What do you need to know before teaching your dog tricks?

My daughter has not given up on the riddle book.

I thought I had this one, "A trick, you have to know a trick to teach a trick."

Nope, you have to know more than a dog.



I think I can manage that most days.

Dogs in cars is strickly a western thing.

I didn't see a dog riding in a car or truck after I left Colorado. There isn't a single dog in downtown Chicago.

I was feeling a little dog deprived until we hit the wolf enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo.

On our last day of driving, we got to see a big fluffy huskie hanging his head out the back window of a Toyota 4runner. Now that is more like it.

At lunch, somewhere west of Denver, there was one dog waiting it out in the back seat. While another two dogs got to hang out under the cafe table with their family.

It was nice to be getting back home.

There is a very happy golden retriever hanging his head out the back window of the truck behind us. Really.

A new trend in names...

Old time names from the old country.

The Italians and Norwegians have chimed in.

Teenso & Amico.
Tucio & Vido.
Gunda & Hans.

No dog performers on tonight's America's Got Talent show

I loved the dog act that got in on the first night. And it looks like one other got in, but their audition didn't get aired.

To prove that I am not totally biased, I thought the finger clicker was the wildest thing I have ever seen.

I just want to know what the Russian guy, Leonid, is going to wear next time. I think he should just balance stuff on his hands and crack jokes, he was at his best off the cuff with Regis.

Why didn't you put an ad in the paper when your dog ran away?

Because my dog can't read.


My daughter just found a book of animal riddles.

Around here, you call the shelter, police dispatch, barterbar radio show and The Yawning Dog Ranch. All dogs run away to my house.

This was true even before I had a dog kennel. At my first house in Price, Utah, I had a radio fence for my puppies and not a real fence around the yard. Any dog that ran away in Westwood ran to my place. I met quite a few people taking their dogs home to them.

K-9 Officers do not head for the donut shop.

I spotted a police dog having a pit stop on the side of I-80 in Nebraska. The car was parked in the shade of an overpass, the dog and his handler were out in the grassy side of the off ramp. There are certain logistics of having a dog as a partner that I had not really given any thought to before.

The last thing you want to hear when you are 2000 miles from home.

"We had a runaway."

Well, Michelle was taking it much better than I would have. When really bad stuff happens, I do a little chicken with its head off running in circles thing, before calming down and getting it taken care off. But by the time Michele had called me, she had already talked to the owners and was headed off to check to see if their doggie just went home. The owners were pretty calm about it also - all they said was "Well, she never did that before."

Dog was found at home, the neighbors saw her and let her in.

So, my record still stands 4 runaways, all found. Two ran home, one caught by my contractor in my horse pasture, and the pair that my husband and I chased across Helper.

I know I forgot something....

I figured out what somewhere North and East of Denver. The Phone Message. UGH! I forgot to change my outing going message to my dog sitter's phone number. So I have been fielding doggie calls across 6 states.

"No, I can't check the calendar, I am in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Milwaukee, Chicago...you will have to call Michelle."

UGH!

And an even bigger, UGH! for when the cell phone bill comes in.

I always thought 'Are we there yet?' as a cliche.

I ranked it up with 'drunks dancing with lamp shades on their heads' and 'people photocoping their butts'. These are cultural icons, not stuff people actually do.

But I got to hear, "Are we there yet?" from Wellington to Colorado. I don't think they stopped asking, but I know I stopped trying to explain - in the car ALL DAY. My daughter actually announce just north of Green River, "Well, we better get to the hotel soon, because I have to pee!"

(Green River is a whopping 45 minutes from home.)

It was a very long first day.

It got better on the second day, I started giving out mile markers for the next stop and they would just watch and count them down. My sanity was saved by the creation of the federal highway mile marker system. Thank you.

I did not fall off the face of the earth, I just went on vacation.

I am in Chicago, seeing the family and trying to entertain my kids. I have been to the zoo, twice, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I think I last stepped foot in there when I was in eigth grade.

It has been a 'dog-free' holiday, except for my nightly reports from Michelle - dogsitter extordinare.

I do have some funny pictures, but I will have to figure how to get them off the camera, and into this freebie contection at the conference. And to think, I used to be a chip-head computer support person. Now, I can't even figure out all the options on my camera, or phone.

And now the Littles are out numbering the Bigs

I do have odd runs of dogs. I get weekends with a bunch of the same breed or the same name. I once had an a full kennel of only black and white dogs. And a different day with all carmel and white dogs. But today it is the little ones verses the big, current 7 to 2. But the big guys gain a teammate when a boxer shows up later.

I have 2 dachshunds, 2 Pomeranians, 2 Chiuhuahuas and the littlest Yorky you ever saw.

One Yellow Lab and Zoey Monster, she is very big, very thin, very jumpy, very orange and very much looks like her namesake from Sesame Street. She doesnot look very much like any breed of dog I have ever met before.

Argh. maties, we have a Parrot Dog on board!

I guess 'on shoulder' would be more accurate. Actually, I have about 6 Parrot Dogs as clients. I have 2 of them this weekend. Both Maggie, the Lego Poodle, and Taffy, a carmel chiuhuahua, like to climb up onto my shoulder. Very hard on me, there is quite a bit of claw digging in to hold that position, but it does lend itself to few pirate jokes.

It is really only a problem when a 100 pound lab or rottweiller tries to pull that stunt. This is why my chair is always about a foot away from the fence. I hit the fence when knocked over and not the ground.

Dogs of War Memorial

In my paper on Memorial Day, there was an article on dogs that have served in the army.

The numbers are impressive, as are the stories of the dogs' service.

World War II: 436 dogs served
Korea: 1,500 dogs served
Vietnam: 4,000 dogs served
Desert Storm and Desert Sheild: 120 dogs served
Global War on Terrorism: dogs are serving, but no numbers available.

A gentleman here in Utah, Alan Cunningham, is working to have a memorial dedicated to all of these dogs in the Utah Veterans Memorial. He wants to do it on this Vetern's Day. The memorial will be a lifesize bronze of a German Sheperd. He has also been petitioning the Postmaster General for a postage stamp for these unsung hereos.

I am going to find out some more about the project and see if he needs any help.