Today is Love your Pet day!

Well, we're hanging on here in frigid central New York. Persistent single digits, lots of snow, wind chill....it's been a brutal winter. Lots of laziness, lots of huddling on the couch in hoodies and under blankets. To add insult to injury, even sunny days aren't warm ones. Quite the opposite!

But evidently today is Love Your Pet Day.

A new Elka-ism

Every once in awhile, the quirks of this dog just amuse me to no end. To some degree, I'm sure I'm "that" dog owner, you know, the one who thinks her dog is the only one ever to do such a thing. But, this is why I blog, so there (or dlog [portmanteau of dog + blog], as my fiancé would have me say). I have a new one to share.

Black and White Sunday May 25 2014

Yet another instance of "how did my puppy grow into this humongous dog I have"? I always love this picture of her, from one of our early jaunts outside after she came home. I took it with the little flip phone I had at the time.

All my Elka stories are new again (plus a new one)

I make the joke, somewhat seriously, that I started this blog to give the people around me a break from dog things.

I can talk about different dog topics, from breeds to training to health, longer than most people I know. It's one reason the Internet is such a great place. There's a message board for that. Or Twitter or Facebook, or another blog. I've spent a lot of time on Doberman Talk, and learned quite a lot. Learned enough that I'm able to give some of that knowledge back when new members come aboard.

Fun in the Snow

So, you may have heard about the snow we got. It was quite a lot, in fact. Not five feet, nothing of Canadian scope, but a good 10 or so inches.

An interesting thing about Elka is she doesn't like being cold, but she loves playing in snow.

"That dog sure is spoiled!"

I don't get a comment like that a lot, once in awhile, in casual conversation, somebody refers to Elka as "spoiled". Arguably, that's a pretty rude thing to say, but she's just a dog, right?

Anyway. Is Elka spoiled? I think it's kind of in the eye of the beholder.

I guess Elka's used to the new couch?

So, Elka's on the red couch more and more. Which is fine; as I've stated over and over, we are a Dogs on Furniture household.

What's funny to me is her habits with the couch, the pillows, and her toys. Most of her proclivities, I find pretty adorable, and it's always interesting to me to see what habits and preferences she'll develop (as near as I can tell) on her own.

"Just a dog"

There are times new members come on to Doberman Talk, and I truly hope these individuals are trolls. I'm not sure why people troll Doberman boards of all places, but it happens. But, why do I hope they're trolls? Because they disregard things that members, members who are more experienced and learned and all of that than I, who have had the infinite heartbreak of their dogs being sick and dying too early, and only want the best for the breed, and the best for individual puppies. And those new people? They say "You guys are too serious." They say "It's just a dog."

I mean, yes. It is "just a dog". But don't you want the best dog? Don't you want the dog who will last you the longest, have a great temperament, have the fewest health problems?

Happy Birthday, Elka!

Four years ago today, my little Elka V was born! It's hard to believe that she's four; she's still so much like a puppy. Inquisitive, excitable, full of boundless energy......

Just a little bit of dog love....

There are times Elka's mere existence amazes people. There aren't many Dobermans in my town (I saw one from afar the other day, and we played with a puppy last year or the year before), and even a not conformationally correct Doberman is striking. Elka is also very large, which adds to the wow factor.

Wordless Wednesday January 22 2013

Monday Mischief: The Joys of Dog Ownership

So, I may or may not have a Doberman hair in my toe like a splinter. As you might imagine, it's hard to see based on light, and I might be hallucinating. Not to worry, I'm not going to post a picture of my right big toe for your perusal. Or the sole of my left foot. Yup, two. It's so awesome.

But really, our dogs sometimes put us through a lot.

Thankful

There are many things I'm thankful for.

Having Elka has changed and enriched my life in a fantastic way. The fact that I can share these experiences with my friends, my family, and you fine people is pretty amazing.

I'm thankful for my job. I'm thankful for the roof over my head. I'm thankful for my fiancé. I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for my dog. I'm thankful for my love of writing, and my enjoyment of it. I'm thankful for the readers of this blog. I'm thankful for my love of reading.

I'm sure I've mentioned in passing here that I don't much like poetry. I've talked about it on my writing blog (which is not family friendly, so any of my younger cousins reading this, please don't get me in trouble with your parents!)

There are some poets that I like, though. Mary Oliver is somebody I'm reading recently. T.S. Elliot I like. Allen Ginsberg (and it delights me to no end that somebody on Twitter tweets a line from Howl every hour) (Howl is also not family friendly, depending on the age. I read it first my Freshman year of college. At the end of this post, I'm going to be very thankful for my family. And their understanding that I'm a grown up and use grown up words sometimes). But yeah, Mary Oliver. In New and Selected Poems, Volume II, she wrote Percy, about her dog. Part 1 is Monday Mischief worthy, about a chewed book. Part 2 is pure dog love.

Percy

(One)

Our new dog, named for the beloved poet,

ate a book which unfortunately we had

left unguarded.

Fortunately, it was the Bhagavad Gita,

of which many copies are available.

Every day now, as Percy grows

into the beauty of his life, we touch

his wild, curly head and say,

"Oh, wisest of little dogs."

(Two)

I have a little dog who likes to nap with me.

He climbs on my body and puts his face in my neck.

He is sweeter than soap.

He is more wonderful than a diamond necklace,

which can't even bark.

I would like to take him to Kashmir and the Ukraine,

and Jerusalem and Palestine and Iraq and Darfur,

that the sorrowing thousands might see his laughing mouth.

I would like to take him to Washington, right into

the oval office

where Donald Rumsfeld would crawl out of the president's 

armpit

and kneel down on the carpet, and romp like a boy.

For once, for a moment, a rational man.

Dogs I've known (part one)

Time and again, I've mentioned that Elka is my first dog. This is after having wanted one my entire life, but you know how kids are sometimes. "I want/need it!" can fade pretty quickly once the object of desire is obtained.

I'm happy to say that I value Elka, every day. I think that every dog is the "best" dog; it's what they're for, as part of their Platonic Dogness. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry. She does her Dog Job.

She's of course not the first dog I've known; I've encountered many, and I think I even remember most of their names.

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.

Doberman Paw- a haiku

Sometimes when Elka

naps, I take her paw, sleep-loose

in my hand to hold

Elka, now and for the future (400th post!)

So, here we are. 400 posts! It sounds like a lot, doesn't it? I think it sounds like a lot.

I certainly didn't (and still don't) have a finite "arc" for this blog in mind, so I guess it was inevitable I'd make 400 and beyond. I just wanted to mark the milestone!

So, what to talk about? Woefully unprepared, I asked on Twitter what the topic ought to be, and maggie68d helped me out. Elka, obviously. Her achievements and what we've been working on. I thought it a splendid plan!

6 Products For People Who Are Silly For Their Dogs

Every once in awhile, in my Internet "travels", I find products that are (unfortunately) overpriced, but very clearly for people who are absolutely silly for their dogs. Mind you, I'm not using "silly" as a derogatory term; I know very well that I'm totally silly for Elka. It is her job to be the best dog (really, I believe that every dog is, at some time, for their person.) and she performs very well. Sometimes better than others, but I'd be lying if I didn't take some of the blame.

I think these things are pretty nifty, if prohibitively priced.

Monday Mischief: February 27 2012

I've probably mentioned, though maybe not in these exact words, that Dobermans are said to be "Velcro dogs". 

It's true, of course. Even if she was asleep, if you get up off the couch to do something, Elka gets up too and goes right along with you. She "heels" fantastically off leash in the house, like a dream really! If you're in the bathroom, with the door closed, she's concerned for your safety and will whine outside. We're working on that one though; I encourage her to be quiet, and lay down in the kitchen doorway and wait. If she's like that when I get out of the bathroom, it's treat time. If not, "too bad". 

When we're sitting on the couch, Elka wants to be close to you. Very close. It's especially nice in the winter, I'll say, when it is in fact cold. However, Elka is not as aware of her paws as she is of her mouth, and we get stomped on more than we'd like! She will also, if you're taking up "too much" couch or chair space, sit or lay on you.

Sick? Uncomfortable? Apply Doberman!

This week, my fiancé, Jim, has suffered from a stomach bug that's been going around. 


I've mentioned that Elka's love is not always a gental love. That bony ridge on the top/back of her skull has connected with my face more often that I'm strictly happy with. She steps on whatever body parts are nearby, she runs into us, she bonks us with her nose. 


Sometimes, though, if we feel sick or have a headache, she calms down. She acts concerned and solicitous. And so Jim has discovered that, while looking for an aid for an upset stomach, a Doberman is better than a hot water bottle.