The Days of Johann, an agility dog!

Pills for the tummy!

2009-11-19T10:05:00.001-05:00

If you read my blog, you know I have a sensitive tummy. Irritable Bowel Syndrome they call it.

Lucky for me and Mum, we found out early what triggers my tummy upset - nasty things like artificial flavorings and colors, and unnatural ingredients in some foods and treats.

The nice thing is that Mum never gives me that kind of stuff, but on occasion I'll pick up something off the ground that another pup left, or the nice retired guys down the street will sneak me something when we're on our walks and visit with them.

A few times, in past years my IBS got so bad I was sick for a week. One time it turned into gastroenteritis and I was out for over a week, missed an agility trial too. During that bout, we talked at length with our vet and she prescribed some Chinese Herbs that would help settle my tummy faster, so that I wouldn't have to go through the suffering and constant trips outside, or hopefully miss a coveted agility trial!

I have to say that this herb has been a lifesaver (well, at least a belly saver) many times over the past few years, not only for me, but for Gracie too when she get's into something she's not supposed to.

So what is this herb? It's called Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Wan. Kind of a weird name, but it is a Chinese Herb.

We looked it up and here are some of the ingredients: Agastache rugosa herb, Atractylodes macrocephala rhizome, Magnolia officinalis bark, Platycodon grandiflorum root, Citrus reticulata peel, Glycyrrhiza uralensis root, Pinellia ternata rhizome, Areca catechu peel, Angelica dahurica root, Perilla frutescens leaf, Poria cocos fungus, Ziziphus jujuba fruit, Zingiber officinale rhizome-fresh

At first we didn't know what all that ingredients was good for so we looked it all up. Here's a bit of a rundown:

Agastache rugosa herb - also known as Korean Mint, promotes sweating for the breaking of fevers. Improves digestion, and the highly potent anti-oxidants boost the immune system in the prevention of infection.

Atractylodes macrocephala rhizome - Atractylodes is thought to dry dampness, strengthen the Spleen or digestion, and promote diuresis, the formation and excretion of urine. It is used for diarrhea, generalized aching, mental fatigue, dizziness, lack of appetite, vomiting, edema (accumulation of fluids), and spontaneous sweating.

Magnolia officinalis bark - also known as Magnolia bark has been used to treat menstrual cramps, abdominal pain, abdominal bloating and gas, nausea, and indigestion.

Platycodon grandiflorum root - also known as the Balloon Flower (which we've seen around these parts) helps to treat skin swellings, including abscesses in the lungs and intestines.

Citrus reticulata peel - also known as tangerine peel helps to dry up mucous in the lungs and stomach. It helps regulate and strengthen digestion, and is a component used to treat diarrhea, nausea, dyspepsia, and cough.

It's not a natural acne treatment, but, you get the idea :).

The nice thing about using this herb for my tummy upsets is that it works quickly at the first sign of symptoms, and has kept me from progressively getting worse. If it's really bad, Mum of course takes me to my holistic vet to have me checked out.

At the first sign of troubles, Mum gives me two teapills (they are little round black/brown pills, Gracie gets three since she's bigger). Since we've been using these herbs, I've gotten over any tummy upset within 24 hours and kept the week bouts at bay.

And I don't have to use some of the usual things that vets prescribe and are given to dogs for tummy troubles, like Pepto (which has unnatural ingredients, and artificial flavors and colors, which would only make it worse for me).

It hasn't happened since we've been using these herbs, but if by chance my tummy is really screeming, Mum will give me the pills, fast me for about 12 or so hours, then start to intro me to a very bland diet for a few days with some boiled chicken, a little rice, low fat plain organic yogurt (to get the good bacteria going)...you get the idea. And then ease me into my regular food. But usually just one or two doses of the two teapills and I'm pretty much back to normal in a day.

Mum makes sure to keep me hydrated during the process with a little Emergen-C, which we get at the health food store, in addition to my regular filtered water. Much better than the Gatorade or Pedialyte that many times contains sugar (which would just make me worse).

So we just wanted to share this info with you, because the first time and every time since we've used the Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Wan they have worked so well for me!

We got the EzyDog Element Jackets in today!

2009-11-19T09:02:00.000-05:00

Ok...I have to say that I've never been this excited about a dog coat before!

Usually Mum puts on my coat, I hang my head as she wraps the velcro around the belly. Oh the shame, I tell you! Then I get outside and I don't want to run. And zoomies aren't even a glint in my eye, because I'm just not comfortable, the coat doesn't give, I can't stretch out, and the worst part is that I fear the inevitable; the time she takes it off me and...ZAP!!!...static electricity.

So when Mum opened the box and took out one of the Ezy Dog Elements Jacket that the company sent us a week or so ago to test, I hung my head. But Mum persisted. She's been looking for a nice coat for me that would take the beating that I can give 'em, and be comfortable enough for me to run, and hopefully even get the zoomies, in.

She put it on, and I thought, hey I barely feel this because it was so light weight. I ran outside and thought, hey I can run in this. Immediately, I started getting my zoomies on. Mum was super impressed. I've never gotten my zoomies on in a coat before.

The EzyDog company says the Element Coat is windproof, waterproof and fleece lined. I thought it was warm, but not overly warm. It's easy on and easy off with two quick release buckles on the sides. There are two small zippered pockets on the size too for poo bags (guess now Gracie can carry her own, BOL!!) And this is the best part...the panels around the chest and neck are neoprene stretch that give when you walk/run, making for a great custom fit and no restrictions in movement!

Mum and I really like these coats and thought that you may too. So we got a few of the coats and added them the other day to our new section of my site - JohannTheDog Direct. Guess now Mum's gonna have to get a receipt printer, since we've been selling some of the cool stuff on our new section of the site!

We've got small, medium, and large sizes in the EzyDog Elements Coat for now, but can get more sizes if you'd like.

If you're interested in a great sturdy coat, that's lightweight, warm and gives with movement, check out the EzyDog. We love it! Take a look and tell us what you think!

Our weekend!

2009-11-17T10:28:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I ran with the Classic K9 Extreme Performance Team at the Great Indy Pet Expo.

I have to say it was kinda fun! So noisy with all the loud music and barking flyball dogs, but fun nonetheless!

Mum gave me a bath on Friday night, why I don't know. But truth be told, I hadn't had a bath in about a year. Mum doesn't give me baths very often, 'cause I just don't need them with her brushing me often and an occasional clean up after rolling in yucky stuff. But she liked it, she has her nose in my fur for days!!!

The little course was kinda odd (that's it above). They had lower jumps, because we were running on cement with a little carpet covering. The frame was very low, and there was this weird teeter/canon thing that I had to run through. Oh, and a window with no jump bar too, which I didn't get at first. But after a couple of practice runs we were good to go.

I waited in my crate before we ran. We started out with a parade of dogs, then it was time for the flyball dogs, then the disc dogs, and then the agility dogs.

Here's a video of one of my runs (but mostly you see Mum's butt, BOL!!)

Wadda ya think? Do I need to get a used rv for sale and take my show on the road? Bwwwaaahahahah!

We got home and Mum ran Gracie in a little agility in the backyard, since she had to stay home cooped up all day. She did great, worked on her dog walk a little, some distance jumps, she had some fun! But Mum twisted her back so that we couldn't go back to the Pet Expo on Sunday. But I didn't really mind, Mum didn't like it much that I was running and jumping on cement. So we watched Mum hobble around the house and work on Sunday.

During the event we went around and visited a lot of folks we know. We visited the booth where my shelter was featuring lots of pets for adoption. We love the folks at the Southside Animal Shelter.

And we got to visit with my friend Mary Marshall, she's an animal communicator. But we missed seeing my friends from Canines in Action, where I had my first obedience and clicker class. Would loved to have seen Laura.

In the middle of all the action, they had a petting zoo. Lots of goats, chickens, ducks and more. Oh...the herding potential there! I got a little crazy when we got near them.

All in all it was a fun day. Fun day to get out and do something different. Fun day to get out and see some old friends and meet some new ones.

I'm gonna be performing at the Great Indy Pet Expo!

2009-11-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

This weekend is the Great Indy Pet Expo at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

At the event there will be lots of booths with great things for pets, rescue and shelter organizations, seminars, entertainment and more.

And wadda ya know? I'm going to be performing as part of the Classic K9 Extreme Team Performance Team in shows at 11 AM, 1 PM and 3:30 PM on Saturday, and Noon and 2 PM on Sunday.

I have absolutely no idea what exactly I'll be doing, but I think it may involve some jumps, tunnels, maybe a low a-frame, oh and Mum working on helping me through those things and loosing some lbs., so she doesn't have to look into effective weight loss pills, BOL!!! Just kidding.

The event will be held on Saturday, November 14th from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday, November 15th 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Toyota Exposition Hall, Indiana State Fairgrounds. Admission is $6.00.

Mum's giving me a bath later today so I'll look nice and fluffy and smell good too :) Haven't had a bath in a loooonnnnggg while!

Stop on by and say hi to me if you're attending the event, I'd love to meet ya. Mum's taking the camera and video recorder, so hopefully we can get someone to take some pics and vids of us, being silly and making fools of ourselves :) so we can blog about it later!

Also you can follow the Great Indy Pet Expo on Twitter and Fan them on Facebook!

Should be a fun time!

Helping Mum!

2009-11-12T09:19:00.001-05:00

You remember our pull of the socks trick, right? We'll Mum and Gracie were working on some tricks the other night and decided to surprise me!

They were out in the backyard doing something that was really bugging me, while I had to suffer as silently as possible (NOT!) inside in my crate until they were done.

So what were they doing?

Here's the goofy, surprise video of Mum and Gracie taking the 'pull of the socks' tricks to almost the extreme? Now, maybe they'll have to get las vegas nv hotel rooms and take that show on the road, BOL!!!

Don't worry you won't see anything you're not supposed to :) Hope you enjoy!

Our article in Dog Sport Magazine!

2009-11-11T08:45:00.000-05:00

Remember back in September when I shared with you that Dog Sport Magazine did a very generous and cool six page spread about us in their September/October issue?

They've given us permission to share the article with you...and we are so excited! Maybe soon you'll see us on your bell tv, just kidding, BOL!

Click here and you will be taken to the pdf of the article. We hope you enjoy it!

And some other cool news! Dog Sport Magazine has agreed to become a sponsor of my website and blog so you are going to see their logo around some. To celebrate they are providing JTD readers a 10% off discount to anything on their site - just enter code Johann2010 upon checkout. The coupon will last from now, all the way through the holidays until January 10, 2010.

Thanks Dog Sport Magazine..Looking forward to a long and wonderful relationship!

Around the dog agility blog-o-sphere!

2009-11-10T15:18:00.003-05:00

The official set of dvds from the recent FCI World Championships is available for purchase. We understand that it contains 6 discs with 12 hours of agility, and the cost is 25 euros + shipping. It can be purchased via the FCI website.

The DVD contains the following:
DVD 1: opening ceremony, agility and jumping large for teams (top 10);
DVD2: jumping and agility for small and medium team (top 5)
DVD 3: jumping and agility individual small for all the competitors
DVD 4: jumping and agility individual medium for all the competitors
DVD 5-6: Individual jumping and agility large for all the competitors, prizes and closing ceremony.

Found this very interesting from Susan Garrett's blog...Helen King on Structure Evaluation. Definitely worth a read.

My friend Penny and her Mom have been having some fun with homemade toys. Love this little video of a toy she made with a half gallon jug. Read more of the post and see the links to Fun-With-Dogs, the German site devoted to enhancing human-canine interaction that we've shared in the past.

Although I haven't seen any news from the AKC about this, we've been hearing a lot about handlers that formerly applied for an AKC ILP (Indefinite Listing Privilege) and were rejected are now automatically being signed up by the AKC for the PAL program, so that their 'mixed' breed dog can compete in companion events should hey choose to in the future.

Also, 2010 AKC National Agility Championship competition changes have recently been announced. According to the info on the AKC website:

Large dogs wishing to apply their Saturday and Sunday qualifying scores from the Nationals towards the AKC 2010 Agility World Team Tryouts must compete in the 26” jump height class.
All dogs must compete in their measured jump height class or in the 26” jump height class.
A minimum of 6 dogs will advance in each jump height class to the Finals round regardless of how many dogs were competing at the jump height.
The National Agility Championship Titles will only be awarded to final round winners with a score of 100.
There will be a 4” jump height class during Friday’s International State Team Tournament competition.

The 2010 AKC National Agility Championship will be held March 26 - March 28, 2010 at the Ford Truck Arena and Mustang Arena at Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read more...

Website is live for the IFCS World Agility Championships, scheduled for May 14th – 16th, 2010. The 5th IFCS World Agility Championships 2010 will be held at the Hand Equestrian Centre, Clevedon, North Somerset, United Kingdom.

The biggest news coming out of Cynosport this year is Roving Reporter Rickie Roo. Yes, Roo is a dog...interviewing other dogs at the USDAA World Championships. You can read his interviews in the news section of the USDAA website. What's up with that? A dog interviewing another dog? Is that a trend happening? BOL!!

Ok, seriously. Cynosport gets underway tomorrow.

Lots of events going on including: Agility, Flyball, Dock Jumping, Exhibitions and more.

Here's the running order for agility.

Here's the Tentative Activity Schedule:

Wednesday - 1:00pm to 5:00pm only

Dog Agility (single class - afternoon only)
Dock Jumping

Thursday - 9:00am to 5:00pm

Dog Agility (multiple rings)
Dock Jumping
Vendor Exposition

Friday - 9:00am to 5:00pm & 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Dog Agility (multiple rings)
Dock Jumping
Flying Disc
Canine Dance Seminars & Exhibitions
Lure Coursing
Herding Instinct Test & Exhibitions
Doggie Do-Right "Try Agility" Ring
Flyball
Vendor Exposition
Featured Event
Evening - Performance Grand Prix Championships(6:30pm to 8:00pm)

Saturday - 9:00am to 5:00pm & 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Dog Agility (multiple rings)
Dock Jumping
Flying Disc Exhibitions & Seminar
Canine Dance Seminars & Exhibitions
Lure Coursing
Herding Instinct Test & Exhibitions
Doggie Do-Right "Try Agility" Ring
Flyball
Vendor Exposition

Evening - $10,000 Dog Agility Steeplechase® Championship Finals - (6:30pm-8:30pm),& Performance Speed Jumping & Junior Handler Spotlight

Sunday - 9:00am to 5:00pm

Dock Jumping**
Flying Disc Exhibitions & Seminar**
Canine Dance Seminars** & Exhibitions
Lure Coursing**
Herding Instinct Test** & Exhibitions
Doggie Do-Right "Try Agility" Ring**
Flyball
Vendor Exposition

Evening - Finals for Grand Prix of Dog Agility® World Championships (2:00pm)
USDAA® Dog Agility Masters® Three-Dog Team Championships & Performance Versatility Pairs (10:00am-12:00pm)

Cynosport® World Flyball Championships (4:00pm)

Cynosport® World Dock Jumping Championship (To be determined)

We expect results to be posted in the News Section of the USDAA Website.

USDAA video from Cynosport:

According to the USDAA there will be free live stream from this years agility events. They are testing a new interface and it will be installed on the website the near beginning of Cynosport week. Sooo...you may want to go out and pick up a Custom usb drive, just in case :)

Here's what else they say..."Subscribers to USDAA.com will have free live stream available. Due to storage and other associated costs, there will be a charge for on-demand viewing. For everyone else, there will be a nominal charge per event or for the package, which will include 30 day on-demand viewing following the event. Details are expected to be posted on Wednesday, November 11th.

Visit the USDAA website for more information, or click here for the direct link to video. (Hmmm...that video link doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but we believe that will be the link once things get rolling. If not, click here, and then look for the word video, and click.)

And we'll leave you with....Autumn Tricks from Silvia Trkman.

Testing out the new Thundershirt!

2009-11-06T12:20:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago the nice folks at Thundershirt sent us one of their shirts to test. At first we weren't sure we were good test subjects since neither Gracie or I have any thunder or lightening phobias.

But after reading their materials, we discovered that the Thundershirt can not only help pups with terrifying bouts of phobia during thunderstorms, it has been proven to work with whatever situation that makes your dog anxious, fearful, reactive or over-excited.

Instantly, Mum and I thought about Gracie.

You may remember that we talked about how Mum and Gracie are taking trips to new and different places almost every weekend. To the pet store, to shopping centers, to wide open fields and more, to help her overcome some of her anxiety in new and overwhelming sites. She was working through some of them, but still would get spooked at what I thought were the weirdest things. Like when we went on that hike in the woods down by the river a week or so ago. A branch snapped and she jumped about a foot in the air with all fours.

So we told the Thundershirt folks to send on one of their shirts to fit Gracie and thought we'd give it a try and see if it made any difference in her anxiety levels in these strange places.

Here's what happened...

The first test, Mum put the Thundershirt on Gracie for one of our two mile walks around the neighborhood. Every time we get to a certain cross road on the walk, there is a big field to the left where we stop and sit before crossing the street. Gracie gets all buggy eyed looking over at that open field. So much so that she takes a while for Mum to get her attention, and to sit at the cross street, even with treats right at her nose.

The day she wore the Thundershirt, Gracie walked right up to the crosswalk and sat, waiting for her treat. Yes, she glanced at the open field, but then looked right back at Mum, then did her nice 'side' sit before crossing the street.

Ok, so that was a fluke right? We ventured on the walk. Usually Gracie will manically try to get into nearly every tall grass planting where people have covered up their utility boxes in front of their house. Makes for a challenge to keep Gracie's focused on a two mile walk, when she's trying to get into those areas at nearly every house we pass.

This time with the Thundershirt, she only tried to get into the ones that had a lot of grasses planted, and completely by-passed most of those areas, even without Mum saying a word.

Ok, maybe another fluke.

So the next test was for Gracie to wear the Thundershirt on her trip to the pet store. Usually Gracie will be all buggy eyed, excited, get spooked by the slightest unusual noise.

This time during her test with the shirt, she was completely alert, but didn't jump around when she heard a big noise. During our last trip when she was greeted by a not so friendly dog at the store from a bit of a distance, she didn't start massively drooling like she usually does with an aggressive dog. And Mum was able to distract her from the tense situation and immediately get her focused and sitting for a treat away from the situation.

Mum even had her doing bangs near the front electronic door, which usually made her jump a few inches off the ground when it opened unexpectedly.

After Mum and Gracie would leave the stores on their weekend trips, they would take a nice little walk down the shopping strip center walkway. This is where Gracie would usually go over the top, looking over her shoulder, going sideways away from a passing car, jumping all fours off the ground when we would pass more stores and their electronic doors would open.

But this time with the Thundershirt, Gracie was alert, but happily interested in everything going on around her. She tried to get into the stores when their electronic doors would open. Mum had her focused and sitting immediately when she asked.

We were just amazed. Mum believe she got about 80% more focus from Gracie during all the tests, and the best part is Gracie wasn't as stressed or anxiety-ridden. Sometimes 80% is all you need to help overcome some stressful situations, and get back on track, you know?

Here's what the company says about the Thundershirt and how it works.

"Thundershirt's gentle, constant pressure can bring calm and focus back to your dog. A terrific solution for many types of anxiety including thunder, fireworks, separation, travel, and crate anxieties. And a terrific solution for eliminating "bad leash manners" such as barking, pulling or reactivity towards other animals and people."

We watched a few videos they have available of thunder/lightening phobic dogs (you can see them on our site page) that wore the shirts during thunderstorms, and we were amazed at the results they are getting. Our friend Joe Stains video is on the page...looked like he was helped a lot!

The company says that the Thundershirt is 90% effective for noise anxiety and about 75% effective for other types of anxiety (like Gracie).

We liked the Thundershirt so much that we decided to add it to our offerings at JohannTheDog Direct! If you're interested, head on over and let us know what you think, if you have any questions, or comments!

Pssssttt! We have big news to share...announcing JohannTheDog Direct!

2009-11-06T11:41:00.006-05:00

Every now and then we come across some amazing dog products. You've read on my blog about some of them, and how much we like 'em; like the Nina Ottosson toys, and others. Great stuff!

Some of these products are so pawsome, we've decided to begin offering them directly to you through a new section of JohannTheDog.com, called JohannTheDog Direct! Here's my new little logo for that section of the site.

At JohannTheDog Direct we will be featuring the best of the best, most innovative, Johann tried and tested, new and exciting dog products on the market...all paw picked with my four-star stamp of approval, purchased and shipped directly from me, Johann....from my paws...to yours.

One of the first products we are offering is the Thundershirt, which we'll be blogging about today. It's a great shirt for pups who have thunder, storm, anxiety or stress issues. We tested it out on Gracie and were very happy with the results - review to come :)

We're also offering three of the Nina Ottosson dog toys, puzzles and games. We decided that we would offer three of the more difficult wooden toys, because those are our favs...and we know how much you guys/gals like a challenge too!

Coming this weekend or early next week will be two more products. A very cool, functional, easy to wear, tough dog coat that I recently tested and really love. I think it's the best coat I've ever owned. I gotta keep those muscle warm for agility you know!

And last but certainly not least for now, we'll have a nice little inexpensive fun toy that would make a great holiday present. Gotta tell ya, there's gonna be such neat stuff that you'll surely want to go right out and get an extra artificial christmas tree to fit all the cool stuff you're gonna wanna get, BOL!!!

For now, you can go to JohannTheDog Direct directly :) Or you can stop by the front page of JohannTheDog and check out not only the products in JohannTheDog Direct, but some of the pawsome holiday items available from the companies we work with. We sniffed out some cool ones the other day....a great preview for what's to come for the holidays.

Bear with me...we're just getting things up and running, and hope you don't run into any glitches, with the website pages, shopping or checkout. Heck, I'm just a dog you know :). Oh, and if by chance we run out of stock, we'll get more in in just a couple of days.

Hope you like it!

Rock hard abs? Me?

2009-11-04T13:35:00.001-05:00

Most of you know that Mum and I have been constantly and consistently working on building my core strength after my iliopsoas pull and back strains over the past couple of years.

We've been doing a lot of balance ball work, (even doing begs and stands on the ball now), lots of begs with waves (which I can hold for over 30 secs now), and we've been doing a lot more hill hiking the past month. At least I'm not working on a Kettlebell like some humans do!

Anyhoo....the other day, Mum was looking at me standing in the yard, and I had a really nice stance. Back legs were further apart, my bum wasn't tucked under as much, and I was leaning forward just a tad more.

When I came inside, after some zoomies, Mum decided to stretch me out after my little workout. Something was very different. My abdominal muscles, if that's what you call them on a dog, were a lot more built up, for lack of better words. My tummy felt strong! And I just seemed to be more muscular all over.

Mum's thinking that all this core strength work may really be starting to pay off. I haven't had an 'long healing incident' in a long time, and I have a lot more tolerance for long activities (like those six miles hikes) without any effects at all. Heck, I even want to get my zoomies on after those long hikes.

Any thoughts about this core strength building I've been doing, and potentially apparent results from fellow active dogs/dog lovers out there? We'd love to hear if you have any thoughts to share.

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On another note....Mum and I have been working on a super secret project since Saturday! That's why we've been so hush, hush. Hoping we'll get to tell you all about it tomorrow or Friday!!! I can't wait!

Does this shirt make my head look big?

2009-11-04T11:49:00.009-05:00

Do you think this shirt makes my head look big? BOL!

Mum was complaining the other day about not having some nice warm sweatshirts for our hikes and walks the other day.

So what did I do? I told her to go and buy some of the new sweatshirts we made, well, duh! She did and we got them the other day. So excited!

She bought one of my Agility t-shirts too! I just had to try it on, to see how I looked, ya know?

Mum is absolutely loving the new sweatshirts. She got one of with a hood and some pockets on the front to carry extra treats for me and Gracie for our hike. She got that one in the "Save The Dog, Save The Planet" design. Then she got a regular sweatshirt in the "Reduce your Carbon Pawprint" design." Now, Mum's gonna have to do a Marketing Job Search and get another client! BOL!

Have to say that she looks pretty spiffy walking us. And lots of our neighbors are ooooing and ahhhhing over them too. Great quality, nice weight...just right for our Fall hikes and walks.

Car pet safety kit!

2009-10-25T09:20:00.008-04:00

You know how much of a pet car safety advocate I am, especially after having come through a bad car accident with only a few bruised ribs.

That's one of the reasons I wrote up a Squidoo lens on dog car safety a couple of years ago.

So when I found out that the nice folks at BarkBuckleUp.com had this really cool car pet safety kit, we just had to order one.

Bark Buckle UP is the recognized leader and experts in pet travel safety. They tour the USA and Canada educating and promote awareness for pet safety while traveling with pets. We first met them when we both did an interview for a Canadian newspaper about the dangers of dogs riding in cars unrestrained last year.

We received our kit the other day and it is going to be very handy for, you know, just in case. The best part is it comes with a car window decal that can alert first responders that there are pets in the car and direct them to look in the glove box for information.

The kit then contains individual and personalized pet emergency cards you can customize for each pet that allows you to add in a photo, contact info, emergency contact info, descriptions and more. Now all we need is some mechanical breakdown insurance, you know, for more just in case, BOL!!!

The kit with one info card is free, then it's only $1.00 to add additional cards. So our entire kit for all four of us four-leggers was only $3.00, plus just a tad for shipping. We received the entire kit in an envelop.

We highly recommend heading on over to their site and picking yourself a pet safety kit for your car, 'cause, it's so comforting to be prepared!

The best hike yet!!!

2009-10-24T09:41:00.000-04:00

This past week we had a couple of great weather days. Mum was thinking that they may just be some of the last nice days of the year. So, we were determined to get in some good hiking.

On Wednesday, we headed to the River Road Park and hiked along the White River. Have to tell ya there is some pawsome hiking there! We hiked for about 2 miles along the river, then headed back, so we got in about 4 miles total.

Here we are headin' out from the parking area! Gracie was just a blur throughout the entire hike.

We took a brief stop at the canoe launch to take in the river.

Then we were off!

Before we got on the path, we ventured into the dense to get another good look at the river.

Then we got on the path. It was gorgeous! The leaves were falling like snow, and the slightly muddy path was covered with leaves to keep us drier. The path was fairly steep and slopped since it was actually the river bank from years ago when the river was wider.

Mum had to walk with one leg shorter than the other the entire hike, while Gracie and I zigged and zagged, up and down, back and forth through the entire hike. Sometimes all three of us jogged on the steep ups and down. Fun stuff!

Have to say you get in some good body work going up and down, over logs and stuff. Mum is getting pretty amazed at my abs lately. None of us need any type of appetite suppressant to keep in shape lately, all the hiking and body work we've been doing is really strengthening my core.

Mum had to take a pic of this moss growing on the north side of the tree. She remembers from when she was younger that this is how you tell which direction is which, so you don't get lost :). The moss was pretty much right on every tree we saw.

We got into the dense area again, and the squirrels were everywhere! Mum really had to plant to keep us reigned in. And Gracie was screaming her fool head off. I, of course, was barking wildly.

After we calmed down, we took a little break and I rested my bum on an old rotten log...nice and cool.

During our break we just stayed still, listening to the leaves fall, if we could hear any critters, making sure we took it all in...

Then we headed down the path again. Gracie was wild on the entire hike. For some reason this time it seemed like a very new and overwhelming experience for her senses. A few times she got crazy manic and a bit on the frantic side.

She'd get spooked at the littlest thing. So Mum helped her work through it, helped her investigate whatever was spooking her, so she could gain some confidence. I was proud of her...Gracie learned a lot about the world on this hike.

After the hike in the woods, we got on the walking path and ventured down for about another half mile and back. Look what we found? A Wooly Worm!

A wooly worm is actually the larvae of the Isabella tiger moth. It’s a fuzzy caterpillar with bronze and black stripes. Folklore says that the more black, or the longer the black ends, the more sever the winter is going to be. Looks like 50-50 to me. I think that means normal, which the Farmer's Almanac says too for our area is this coming Winter. Guess time will tell :)

Weather prediction tomorrow looks a little good for hiking again! Gotta get in as much as we can before deep winter sets in. Hope you are having a pawsome weekend!

New agility (flyball, herding and mutts) shirts!

2009-10-24T08:16:00.014-04:00

This weekend we got busy again designing a few more new shirts. This time we did some for agility, flyball, herding and mutts. DOG! This is fun and addicting!

My favorite design is the new Agility Rocks, 'cause you know how much I love agility. Mum's buying this shirt for herself today - navy blue long sleeve tee.

There are three total Agility designs - Agility Rocks! Agility Rules! and I'd rather be playing Agility! All of the designs can be imprinted on a wide variety of items from sweatshirts, to short and long sleeve t-shirts and in lots of colors for women (and plus sizes too :) and men, totebags, water bottles and more. Pretty soon Mum will go crazy and start getting into pet supplies, BOL!!!

Here are the three agility designs:

The flyball design is kinda fun too! It says "I'd rather be playing Flyball!" 'Cause I know anyone who does flyball would rather be doing that than anything else!

There are two herding designs - "I'd rather be Herding!" and "Do you know what I Herd?"

And last but certainly not least! It's Mutts! We did two designs for the mutts out there - "Mutts Matter" ('cause you know they do!) and "Mutts are Mi ghty.'

Hope you like 'em! And if you have a special request for a shirt design, let us know, maybe we can put it all together fur ya!

Fun & easy tricks from a distance!

2009-10-21T10:58:00.003-04:00

Well it was raining the the end of last week so what happened? We got our dinner for doing some fun and easy tricks. And of course Mum got crazy with the video camera again!

This time Gracie and I did a few of our easier tricks from a distance without Mum close by.

Mum thought we did a pretty good job. She's calling it cute overload (but she's biased you know :). She thinks she may have to start sending out some wedding invitations or one of us! Any takers, BOL!!!

Some of the tricks include: Bang, roll over, beg, beg with waving, waving with one leg and the other, shy, and hmmmm...I think that's it.

Hope you enjoy!

Weekends work!

2009-10-21T10:35:00.011-04:00

This weekend Mum and I worked our paws to the bone (just kidding, we had a bunch of fun) putting together a new line of Raise A Green Dog gear!

Now we are offering some pawsome new designs on organic tees for men and women, organic totes, dog bowls, Sigg bottles, other totes, sweatshirts and more!

Above is a sample of the Reduce, Reuse, Repaw tees.

And on the right is one of Mum's favs, Reduce Your Carbon Pawprint.

Pretty soon Mum and I may move into creating equestrian apparel, just kiddin' ya again, BOL!! Here are the four other designs that can be added to all the gear, including my personal fav, "Save the Dog, Save the Planet!"

So head on over and check all the cool Raise A Green Dog g ear. Yep, there a little higher priced, but they help us continue our good Green Dog work, and keep you showing off your green dogliness at the same time!

And we were off again!

2009-10-13T13:20:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a pretty pawsome weather day. So we ventured off to a new walking/hiking place. Well, it's not that new, Mum used to walk this path BD - before dogs. But when we head down this way we usually hike along the river bank, but it's been raining a lot lately, it was super muddy down there, and the river was higher, so we decided to take the walking path instead.

The location is River Road Park - just about a mile down the road from us, which makes it super convenient.

After a brief Gracie potty break, we were off. The entire path is about 5 miles long, back and forth to/from the car.

After a little stretch, we head around the tall grass field. Mum was thinking all along she would never find me or get me out of there. She did let me go in pretty far on leash, which was awesome. I found a field mouse and picked up a whole lotta burrs. When we got back Mum was pulling burrs outta me for about an hour. Didn't like it!

On the other side of the grass field is a little wooded area, then beyond that is the super exclusive Prairie Farms Golf Course. We like this path because even though its right up to a golf course, everywhere you look you see signs that say don't spray/don't mow. Yeah! Less chemicals!

We walked along...I enjoyed staying on the edge of the path in the muddy area of course, many more smells there, and Mum could stay on the path and stay nice and clean :)

Every now and then we would stop because there was some amazing, and I mean amazing, smell. Probably the remnants of some critter.

Further along there is a little bridge over a small stream. We saw these red berries, but Mum wouldn't let us go near them. We think they are wild currants, if Mum remembers correctly. (click to bigify).

After a little further, we met a new bud! This is Connor (hope I spelled his name correctly). He and his Mom were walking the path, and we all instantly took a liking to both of them. You know how rare that is for me. It seems that I instantly take to my Sheltie kind, its the terriers that get me all riled up. Not that there's anything wrong with terriers at all!

Connor, Gracie and I sat and downed for treats (Mum brought along some of our kibble). We exchanged email addys, and then we were off again, planning sometime to hike all together.

Further on is the area where many of the houses are. Mum remembers this house well from when she used to walk here on her own. It's her absolute favorite house in the entire area. The color of the house in the pic doesn't do it justice at all. It's an amazing shade of green. Mum loved this color so much she painted her bedroom this green.

Off again...

Here's a nice (well as good as a phone camera will do) pic of the trail. The further in we go, the further into the woods along the river it goes.

Then we came to an area to go off road. We ventured down....We stopped here for a drink break. Our hikes are getting longer and longer, so now Mum brings water from home, since we use water filters at our house, and like to keep on the same stuff.

Saw some little blue wildflowers...just about the only thing we saw in bloom.

And finally, we made it to the river. It's really difficult to see in this photo, but the river is way down a high embankment, more like a cliff. Brought back some memories for Mum of her 'sliding down the cliff to the river days' near where she grew up. She would get some big boxes from her Dad's shoe store, cut them flat and slide down into the river. She loved it...may have to try it sometime, but not on such a steep cliff.

We walked on and on....about five miles. Then it was time to head home for dinner. We'll leave you with a hint of the Fall color to come :)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Getting up close and personal!

2009-10-09T14:38:00.003-04:00

Mum made a silly video of me getting up close and personal!

More hiking!

2009-10-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

Since I was feeling mucho better, and the weather was just pawsome on Monday, Mum worked super hard to finish up lots of work so we could go on a little hike in the early afternoon.

This time, we decided to explore around the big, big church. They have acres and acres of grounds and lots of paths and wooded areas to explore, and it's just a stones throw from our house. If you remember, that was the place where I took off after a bird off leash last year and scared the begeebees out of Mum.

So we ventured out, passing the pond along the way. Yep, they they are the ducks and geese, and of course, our friend the heron.

I don't know why, but every time I see a drain, I want to inspect it. On one paw, I'm super apprehensive about them, but on the other hand I just can't stay away. Remind you of anything?

After crossing the busy street, we were finally on our way. The beginning of our hike, we crossed a big open field, on our way to the good stuff. In the open areas of their land, the church has mowed a bunch of cross country running paths for the school kids. And some of them were out practicing today, so we stayed off the mowed paths, and kept to the open areas.

Then we finally made it to the wooded areas. Oh the smells were pawsome! And we know there were lots of racoons, bunnies and more around. This is the place where last year we saw the Red Fox, but he was no where to be found today.

We saw some Golden Rod, which some folks are super allergic to. Not us though.

More walking...

Came upon some MilkWeed, super cool how they just explode at a certain time of year.

We kept on the path, this part is the widest part.

Found some Bull Thistle in bloom. I think that's what it is. If Mum remembers from her younger years, it comes in a variety of colors. Here's the purple.

And the white...

Then we came upon an area where they had planted a slew of wild flowers. Reminds Mum of those canisters you can buy and sprinkle an instant flower garden. But it was beautiful!

Mum laughed when she took this pic, because that's about all the parts of me she saw for the two hours we were gone :)

We took a break in the shade, surveying where we had been. We walked all over their land. This view is from near the church which is up a big, big hill. Mum, Gracie and I raced to the top and down and up and down again, running as fast as we could :)

When we had walked the entire property, we headed back to our neighborhood and took one lap around the neighborhood, to check all the pee mails. Then when we got home, we found that the Hawk had feasted in our yard again. Poor bird :(

What a great day - well fur us, not the bird! Feels pretty darn good to feel good again. Mum feels the same, she worries too much about me, when I hurt. Thanks everyone for all your super great wishes...means a lot!

Gracie's trip to the store!

2009-10-05T09:09:00.003-04:00

It was kind of a rough weekend fur me this past weekend. Somehow, I ended up straining my back again. Sheesh!!!

In the beginning it was tough for Mum to figure out what was going on - my abdomen was tight, I was all hunchy, and I didn't want to do anything but lie in my bed. Oh that worries Mum so....

She gave me some tummy pills, 'cause my breath was a little sour. Helped my breath, but didn't help whatever was going on, even though it did settle my tummy. So the she gave me some Traumeel (since it's the only pain killer my tummy can tolerate). That helped a lot! So after about two and a half days, I'm back to my wacky self.

We even went for a 2 mile walk last night and I was raring to go throughout the entire walk. Guess the cooler weather just got me all bunched up. Mum has no clue, but for some reason, everytime the cooler weather kicks in, I pull something, or strain something, or just get all sore.

But we're all happy I'm already back to my normal self.

So what happened with Gracie, while I was chillin' and healin'?

Nearly every weekend the past month or so, Mum has been taking Gracie to different places to work on her focus in strange and new environments. And yes, they have been going without ME!!! Can you believe it?

Yesterday, they took a trip to Pet Supplies Plus, because they were having a sale on some kibble we like. Gracie did a great job shopping yesterday, we got 50 total lbs of Fromm's Chicken A La Veg and Surf & Turf for about $39.00, a great bargain. They were having buy one 5 lb bag and get one free, then they gave us $5 off coupons for each of the two bags. Gracie seems to be a better shopper than Mum, BOL!!!

Here she is surrounded by her favorite food.

Mum needs to order us some more raw duck necks from our supplier, so until she can get around to picking 'em up, Gracie decided to pick out some turkey necks to tie us over. Make sure you get the good ones, Gracie!

While she was there, she met this cutie, Cupid! Cupid got her name because she has a heart on her back. She was a wacky, wild little thing, a Brittany, we think. We noticed she needs just a tad big of fat burner, BOL!!!

She couldn't calm down long enough to get a good pic of that heart she has! But we understand, she had just had a bath in the do it yourself dog bath room. And I know how I want to act after I get a bath...can you say zoomies?

Then Gracie met another pup who had just gotten his bath - this is Luka. He wouldn't stay still long enough for a good pic either!

After Gracie got back, I just had to sniff her up and down, all those new smells!!! And she told me all about how she scarfed up treats off the floor.

And, of course, Mum put the turkey necks in the fridge to thaw out a bit, after I got a whiff....I think we're gonna get some today!!!

How safe is your tennis ball?

2009-10-02T09:41:00.008-04:00

Important info to check out on Raise A Green Dog.

We wrote about HealthyStuff.org and their testing of over 400+ pet products for toxic chemicals. Head on over and see if your pup products are safe, K? We think you may be surprised. They have info on everything from beds, collars, toys, bowls and more.

Good site to bookmark, as they will be testing more pet products in the future!

Around the dog agility blog-o-sphere!

2009-10-02T08:36:00.013-04:00

It's time for around the dog agility blog-o-sphere!

Recent news...The Midwest Agility Championships slated to be held at the Libertyville Sports Complex in Libertyville, Illinois, October 23-25, 2009 has been canceled due to insufficient entries to hold the event.

The FCI World Agility Championships were originally planned for Slovenia in 2010, will now be held in Rieden, Germany, October 1-3, 2010.

Other future dates include:

2011 - Lievin, France - October 7-9
2012 - Czech Rep
2013 - South Africa
2014 - Luxembourg
2015 - Italy
& archives for WM 2008 (Finland)

A couple of vids from FCI thanks to our friends at JustAgility. And big, big congratulations to Hugo and Kissy on their great 25th place overall individual and 12th place in agility. Great job! See their run here.

Marcus and Juice:

Silvia and Bu: (Amazing dogwalk)

See more videos here (referenced from our friends at aurea.userworld.com)

Large Dog - Agility, Jumping, Team
Medium Dog - Agility, Jumping, Team
Small Dog - Agility, Jumping, Team

Here's a link to all the FCI courses - good for some challenging practice!

If you're ever looking for that USDAA four year calendar, here's the link.

Clean Run continues to expand their library of article on everything from nutrition, to motivation to training tips and lots more. Be sure and visit.

New DVD from Patricia McConnell, "Dog Play, Understanding Play Between Dogs and Between Dogs and People," looks interesting!

The AKC announced yesterday that they will be offering AKC® Title Medallions to all owners whose dogs have earned titles at AKC events. Both the small and larger versions will be $25. They will be available in December of this year.

Also, October 1st marks the first day that Mixed Breeds can register with the AKC to receive an AKC Canine Partners Listing and an AKC number for competition eligibility in mixed-breed classes at stand-alone Agility, Obedience and Rally events.

AKC Canine Partners Listing includes a custom, blue AKC logo tag, as well as lifetime enrollment in AKC CAR Lost & Found Recovery Service, one-year subscription to AKC Family Dog magazine, AKC Canine Partners Certificate of Recognition, AKC Canine Partners Decal and eligibility to participate in AKC Companion Events.

Enroll here if interested. Cost is $35.00. Clubs can now apply to allow mixed breed classes at Agility, Obedience and Rally trials for competition beginning April 1, 2010. If clubs have applied for an event that will take place on or after April 1, 2010, they may still add mixed breed classes by contacting the AKC.

The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge Finals will be held this Friday-Saturday at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri. Here's more info. Finals will be first broadcast in January, 2010. Here is the schedule:

St Louis
01/24/10 Sun 3:30 - 4:30 PM ABC
02/27/10 Sat 10:00 - 11:00 AM ESPN2
03/14/10 Sun 5:00 - 6:00 PM ESPN2

The 2009 Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship were held in Chattanooga, Tennessee lat weekend. Here are the results. A couple of routines from Mark Muir and Gipper, first place finishers in the Open Division.

And last but certainly not least. Silvia's youngin's trick class from this summer!

That's it for now!

DVR Alert: SuperFetch premieres on Animal Planet this weekend!

2009-10-01T10:23:00.006-04:00

If you like tricks as much as I do, I think you're gonna like this new show from Animal Planet!

It's called SuperFetch, and it premieres this Saturday, October 3rd on Animal Planet at 8:00 PM e/p. Looks like there may be two episodes back to back, so set your DVR from 8-9 PM.

Here's some info from the website:

Too lazy to get off the couch for the pizza delivery guy? Too busy to take out the trash? Need some help finding the TV remote? Don’t worry, your pet’s got you covered! With the help of pet trainer and YouTube sensation Zak George, your fluffy friend will truly live up to their title of "man’s best friend."

Zak believes he can teach anyone how to teach any pet how to perform any trick. In SUPERFETCH, Zak shows pet parents step-by-step how to teach their animal new and unbelievable stunts and help strengthen the bond between them. Pet and parent have one shot to make it happen and at the end of several weeks, after three visits from Zak and intensive at home training, the duo is put to the test to see if they can pull off the big trick.

Here's a little sneak peak - It's Brumby, the Aussie, goes bowling!

And be sure and check out the website for lots of trick training tips and tricks!

Flooring for dogs!

2009-09-30T12:17:00.004-04:00

Mum and I wrote a big ole blog post about eco-friendly, green, healthy and safe flooring for dogs over at our blog, RaiseAGreenDog.

You've got to go and check it out! It's entitled, "Eco-friendly, healthy, dog-friendly flooring for your dog-loving home!"

Lots of good info about nasty chemicals in commercial synthetic floorings, and really good alternatives for a healthier, happier pup and environment!

Some weekend fun!

2009-09-28T17:43:00.001-04:00

Mum surprised us yesterday, we got to go for a five mile walk. Don't think we've told ya, but we've been trying to get in 3-4 miles five days a week to keep me (oh yeah, and Mum and Gracie) in shape. Mum remembers after my muscle pulls when I could hardly walk two miles.

Times they have changed, I'm tellin' ya! Gracie, Mum and I have become walking machines!!

Every day we walk past the little pond (one of three in our neighborhood) that's closest to our house and check out the geese/ducks, and anything else that's hanging around. Oh, there's the blue heron we see a lot! I think we should name him/her, ideas?

Then we always make our way toward the big pond and see what's hanging out there. We like that they leave some cattails in the pond, more natural that way (even though the pond is chocked full of chemicals, sigh...).

Near the big pond is this old grain silo. Nice that they left it when they created this development. Some neighbors thinks it's an eye sore. But I like it, and there are lots of critters that like to hang out there. Good smellin'!

As we walk through the neighborhood, Gracie always has to check out the grasses that cover the utility boxes, just because she found something in there once, she thinks there's always gonna be something in there, silly girl :)

Sometimes at dusk in the summer we see all the hot air balloons out on their evening flights. They make me bark, a LOT!!! Occasionally they will take off right across the street from our house in the big field where I took off for a bird off leash that one day.

Well, yesterday since our walk was about two miles longer, we headed into other areas near were we live. The neighborhood across the street is a big one like ours, with just more expensive houses. We like to go there 'cause there are less kids, BOL!! And they have a lot more treed areas, also known as wildlife magnets :)

Interestingly, we went down a street we hadn't yet, and saw this...looks like some pup got caught when the cement was wet, how cool is that! Mum wishes she had my pawprints in our sidewalk now.

We kept walking and walking, and Gracie and I were pulling and pulling. Finally we got to our favorite place in this new neighborhood. It's a woodland area they preserved and put in a mulched walking path. It's not long, but it sure is fun and smelly. Oh and muddy. (Mum was kinda wishing we had ceramic tile all over the house when we got back, easier than carpet to clean, BOL!!)

Off we went, heading down the path, pulling Mum like she was a musher.

Found these neat woodland flowers, have no idea what their name is. But they are blooming at a very odd time of year here in Indiana. We liked their spunk.

We kept heading down the path, stopping at anything interesting of course!

The path ended and had a nice couple of benches to take a load off. So, of course, Mum had to try and get us to pose, we kind of obliged. :)

Have to say all three of us felt like we could have walked for ever. We were gone for almost two hours. Can we do it again today Mum? Palleeaasseee??????

Hope you had a great weekend too!