the IDEA) and a wide selection of shampoos. Other amenities include plenty of towels, a restraint thingy to keep the dog from jumping out, and a blow-dryer that no longer terrifies Gus, although I'd hesitate to say he enjoys it. Scared the bejeezus out of JoJo.

First, we settled Gus (settled is a highly relative term) onto the de-shedding table for a quick brushout that lasted half an hour. We'll be knitting a village out of the results. Then my Lovely and Charming Wife and I each hosed off a dog, and we chatted with the owner, Kristen Ellis. She's delightful, sweet and knows her stuff, and also runs a pet-sitting and dog-walking business.

The resident pooch, a handsome rottweiler-and-who-knows mix named Cowboy, evidently had a political disagreement with Gus, but the two exchanged their views over the counter and no fisticuffs ensued.

If your dog needs a bath when you're around Hyannis, this is the place. Highly recommended.

Why DoggySpace is better than MySpace

We've just joined DoggySpace. I've put up a Profile for Gus, and another for JoJo. Each now has 13 friends, and each has received a message from a friend. All their friends are actual dogs, and none appears to be trying to sell anything or get their credit card information.

I joined MySpace about four years ago, and during that time, I've received about 13 friend requests. All but one of these has been from either a porn site, a hooker, or a mortgage broker. So my only friend is Tom. Just like it says on the t-shirt. Or, for those of you with really shattered self-esteem, the other t-shirt.

Heart of Dogness to be Cool Dog Site of the Day

I've just received word from webmaster Takashi Ito that Heart of Dogness has been selected to be Cool Dog Site of the Day on August 15, 2008 at Dogmark.net. This award-winning site has been selecting Cool Dog Sites since 1996.

Teaching the pooch to pee

Several years ago, when I was working as a shopgirl, one of my co-workers was a man I'll call Clovis Poynter. He and his partner adopted a dog I'll call Eduardo, since I don't remember his name either.

Eduardo had led a sheltered life and had little experience outdoors. So little, in fact, that he had no idea how to pee outside. This wasn't a matter of simple housebreaking: the dog actually couldn't perform this basic function unless in a building.

So Clovis and his partner began to teach the pooch to pee outside. Details are sketchy, but I think this illustration pretty much captures the essence of the training.

True Dog Stories du Jour

From Dogster's Dog Blog comes the story of Isabella, a Golden Retriever at the Safari Zoological Park near Caney, Kansas, who has adopted three tiger cubs as her own.

Isn't this more or less how Rome got started?

From The Bark Blog, Tamandra Michaels's German Shepherd Borias provides the motive power for her wheelchair. Don't miss the video or Tamandra's blog.