RiverDog Prints Dog Blog

Take off my Collar and Rub Me! Please? :)

2009-02-04T11:20:00.005-05:00

Imagine wearing something on your body for days at a time, never taking it off. It's tolerable if you don't think about it too much.

Now imagine the sweet relief of taking that something off. Oh, how we dogs wait for you to remember our necks and help us go collarless. As soon as we hear and feel that click, we start snuffling our collar in your hand, because we know things are about to get GOOD.

Please give us a thorough rubbing around the neck and if you're feeling extra helpful, a little massage around the shoulders never hurt anybody.

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Chessie, Get Your Freak On!

2009-01-29T15:27:00.009-05:00

I haven't really wrote about my particular breed yet, so I'll share a little skinny on Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.

We love to swim and are known for something called "water freaking." Any water that's deep enough will do for swimming in circles, while splashing with our paws, snapping at the splash, and yipping with rowdy abandon! And if you call us while we're freaking, it's like we're plugging our ears and saying "Lalalalalala-I can't hear you-lalalalalala."

Chessies can adopt this behavior as a bad habit, if humans don't nip it in the bud. Sometimes there's a gap between us learning to swim and finishing our basic training. That could be big trouble time. The solution is to tap into our retrieving work ethic. If we've got something to accomplish in the water, chances are we won't freak.

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Dog and Cats Living Together... Mass Hysteria?

2009-01-26T11:50:00.007-05:00

I know some of you will find this photo offensive, but I think it's time somedog spoke up about cohabitation with the feline species.

I was made to live with two cats. They were full grown and had seniority in the house. I was just a puppy and thought they were the coolest toys in the house. But with guidance from my humans, I learned to treat them as part of our pack. We learned to respect each other and not eat each other's food (well, most of the time.)

One caveat to be aware of... keep the kitty poop away from us doggies. It is a delicacy that we cannot resist.

And with high regard for the honorable Dr. Venkman, it doesn't have to be mass hysteria. We can just be.

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Pupsicle

2009-01-16T15:35:00.002-05:00

Slippery little bridges. Little Feet calls them Parley Bridges - not sure where he came up with that, but he is only 6.

I am a dog, as you know, and we sometimes hit our limit on cold weather, just like humans. Maybe it's because we don't get outside as much and it makes us stir crazy. Plus, we are a radar to your moods. A-Dog has so many moods that I get exhausted! But being trapped inside for days and days of below 0 degrees, works your last nerve.

Complaining is ending now - this mouth breather is gonna convince her humans to go outside now. You too, lazy brains!

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Yoga Dog

2009-01-09T21:24:00.006-05:00

Okay, you'd think it would be a photo of me in down dog (the position us canines have made famous), but I prefer Savasana or Corpse Pose. After playing a little Liz Phair on my guitar, I need to stretch and relax with a bit of yoga.

Dogs stretch and take care of their bodies, if you let them. We like to get a good workout - it makes us give you that awesome ear-to-ear doggie smile.

So, get out and play! We can both use some running around. And then we can eat, stretch and crash (I mean meditate.) Sounds pretty good, yes?

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Just Love Me

2009-01-08T16:23:00.005-05:00

Not too much to ask. I always love you - it's never even a question in what I call my mind.

I can do it by pretending you're a dog. Dogs prefer dogs - that's just a fact, jack. And in your own way, you pretend I'm human. Or at least you project human behavior onto me. And I LIKE it.

So, in my head, we're just a pack, jack. Your big brain might say otherwise, but don't you prefer just hanging with me to almost anything else? It's completely the shiznit :)

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Kong Flagellation

2009-01-07T08:00:00.005-05:00

Bang your Kong - Get it On!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.

Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Dog Resolutions

2009-01-02T20:51:00.007-05:00

Run more.
Sleep more.
Play more.
Eat more (human food).
Pee less.
Poop more.
Use more of the bed.
Let them show me who's boss.
Sneak more beer.

Yup, looks good to me.

No doggie lesson today - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Happy Holidays Woof!

2008-12-24T12:07:00.007-05:00

Happy Woofing Holidays.

Really people, do you have to do this kind of thing to us?

Please, don't shame us like this. We give you unconditional love... isn't that enough?

Resolution 2009 - find and hide all dog costumes. You hear me, my kinfolk?

Look at my face. Says it all, doesn't it?

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.

Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Snow Dog

2008-12-11T09:24:00.005-05:00

Is there anything better than sticking your snout in snow? Eating snow on the run is pretty good too...

Here in the Northeast, we dogs rock with the changing seasons. We dig more from fall to spring, because WE CAN! There are leaves and snow separating us from the precious ground, so we get a pass on the "No dig!" command.

Anytime I can shove my face into something soft and get a big whiff is a good time. Snout in snow makes me sneeze - love that. And gobbling snow on the run is just another pleasure I can't pass up. On a winter walk, the air is dry, so I hydrate. It's what great athletes do :)

One caveat - if your dog is older and eats snow obsessively, you might want to make a trip to the V-E-T (I have to spell it for those sensitive dogs out there.) It could be a sign of a health problem.

But if your dog is just as quirky, and dare I say, lovable as I am, Let them eat snow!

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Poop Run

2008-11-24T10:35:00.006-05:00

Woo-hoo!

One of my favorite things, just like Oprah.

When I get to do the number 2, I run fast and proud after it's done. For dogs, dropping the dookie is an accomplishment. We've usually waited very patiently for you to get us where we need to go!

I don't know about my colleagues that are usually on a leash - they can't really make the hard and fast poop run afterward. Do me a favor, if you get the chance to let them safely off leash, see if I'm not telling it like it is...

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
You can make your dog into a photo card.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

In the Doghouse

2008-11-12T10:18:00.005-05:00

The humans are so angry.

I can't help myself... I'm a dirty dog.

Me and A-Dog have been out running for the past couple weeks. She takes me places where I can run free (as long as no one is there), because I run too fast for her. When she's holding the leash, I need to summon all my patience to "run" at her pace. She lets me off when the coast is clear and we each do our own thing. That's where I run into trouble.

As I've mentioned, dogs like things that smell. We don't make a good or bad judgment about the smell; it's just smell. I lose my mind a little in the presence of decomposition. You can snap me out of almost anything with the promise of a treat, but not when I smell poor little mousy, three days gone. I get a smell, then a smear, and if I'm really lucky, a roll. That's when the shouting starts. It's usually my name and NO! and COME NOW! This is my third mouse in as many weeks, so the words coming out of A-Dog's mouth were a bit different. She was speaking so fast and loudly that all I heard was "gonna kick your barking a**!"

Needless to say, that didn't happen. I got a bath and a fresh collar (the smear is always on my neck, like a fine perfume) and a lot of attitude from A-Dog. I'm acting as contrite as possible, but it looks like no ears rubs in my future.

So why? Why do we rub ourselves in death with such passion? The ancient instinct to mark our discovery to the pack is one theory. Masking our odor for hunting is another. Whatever the reason, I don't think about doing it. I just do. And I only remember that I'm not supposed to do it, until after it's done.

What can you take away from this? Either accept it as natural dog behavior or keep me on the leash and run faster. Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Fall in Connecticut

2008-10-22T14:09:00.005-04:00

Yes, my readers, I live in the Northeast of the US, where the leaves are falling, election signs remain in neighborhoods and it's chocolate season. I could rant about how dogs can't eat chocolate for this entire post, but I'll move on to topic.

Leaves, leaves, leaves! Dogs love leaves! We can hide our stuff in them and dig, dig, dig.

My people rake them into piles. they might as well put a bullseye right in the middle, because I can't resist. Any toy or stick I have goes right in the center. I bury my head in there and it's like a narcotic. I forget where I am - I am nose and paws and nothing else. Maybe a little ears too, because I hear A-Dog call my name from far away. Buzzkill.

So, my advice is to just let it go. How many times a year do us dogs really get to enjoy a big pile of diggable, organic matter? I hear Shoes and A-Dog laugh at me in the way I know I can keep it up. But my canine friends, keep your ears pricked for that inevitable change to impatience. We always outlast those humans. Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Stinky Dog Blog

2008-10-08T12:09:00.001-04:00

That's what A-Dog and Shoes-on-the-Floor have been saying. Almost every time I'm near them, it's "OMG, you smell!" Let me shed (ha ha - dog pun) some light on the topic from down here in doggydom.

First of all, the smell doesn't bother my nose. I love when things smell bad. Why do you think I rub my neck on that dead squirrel on the ground? I put my nose right up the droppings of my friends just to check them out, pee on it and smell it again. So, all the fussing about my smell, falls on deaf doggie ears.

I have heard at the vet (THE scariest place) that a healthy dog shouldn't smell. Here's what you do: bathe me. Radical, I know, but it should work. And please, use something that doesn't have a lot of chemicals. I lick myself over and over again, so whatever you use, I will be sampling it.

If I still smell, then it could be a bunch of different things. My diet may need adjusting. I suggest more meat and some more meat. Or I've heard about glands on the backside having problems. But every self-respecting dog should be able to maintain those for you. Otherwise, you've got an attention-seeker on your hands. Check my teeth, ears, coat, bark bark bark (that's blah blah blah for dogs)... it's gotta be something. You're the human - you figure it out.

I'm gonna go stick my head inside a shoe. There's plenty to choose from on the floor in this house. Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!

Woof!

2008-09-30T11:10:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my first post.

I'm Scout the dog, also known as "Scooter;" "Princess Click-Click;" "Good Girl;" and "Hey!" among other names. I share my home with Shoes on the Floor, A-Dog, Little Feet and Preemie Feet. I'm kind of a country dog - don't really get along with my leash. But Shoes on the Floor (let's call him Shoes for short, as my paws get tired from typing) and A-Dog usually find places to take me that don't technically require a leash.

That's a little bit about me. I've started this blog to share some inside information from the dog world. Hope it helps you and your humans!

A-Dog and Shoes sometimes call me "The HugBuster." When they get lovey and hug, I like to insert myself between them. They usually laugh when I do this, so of course, I'm going to do it every time. And I do it why? Well, this is not a Hug Bust in my eyes, this IS how I hug. Dogs don't like traditional human hugs, but we love affection, and this my way to hug them. I'm glad they like it, even if they don't understand it.

Here endeth the doggie lesson - woof!

Hey! That's my head right there.
Visit RiverDog Prints for Custom Greeting Cards!