The Silent Treatment

On Tuesday, I read a blog post called A Simple Trick for Calming an Excited Dog, on the True to Dogs blog. While Elka isn't Super! Excited! All! The! Time! I thought that it would be interesting to try, for my own sake. There are times I talk too much, I know it's true.

For the experiment, we went to a park that we had not visited before. It was totally empty when we pulled up, which was pretty rad. I put the long leash on her, and attached it to the leather leash around my waist. If I was going to go words free, why not hands free too, right?

September 27 is Train Humane Day

On Twitter one night last week, I saw that DogTipper was one of the sponsors for Train Humane Day.  I of course said to myself (or maybe to Elka) "Hey, what's Train Humane Day?"

From the Train Humane site:

Train Humane’s Mission:Our mission is to make the world more humane for dogs through the use of humane training tools and education.Raise the bar on the tools we use to train all dogs and puppies to ensure that they are humane, safe, respectful and cause as little stress as possible without choking.

Sounds pretty good to me!

Wordless Wednesday September 26 2012

Today we have a guest star: my Aunt Alicia's pug, Toby!

Toby turned 14 on September 6th. She brought him home the Sunday that I took the SAT; he was itty bitty, something like 2 pounds. He and his "brother" Louie live in Florida.

The Addictive Blog Award!

Another blog award! This one from Mason's mom, of Big Stinky Dog. Thank you so much!

  The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award and link back to them.
2. Tell you how I started my blog and why I blog.
3. Nominate 10 other bloggers.

(why is it always 10?! I guess I should be grateful it isn't 15! ^^)

Intelligence: a two edged sword

I may or may not have mentioned it, but I do so love blog hops (you might have noticed). I get to read all kinds of new blogs that I hadn't discovered before, and new people come to me as well! One of these new blogs was Bites and Tales, who commented on last week's Wordless Wednesday and who I went to check out.

Scrolling through, I adored the picture, and then came to a post on a topic near and dear to my heart: Smart dogs.

Blog award! The Fabulous Blog Ribbom

All right, this time I remembered pretty promptly.

Hawk, from browndog cbr, gave me a blog award!

The following are the rules for accepting this award:

1: Post the rules on your blog.
2 : Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.
3 : Name five things you love.
4 : Name five things you hate.
5 : Pass the award onto five other bloggers

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week

September 17-23  is Petfinder's Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week! A strange thing to celebrate? Maybe not.

Here, of course, is where I'm going to plug Storm again, who isn't on Petfinder, but is apparently less adoptable. He's been at the Broome County Humane Society since July 5 of this year. He's 8 years old. He's an albino, which might be off-putting for Doberman people. Maybe not. He's a shy boy. But, according to comments on my last post about the "Conklin NY Dobermans", Storm is the last one left in the shelter. I don't see Dusty listed on the site anymore, either! To call the Broome County Humane Society (in Binghamton NY) about Storm, 607-724-3709 is the contact phone number listed on their web page. His animal ID is listed on his page as 16640033 

Wordless Wednesday September 18 2012

Elka photobombs my first autumn leaf photos.

Tasty Tuesday September 17 2012

Macaroni and cheese. It's been a favorite of mine since I was little.

Of course, as a child, I wanted boxed mac 'n' cheese. When I was little, I didn't like many cheeses besides American yet; cheddar was too sharp for my palate. Of course, I still like the box once in awhile, and Easy Mac was a Godsend during college, but if I'm making mac 'n' cheese for dinner, it's homemade. It is one of the few things that I will cook all of the separate components of, and then combine for more cooking time (pasta, ground beef, cheese sauce, into the oven). I have an enameled cast iron pan that I bake it in. I'm fond of using wagon wheels, or shells, or curly pastas, to catch the cheese. I use whole wheat pasta, when I can find those shapes in it. My cheese to milk ratio is 2:1. I like black pepper. I don't really measure when I'm cook, so it isn't always the same, both a bonus and a shortcoming, depending!

As we saw back in March, Elka would very much like to have some macaroni and cheese as well.

Abbey looking for a forever home!

On August 17, I posted about Abbey, a young female Doberman (mix?) who was sedated and on the euthanization table, but given a last minute second chance. I guess Last Hope Dobermans is the most perfect name for the Texas rescue organization!

That fragment of the Abbey story is a sad one, but the heroics of her pull from the table, and her transport to safety in Oklahoma for foster, is a lovely one. Her initial picture, the only view we had of her, was a sad one as well.

Click to see happy Abbey after the jump!

Doberman....or reindeer?

At the park today, we had what was one of the most adorable child-encounters ever.

There was a four year old and a two year old, something along those lines, both boys. They were playing with sticks, their parents watching nearby, and the older one noticed Elka and I and waved. I waved back. He just stood and watched. The littler guy, though, started to make a beeline, so the mother got up to intercept. They were still somewhat at a distance, and I'd more or less kept walking.

The smaller boy said something, pointed, and then clearly yelled "Reindeer!" The mother laughed, and the older boy yelled "yeah, Reindeer!"


I said "She kind of looks like a reindeer." The mother shrugged, still laughing.

The older boy said "Thank you for showing us that!"

I said "You're welcome! Merry Christmas?"

Both little boys were all "Yeah! Merry Christmas!"

Doberman Paw- a haiku

Sometimes when Elka

naps, I take her paw, sleep-loose

in my hand to hold

Conklin NY Dobermans: and then there were 3

There are still 3 Dobermans left at the Broome County Humane Society, waiting for homes!

My handsome Houston went home not long after my last post on the Conklin dogs. You can also check out the Broome County Humane Society Facebook page to see some pictures of the lovely Sasha in her wonderful new home! You can also scroll down and see a picture of Emma (formerly Eclipse) that her forever home shared, and a picture of Storm the day he was rescued. He just breaks my heart.


Storm, Dusty, and Nani wait for somebody to need just the right Doberman in their lives.

Wordless Wednesday September 12 2012

There's an app on my phone called Cartoon Camera. It's free, and could be better, but is pretty cool. It takes photographs as "drawings".

Dobermans in Vogue Italia September 2012 Face the Future by Steven Meisel

So, because my interests are varied and broad, I found myself on the Haute Macabre blog, which, in a nutshell, is for Gothic fashion. There are a lot of really awesome pictures on there all the time, if you're into that sort of thing, and frequently clothing and jewelry that I would enjoy were I to be in higher income bracket.

A recent post was on the Face the Future (shoot? Theme? I'm unclear. Perhaps also gauche and unfashionable) by Stephen Meisel for the September 2012 issue of Vogue Italia. The last picture in the shoot? Dobermans. I unfortunately can't read the caption, but I had to do a double take. I really wasn't expecting them.

Monday Mischief September 10 2012

The humans that I live with are very patient. Or patient enough, anyway.

For months, maybe even a year, I've scolded other members of the household for "taking apart" the love seat: displacing the slip cover and moving the back pillows, so that it isn't comfortably sat on and is really just a cushiony mess. 

Can you guess whose fault it actually is? Who I've literally watched nose, paw, and stomp all of these things out of place and into disarray?

I'll give you a hint. Her name starts with "E" and ends with "lka".

Will My Doberman Protect Me?

On the Doberman Talk forum, we get a lot of newer members, and have a lot of discussion, about whether one's Doberman will protect them. Also questions about when the "defensive drive" kicks in. Dobermans are companions but also designed for personal protection; it's not all that odd a question. Just odd that so many new people a week post it!


So, what do I think about Elka? Will she protect me?

Smiling Blue Skies Walk to End Canine Cancer ~ Toronto

On September 29, in Toronto, there is a sponsored walk for donations to end canine cancer!

Not being in Canada, I won't be walking, but a member of Doberman Talk is, with her handsome red boy Chase.

(photo credit: Kerry, Chase's "mom")

There are a lot of statistics out there, cited and otherwise, about how many dogs are affected by varying types of canine cancer every year. There is a "Rainbow Bridge" section on the Doberman Talk message board, and cancer is what many of those fine and loving dogs succumbed to. It's also what the Doberman Lexie unfortunately developed, very suddenly, and what K of Romping and Rolling in the Rockies had.  These dogs were not my dog, but their loss was felt. Their time with us is so short; things like cancer only make it shorter. 

The proceeds from the Smiling Blue Skies Walk to End Canine Cancer will go to research at OVC Guelph (Ontario Veterinary College at Guelph), which from accounts I've heard, has an excellent facility for owners whose dogs have cancer.

Kerry, whose donation page is here, has spent time walking around with Chase, raising awareness. Her goal is $300; she's currently at $175. Chase "carries all of [the] paperwork and guards the donations [they] collect on [their] walks.....He loves his job because it consists of petting and cookies." Sounds like a great job to me!

So, if you're in the area and have September 29 free, maybe you'd like to walk to end Canine Cancer! If not, perhaps you want to donate to the noble cause? Can you imagine a day when cancer, all cancer, is finally beaten? It's a far horizon, I know, but what a bright future that would be!

Wordless Wednesday September 5 2012

Elka, look at me, I want to take your picture

 No, seriously, it'll just take a second and then we're done.

 What about the squeaky toy? Do you want that?

Tasty Tuesday September 4 2012

Sometimes I get a little classy. Pork tenderloin wrapped with prosciutto, served with brown rice and broccoli. All of it Elka-friendly....but I confess, I didn't share much. Some of the broccoli!

Down-Stay Fail, or technology fail?

So, pretty much every time I decide to video Elka doing something, I get her going on the behavior, and she does it just right. Then I realize that I wasn't recording. I shout "No!" to the sky a la Shatner screaming "Kahn!", and then try to get her to do it again.

Does she? Kind of. Or not. It depends.

Really, I can't blame her. The unblinking eye of the camera isn't really a comforting thing for a dog to regard, and when Elka is on the long leash at the park, she wants to go! She wants to frolick, and sniff, and what have you. Not wait for her silly human to get things on record for the interweb.

Who won Gund's Top Dog?

I'd almost but not quite forgotten about the dates for the Gund Top Dog Contest.  I did not enter Elka, though I did vote for Desmond!

The winner, though, isn't Desmond (sorry buddy). The winner does make me smile, though! He's Johnny Justice, one of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels. I read about the Vick dogs in Jim Gorant's book The Lost Dogs, and am always happy to see positive things about them in the news.

Johnny Justice is a beautiful (handsome, sorry) boy! He now lives in his forever home in California, as discussed ni the Parade article Can You Teach a Bad Dog New Tricks?