Poll 18 Update - Onto Poll 19! & Monday Mischief

Hey, y'all! We have an exciting update for you here at EW today for our 2 Weekly Dog Polls - at EW special, seen nowhere else WHATSOEVER!

The question posed for Poll 18 was: 'Has your dog ever been attacked/attacked another before?'

This is a truly devastating topic however an important one too. So I brought this up to the fellow blogger's view to see what they thought on the matter, and what experiences they'd had/hadn't had.

Unfortunately, an equal majority to another vote was 'Yes, my dog has been attacked…'. Something I hoped wouldn't occur. However on a more positive note, the equal majority also with three votes was 'No, my dog has never attacked another before'! No one's dog seems to have attacked another before - ssssweet! Two said their dog had never before been attacked. Nice to hear!

OK, so the results are in, and they are as follows…

Yes, my dog has been attacked - 3 (60%) 
No, my dog has never been attacked - 2 (40%)
Yes, my dog has attacked another before - 0 (0%)
No, my dog has never attacked another before - 3 (60%)

The colour key is:

Red - Winner
Blue - Second 
Black - No Place

EARL'S TOP TIP FOR POLL TOPIC:

Hey dawgs and bitches alike! Does y'all wanna hear a top tip from moi about dawg attacks? That's gwood, because I'm gonna go ahwead! If your dawg is agwessive, keep him/her on a lead until s/he can be twusted swocially to avwoid attacks happening.

Thank you, thank you Earl. Did I ever mention what a GREAT writer you are?!

So here is the information I will give you.

*Remember, this is only my opinion! Seek the help of a qualified and trusted behaviourist for personal and major problems.

About dog attacks

A very daunting thing to think about, dog attacks can and do happen. This is when two dogs collide to fight for a purpose - but remember to know fighting from play fighting! In real fights, the dog's tail with rise, hackles will be up, ears pricked and eyes wide open. This can be brought on for possessive aggression, e.g. dogs fighting for one bone, fear aggression, e.g. dogs fighting to defend themselves, badly socialised dogs who don't know how to behave around others (this can happen where the dog attacks humans as well if not brought up to be with them appropriately) and dogs who have been taken from the mother and litter to early, for the same reason of lack of knowledge and early learning cut off.

Can it happen to my dog?

It can happen to any dogs that fit into the above categories, or even dogs who don't! Sometimes aggression can be spur of the moment pressure or difficulty in knowing how to deal withe the situation at hand.

How can I prevent it?

If one dog is tightly being pulled back by a short lead, and the other one off lead in it's space, the on-lead dog may feel restricted and unable to make sure the other off-lead dog is friendly to proceed in the interactions. When your dog is a puppy, make sure you socialise your pup with friendly dogs that you know, and never approach strange dogs without making sure that dog will only help towards your pup's greetings with other dogs and not snap or snarl or put the puppy off for life. Not good! Its exactly the same with humans. Socialise your puppy with all sorts of humans to make sure s/he gets used to them and enjoys their interaction like your puppy enjoys your's at home. Dogs should be confident out of the property as well - that is where the majority of busy life goes on, and for walks and trips to the vet to occur, your pup must know how to behave with dogs and humans - plus all other animals! All species are a large part of life for a dog so puppies must confidently interact from an appropriately early age. But remember - early puppy jabs are important before face to face interactions on the floor, so car rides can also help puppy learn about the world but in a different manner.

Keywords learnt today:

~ Socialisation 
~ Life
~ Car
~ Jabs
~ Puppy
~ Aggression
~ Interaction
~ Early
~ Knowledge
~ Attacks
~ Learning

Assess the body language of dogs who are interacting with each other.

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Our Poll 19 will be opening NOW!! Remember to share what you think should be in place in the dog world. Vote before the 2 weeks are over and info is given of the subject at hand to help readers and their pets.

19 is on the subject of dog leads.

The question posed is: 'What lead do you use?'

Leads come in very handy for street walks and for dogs who are not so confident off the lead.

Our 2 Weekly Dog Polls are an EW exclusive! 
Come and help benefit other pet parents and their pets of course by voting your opinions and/or experiences!
Share the badge around!
But NEVER come online seeking advice on any major, personally medical issues with your pets.

Show Successes at the fun Dog Vegas!

We had a PAWsome time at another DV Agility Show today! We won two 2nd places, both clear, and another Clear round. Very chuffed! One of the the runs in agility however Earl was distracted by the judge whilst on the dog walk and as soon as he looked back lost his footing and fell straight off, landing, luckily, on all four feet. He continued the course however with much ease - phew! He didn't injure himself! I couldn't ask for more off him, the way he works for me :-) Another thing I was chuffed about was his bouncy weaves, and also his speed especially down long sections of the courses! One of the 2nd places was from a Jumping round as well - we usually excel in contact courses (agility) and don't normally place in jumping alone! Yipee!

I also bought him 2 new ballies in which he adores! Balls are attracted to Earl and vice versa, it seems! He has SO many balls now - never too many balls!!

STUFFING (brown) and CHICKEN (cream) flavoured balls!

Now look at our updated awards board!! Our other board and display shelves didn't need updating, so:

Getting fuller! Next time, it's most likely a start on the NEW board we have stored safely for future (soon it seems!) usage.

I am so happy. One very happy girl here today! And one very tired and satisfied dog, and handler of course!

Such an exciting event for all - agility is much recommended by us if your dog and you are at the correct fitness levels for this fast and furious sport. But remember… steady dogs sometimes excel more because they make less mistakes, therefore climb the rankings with clear rounds.

There were a few dogs faster than Earl and I however thad zoomed round so quickly had picked up faults, therefore, hallelujah, we beat them! 

Steady eds = fine agility dawgs.

Run run run round that course!

P.S. Heads up! The PPP Blog Hop will be held Tuesday the 1st April being part of the A-Z Challenge (hence, A for April). Don't forget, our super fun hop can still be part of your A-Z if you join up both! Please don't miss out on the fun. You don't deserve that.

And also - Happy Mothers Day to all those human and animal mums out there! My mum and I spent ours' in the best possible way - competing!!

The Sunshine Award Ceremony (Sepia Saturday Style)

Yesterday, I was thrilled to bits to receive the news that I had been chosen to take on The Sunshine Award from the capable hands of Hawkeye BrownDog from the PAWsome browndogcbr! And today is where I will (rather swiftly it seems!!) pass it onto a handful of other bogs in which I feel worthy to take it on after Earl and I.

Could YOU (yes you!) be the new holder(s) of this spectacular award?! Read on to find out!

So first, Earl is going to say a big thank you to all the blogs I am about to hand this award down to, for being PAWsome blogs and entertaining us for hours! … In SEPIA! 

And Earl is going to give a massive smile in thanks and happiness to be receiving and passing on the award! … Again, in SEPIA!

Hehe! Big cheesy smile there!!!

I also have to share 10 things about myself to my readers in order to successfully hold and pas son this award.

1. I used to horse ride
2. My first pets were bought together - a short coated, grey guinea-pig and a middle coated tricolour guinea-pig
3. The smell of equestrian centres reminds me of agility competitions as that is where the winter series are held!
4. I have 2 cameras and am obsessed with taking photos of Earl
5. I take Earl everywhere I can
6. I started blogging exactly 11 months, 2 weeks and 2 days, Earl, the inspiration behind it
7. I have a bed in which Earl probably spends more time in!
8. I am the host of the Pinch Punch Post Blog Hop
9. I am extremely hesitant about holidays abroad because of leaving my Earl - I couldn't bear it!
10. I am a student hoping to work with dogs as a job

So, shall we get this PAWty started? I can feel the tension of everyone as they read, wondering if they will be the ones to take on the award…

I have a round up of fantastic blogs here that can take this award from me now!

And they are…

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Golden Woofs: Sugar The Golden Retriever

Dachshund Nola

Ruckus The Eskie

Alfie's Blog

Dakota's Den

Peggy's Pet Place

Kol's Notes

Heart Like A Dog

2 Brown Dawgs Blog

Every single one of these blogs inspires me and makes me smile every single post. I really enjoy your blogs guys - they're so cheerful and always happy to share their exciting new adventures with everyone - such fun and well deserving blogs. Help yourself to The Sunshine Award, blogs above!

Now for some more Sepia shares to keep in touch with our Sepia side on Saturdays!

How do dogs greet their beloved owners first thing in the morning/after a period of no-see? It's overwhelming in love!

Dies down eventually for nothing other than FOOD!

The Sepia Saturday Blog Hop is hosted kindly by Ruckus The Eskie. You can hop along too, every Saturday with some Sepia photos.

Paws Up! Its Friday! - Blogging from A-Z April Challenge - Ideas!

We have JUST heard about this PAWSOME new hop, which has already attracted THOUSANDS of blogs from all over the world (now including us!) to blog with letters of the alphabet for each day's post theme. - In order.

To be honest, Earl and I are just ECSTATIC to join in with all the alphabetical BlogVille fun! 

So basically, all you have to do, is grab the amazing badge, and from the 1st day of April, start off by blogging with a post theme starting with A, e.g. a post all about Agility, Ageing in dogs, Ability of their minds, etc. And on the next day, it would be B, so for example you'd post about Banana dog biscuits, Bathing, and then the next day C, so for example Creations for doggy accessories, Cutlery to make homemade dog treats, etc. Every day, the next letter will follow for that theme. Get it now? So here are some ideas straight from the heart of me that you could take onboard and use for YOUR blog's A-Z April. But remember… NO A-Z BLOGGING ON SUNDAYS! This is a general rule of A-Z.

If you want to (and it's worldwide and highly recommended by all participators and non) take part yourself in all the fun, then go on and join the challenge with this link!

So for our ideas.

A - Awake, Agility, Ageing, Age-ility, Amusing, Accessories, Awesome
B - Breeders, Breeding, Baskets, Basking, Bad, Bones, Brands, Blankets, Boing
C - Commercials, Commands, Comments, Charity, Crufts
D - Dogs, Digging, Diligent, Drooling, Dangerous, Diet, Dry
E - Exercise, Eating, Ears, Everything, Earl, Early
F - Food, Fitness, Friendship, Forums, Family, Favoruites
G - Gigantic, Grooming, Good
H - Happy, Healthy, Heart
I - Insurance, Ignorant
J - Jumping, Jealous, Judges
K - Kibble, Kisses, Knawing
L - Life, Love, Little, Loyalty
M - Mummy, Mothering, Mutts, Magic, Medicine, Meals
N - Nothing, Nutrition, Nails, Noses, Nature, No
O - OMG/OMD!, Owning
P - Puppy, Personal, Preparing, Peaceful, Pedigree, PAWsome
Q - Queuing up, Quietly
R - Resting, Resisting, Raw, Rage
S - Sports, Spots, Sights, Sight (eye), Siblings, Supplements, Sister(s), Super, Summer, Splash, Sad, Shows
T - Trying, Temptation, Toys, Treats, Tricks
U - Up, Upbeat, Underwater, Under
V - Vacuum, Vacation, Vets, Vegetables
W - Wash, Why?, Worries, Water
X - Xtreme, (on the) X
Y - Ymove, Yawnsome, Yapping
Z - Zzz, Zoon, Zips, Zippy.

We're number #1704 on the participators list, so don't delay, sign up today!

Have a happy Friday and enjoy y'all weekend! Don't forget… we're competing on Sunday, so fingers and paws crossed for our success!!

A-Z starts Tuesday 1st April 2014 - Prepare your post theme starting with an A. Any spammers who link up but don't continue participating will be removed from the list.

Check out this blog hop to see which PAWsome blogs are giving their ideas for A-Z Blogging…

Thursday Barks And Bytes - Eye Drops

Earl has had to have a course of eye drops in both eyes, twice daily, for a week due to a minor infection in them. It isn't at all serious; its simply to clear up some eye bogies and them watering a little. 

So this post is dedicated to successfully inserting eye drops into your own dog's eyes.

We hope you find this post on eye drops for dogs helpful. If you see something obscure about your dogs eyes, take him/her to your vet and they may be able to prescribe you with some drops like Earl's. 
You should help accustom your dog to drops before the actual process. Let him get used to you lifting him up and opening his eyes, then lifting the drop bottle above his head.

1. Accustom your dog to the drops and it's process. You may want to practice lifting your dog up onto your knee and into the light (this proves easier than bending down to your dog's level to put the drops in, because here he can easily run away). Clasp your dog firmly but gently and reassure him but discipline him if he wriggles, whines or looks uncomfortable or scared. Then practice opening your dog's eyes with your fingers (this must be done VERY GENTLY as to not strain the dogs eyes. This should also only be a drill, no actual dropping of the eye drops as of yet. Now, practice holding the drop bottle over the dogs eyes, but not actually dropping them yet.

Picking your dog up in your arms and on your lap as you sit down will make everything easier, and your dog feel more secure. Your grip must be firm but gentle.

2. It's time now to get going! Firstly, sit your dog on your lap (photo above).

3. Now, use your finger and thumb on the hand which is the same as the dogs eye side (e.g. hold around dog's eye with your right hand if the eye in the right eye). 

4. Get another person to hold a treat a distance above your dog's head, so he looks at it. This way, your dog's eyes will be open and staring and his head will be up, which is easier for putting drops in to prevent running as much as possible. 

5. Hold the bottle above your dog's eye and squeeze gently until drop comes out. If the drop obviously hasn't entered the eye, re-drop. Have another person with a tissue at hand to quickly wipe debris away if the drops run. The dog will blink more than usual (understandably!) and look like he's crying, but don't worry, this will clear.

6. Finally, give your dog a nice big treat (preferably the one the other person was holding during the eye dropping process!) to show him that eye drops bring yummy food!

Here is some of Earl's eye debris. If you see this on your own dog's eye, take a photo and wipe away ASAP to avoid further irritation but to have something to show your vet to prove a problem just in case its gone when you visit the vet.

Eye drops should be no problem with the correct method of administration.

Good luck!

The Thursday Barks And Bytes Blog Hop is hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs Blog and Heart Like A Dog - kindly - thanks guys! It is fairly new, so make sure you hop along! There's no blog hop quite like it - anything goes, and its not only for dog blogs, hence the Bytes!

(Wordless Wednesday - Turn on the Lights)

(Hosted by BlogPaws)

Tasty Tuesday - Safe 'n Unsafe

…Human foods for dogs! They are a healthy alternative to manufactured dog treats - but BEWARE - some are not safe. Be caring and consider the points and advice to feeding your dog healthily.

 We all love to treat our dogs now and again. And we all know how REFRESHED fruit and vegetables make us feel after eating them, right? So how about we give our dogs some as treats - but AS LONG AS THEY ARE SAFE!

The below diagram shows you what healthy foods are safe for dogs to eat as snacks, what are healthy when COOKED, and what are totally UNSAFE and should NEVER BE EATEN BY DOGS of any kind.

And the food on offer isn't just fruit and veg; it ranges from the wappiest of ideas, such as cooked popcorn, to peanut butter, watermelon and sweet potatoes! Enjoy and eat well, dogs! (Your humans can accompany you in these snacks as well you know!).

Credit to ibostonterrier.com for the photo used here

And no, I don't have a Boston Terrier… I was scouting Google Images and this photo was linked to their website. Credit to them.

Regarding Peanut Butter - some dogs may be allergic to this, so if your dog suffers from allergies or you wish not to feed a risky food, do not give it. It will, in the majority of cases, do no major harm. Only cause an allergic reaction.

ALWAYS prevent your dog's access to the 'Beware: NOT SAFE' foods in the category, and any others you may know of but are not listed. Chocolate with cocoa is at it's most harmful when dark, however, all chocolate is harmful and should NEVER be given or access from the dog to this foodstuff be granted.

Please be a responsible owner in the feeding field; all fields of ownership, for that matter!!

Nutrition is an exceedingly important factor for all living species, so as a pet owner, you are the one responsible of this in your dog (or other animal).

Here is another useful diagram, presented in a more 'in your face' and 'listen to me' way. So here we go! 

Credit to Spencer The Goldendoodle for giving the right to share on, and Doggie Drawings for supplying the photo.

The Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop is kindly hosted by Golden Woofs: Sugar The Golden Retriever and Kol's Notes. We're hopping along - you can too!

Monday Mischief - Flying Away...

On Saturday, we had a go at some home-made Flyball!

Earl picked it up in an unbelievable instant! 

He knows how to 'Fetch' which is one of the main factors of this activity. He also knows (obviously, being a seasoned agility dog) knows how to jump over jumps)! AND he knows how to jump in front of me without me at his side. All very important factors, and basically what the whole sport is about!

Today will be all about setting up some have-a-go Flyball equipment and having a BLAST in your own back garden! And how to train what you need.

First of all, set up three or four jumps in your garden, depending on space. We chose three jumps, and set them up using simple buckets, and mops and brooms from around the house! (We do have 2 poles of wood which we made for jumps at home, which I am aiming to paint soon). Your dog will jump over these, one at a time; so make sure they are not too close together, or too far apart, either! The dog must learn to jump, hit ground, and set off to jump again straight after. This makes the process more speedy! Time is of the essence, in this sport!

HOW THE PROCESS SHOULD GO
Star 1 - Dog sits and waits to run
Star 2 (furthest away) - dog stops/hits pad to collect ball
The dog then runs back over the jumps, and drops the tennis ball back at the owner.

Now, get two toys if need be, one to encourage your dog back with (incentive for activity and enthusiasm) over the jumps, and one to place at the far end or place in the pad in which the dog's paw pressure activates release.

EARL'S TOP TIP!:

Woof, yap, barkz, hey y'awl! Earwy here. Hey, wanna know a woofin' tip for fwybawl? Youw dawgy has to know how to jwump over an objwect (preferabwy a jump) to succeed in dis spowt! Have fun!


There we go. Tip straight from the dog's mouth.

Now, set your dog up at the front of the jumps, and place one ball in which your dog is 'driven' by (doesn't necessarily have to be a ball, however balls are used in proper Flyball) at the end of the row, not too close, or far out from the last jump. Test jump your dog over the jumps, running beside him, then reward, of course, with your own choice of reward for the desired behaviour. See where your dog lands and put it only a few dog paces away from that spot.

Now, running alongside your dog to start with, say 'go', 'over' or whatever other command your send off command is personally for you and your own dog, and encourage your dog along the jumps. Just before he jumps the last jump, say 'fetch!' excitedly and encourage him/her to pick up the ball. ~ If this fails, go over quickly and get the dog to catch, and then run back along the jumps. ~ You may want to use the 'hold' command if needs be as you run back along the jumps. Tell him to 'leave' at the end, and throw the second ball for him. Have a great game with him/her! You succeeded! Time to celebrate! Yaaay!

Go over!! (Sending the dog off)

Get it, fetch! (Approaching the toy)

Come on! Go! (Dog returning with toy, over jumps)

Leave. Dog returned to you and dropped the ball.

Now praise your dog - he tried very hard, regardless of the success of the session! Not all dogs pick things up quickly, so keep at it! 

Praise is key in all interaction with your four-legged friend!

To become more similar to a proper Flyball participator, gradually DON'T run as far alongside your dog as he runs along the jumps.

Try teaching a 'go', 'go in front' or 'forward' (etc) command, which should help your dog run while you stand still, behind. To do this, throw a ball in front of your dog, and YOU stand in the same place. Then add the word for this command (I use 'go') in, and soon, you can say 'go', and your dog should start running, regardless of a toy thrown. Then, wait a few seconds as your dog runs off, before giving the toy a big 'umpth!' throw so it lands in front of your running dog. Soon, you should be able to say 'go' (etc) and your dog just runs! Again, make sure you build this up GRADUALLY, like most things…

Enjoy, and remember - this is a fun activity to try your paw at at home. Keep it fun and enjoyable!

The Monday Mischief blog hop is hosted by Snoopy's Dogblog, Alfie's Blog and My Brown Newfies. We're hopping along!