Dog Blog Links: 4th Edition

First off, thanks for all the input and corrections everyone in the comments. And thank you Tish (of Blogsweluv) for the rave review. It has been an exciting week for Finn, enjoying what is left of his adolescence before the big chop. The past few weeks have also been hectic for me, but I did make sure to scan the blogs and below are some of the things that caught my eye.

Our Furry Family: Murphy a border collie gets a whole flickr album from his version of the classic "blow bubbles at the dog" game.

My Paw Prints on the Web: A ten minute video of a really well trained puppy.

Lab Tails: The new puppies are now four weeks old.

Johann The Dog: A comprehensive list of all dog related holidays. There is even a google calendar you can add for yourself.

Pop Dog Blog: Simba barks at a overturned recycling bin, and asks what everyone else barks at. (Finn has barked twice, we have no idea what prompted either bark).

Love is a Four Legged Word: I like this blog overall and scrolling across pictures like this is why. You just have to think that is a cute dog.

Dogs Eye View: Some great quotes about dogs.

PetsitUSA.com: Lance Armstrong sure doesn't like it if your pet wants to LiveStrong.
My Doggie Says: A small puppy with a soccer ball. Tell me this doesn't brighten your day.

As always let me know if there is something I should add to my Google reader.

Getting a Puppy Neutered

I scheduled Finn's neutering apointment for two weeks from now. It was a bit sad, the little guy has no idea what we are doing to him. But alas, it is the law in California that pets must be spay and neutered (there are some exceptions). The surgery has the added benefit of controling Finn's hormones and staving off behavioral problems. Hopefully seventh months turns out to be the right age for Finn, but I don't want to put it off any longer and risk having him get hurt running around the neighborhood looking for a girl. He is not as innocent as he looks below, I know he has the energy to go crazy.

More on spay and neutering and some common questions. Any tips for helping Finn have a smooth surgery? Please leave a comment.

Dog. Meet Ocean.

We finally took Finn to the beach. It was last week acutally, but it was still too long of a wait for a California boy. Santa Monica is a great place but unfortunately they don't allow dogs on the actual beach. The pictures below are taken at the top of the cliffs up by Ocean Ave. Catalina was visible and we got out there about 30 min. before Sunset, so at least the long wait to see the ocean was worth it.

Good Dog Nicknames?

We recently began calling Finnegan "Bear". It is fitting as he is kinda like a giant stuffed bear. He is great to have lying around, it means there is always a pillow or foot rest or large furry object to pet. Having the puppy is like having a shadow. Whenever one of us walks up or downstairs Finn is there to make sure we have some company. Best of all, he curls up on the couch or bed the way a proper dog should.
Bear fits him. The teddy bear look coupled with his ferocious teeth and huge paws make referring to him as a large forest beast are a no-brainer. He sure acts like a wild dog sometimes, which is good so long as he does it in the right places. Here is the hole he dug in the side yard (a place he is encouraged to dig).This massive crevasse was the result of twenty minutes of puppy energy. Bear was walking around afterward with mud up to his underbelly and all over his nose. Of course his tail was going wild too, all proud of himself he was. As he should be though, dogs should dig. There are a whole list of things dogs should do and digging is an accepted part of this list. Also on the list, going nuts for bubbles. Espically the dog bubbles kind that are beef flavored. Okay so this may be one thing a bear would not do, but then again I've never seen a bear interact with bubbles. For now climbing couches, and eating food shaped like fish (Beneful) will be the reasons for Finn's nickname. I just hope he doesn't mind being called Bear.

Dog Costumes

Although it is NOT haloween somehow Finn was recently given a "bee costume". I am not a big fan of dog costumes, but Finn does make this thing look damn good. What is even better is that there is a website dedicated to pictures of dogs in bee outfits (Thank you Dan Qualye, I love the internet). There has been a lot of other fun and exciting things happening in Finn's life (first trip to the Ocean, first massive hole dug in an area of the yard that we don't care about) that I will be posting about this week. None of these posts will embarrass Finn though. We need to make sure he is well taken care of and in high spirits because he just passed his 6 month birthday which means we have to cut 'em off. Such a shame. Anyways here are the pictures.
If anyone else has good dog costumes of knows of a good idea please comment about it. We need to make sure we are prepared for the real Halloween.

Dog Hike in Los Angeles

Last weekend we took Finn on his first real outdoor experience. Until now we were worried he would tire out or simply be to hyper to enjoy the outdoors, but he proved he is ready. The park we took him to was Coldwater Canyon Park and it is also home to the environmental group Treepeople. Although Coldwater is a small park (45 acres) it connects to a series of other parks that together are over 1000 acres. The paths there are wide dirt paths and are friendly to a variety of activities. We encountered lots of other dogs, a few cyclists testing there uphill abilities, and at least one hiker carrying a baby on his back. Our adventure started at the top of the hill where we parked, just off Mulholland. After weaving our way down a few steps we got to the main path which we followed until it ended at a paved cul-de-sac. There we sat for a few minutes and let Finn drink water; he was panting a bit and we wanted to make sure he stayed well hydrated. on the way back up the hill we stopped and snapped a few pictures (partly because it was a nice view and partly because Finn needed to stop and collect himself).

Dog Blog Links: 3rd Edition

Here's some more links. Again all of these are in my Google Reader and have been starred for some reason.

The PetsitUSA.com: Very depressing story I'm warning you, it's a shame animal shelters do so much good work but the most press when they make a mistake that kills.

A Spiritual Dog Blog: Pet owners will appreicate the cartoon and can defiantly relate to the pets "have me trained" feeling.

Lab Tails: The puppies are getting big fast. There is a great video of all of them wandering around and trying to speak. If you think they are cute you may be able to get one over at the lab tails new breeding site.

Pappy's Dog Blog: Funny video of a dog enjoying a sweet slide.

Polka Dot Pup: A review of some useful items to help keep a dog cool during the summer months.

Pacco de Mongrel: There is a dog catching competition, if that's your thing, if not sign the petition to stop it.

Love is a Four Legged Word: A top ten list of why dogs and cats are better than kids.

Precious Moments: A cute little dog acts out how a chick is hatched.

Big Paw Blog: There is a well written and amusing list of things your dog does when you leave the house.

A Service Dog's Journey: A dog takes in a ballgame, those are the perks when you are a working pooch.

Ranger the Dog: Ranger was up for the Grand Marshal of a Fido walk. Unfortunately there was some shady voting so he's only a runner up. (Sorry I didn't post this sooner ranger)

Amber's Personal Diary: Amber lets us all know how she learned the shy trick. (We'll be teaching Finn this and many more tricks someday)

Pug Blog: Just a funny sign. This pug also has one of the best toys ever, Pluto.

Pop Dog Blog: A little late on this but Simba like my list of ficitonal dogs and added a bit with a top five list of cartoon dogs. I agree pretty much across the board.



As always I'm looking for more to read so if you have a site or a suggestions please let me know via comment or e-mail.

Dog Toy Squeaks Too Much

Over the long weekend my parents came to visit and we wound up going to the grove. Since their farmers market is great we went there and were able to make a stop at the Three Dog Bakery. While there we picked up a few treats for Finn and my madre got him a toy. Normally I love to get Finn a new toy but this thing is a blanket that has 25 squeaky things in it. 25! That is just uncalled for. There is no reason to give a 5 month old puppy something that can make 25 sounds all at once. Needless to say this is Finn's new favorite toy and I've had to take it away from a few times this week so I could concentrate. It is a great toy though because he is just so happy when he's making all that noise, he never barks so he needs to get it out.

In the pictures you can see Finn took to this toy right away(pdf). He is going so crazy the picture was blurry.

This toy is also great to throw, it flies just like a frisbee.

The grandparents

Neighboring Dogs Play Well Together

As I've mentioned before our neighbors have a dog and now that Finn is bigger we let them play together. Ozzy used to look a lot more menacing, but thanks to the recent heat wave (noted by other dog blogs like Spencer who lives in the valley and A spiritual Dog blog)he was shaved down to show his small stature. We know it is a good thing to let Finn meet other dogs and socialize. He has passed the puppy stage of meeting other pups and is now in the "I want to sniff you and roll around in the grass with you" stage. We also let Finn meet other dogs while walking, assuming he is behaving and the other owners agree. Hopefully we can find some smaller dogs to socialize him with too because it is good to let your dog get to know dogs of all sizes. Anyways, here are a few pictures of Finn and Ozzy at play, as well as one of the two of them posing for the camera (I am very proud of that picture as I got them both to ignore each other, sit, and focus on me).

Rolling in the grass

Bouncing all over each other

Posing for the camera

More jumping on each other (above and below)

Dogs and Cats Living Together

When we decided to get Finn the main worry we had was whether or not he would get along with the cats. Early on the cats would not deal with him through. Anytime Finn was around they would hide under the bed. Finn knew they were there but would mostly ignore them. Slowly the kittens got more courage and started venturing out of there hiding place. If they got to close to Finn they would quickly bolt back to there safe spot. Eventually they learned to let him sniff around, and they are even starting to play with him. Now when we bring Finn upstairs the cats will stay where they are and wait for Finn to come up and sniff them. If he is not extremely calm they'll leave. This is great, it teaches Finn to be relaxed, but still they're pawing at him worries me.

There are some tips on how to help cats and dogs get along (and not eat each others food).
I've read places that to make sure cats and dogs get along you should make sure the cats can get away (which they can). Hopefully we've given the proper introduction between the pets, they can all stay in the same room comfortably for a while just hanging out, but their play time is supervised. We figure there is no way to keep the puppy 100% calm all the time so we let the cats decide when they have had enough. We have not provided escape routes for them because they are so good at finding there own over all the furniture. There play can be entertaining but all the pets know that we at the top of the hierarchy though and will break it up when one of us steps in.

Here's Finn in a stand-off

There's Finn lying on the floor, the cats in the background.

Finn, paying attention to the camera and not the kitten.

They will stand like this for a while someimtes.

Still just feeling things out in this picture.