Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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.

Overcoming those obstacles

If your dog is anything like mine, when they’re out on a walk, it’s a challenge to even get them to walk the right way around a lamppost.

The result is a very confused dog pulling away at a lead which is wrapped several times around the post.

But it seems, this is not a problem Kenny Spottiswoode has had to deal with. Because his four year old dog Nike recently won the Pedigree Highland Agility Stakes final held at the Scottish Game Fair in Scone.

The Dundee trainer has been training and competing with dogs for almost ten years and he says that the secret to dog agility and training is to have lots of fun. He says that the best way to train is by doing two training sessions a week for five minutes at a time.

Kenny also stressed that the most important thing is to create a strong bond with your dog so that they enjoy the training.

Nike was required to tackle an obstacle course of jumps, tunnels and seesaws during the competition. It sounds like a big challenge to me. I think me and my dog will start off by mastering that lamppost.

The life of Bobby

I’ve kept him quiet up until now. But I think it’s about time to introduce you to my dog, Bobby.
Bobby is a West Highland White Terrier. And much like most dogs of this breed, he has a very distinct personality.

You can often find Bobby burying his face in dirt, trying to escape over fences and running away for a little holiday in next door’s garden. Mischievous doesn’t even begin to cover it.

This cheeky little dog has just turned two and when he reached this milestone I noticed a definite shift in his behaviour.

Although he still indulges in the occasional mischief, Bobby now spends more time sleeping. In fact, it’s very difficult to get him to do anything else sometimes.

He has got into the habit now of sleeping on the bed. But when the morning comes and everyone gets up, Bobby decides to go back to bed in true teenager fashion. He even gets under the covers and rests his head on the pillow!

Clearly, Bobby has matured over his two years. He has grown out of his naughty puppy tricks and now likes to enjoy a leisurely day relaxing, eating and sleeping.

Well, at least, I did think that until the other day, when I found his face buried in a muddy puddle again. Some dogs never learn.

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.

Following the dog trend

The minute Cheryl Cole wears a slightly different shade of lipstick, masses of girls are swarming the makeup counters to try to match it. In fact, most trends these days are dictated by celebrities.

And it is no different with dogs.

Although buying a dog should be treated as a serious decision and they should never be treated as fashion accessories, a lot of people seem to be inspired by breeds that are popular with celebrities.

One of my favourite breeds is the Pug. And these little guys seem to be extremely popular with the celebrities too, with Jessica Alba owning two called Syd and Nancy.

This breed is particularly striking with its wrinkly, short muzzled face and stocky build. Pugs are playful and like any dog, can offer a real sense of companionship.

But with this unusual dog costing around £1000, I think it might be a while before I indulge. Perhaps I’ll just treat myself to that new shade of lipstick for now.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

As the weather hots up this summer, the ice-cream vans are out in force. But before we run out and order that 99 with a flake, it’s really important to make sure that our dogs are kept hydrated.

It’s all very well us humans going out and enjoying the weather, but spare a thought for your four legged friend whilst you’re out sunning yourself.

There have been a few dog deaths recently as a result of careless people leaving them in cars. And it has even been reported that two police dogs have died after being left in a hot vehicle outside the force headquarters.

Lessons must be learnt from this. So before you run off to that ice-cream van, just make sure that your furry friend is in a cool, comfortable place, with plenty of water. Then you can sit back, relax and enjoy that 99…perhaps even with an extra flake!

Shocking dog thefts

Dog thieves have stolen dogs worth £5000 from a yard in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.

The incident occurred overnight last Friday. And the thieves took five dogs but dropped one of the puppies as they fled the scene.

A two year old black Pug worth £1000, a Chihuahua, worth £800 and four Chihuahua puppies valued at £800 each were taken by the thieves.

One of the Chihuahua puppies was dropped by the thieves and was later spotted and returned to its owner.

The theft happened on Finvoy Road in Ballymoney between the hours of 9:30pm on Friday and 6:30am on Saturday. Police have made an appeal for any information.

That guilty look

You walk into the room, only to find your dog’s head buried in the rubbish bin. And what follows is what can only be described as a look of guilt.

At least, I thought it was guilt. But researchers at a New York college think otherwise. Barnard College carried out an experiment where they tricked owners into thinking innocent pets had misbehaved.

Most of the owners claimed they could see that guilty look even when dogs had really done nothing wrong.

The study found that there was no link between the owner’s claim of reading a guilty look and whether the dog had misbehaved.

Well no matter what the scientists say, I still believe that dogs can display their emotions. After all, when their head has been buried in the rubbish bin, they’re right to look guilty.