The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Golden Poodle awards for February

The Golden Poodle awards for February go to three dogs with unusual occupations.

Sophy is a school crossing guard in New York, Dozer is an agriculture inspector in California, and Uggie, the actor, is stealing the awards shows in Hollywood.

I just hope that people who want a Jack Russell Terrier because Uggie is cute as a button will do their research. A lot of JRT’s were dumped in the past because of the popularity of Eddie on "Frazier." They are great little dogs but they can be a pain in the ass if they aren’t given work to do like killing a barn full of rats.

The Lizard Brain award goes to Kristin Lees, 22, the Windsor woman who is incensed that Misha, her 8-pound Chihuahua, has been put on the dangerous dog registry after biting a 14-year-old girl walking down the street. After all Misha is little and looks pretty in pink.

 

The Neanderthal award goes to the bloated national animal bureaucracies that fundraise using cute dogs and cats but do little for their welfare.

The Amazing Dog Photos of William Wegman

William Wegman might have been an artist academic quietly painting and teaching in a university some place in obscurity.

Except for one thing.

Along the way he got a dog, a Weimaraner. And that has made all the difference.

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1965 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1967.

Although his first love was painting, he became interested in photography and filmmaking.

While teaching at California State University, Long Beach in 1970 he acquired Man Ray, the first of the famous Weimaraners that have appeared in his photographs and videos through the years.

In 1986, a Weimaraner named Fay Ray came into his life. Her puppies and grandpuppies were added to the cast, appearing in a series of photographs and books for adults and children.

His works have appeared in major galleries all over the world.

 

His film and video works have been featured on Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, and Saturday Night Live.

The first two videos below should bring back happy memories to many of you. The third features Wegman introducing his dogs and his photography.

 

 

 

 

 

How to exercise a large dog—very expensively

The video below reminds me of a story I’ve posted before about a local obstetrician.

Dr. V. and his wife always lived fairly simply because that was their way. But when Dr. V. had his Midlife Crisis, he made two expensive purchases that he had always wanted. He bought a completely restored vintage Porsche convertible and a champion sired Great Dane.

His wife started calling the dog Crisis, which is something Great Dane owners might understand, and the name stuck.

Every evening he loaded Crisis into the passenger seat of the convertible and they drove off to a deserted road. Then he let Crisis out to run beside the Porsche.

We often wondered if he bought the Porsche to exercise the Great Dane or bought the Great Dane as an excuse to buy the Porsche.

 

 

Should this eight pound Chihuahua be on a dangerous dog registry?

 
Yes.

City officials in Windsor have taken a lot of unfair ridicule for enforcing the law and designating little Misha, a 3-year-old Chihuahua, as a dangerous dog.

Although she looks pretty in her little pink outfit, Misha showed she had a dark side when she got out of the house, bit a 14-year-old girl walking by and threatened two others until her owner’s stepfather pulled her away.

Dangerous dog laws should not have a weight requirement any more that they should have a breed requirement. Chihuahuas and Poodles should not be above the law any more than a Doberman, a Rottweiler or a Pit Bull.

Being on the dangerous dog registry means her owners must put a sign in her yard warning that a dangerous dog lives there. They must have a microchip implanted identifying her as dangerous and get liability insurance for at least $1 million. Misha must be muzzled in public.

What I find disturbing about the story is the attitude of Misha’s owner, Kristin Lees, 22, toward the situation.

"It think it's hilarious," said Lees. "I don't think it's right. If you can't protect yourself from this dog . . . It's an eight-pound dog. It blew my mind. How are you going to claim this dog is a dangerous dog? I'm not going to walk my dog down the street with a muzzle. That's what they're telling me I have to do."

Yes, honey, that’s what happens when your dog makes an unprovoked attack. Dangerous dog laws are about the actions of the dog, not the breed or weight.

Lees has appealed the designation and the Windsor Licensing Commission will make a decision next month. I hope the appeal is not based on just Misha’s cuteness.

The story

Barking dog makes man £5.1 million richer

One lucky man in Scotland was awakened during the night by a barking dog. But that isn’t the lucky part.

He is remaining anonymous for now, but it is known that he is a nice guy in his 20’s who lives in a modest flat. Here’s what happened according to a friend:

He was in his house and was woken up one night last week by the sound of a dog barking and couldn’t settle – and so decided to have a go online.

He staked just a pound on a slot machine game, which is like a computer version of a one-armed bandit. He was up to £250 after a few wins in a row. With that, he then went on another game which has this massive jackpot.

After six more spins he’d hit it – and it was £5.1million. ($7.8 million USD)

It only took him a few minutes. He obviously found it pretty difficult getting back to sleep after that. It’s just unbelievable.

He owes it all to that dog – he’d like to meet it and shake its paw.

He was flown by private jet to pick up his cheque and is currently staying with a relative at an unknown place in Scotland while reality sets in and he figures out the rest of his life.

The win is the biggest of its type in UK gambling history and the world’s third largest, according to the UK Daily Record.

 

Show Dog—a book review

Show Dog—the Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred by Josh Dean

I seldom start a review this way, but I totally enjoyed reading this book.

Show Dog might have been a book that glorified the purebred dog and the lifestyles of the rich and privileged.

Or… It might have been a condemnation of the closed registry and the people who devote their lives to preserving it.

Show Dog was neither.

Josh Dean, a talented magazine journalist, has written a humorous, informative, evenly presented book of the life of the modern show dog subculture and the bond between humans and the breeds they love.

Responsible breeders have been given a bad rap in recent years. As the owner of two purebred Poodles (and two lovable mutts), I can understand the passion people can develop for a particular breed and the camaraderie with people who share their passion.

(The two hour Poodle grooming before each show is enough by itself to keep me out of the ring, however.)

In Show Dog Dean follows the career of Jack, a promising young Australian Shepherd, through a year of appearances in the dog show circuit as he struggles to reach his full potential.

Some dogs take years to complete a championship. Jack took four months. He is now ready to go head to head with the best dogs in the country for Best of Breed and Best in Show titles. It was to be a year of victories and great frustrations.

To those of us spectators, the world of dog showmanship seems to be chaotic and confusing. As Dean follows the shows, we understand how easily an owner can get caught up in the competition, both emotionally and financially.

We meet Kerry, the California breeder who maintains co-ownership of Jack with Kimberley, a working single mother from Pennsylvania. It soon becomes clear that to bring Jack to his full potential, they need to hire Heather, a professional handler with a growing reputation.

Although all it takes to enter a dog show is a purebred dog, the entry fee, and a car to get there, to bring a show dog to a place as one of the top dogs in the country can take hundreds of thousands of dollars.

One thing that many of us in the stands often wonder is, “Do the dogs enjoy the dog show?” To answer that he turned to Stanley Coren, semi-retired psychologist and one of my favorite dog writers.

“Oh, my God, they love it…they’re social animals and they are surrounded by dogs… Also a dog gets a lot of attention and a lot of treats.”

Like other working dogs, show dogs consider their work as another form of play. Those of you with your own dogs know that dogs are not very good are terrible in hiding their true feelings.

Besides following a year on the circuit with Jack, Dean also covers such topics as: the history of dog shows; show dog investors; campaigning with advertisements in trade journals; subjectivity and favoritism among judges; cheating and disqualifications; breeding, inbreeding and over breeding; AKC breed standards and health concerns.

There is also a chapter which is quite relevant in light of the recent Westminster result: “How the hell does a wolf become a Pekinese?”

Show Dog is an engaging, informative look at a subculture of dogdom that most people are not aware of. Certainly some of the breed standards need to be changed for the health of the dogs, as I've written about earlier.

The responsible breeder faces strong and growing opposition today by animal rights groups that believe than no dogs should be bred for any purpose, which would result someday in their ultimate objective—no dogs.

Flight of the Valkyrie

Part Chihuahua, part miniature Italian Greyhound, part deer.

“Euthanized” dog found living with a new owner

I’m not sure if this is a sad story, a happy story or just a weird story.

Probably all three.

A New Mexico woman’s one-year-old Chihuahua Lola was viciously attacked by another dog four months ago.

Lisa Gossett was told by the veterinarian that she had two choices:

"Pay out all this money and there's a 20% chance that she'll live or euthanize her, so it was hard," said Gossett.

Since she didn’t want Lola to suffer, she signed an agreement, paid the fee for cremation, and said goodbye to her dog. It was especially hard on her five-year-old daughter who prayed to see Lola again.

This week Gosset got a phone call from the company that programs ID microchips requesting a switch of Lola’s chip to a new owner.

"And I said 'oh no, you're mistaken Lola is not alive we had her put down she was in an accident’ and they said ‘no ma'am in fact she is alive and there's a request for ownership for her,’" said Gossett.

It seems that when Gossett signed the document to euthanize Lola, she was surrendering all rights of ownership of the dog. According to Gosset, that had not been explained to her.

The veterinarian charged the fees, but then turned the dog over to Second Chance, which rehabilitates injured dogs. They assigned a foster home for Lola’s recovery.

After finding out the situation, Second Chance put Gossett in touch with Lola’s new owner, Leslie Mason. Mason had no idea of the background and believed only that the dog needed to be nursed back to health. She had recently lost a dog and helping Lola recover was the only thing that got her through.

In an act of supreme kindness Gosset and her daughter agreed to let Mason keep the dog she had nursed back to health. I’m sure this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

A couple of observations:

As painful as euthanasia is for us, a dog should die in the arms of her owner and not be carried away in her last moments of life by a stranger.

Without hearing the veterinarian side, I am reluctant to comment, but charging for a service not performed is unethical and could result in a heartbreaking situation. The story

DogTV: a new channel for stay-at-home dogs

Seriously.

Some people leave the TV on all day for their dogs to watch while they are at work. But human programming is not the best thing for dogs to be watching, according to some dog psychologists and behavior experts.

They have put in about 400 hours researching what dogs like to see and how the programming should look.

DogTV is a cable network launched this week in San Diego aimed at stay-at-home dogs and their owners who want to feel less guilty about leaving them. It’s free now, but eventually people will be charged $4.99 a month.

According to Lisa Wilhoit McCormic, co-owner of Fido & Co dog country club, the official home of DogTV:

We find it helps with separation anxiety, a problem for many dogs, and with keeping dogs relaxed and entertained. It does look different from human TV - the colors are different and the videos are taken from a dog's point of view.

Car chases and gunshots are out. SpongeBob SquarePants, harp music, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua are in. So are sounds of panting and ground shots of dogs playing and chasing balls.

According to DogTV chief executive officer, Gilead Neuman,

Every dog has a little different taste in programming. We have learned a lot and we're hoping to learn more from this launch.

One good thing about DogTV—no advertising.

Today a growing number of the 63% of American households with pets are spending more than $4 billion a year on grooming, boarding and day care. I guess you probably can't blame people for trying to grab a piece of the pie.

Is TV just for dogs the next pet trend? More information

Millie, celebrity dog of President George H. W. Bush

Millie may have been the most famous dog to live in the White House.

Not only did she charm world leaders, like Vladimir Putin and Queen Elizabeth, but she also wrote her own book. Millie’s Book as dictated to Barbara Bush became a best seller.

Millie helped “Bar” with many of her projects and joined “The Prez” for some of his important meetings. Millie’s book was not political. All proceeds went to Barbara Bush’s Literacy Campaign.

Her book outsold autobiographies of President George H. W. Bush, President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton and President George W. Bush. And all without media interviews or book signing tours.

She gave a dog’s view of the workings of the White House complete with pictures of  her with many of the famous people who visited.

Millie was a Springer Spaniel and not just a wimpy  house pet. She loved to go hunting on the White House grounds and bragged that she diminished the wildlife population by killing a few rats, squirrels, and a pigeon.

There was some noise about Millie not getting on the furniture, but like most of our dogs, this was mostly just theory.

All the Presidents' Dogs

Washington     Lincoln     Harding     T. Roosevelt     Coolidge   Hoover     FDR     Truman     Nixon     Kennedy   Jefferson    Johnson            Ford     Carter     Reagan     Clinton    Eisenhower