This would be a title worth working for

We'd have a long way to go though. They've been disqualified on requirement 2 every day for as long as I can remember.

AKC APPROVES NEW OBEDIENCE TITLE

Requirements are as follows for the three levels of performance: B.D., B.D.X., and B.D.O.

All levels shall require:
1. Dog does not come on the bed unless invited
2. Dog does not get handler out of bed until alarm goes off
3. Dog takes up only his space
4. Once the lights go out, there is no activity from the dog such as bathing, scratching, chewing on toys, etc.
5. If told to get off the bed, the dog does so immediately.

The Bed Dog degree (B.D.) requires one handler and one dog in bed. It can be earned in a twin sized bed. Higher degrees require larger beds.

The Bed Dog Excellent degree (B.D.X.) puts one dog in bed with two handlers. At this level it is also required that the dog sleep at the foot of the bed, not between the handlers.

The Bed Dog Outstanding degree (B.D.O.) consists of two handlers and more than one dog. At this level it is required that the dogs do not bicker among themselves over space. (If you add a cat to the group, your dog can earn a Bed Dog Unbelievable. Cats can also earn any of these degrees, substituting C. for D. in the degree title.)

Non qualifying performance:
1. Dog anticipates the command to get on the bed
2. Any activity from the dog that requires the handler to get out of bed during the specified time period (when the lights go out until alarm goes off)
3. Knocking the handler out of bed
4. Soiling the bed
5. Not getting along with the other animals in the bed (B.D.O. level)

Major deductions:
1. Waking the handler, without getting him out of bed
2. Minor infractions of scratching, bathing, or chewing during night
3. Causing the handler's feet to go to sleep.



From a 1994 newsletter of a Maryland group called Pets on Wheels, which reprinted this piece by Joanne Barnes "from a Delaware Valley Wolfhound newsletter."

Party animals

Dog tic-tac-toe at the dog club Christmas party - you know, like Downs are O and Sits are X.

Lilly was brilliant at this when we played, even though we ended up on the Down team which was always harder for her. It made me feel bad that her talents and skills are being wasted. Or maybe she prefers retirement? I don't know how to tell.

The dog mind

Rose follows me around the house no matter where I go. Lilly does not do this, because she long ago learned how to identify the subtle signs of imminent Pug Fun or the lack thereof, so she doesn't have to waste energy. Rose is more willing to take her chances and also, I guess, after living her first four years in a cage, figures she's already spent enough time lying in one place.

But I feel kind of bad when she uses all that energy to run down the stairs after me when I'm getting a glass of iced tea and coming right back up to the office. Or when she leaps up in the backyard likewise when I'm just grabbing something and coming right back out.

Since I talk to them all the time whether they understand it or not, I always say, "no wait I'll be right back."

I just noticed that now, when I say "I'll be right back," Rose does not get up and follow me.

This is what I love about dogs.

Couldn't have said it better

I'm not really much on dog whispering, I find that dog storming off in a huff and pouting is what gets their attention.

-mrskennedy's Twitter (fussy.org)

Competition

American Eskimo with its chin down:



(from faithful reader Jaydub)

Wisdom

Some of the fruits of yesterday's interviews/research:

From the web page of Guiding Eyes for the Blind:

"A dog will take advantage of you if it thinks it knows more than you do."

From the dog dentist:

"If you would feel safe to chew on it yourself, then it's safe for your animal."

Party Animals

On Saturday night, I went to the Bark Ball, a black tie fundraiser for the Washington Humane Society, to write a story. I have so far spent most of my career in journalism sitting in my home office talking on the phone, and otherwise have been a zookeeper for the past several years. The result of this is that I have virtually no respectable clothing.

I tried on some dresses belonging to a coworker (resulting in much joking about female animal keepers all owning one dress between them that gets passed around in the rare cases that we need it). I went shopping twice. I finally realized that buried in my closet I had one dress that would be just barely suitable and also not cause me to pass out in the near-100 degree heat.

It was discouraging but not surprising to discover when I arrived that some of the dogs were better dressed than I was.

(Pictured: Faith Buttercup, in a dress her owners brought back from the Virgin Islands. She gets a new dress for the ball every year.)

General Announcement to Pug Dogs

You are never going to get dinner at 4:15, no matter how much you whine and dance. When I get up from the computer between 4 and 5 in the afternoon, you can assume that I am going to the bathroom, or making a cup of tea, or doing the laundry. I am not getting up to feed you, so it is a waste of energy to get hysterical.

Thank you.

Dangerous dogs

When I drive along Alaska Ave to the zoo in the morning I sometimes see a person walking two Irish wolfhounds. Now I've gotten used to it but the first few times, I almost drove off the road. It is an astonishing sight if you don't expect it. They are gigantic and there are two of them. Seriously, I can't believe that they don't cause all kinds of car accidents.

(Of course, I have the same problem with flowering trees in the spring. Nature is always trying to kill us one way or the other.)