Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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.

Man’s best friend

Even when you’ve made a catastrophic mistake, you can always rely upon your dog to stick by you. The dog won’t turn its back on you or be disappointed, or laugh at you.

It’s a bond that only dog owners understand.

But now children in Dorset are getting to experience this unique relationship, as dogs there are being used to help primary school children learn to read.

The people behind this new scheme are The Caring Canines charity. Volunteer dog owners sit with the children, from St Michael’s Primary School in Bournemouth, with their terriers, Labradors and Shetland sheepdogs.

Unlike children, the dogs don’t laugh when a child makes a mistake or stammers over a word and this is said to build their confidence and motivate them when it comes to reading.

But what do the dogs get in return? Well, they are treated to a good old stroke and playing session after the reading is finished.

It’s not the most conventional classroom method, but I say that anything involving dogs has got to be a good thing.

Perhaps it’s time we started bringing our dogs into work. Purely for motivational reasons of course.

Not so U.G.L.Y

To me, dogs are like babies. They are all beautiful.

But that’s not the general consensus at Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California. Here they hold an annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest where celebrity judges choose one lucky winner for the title.

This year’s winner was Pabst, a boxer-mix shelter dog. Pabst sports a unique under bite as well as an adorable frown.

His owner, Miles Egstad was a first timer at the competition and won $1,600 in total during the dog competitions. And as part of his prize, Pabst won a year-round modelling contract which he signed with his paw.

Pabst was a rescue dog adopted by Egstad three years ago and he is the first ‘mutt’ to win the contest in more than seven years.

Some say he’s got a face that only his mother could love, but I think Pabst is adorable. Despite that prominent under bite.

Energy Certificate and Pet Dog equals Misconception

Recently, the government announced that it is now the law for each home to have/obtain Energy Performance Certificates. Probably 90% of the people out there have no idea what these are or what they are used for. Basically, it’s a rating from A to G where A implies your home is very energy efficient and G being not very efficient.

Now, talking about these energy certificates, you might be wondering what on Earth do these have to do with Dogs. Well, this is the misconception…

Lots and lots of people are under the misconception that owning a pet cat or dog will decrease the rating on your energy certificate.

Well, you may be pleased to know that this is not the case for most. Maybe, and just maybe if you own ten or more cats and dogs, then this may potentially affect your energy rating if you are not well set-up, but I personally think this is not the case.

So what’s your opinion on this? Do you think that by owning a pet dog, the government should decrease the energy certificate rating for your home and business?

Many would not like this but I’m sure there are a few out there who would like to see a decrease?

What do you say to this?

Office and dogs don’t go together

This point really needs to be stressed in this day and age.

Lots of people don’t really realise the fact that lots and lots of office workers out there do not like the fact of having any sort of pets in the office, except if it’s fish as these don’t get in the way of anyone working in the office.

It’s not that people don’t like pets in the office; it’s just that when the pets, cats and dogs start to raid the office furniture, this is when it stops people from working. This is the major point. Staff find it difficult to work, especially when they have deadlines and meeting to meet and attend.

This goes to all the office bosses and managers out there. Bringing animals and pets to the office can really bring down and destroy the morale of the people.

Some people also have a really strong phobia with dogs and cats. When they come within a 100 meter’s of one, they begin to feel funny quite dodgy.

Basically, my point is that in the end of the day, the best action to take is not to bring an animal which could potentially cause anyone even a little bit on uneasiness to the office. An office is a place to work, not to relax!

Keeping dogs off the office furniture

A friend of mine works in HR and was telling me about the Take Your Dog to Work Day that runs every year.  Our place of work decided to not bother with this, although several members of staff wanted to bring their dogs to work.  The worry was that what one owner considers a well behaved dog, others don’t.  Plus I guess some people are allergic to dogs and there’s always the worry that they might fight or not get on, or may just wreck the office, after all, I doubt the MD would be too pleased at seeing dogs chewing his office furniture or cocking their leg up at the office desks.

However, this friend of mine works at a place that decided to try it.  Apparently, the day was a roaring success (there was no chewed office furniture or anything apparently) and she has now been asked to investigate the practicalities of allowing dogs in the office.

Their office is much smaller than ours with fewer staff, so nobody is allergic and the atmosphere is a little more relaxed.  I do doubt that the concept would work in our larger office but still, it would be a nice idea.  I’ve read reports in the past that dogs in the workplace make people feel more relaxed and comfortable, but still, I doubt our MD would see it that way..

Dog films

Is it me or are there an awful lot of dog related films coming out at the moment?

Off the top of my head, the ones I can think of at the moment include:

• Marley and Me (think I might watch this one, I quite like Jennifer Aniston films when I’m not in the mood for an action film or anything, they’re quite easy-watch stuff)
• Beverley Hills Chihuahua (I mean, what?  the stuff they come out with!)
• Hotel for Dogs
• Bolt

I sometimes wonder if they do it on purpose.  It’s the same with war films or other such ideas, they’re just like buses, you wait for ages and then three come along at once.  For dog lovers, they’re now stuck for choice and I’m sure not everyone will go to the cinema to watch all four.

Personally, I think I might try to see Marley & Me but then again, I might wait to watch the DVD.  I’m interested to hear what everyone thinks of them though so feel free to drop a comment if you’re going to see them or not

Using a psychic to find a lost dog

Now I love my dog and if she went missing, I’d be gutted, however, one rather wealthy couple have really gone all out to find their dog.

Bracco is an Italian hound, worth around £1200, but naturally he is priceless to his owners.  He went missing in January when he got excited and ran off following a deer.

Since then the couple has taken two weeks off work, costing them around £3000 as it’s unpaid leave, to search for the dog and have even hired a private plane to search for him, bought night time binoculars to help see him and now had a psychic reading to see if it they could help.

I’m not sure if I’d consult a psychic to find my dog.  The couple said of the psychics:

One told us that she had spoken with Jacob, who said he was ‘OK and trying to make his way home.’

He said he had just wanted to go on an adventure. He is still alive and wants to get back.

Now, excuse me, but doesn’t a psychic make contact with spirits from the other side?  So if he’s still alive, how did he talk to them?  Load of rubbish if you ask me.

What to call Obama’s dog?

Barack Obama has been elected to do what is arguably one of the toughest jobs in the world.  He has a highly responsible position and as such his decisions will form part of history.  He has the world’s economy to sort out, jobs to find for out of work US citizens, wars to reign in and yet the decision he has that appears to have generated more publicity and attracted more media attention than anything else is what dog he should have and what the dog should be called.  Talk about the world’s obsession with man’s best friend!

So I give in, come on then, for a bit of fun, which dog breed do you think Obama should have and what name do you think he/she should be given and why?

Leave your suggestions below!