The Unbreakoball: Seriously, what's the deal?

Back on June 4, I reviewed The Unbreakoball. I  mentioned that Elka was scared of it, or at the very least, displeased. I also speculated that perhaps it would work as an outdoor toy.

We had a brief interaction with a toddler this week, where the little girl threw/dropped her basketball to Elka, who obliged by pouncing it, and dancing with her paws on either side of it, trying to pick it up. Everybody was delighted, I picked up the ball myself after a few minutes, and everybody went home happy. Unbreakoball outside then, I thought. This will be great!

"That's a big scary dog"

At the park, a guy was talking on his cell phone on one of the benches. Elka was staring at him, for whatever reason.  Maybe she thought he had food. Maybe she wondered who he was talking to. I'm not really sure; she stares at us when we're on the phone as well, or on a headset with somebody, and if it's somebody she knows, she seems confused that she can't find them.

But, said Cellphone Talker looked up at Elka and grew visibly uncomfortable. I just smiled, and he said "Wow. That's a big scary dog. What kind of dog is that?"

"She's a Doberman."

"Really big."

"Yes, she is."

When I have a conversation like that with a person, I am amused, I'm not going to lie. But really, I have to wonder about that person's prior dog experience. Had they been knocked over by big dogs as a child and avoided dogs since? Had they been attacked? Had they only interacted with ill trained dogs and owners who thought it was funny?  Nothing insulting was said, so it's not like I could really be indignant. I just wonder.

Don't Leave Your Dog in the Car!

Perusing my local Police Blotter, as one does, I saw a blog-pertinent entry: "confinement of a companion animal (dog) in a vehicle during extreme temperatures." We had some real scorchers last week (after it stopped raining), so I can imagine this wasn't an isolated incident. I can only hope that the dog was all right.

Dogs Today Magazine, in the UK, has a great site detailing information about how hot a car gets on a warm day, windows open or not. Granted, the car experiment they did records the temperature results in Celsius, not Fahrenheit, but Google is your friend when making temperature conversions. And actually, in their very last picture, you can see that even with all four car windows open, in the sun, the interior reached 50 Celsius, which looks remarkably close to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to PetMd, some signs of heat stroke are: panting, rapid heart beat, irregular heart beats, reddened gums and moist tissues of the body, excessive drooling, seizures, and shock. There are more, but those are some apparent ones, and you can see the whole list on that site, if you'd like.

One thing I've noticed about my area is that there is hardly any shade to be found in parking areas.   Really, I rarely have Elka in the car with me anyway, because she is permitted in so few establishments, I figure she's just happier at home.

Dogs and Fire Hydrants: Fact or Fiction?

Help Feed Shelter Dogs!

Though I don't feed Elka Pedigree dog food, I do have to say, they have a couple of nice programs.

For one, you can share a video on their site, and they'll donate a bowl of food to a shelter dog.

They also have "Write a Post, Help a Dog". Really, I just can't pass that up! Even though I didn't go to BlogPaws 2012 (my understanding is they're the big group that started/participates in this initiative), I can still help from home.  With each post, Pedigree will donate a 17 pound of food, until June 30; the post just needs to be directly linked in the linky below.

Thanks, Pedigree! Even if shelter dogs don't have homes right this second, at least they'll be fed.

Update on Doberman Health Survey: More Participants Still Needed!

Go to ProjectDog.org to take the Doberman survey and receive your DNA sampling kit. June 30 is the survey deadline!

Dr. Neff's team would like to share that the response to the recent request for participation in canine research to benefit Dobermans has been nothing short of PHENOMENAL. They are IN AWE of the Doberman community!

Several hundred more participants are still needed, so please note the health survey closes June 30th. If you haven't participated already, please do, and please share with friends and all Doberman owners and encourage them to do so as well.
 Several additional items:
 1. Some survey participants will be receiving a targeted follow up survey in the near future: your specific responses for your Doberman(s) were of special interest to researchers and may help advance this study effort. NO email addresses or other information will EVER be shared or divulged to others, this is and will remain a strictly confidential undertaking between the researchers and ourselves.
 a. Dr. Nicholas Dodman, world renowned canine behaviorist and collaborator with Dr. Neff on Doberman behavior research, will also be undertaking a few select telephone interviews with a small number of survey respondents.  Participation is, of course, voluntary, but the research group would like to thank everyone for their support with these quality control efforts.  Dr. Dodman is a pleasure to speak with- and feel free to discuss any questions you may have if you are involved in a telephone interview.

2. Several hundred more responses are still needed to meet the goal of 3000 Dobermans participating in this focused research effort. Please participate if you have not, and share this email with ANYONE who owns a Doberman- thank you!
3. Also please note - information and specimens on ALL DOBERMANS are encouraged, not just Dobermans with disorders. Controls for both disease and behavior are of value, so **even if you answer No to every question on the survey**, a DNA sample from your dog will definitely help this research!
An overview summary of participation (ALL anonymous, statistics only) in this study will be provided shortly after the survey closes, and Dr. Neff will be speaking in greater depth on these issues during his presentation at Health Night at our 2012 National.

Thank you again VERY MUCH EVERYONE who has participated and will participate in this study effort. You continue to advance the reputation of the Doberman community as the #1 community of dog owners most dedicated to their breed!!
Kathy Davieds DVM

Please crosspost

Birthday BBQ at the park

Sunday was pretty busy! I already posted about the walk that Elka and I took (or one aspect of said walk, anyway). I didn't tell the story of the whole day, though.

See, after we got back from our walk, we cooled down for a bit, and had some water. Then we got in the car and (wait for it) went back to the park! It was our friend's birthday, and we were invited.