The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

What if cowboys owned Poodles

Men (and you know who you are) sometimes think it is wimpy to own a small dog, but not so. A small dog can make a man look incredibly secure and sexy.

I got this as an email and traced the author to Terry Jester in The Coloradoan via Mocha Shots and Moon Beans.

 This is too good not to repost.

"There he is, legendary cowboy, Roy Rogers, astride his faithful Palomino, Trigger, his capable and beautiful German Shepherd, Bullet, at his side …"

 Owning a large, powerful dog conjures a certain image in the minds of most people - rugged, sturdy, strong, a tough guy capable of achieving his goals, resourceful, brave, manly. These are all words that seem to go along with the image of Roy and his big dog, Bullet. But what if Roy owned another type of dog? A very different kind of dog?

Consider this: “There he is, legendary cowboy, Roy Rogers, astride his faithful Palomino, Trigger, his beautiful and capable toy Poodle, Bullet, sitting proudly in his arms.”

OK, that does give us a different image of Roy, doesn’t it? But why?

Why do we think manly type men don’t own little dogs? Because, believe me, they do.

My friend Glen is about 6 feet, 5 inches, ex-NFL and retired FBI. Running into Glen in a narrow hallway is like running into a brick wall. This guy is big, solid, tough and no-nonsense.

He also is a Yorkie owner.

His two dogs combined might weigh all of nine pounds. If they just ate. Glen likes little dogs. He likes all dogs, but he chooses to own little dogs. And believe me, no one, not his ex-teammates, nor his NFL-playing son-in-law, think anything of it. Why, then, do the rest of us?

My experience with guys owning small dogs is that they are comfortable with who they are. They don’t have anything to prove. They don’t need their dogs to make them feel safe. On the other hand, I’ve known lots of men owning big, powerful, aggressive dogs to appear insecure. Frequently, I’ve found that the fiercer the dog, the more insecure the owner.

So I think it’s time we acknowledged that real men own little dogs. Poodles, Shih Tzus, Chihuahuas. We should treat them accordingly. If a guy wants to go out and buy a Maltese, I say go for it. You don’t need a Labrador or a Rottweiler to be a real man.

Flaunt that Pekingese. Parade that Papillion. And although it isn’t quite the same playing Frisbee with a Dachshund, it can still be done. It is best to just roll that Frisbee, however, as airborne Dachshunds are only a thing of the imagination.

What it comes down to is that dogs are dogs, regardless of their size. I own several small dogs. I also own several big dogs. Who is tougher? It depends on how you define tough. The Bulldogs certainly look tougher, but let me tell you it’s my Poodles and the Pomeranian that keep the bunnies, jackrabbits and ground squirrels from being over-populated.

It’s time to acknowledge the fact that real men can and do own little dogs. Go ahead. Be a man. Be brave and walk that Poodle in the open.

A new contender for the World’s Smallest Dog

And this time he isn’t a Chihuahua.

This is Scooter, a six-month-old Maltese fluff ball who belongs to Cheryl McKnight from New Zealand. Scooter stopped growing at 8 cm high (3.1 inches), which is a full 2 cm smaller than Boo Boo, a Chihuahua who is the current Guinness Book record holder.

Current record holders are Ducky from Massachusetts at 4.9 inches in length and Boo Boo from Kentucky at 4 inches tall. (Guinness no longer recognizes dogs by weight because of the health dangers of loonies over or underfeeding a dog.)

Although he is TCFW, he is too tiny for normal doggie activities, like going for a walk on a leash. In fact, for a while McKnight thought about giving him away. “I thought nah, someone else can have him. But over time I've fallen in love with him."

Scooter eats out of an egg cup three times a day and sleeps in a shoebox.

Scooter was originally named Pee Wee, but was renamed “due to fears of an inferiority complex,” according to McKnight. The story

Chihuahua survives three days with a BBQ fork in his head

He still has some recovery to do, but the veterinarian is calling him a miracle dog.

I couldn't bring myself to post the picture or the whole story, but if you're curious it is here.

Graphic photo. You've been warned.

The Shark Tank: You can audition for a new network reality show

I am impressed with the creative products and services for pets that people come up with. It’s a multi-billion $$ business that continues to grow in spite of the [blah blah tired of hearing about it] economy.

Here is an opportunity to get the financial backing and publicity to get a business off to a great start.

Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor and The Apprentice, is starting a new reality show on ABC called The Shark Tank. The staff is looking for entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators, innovators, etc. to apply to be on the show. Here’s the information:

Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, "I'm out!" -- sending them running for the exit.

But these Sharks aren't just out for blood, they too have a goal: to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies' equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need. But when the Sharks hear a really top-notch idea, and more than one of them wants to sink their teeth into it, a war between them will erupt. Then the once-desperate entrepreneur can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment.

Besides serious creators, I’m guessing that for entertainment value they are also looking for doofuses with oddball ideas who will be subject to public humiliation and sent packing.

I’m a reality show junky. I’ll watch it.

If you or someone you know has a brilliant (or offbeat) business concept, fill out the application here. 

Cute puppies, hungry eagles, and illusions

The latest dog movie star winning over audiences is Kevin, a fluffy American Eskimo, who stars with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal.

In real life Kevin is played by four different dogs, Flurry, Sitka, Nanu and Winter. Like all of the Lassies, each puppy has learned a special skill. Flurry, however, was the dog with star quality who was a favorite with the cast and crew, even forming a special bond with Bullock.

At one point in the movie Bullock’s character tries to sacrifice the puppy to an eagle. Between takes she apologized profusely, promising that she didn’t mean to hurt him. (If you’re reading this blog, you have undoubtedly apologized to a dog or cat on more than one occasion.) 

Sandra Bullock isn’t one of those celebrities who consider a dog a fashion accessory, the ones we all like to make fun of. She is devoted to her two tiny Chihuahuas, one of whom has no front legs.

In this film, however, she tries to feed a cute fluffy puppy to a hungry eagle. The scene involved two eagles and two trainers. Actually the dog and the eagle were never on the set at the same time. Here’s how it was done:

First, trainers cued the dog to walk around, pace and bark. Then, the dog was removed from the set and a trained eagle was used for the live eagle action. The trainer, with the eagle on his arm, walked up a ladder and set the bird on its mark on a tree branch. The eagle had a tether attached to leather straps on its ankles, and a second trainer held the tether and whistled for the eagle to fly to his arm. This action was filmed a couple of times. The bird was rested and given treats after each take. A sack that would be “invisible” against a green screen was placed on a custom-made stand on the ground, and the eagle was cued to fly down, grab the sack and fly back up, all while trainers controlled the tether. The sack was then replaced with “Kevin” in post-production. More Information

No animals were harmed during the making of this film. But they seem to have gotten a lot of treats.

Chicago police dog goes on the lam…again

On May 13, Bear, a Chicago police dog got spooked by thunder, jumped a six foot fence and was off on an adventure.

Apparently he had such a good time that he’s done it again. A BOL went out Saturday as Bear went missing from the backyard of his handler, Detective Richard King.

Bear, a 74-pound black and tan German Shepherd, is trained to track, do search and rescue and search property, but apparently not to stay home.

I suggested the first time that Bear might be given a desk job since he is terrified of thunder. But this time the motive for running away might be jealousy. King has another dog, a retired police dog named Deny, and the two dogs don’t get along, maybe because Bear gets to spend his days fighting crime and Deny has to stay home. 

This living arrangement seems strained to me. There is bound to be a little alpha dog thing going on there.

Chicago police are asking anyone with information to call 911.The story

"Don't worry, I've got your back."

That orange store

I had a strange experience yesterday. I went to Home Depot.

No, not that one. This was an alternate universe Home Depot.

People worked there. They were visible, standing around the store in their little orange aprons. They asked how we were and could they help us? It was weird. I thought we must be in a TV commercial about Home Depot’s great “customer service,” but I couldn’t see any cameras.

I usually go to Lowe’s since they opened, but I found a Home Depot store credit from a long time ago that I needed to use. I was prepared for the worse, considering past experiences there.

Once I bought two toilets from a voice at the top of a stepladder. It assured me that those were “high quality toilets.” And if I “needed help getting them loaded there might be someone in Electric.”

One time I bought a ceiling fan from someone I finally had to bring over from Paint who didn’t understand why I kept asking questions that weren’t on the box.

Once I bought a 2” x 6” x 8’ piece of lumber from someone in Lumber who agreed to cut off 14” but informed me I would still have to pay for the original size. duh.

Then the final insult: getting to the checkout stand to find many stands, one checker, long line. There was another employee standing around whose sole duty was to tell us “there is no waiting in the self-checkout lane.” None of us seemed to want to learn this new skill.

One time I brought my car around to the wrong door and when I went in to pick up my stuff, everyone pointed and laughed. OK, maybe I imagined that last part.

I did learn something though that you might use. If you use store credit to buy something and take it right back with your receipt, they will give you real money back. At least that’s what happened in this alternate universe Home Depot.

Tennessee Pit Bull Wins His Court Case

Rux the Pit Bull had his day in court Wednesday. Rux is a very well behaved 19-week-old dog who licked the hands of everyone who wanted to meet him.

In May a woman called Chattanooga police when she saw her neighbor cut the ears off his puppy with a pair of scissors. When they arrived the puppy was bleeding profusely in the back yard and a rusty pair of scissors was nearby. Oswaldo Padilla Garcia, 23, was hiding in the attic of the house.

Police also found a “dark house” — a windowless dog house used to teach the animals to become aggressive and violent once they see daylight. Police believe the dark house is evidence that Mr. Garcia intended to train Rux as a fighter.

They rushed Rux to an animal hospital where they stitched his ears and stopped the bleeding. Fortunately no arteries had been cut or he could have bled to death.

In court Garcia-Padilla reluctantly agreed to give up Rux and pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, but denied being involved with dog fighting. He was put on probation for a year, given ten days of community service and must pay the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center $1,200 for housing and vet bills. He also can't be around a dog for one year.

According to the director of the McKamey Animal Care Center “When (Mr. Garcia) saw Rux on the sidewalk, he started to cry and told me he never wanted to hurt him.”

Captain Dianna Burrow who works for Chattanooga’s animal services division is going to adopt Rux.

[Captain Burrow] was grateful the neighbor made the call that possibly saved the pup’s life. …she cannot imagine Rux, whom she described as a “people lover,” ever being raised to kill other dogs or having to constantly defend his own life as a trained fighter. “I can’t imagine doing that to such a sweet dog.”

She will use Rux to show the public pit bulls are good dogs if you raise them right. The story

How dangerous are dog groomers’ drying cages?

We know how heartbreaking it is to lose a dog in a tragic accident, but is it necessary to make massive changes in the dog grooming business when one dog dies accidentally?

Especially if no one can be certain that a drying cage was the cause?

A man in New York took his two-year-old Puggle (Pug-Beagle mix) to a daycare and spa for a bath. When the dog came out of the drying cage, she was having a hard time breathing. The groomer called the owner who took her to a veterinarian, but it was too late.

According to the veterinarian, the dog died of heat stroke, but exactly how it happened “was hard to verify.” He couldn’t cite the drying cage as the cause of the breathing problems. Dogs such as Pugs, Puggles, and Bulldogs with short snouts which make it harder for them to breathe, are more susceptible to heat stroke.

The owner, however, is convinced the dog was killed by the drying cage and he is doing everything he can to have them banned.

Millions of dogs, including my own, have been put in drying cages as part of grooming. In fact many veterinarians use them.

My groomer uses low heat on the Poodles and forced air on my short haired dogs. She sets the timer and it takes only a few minutes to dry the dogs. She has been grooming dogs for 32 years and has never had a problem with a dog in a drying cage.

According to the manager of the spa, the dog resisted being groomed which may have caused her to overheat. She was in the drying cage with no heat for less than five minutes. He has never had a drying cage problem before.

The dog owner continues his mission with a website to support a New York state law that would ban drying cages and regulate groomers.

Stories about grooming accidents frighten dog owners. But most stories admit that there are “a small number of dogs” involved in the accidents. Some stories insist that dog grooming accidents are on the rise, which shouldn’t be a surprise since the number of dogs being groomed is on the rise. 

Of course one dog is one too many if the accident is preventable.

Licensing groomers might be a good idea. All it takes in most places is a razor and a business license. But are laws and regulations going to stop all accidents?

Have they ever?

Roswell UFO festival attracts aliens from “planet Poop-a-lot”

Roswell, New Mexico has added a canine costume show to their annual UFO celebration held this past weekend. Showing off their extra-terrestrial fashion sense, dogs from all over competed.

This is Meatball, a 13 week old Chihuahua from Arvado Colorado, who was one of the prize winners. He is obviously thrilled with his accomplishment.

The event held in commemoration of an alleged flying saucer landing in 1947, includes a parade, fireworks, films, speakers, conferences, live entertainment and of course an assortment of Martians and Coneheads.