We Keep Our Promises

Hi, all! Kharma here.

This video opened my mom's eyes to the possibilities beyond sit/lie down/rollover/bang. I'm glad because I get super treats whenever she works with me! For some reason, mom always cries when she watches this. She says love always makes her cry happy tears. Must be a human thing...


Here's my friend Xsara doing some cool tricks. Since Barby just added Tani to her family, does that make Silvia and Barby related?? I think it must because their dogs have learned such wonderful behaviors.


The cool thing about YouTube is that you can subscribe to these two channels and see all their new videos. Like La's TV commercial. Or new puppies acting silly. Or doggy tricks. Mom gets lots of cool ideas from YouTube.

Favorite Dog Blogs

Good dogs will always find each other--even in the blogosphere! Or should that be dogosphere?


Today we added our favorite daily reads sniffs, and got a big happy surprise! We knew that Barby was getting a new puppy, a pyr shep born on Christmas Day, to be Xsara's sister. We kept checking her blog hoping for photos of the new puppy but there hadn't been anything new since early February. We figured no news probably meant good news--the puppy was home and taking all her time--but we didn't know for sure. Until today when we added her blog to our list and realized she had just posted about Tani! We are grinning ear to ear with delight. New puppies are one of our favorite happenings. Welcome, Tani!

Tani, aka Desiree de Loubajac, is a half-sister of La and we can already see the resemblance. If you haven't met La, along with Lo, Bi and Bu--you'll have to check out LoLaBu Land. Their mom Silvia is an incredible and inventive trainer. Her specialty is happy dogs! Our dream is to one day have a seminar with her.

All these dog friends live far away in Europe, alas. We love them anyway and delight in their antics and successes.

Tune in tomorrow for our favorite YouTube videos featuring our friends!

Who She Smelled When I Returned

Airline miles make for a very cheap three-day weekend. Total cost to Albuquerque and back--$10! Gotta love it! Dogs don't get to fly, so Kharma had to stay home with Dad. I had plenty of canine company once I arrived.

First of all, Donner, the newest member of the family--New Mexico branch. Donner's a recent rescue--part golden, part lab. He wasn't too sure when I walked in the house after midnight and let out a few questioning woofs. I won him over with lots of rubs and sweet talk and frequent tuna fudge treats during my visit though.

He has a very wise look when he's at rest and grins nonstop when he's out on a hike. Well, nonstop smiles unless his best friend and partner is sitting on top of a twenty-foot granite outcrop without him. This look clearly said, "Dude! How'd you get up there and why didn't you invite me?"

He was much happier once he was up there too.He may be considered a "senior" in the adoption world, but he has enough energy to accompany his BFF on daily two mile morning runs. He's been known to chase the local deer herd through the hills before he decides to check back in with his main man.

He has a nice sit, a good down, and the beginnings of a spin. The rumbling lecture he gives after his partner takes off and abandons him for any length of time at all leaves no doubt that he's given his whole heart to my son. I wonder if Kharma could smell the love between them when she had her nose glued to my jeans when I got back?!

I know she was wondering why I didn't take her along to play with Romeo (that's him up on the rock with Donner and my son. Romeo may be a teacup poodle, but he has enough heart to hang with us during a three-hour hike up hill and down.

Kharma loves to steal his toys and play keep away during our visits. The two of them will run a circular pattern through the kitchen and around the living room over and over and over. When Romeo begins to give up, Kharma will slow down so he can catch up, usually staying just far enough ahead that Romeo can grab her tail plume but get nowhere near his stolen toy.

The last scent that I brought home was that of Juicy, the toy poodle pup. She's a cute fluffy apricot bundle of undisciplined energy. She's a member of our extended family and we were puppy-sitting for a couple of days. Donner not only tolerates her, but actually likes her--puppy craziness and all.

Here they are, cuddled up together on the pillow in front of the fireplace. Donner, you're such a good dog!

Her Third Bark-day Celebration

Kharma got a bath for her birthday.

(It may not have been her favorite present.)

By the time we were done, my flannel shirt, jeans and undies all were soaked and had to be tossed in the laundry hamper along with the two huge beach towels used to dry her off.

Kharma wasn't nuts about the hair dryer either. I eventually got smart and put it on the quiet setting and she settled down. By the time she was dry enough to carry back downstairs, Kharma had sparkling white stockinged feet and her fur was conditioned and softly shining. She was brushed from her freckled nose to her white tail plume. Even her purple daisy collar got a good cleaning.

I'm not a complete monster--I made her a nice batch of tuna fudge to celebrate and we've been taking it around to her best doggy pals for an extended birthday celebration. She got a new toy and she's had an entire week of exciting walks (no matter what the weather was doing).

There's no extra money for the agility DVD I've been wanting or for the agility class we'd planned. But...I did sign us up as members of the Musical Dog Sports Association (think Carolyn, Rookie and Grease) and we are excited to begin working on more tricks that we can incorporate into a freestyle routine.

Pretty Darn Accurate

Yesterday was a damp gray day, so I wimped out on dog exercise and declared it a browse-the-internet day instead.

I stumbled across this very cute site (the actual link is way far below, I just couldn't resist including the cute puppy graphic) called

I answered all their questions about size and care and family demographics, none of which involved a breed...and the dog they recommended for us was a Golden Retriever-Australian Shepherd cross. Uncanny!

Our first family pet was a Golden-collie cross who was very protective of our two little boys, loved car rides and taught us reams about raising a puppy.

Next in line was our half Aussie-half mutt cross who our vet insisted also had some Golden in her. I still miss her silky soft hair and her loving ways. She single-pawedly converted the entire neighborhood into dog lovers.

When it was time for another pup, we scoured PetFinder for anything Aussie or Golden. Our current girl was listed as Aussie-Border Collie, but I could see Golden in the cross almost immediately. I thought it might have been wishful thinking until I compared the photo of Zelda to the picture of Kharma's brother.
Yeah, definitely Golden!

So all of our dogs have been part Golden Retriever and the last two have also been part Aussie.

Dog Chooser was right on the mark. Try it and see how close they come to your idea of the perfect dog!

Two Words: Bad Idea

(Please pause a moment here while I have a mini-meltdown over the article I just read and Kharma chews some grass so she can hurl. Deep breath.)

Michael Vick.

PETA withdrew their offer to have him tape an anti-dogfighting public service announcement. He wanted their support of his reinstatement as a condition of his participation. And here I thought public service by definition indicates a donation of one's time and/or energy, without reimbursement. Silly me.

My guess is that inmate Vick has lived in his alternate universe for so long, where athletic talent excuses any behavior, that he can no longer differentiate wrong from right (no duh, there). Twenty-three months in the slammer haven't taught him that he has a debt to repay. Or maybe he thinks he's already repaid society for his behavior and gets a free pass?

In my universe, second chances are freely given. We all make mistakes. We learn from them and we move on. We don't use our mistakes as bargaining chips though--that's immature and juvenile.

Some errors are big ones, really big. And the consequences for those are appropriately big. You have to earn your way back before being forgiven. Dogfighting isn't high up on the list of attractive occupations, but it didn't stop there. Let's be clear here, Michael Vick viciously and maliciously took innocent lives. He killed personally. There was no mercy, no second chances, no humanity displayed.

I knew what I thought the instant I heard the details. I said it then and I'll say now--if the NFL allows him to play ever again, I will never watch another football game. It would cause me pain to give up watching the Niners on a Sunday morning. I'd miss the fun of Super Bowl parties. But there are some lines you don't cross.

I'd like to believe that playing for an NFL team again is just a pipe dream that Michael Vick's had while in prison. I hope that Commissioner Goodell continues the indefinite suspension. It's an appropriate response to Vick's "reprehensible" actions. With reinstatement, any team, any owner, any commercial sponsor had better be willing to face a mass boycott from their more thoughtful fans. The bad press possible just boggles the mind.

Michael Vick might consider some other job opportunities...as a janitor or pipefitter or stevedore. Somewhere far from the public eye, making a living wage, while contributing a necessary skill to our economy.

Many football fans commenting on the Fox Sports article are willing to defend his actions and would like to see him play again. That's disheartening. Fortunately, there are many others who are disgusted by his actions and forthright about saying so.

Quite honestly, any message from Michael Vick would have turned my stomach. Shame on PETA for even considering him as a spokesman. If they really wanted to find a worthy voice against dog-fighting, they don't have to look any further than one of the sweet and furry wiggle-butts who escaped Bad Newz Kennel and their murderous owner.

Thinking

I just finished reading Merle's Door, a book I received for my birthday. It got me to thinking how different having a dog is now than it used to be. Better different. Better for the dog and better for the people.

Back in the day, the fact that our family dog could not only sit and roll over but play dead when we pointed our finger and said bang! was an amazing thing to most folks. Now Kharma rips off a series of ten or more tricks for just one of her homemade little peanut-butter treats. Obedience class was for very few people and now nearly everyone has attended Puppy Kindergarten. Walking Fido has become Agility Classes. Dogs have their own seatbelts (at least Kharma does).

I'm no longer comfortable saying I "own" a dog. It's not a PETA thing; it just feels wrong. I'd rather say that I share my life with a dog and she shares her life with me--I guess that's the change I've been thinking about in a nutshell. I'm well aware that I've been blessed with her love and confidence for an all-too-brief time and I want Kharma to develop to her full potential.

I'm learning not to micro-manage though. She's great at hand signals that eventually have been paired with audibles and will respond to both. In our Team-Relationship Building class, our instructor would have us take our dog though a tunnel in the way that seemed foreign to me at the time. There was very little luring and no naming--both things I've done regularly and successfully with Kharma. A little lightbulb went on for me: agility happens fast and a dog who can read your intentions via body language or pick your wishes out of thin air is greatly preferable to one who needs to be told every detail.

After reading Merle's Door, another Aha! moment happened. I need to respect my dog's ability to think for herself. We aren't so lucky as to live next to a wilderness, away from speeding cars and privacy fences, where a dog can roam safely all day, choosing his own activities.

But we are lucky to live next to an undeveloped park where we walk off-leash with great satisfaction. There are cowflops for her to smell; goose poop for her to sample like See's Candy for dogs; geese families who should be wintering in the Imperial Valley instead of the Sierras and thus are fair game; voles and coyotes and other dogs leave scents to be thoroughly investigated. I walk and she ranges. Sometimes we play with neighbor dogs who are also in the park off-leash. Frequently I bring the Flippy Flopper along and we play Frisbee until her tongue hangs out far enough to show off her two blue tongue spots. There is no Calm Assertive Energy involved, no Pack Leader. We just hang out and have fun. I can't imagine always having her on-leash and I suspect she's pretty happy I think that way.

I know she enjoys meeting other dogs, although she checks in with me frequently. Running full tilt to catch her Frisbee just feels good to her. Putting a flock of lazy geese into the cool morning air tickles our mutual senses of humor. Our unstructured time together is every bit as important as clicker training or working on a new trick or taking a class. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it's the most valuable thing we do together.