The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

In which I get a new computer

My Totally Wonderful Son-In-Law designed and built an awesome new computer for my birthday present. This is only the third new computer I’ve had, starting with Windows 3.1 in 1994 when I began computing.

As you can tell I don’t update often. Getting something new is stressful for me, as it shoves me out of my comfort zone. So I try to avoid it.

This goes for cars, hair styles, furniture, appliances, clothes—especially clothes. I actually hate wearing new clothes. When I had to dress professionally every day, I would buy clothes and wear them around the house for a while before wearing them to work where someone always said “Oh, is that new?” and I could say, “What, this old thing?”

Even though I have a couple of closets full of clothes now, they all pretty much look alike. I have picked things that never go out of style because they are never in style. There are also some great thrift shop finds where I have been able to buy someone else’s comfort zone.

My old computer worked except some of the updates were fighting me, I was getting weird error messages, and my virus program completely turned on me. Then a couple of weeks ago I got the blue screen of death briefly...software makers plotting against my comfort zone.

My computing needs are simple, writing, blogging, photos, email, screwing around with graphics, a YouTube addiction, and an occasional game of hearts.

TWSIL understood my foibles and designed the computer with programs I use and programs that will be fun and useful to learn. He loaded all my files and imported my email addresses. It is my old computer, but bigger, faster, quieter, smoother, smarter, more attractive, more current, and far less annoying.

I now have a 500 gig HD and even with all my files loaded, the “used space” is only a needlelike sliver. It is Windows XP, an Intel Core2 Quad 9400 with 4 gig RAM, a Samsung DVD and CD burner, an ASUS DVD drive, and a Samsung floppy drive. The Samsung burner came with Nero 8 essentials for CD and DVD burning and movie/photo editing, and some other stuff I haven’t explored. There are two cooling fans, but it is completely silent.

And not to sound too girly, it has a beautiful matte finished black case with a cool electric blue turn on switch and a fluffy pink Poodle perched on top.

So thank you again, SIL, who really should read my blog to find out how TW he is, don’t you think?

Border Patrol

Thanks to Anne

A special discount for all pet mommies (and anyone else actually) for Mother's Day

I’ve been spotted as a Doggie Mommy by 1-800-flowers and they sent me a lovely bouquet that I’m pretending came from Misty the alpha Poodle, Timmy the stud muffin, Chamois the generic dog, Tudee the rescue, and Taki the scary cat.

If they had opposable thumbs, I know they would send them to me for Mother’s Day. Not only am I Mommy to them, but they think I am the World’s Greatest Hunter when I arrive home with food for everyone.

And here is your one-stop shopping for Mother’s Day. Between now and Mother’s Day if you use the code SPOTAMOM when you order flowers from the 1-800-flowers gift center, you’ll get 15% off.

Julie at 1-800-flowers spotted me, featured us on her blog,  and came up with the cutest Poodle arrangement ever. Click over and see what she has created.

Mother’s Day will be here before you know it, so here is your chance to order a special bouquet for all the mothers in your life and save 15%. It’s easy to wait til the last minute (most people do). Take a little time now to order the freshest flowers anywhere and save $$$ too from 1-800-flowers.

The Poodle in law enforcement

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully has introduced Reggie, a purebred standard Poodle, who will work in her office as a compassion dog.

In a press release Scully said,
 “Reggie provides victims and witnesses with support and peace during their involvement in the criminal justice process - from taking interviews to providing court testimony. He is a valued member of our office, lifting the spirits of those who are often facing the most harrowing time in their lives.” Source

The Poodle as Police Dog. Although they are intelligent and easy to train, Poodles seeking a career in law enforcement serve better as compassion dogs for the DA than working cops on the street for several reasons.

Poodles have been bred to be companion dogs through the centuries and going into an attack mode is not in their natures as a breed. 

Poodles have a low boredom threshold and love attention. The repetitious training sessions with a handler would not satisfy the social needs of a Poodle.

Frequent trips to the beauty shop would not fit the image of a police dog.

But probably the main reason is one of perception. Even the mildest Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd dog looks intimidating. Even the nastiest Poodle seldom does.

Dog blown away by storm is located by a pet psychic

Tinker Bell, a six pound Chihuahua, was blown away from a flea market by high winds of a spring Michigan storm.

More than 50 volunteers helped owners Dorothy and Lavern Utley, a couple in their 70’s, search for their dog who blew away in the 70 mph winds on Saturday. Following a two day search the couple consulted a pet psychic on Monday.

After talking with the psychic, they headed to a wooded field about three-quarters of a mile away from the flea market.

And there they found Tinker Bell, very dirty and very hungry.

"We were shocked when we found her," said Dorothy Utley. "You don't know how happy we were. We love her so much."

"That dog was so happy," Utley said. "She just went wild. She was so hungry and we had to bathe her." From the Detroit News

Thanks to Dave from Ann Arbor

Poodle psychologists—Employees of the Month

Rita Hayworth and Jimmy Stewart are valuable employees in Amy Stark’s office in Santa Ana, California.

Stark, a PhD clinical psychologist, works mostly with kids who have the kind of serious problems kids shouldn’t be having. Many of them come from court ordered therapy because of serious family problems. Often they have difficulty trusting people. But they feel comfortable with Rita and Jim, two giant Poodles.

Stark’s office is more like a warm comfortable living room than an office, with lots of couches and stuffed animals. The kids let Rita lick their ears and Jim listens carefully to what they have to say.

“I want this to be a calm place, because we have to talk about some hard stuff here,” Stark says. Sometimes the children use puppets to help her understand what is going on in their lives. The dogs love to watch the puppet shows. They cock their heads and get involved in the show, undoubtedly understanding what is being communicated.

Jim has the ability to know when a person is upset and he will go to that person to offer comfort. Sometimes he will leave that person to console another if he is needed. Stark says, “If Jim sleeps through a session, we know we’re doing better. By the end of the day they are exhausted.”

Framed head shots of Jim and Rita hang on the wall with the title: “Employees of the Month.” Complete story from the Orange County Register

Medal awarded to gallant World War II dog sells for $35,700

A medal awarded to a dog who found dozens of survivors in rubble of the London Blitz was sold at auction for 24,250 pounds ($35,700), nearly $15,000 higher than the estimate. Auctioneers said the buyer chose to remain anonymous.

Rip the dog was found homeless and starving in London following an air raid in 1940. The warden, Mr. King, who found him adopted him and, with no formal training, Rip began sniffing out people trapped in the bombing debris.

During the Blitz he is credited with finding and rescuing more than 100 air raid victims of German bombings. According to Mr. King, Rip was never off duty.

We can only imagine the gratitude of the people trapped under the rubble seeing a happy little dog coming to their rescue. Mostly because of the success of Rip, who was a natural, authorities decided to formerly train dogs to find war casualties.

In 1945 Rip was awarded the Dinkin Medal, England’s highest award for animals. He wore the medal on his collar for the rest of his life.

When he died, he was the first of twelve "supreme animal heroes" to be buried in the PDSA cemetery in Ilford, Essex. His headstone reads: "Rip, D.M., 'We also serve', for the dog whose body lies here played his part in the Battle of Britain."

Ruppy, the world’s first florescent, transgenic dog

This adorable puppy is Ruppy - short for Ruby Puppy. She and four other Beagle puppies have been genetically altered to produce a fluorescent protein.

When placed under an ultraviolet light they all glow a deep red. They were created by a team led by Byeong-Chun Lee of Seoul National University in South Korea, the team who created the first cloned dog Snuppy in 2005 and has since been cloning sniffer dogs and pets.

The dogs are transgenic animals, which means their genetic  code has been deliberately modified rather than mutating naturally. This was done by cloning fibroblast cells that express a red fluorescent gene produced by sea anemones.

The scientist/cloners are hoping that this project will open the door to research to cure many human diseases.

If not, they will make really cute night lights.

How to Install a Home Security System CHEAP

1. Go to a secondhand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work boots.
2. Place them on your front porch, along with a copy of Guns & Ammo Magazine.
3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.
4. Leave a note on your door that reads:

Bubba, Big'un, Duke, Slim, & I went for more ammo and beer.
Back in an hour.
Don't mess with the dawgs - they attacked the mailman this morning
and messd him up bad.
I don't think Killer took part, but it was hard to tell from all the blood.
Anyway, I locked all four of 'em in the house.
Better wait outside.

Cooter
P.S. The dawgs might be asleep, but the spring guns are set.

Thanks to Bob

Dog swallows gloves, socks and more

I said I wasn’t going to write any more posts about dogs swallowing stuff, but who can resist this face posed in front of the former contents of his stomach?

This is Bailey, a 7-year-old Golden Retriever, who belongs to Nicola Perrett, a mother of two from the UK. When she took Bailey to the veterinarian for a yearly check up, she got the devastating news that they needed to operate on a tumor they discovered.

When they opened him up they found, not a tumor, but two golf gloves, one mitten, a stocking, ten socks and a couple of rugby gloves, 17 items in all, including a piece of towel. Ms. Perrett’s son said the rugby gloves had been missing for two years.

They had noticed that Bailey had gotten quieter lately and lost a bit of weight, but he was still eating his food and gave no indication of having any digestion issues from the snacks he had been consuming.

Describing the operation, Keith Moore, the veterinarian said, “It was like doing a magic trick. We were just pulling out one sock after another.”

Of Note To Readers

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