Out of the Blue

Yesterday, we had an unfortunate incident that was bound to happen.  If you have been following our adventures, you're probably well aware of the fact that we run/walk around our neighborhood a great deal.  You're probably also aware of the fact that we have had issues with other dogs in the neighborhood coming out to 'greet' us or even advance aggressively towards us.

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yesterday one of those random incidents turned into a very bad situation.  During our morning runs, we usually end up running up a 30-35 degree incline for the last quarter-mile.   At the end of one of these courses, two old beagle dogs live in a house on the very corner of the top of the hill.  Sometimes, the beagles are tied up on a railing in front of the house so they can 'do their business' while their owner tends to other things inside of the house.

Usually, when we pass the house with the beagles and they're outside, the dogs bark at us (and we bark back at them) as our owner pulls us past the house and towards the finish line.  Yesterday, the dogs were able to reach us as we passed and chaos ensued.  Both of us (Rocky and Desi) tusseled with the two beagles, which turned into an all-out dog fight.  Our owner, exhausted from the 5 mile run (we were literally less than 100 yards from our finishing point and were in a dead sprint when we met the beagles), was diligently struggling to separate us.  Even worse, the collars slipped off of two of the dogs (one of us and one of them), so our owner was having even more difficulty separating the two dog packs.  With nowhere to tie up either of the dogs that were leashed, the owner grabbed Rocky by the collar as he tried with one arm to pick Desi up and carry her away.  This did not work.  After about 90 seconds (it seemed like 90 minutes to our owner), a neighbor ran up and helped him.  The neighbor grabbed one dog while our owner secured Desi and put her collar back on.

At this point, the beagles' owner was outside.  After getting everyone separated, our owner checked with the beagle owner to see if her dogs were ok.  They were.  The owner then asked our owner if he was ok and if he needed the paramedics called.  He said no because besides physical exhaustion, the only damage to him were severly scraped knees and legs (from trying to separate the dogs on a sidewalk).  For the rest of the day, our owner was not happy with what had happened.  He did not yell at or punish us because we're just dogs and we were only reacting, but he was more upset with the fact that people continually leave their dogs outside with no supervision and then act surprised when incidents occur such as today (or when the little toy dog came running out after Rocky and our owner grabbed it and moved it, which caused a confrontation with the toy dog's owner).

Please, please, please make sure that if you own a dog, you always supervise the animal when it is not confined to your house where it cannot physically get outside to harm a human or another animal.  And if you know of anyone who does not supervise their dog while it's outside, please pass this message onto them.  Luckily, no dogs or people were hurt yesterday, but for a few seconds, it seemed like that was not going to be the case.  We don't want anyone ever having to break up a dog fight, let alone having to tend to a dog injured in a fight or even worse, killed in a dog fight.  Just use a little common sense and precaution with your canine friend and stuff like this will not just happen 'out of the blue.'

Employee of the Month

Are you one of those dog owners who praises a dog for a job well done?  If not, you should.  And if you do, remember to be consistent with your praising.  If you're wondering where we're getting at, of course we're going to explain ourselves! 

You see, one of our owners taught us from a very early age to protect our home and surrounding area.  We learned that if we barked at strangers and/or strange sounds around our home, our owner would praise us and give us a treat.  Being intelligent, dashing canines that we are, we took full advantage of this 'job offer' and barked at strange people who passed our house because that was what our owner taught us. 

Now, you may think that barking at every person who goes by may be going a little overboard, but remember that we are just canines and we do not have logic, so even if the person passing by is not a threat, we do not know this.  All we know is to react, which means we bark.  However, we do have a sense of smell, so when that person who comes by our house and/or up to the door is 'familiar' to us (meaning, we recognize their scent), we probably will not bark, but will become extremely excited (ex: when one of our owners walks up the sidewalk and we recognize them and start wagging our tails excessively and knock over a fan, etc).

We wanted to bring this type of scenario to your attention because last night, we heard strange sounds outside of our house and we sounded the alarm (Rocky howling and Desi barking in high-pitched, short barks).  One of our owners (not the owner who taught us the personal protection/guarding skills) became very agitated with our alarming noises and told us to stop it.  This really confused us...weren't we supposed to alert our owners if unfamiliar sights and sounds approached???  Since our other owner recognizes canine behavior a little better, he calmly proceeded to get our attention, thank us for alerting them, and then practiced our 'down' techniques that we learned with grilled chicken bits a few months earlier.  Once we heard the down command, we immediately laid down and remained calm.

We may not be perfect (even though we think we are), but we are smart, loyal, and passionate towards our owners.  Whether you teach us good habits/tricks/commands or bad habits/tricks/commands, we will always be consistent in our behavior, so please remember this before punishing us and/or reacting in a negative manner after we did something that we more than likely were taught or learned from our owner.  We may just be dogs, but we deserve your respect and to be treated fairly because everything we do, we do in our owner's best interests.

Happy Birthday to us!!

Sometimes, good things come in pairs.  For us, this past weekend was a 'double the fun' weekend.  Of course, we had a lot of fun celebrating the 4th of July (minus the loud, scary fireworks that numerous goofballs set off around the neighborhood).  However, the real excitement was our third birthday celebration!  For those of you 'not in the know,' the black dogs of the Toes N' Tails Gang (Rocky and Desi) turned 3 years old on June 30th.

How did we celebrate you're probably thinking?  We celebrated by taking a trip north to enjoy our birthday with our brother Murphy (also born on June 30th).  Not once, but twice, we enjoyed dog bone sundaes (if you haven't had one, it's vanilla soft serve ice cream with 3-4 dog biscuits mixed in). 

To be completely honest with you, the process of us enjoying our treats did not go as smoothly as our owner's imagined.  For our first sundae treat, we escaped from our owner's clutches and took off into the woods searching for small animals (or whatever else we smelled).  Our owner had to get in the car and drive about a mile away to come pick us up.  Knowing that our dog bone sundaes awaited us, we jumped right into the car so we could get home ASAP!

Our second sundae treat went much smoother, however for the second treat, Desi had some real issues with the hardwood floor that the treat was placed on.  Desi scooted and scooted the dish around the floor before finally wedging the dish into a corner, where she then made quick work of the sundae.

So, we're finally 3 years old (that would be 21 in dog years).  No, we didn't celebrate 21 years like many humans do.  However, we'd much rather have a good romp around the woods and a tasty treat than anything else, so I'd say our day was pretty 'doggone' good (sorry we really couldn't resist).  Even better, we got to see our big, chubby brother Murphy, who hasn't changed one bit.

Some people covet expensive material items or trips to exotic locations for their birthdays wishes.  But for us, it really couldn't get any better than enjoying the simple pleasures such as spending time with our family, eating ice cream, and chasing squirrels around the woods.

Hot Under the Collar

We know taking car rides with your dog is an extremely pleasant experience.  You love your dog's company and the dog REALLY loves being out and about with the ability to take in so many smells and sounds.   However, there are a few precations that you should take when your canine friend is riding along with you.

First, never, ever, ever let the dog ride in your lap as you are driving.  If you don't do this and wonder how anyone could drive with a dog in your lap, well it does happen and we've seen it.  If you do do this while driving, stop immediately!!  This is dangerous for you and your pet!  What if the pet hits the steering wheel and you wreck?  What if the pet distracts you and you wreck?  What if the pets leg gets caught and twisted in the steering wheel when you turn?  None of those are desirable options, so please keep your canine in the back seat.  The back seat will still allow him to sniff, see, and hear everything around him and your dog will be quite content to have 'their own space' in the car during the trip.

Secondly, if you stop to run errands while your dog is with you and the temperature is 75 degrees or above outside, please do not leave your dog in the car for more than 3-5 minutes at a time (not 35, but only three to five!!).  Dogs have a body temperature that is higher than humans and with the permanent fur coats that we carry around (yes, thinning hair/bald guys are jealous of us), it gets hot FAST when dogs are stuck in a hot car.  Even with the windows cracked, the temperature to a dog is extremely uncomfortable as well as unhealthy/unsafe.  If you truly care about your dog, you will take this advice to heart!
Lastly, do not let your dog stick his head out of the window when the car is traveling at high speeds.  Most vets will tell you to never let your dog stick his head out the window (because of eye safety issues with the wind affecting the eyes and/or flying bugs/objects getting into their eyes).  However, our owner lets us put our heads out the window if we're just puttering around the city or neighborhood as we're really only averaging a speed of 10-15 mph (with all of the stopping), so they think that is ok.  But if you are unsure, err on the side of caution and crack those windows only enough so the dog can stick his nose out.

We hope these car tips are suggestions that you really take to heart.  Not just for the dog's safety, but for your safety as well.  Now if you'll please excuse us, we're about to pile into the the car for a nice long car ride north.  We can wait to see what smells, sights, and sounds are in store for us on the way!!!