Almost Famous

If you haven't heard through the grapevine, we were invited to audition for a Purina commerical last week.  However, even though we were all invited, only Rocky made the final cut and was allowed to audition.  Since Rocky claims to be the best looking dog in the pack, it only makes sense that he was the one who made his way to the production studio.  Some of you may be wondering why Desi didn't get the call, but Desi's track record around other dogs isn't exactly spotless, so once her owners found out that other dogs may be present in the waiting room, they decided against taking Desi into the studio.
From the moment Rocky strutted into the studio, he had the crew in the pad of his paw (instead of the palm of his hand....since Rocky doesn't have any hands).  Of course, instead of introducing himself to the strangers, Rocky took the opportunity to check out the studio for foreign smells, open doors, and unattended treats.  Once Rocky made his rounds, he was ready for lights, camera, and action.

Since we only had about 10 minutes to audition, Rocky decided to pull out most of his tricks.  In a matter of seconds, Rocky had everyone laughing as he spoke a few times, gave his owner a couple of high-fives, and retrieved a ball.  Not completely satisfied, Rocky then took off for the camera and gave the cameraman a 2-3 second close-up shot (basically, Rocky was sniffing the camera lens).

For all of his hard work, Rocky left the audition with a couple of bags of treats and two vouchers for free bags of dog food.  All in all, it was a great day for the Toes N Tails gang!

He's Back

The last few months around our house have been peaceful. Since we're classified as personal protection and/or guard dogs, we take great pride in making sure that both our home and our property are not intruded upon by uninvited guests. During the winter season, there are limited opportunities for us to show off our protection skills. Yeah, the mailman comes each day (who even brought dogs treats in an attempt to make peace with us (it didn't work)) and every now and then someone else randomly appears (meter reader guy, FedEx guy, Santa Claus). However, for the most part, there isn't much going on around our place while it's cold out.

Now that Spring is here and the trees/flowers are in bloom, all that has changed. If you're still wondering what us brilliant canines are referring to, it should be no surprise that we are solely focused on our arch-enemy....the squirrel. It's bad enough that the squirrel has the nerve to prance around neighboring roofs, trees, and even power lines, but to frolic around in OUR yard is non-excusable. Who does this squirrel think he is? Does he not smell our scent around the trees and bushes? Does he not understand that the green space around our house belongs to only us?

Our only explanation for this blatant disrespect is that the squirrel is deaf. How could he not have hearing issues? Does he not hear us going berserk when he stands in our yard eating things off the ground as we stand in the window sill just a few feet away sounding our alarm? Everyone else in the surrounding houses (and probably 2-3 towns away) can hear us voicing our displeasure. We think at times, the ground shakes during our fits of rage as we can only watch from inside as the squirrel does what he pleases outside. Does the squirrel see us and know that we cannot get through the door to chase after him, so he is allowed to come and go as he pleases?

Squirrel, you have been warned. It may take a little longer than we would like, but you will face the consequences from invading our personal space. We do not know the specific time that you will face our wrath, but when it happens, it will be long overdue.

Automatic Nail Trimmer!

I can assure you that we're not alone on this topic.  It's something that we do not enjoy in the least bit.  It's something that our owners tell us that no dog enjoys, but has to be addressed.  The dirty job we're speaking of?  The trimming of our nails.

If you're having issues with trimming your dog's nails, we may have a solution for you.  Stumped?  Well, the answer to your problem may simply be walking your dog.  During the warm weather, we walk much more than we do when it's cold outside and our nails get just as much of a workout as the rest of our bodies.  The end results of our walks are that we're both exercised AND our nails get worn down.  Don't believe us?  Try a few weeks of daily walks (more than just around the block) and check out the results.  From the months of April-October, we have not had our nails trimmed since our owners adopted us due to our daily walks during warm weather.  A dog's nails will wear down on both asphalt and concrete surfaces (please be sure that the surface you're walking on is not too hot for your canine's paws as mid-Summer weather can cause surfaces to become dangerous to the pads of a dog's feet).  Walking your dog on grass may not be as beneficial to wearing it's nails down, but walking on grass is better than not walking at all.  If you dog pulls (which is another post in itself), the nails should file down much quicker/easier than just relaxed walks.  However, even with the more preferred relaxed walking, your dog's nails will wear down (just as car tires wear down even if you're a careful driver who drives normal roads/expressways).

We promise that not having to deal with trimming your dog's nails (or even worse, paying someone to trim their nails) is a desired lifestyle that you and your dog both would like to take advantage of.  And to think that all it takes is a few minutes a day of walking (something your dog will LOVE you for) is just icing on top of the homemade dog cookie!

Fourth Meal

Some of you humans probably don't give us dogs that much credit, but you probably should.  While we're laying at your feet (or in some cases, on your laps) as you're watching TV, we are taking very meticulous notes on what we see during shows and commercials so that we can keep up with the latest trends (mostly, what new dog treats are being introduced onto the market and/or what dog treats are being advertised on the TV).

One of our favorite commericals is the Taco Bell "fourth meal" commerical, because like the people in the commercials, we love to eat as much as possible and any reason to fit an extra meal into the day is a superb idea if you ask us.  Being a slick character when it comes to obtaining treats/food, Rocky decided to put the 'fourth meal' idea into play one night last week.

After Rocky's owner fed him (Blue Buffalo with a dab of yogurt on top), Rocky went into the living room to sleep off his meal while his owner cut the grass outside.  About 30 minutes later, Rocky's other owner came home and walked into the kitchen.  Immediately, Rocky went to his cage and sat.  Rocky's owner, clueless that he had just scarfed down a bowl of food, saw his empty bowl and decided to go ahead and feed Rocky since his other owner was outside.  Without saying a word (or barking), Rocky proceeded to eat the additional meal like he hadn't been fed in a month.  Keep in mind, Rocky had already eaten breakfast, a small lunch (a bowl of rice), and dinner just a few minutes prior to his second owner's arrival.

Rocky's other owner walked into the kitchen as Rocky was cleaning out his bowl.  Owner #1 communicated to owner #2 that Rocky had just been fed.  They quickly threw a game plan together that consisted of going to Rocky's cage, taking his bowl, and keeping it until the morning.  Rocky had other ideas though and as his owners came for his dish, he was putting the finishing touches on his fourth meal of the day, leaving nothing but an empty, shiny stainless steel bowl for his owner to pick up.  Rocky had his own gameplan that he executed perfectly to receive a 'fourth meal', which capped off his night.

Rocky 1, his owners, 0

Final Four

Well, it definitely looks like our talent of picking football games does not carry over to basketball picks.  To recap our picks, the Toes n Tails gang confidently jumped on the bandwagon of Kansas and picked the Jayhawks to win the NCAA tournament.  Sadly (for Kansas fans), the Jayhawks were eliminated early by Northern Iowa and knocked the Toes n Tails game out of the race early.

However, the NCAA tourney did shed some light on the Butler Bulldogs, which quickly became the fav team of our dog pack.  Even better, as the team's starters are introduced before the game, each starter rubs the head of the bulldog for good luck.  We are definitely Butler fans from here on out!

During the game, the dog pack was hoping for a 'Hoosiers' type of ending, where the heavy underdog (Butler, in this case) pulls out the win at the buzzer.  The game was heavily contested from the opening tipoff and as the final seconds ticked down, the storybook ending appears to be unfolding before our eyes in black and white (we're color blind, so we can't see specific colors of course).  After a missed free throw by Duke, the Butler player dribbled down the court and threw up a prayer at the buzzer....which hit the glass, the rim, and then bounced to the floor.  Game over and the bulldog goes home without the title.

For a second, we we're pretty down about the Butler loss.  Then our owner asked us if we wanted to go out and we totally forgot about the game (although, we did not forget to make a beeline to the treat jar after we came back in from our potty break....priorities people, priorities).

Burrito eating contest

We have big news for our blog readers!  One of our owners has came up with the cool idea of Rocky and Desi having a no holds barred, burrito eating contest.  Here are the rules:

Rocky and Desi will both receive a Chipotle burrito placed on a large, white plate.  One burrito will consist of rice, beans, steak, cheese, and corn.  The other burrito will consist of rice, beans, chicken, cheese, and corn.  Each dog will be placed in their crate (where they usually eat) and each dog will receive their burrito at the same time.  One owner will have a stopwatch for Rocky and another owner will have a stopwatch for Desi.  After every piece of ingredient (all rice, corn, cheese, etc) has been eaten, the time will stop.

Tale of the tape:

Rocky: 102 pounds, male, brown collar, food motivated, spoiled and/or has a sense of entitlement, likes to sleep on his back with his paws in the air, talks (whines, howls, etc) a lot, is a ladies man, gets a lot of compliments for the stripe on his face, fast eater, messy eater.

Desi: 82 pounds, female, pink collar, food motivated, likes to sleep right next to owner, is fiercely loyal, has a deceivingly sweet appearance, but is very dominant (hence, the training sessions), gets a lot of compliments for her pink collar, likes to ride in the car with her head poked out of the sunroof, is much faster and smarter than Rocky, more deliberate eater who does not make as much of a mess as Rocky.

We will post official results on the blog after the conclusion of the eating contest.  If you want, post your predictions in the comments section!

NCAA picks

Well, it's been a few weeks since we have posted.  Things have been a little hectic the past few weeks with our training classes, so we've focused all of our energy on becoming better canines instead of trying to multi-task as authors and training students.  Anyways, getting down to business, the NCAA Tourney starts today and we have our picks for you!  Before we begin, we would like to disclose the fact that college basketball is not our specialty, so take these picks with a grain of salt.  Yes, we did go 3-0 in the NFL championship games/Super Bowl and we were 4-1 in BCS games, but our interest in basketball declines during the winter.

Here it is:

Sweet 16 teams: Kansas, Michigan St, Ohio St, Georgetown, Syracuse, Butler, Pitt, BYU, Texas, Wisconsin, Marquette, West Virginia, Duke, Purdue, Baylor, Richmond.

Elite 8 teams: Kansas, Georgetown (over OHIO STATE...WHAT?!?!?!?!), Syracuse, BYU, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Duke, Baylor

Final Four teams: Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke

National Final: Kansas, Duke

National Champion: KANSAS JAYHAWKS, 77-69