Barking Up The Wrong Tree

New York Halloween Dog Parade

If the wintry weather is getting you down and you need a bit of cheering up, then I’d strongly suggest that you take a look at some of the pictures of the Annual New York Halloween Dog Parade.

While there have been suggestions that this is a humiliating experience for dogs, there’s no denying that many of the costumes are hilarious, and the dogs don’t appear to be too distressed by the event. At least, not on the photos.

Costumes range from pop stars like Lady Gaga to aircraft carriers, although I have to say that Tank the British Bulldog dressed as ‘The Runaway Bride’ and Jack as Don Draper from ‘Mad Men’ are among my personal favourites.

New Yorker pays $50,000 to have her best friend cloned

A woman who worked on Wall Street and is, perhaps surprisingly, married, had forked out $50,000 dollars so that her beloved dog will effectively never die.

She was so worried by the idea that her dog would be irreplaceable, that when she heard about the South Korean company offering cloning services, she decided to ensure she could get a carbon copy replacement.

Apparently, the new puppy not only looks like her first dog, but he also likes to play the same games and has a similar personality. The woman had thought of getting the clone done while her first pooch was still alive but then thought better of it…

Pet wigs!

On looking online for a gift for my friends new puppy, I was intrigued to find how outrageous some of the gifts that people can purchase for their furry friends can be!
A while ago, I was talking about people who choose to dress their pets up in different outfits, personally I do not think dressing pets up is a good idea. Yes, they may look good, but often the outfits are just not practical.
In order to make any outfit complete, I have discovered you can now purchase a wigs.
Dog lovers can now give their pets the ultimate make over!

Take your dog to School!

Following on from my blogs about my friends new puppy and the trouble she has been having with regards to her behaviour, she has therefore looked into taking it to dog training classes.
I have encouraged her to go ahead with the classes, as I think this is exactly what the puppy needs, but she is reluctant to go ahead simply on the basis of cost!
I could not believe how expensive some classes can be.
Luckily she has found a class which is not too far from where she lives and she can literally pay for as many classes as she feels the young pup needs.
I think if they simply cover the basics it will be worth it in the end!

Dogs and Exercise!

Yesterday I went for a walk with my partner in our local park. I love going for long walks and soaking up the fresh air of the great outdoors.
Yesterday, every other person we walked past must have had a dog with them and it was great to see dog owners taking the opportunity to exercise with their pets!
One person in particular caught my eye, he was riding his bike and his dog was on a lead running along next to him.
Obviously for one reason or another the owner did not want to let the dog off the lead, however the dog was able to run at quite a fast pace and the owner cycled.
I would not encourage everyone to try this, but it was clear the dog was used to running along next to the bike and he certainly looked like he was enjoying himself!

Pups will eat anything!

I recently mentioned that my friend had bought a puppy and that it had this unusual habit of jumping up incredibly high when it goes to greet people.
On visiting my friend again over the weekend, it was interesting to see the changes which had been implemented in the house, due to the new arrival! They have literally had to remove the majority of their belongings and furniture from their dining room completely!
Apparently, when left alone for even a short period of the time the puppy was interested in biting and chewing everything in sight, even though they had provided her with adequate toys and chews to keep her occupied.
Now I know this is not unusual, and to a point to be expected to some extent when you purchase a young puppy….. it just amazed me that even the dining furniture was not safe from being eaten!

Jumping pups!

My friend and her boyfriend got a new puppy a couple of months ago, and I remember when I went to see it for the first time I was expecting to find a small little dog curled up in my her arms, I could not have been more wrong!
On walking through the door this tall, thin and incredibly long limbed creature came bounding towards me and started jumping all over the place.
Obviously, I can imagine it was quite excited to have been rescued from the dogs home, although I have to say I have never seen a dog jump so high, so often and get so excited!
A number of months have passed and I thought the dogs behaviour would change and she would calm down at little having had time to get used to her new environment, unfortunately this is not the case and it is still behaving like a kangaroo!

Horse and Jockey pub in Chorlton named best dog friendly boozer

The Horse and Jockey pub in Chorlton-cum-hardy has been named the most dog friendly pub in Britain.
The pub which serves beef flavoured beer and ‘bark’ snacks won the accolade in a nationwide Kennel Club competition.

The Function manager at the Horse and Jockey, Emily Fisher, stated:

“We get loads of dogs in every week – they go for a walk on Chorlton Meadows and then drag their owners inside for beer and dog biscuits on the way home. One of our customers suggested the dog beer and it’s been a hit. We’ve had to restock it five times. All the staff here are dog lovers and we like giving out dog biscuits while we go round collecting glasses.

“The Jockey has been a community pub for 500 years and everyone is welcome – families, children and dogs.”

The beef beer is of course non-alcoholic so the dogs can still lead their owners home after they have partaken in a pint or two.

Watch your children around dogs

I had a conversation with my friend once about dogs being around children. Her opinion was that it is fine to leave children alone with a dog because the baby will learn not to wind up the dog eventually. For example, if the baby pulls the dogs tail and the dog growls at the baby the baby will not do it again. I completely disagree with this, I couldn’t believe she had said it, babies should NEVER be left alone with dogs – they are animals! You can never predict what they are going to do. You would have the most placid dog in the world but one day it could just turn round and bite you.

My advice is to be on your guard constantly and never leave a child alone with a dog – no matter how well behaved you think the dog may be.

What a mucky pup

He’s the master of mischief.

And Bobby lived up to his name yesterday as he arrived in France.

No sooner had his four paws hit the French soil than he was up to no good.

Bobby arrived safely after a 12 hour drive and after a good sniff about the house, he decided to have a look around the front garden and give it his seal of approval.

But he disappeared under the car only to return a completely different dog. He was black.

Bobby was covered from head to tail in black oil; you could barely make out that he was supposed to be white!

What an excellent start to the holiday – pinning down the dog in the kitchen sink.

What a mucky pup.