Let's Do the Toki Poki and Turn Yourself Around....

by Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
Which is the Coolest Trading Card?

A couple of weeks ago our mom went to a bloggers' conference where she met lots of nice folks. Our favorite is a lady named Christy, with Toki Poki. She designed some super cool trading cards that have us pups on them. Really!

We got ours in the mail about a week ago. Tanner and I are having a disagreement over whose card is coolest. Mom abstains from the voting, so we're sorta stuck in limbo here.

Tell ya what. I'll put both our cards at the top of this post and you guys can vote. We'll see who wins. Then I'll dance for the winner next week. So help us out and leave a comment to vote for your favorite trading card: Oliver or Tanner?

What? You say you need to see the back of the card to choose? Okay....go to All Things Dog Blog, where you can see the back of the cards. You can also find out more of the cool stuff that you can do at Toki Poki. Don't forget to come back and VOTE!

Music to Calm Your Canine Companion: Oliver Announces the Winner

by Oliver

© Carrie Boyko
Whew! I Made it!
I Need a Relaxation Session Now...

Okay, guys, I swam to the shallow step....all the way across the whole pool. Did I mention we have a lap pool; it's very long!

Now I need a good, calming nap. I've got just the thing...Lisa Spector's music, called Through a Dog's Ear. My mom got her selection from Lisa, and we really enjoy napping with it. It has become mom's favorite weapon for making sure we calm down after an activity, and enjoy a peaceful, relaxing nap while she works.

The winner of today's drawing is Dawn, from Pet Auto Safety.  She'll be getting the CD shown below. If you'd like one too, you can follow the link to Amazon and purchase your own. Enjoy your nap; I'll be snoozing with my buds. PS. Xena snores!

Fleas and Dogs: Looks Like We'll be Smelling Like a Peppermint Factory Again!

by Tanner

© Carrie Boyko
No Fleas on Brent and Tanner

I'll never forget our experience with the peppermint treatments after we went camping. My momma doesn't like to use insecticides in our yard or home. She worries about our health. So when we came home with ticks, she got the big guns out--you know, the ones with red and white stripes that folks eat at Christmas time! JK, but it did smell like that around here.

You'll have to read her post about it to truly understand how well it worked: No More Ticks for Tanner. My mom and Dr. Pat both say that fleas and ticks don't like essential oils like peppermint, so every time we go to the dog park, mom sprays us down with peppermint spray or cedar oil spray. Dr. Pat and our friend Patti had a good idea to spray the mist on our bandanas. She said it would work best for little dogs like Oliver. I don't mind the spray on me, but Xena acts all girly about it. She dances around and looks silly. Oh well, as long as it works, it's okay with me. Fleas are no fun!

Dog Treats? We're Available for Taste Testing...

by Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
Sit for a Treat...No Problem
Free of Charge!

Mom's got some great ideas today over at All Things Dog Blog. For a change, she's not embarrassing me. I'll sit....stay....down....you name it, for a treat. I don't even charge.

Last weekend when mom and I went to Pet Xprs's party, I had fun showing off my great skills at 'Leave It', 'Take It', and Stay. The nice trainer lady loved me. What's not to love?

Speaking of love...I really enjoyed the Rally course she had set up. I'm hoping mom might consider taking me to try that out sometime. Sounds like fun. Anything is fun if I do it with my mom.

You better go check out her post on treat choices if you're training your dog to do anything cool like 'Leave It'. She knows all the best treats! Happy training.

Pack Leader? More Like a Dog General...

by Xena, Tanner and Oliver

© Carrie Boyko
Rules! Let's Just go Play...

Our mom is yammering over at her blog about all the stuff she does to keep us 'in line.' Really, do we look like a bunch of trouble to you? Of course not. We're perfect angels.

There needn't be any rules because we never do anything except Sit, Stay, Retrieve, and Walk. Okay, maybe we do Eat occasionally, but that's not against the rules, is it?

We've decided that it's time to get mom to mellow out a bit. She's got to tone down this pack leader business and remember that we're here to have fun. Got any ideas?

We're desperate. You see, mom has plans for more of this business about multi-dog packs tomorrow. Apparently, she's even giving a prize for readers that comment on her post. Wish we could do that. We'll work on it. Donations please?!!

Right now, we're just hoping all our friends at the dog park are not going to be mad at us because our mom is causing such regimented discipline. Help!

Puppy Calendar Giveaway Announcements by Oliver, CGC

by Oliver

(c) A. BoykoOliver
Announces Calendar Winners

The big day has come and I am excited to give away my first prizes. Mom helped me pull 3 names out of the entry jar and here we go. Drum roll, please!

The winners are:

Anita Niki Maas

Lori Meca

Mistressnovella

We'll need your addresses, ladies, so send them to LetsAdoptaDogPark@gmail.com, and we'll get your prizes in the mail as soon as our little paws can manage it.

• 
  

• We had one little glitch with the prizes. Turns out one of the calendars is for 2010; apparently that's a problem. Oops! So, the third name drawn, Mistressnovella, will have two choices:

• • • 
      
    • • • 1. 
             
    
    

(1) Take a prize package of miscellaneous surprise goodies for your pup (I'll need to know his weight and sex (M/F) to make selections. Trust me; I have great stuff!

(2) Have your name added to the entry jar 3 more times to increase your chances of winning another goodie next time. (Hint: I have a drawing coming up for big readers; perhaps this would be one you'd love!)

Thanks to all of you who entered (Lea, Olliegator, and Jamie) for your participation. The good news is that your name is still in the entry jar, which means you could win a prize at any time in future drawings. 

You can enter as often as you wish, so keep up the good work. Mom says the more you enter, the better chance you have of winning, so be sure to watch All Things Dog Blog for our weekly drawings. We even have some games planned for prize giveaways; me and Tanner love to play games. Hope you come to join us.

It's time for me to go take a walk now. We'll be watching our email for the winners to send their addresses and other information. Thanks again!

Watch for more upcoming prize drawings:

• Dog Reading bonanza (fiction, nonfiction, magazines, how-to's, and more)
• Toy-breed dog package of specially selected things for your little guy (or girl!)
• Music to calm your canine companion--specially formulated to relax and calm your dog without putting you to sleep. This music is performed by Lisa Spector, concert pianist.
• Toki Poki Tshirt (with a Boston Terrier on the front)
• Dog food samples for the finicky eater at your house.
• Collars, collars and collars (many colors)
• 1 very special toy for a big dog with lots of play energy
• More Tshirts from pet related companies coming your way
• A toy-breed dog carrier made of eco-fabric with a padded bed lining.
• and lots more goodies coming your way...

Do You Have a Holistic Vet? We do!

by Xena, Tanner and Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
Don't Miss Dr. Pat's Video

We're all here today to make sure you watch Dr. Pat's first video presentation, Holistic Pet Care 101. It's pawsome!

Dr. Pat is the Ask the Vet columnist over at All Things Dog Blog, where our mom tries to help dog owners live happily with their pups. We're doing pretty good here, thanks to all her efforts. What's not to love about walks, swimming, training with treats, dog park visits and 2 squares a day?

But when a pup gets sick, sometimes they need a doctor. We love Dr. Pat's approach to doctoring. She's not entirely about popping pills and jabbing shots. It's good to know when there are alternatives (wow! that was a big word for us). That's why you should watch her video. It's short and sweet; you'll love it.

Yummy Frozen Yogurt Treats

by Tanner

(c) Carrie Boyko
Day Dreaming of Another Pupsicle

We love it when mom starts cooking up treats. She's been working on a doggie cookbook for a while, but she says it still has a way to go.

If you guys like to make yummies for your pups, we'd love to share your recipes over at All Things Dog Blog. I can't think of anything better than lots of moms cooking up lots of goodies for their pups.

I just had a great idea. Oliver's birthday is coming up next month. Maybe we should have a 'pupcake'. Any recipes out there?

How Embarrassing: Dog Potty Schedules do NOT Belong on a Blog!

by Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
"I Can't Show My Face"

I got word that my mom is talking about my bathroom schedule over at her blog, All Things Dog Blog. I plan to give her a piece of my mind. Any ideas?

Apparently, she's had some readers write to her with back yard issues. I'm sure their dogs are embarrassed too. I can't show my face today.

Hopefully you don't have a dog with timing trouble, but I guess if you do, my mom knows how to help. You can read her stuff at her blog. Not here. No way! No how!

Vacancy? Dogs Want to Stay Too!

by Tanner and Xena

Us big dogs like to travel too, and the belly of an airplane is not our dream. Neither is the campground always our best choice.  We love mom's bed, whenever we can manage to snag a spot.


Could you help us get the pet friendly travel folks to roll out the red carpet for us good-natured, well-behaved larger pups? Sign the petition if you'd like to give us a paw up. Thanks!


Online Petition

It's a Dog's Life: 10 Things about Oliver

by Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
ZZZZZ....Don't Bother Me Now

Hi! Oliver here. It's finally my turn to tell you about me. Strap on your seatbelt. I have quite a story:

1. I'm a puppy store pup. Yup! But there's more to the story. I came in very sick and they were going to send me back to the breeder. The nice breeder decided I might not make the trip back without a doctor to look after me, so she gave me to the store. She told them they had to adopt me out to a loving family. Toni, my girl, adopted me as soon as I got well. She says she's a sucker for a Pap face! I had to stay in the "hospital" for about a week to take medicine and get plenty of sleep. Doc took good care of me and here I am...good as new.
2. I'm a Papillon. That means butterfly in French. My ears look sorta like butterflies.
3. My grandmom fell in love with me too. Soon afterwards we adopted me a cousin to live with her. His name is Jacque. We love to play together.
4. My boy, Brent, says I can be defined by the statement "Where is my mom". He's sorta a tease, and I think he's picking on me because I like to be by my mom all the time. What's wrong with that?
5. I weigh 9 1/2 pounds; they classify me as a toy-sized dog. I'm not a toy, though; I'm a real dog. Some would say I'm little, but I go to the big dog park with my packmates, Xena and Tanner, all the time. I play with Marmaduke the Great Dane, Sherman the English Mastiff, and all the other big dogs too. So, I ask you, what's the big deal if I'm sorta big-challenged?
6. I love to take walks, bike runs, dog park visits, meet new people, play with Jacque and Gram, and keep track of my family's coming and going. I'm in charge of keeping tabs on who is home and who is out.
7. Right now I'm a little confused about that. One of my boys works in Virginia. Another one works in Thailand. My girl is away at college. So that just leaves me with mom and dad--they're easy.
8. My proudest moment was when I earned my CGC, before Tanner. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!  Sorry, I couldn't help it.
9. Tanner is jealous of me for getting my CGC first. When we arrived to take the test, it had just rained, and about a hundred ducks landed on the lakefront. Retriever + Ducks =  Big Trouble. Sorry Tanner!
10. The feather in my cap is that I was the first 'cover dog' for All Things Dog Blog. That's my Mom's blog, where she writes about happy dogs and happy families. 

I'm exhausted now. Naptime! Catch ya another time?

Dog Rescue Stories Raise Awareness about Puppy Mills

by Tanner

(c) Happy Tails Books, LLC

While Mom was at the Blogpaws conference, she met loads of nice people. One was Kyla Duffy, a nice young lady who put on a super duper aerial show, set to a video presentation, that wowed everyone.


Mom says her performance was tough to beat, but that she does something even better. She publishes books to help educate folks on the woes of puppy mills and bunches of stories about rescued dogs. This one at left (yes! I know right and left; I studied agility) is about Golden Retrievers, so naturally, it's my favorite. 


If you want to look at this book, just click the photo to take you to it. You can also check out their books about other breeds, including Assistance Dogs, by visiting them at Happy Tails Books.


Would you like to have your pet's story in a Happy Tail Book? They're looking for rescue dog stories and would love to hear from you, especially if you work for a rescue group and have lots of contacts. Check out the guidelines at Happy Tails Books.


One more woof....if you share a story with Happy Tails, please be sure to let us know when to watch for it. We love to read our readers' stories.


You can find Happy Tails' ad in the sidebar at All Things Dog Blog, as well. Their mission is awesome, so be sure to visit them to learn more.

Blogpaws is Over and Mom's Home...

by Xena, Tanner and Oliver

We're glad to report that our mom finally made it home from Denver's pet blogging conference on Sunday evening, just in time to feed us. Whew!


She met lots of other bloggers, listened to presentations and met a bunch of dogs. We gave her a good once over when she walked in and she smelled a lot like Judy, the photography teacher's model. I guess that means we'll be posing for more photos, but we don't mind. We're good models too. 


We are a bit miffed that we didn't get to go, so we're going to be pestering her for a trip next year. We want to meet Judy and all the other pups that went to Denver without us. Mom says only one can go, so maybe you guys should leave comments and tell her who should come along. C'mon! Help us out!


For now, we're just glad to get back in a routine. We missed the 3 on 1 walks. But there's more....Mom brought home tons of goodies to give out as prizes. Watch All Things Dog Blog for her giveaways. It's going to be epic.


Before she starts handing stuff out, we better go sniff through it and dig out our favorites. Maybe we'll even find a few to give out here. 


What should we keep, huh guys? More importantly, where can we hide it?  Xena votes for underneath her bed. That won't work for Oliver; his bed is too little. Any ideas?

Even Dog Vacations Have to End: Home Sweet Home

by Tanner and Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
Great Vacation. Naptime Now.


Mom is back from Blogpaws, the pet bloggers' conference. She says she had a great time learning lots to help her out with All Things Dog Blog. She met lots of other bloggers. Who'd of thunk?


We spent our time at our favorite place to play: Bow Wow Resort. We have bunches of friends, indoor and outdoor play spaces, lots of shade, a splash pool, and more. Xena even enjoyed the senior citizen program. You know, rocking chairs and lots of shade.


For now, though, we just want to sleep. We're pooped from all that playtime at "camp." Mom is trying to help us out with our blog, but we said, "Talk to the paw!" G'nite.

Social Networking for Dogs? Hmmmm....

by Oliver

(c) Carrie Boyko
Tanner and Oliver
Network with the Toys

Mom is really giving this social networking thing a full court press--well sorta. She thinks we should be trying out all these sites she has found out about. She wrote about them today at All Things Dog Blog; I guess it's kinda cool.

What's she thinkin, though? We have a life--no time for keeping up with all the dogs around the planet.

Funny thing is when she started us watching videos on Zoogletube, we got a real charge out of it. We even got to watch some doggie birthday parties, so we've decided we need to plan one for me. Well, okay, I guess I decided that.

I want to invite all my friends and have a Halloween theme, since I was born in October. My "cousin" has a really cool pumpkin costume, but I don't think he can come; he lives too far away. What d'ya think; would you like to come? Guess I better go get busy on my costume; I'd like to be a Rottweiler. Any ideas?

It's a Dog's Life: 10 Things about Tanner

by Tanner

© Carrie Boyko

Trusting Tanner Loves his Girl

When Oliver and Xena voted to write our "10 Things" list, I voted against it. I'm just too busy for all this nonsense. But we agreed to be Democratic about it, so I'm stuck:

1. My family got me from a Golden Retriever breeder who said I was a non-standard pup that was only worthy of a dog-chow fee. I think that translates to "I was cheap". I am taller than all the other Goldens and have a knobby head. Mom likes it, so it doesn't bother me a bit.
2. I've taken more obedience classes in my life than any dog on the planet. Well, maybe. I'm super duper at Down, Stay.
3. I'm happy, curious, fearless, friendly, confident, playful, and a fast runner. Ask any of the dogs at the dog park. "Eat my dust!"
4. Mom says I'm submissive and she likes that. I'm not sure I know what it means, but she always pats my head and hugs me when she says it, so I guess it's good.
5. I walk and swim almost every day. I would stay outside all day long if Mom would stay outside too. I really like being with her.
6. I have a favorite couch that mom let's me sleep on, since I'm well behaved. I guess that means I'll lose that privilege if I don't behave, so I try really, really hard to be a good boy. I promise not to chew on another UNC hat, Dad.
7. My nickname is Houdini because I can open just about anything: chain link fence gates, my front door, our cat's door, Oliver's crate, and our high-security, child-guard gate. So much for high security, huh! It's my job to teach our visitors how to open the gate; most of them can't figure it out.
8. I trust my Mom and Toni so much that I even let them carry me on their shoulders. They never drop me. You can see my picture at the top of this post with Toni, and one with my mom near the top of the blog.
9. Some things I like to do outside are dog park visits, walks, agility practice, biking, hiking, camping, greeting my neighbors in my yard, and....
10. My 2 very favoritist things to do are play fetch and swim. Fetching in water is the bestest of all.

Can we play Fetch now?

Salmon What? Is This Really a Dog Thing?

by Patches,
the 5 Minutes for Fido housecat

Hmmm? I'm hearing all this talk and chatter about Salmon-ella. All I hear is the first part of that word, and off I run to the kitchen. Where is it? It's got to me here somewhere. Yet I can't smell it.

Sometimes I wonder about this dog blog business that I've managed to find myself in the middle of. Really! What self-respecting cat wants to live in a houseful of dogs that seem to be all about themselves and their personal, private website? Me, I guess.

I have a great setup here. I get two squares a day, extras when dad rolls past my "room", my own kitty door, food area and litter box house. I even have an upstairs that the dogs pretty much ignore, so it has become my room--my perch. I love to sit on the steps and just watch the goings on below. When I do venture down, the dogs are okay....as dogs go. I'm not crazy about them (except Xena; she adopted me, I can't complain about her), but I love mom's lap, so I snag it whenever the dogs are out on a walk or dog park trip with Dad or our kids that come and go. It's glorious to have her all to myself occasionally.

Back to the Salmon. Turns out that is an illness, not chow for me. Bummer. Sorry I messed up today's post you guys. I just couldn't resist getting in on some Salmon. Maybe another time?

Us Dogs Love Being Part of a Family

by Tanner

(c) Carrie Boyko
Walking with Family Helps us Bond

I'd be nowhere if it weren't for my family. Dogs, just like you people, are social creatures. We like to be surrounded by our loved ones and do things with them. We're not loners.

One of my favorite pack-family things to do is walk together. My 'boy', Brent, was home recently for a short visit. Oliver and I got him out nearly every day for some much-needed exercise. He took us to a lot nearby where we ran and played Frisbee. Don't tell mom, but he throws the Frisbee bunches better than she does.

Now my Brent is gone off to work in some faraway place, and once again I'm left to keep charge of just mom, dad, Oliver and Xena. Today mom shared a 'Rescuing Rover' story over at All Things Dog Blog. It's from my friend Ginny's mom, Nancy. You might enjoy her story if you like to read about successful doggie adoptions. Ginny and I have spent many fun times running agility courses  with her dad, Danny. Ginny is much better than me, though. That's okay. They have a nice family of 3 dogs too, just like us. Isn't family great?!!!