Product Review: Nerf Dog

Now that Elka is okay with squeaky toys, I'm always on the lookout for something that will both occupy her and last longer than five minutes. When I saw that Nerf had dog toys, I was optimistic. Perhaps too optimistic?

I tried a fetching orange and blue one first, the Nerf Dog Crunchable Ball, Blue. After that, we did the Nerf Dog Squeaker Football, Red/Black.

Can you guess which one lasted longer?

photo from Amazon.com

vs. 

Wordless Wednesday June 4 2014

(black and white and mostly wordless. I'm frequently happy/amazed with what editing my cell phone camera will do)

The Doberman: Dentition

There are only a few things that will disqualify a Doberman in the show ring. A shy or vicious Doberman will be dismissed from the ring. A Doberman of incorrect color (meaning an albino). And third, a Doberman missing 4 or more teeth, with an overshot bite of 3/16 of an inch or an undershot bite of 1/8 of an inch.

While the AKC breed standard does not include a toothy picture, there was one I found attributed to the Doberman Pinscher Club of America.

New York City police dog injured in the line of duty

Bear, a 6 year old German Shepherd on the police force in New York city was injured while apprehending a suspect yesterday. He'll be okay, before you're too worried, but boy howdy. That does not sound like it was a fun law enforcement experience.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons)

My face!

So, when I posted on The Joys of Dog Ownership last Monday, I didn't quite expect to have another entry of the same tone quite so soon. Maybe it's just my luck.

But, here we are.

I've probably mentioned here at least once, and I know I've occasionally wryly said, that I wish we'd been able to teach Elka "paw inhibition" just as well as her bite inhibition. She's never laid a deliberate tooth to anybody, not since she was an itty bitty puppy. She'll kind of "nibble" somebody occasionally, but I'm not even sure what the behavior is trying to express; perhaps it's an affection thing? It seems to be in moments of joy, anyway.

Another issue with Elka is that she'll occasionally head butt somebody. It's not really on purpose, it's just because of the way that she kind of plows through the world. Comically, it's sometimes in the hand, which is a "why are you hitting yourself?" sort of situation. Sometimes it's a leg. However, this past Saturday, it was my face (which puts me in mind of a joke some of us had in college, in which we would exclaim "My face!" because of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark.")

I mean, I guess I'm lucky. Some owners on Doberman Talk have related broken noses and black eyes; we haven't had that issue. But, we had people over and Elka was pacing back and forth because there was no room for her on the couch. I finally got her up on the recliner behind me, and figured she'd quiet down. And she did, for a little while. But somehow, a single fly was in the room, and Elka has a fascination for all things flying. It buzzed past at one point, and she whipped her head around to watch it and laid the length of her muzzle right across my cheekbone. I'm confident that she almost knocked me out; she certainly made my eyes water.

I don't have a bruise yet, and I might not, which would be nice. It certainly aches, though. I made her get off of the chair and do a down-stay on her bed after that, because holy smokes, I can only take so many hits!

Just missed Christmas Etsy fun

I'm told a lot of people do their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. Nowadays, I think some stores even have some sooper dooper last minute sales, for those 11th hour gift seekers.

It's certainly too late now to get anything shipped for Christmas, but one could certainly order and print a picture, and then put it in an envelope with a "Watch the mail for....!" card. Right? Or is that weird? Maybe it's weird.

Regardless. Submitted for your approval, more Etsy finds!

(and if you missed it the first time, here were my other Etsy finds)

Product Review: Purina Dentastix

Normally, I steer clear of the "grocery store brand" dog foods and treats.  However, I don't exactly brush Elka's teeth, and I've noticed in some pictures, and in person, that she's got some tartar buildup on her molars.  I've heard about how expensive vet dentistry could be, so I went to the pet aisle at Wal Mart.

I've heard that enzymatic chews can be a good way to go, because you aren't necessarily relying upon "chew action" to remove the buildup, but rather a combination of the enzymes and the chewing.  The Pedigree ones don't appear to be enzymatic (none of them did, actually. I'll have to look online for that, if the problem persists).  The Dentastix were cheap enough, though, and are 7 to a package, so even if they didn't really "work", Elka was almost sure to enjoy the treats anyway, and my money wouldn't be totally wasted.