TailSpin Dog Lotto! (and giveaway)

Working in partnership with the Dog Saving Network, the Chicago based pet company Bumperpet  is holding a monthly lottery in which a shelter dog spins the wheel for the winners! You visit the link, and pick three numbers between 1 and 20 (the next drawing is July 1). 3 correct numbers is the grand prize, but the runner up (2 correct numbers) doesn't go away empty handed either!

For your edification (because I didn't know either), the Dog Saving Network is a positive reinforcement based training organization (and a 501(c)3 not-for-profit). Their goal is to help reduce the number of healthy dogs euthanized in this country every year; the statistic we often see bandied about is that behavioral issues are a top reason for dogs being surrendered to shelters. The Dog Saving Network would like to turn that around. The dogs they use in shows are rescued and have been clicker trained to perform their game show tricks.


So, not only do you have a chance to win a lottery, but one lucky Elka Almanac reader will win a t-shirt from Bumperpet.com. Their dog breed t-shirts are really neat (and include Doberman! Is it necessary to emphasize how much this thrills me?); each shirt is a silhouette of a different dog, with words spelling out the qualities. If you're not really a "dog breed" person, there's also a "cat" t-shirt and a "dog" t-shirt! They have a lot of other neat products as well, so even if you don't want to enter the giveaway, you should really check them out. Then can even do a personalized shirt from a picture (not part of the giveaway)!

So, to enter the giveaway here (to enter the TailSpin Lotto, go to http://www.bumperpet.com/lotto): in the comments, tell me about a trick you taught your dog (or cat!) to perform. Please make sure you're either signed in, or include your name; I cannot give awards to anonymous entrants! The winner will be chosen, as always, by Elkacopter. Giveaway is open from today, which is Tuesday, June 25 2013 until 11:59 P.M. (Eastern) on Sunday, June 30 2013. Good luck, everybody! I look forward to reading your answers.

The New Year Approacheth

It's that time of year again, when everybody's talking about goals.

I was talking to somebody today who showed me a clipboard with their week's To Do list affixed; I realized that I don't really make To Do lists. I don't even really make shopping lists. I mean, sure, I have a general game plan in mind typically, but it's rare that I actually map out those thoughts in a take along, check list manner.

Which, of course, brought me to my thoughts on the new year.

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!

Blog the Change, April 15, 2012

Well, I daresay my Blog the Change platform is the same as it was back in January.  Train your dog! Your life, and hers, will be better.

I don't know a lot of dog owners, at least not to talk to at length. I try to "spread the gospel" anyway, as it were. One library patron got a puppy a few months back, and lately has come in describing how the puppy is chewing everything up. Oh, we've dealt with that, haven't we? I recommended feeding her only out of Kongs, which would contain her regular meals but mixed with a bit of yogurt and freezing, to use up that mental energy. Apparently the puppy does well in other realms, with sitting nicely for her meals, and retrieving. 

One of my friends, when visiting somebody else, taught the dog in that household "touch". Another friend's dog knows "roll over", which Elka does not, by the by. Any time Elka is on her back, it is on her own terms, and it's typically on a couch and on an object of her vigorous affection.

"Touch" and "roll over" might seem like silly tricks. "Touch", however, can lead to other things, like closing doors or cabinets, or send aways in agility and other dog sports."Roll over" might be pure fun, but you all know that I think trick training is valuable in and of itself. When you do trick training, you're still spending time with your dog and bonding, and working together. When Elka and I trick train, it's also typically when I bust the clicker out, and she's overjoyed to see that happens. The clicker means treats, and Elka loves treats. She also kind of likes getting something right, which is nice. 

Elka's "drop it" is still quite nice. She had a piece of candy in her mouth that somebody had let fall on the floor, unnoticed (a Sour Patch Kid). My fiance said "drop it", and she did immediately. I'm so very proud of that in her.

Dogs that you spend time with aren't bored. Dogs that you train don't tend to get cast aside and end up in shelters. Rescue, maybe, because sometimes home situations occur that are unavoidable. I think it was in Playtraining Your Dog that Patricia Gail Burnham said something about how people will sell their conformation champions, but asking somebody to sell their titled Utility Dog? No way, José. Granted, there's also a degree of training that goes into conformation dogs, and I don't know that owners give them up that easily either, but every owner is different, and competitors may be in it for different things, to be sure.