Ambrose Visits the Veterinarian

Our people have a responsibility to help us stay healthy. They buy us really good food, exercise and train us. It also means that they have to take us to the veterinarian. Now I know some of you don't like to go to the vet's office but I really like my vets at Colony Park Animal Hospital. Barbara always makes the vet visits fun for me. I got lots of treats and petting there. Fortunately I am a healthy girl so I don't have to go very often, but I always have a big time when I do.

Ambrose had to go to see the vet for his vaccination and checkup. He seemed to really like the smells in the lobby.



Of course the receptionists and vet techs made a big fuss over him. Jessica gave him some treats too.



Dr. Allison was really gentle with Ambrose and gave him lots of peanut butter treats while he was on the table. When she looked in his eyes, he got a treat. When she looked in his ears, he got a treat. It was a complete treat fest, especially when he had to get his shot. He didn't even make a peep. Well he couldn't because his little mouth was stuffed with goodies!!!



I think he had a good time and will be happy to go for his check up in 3 weeks.

But outings are really tiring for puppies even when they are good outings. Ambrose came home and had to rest right away. Fortunately he is napping on his bed and not on mine for a change.

Taste Testing and the Kibble Nibble

Last week was very busy what with tracking, drill team, Pets on the Patio and other activities. Unfortunately it has rained the last two days and I was very bored. I thrashed my stuffies and did some counter surfing but it just wasn't enough to keep me occupied. So Barbara decided that we would complete the taste test of all my new treats. Finally!



Now Barbara has been known to joke that if she cut up cardboard into bite size pieces I would eat them as treats. This is a complete lie and very rude of her to say. I have a discriminating palate and have devised a rating system to identify the best treats.

4 PAWS: Scrumptious - will eat them even when I see squirrels

3 PAWS Delicious - will eat them most of the time

2 PAWS Tasty - will eat them when there are no distractions

1 PAW slightly better than cardboard


I tried to do this in a very scientific manner by comparing treats of similar types and then pitting the best of each type against each other. We put the treats on paper plates. I had to do a sit stay and when she said "OK" I ran to pick which one I liked better. To take in account a left or right bias the treats were switched after a few trials.



Once I selected the most delicious treats we tried them during my training practice.

I know that you have all been waiting anxiously for the results of this very important scientific experiment and here they are:

4 PAWS

Cloud Star Tender Jerky Strips - Pork


3 PAWS

Buddy Biscuits Soft & Chewy - Bacon & Cheese Madness
Buddy Biscuits Soft & Chewy - Beef Madness
Cloud Star Muttos - Duck & Sweet Potato


2 PAWS

Buddy Biscuits Soft & Chewy - Peanut Butter Madness
Vida - Chicken
Train-Me - Beef

1 PAW

Liver Biscotti
Benny Bully's

Now for this to be statistically significant I would have had have done many more repetitions of eating the treats. This sounded like a fine idea to me but Barbara was afraid I would get sick. Also this is my opinion only. It is our responsibility as blogging dogs to taste test as many treats as possible and share the results with the world. Of course your people must read the labels on the treat packages carefully so they don't give you a treat that will cause you problems. Fortunately I don't have any allergies or protein sensitivities but I know that some of my friends do. So test some treats and let us know your favorities.

I also wanted to let you know about a treat dispensing toy called the Kibble Nibble. Barbara bought it for me at the APDT Conference and I have been having a lot of fun with it.



It opens up and your person can put your kibbles and treats in it.



Then they screw it back together and give it to you to play with. As you roll it around on the floor, the food falls out!



Here are a few pictures of me pushing it around the APS training center. Barbara likes it because the purple lines on the side are rubber which means it doesn't make much noise when I roll it around.







Since I am pretty good at getting stuff out of a Kong and a Twist & Treat, the Kibble Nibble wasn't very challenging but it was still fun and of course I got good things to eat!

All this scientific research and product testing is quite exhausting so I must go take a long nap now.

Good Time at the Dog Park and Tracking Fun

I knew it was going to be a fun morning when I saw Barbara packing up my tracking bag. And it got even better when she drove the dog crate on wheels through the drive-thru at Burger King. I could smell those sausage biscuits and was anticipating the fun of tracking and the great rewards.

But first we stopped at the dog park to run off some energy and meet my boyfriend Riley. I haven't seen him in awhile so I was glad to get the chance to play with him.

There was a nice group there this morning and we are had a good sniff at one another.



I did a lot of running around at first. No pictures of that because I was going so fast that I was a blur. Then I invited Riley to play with me.



The two of us get along very well and you can see my good play postures and curvy body language.







We really enjoyed the opportunity to play together and I know that Barbara was glad to see that the play helped me settle down a bit.

Riley found a nice chocolate lab mix dog to play with as well. The did a lot of bitey face and finally they both got down on the ground to chew on each other. Very silly but fun and they got very dirty too.




Then it was on to the tracking fields. Here is my BFF Ayla with her person. Ayla is all ready to track.




My boyfriend Trotter is a good tracker but he is not as intense about it as Ayla and me. He is working that track very well. I think he likes agility better because he recently got his Novice Agility title.



I ran a track where I had to find 8 articles including gloves, socks and slippers. I found them all and got sausage biscuit and muenster cheese as my reward. Very well worth it! No photos though because Barbara can't manage to hold the tracking line and take pictures at the same time! Then we headed home as I really need a nap now.

Puppy Class Graduation

I showed you some pictures of Barbara's Junior Puppy Class several weeks ago. Last night the puppies graduated! They have grown so much and learned a lot. They have learned to pay attention, sit, down, leave it, come and do some tricks as well as lots of socialization. There was a contest to show how long they could pay attention to their people, they showed off their tricks and ran an obstacle course. Then they got diplomas and ribbons and treats (Barbara gave away some of mine!!!)

It is so important for puppies to get off to the right start so I am very glad that these people were smart enough to take their puppies to Barbara's class.




Louie coming out of the tunnel.



Akiko getting ready to sit.




Rose going over the hoops in the obstacle course.




Now to something that is of more interest to me - taste testing the treats. My tummy is all better so Barbara thought it was safe for me to try some. She brought home 9 different kinds of treats from the trade show at the APDT Conference. Actually she brought home 12 kinds but gave 3 away to friends which has me a bit put out since I wanted to taste them all.

However last night I got to try 2 flavors. The Muttos Duck and Sweet Potato treats were quite delicious but they paled in comparison to the Buddy Biscuits Beef Madness.



Yum!! I wanted to try all 9 flavors but she was afraid that too many treats would upset my tummy again. Maybe tomorrow I can try the peanut butter and the lamb flavors.


I want to thank my British Border Collie friends Holly and Zac for this great butterfly award.



I'd like to pass it on to my friends Tom, Sen-Chan and Tama-Chan, Kirby, Pedro and Stanislaw and Big Pupi. I enjoy their blogs so much.

Now Barbara is off to stand in long lines and vote.

Pet Peeves at the Dog Park

Yesterday we drove the dog crate on wheels over to my friend Amiga's house and picked her and her person up for a trip to the dog park. Amiga is a lovely Golden Retriever who is in the Drill Team with me.




It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed playing with most of the dogs at the park.




Don't worry, I am not stealing treats from someone's bag. A nice person brought this bag filled with ice so we could cool off.




This is Lacey, one of Barbara's students.




Amiga got tired of running around so she is chewing on a nice stick.



Now we get to the pet peeves. There needs to be some people etiquette in the dog park. I am always shocked with the people who come to the park and talk on their cell phones or read and pay no attention to their dogs! What is wrong with them?




Then their are the people who just let their dogs poop and don't pick up after them. It makes the park nasty for everyone.




But the thing that gets me really annoyed is the people who let their dogs crowd the gate. It makes it very hard for other dogs to get in and is a good place to start a fight.




And look at this poor little thing left to fend for herself against the big dogs. It will teach her that big dogs are mean and that she has to fight them, which will of course get her in trouble. Her people should be ashamed!




I love to go to the dog park but some people don't have much sense and can ruin it for everyone. Rant over.

I promised in my last post that I would be doing taste tests on all the treats that Barbara brought home from the APDT Conference. That has been put on hold for a few days because I was a very bad girl last night. I stole a whole bag of my chewable joint supplement and ate 24 of them! Quite delicious but it has caused my tummy to be rather upset (and Barbara was upset with me and worried too). I'm feeling better now but am still eating rice and chicken broth until things are back to normal. Then the testing will begin and I will report on the most delicious kinds of treats.

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference

I am sorry that I haven't been able to blog for quite awhile. I was in the kennel at K9 Kindercare for 10 days while Barbara went to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference. This is a huge 5 day conference for dog trainers to learn the latest in positive reinforcement, dog behavior and training. Barbara goes every year so she can learn things to help more dogs. Over 1000 trainers came to the conference. Barbara is on the Board of APDT and on the conference committee so she had to go early and stay late to help with the set up and the planning for next year.

They had an entire day about dog play at the conference. I could have taught that class myself as I have very good play skills. But the best part of the conference, as far as I am concerned, is the trade show. Lots of vendors come and sell treats and toys and training equipment.

Kong gives every attendee a conference tote bag. There are lots of free treats from the vendors inside. Then Barbara goes around the trade show and buys more.



You can see that I am very anxious to get into that bag.





Look at this great pile of treats and toys. Some treats are duck and potato, some are peanut butter and many other delicious flavors. I will be doing some taste tests this week to determine the best kinds.





I thought that all these great toys were just for me but it seems some are for her students' dogs. This is not fair as they look like a lot of fun.



This is a special fox toy that is all mine!



I missed my person a lot while she was at the conference but I'm very glad that she went and I wish all dog trainers would educate themselves about the dog friendly training methods. There are too many people out there that call themselves dog trainers who don't know the first thing about training and shouldn't be training a gold fish never mind a dog. So I am going to learn lots of new things, play with new toys and get delicious treats!

Phydeaux

I was so pleased to get the "I Love Your Blog" Award from my Field Spaniel friend, Hero.


And then I was doubly pleased to get it awarded to me again by those three wild heelers, Gus, Louie and Callie.

Thanks so much guys. I'm glad you enjoy my blog. I love reading yours too.


Phydeaux (pronounced "Fido") is a cool independent pet supply store. They only sell food, toys, treats and all sorts of good stuff for dogs and cats but never any live animals. I would not patronize them if they did! They recently moved to a big new space and I wanted to visit and check it out.


Just look at the great assortment of delicious treats.



One corner is all beds. I bet Agatha and Archie would love this place.



The Wall of Toys!



I had to inspect my favorite treat dispensing toys.



I helped Barbara check out our purchases. She paid of course, but I made sure she was charged the correct amount.

We bought some of my favorite Solid Gold kibble and a moo stick which I have already buried in the yard.

Frosty Paw Failure

I like ice cream so I was very excited when Barbara said that she was going to make me homemade Frosty Paws which is a frozen dessert for dogs. I sat right next to the counter while all the ingredients went into the blender.



I watched very carefully as she poured the mixture into the paper cups hoping that Barbara would spill them on the floor.
Then they had to go into the freezer and I had to wait.



You can see that I am very interested in the little cup when it cam out of the freezer.



I am licking my chops in anticipation of frosty paw deliciousness cooling me off on this hot, humid day.



Here I am turning my head away in disgust. She must have done something wrong because it tasted awful!!! It was supposed to be delicious and it was a revolting mix of bananas and yougurt! I am crushed.



My person is supposed to be a good cook but you would never know it from that yucky mess.