tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84812391283052018442024-03-05T14:03:02.391-05:00Oscar the Pooch: A Miniature Schnauzer BlogOscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-82820016915889525002012-03-18T18:04:00.000-04:002012-03-18T18:04:42.955-04:00New Blogging AdventuresHello, everyone! Everyone who may still be reading, that is....<br />
<br />
I'm sorry I've been absent for so long. It was getting to a point where I found I had less and less to blog about when it came to little Oscar, and I didn't want to post things just for the sake of posting things. So blogging kind of fell by the wayside.<br />
<br />
Oscar is still happy and well, and while he is calmer, he still has his moments where he counter surfs and his habit of stealing gloves, tissues and such and running off to chew them has not slowed down one bit. He's still charming and cute as ever though!<br />
<br />
While I haven't really updated Oscar the Pooch, I have started a new blog with wider subject matter, like my cooking and gardening adventures - and of course, Oscar still makes an appearance here and there. The new blog is called <a href="http://thecaptivatinglife.blogspot.com/">The Captivating Life</a>, so if you want to stop by and visit, that would be lovely. Any Oscar adventures would be found there, rather than on Oscar the Pooch.<br />
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I hope to see you at my new blog, and thanks so much for reading!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDDQ0PcVVhznN5qwFmZXLSROOJv_ciIoLNZL_fX6hEtL1bSPlNdCLvBcbhyphenhyphenXvtmBKPvxnuyahHrAcxAJcGVGW6GHmKQBSaW7xnwVqKALNW6qlOvsgeQC2_6k1BhMUnCN83f-wfrBSdJM/s1600/Oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDDQ0PcVVhznN5qwFmZXLSROOJv_ciIoLNZL_fX6hEtL1bSPlNdCLvBcbhyphenhyphenXvtmBKPvxnuyahHrAcxAJcGVGW6GHmKQBSaW7xnwVqKALNW6qlOvsgeQC2_6k1BhMUnCN83f-wfrBSdJM/s400/Oscar.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar enjoying a nice, long spring walk today</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-49313810245859855642011-09-01T19:03:00.000-04:002011-09-01T19:03:45.890-04:00Again with the Burrs?Really? Blargh.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQCr1CLViGQ8lCPP-ZG-UHYSNO4xLVdmG4ku4U-CrQ-71irALebWQqJcTxaRukwqE3vaPPszm13v2eq5yNaBe5svtQUpElOJwjwiNF-WEPWLPVvGicanHWCr7XZfydWPH977y4g1Uxsw/s1600/DSC01210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQCr1CLViGQ8lCPP-ZG-UHYSNO4xLVdmG4ku4U-CrQ-71irALebWQqJcTxaRukwqE3vaPPszm13v2eq5yNaBe5svtQUpElOJwjwiNF-WEPWLPVvGicanHWCr7XZfydWPH977y4g1Uxsw/s400/DSC01210.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0im6HYugKVHxfs-Z9y0JWy4Ao-CKWOnirst5QpZT3KkYe4jckI1i4xzPZ9kwuw0AY0cMNXuMA7mWqAYBftne-bCoJQmbVNepS4FwafPw6PDHrrNja0vAEEK1JDZnCXK5qF0ZgsVjSvo/s1600/DSC01211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0im6HYugKVHxfs-Z9y0JWy4Ao-CKWOnirst5QpZT3KkYe4jckI1i4xzPZ9kwuw0AY0cMNXuMA7mWqAYBftne-bCoJQmbVNepS4FwafPw6PDHrrNja0vAEEK1JDZnCXK5qF0ZgsVjSvo/s400/DSC01211.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-2438719939350236672011-08-29T22:40:00.000-04:002011-08-29T22:40:51.192-04:00One Step Forward, Two Steps Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's what it feels like sometimes living with a puppy. I do still think of Oscar as a puppy, even though he's over a year old. Some days there is progress in his training and behaviour, and other days it's back to the same bad habits. He's not really backtracking though, so I suppose maybe it's one step forward, one step back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today I was very pleasantly surprised when I took out his harness before his walk and he sat still and actually let me clip it on without fidgeting at all. I don't remember that ever happening before! I was so proud. He did still try to chew on it a couple of times, but he has gotten so much better with it than when we first put it on him. He chewed through the first one we got, but this one has been fine so far.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On his walk, he started out pretty excited, so unfortunately he did bark at a few people that he passed, which he hasn't done in a long time. I did notice that he was much better with watching me as he walked, though, and didn't pull nearly as much as usual. I was actually quite impressed with how often he looked up at me as he walked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My excitement about his progress with loose leash walking didn't last long. As soon as we got back to the yard and I tried to unclip his leash from his harness, he started struggling and crashed straight into some weeds that have tons of burrs on them. I guess that's what I get for being lazy with yard maintenance. So while he looked pretty pleased with himself when he got home, he ended up fighting me for ten minutes afterwards as I pulled burrs out of his fur. It was a bit of a struggle, to say the least.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD8kzVNIknviD0H2dcAcqWkvaxXctXLgV6ads-FVOE4aQwKFyz5YQ2SrWzYtrkOYbYrs6VoA1jg-g6CH2Cec8fXf_-wvXSzaH3lcwduaYJhWYhjjrmi4Orf3HQE3m82TXX4lxWFmk6kc/s1600/DSC01191+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD8kzVNIknviD0H2dcAcqWkvaxXctXLgV6ads-FVOE4aQwKFyz5YQ2SrWzYtrkOYbYrs6VoA1jg-g6CH2Cec8fXf_-wvXSzaH3lcwduaYJhWYhjjrmi4Orf3HQE3m82TXX4lxWFmk6kc/s320/DSC01191+Edited.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making trouble makes him happy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8b7gRmsTzUsQ5TJIjGTLDIyVhd_ZnhOCMM4E6QmcRBfzb5vQdhbuCiOIlybXi7Xza-nZsEXZF_cZg0kDnHZ8t_BWfxGjbJzpt3LezkzdPAPlH9E1hvqaCXwA8w0bvteGL0Kncm8V2qc/s1600/DSC01197+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8b7gRmsTzUsQ5TJIjGTLDIyVhd_ZnhOCMM4E6QmcRBfzb5vQdhbuCiOIlybXi7Xza-nZsEXZF_cZg0kDnHZ8t_BWfxGjbJzpt3LezkzdPAPlH9E1hvqaCXwA8w0bvteGL0Kncm8V2qc/s320/DSC01197+Edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two burrs on his back were just the beginning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9ezLr5i1OQ_NtPq9hKrmbW8bntmLAJn_IcaytX8OIpqISf0unxygHeXBlbu5-DYCaB1cYDrjJur5nhDkXDF350SYrFEafMMZ_DYi84PAbNE5uNtoFax5lkRkgJwV4TxHJrQae6EOOjw/s1600/DSC01198+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9ezLr5i1OQ_NtPq9hKrmbW8bntmLAJn_IcaytX8OIpqISf0unxygHeXBlbu5-DYCaB1cYDrjJur5nhDkXDF350SYrFEafMMZ_DYi84PAbNE5uNtoFax5lkRkgJwV4TxHJrQae6EOOjw/s320/DSC01198+Edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There must have been 40 or 50 of them and I got to <br />
pull them out one by one as he struggled. What fun!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRUSfQbDu-qBGqTSPUYXkKk50Vppy5FJ26PsYdWRkHRFV9JBHdT5s599OqDXH9fKP7ROCCOqfZ3MzgqIGbod8fs_abAbbmd1kEpT5Iz7srp8Q3LHq-cfeUy2riww7B3OdgAeJo2qUwNw/s1600/DSC01202+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRUSfQbDu-qBGqTSPUYXkKk50Vppy5FJ26PsYdWRkHRFV9JBHdT5s599OqDXH9fKP7ROCCOqfZ3MzgqIGbod8fs_abAbbmd1kEpT5Iz7srp8Q3LHq-cfeUy2riww7B3OdgAeJo2qUwNw/s320/DSC01202+Edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pesky little buggers.</td></tr>
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<div>I guess that's the charm of living with a mischievous and clever little schnauzer. I have to say he keeps me on my toes!</div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-46055730796667393572011-08-27T13:32:00.000-04:002011-08-27T13:32:15.669-04:00It's Been A While...I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last blogged! It has been a very busy August so blogging kind of fell by the wayside. We just got back from a few days in New York City, but we came back ahead of Hurricane Irene. I heard that the storm downgraded to a Category One when it hit land, which is better than they expected, but it's still scary stuff so I hope everyone on the East Coast stays safe this weekend.<br />
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While we were in New York, Oscar stayed with friends of ours and he's settling back in. He's already gotten back to his old habits. We picked a cucumber from our garden this morning and left it on our counter. Oscar managed to snag it and started snacking on it before we noticed. I took it back and cut some pieces to train him with. He's allowed to have cucumber, but only on our terms!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42wQ4xpfycI_7I2suPoIwLjqLuBjgXDz5hOjYlKfVM7Yuuwd_IxCkKHJwyXiodGjYGTC92F9Ss4BavZZnPJiXg04IF8TNSOWIwFVZ4Y9AyWyySCDKY5h44posUftV-QAGcDTET5PmLwE/s1600/DSC01183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42wQ4xpfycI_7I2suPoIwLjqLuBjgXDz5hOjYlKfVM7Yuuwd_IxCkKHJwyXiodGjYGTC92F9Ss4BavZZnPJiXg04IF8TNSOWIwFVZ4Y9AyWyySCDKY5h44posUftV-QAGcDTET5PmLwE/s320/DSC01183.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure if he gnawed through it or it broke when it fell.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYS0x98gVowPHlR1OYzDwdR5x_Xr3ru8-blKmEAJ-T_KnRy10T0fzGN1enYm9p2XtA2XcZ5BtOjP9xLSpZsMDOSNAdDZt8m7jleaqvNaqAm7hXZwGsO1n3XnRMKSJr45V71_rW-faUyI/s1600/DSC01184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYS0x98gVowPHlR1OYzDwdR5x_Xr3ru8-blKmEAJ-T_KnRy10T0fzGN1enYm9p2XtA2XcZ5BtOjP9xLSpZsMDOSNAdDZt8m7jleaqvNaqAm7hXZwGsO1n3XnRMKSJr45V71_rW-faUyI/s320/DSC01184.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar isn't looking very apologetic at all!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlMY9534iglK-wK4yOQ81v5nCybtYGez79hVL_L0bsY4E7vxTkqjE6yqZ6J-EkO_4c141KAljyy7xnKD82BmpLBN0lhzQWHNRx3qWhDO-LqWnTmhFKSUjFxfiM_1_ppT9okXybB65bkY/s1600/DSC01185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlMY9534iglK-wK4yOQ81v5nCybtYGez79hVL_L0bsY4E7vxTkqjE6yqZ6J-EkO_4c141KAljyy7xnKD82BmpLBN0lhzQWHNRx3qWhDO-LqWnTmhFKSUjFxfiM_1_ppT9okXybB65bkY/s320/DSC01185.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can have some cucumber, but only if you work for it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim4-1AhfnOvqtj5hhMzq2UoHp6h63XNnwjOI3sAnM0zihmCP0Ja6EBlPTzehnC9g85HptwMpbtoRDawR17qQum7NeCdgeDzURBiPMoFnkKCtzcYWWjfoMLNfYREtmrk88JwTpsaTwHbEY/s1600/DSC01188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim4-1AhfnOvqtj5hhMzq2UoHp6h63XNnwjOI3sAnM0zihmCP0Ja6EBlPTzehnC9g85HptwMpbtoRDawR17qQum7NeCdgeDzURBiPMoFnkKCtzcYWWjfoMLNfYREtmrk88JwTpsaTwHbEY/s320/DSC01188.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kong Wobbler has taught him to <br />
paw at things when he wants them.</td></tr>
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As for his paw licking, unfortunately I don't have a good update, because his paw licking hasn't stopped. He was groomed and we made sure to ask for the hair around his paw to be cut short. We've also been taking him to the dog park and on walks. My sisters came for a visit too, so he got plenty of attention. The grooming and lack of boredom didn't keep him from licking his paw. His paw pads on that foot don't look any different from the others, and I still haven't noticed anything in his fur or skin, so I think it's just become a self-soothing habit.<br />
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On another note, we actually were quite happy with his last grooming session. I think it's the first time we've brought him to the groomer where we were completely happy with how it turned out. I could tell right from the start of that session that it was going to be better than usual, because the groomer we got asked lots of questions, and I also told her exactly what we didn't like about previous grooming sessions. He came out cleaned up, but not shaved. Perfect!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7E606w-0Nx5uARlRnculnRGvFn8OpeNM4L2BwOeaJ_GBC6Ynoc7MLJTLZPgE3mY5mdPga3p8yl1Zw7-QqL-KwESKWanlGThxJkHSSGK4gufY926oplx4smD7rrk6IeHLLD2wkr4Gt9I/s1600/DSC01190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7E606w-0Nx5uARlRnculnRGvFn8OpeNM4L2BwOeaJ_GBC6Ynoc7MLJTLZPgE3mY5mdPga3p8yl1Zw7-QqL-KwESKWanlGThxJkHSSGK4gufY926oplx4smD7rrk6IeHLLD2wkr4Gt9I/s320/DSC01190.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He still looks like a schnauzer - unlike the last time!</td></tr>
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I'm going to try to catch up on all the goings-on in the pet blogosphere this weekend. Happy Saturday everybody!<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=104345" type="text/javascript">
</script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-27198461595222795472011-07-30T00:04:00.000-04:002011-07-30T00:04:07.011-04:00Paw Licking: A MysteryOscar took antibiotics for a week because he was licking and chewing at his front right paw and the vet thought he probably had a splinter or something in his foot. We took his cone off after a week after he finished his round of antibiotics, but he started licking and chewing his paw again, so we put the cone back on for another week. Poor Oscar - he got a taste of freedom and then we stole it away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Q9Bv15JXJGEOAj81RfuNsELLiRT-3SqYuBwqDbO0RXd8Olo8hQf26PEQYA0TbqeTJmAHQbVXWQGBCjTon1hjFofl6goxVSX8Qt9qQmTFDWNFfpr3vsRw0_Wz5CF-4KFOgGei_vUsDzk/s1600/DSC01070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Q9Bv15JXJGEOAj81RfuNsELLiRT-3SqYuBwqDbO0RXd8Olo8hQf26PEQYA0TbqeTJmAHQbVXWQGBCjTon1hjFofl6goxVSX8Qt9qQmTFDWNFfpr3vsRw0_Wz5CF-4KFOgGei_vUsDzk/s320/DSC01070.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's chewed the lining off the cone.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2gFZWYix5CvTqq_zwldfpPbsTb11iWeC6hWttahk7yfG54dwTUPjMWVHU8P4c8tbGGSH6iKgU_TALOp1zb7IfoeKN0K6M-Bzhaev-THjPFyAItPJ1nEUYuDzZI0ImwCDdfb7UVGK9Nk/s1600/DSC01071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2gFZWYix5CvTqq_zwldfpPbsTb11iWeC6hWttahk7yfG54dwTUPjMWVHU8P4c8tbGGSH6iKgU_TALOp1zb7IfoeKN0K6M-Bzhaev-THjPFyAItPJ1nEUYuDzZI0ImwCDdfb7UVGK9Nk/s320/DSC01071.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No more cone?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYR79naiqEXvNXVbpUCmV68wN5b5JAc1mtppvo2s81MI-L_fj1n7JmCH67Pw7F62SpqdMCOxaIZzXpRcyJjLPKU4GWRrhaQBL_jFZFnAP20D9aAntgJT0vYTKfq_12fTpInxzuDpSuh8/s1600/DSC01072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYR79naiqEXvNXVbpUCmV68wN5b5JAc1mtppvo2s81MI-L_fj1n7JmCH67Pw7F62SpqdMCOxaIZzXpRcyJjLPKU4GWRrhaQBL_jFZFnAP20D9aAntgJT0vYTKfq_12fTpInxzuDpSuh8/s320/DSC01072.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back to chewing...back to the cone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
We took the cone off tonight and he started back up with the paw licking and chewing. I have no idea what's going on. His paw doesn't seem to hurt or bother him normally, but every once in a while, he'll start licking at it, or he'll latch onto it and roll around and growl. We've already taken him to the vet and put him on antibiotics, and I've given him a bath and rinsed off his paw every once in a while in the meantime, and none of that seems to have helped. This is pretty puzzling. We also trimmed most of the fur in between his paw pads, thinking that maybe it was long and it was bothering him, but his fur is just as long on his other paws and he doesn't seem to notice that so I don't think that's the cause either.<br />
<br />
I tried to do some reading about what could be going on. Like so many things, it's hard to pinpoint a cause for the symptoms. Since he only seems to be bothered by one paw, I don't think it's likely to be because of contact or food allergies. We switched his food, but that was back in May - that seems like a long time for allergies to show up. Apparently dogs can exhibit some obsessive compulsive behaviours, paw licking being one of them. If they only seem to be licking or chewing at one paw, it's more likely to be related to obsessive compulsive causes than allergies.<br />
<br />
One suggested solution I read about is to reduce the dog's boredom and stress. We have been pretty busy over the last few weekends working on our deck. Remember the <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/07/happy-birthday-canada.html">post</a> where I said we wanted to get the deck sanded and hopefully stained that weekend? Well, not so much. It's four weekends later and we're only hoping to get it stained this weekend. Because of our deck work, we haven't been walking him or taking him to the dog park as much as we were before. Maybe his paw licking really is related to boredom. We're planning on getting him groomed this weekend if we can, in the hopes that they'll clean up his paws and if the licking has anything to do with mats or long hair, it might help. We're also planning on taking him to the dog park this long weekend to let him get more exercise.<br />
<br />
I hope this resolves itself soon, because it's making me worry. Oscar chewing on our walls and dishtowels is something I can stop. Chewing on his own paw is odd and harder to deal with. I'm not sure what else I should be doing. Have any of you dealt with this before?<br />
<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=100115" type="text/javascript" ></script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-87109610264062140382011-07-18T22:57:00.000-04:002011-07-18T22:57:01.968-04:00The Dreaded Cone: Round 2We noticed around a week ago that Oscar was licking his right paw. We tried to see if anything was wrong with it, but we couldn't tell through his fur, even after I gave him an impromptu paw grooming. (It's official - I have no future in becoming a dog groomer.) We looked at his paw on several occasions, despite the almighty struggle he put up because he hates having us touch his paws, and saw that it seemed a little bit red and raw. I bought some ointment from the pet store for his paw, but it didn't seem to do much, except make him lick at it more, even though the ointment was supposed to taste bitter to discourage chewing.<br />
<br />
Besides the licking, Oscar didn't seem to be bothered by his paw much, and he ran around like he normally did. We figured that we would leave it for a day or two and see if it got any better, since we couldn't figure out why he kept licking. Last night, though, he started biting his paw. He'd latch onto his paw and roll around, growling. Not good. While we can try to wait out licking to see if it gets better on its own, we didn't want to just leave things alone if he was going to gnaw on himself. Time to go see the vet.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4yp2OCXvUKfNxaGxgwL4Lp1v9ZvHegZp4AwLKNuiNvGVThhCYMOMXrWC26mw9jBTByMwuzu27swoTQ352PHymfxSEj_SnkPBHu_TzP2DvoGVk2F2px_VgD9D4qgQCMABPNm3JScHilg/s1600/DSC01022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4yp2OCXvUKfNxaGxgwL4Lp1v9ZvHegZp4AwLKNuiNvGVThhCYMOMXrWC26mw9jBTByMwuzu27swoTQ352PHymfxSEj_SnkPBHu_TzP2DvoGVk2F2px_VgD9D4qgQCMABPNm3JScHilg/s320/DSC01022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks worse than it is because I cut all of his fur away<br />
from his first toe, and the red is staining from him licking<br />
at it, but it was inflamed and was definitely bothering him.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The vet said that his nail bed looked inflamed, and she thought that something had probably pricked his paw and was still embedded somewhere around the nail. She couldn't see it, so she said we'd have to wait until his body just expelled it on its own. In the meantime, she recommended some antibiotics for him since his paw had gotten inflamed, and she didn't want it to get worse. She said that if he kept licking, a yeast infection could develop between his toes. Eww...what?<br />
<br />
So our little pup is on antibiotics for a week. Our vet also recommended that we put a cone on him for the time being to allow his paw some time to heal without him licking or chewing at it. We tried to put the cone that he wore after his neutering back on him. He <i>hated</i> it. I don't remember him struggling quite so much back then, but he just went absolutely bonkers this time around.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxb3mnmhI9s5BwJ2PwpWGKasUeaE8zlY-uyUQwo9pzMJo9EjuPJcP0CNVhBl-oCVRplm2ELE9N5WSqDGrmmyVbXi7kcgWg5nmbBfGVH6OcNT9ZD_GZE94-O4kSjRCrKzhY2Kqj-COPwo/s1600/DSC01021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxb3mnmhI9s5BwJ2PwpWGKasUeaE8zlY-uyUQwo9pzMJo9EjuPJcP0CNVhBl-oCVRplm2ELE9N5WSqDGrmmyVbXi7kcgWg5nmbBfGVH6OcNT9ZD_GZE94-O4kSjRCrKzhY2Kqj-COPwo/s320/DSC01021.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He has no idea what's about to happen!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRubX8Va-H4VEj4iFZE2aSRcpFbnRRO3gBGmcXeucVVh_dgpeJ2-BAQGlcxpvPkZ8DalAUfi6L418TcYcdqf_tDCWz0DR9lwQWnqFabrJmHJoJFu9a3LEu9YtDAqxNwhEY5JMkDOnbpsc/s1600/DSC01023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRubX8Va-H4VEj4iFZE2aSRcpFbnRRO3gBGmcXeucVVh_dgpeJ2-BAQGlcxpvPkZ8DalAUfi6L418TcYcdqf_tDCWz0DR9lwQWnqFabrJmHJoJFu9a3LEu9YtDAqxNwhEY5JMkDOnbpsc/s320/DSC01023.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">His last meal as a free dog...for about a week, at least.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteTIFJYWdhSiievNVRKjb6GIOUyvyEBk4D7M_pN2AQMKQl2BKOBonibNoumWC8FxoWB9_6HroSZVI6rCbFt1BGPbIiW-iiJ1TvuEpx_jJxJLf51voF3UgVSgnDbrEOTnEPkoe37NuWbs/s1600/DSC01029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteTIFJYWdhSiievNVRKjb6GIOUyvyEBk4D7M_pN2AQMKQl2BKOBonibNoumWC8FxoWB9_6HroSZVI6rCbFt1BGPbIiW-iiJ1TvuEpx_jJxJLf51voF3UgVSgnDbrEOTnEPkoe37NuWbs/s320/DSC01029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the struggle begins.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9grhh7dQkAw1OyyhqFTHNfGjMDhwiOuByIH8P__9zPOhi4ojDVGDAMnF3K1w7xEjroocDuvGLCfQ9u0FEE7CkvAXfQ48ZHiS3gpW0bfJP3leZ3PnTDVm0KN0Bf4Uuublurv9riX3NwtA/s1600/DSC01030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9grhh7dQkAw1OyyhqFTHNfGjMDhwiOuByIH8P__9zPOhi4ojDVGDAMnF3K1w7xEjroocDuvGLCfQ9u0FEE7CkvAXfQ48ZHiS3gpW0bfJP3leZ3PnTDVm0KN0Bf4Uuublurv9riX3NwtA/s320/DSC01030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a break from trying to tear the cone off...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrW-_8_R7qmcDflUJ3QWoVwu5wbcnqFh9ivOWymv7n-qjxYaI_EfOK8HWt77xBlr9GuZxOkSqPdGCiSZ2udO44IKE5elsUiLqYuPBxZUbJf37WoAQxwvi_TTVhr4tJ9lTNmWx0PZdQu8/s1600/DSC01039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFrW-_8_R7qmcDflUJ3QWoVwu5wbcnqFh9ivOWymv7n-qjxYaI_EfOK8HWt77xBlr9GuZxOkSqPdGCiSZ2udO44IKE5elsUiLqYuPBxZUbJf37WoAQxwvi_TTVhr4tJ9lTNmWx0PZdQu8/s320/DSC01039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He looks happy, but he's not. Trust me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFYeRNfkF0_Wf_NeItvxzsyKr7_yIObHIU7LikH8POrNtrT_fSw4M11riAHLMXsthf9XR5X-LE20DHbUdx8NTecv48aoPH7jgzgPjPBMptFWkXs0Oq2CRKDf3Y0QiIQXqpvWiE58b-mM/s1600/DSC01042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFYeRNfkF0_Wf_NeItvxzsyKr7_yIObHIU7LikH8POrNtrT_fSw4M11riAHLMXsthf9XR5X-LE20DHbUdx8NTecv48aoPH7jgzgPjPBMptFWkXs0Oq2CRKDf3Y0QiIQXqpvWiE58b-mM/s320/DSC01042.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yet another intense struggle...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_CYnaFczDOcZkJ_OquvXQ82xYR1IyqYaaroUXSo_nuWKtmK8xcY9b2-frGDTkYXUDilE8N9_-jKwj-1-AxR06FdYhsB5qTVXf2h8Y4MH70LjOf4eOfgqPheKzS0kFccyBhlefOYFMIk/s1600/DSC01047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_CYnaFczDOcZkJ_OquvXQ82xYR1IyqYaaroUXSo_nuWKtmK8xcY9b2-frGDTkYXUDilE8N9_-jKwj-1-AxR06FdYhsB5qTVXf2h8Y4MH70LjOf4eOfgqPheKzS0kFccyBhlefOYFMIk/s320/DSC01047.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ironically, this can't be good for his paw.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1TrFm4VOJLnC34ovRCnUQZEJGxNusoKBl0lqv2yHZJT4H59zwaB4V88lg_p0HozIU4QDMYsgbOBgJ9XqQtKfW7kwzgV6vxeJNO51BwdABGOjt4wb7TL06y7_6fDd_7NWicyVVSiK7EA/s1600/DSC01052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1TrFm4VOJLnC34ovRCnUQZEJGxNusoKBl0lqv2yHZJT4H59zwaB4V88lg_p0HozIU4QDMYsgbOBgJ9XqQtKfW7kwzgV6vxeJNO51BwdABGOjt4wb7TL06y7_6fDd_7NWicyVVSiK7EA/s320/DSC01052.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You should have heard the noises he was making!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I suppose he's grown out of his cone, because he managed to chew a chunk of it off, so I had to go out and buy a new one a few minutes before PetSmart closed. The new one has a lining along the edges for comfort, but he gnawed part of it off within minutes. He seems to have given in for the time being, but tomorrow's a new day.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNASg-JWDR_kx_WxLmZr0zNYveK0qj5qA7R6OziAKUaOKvOFkNFZD0gom0IhZz3tlvVPuJ_oYOaO8i16ZMSR19UpTlDW_v90hthJponY0VyODBecZhF66ELntWjbMFRC2muO4RacuAq4/s1600/DSC01059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNASg-JWDR_kx_WxLmZr0zNYveK0qj5qA7R6OziAKUaOKvOFkNFZD0gom0IhZz3tlvVPuJ_oYOaO8i16ZMSR19UpTlDW_v90hthJponY0VyODBecZhF66ELntWjbMFRC2muO4RacuAq4/s320/DSC01059.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new one's not any easier to tear off than<br />
the old one...but Oscar had to see for himself.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNLhf6kMSMjW4VxujlV7p2EBqkDG5OLCeK-lVmDOkvBmn5rAhm3WXgbKq5a2atkc5b_6DcaRrGWoq5MEx2li1qqWr33HpFcVQLJy4uZ7cy0C8FF1jgdgvC7RFN-OQ4PGppNdMBOYMSd8/s1600/DSC01061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNLhf6kMSMjW4VxujlV7p2EBqkDG5OLCeK-lVmDOkvBmn5rAhm3WXgbKq5a2atkc5b_6DcaRrGWoq5MEx2li1qqWr33HpFcVQLJy4uZ7cy0C8FF1jgdgvC7RFN-OQ4PGppNdMBOYMSd8/s320/DSC01061.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to become an escape artist is tiring!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrB-JeCgbi_mvDKvYeRj7BSdVcOAWbO3OyQBJYif_jShJEiift_l8l6L-HjQG3SvofkBICO0U07u6sEAU8HorRfIeaop3DnA73889lJrLOFiX74vJDoK3U2BcUvc4WK-HHKtCp1wweyxg/s1600/DSC01067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrB-JeCgbi_mvDKvYeRj7BSdVcOAWbO3OyQBJYif_jShJEiift_l8l6L-HjQG3SvofkBICO0U07u6sEAU8HorRfIeaop3DnA73889lJrLOFiX74vJDoK3U2BcUvc4WK-HHKtCp1wweyxg/s320/DSC01067.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miserable...but cute! Poor thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-83659612139753868542011-07-13T20:36:00.000-04:002011-07-13T20:36:21.433-04:00Table Surfing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oscar knows what "Off" means - he just chooses to pretend that he doesn't. Stubborn schnauzer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWersHX8HqAgtCbxrarijnqPycICpFXXCylPHoYxEwVFyO2_iuvK4nd6dgspq7eveORL_Sig2CbNHWZjTLHS0KjRufA8PEUhVtEV3az8xrAXgfFdoACR6Taa5yJAQ5QF74hbe80DqHDM/s1600/DSC00964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWersHX8HqAgtCbxrarijnqPycICpFXXCylPHoYxEwVFyO2_iuvK4nd6dgspq7eveORL_Sig2CbNHWZjTLHS0KjRufA8PEUhVtEV3az8xrAXgfFdoACR6Taa5yJAQ5QF74hbe80DqHDM/s320/DSC00964.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOFUtGpqYRPNRhlM2N5SSqNc3RDgLQJh9I1MWldlRA-DlYzviDQl_XTljVwoo8zS4OLiLReBZu0UyfPbAacmT7Rqhx616Yyb4uBNEasesE2eSVLr6NWakP6d_hrnM8kIgQgWsl6xhp4c/s1600/DSC00965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOFUtGpqYRPNRhlM2N5SSqNc3RDgLQJh9I1MWldlRA-DlYzviDQl_XTljVwoo8zS4OLiLReBZu0UyfPbAacmT7Rqhx616Yyb4uBNEasesE2eSVLr6NWakP6d_hrnM8kIgQgWsl6xhp4c/s320/DSC00965.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpJjJ_e3MsoUfoLloe0mxc0qprpspZnonpTCLlU6Spu6Kt8cX9bYNe0TkpwP6_lCJe2DgZszTAsh-f_uo_ME67z1F7kfDpB6nQfQLKCH7QSr6S8LZhq43M5wIIu0k53slwBbQImaa6js/s1600/DSC00969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpJjJ_e3MsoUfoLloe0mxc0qprpspZnonpTCLlU6Spu6Kt8cX9bYNe0TkpwP6_lCJe2DgZszTAsh-f_uo_ME67z1F7kfDpB6nQfQLKCH7QSr6S8LZhq43M5wIIu0k53slwBbQImaa6js/s320/DSC00969.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeTGLp3PuiXkB3U39UmaIa3YaNqhMf1KstLTGpttzCkAdly2Z6PGr3vvD8Coz08RfSV6o5YdltGxRSB4XzA0jrQyjgaPGzBKHqwU-ydMFPBtD2TXy2mRg5lBtpOcoYkVzPu3HTvV3_wTY/s1600/DSC00970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeTGLp3PuiXkB3U39UmaIa3YaNqhMf1KstLTGpttzCkAdly2Z6PGr3vvD8Coz08RfSV6o5YdltGxRSB4XzA0jrQyjgaPGzBKHqwU-ydMFPBtD2TXy2mRg5lBtpOcoYkVzPu3HTvV3_wTY/s320/DSC00970.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-83193932052530183882011-07-09T00:13:00.001-04:002011-07-09T00:19:03.734-04:00Post-Bath Routines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oscar is actually pretty well-behaved at bath time. We usually leave the door to the bathroom closed because he finds it entertaining to eat toilet paper (we're not nearly as entertained when it happens), but when the door is open, he'll often jump into the bathtub. I think it's because I turned the tap on once or twice for him to drink from before and now he hopes that I'll do it every time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxsDtU0T_nuXIgRmRSBX3yBGgLQE4MEQGQLUTlqM0N8ML2-xrmfHo_nabFSqbPn2cnYyXF7QzoKM5Qt-9qENZ7ddesqxknQvtZRxHRdqAkwA3blA7N47n0Pcdll53zSAkwQrPpaafQaE/s1600/DSC00925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxsDtU0T_nuXIgRmRSBX3yBGgLQE4MEQGQLUTlqM0N8ML2-xrmfHo_nabFSqbPn2cnYyXF7QzoKM5Qt-9qENZ7ddesqxknQvtZRxHRdqAkwA3blA7N47n0Pcdll53zSAkwQrPpaafQaE/s320/DSC00925.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He must not know what's coming - he looks too happy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjmQe2R3ewCBe87IMviysbCQUyP8APbIXP2-wjI9rNbXrVp3-cnf5MjbbL9iZUK9zw9LvtR2DBBz6NjvIl5-4swJ__WmJpr8afWyaPF0z3dtZh5H4i3f2e6pTKHu0sz3um6yU8tHJUYk/s1600/DSC00926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjmQe2R3ewCBe87IMviysbCQUyP8APbIXP2-wjI9rNbXrVp3-cnf5MjbbL9iZUK9zw9LvtR2DBBz6NjvIl5-4swJ__WmJpr8afWyaPF0z3dtZh5H4i3f2e6pTKHu0sz3um6yU8tHJUYk/s320/DSC00926.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Can I get in now?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt1MgF67JGUO1BShMptsMBNLLYsUE5V7HuAHOryPFzTtoWyp7gZgmddlDVF2IhcEJhVxrCazxwsXstr-AfaIIrQp57FJTkPcGY7jExQUZbnlqfFCg7eZBkVPwdwPJ9Gx5aB33g1768H0/s1600/DSC00927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt1MgF67JGUO1BShMptsMBNLLYsUE5V7HuAHOryPFzTtoWyp7gZgmddlDVF2IhcEJhVxrCazxwsXstr-AfaIIrQp57FJTkPcGY7jExQUZbnlqfFCg7eZBkVPwdwPJ9Gx5aB33g1768H0/s320/DSC00927.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Wait, I think I've changed my mind."</td></tr>
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He's calm during the bath, but afterwards, he's a bit of a nut - either he goes crazy and does zoomies all over the place, or he rubs up against the walls. I think it's pretty entertaining!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking for a way out, but there's no escape!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYg_yoYr-_LrGneKJ7rDwfM6MFeg_SWF3z8j-7POvH3LdynHk8tq5DLE9ZNZN6dPC5KqPy6hGuh18JCaSZ6BtUEToYQDwEGM2HB3qDterjFHc0Ewuv2ouQ6e7E5tjm_F0GYhAvL15Rylw/s1600/DSC00930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYg_yoYr-_LrGneKJ7rDwfM6MFeg_SWF3z8j-7POvH3LdynHk8tq5DLE9ZNZN6dPC5KqPy6hGuh18JCaSZ6BtUEToYQDwEGM2HB3qDterjFHc0Ewuv2ouQ6e7E5tjm_F0GYhAvL15Rylw/s320/DSC00930.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The running around begins.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8y-zhmvijcSNv2A5VW4SRgTj5UBI5uNOm_K-V22PbedI_Za_mNnw3SHjek_Lf4i9qtB2imqifZBqSa2sy9H14cuGcyFCSuroka73FM7tLr98HnUiJ7Yf6miuRvvPh_M7EdKTM6WkJMYY/s1600/DSC00931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8y-zhmvijcSNv2A5VW4SRgTj5UBI5uNOm_K-V22PbedI_Za_mNnw3SHjek_Lf4i9qtB2imqifZBqSa2sy9H14cuGcyFCSuroka73FM7tLr98HnUiJ7Yf6miuRvvPh_M7EdKTM6WkJMYY/s320/DSC00931.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking soggy and pitiful!</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw5uOct9Y8L_MGp69EOO4WPR1-cMcBpi1PaOprgMz0ZmqTq8-MGRqKhkyOoeDec0ahVmQWACmRXTdteLDv9dg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I wanted to say thanks to <a href="http://tuckertellsall.blogspot.com/">Tucker the Crestie</a> for passing along the Versatile Blogger Award to me. Sorry it took a while for me to pass along my thanks - it's been a busy week and I dropped the ball on blogging. I was given the award on another occasion and wrote about it (and passed it on to some great blogs) <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-award-love.html">here</a>. Thanks again!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks yet again to <a href="http://twolittlecavaliers.com/">Two Little Cavaliers</a>, <a href="http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/">Life With Dogs</a> and <a href="http://blog.nipandbones.com/">Confessions of the Plume</a> for hosting another blog hop. Happy Saturday, everybody!</div><br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><center><br />
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</script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-77191938733091264682011-07-01T12:37:00.000-04:002011-07-01T12:37:31.347-04:00Happy Birthday, Canada!Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadian bloggers and readers! Today is our nation's birthday, and it makes me think of how much I love being Canadian and living in Canada. It also means I get the day off work - yet another reason to love Canada! However, despite our love and appreciation for this beautiful country, instead of joining in Canada Day festivities downtown or passing time on a patio somewhere, we have chosen to use the day to wash and sand our deck. Hopefully we'll have time later this weekend to stain it, too. Terribly exciting, isn't it?<div><br />
</div><div>We power-washed the thing this morning at 8:30 a.m. - hopefully not too early for the neighbours - our bylaws say we can start doing noisy yard things at 7:00 a.m., but I feel like that would just be obnoxious. As we waited for it to dry before we started sanding, we took Oscar to the dog park to run around, because it's a beautiful day - perfect for big national celebrations! It was very warm out, and he even lay down for a rest a time or two, which is practically unheard of for this dog.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpN2HtMv4n2ix5Pg4Rty5ZsEo1bwvrxZNluS-bzvLfSttnyGKGmx4H1Fvwmvt4gf_g9ukEi9KCiifA_nmdDbxLZmgytBBjKX-DDZWOmK-KJ_y7M2XBJLiIYyKuOWt1o7fQ5veTNluG-8/s1600/DSC00947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpN2HtMv4n2ix5Pg4Rty5ZsEo1bwvrxZNluS-bzvLfSttnyGKGmx4H1Fvwmvt4gf_g9ukEi9KCiifA_nmdDbxLZmgytBBjKX-DDZWOmK-KJ_y7M2XBJLiIYyKuOWt1o7fQ5veTNluG-8/s320/DSC00947.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's so much green to frolic in!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJ3IYlQlQ3BA-UU5k8LaAWslmFIEUVGROXOrxuhT_jz_K1Ma2CZ9Z6S0TvbSTWDGuyiYaPKfrSx7EQOBUR_FsX8KYBkL_-R1k2WUVlTrPmTEYG5n2OX0N9fAcPNzlh-AuG-RAT5h9x0Y/s1600/DSC00948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJ3IYlQlQ3BA-UU5k8LaAWslmFIEUVGROXOrxuhT_jz_K1Ma2CZ9Z6S0TvbSTWDGuyiYaPKfrSx7EQOBUR_FsX8KYBkL_-R1k2WUVlTrPmTEYG5n2OX0N9fAcPNzlh-AuG-RAT5h9x0Y/s320/DSC00948.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting some shade...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTO8jUhmJ568aLtSfqn8f7KeuYXzsTxAUg8C5SYmocc6mNywEkV3XRnrgV4g66fL_tF5i18ZoTmzSEGPfGaMoXYyOuawKdRbo4BAdZhHbaIKFBkrGp6IqubsMFd1_7iwGAKQi3isvCrg/s1600/DSC00949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTO8jUhmJ568aLtSfqn8f7KeuYXzsTxAUg8C5SYmocc6mNywEkV3XRnrgV4g66fL_tF5i18ZoTmzSEGPfGaMoXYyOuawKdRbo4BAdZhHbaIKFBkrGp6IqubsMFd1_7iwGAKQi3isvCrg/s320/DSC00949.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trees and blue sky...what a lovely day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vKQEHROf3cTAkmJy-6JzFfJBkBa3eNBxWCg03kqJMe7bPgq6YeC5CdE-Lf8QV2w22BxwmVCK_CSWo0fIlVDo3xheEfvG_itmX84OcjzukRBHH28sxGjC_x3Y6_s37tD5MQ7C2YWh55I/s1600/DSC00950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vKQEHROf3cTAkmJy-6JzFfJBkBa3eNBxWCg03kqJMe7bPgq6YeC5CdE-Lf8QV2w22BxwmVCK_CSWo0fIlVDo3xheEfvG_itmX84OcjzukRBHH28sxGjC_x3Y6_s37tD5MQ7C2YWh55I/s320/DSC00950.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty picturesque for a dog park!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JR3MiyvghYMci3LW2hs7J_5ZwNfQba3RenF3R70BYCrxuIYRmGze08_GsbB-Wi8_1jp8DudMm7pWARZgK3CtKMQSYUZ4uCf6KXPtntSW2NVy5x-N4g7UEbLlpfcHhbFVpBa0bgmFFS8/s1600/DSC00951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JR3MiyvghYMci3LW2hs7J_5ZwNfQba3RenF3R70BYCrxuIYRmGze08_GsbB-Wi8_1jp8DudMm7pWARZgK3CtKMQSYUZ4uCf6KXPtntSW2NVy5x-N4g7UEbLlpfcHhbFVpBa0bgmFFS8/s320/DSC00951.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar's hiding...do you see him?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP56v6-x9SnG5Z89ny-LCfCXrrtksN4sQxirNjD8I4abxLd79eMp-VNgnc-rD9uQfsTEPu6lJovPJBhjL5RXpDxtEN6bMHm5i8LG2Q7Jm66edk87yXP4m8_ZUXPnWY_G4A0sLnrvX0xk/s1600/DSC00953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP56v6-x9SnG5Z89ny-LCfCXrrtksN4sQxirNjD8I4abxLd79eMp-VNgnc-rD9uQfsTEPu6lJovPJBhjL5RXpDxtEN6bMHm5i8LG2Q7Jm66edk87yXP4m8_ZUXPnWY_G4A0sLnrvX0xk/s320/DSC00953.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Let's see how loud I can make the humans<br />
shout by walking right up to this mud puddle..."</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1p1vYE0dEShvrrxUp4NhKGihrbNFkkrBjE716ZUvJBZCHWEXg3VOpOWOMh_8OOHFwmsy_h7fn9_-JRZrfZEywSF6LIbbtRLtOsEZGTdQGPwqlxSJDxUEG1Biv-2RK82pud_makFATeNA/s1600/DSC00954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1p1vYE0dEShvrrxUp4NhKGihrbNFkkrBjE716ZUvJBZCHWEXg3VOpOWOMh_8OOHFwmsy_h7fn9_-JRZrfZEywSF6LIbbtRLtOsEZGTdQGPwqlxSJDxUEG1Biv-2RK82pud_makFATeNA/s320/DSC00954.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar needed a rest. Weird, I know.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-uRqeycCcV4CLrMNAkWbtN_A2bsU62VvxVD0PXA20Gx_uzOcK9ZFI45OaiGYxVHai5et9w24kjJ204NuHKpou1MYpMzc49oNwZGyzsdnmaJ0fXZlZljBP5kDlix_aJEHpyijF8cbmaQ/s1600/DSC00955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-uRqeycCcV4CLrMNAkWbtN_A2bsU62VvxVD0PXA20Gx_uzOcK9ZFI45OaiGYxVHai5et9w24kjJ204NuHKpou1MYpMzc49oNwZGyzsdnmaJ0fXZlZljBP5kDlix_aJEHpyijF8cbmaQ/s320/DSC00955.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar got a little cut on his tongue from something. <br />
It bled a lot and gave us a good scare, but he's fine now.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzJ1JYdcQzX918IA8GWMPwBtxJ9-3gOfDy58WsEPg7jfSX4qPBQ5hpRcqNOu2xCHuXj7TSkYFLgypwUQ0Wi7k_5jLmVaJHqZrPe4vy2WHKQSIlXMbrCWz8EpV_js5xX_W1lM5fiTNyaY/s1600/DSC00956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzJ1JYdcQzX918IA8GWMPwBtxJ9-3gOfDy58WsEPg7jfSX4qPBQ5hpRcqNOu2xCHuXj7TSkYFLgypwUQ0Wi7k_5jLmVaJHqZrPe4vy2WHKQSIlXMbrCWz8EpV_js5xX_W1lM5fiTNyaY/s320/DSC00956.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He was so tired he immediately went to<br />
chill out on the floor of the car. Good dog!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yi94XWXv_5cs3O33QlK0fTbb0KZLY34UEGJLBv8wRZXzep-QZe0W6T9JegVvdA6SQFYZzMTVFfyT-I59s3sDVWH-J1VeDg_j-A4YllpTsChRY8HMt61t6xexfRYbHz0sIh4pSP5GiZw/s1600/DSC00957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yi94XWXv_5cs3O33QlK0fTbb0KZLY34UEGJLBv8wRZXzep-QZe0W6T9JegVvdA6SQFYZzMTVFfyT-I59s3sDVWH-J1VeDg_j-A4YllpTsChRY8HMt61t6xexfRYbHz0sIh4pSP5GiZw/s320/DSC00957.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is one hot or happy pup...or both!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>Maybe tonight we'll partake in some Canada Day festivities, or maybe we'll just take it easy - we'll see. Either way, it will be a good way to spend a Friday night. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Happy Canada Day!</div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-41507366404511286382011-06-27T17:00:00.003-04:002011-06-27T17:00:02.966-04:00Naps are the Best<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnFAGxAMzFCJuJN7OuVPNflXrZpzjx-W4TbSlUh-N1uSDHqhn2sbftINvJQeu0nYWn1bHOkukhTOfBda7ia9nartY6iSnX9VHMyNEdN7-SBCkXIXUdFCH2RHz94D1vR5AgxxGR-u1bw0/s1600/DSC00934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnFAGxAMzFCJuJN7OuVPNflXrZpzjx-W4TbSlUh-N1uSDHqhn2sbftINvJQeu0nYWn1bHOkukhTOfBda7ia9nartY6iSnX9VHMyNEdN7-SBCkXIXUdFCH2RHz94D1vR5AgxxGR-u1bw0/s400/DSC00934.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I think Oscar would agree with me. That's him sleeping in his favourite spot - on top of the back of the couch. It's flattened out now because he lies on it so much. I think he likes it there because that's where my husband lies down to watch TV, so he can be close without having to snuggle. Oscar is not much of a snuggler.<br />
<br />
He naps a lot more now than when he was little. I still remember the first time he got tired early and napped - I thought there was something wrong with him since all I had seen of him before that was him being crazily rambunctious unless he was in his crate. As much as he is still an energetic pup, he has calmed down significantly since then, which is a relief. I probably wouldn't be able to keep up otherwise - I don't have nearly that much energy!OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-29303496623439644712011-06-25T00:05:00.000-04:002011-06-25T00:05:11.204-04:00The Great Corn Debate<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I didn't actually know there really was a debate until today, when we brought Oscar to the vet for his check-up. I thought corn was no good, full stop, and that was pretty widely accepted. Tonight, we saw a vet that we had not seen before. As part of Oscar's check-up, the vet asked what food he was on. I told her that he was on Blue Buffalo. She said that she wasn't that fond of Blue Buffalo, that she had heard of dogs who had problems on Blue Buffalo, and that there had been a <a href="http://www.bluebuffalo.com/news/vitamin-d-voluntary-recall.shtml">recall of Blue Buffalo last year</a>, which made her a bit wary about it. She then said that miniature schnauzers are prone to health issues like pancreatitis, diabetes, and bladder stones. She recommended that we put him on a low-fat diet, as high fat levels can contribute to problems like pancreatitis and diabetes (though not the bladder stones). </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">She recommended a few brands: Light <a href="http://www.hillspet.com/products/science-diet.html">Science Diet</a>, <a href="http://www.royalcanin.ca/">Royal Canin</a>, or <a href="http://www.purina.ca/products/dogs/pro-plan/default.aspx">Purina Pro Plan</a> (but not normal Purina, which she didn't recommend). I asked her more about this, because I said I had looked into Science Diet and Royal Canin and remembered at least one of them having corn as the first ingredient, which I didn't think was very good. The vet said that corn and by-products have gotten a bad rap, and that they are not actually as bad as people say they are. She said corn has some protein in it, which is good. She also said that good quality by-products can be better than bad quality meats, so dog foods with these ingredients can be trusted, if they are good quality brands. (I feel like that's not good logic - doesn't quality depend on the ingredients themselves?)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Now, I am not a vet. The extent of my scientific training is a couple of biology and chemistry classes in undergrad (biology was fun, chemistry was blech, and so I switched into Arts), and the extent of my work with dogs is restricted to my experience with Oscar. However, I have done a lot of reading about dog food. Everything I had read said that corn was not good for dogs, that is is cheap filler, and that it can cause allergies and digestion problems. I have also read about by-products in dog food, and read that by-products should be avoided. It made sense to me - by-product meal is essentially made up of parts of the carcass (besides the meat) which are ground up. Could this be wrong? Can corn and by-product meals be good for dogs, as long as they are high quality?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I did some reading, and tried to stay away from forums where average Joes like me would congregate to talk about food, since most of those places have people who are very vocal about how terrible corn and by-products are for dogs, but most of those people probably don't have any more training or experience than me. I couldn't find much, but before I gave up clicking through random Google results, I found a couple of articles by vets <a href="http://www.askavetquestion.com/answer_np.php?id=1021--heard-corn-bad-dog-food-Also-alfalfa-brewers-yeast-">here</a> and <a href="http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=302985">here</a> (or at least people who claim to be vets - after all, it is the Internet and I suppose I can't be 100% sure). The argument for corn is that there is apparently not much proof that corn is linked to allergies, that it is highly digestible, and that it contains proteins and other things that are good for dogs.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It seems that there is a bit of a debate, though I think it's safe to say the pro-corn side is losing. So what am I supposed to do with this? On one hand, I've done a ton of reading, looked at a lot of ingredient lists, and picked a food that is high in protein and grain-free. Oscar hasn't had any trouble whatsoever with Blue Buffalo, either on his puppy formula or the salmon recipe adult food he's on now. However, I also recognize that I have no training in animal care, and our vet told us tonight that she was not crazy about Blue Buffalo and that we should switch him to one of the three brands she recommended. So should I listen to her, or chalk this all up to an economic conspiracy? I couldn't help but notice the Science Diet and Royal Canin on the vet's shelves, though I suppose the food could be on the shelf not because the food companies sponsor it or provide it cheaply or something, but because the vets there truly believe the food is good for dogs. I figured I should at least take another look at these foods, so I checked out the ingredient lists. Here are the first ten ingredients for Science Diet and Royal Canin, for the type that I would buy for Oscar. Purina Pro Plan didn't have their ingredient lists online, which makes me a bit grumpy - isn't that the most important information about dog food?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.hillspet.com/products/sd-canine-adult-small-and-toy-breed-light-dry.html">Science Diet Adult Small & Toy Breed Light</a>: Whole Grain Corn, Soybean Mill Run, Chicken By-Product Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Lactic Acid, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement).</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.royalcanin.ca/index.php/Pet-Store-Exclusive-Diets/Dog-Diets/Breed/Miniature-Schnauzer-25">Royal Canin Miniature Schnauzer 25</a>: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Chicken, brown rice, rice, chicken meal, oatmeal, corn gluten meal, chicken fat, barley, natural chicken flavor, wheat gluten meal.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">The top-ten (if you will) list for Blue Buffalo <a href="http://www.bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/wilderness-salmon">Wilderness Salmon Recipe</a> is: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Deboned Salmon</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids)</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Chicken Meal</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Potato Starch</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Peas</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Chicken Fat</span> (preserved with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Mixed Tocopherols</span> and Citric Acid), <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Potatoes</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Tomato Pomace</span> (source of Lycopene), <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Natural Chicken Flavor</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-width: initial;">Flaxseed</span>.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmueyRzbdV0qERt9dEqfyDxsddpGMhyphenhyphenQ2xRTskeaTgETe7JGyCZiViJNTBpeQxv5W6_QIGhXW95kwAFcF8l8xc_2hC8EiURi3bHpKAmuQt_wTznw7xTUle7Weddfj4uXLq0-GlROfDGQ/s1600/DSC00753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmueyRzbdV0qERt9dEqfyDxsddpGMhyphenhyphenQ2xRTskeaTgETe7JGyCZiViJNTBpeQxv5W6_QIGhXW95kwAFcF8l8xc_2hC8EiURi3bHpKAmuQt_wTznw7xTUle7Weddfj4uXLq0-GlROfDGQ/s400/DSC00753.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I have to say, no matter what the vet tells me, I don't think there's any way I can in good conscience feed Oscar Science Diet. There is only one meat ingredient in the top ten, and it's chicken by-product meal. I don't care how "good quality" the by-product meal is, it's still by-product meal. If you asked me if I'd rather have chicken meat, or ground up chicken parts not including the meat, I don't think you could persuade me to take the chicken parts over the meat, even if they were "good quality" parts. Their second ingredient is "soybean mill run." I didn't even know what that was, and had to look it up. The definition I found was basically that soybean mill run consists of soybean hulls, and whatever soybean "meat" remains on the hulls after the soybeans are milled. Seriously? Soybean <i>hulls</i>, not even the bean itself? I'd be feeding my dog a bowl of corn, soybean hulls, and chicken parts (but not the meat). I don't think so. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The Royal Canin doesn't look nearly as bad, but there sure is a lot of grain in the top ten, which I'm not crazy about.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Maybe I've been brainwashed by the big corn and by-product "conspiracy," but I feel like the commonsense conclusion in all this is: the more natural the food is, the better it would be for my dog. I also ask myself, out of these ingredients, what is a dog more likely to eat in the wild? Also, what would I myself be more inclined to eat? I have to say, the Blue Buffalo, with the three meat ingredients in the top five and no weird stuff like soybean hulls, sounds better to me. Even though I don't know what "natural chicken flavor" is, it sounds like something that I'd find in my canned food or something, and I definitely find it less off-putting than "powdered cellulose." (Update: I looked closer at the ingredient list on Blue Buffalo's site, and they actually define each of their ingredients. Natural chicken flavor is l</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">iquefied or dried chicken tissue that is used as a flavor enhancer. Not too delicious-sounding, but at least it's actually chicken, and not some weird chemical.)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Given my remaining (and strong) doubts about corn and other grains and by-product meals, I don't think I'll be switching to the brands the vet recommended. Blue Buffalo does have a <a href="http://www.bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/wilderness-healthy-weight-chicken">Wilderness Healthy Weight Chicken Recipe</a>. Since it's a Wilderness recipe, it's still high in protein and grain-free, but it's a recipe targeted to help dogs stay at a healthy weight. The top ten list is: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Deboned Chicken</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Chicken Meal</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Turkey Meal</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Potato Starch</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Potatoes</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Peas</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Flaxseed </span>(source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Tomato Pomace</span> (source of Lycopene), <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Natural Chicken Flavor</span>, Alfalfa Meal.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">The list looks decent - the first three ingredients are meat. I think I'll stop by PetSmart and see if they carry it in-store, and maybe when Oscar makes a dent in the giant bag of food we bought him, we'll consider switching him over. Part of me doesn't want to switch him if he's doing well on the food he's on now, but since I know that weight issues can be problematic for schnauzers, I don't want to wait until something is wrong to do something about it.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Please don't get me wrong - I'm not unquestioningly pro-Blue Buffalo. There are certain foods by the line that I'm not a big fan of, which is why I switched Oscar to a Wilderness food as opposed to one of their Life Protection Formula adult foods (he was on a Life Protection Formula puppy food). There are adult foods in the Life Protection Formula line with oatmeal or barley high in list of the first five ingredients. Even if a meat is listed first (meaning that it is the single biggest ingredient), the next two ingredients combined could make up a bigger proportion of the food in total than the first ingredient. That means if the first ingredient is a meat, but the next two are grains, it could mean that there is more grain in the food than meat. I would therefore rather get a food that clearly has more meat than grain (like one with meat as the first three ingredients) rather than one that is more questionable (like one with meat as only one of the first three ingredients, and another meat later down in the line after a bunch of grain ingredients). For me, it's not the brand that makes or breaks a food - it's the ingredient list.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Whether we decide to switch Oscar to the Blue Buffalo weight-control food or not, I just don't buy the other side of this debate and will not switch him to the other brands. I don't think I'll be feeding my dog corn or by-products if I can help it. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">What about you? Where do you fall in this debate?</span></span><br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=95016" type="text/javascript" ></script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-32092450504842130072011-06-24T19:54:00.000-04:002011-06-24T19:54:08.619-04:00Oscar's Annual Check-Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oscar had to go to the vet today for his first annual check-up. He had to get a few vaccines (bordetella, leptospira and rabies) and was examined by the vet. I'm proud to report that everything came back normal! The vet said he is at a healthy weight, though at 20.4 lbs., he's pretty big for a miniature schnauzer. I really think there must be a little bit of some other breed in him too. Even though we've never cleaned or plucked his ears, the vet said that they look good, and recommended that we not do anything to his ears unless we notice a problem, like if he starts scratching at it or we notice an odor. He also has very good teeth, especially for a schnauzer. I guess all of that chewing is good for something! The rest of him checked out okay too. The vet did talk to me about his food, and told me something that really shocked me, so I'll blog about that separately in more detail later this weekend. The vet said that Oscar might be quiet tonight and for the next day or two because of his vaccines, but he hasn't showed any signs of slowing down yet - typical Oscar. It's so good to know that our little guy is doing well!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY3zmp7fMBGL137fIFo5oFlO0HxnOHTGq9jtUIzUrfRI1Zop4t9Y0IvrjjS8LX1s51IJixED_DWvfpZA1Qc8jDcVVQUaGWeAqj5lKZkF148lbgn56nk7ImNFjTun19eJtkniu48fXTZA/s1600/DSC00920+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY3zmp7fMBGL137fIFo5oFlO0HxnOHTGq9jtUIzUrfRI1Zop4t9Y0IvrjjS8LX1s51IJixED_DWvfpZA1Qc8jDcVVQUaGWeAqj5lKZkF148lbgn56nk7ImNFjTun19eJtkniu48fXTZA/s320/DSC00920+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's one healthy pup!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-84813383689063173632011-06-22T17:00:00.001-04:002011-06-22T17:00:03.508-04:00Working on PatienceThe biggest goal for me with Oscar's training is to work on reining in his natural excitable tendencies. We make him wait for things in order to teach him patience and control. He has to sit and wait before he gets breakfast, before he's allowed to go through doors, and before he goes up and down stairs. We also work on his Leave It command, which comes in particularly handy on walks because he loves eating random garbage on the street, and is lightning fast about it - which is funny because when we give him fruits or vegetables he hasn't tried yet, he'll put it in his mouth and then spit it out a bunch of times before he decides that it's okay to eat. Silly dog.<br />
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Here we are working on his patience by practicing Leave It. I was also trying to keep him occupied by stuffing treats inside his <a href="http://www.jwpet.com/dog/hol-eetoys.html">Hol-EE Roller</a>. It's one of my favourites because it's so durable and because we can stuff treats in it, which is crucial for keeping our little Oscar's interest in a toy for more than a couple of minutes. He also likes it when it's empty though, because when we throw it to play fetch with him, it's really bouncy! I found some Blue Buffalo Wilderness treats today at PetSmart, which I thought would be great to get for him because he eats Blue Buffalo kibble and seems to really like it. I also liked that the treats are grain-free, and that the first two ingredients are duck and chicken. Nice! I put the treat inside the toy for him to play with.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMM3leWe5rP2sHLkJi80DNZ9YguNfjD3ZwxCPawpUXXfzsZmTcB8jMNEGZGbdU4EAwv2mcJ3lK6IRM6DA9-PSoN6fLuMRy2ktEAuE979BoZJFaFXtA6g2OaMiM2l9MKuSsoXL-4-vrnrc/s1600/DSC00901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMM3leWe5rP2sHLkJi80DNZ9YguNfjD3ZwxCPawpUXXfzsZmTcB8jMNEGZGbdU4EAwv2mcJ3lK6IRM6DA9-PSoN6fLuMRy2ktEAuE979BoZJFaFXtA6g2OaMiM2l9MKuSsoXL-4-vrnrc/s320/DSC00901.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I really want to eat that."</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8P8IYkhSDdAPBP3PJO-E2WtEGZrfB1TM4Ie5c66p7a_HMx1LvsgSm4p4MuLOeYEUidEISqem9ivoRMZI5w5BCeqMAZAA5HSTkt01MmGTjU_5ptK992pgzI6_xpmjPZ26ikq5jWn5Hma8/s1600/DSC00903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8P8IYkhSDdAPBP3PJO-E2WtEGZrfB1TM4Ie5c66p7a_HMx1LvsgSm4p4MuLOeYEUidEISqem9ivoRMZI5w5BCeqMAZAA5HSTkt01MmGTjU_5ptK992pgzI6_xpmjPZ26ikq5jWn5Hma8/s320/DSC00903.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how cute these treats are!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSV10ZWhvfAO6FnrTNnsQfzFXRznBIPPcr7NGpPEmMwD3LObBNJOjjx4N_cDxGDlaTwvW8GaQrc1tXvIU0YdX0m-0Cnm_lHsYQoZHngvUwFPYYs0ri5kGrMsIvORNRxzB6Kn-Py2VEsYw/s1600/DSC00905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSV10ZWhvfAO6FnrTNnsQfzFXRznBIPPcr7NGpPEmMwD3LObBNJOjjx4N_cDxGDlaTwvW8GaQrc1tXvIU0YdX0m-0Cnm_lHsYQoZHngvUwFPYYs0ri5kGrMsIvORNRxzB6Kn-Py2VEsYw/s320/DSC00905.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putting the treat inside the toy slows<br />
him down for about two seconds.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddvWHdiY4TQ0PqrAVdc8IqLbh1f1wF6TZp_YER9ALiJwwDDuu9Vzwzs3-n1EN1CclZZhlZNffqXKdi58nxm6eSTgEczlBBbGbYdw8JYxyvSdxDKISgk-XxQtapO8Qy5Ii2GCiwhZo_XQ/s1600/DSC00904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddvWHdiY4TQ0PqrAVdc8IqLbh1f1wF6TZp_YER9ALiJwwDDuu9Vzwzs3-n1EN1CclZZhlZNffqXKdi58nxm6eSTgEczlBBbGbYdw8JYxyvSdxDKISgk-XxQtapO8Qy5Ii2GCiwhZo_XQ/s320/DSC00904.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<i>Now</i> can I eat that?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-31007608034098601782011-06-19T16:01:00.000-04:002011-06-19T16:01:26.288-04:00What a Wonderful Weekend!This has probably been the nicest weekend we've had so far this summer. It's been sunny and hot, but not too humid. In other words, it's been perfect! Yesterday, we were out all day playing golf and having a barbecue. It was my first round of golf (nine holes only) but it was a lot of fun because it was best ball so I didn't really need to worry too much about how I was doing. It was a work event, so Oscar got to stay with his friend Mia and her parents, who took the pups on a long walk.<br />
<br />
Today, I stopped by the farmer's market to pick up some vegetables to put in our garden. We are a few weeks later with the vegetable garden than we wanted to be, but hopefully if we have a good summer with lots of warmth and sunshine, the plants will grow well anyway. Oscar did some running around out in the yard while we prepped the garden and planted. He didn't help much though, unless you count running away with one of my husband's gardening gloves and refusing to bring it back. Typical!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDohfTwwjbw6IfJAfR1By0UlIJNidKkjpAzBcr0Dlu1iwypuukFDVxLRS6pnPXMo6T27FkvSvyjFA2P_FuctJVxizZp-sgLvjBhSC73Lotq5PAZfYrzCpIGh4K_3NgFfUGdjXrvAarXCQ/s1600/DSC00855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDohfTwwjbw6IfJAfR1By0UlIJNidKkjpAzBcr0Dlu1iwypuukFDVxLRS6pnPXMo6T27FkvSvyjFA2P_FuctJVxizZp-sgLvjBhSC73Lotq5PAZfYrzCpIGh4K_3NgFfUGdjXrvAarXCQ/s320/DSC00855.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least he's not eating our plants!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K92RMSvzZwobR5P8AfU-haQjupP6DUcBd5kVH18t5UZjrIa24XMFlNVdxCMIg3sxbbmMR9TZ810fjKn0P2VW5RhD2T1VYNCDGwq5K7Lh4khlKB6oKXxJpTx5Hr9W3WINdfDktKPJBns/s1600/DSC00857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K92RMSvzZwobR5P8AfU-haQjupP6DUcBd5kVH18t5UZjrIa24XMFlNVdxCMIg3sxbbmMR9TZ810fjKn0P2VW5RhD2T1VYNCDGwq5K7Lh4khlKB6oKXxJpTx5Hr9W3WINdfDktKPJBns/s320/DSC00857.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomatoes and cucumbers from the farmer's market.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0oRifhAS3tyQo3dRdVxHmPcTVbvnGtQNjnMi58vgG05JvuAHwjVrWkksDnvN7sUSzHILFRV0-6_pc91Ckn02arGwCzH9N9bhaCl_fbrSSGj7kkq9WyIvS0qrOEFjpv2qYuVPJuvo3jk/s1600/DSC00858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0oRifhAS3tyQo3dRdVxHmPcTVbvnGtQNjnMi58vgG05JvuAHwjVrWkksDnvN7sUSzHILFRV0-6_pc91Ckn02arGwCzH9N9bhaCl_fbrSSGj7kkq9WyIvS0qrOEFjpv2qYuVPJuvo3jk/s320/DSC00858.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green beans from the farmer's market.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4jxnXHBkqLB5TiTMlcOqqjXjoSLiSSxl7pYFfXrt-FzNRYt0aWkHbLQoGmGZg3Nn9srGD-rQ0VvQEZ5G_QhNTtb6f_y71L5uuoN_4QsCWkkSRjFXqaQQ5rxxMlkVk5B_7pqyfNVcZPQ/s1600/DSC00859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4jxnXHBkqLB5TiTMlcOqqjXjoSLiSSxl7pYFfXrt-FzNRYt0aWkHbLQoGmGZg3Nn9srGD-rQ0VvQEZ5G_QhNTtb6f_y71L5uuoN_4QsCWkkSRjFXqaQQ5rxxMlkVk5B_7pqyfNVcZPQ/s320/DSC00859.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our blank canvas.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrJZJ4D4voWcjyyK4aAFcy8Ebg9GwzjYmZAYstlt34ADLoBeqU9ij0nG1eoQr0-sBQA0L9mzd__Y9chgC1PvfLEB20ZcETE1EVz05J3LW9QxZtA7tLvuLn6yqHLa2Q8KDAW_BKINyOPI/s1600/DSC00864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrJZJ4D4voWcjyyK4aAFcy8Ebg9GwzjYmZAYstlt34ADLoBeqU9ij0nG1eoQr0-sBQA0L9mzd__Y9chgC1PvfLEB20ZcETE1EVz05J3LW9QxZtA7tLvuLn6yqHLa2Q8KDAW_BKINyOPI/s320/DSC00864.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basil plants!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXrHqFmv8mfkFfQq7krpa0hkuTeGM6JykTI87khx4oB0aXINJwr8xafek7y_QCeXgss4YxERgSwaSvHejTcCZMzhAphTwtGTiWdRjflfmzoyW5NwR2PeeS0yRZu_XG5vRkNpH-KgG2xk/s1600/DSC00865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXrHqFmv8mfkFfQq7krpa0hkuTeGM6JykTI87khx4oB0aXINJwr8xafek7y_QCeXgss4YxERgSwaSvHejTcCZMzhAphTwtGTiWdRjflfmzoyW5NwR2PeeS0yRZu_XG5vRkNpH-KgG2xk/s320/DSC00865.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our garden after some elbow grease!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgK_KiVh-Sw-oWuaEKG0EbIWhAQjYoytO0S4XEwCM1e5sdN3yS3kgmmv5bNG7wb4dNFx1QIHuNVnIboXk4RXMkcItE0EH3ApWYiihb909Bh-Q0FRDnANIKLEEU2X5z7LbzMUTpgl0mug/s1600/Running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgK_KiVh-Sw-oWuaEKG0EbIWhAQjYoytO0S4XEwCM1e5sdN3yS3kgmmv5bNG7wb4dNFx1QIHuNVnIboXk4RXMkcItE0EH3ApWYiihb909Bh-Q0FRDnANIKLEEU2X5z7LbzMUTpgl0mug/s320/Running.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar running away with his prize.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q470KpsKiTqLOf706pjt-lqQHFGRn_cM_hgcSxYh6V9vtCIJsgy8DxKBfm3zr9TaDKudpup2UbIHvWtt6PVUojBc0cwTiEoe0J5TEULIE3M50jPoRNtdiWOuTsp33fXTqVPk1htOVmQ/s1600/DSC00863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q470KpsKiTqLOf706pjt-lqQHFGRn_cM_hgcSxYh6V9vtCIJsgy8DxKBfm3zr9TaDKudpup2UbIHvWtt6PVUojBc0cwTiEoe0J5TEULIE3M50jPoRNtdiWOuTsp33fXTqVPk1htOVmQ/s320/DSC00863.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That thing is too big to be called a stick!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Now, maybe some of you gardening-whiz readers out there can help me with something. I was sent out to buy tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini and green beans for the garden. I got everything but zucchini from the farmer's market. I went to Home Depot's garden centre and they had some veggies for sale, so I took a look around. I saw two little containers of what I thought <i>might</i> be zucchini, but there was no label, and the little plant tag was missing, so as an amateur gardener, I was a little lost. I was pretty sure it was zucchini because of the leaves and the little curlicues (that's the scientific name, isn't it?) that the plant sends out to anchor itself to things. My husband teased me when I got home for buying something I wasn't sure was zucchini, but what can I say, there were no people in the garden centre to ask and it was inexpensive! I figured, worst case scenario, I'd have something new in the garden. What do you think this is? Did I buy something I didn't want?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKX-0aAOoZbrGrqOuRqXngsFhugn7aVzlOvQpByLJdxHnXlsl5-VCrk3D931LQiEf44paRioznaKCa0HYSQ7VhpSSm9RuStlf9c5b-Cs7IADR5I7ZojB2fyETAFnyN59902v1FOBIbro/s1600/DSC00866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKX-0aAOoZbrGrqOuRqXngsFhugn7aVzlOvQpByLJdxHnXlsl5-VCrk3D931LQiEf44paRioznaKCa0HYSQ7VhpSSm9RuStlf9c5b-Cs7IADR5I7ZojB2fyETAFnyN59902v1FOBIbro/s320/DSC00866.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zucchini...maybe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd3RNq2TgEIcWRN2Dd0Ohcwd-x2TZLAyuIx5iobC48WpqjlzUoZmqWRcAIk7_qIdbmtr7_GoCpkYGShUsBP1k8PhYGgIV-7gIeB3JdOkkLh4AYBp25ER0ocPqKcW3v9r1Tpt3NpMuoC4/s1600/DSC00867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd3RNq2TgEIcWRN2Dd0Ohcwd-x2TZLAyuIx5iobC48WpqjlzUoZmqWRcAIk7_qIdbmtr7_GoCpkYGShUsBP1k8PhYGgIV-7gIeB3JdOkkLh4AYBp25ER0ocPqKcW3v9r1Tpt3NpMuoC4/s320/DSC00867.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the "curlicue" in the middle of the picture?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbrmLVWCjVKNgqiAKRYR__SU44kq6LPU6IhH3F7oqCG6xgCTyWcI4kwxGX_6rTAw7w23pPAel5frbyIacsAUKtOnmcX-KPaDIaypA4SE3JB4N_eQMLVg4Z_HmtqoTg3wAfZ4YvXqmr3s/s1600/DSC00868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbrmLVWCjVKNgqiAKRYR__SU44kq6LPU6IhH3F7oqCG6xgCTyWcI4kwxGX_6rTAw7w23pPAel5frbyIacsAUKtOnmcX-KPaDIaypA4SE3JB4N_eQMLVg4Z_HmtqoTg3wAfZ4YvXqmr3s/s320/DSC00868.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A close-up of the leaves for plant identification.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This weekend was a lot of fun, and I managed to get myself a pretty good tan. Now it's time for some relaxation on the couch in front of the TV. I hope you all had a good weekend too!OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-25865727058060883202011-06-16T22:08:00.001-04:002011-06-19T22:38:30.589-04:00More Award Love!It's been an exciting few days here at Oscar the Pooch! I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by Pauline at <a href="http://oscahbaby.wordpress.com/">Oscah Baby</a>, and the Stylish Blogger Award and the Inspiration Award by <a href="http://sawyerschnauzer.blogspot.com/">Sawyer</a>'s mom. Thanks so much to both of you for thinking of me, little Oscar and our blog! While I enjoy blogging to keep a journal of sorts about our life with Oscar, and to play around with blog design, I obviously also blog to share my stories and learning experiences, so it means so much to know that other bloggers enjoy reading my blog - especially when they are bloggers that I admire as well!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82j2_thsy5lnD1PQcIuig37M42YOZ0X2m9TOB47NLpu9me_wM6wKzgturPtPVK7eXEbpYhwu5ivO1780ndDKhAa7qT2ySLt81XkM0aw64tEihPXRhZcX5FkOg7vay9zoUl_UhWOKHqJs/s1600/Versatile+Blogger+Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82j2_thsy5lnD1PQcIuig37M42YOZ0X2m9TOB47NLpu9me_wM6wKzgturPtPVK7eXEbpYhwu5ivO1780ndDKhAa7qT2ySLt81XkM0aw64tEihPXRhZcX5FkOg7vay9zoUl_UhWOKHqJs/s200/Versatile+Blogger+Award.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Since I just recently blogged about <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/06/inspirational-blogs.html">the blogs that inspire me</a>, I'll limit this post to the rules for accepting the Versatile Blogger Award. Those rules are to share seven facts about us, and to pass the award on to 15 new or newly discovered bloggers. Fun! I love that these awards get bloggers to share more about themselves so that we can learn more about each other. If I run out of interesting things to share about myself, I'll share a few tidbits about Oscar.<br />
<ol><li>I am nuts about hockey (watching, not playing). I am Canadian, after all. My favourite team is the Edmonton Oilers, because Edmonton is my hometown. It's been a dreary few years for my beloved Oilers, but hopefully with a couple of years of high draft picks, they may make a comeback!</li>
<li>I'm a huge bookworm. I read mostly fiction, though I am eagerly awaiting a couple of dog training books from Amazon. I recently bought a Kobo digital reader. I wasn't sure how much I would like it, since I couldn't imagine not reading from a real book (no pages to flip...how would that work?), but I actually love it. It's light, convenient, and it holds a ton of books, which is so handy for when I travel. No more lugging two or three books in my purse on the plane! Not to mention e-books are much cheaper than real books.</li>
<li>I am an amateur gardener, and I like it a lot, though I sometimes get lazy with it. We moved into our house just over a year ago. The homeowners before us had a pretty big garden, so I thought it would be nice to build on it. It was a bit tough though - as a newbie gardener, I couldn't really tell the weeds apart from the "good" plants. I've probably left a few weeds that I should have pulled, and pulled a few plants that I should have kept, but the garden is slowly filling up. We have started late on our vegetable garden this year - hopefully not too late! That's the plan for this weekend. It's so nice having fresh produce in your own backyard!</li>
<li>I used to want to open a bookstore/coffee shop, but realized that there's no way I could ever compete with the Chapters/Starbucks superteam. My new dream is of opening a coffee/pet shop. I went to one in town and thought it was the cutest thing ever! I used to work as a barista, so remain confident that I could still make a good cup of coffee (or a latte or cappuccino). If I could do that in a place where I could also sell dog food, treats and toys, that would be so much fun! </li>
<li>Now for a few facts about Oscar. I think Oscar is a lefty. Our puppy class trainer said you could tell whether a dog was a lefty or a righty by seeing which paw they instinctively bring up first when you teach them to shake a paw. Oscar pretty much consistently uses his left paw.</li>
<li>Oscar was the odd pup out in his litter - in a good way. We were pretty sure that we wanted a male puppy, because they are more playful. We also liked the look of a salt and pepper schnauzer. He was the only salt and pepper male in a litter of four. He has three sisters, and all three of them are all black. </li>
<li>We have finally found a toy that Oscar will play with which has nothing to do with food. Shocking, I know. The miracle invention is the Jolly Ball Teaser Ball, which is essentially a plastic ball with holes cut out of it, with a smaller ball inside that's just too big to actually fall out of the holes. Oscar tries (without success) to get the little ball out of the big ball. He chases it around almost every day and hasn't gotten sick of it yet. I love this thing!</li>
</ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE9ilnSVRcASU6Zhb43baWKAzPH1C0xBN7L3XuK4IE90AApqZiqmSX7nedHMcUR3Vc5h2q7N5kLnW4fy3OneARoSmyYTOLttpF5TTL-JBThLdS2z_Gd8jNapihgkiudlyxVvl3DBSgoE/s1600/DSC00854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE9ilnSVRcASU6Zhb43baWKAzPH1C0xBN7L3XuK4IE90AApqZiqmSX7nedHMcUR3Vc5h2q7N5kLnW4fy3OneARoSmyYTOLttpF5TTL-JBThLdS2z_Gd8jNapihgkiudlyxVvl3DBSgoE/s320/DSC00854.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Here are 15 blogs that are either new, or (relatively) new to me, that I really enjoy following. Please stop by and check them out!</div><div><br />
</div><div>1. <a href="http://sawyerschnauzer.blogspot.com/">Sawyer the Schnauzer</a></div><div>2. <a href="http://www.yukithedog.com/">Yuki the Dog Blog</a></div><div>3. <a href="http://maisieme.blogspot.com/">Maisie and Me</a></div><div>4. <a href="http://kolchakpuggle.blogspot.com/">Kol's Notes</a> </div><div>5. <a href="http://lifeinthedoghouse.blogspot.com/">Life in the Doghouse</a></div><div>6. <a href="http://parkerskye.blogspot.com/">Of Pit Bulls and Patience</a></div><div>7. <a href="http://lillij.wordpress.com/">Opie's Mom's Blog</a></div><div>8. <a href="http://acanineopines.blogspot.com/">A Canine Opines</a></div><div>9. <a href="http://sagechronicles.wordpress.com/">The (mis)Adventures of Sage</a></div><div>10. <a href="http://isaacthewonderschnauzer.blogspot.com/">The Diary of a Schnauzer</a></div><div>11. <a href="http://theportuguesewaterblog.blogspot.com/">The Portuguese Water Blog</a></div><div>12. <a href="http://www.kirbythedorkie.com/">Kirby the Dorkie</a></div><div>13. <a href="http://www.thisonewildlife.com/">This One Wild Life</a></div><div>14. <a href="http://betsyboo.net/">Betsy Boo</a></div><div>15. <a href="http://theelkaalmanac.blogspot.com/">The Elka Almanac</a></div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-72719369905456634342011-06-15T17:30:00.004-04:002011-06-15T17:30:00.446-04:00You Don't Look Like a Schnauzer...I was looking through old pictures of Oscar today and getting nostalgic about his shaggier days. The groomer groomed the schnauzer out of my schnauzer! It's very sad. I am waiting for his little muzzle to grow out and for him to get shaggy again.<br />
<br />
Here are a couple of before and after pictures. I miss that cute little schnauzer face! Not that he's not cute now, but there's something about the schnauzer muzzle, his old-man eyebrows and his flopsy little ears that just makes my heart melt.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCS6Ly6QDxrnJVJdTf5Dr1AAyFIhj6qAuDSxXY23TzAXMBX5mg30eiYWDmJPwiD8YkTytxxK0jYZDwtlAgnRjMlSmm2M-hqmDqQYtCe3bn7iJr_fslhJmGIkcpz0334A_JyrloX1_vyg/s1600/DSC00402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCS6Ly6QDxrnJVJdTf5Dr1AAyFIhj6qAuDSxXY23TzAXMBX5mg30eiYWDmJPwiD8YkTytxxK0jYZDwtlAgnRjMlSmm2M-hqmDqQYtCe3bn7iJr_fslhJmGIkcpz0334A_JyrloX1_vyg/s320/DSC00402.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone was snuffling in the snow!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-ZWrQy17WwRq9rjMA7RU0NjnPPIXlze6vQrgnlS57-2XI0uWRhCN30GxPVGYLe9Xk4OBQFnNxs7XUUwrlN4m_YKsMsJa34qw1i0pXv6QwS4NLlZ1N8ngKpDKm-7B-HJXfJFib8SW4aM/s1600/DSC00842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-ZWrQy17WwRq9rjMA7RU0NjnPPIXlze6vQrgnlS57-2XI0uWRhCN30GxPVGYLe9Xk4OBQFnNxs7XUUwrlN4m_YKsMsJa34qw1i0pXv6QwS4NLlZ1N8ngKpDKm-7B-HJXfJFib8SW4aM/s320/DSC00842.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our skinny-faced schnauzer getting a chin<br />
scratch and looking a little angry and/or sinister.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I'll have to bring a picture next time we go to the groomer's, because apparently my descriptive skills are sorely lacking. I don't want his cuteness getting shaved away again!OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-39495955536992056272011-06-13T21:37:00.001-04:002011-06-13T22:43:57.394-04:00Inspirational BlogsI was very excited and honoured to hear that Hawk, over at <a href="http://browndogcbr.blogspot.com/">browndog cbr</a>, awarded me with the Inspiration Award. Hawk's blog is one that I love to read. He's always got so many beautiful pictures that highlight his life and the scenery in the southeastern U.S., and also has helpful posts about his training. It's therefore a great honour for me to receive this award from him. Thank you so much, Hawk!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" style="width:200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcl2F4zGXyBQ_7aa0ddVw1LmLUzoX9lQiQ-yc_-sBA9jk1yaeD2kdZrKemXgrruYX5X6jb8tN1QUUw2dW7miSatC3wUnxC4cl6RyilVmRfeHX5o2CyFX3buyca5jKgjzgVLq4tdU20G4/s1600/Inspiration+Award.jpg" /></div><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The rules for accepting the award are:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><ol><li>Thank and <a href="http://browndogcbr.blogspot.com/">link back</a> to the person who awarded this to you.</li>
<li>Link posts by you and ten fellow bloggers that you find inspirational.</li>
<li>Forward the award to those ten fellow bloggers.</li>
</ol>As someone who is still relatively new to dog ownership and to blogging, I gain so much inspiration and knowledge from my fellow pet bloggers. You have been there with encouraging words when I go through frustrations with raising a stubborn puppy, like when he eats <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/01/so-much-to-chew-so-little-time.html">everything in sight</a> (and I mean <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/02/chewing-costs-money-really.html">everything</a>), <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/06/still-working-on-loose-leash-walking.html">pulls on his leash</a>, or <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/04/risky-experiment.html">barks like crazy</a>. You are quick to provide advice and guidance to a newbie dog owner/blogger like me, like when I run into <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-to-basics-clicker-training.html">training difficulties</a>. You appreciate my random stories (like my <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/04/definitely-not-half-work.html">first</a> and <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-may-never-dog-sit-again.html">second</a> dog-sitting adventures) and my <a href="http://oscarthepooch.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-doesnt-love-baby-pictures.html">cute pictures</a> of little Oscar. In short, you have made blogging a great learning experience and a lot of fun. I hope that my blog has provided you with inspiration, entertainment, or knowledge in return.<br />
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There are a lot of blogs that I love to read, and they are inspiring in their own ways. They motivate me to work harder at my training, to take better pictures, to teach Oscar new things and take him to new places, to make better treats, or to be a better blogger. I'm more than happy to pass the award on to ten of these wonderful blogs. While the rule is to link to posts that are inspiring, I'd rather link to the blogs themselves and talk about why I find them inspiring, since what I love about these blogs can't really be summed up in just one of their blog posts. Here goes, in no particular order!<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>1. <a href="http://justatibetanpup.blogspot.com/">Just a Pup</a></div><div>Just a Pup is Catalina's blog about an absolutely adorable Tibetan Terrier pup named Tibby. I am always impressed by Catalina's dedication to Tibby's training. She also blogs about Tibby's adventures, whether it's walks or visits to doggy day care. Last but not least, I love her pictures of Tibby!</div><div><br />
</div><div>2. <a href="http://chroniclesofcardigan.blogspot.com/">The Chronicles of Cardigan</a></div><div>This is Elizabeth's blog about her Cardigan Welsh Corgis, Jon Farleigh and Dewi, and her cats! I love Elizabeth's blog because it's always so entertaining. Her pictures and captions never fail to crack me up, and her pups have so much personality.</div><div><br />
</div><div>3. <a href="http://bighoneydog.com/honeys-blog/">Honey the Great Dane</a></div><div>Honey's blog is fantastic. Her owner, Hsin-Yi, has posted many fantastic training tips and videos on her website. Hsin-Yi's dedication to training shows in Honey, who looks like a sweet and very well-behaved Great Dane, and I really admire her dedication to helping other dog owners like me work on their training.</div><div><br />
</div><div>4. <a href="http://rubieadventures.blogspot.com/">Rubie a Miniature Schnauzer</a></div><div>I enjoy reading about other miniature schnauzers, but Rubie's blog is one of my favourites. I love reading about Rubie's many adventures, which she often shares with her miniature schnauzer cousins, Scarlet and Zoe. Rubie's mom posts delicious-sounding treat recipes and pictures of Rubie's amazing-looking training classes.</div><div><br />
</div><div>5. <a href="http://wyattgardens.blogspot.com/">Gardening With Wyatt</a></div><div>Reading Wyatt and Stanzie's blog is always a lot of fun. They are very charming Airedale Terriers who help their humans out in the garden. The pictures of Wyatt and Stanzie are always cute and entertaining, but I also love the gardening pictures and tips. I am an amateur gardener, so tips and new ideas are always appreciated!</div><div><br />
</div><div>6. <a href="http://schnauzerdays.blogspot.com/">Schnauzer Days</a></div><div>Dex and Louis are handsome miniature schnauzers who live in England. I like reading about their adventures and I am always amazed at the beautiful places they get to romp through. It makes our local dog park look a little boring in comparison!</div><div><br />
</div><div>7. <a href="http://petblogsunited.blogspot.com/">Pet Blogs United</a></div><div>If you're a pet blogger, you probably already know about PBU. I'm very impressed by Oskar (a miniature schnauzer who has his own blog, <a href="http://thedailyoskar.blogspot.com/">The Daily Oskar</a>) and his mom-person Pam creating a place where pet bloggers can find other pet blogs, and being so great with encouraging pet bloggers to go visit other blogs. They were the first ones to link back to Oscar the Pooch when I first started the blog, and they're great about visiting other pet blogs and leaving comments. I think that they are a big part of the pet blogging community, no question about it!</div><div><br />
</div><div>8. <a href="http://tailwaggin.wordpress.com/">Tail Waggin</a></div><div>This is a blog about Sadie, an English Springer Spaniel puppy. I love reading about Sadie, because it reminds me of my early days with Oscar. The puppy days go by so quickly! The posts cover a range of topics, from training to treats to general puppy adventures. I also think Sadie is adorable, so I love the cute pictures of her.</div><div><br />
</div><div>9. <a href="http://puplove.ca/">PupLove</a></div><div>AJ's blog is about more than her dog, Jack. AJ blogs about positive reinforcement training, her experiences in raising Jack, and about adoptable dogs. PupLove offers a lot to read and learn about, which is one of the things I like best about it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>10. <a href="http://santa-ms.blogspot.com/">I am Santa, a Miniature Schnauzer</a></div><div>This blog is about Santa, Minnie, Christmas, Jingle Bell, Happy, Pinky, and Beckham. It's great to see them all interact with each other in the many pictures and videos in the blog, and they always get such interesting and delicious-looking treats!</div><div><br />
</div><div>If you haven't visited these blogs before, I'd encourage you to, and I hope you find them as inspiring as I have.</div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-59590339383032719822011-06-11T16:21:00.000-04:002011-06-11T16:21:06.695-04:00Reality TVI have to admit, I have a shameful weakness for reality television. I'm a bit embarrassed by my enjoyment of certain shows - like <i>Jersey Shore</i> - but others are a bit more respectable. One of my favourite shows is <i>So You Think You Can Dance. </i>The people on that show are so amazing, and I love the routines. Usually Oscar doesn't even notice the TV, but when I was watching the show the other night, it apparently caught his eye.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx179QQzAo44WIajvD0KT023013ilUhrQ5uNyxbjQFKgqhNNLEBbK4tLaypO9ecO32myQZZAQ52c-BoK16HrxoUC_0XWL_icrW46Ya9SfdtGb_bZDbji_G7ybjTrkgqgl1CJgwzhKazR8/s1600/DSC00845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx179QQzAo44WIajvD0KT023013ilUhrQ5uNyxbjQFKgqhNNLEBbK4tLaypO9ecO32myQZZAQ52c-BoK16HrxoUC_0XWL_icrW46Ya9SfdtGb_bZDbji_G7ybjTrkgqgl1CJgwzhKazR8/s400/DSC00845.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
He was pretty intrigued. The only other time he's ever even looked at the TV was when we were watching some nature show about foxes hunting little baby birds. (I think he was trying to pick up tips - he chases birds around the yard and hasn't learned yet that there's pretty much no chance that he'll catch one.) Apparently <i>So You Think You Can Dance</i> is a crowd pleaser!<br />
<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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</script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-5636585503254684582011-06-09T16:00:00.012-04:002011-06-09T16:00:03.968-04:00Walking in the Heat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We've been walking Oscar as often as possible, even in this crazy heat wave that we've had over the last few days. We've been working on his loose leash walking, so there's been a lot of starting and stopping. We've just been using My Mighty Wolf treats, as opposed to the peanut butter on a wooden spoon, mostly because I keep forgetting to freeze the peanut butter on a wooden spoon (I don't think warm peanut butter works very well, and it's also messy). Oscar's been getting better, and is watching us more often while he walks, but he's still quite the leash-puller. Hopefully we'll get there soon, because even short walks get pretty long when you can only take two steps before stopping! We decided to hold off on getting a new EasyWalk harness for now because we don't want to rely on that for loose leash walking until he's a bit better on his own. We'll definitely go back to it though, because it's great, especially at the dog park, or at PetSmart when he's really excited and pulls like a maniac. Maybe one day I'll get a video of him there - his feet slide like crazy all over the linoleum, but he doesn't actually get anywhere because he's on a leash. Silly pup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekkIj_3YPT05m4gBQJd_57G5DXaAM7R46iGBwIcaaXwnixkRj4nh_nRSy_FRs7g34lRtupDjXLMbJvNrKlXNbDcc6Tc5MCbDrV5Y9sKnEpRsUuzmAOuItFFDApWf1BCMhOmLtwC4vFaw/s1600/DSC00830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekkIj_3YPT05m4gBQJd_57G5DXaAM7R46iGBwIcaaXwnixkRj4nh_nRSy_FRs7g34lRtupDjXLMbJvNrKlXNbDcc6Tc5MCbDrV5Y9sKnEpRsUuzmAOuItFFDApWf1BCMhOmLtwC4vFaw/s320/DSC00830.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulling again...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0FV_b-c5wC-DgQizXzQcAQlrsceg54q7h0Op_bDY0yfSe8nX_P6YnaEz8ndOqlibSpWNij1DGDh84FE22qYuJwtFabOSrmfxPk6kW5DFnYV1lvJa6Bz-DISCGdH7NO-yJ1QRZyqwUJo/s1600/DSC00832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0FV_b-c5wC-DgQizXzQcAQlrsceg54q7h0Op_bDY0yfSe8nX_P6YnaEz8ndOqlibSpWNij1DGDh84FE22qYuJwtFabOSrmfxPk6kW5DFnYV1lvJa6Bz-DISCGdH7NO-yJ1QRZyqwUJo/s320/DSC00832.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yoo hoo...I've got a treat for you - <br />
look at that loose leash!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigo-WSqsQTJOXBOXveUyCRwDj3iPe3pW46xChjGMcJF5Sku9TxTwcsukBNHgxFM4hY0PoGIQXQmHZdhjhXp3VrhiccOLRKBkdETFPHi_aFZa2mZzLgJVonpttRIF2SalgaCseR1DSuEg/s1600/DSC00833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigo-WSqsQTJOXBOXveUyCRwDj3iPe3pW46xChjGMcJF5Sku9TxTwcsukBNHgxFM4hY0PoGIQXQmHZdhjhXp3VrhiccOLRKBkdETFPHi_aFZa2mZzLgJVonpttRIF2SalgaCseR1DSuEg/s320/DSC00833.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now he sees it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP-Xct4M9UuTKCLwS4R2ym7Fg8xNtkaJx_b2R_cTBf64gUdhIfbZqzgM5XyiNEQhr0SKyeYo9JpBr4QQ6TNpSFJArHdIr0iELKOpF14hnaYyKFjH20lkILEYsmQx9PshxPGMr01FHrLE/s1600/DSC00834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP-Xct4M9UuTKCLwS4R2ym7Fg8xNtkaJx_b2R_cTBf64gUdhIfbZqzgM5XyiNEQhr0SKyeYo9JpBr4QQ6TNpSFJArHdIr0iELKOpF14hnaYyKFjH20lkILEYsmQx9PshxPGMr01FHrLE/s320/DSC00834.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Forget the treats. I smell <br />
something interesting over there!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMRWm__D3SLVr3PgHW125jKypJKpMH6J2Fv3qVF6VQVHwSMMtHZX5qC5vUi6Bg5vETC2m_iKwODifdH14ioq6ImvztmR1MOC6dCwvwJt5PzIjdNC8U4jSuz0vlzApMPRME6d8KQHurfk/s1600/DSC00836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMRWm__D3SLVr3PgHW125jKypJKpMH6J2Fv3qVF6VQVHwSMMtHZX5qC5vUi6Bg5vETC2m_iKwODifdH14ioq6ImvztmR1MOC6dCwvwJt5PzIjdNC8U4jSuz0vlzApMPRME6d8KQHurfk/s320/DSC00836.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We say "Back" when we want him to<br />
return to our side...but sometimes we<br />
just get this instead. Not quite, Oscar...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyi1IA5TmX3mssNpbvSF95ummvsGSYkXObp6HkDfAemur5nEMMHt2OFHcqbVpegPhCHWpcundhPkCZrKBdCLKewarmQA7_vBMzd0jMNK33ORzx4u5j4VeBtIX_4m1Ggi0C3PEdwMTXVo/s1600/DSC00837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyi1IA5TmX3mssNpbvSF95ummvsGSYkXObp6HkDfAemur5nEMMHt2OFHcqbVpegPhCHWpcundhPkCZrKBdCLKewarmQA7_vBMzd0jMNK33ORzx4u5j4VeBtIX_4m1Ggi0C3PEdwMTXVo/s320/DSC00837.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a warm (and happy) puppy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0Va6uP4gw0ap_EdIrlbyIHocjTRMnJOMlQt7xZihIyC9MUq5BjtU_VL7riudLS31zRQjpc5V644gNPrjt5CEOKBHejaGk5hjpUhOQw-XwZTCRHx6UHuyeOJ2ijIMfDqn68-FGAFDANY/s1600/DSC00839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0Va6uP4gw0ap_EdIrlbyIHocjTRMnJOMlQt7xZihIyC9MUq5BjtU_VL7riudLS31zRQjpc5V644gNPrjt5CEOKBHejaGk5hjpUhOQw-XwZTCRHx6UHuyeOJ2ijIMfDqn68-FGAFDANY/s320/DSC00839.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar enjoying his Water Rover.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiG5Wzf7yXKPMj0cNnbgVmfXVOse9RfxF_FbU0Fvz1asIBcyUkg_OttuF_ma2_7MCgCex5dPH5IuwqjEf3ixgMPmYM5C1WtSSzji6Vu3OgXqstF0juvJv_OIi0CGZ6bg0i_6GXtSszrI/s1600/DSC00828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiG5Wzf7yXKPMj0cNnbgVmfXVOse9RfxF_FbU0Fvz1asIBcyUkg_OttuF_ma2_7MCgCex5dPH5IuwqjEf3ixgMPmYM5C1WtSSzji6Vu3OgXqstF0juvJv_OIi0CGZ6bg0i_6GXtSszrI/s320/DSC00828.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like this thing - we can carry water<br />
along with us and it pours into the little <br />
cup. When you tip it back up, the extra <br />
water just pours back into the container.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-30751660136079645962011-06-08T16:00:00.001-04:002011-06-08T16:00:00.813-04:00Feeding Our Dog and Saving a Buck...We recently switched Oscar over from his puppy food to his adult food, <a href="http://www.bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/wilderness-salmon">Blue Wilderness Salmon Recipe</a>. It's a more expensive food than his puppy formula, so we bought a<i> </i>giant bag of it. That way, even though it's more expensive overall, the unit price is cheaper. Since there's so much of it and Oscar's so small (even though he could probably devour it if we let him), we got one of those food sealer machines so that we could keep the rest of it fresh after opening the bag.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgli5yxN5v56WR1t05H5GhwFvR3RVgTgBU4P_dgIt6B4UihmWhI6sRlarJpEchoD-1MvJQxOteBAGXF76rbJo792bMs5CyhIjcLDxjq1Uyer26HB6rZW-8BHNeWfTz0PqRGCMP8P7QK21A/s1600/DSC00824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgli5yxN5v56WR1t05H5GhwFvR3RVgTgBU4P_dgIt6B4UihmWhI6sRlarJpEchoD-1MvJQxOteBAGXF76rbJo792bMs5CyhIjcLDxjq1Uyer26HB6rZW-8BHNeWfTz0PqRGCMP8P7QK21A/s320/DSC00824.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The machine came with a few bags.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzvU9eEeOzNcJENX0dvAppU2U794gX8YJnl7X8S-BvlEZiBDLwq0jDRQNNbqhRIDD2EZXdax6BUVGk58Hs0RZUFo-VX3oLBPYiLAvQ0Uvf17lfaDJ0z3bcTEu1-L3vvIFooybbgQGrk/s1600/DSC00825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzvU9eEeOzNcJENX0dvAppU2U794gX8YJnl7X8S-BvlEZiBDLwq0jDRQNNbqhRIDD2EZXdax6BUVGk58Hs0RZUFo-VX3oLBPYiLAvQ0Uvf17lfaDJ0z3bcTEu1-L3vvIFooybbgQGrk/s320/DSC00825.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You fill up the bag and the machine <br />
vacuum-seals it up. Easy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOdeJSuEkfquMRK8p4ODAbiJ-2PsZ2hETy5wY9lO04RdYRRwb0yq6llFzzAs73vymnA7pm3uFkdu-weYrC63lb51W270YRGfrKyReV1NDzlQ7yP641x6xj3YtlI0SMdw40PTXjn5yPaU/s1600/DSC00826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOdeJSuEkfquMRK8p4ODAbiJ-2PsZ2hETy5wY9lO04RdYRRwb0yq6llFzzAs73vymnA7pm3uFkdu-weYrC63lb51W270YRGfrKyReV1NDzlQ7yP641x6xj3YtlI0SMdw40PTXjn5yPaU/s320/DSC00826.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta-da! Tons of (fresh) kibble!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-27261744331524495592011-06-06T17:00:00.007-04:002011-06-06T17:00:03.830-04:00That is a LOT of Food...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLZn2rZNkbC9Yq2fyP1ZsUTNkmZkoGB9wys22zKuzRFavSzPJYqSJnjwSMFbaEQAaAuXC-rWhY92WC78ZmLE1UN5nhfHM_VWWCkTKXtWLWZHduDUBCvrcnnG6kIufcau0-WCC7sWC2CA/s1600/DSC00802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLZn2rZNkbC9Yq2fyP1ZsUTNkmZkoGB9wys22zKuzRFavSzPJYqSJnjwSMFbaEQAaAuXC-rWhY92WC78ZmLE1UN5nhfHM_VWWCkTKXtWLWZHduDUBCvrcnnG6kIufcau0-WCC7sWC2CA/s400/DSC00802.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm sure if Oscar had his way, he'd eat it all in one sitting. I love how he looks like he's touching noses with the wolf on the front of the package. Cute!</div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-77793761562685391102011-06-05T15:29:00.000-04:002011-06-05T15:29:20.657-04:00A Walk in the ParkWe went to the dog park yesterday. It was sunny out, but not too hot - great weather for walking around. The last time we went to the park, the leaves hadn't fully grown in on the trees yet. This time, in certain parts of the park, it was like we were walking around in the middle of a forest. It was lovely! We've gone with our friends and their cockapoo the last couple of times, which is nice not just because we get to spend time together, but also because their pup is much better at staying close by than Oscar is. When she stays close, Oscar tends to stay near her, rather than run off to visit other dogs or smell whatever it is he likes to smell.<br />
<br />
This time, we went on our own. I was a little worried that Oscar would run off, like the first time we took him, when he bolted and we had to full out chase him (we didn't stand a chance - good thing he decided to stop and let us catch up with him). The park is <i>huge</i> so it's a real worry for me that Oscar will bolt and we will lose sight of him or won't be able to catch him. We've actually seen a couple of people in the park who had lost track of their dogs and were wandering around, calling for them. How sad would it be to lose your pup at a dog park? I couldn't imagine it.<br />
<br />
He was pretty good yesterday, though, and stayed close for the most part. He did have fun sniffing around and socializing with other dogs. Now that summer is in full swing, I think the smells are even stronger than they used to be, because he had his nose to the ground a lot, though I suppose that is typical schnauzer behaviour. Afterwards, he was pretty relaxed in the car and took a long nap when he got home, which is exactly what we wanted. Good dog!<br />
<br />
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I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-38598321851600569402011-06-04T00:25:00.001-04:002011-06-04T01:03:29.348-04:00Whoops!Who needs dog toys when you've got an umbrella? Or at least what used to be an umbrella. We need to remember not to leave chewable things near his e-pen during the day. You will be missed, umbrella.<br />
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Happy Saturday blog hopping, everyone!<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.twolittlecavaliers.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/felissahadas/petbloggerhoppinksm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=91380" type="text/javascript" ></script>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-3041883600983618882011-06-03T09:00:00.001-04:002011-06-03T09:00:06.594-04:00Still Working on Loose Leash Walking...Oscar is still not very good at loose leash walking. We've been using the EasyWalk harness for a while now, and it works pretty well, but he gnawed through it recently (typical - and yes, we did Bitter Yuck it) so we had to buy a new one. We were using a size small for him, but it seemed a little snug, so we tried to find a small/medium, since EasyWalk makes in-between sizes. PetSmart didn't have any of the in-between sizes, so we tried a medium, and<i> </i>it was <i>way</i> too big on him. We had to try! We haven't had a chance to try to exchange the harness yet, so lately, we've been using the simple leash and collar. I forgot how much Oscar pulls! He's only around 18 lbs, but he's strong! When we took Oscar for a walk this evening, I figured I'd test out a trick I read about ages ago but never tried - peanut butter on a wooden spoon to help keep Oscar next to us, rather than pulling ahead.<div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8fu07DYRs40zV3fgsf6oUdEtMp5PzrVXflmbOggNlTM_BVt-lCaPXLVQTIF4NC0rkNl4TBeFHVXJkSC8wLgoJa0MCyk0-wjuAqtBBHRMvBj4XeSqwj_tYgUqRzCBbAK2NYfw_u7qbqA/s1600/DSC00789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8fu07DYRs40zV3fgsf6oUdEtMp5PzrVXflmbOggNlTM_BVt-lCaPXLVQTIF4NC0rkNl4TBeFHVXJkSC8wLgoJa0MCyk0-wjuAqtBBHRMvBj4XeSqwj_tYgUqRzCBbAK2NYfw_u7qbqA/s320/DSC00789.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The secret weapon!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5d5YD8sgt8YOQEHgtgv21l4GQmbyZrcm0hyphenhyphenc_4iM-IS0D_K7DgAJZWfrfslpops961lzJOqR4xcwznRBkCLk77d0GuDpSOKtiFtZAgXUXEWo-UXl1uCgbU_nqFdzMm3VBDVnB-H5aXR8/s1600/DSC00792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5d5YD8sgt8YOQEHgtgv21l4GQmbyZrcm0hyphenhyphenc_4iM-IS0D_K7DgAJZWfrfslpops961lzJOqR4xcwznRBkCLk77d0GuDpSOKtiFtZAgXUXEWo-UXl1uCgbU_nqFdzMm3VBDVnB-H5aXR8/s320/DSC00792.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He seems interested...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5Fuvazfa4j7fbwsZW_kK2c-MQ92Xh1zdA-wUFeEUZAqajku1FWwq74UlL08ZlmGGb5QDrTOe-iEcKBqnFmA82j84z8T0LvDPM_HNlcOw8IXw18qk0RuZCRwiuWK9UuzWWspM3sdTAq8/s1600/DSC00796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5Fuvazfa4j7fbwsZW_kK2c-MQ92Xh1zdA-wUFeEUZAqajku1FWwq74UlL08ZlmGGb5QDrTOe-iEcKBqnFmA82j84z8T0LvDPM_HNlcOw8IXw18qk0RuZCRwiuWK9UuzWWspM3sdTAq8/s320/DSC00796.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...but only for a while.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8GC12g8u8NALSzMzDakcuolAQAH9mrnx381A25GdopXySlmWSEu08GFJr9OY8b4SBBTXadkk7_T5_rOOraMcqNRzk5lnrW4txxOcHTEUKf_LJlZsIEEg1g0PIyNkaBfU8ol6DEMtSYI/s1600/DSC00797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8GC12g8u8NALSzMzDakcuolAQAH9mrnx381A25GdopXySlmWSEu08GFJr9OY8b4SBBTXadkk7_T5_rOOraMcqNRzk5lnrW4txxOcHTEUKf_LJlZsIEEg1g0PIyNkaBfU8ol6DEMtSYI/s320/DSC00797.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It wasn't too long before he lost interest and<br />
pulled ahead while I stumbled behind him,<br />
waving the peanut butter-covered wooden spoon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVS9BkpVuw9NPt8XapkRQ_9oHYxpdiCZJeL_m1MRiheB5LTsbI71SasY5amjhQFDQhfd-Ebmyez-RlvKZH7zARmpNXvYViVyRjBfaU6z2HrOS6s1FpFP4J9rEweTOMd1e_t7KwclJBbY/s1600/DSC00798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVS9BkpVuw9NPt8XapkRQ_9oHYxpdiCZJeL_m1MRiheB5LTsbI71SasY5amjhQFDQhfd-Ebmyez-RlvKZH7zARmpNXvYViVyRjBfaU6z2HrOS6s1FpFP4J9rEweTOMd1e_t7KwclJBbY/s320/DSC00798.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It did help him focus on Sit, which<br />
was helpful when cars passed by.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcjhsdPzdbpGTum48j4cKrMaPi8UlkK1Lv3EM95ApwcDGJvqUvnJNOgGDkmNFkX661In6VOEyYf1kOn8H7P49g_o6hBqX1_JwOjHLrHXNmMMGvCd4fSXAxUauGmCAUdK9HmLj3b7l60I/s1600/DSC00799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcjhsdPzdbpGTum48j4cKrMaPi8UlkK1Lv3EM95ApwcDGJvqUvnJNOgGDkmNFkX661In6VOEyYf1kOn8H7P49g_o6hBqX1_JwOjHLrHXNmMMGvCd4fSXAxUauGmCAUdK9HmLj3b7l60I/s320/DSC00799.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are apparently far more interesting<br />
things than peanut butter. Who knew?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>While this experiment wasn't exactly a rousing success, it did help keep him close to us more often than normal. I just put peanut butter on the spoon right before our walk, so he licked it off pretty easily and soon lost interest - I figure maybe because he had so much peanut butter that he just didn't want any more. I'm going to try freezing the peanut butter on the spoon the next time. Not only will it last longer, but maybe if he can't lick so much off all at once, he won't lose interest as quickly.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I have to say, we must have looked pretty odd, walking around the neighbourhood waving a wooden spoon at our dog. Either that, or it probably looked like we were going to discipline him with it, but I hope not! We're hoping to get the EasyWalk exchanged soon, but I will probably keep up with this wooden spoon thing, just to teach him to stay near us when he walks. Normal treats - even good ones like liver - just don't do the trick. The spoon is convenient because if he loses interest, it's easier for me to wave the peanut butter spoon at his nose from further away, as opposed to trying to catch up to him to wave a treat under his nose to distract him from whatever it is he's fixated on. Hopefully if he gets used to walking near us, it will become habitual and it won't take as much effort to keep him close. I don't want him to be a good loose leash walker only when he's got the harness on, only to turn back into a little monster when he's got just the collar on. I hope PetSmart stocks the in-between sizes soon!</div>OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481239128305201844.post-62144837257755218492011-05-29T09:00:00.002-04:002011-05-29T09:00:08.435-04:00A Crash Course in Copyright InfringementThis post is more about my blog than my dog, but I've been mildly enraged about this for a couple of days, so I thought I'd share this information in case anyone else has experienced this issue or in case this is happening to other bloggers without them even being aware of it.<br />
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When I first started blogging, I didn't know much about it, and people didn't really know about me. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get my blog to show up in a search engine, so that people would actually know I existed. Since that time, I haven't really Googled the site to see what shows up.<br />
<br />
The other night, I was bored and surfing around online and Googled my blog to see what listings would show up. Imagine my surprise when I saw the title of a post that I had written alongside the name of a site I'd never heard of - brokencontrollers.com. They had basically reposted one of my blog posts onto their site, so when people searched for that content, they'd get to the Broken Controllers site instead. From what I could see, they only did that with one of my posts.<br />
<br />
I did a bit of a crash course in copyright law by going to the <a href="http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00003.html">Canadian Intellectual Property Office site</a> and elsewhere online, and then wrote the guy an email informing him that I had not consented to the website copying the content that I had created and reposting it. To his credit, he emailed me back a day or so later informing me that it was removed, and it was. However, there are still other sites I see that repost titles of my blog posts, or the content of my blog posts, that are much less easy to reach than this website was. On another site, I had to leave my annoyed-yet-polite request for them to remove my content in a reply to the post, since their contact form wasn't working. (Ironically, that site had a copyright notice on the bottom of the page - I guess they'll use it to protect their own content, without any regard for anyone else's content! Shameless.)<br />
<br />
In theory, I'd have no issue with someone re-posting something I wrote, if they asked for permission first, and received it. After all, don't bloggers blog to initiate discussions about whatever it is they are interested in? And if people post a line or two from my blog because they're interested in the content or have something to say about what I wrote, that probably wouldn't bother me much, if I was credited and it was being done in good faith. But this just left a bad taste in my mouth, because it seems to me that these ploys are designed solely to direct traffic from where it should be going - the blog or website with the actual content that a person is searching for - to these other sites that just re-post the content and really have nothing to do with the content itself. There was no real interest in, or discussion about, what it is that I had posted. While some people might have been content to have another link leading to their blog online, to increase traffic and move their blog up in search results, that's not what I'm interested in. If there's no real connection to or interest in what I'm writing, the way I see it, you're just taking my content, secretively and without my permission, to increase hits to your site. It just doesn't sit right with me.<br />
<br />
I just wanted to blog about this because this could be happening to other bloggers without them even realizing it. When is the last time you Googled your own blog? Hopefully you don't find anything out of the ordinary, but if you do, it is good to know that sometimes, all it takes is an e-mail. While I'm not impressed with the initial action by that website, I do appreciate that it didn't take much to get it resolved. Now, we'll see about those other sites that I saw my blog associated with that have no real way to contact whoever the administrator is. I may just have to give up on those ones, for my own sanity.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I did add a little copyright symbol to the bottom of the blog. My understanding is that while content like my blog posts or photos is copyrighted automatically when it is created (at least in Canada), and the symbol doesn't really make it "official" because the copyright exists whether or not that symbol is there, it does show that it is copyrighted, and for me, the symbol brings attention to that fact when otherwise people might not be thinking about it.<br />
<br />
Well, now I know, and I'll keep an eye out for this sort of thing happening in the future. I hope other bloggers will too. And I learned a little bit about copyright law - though I wish I hadn't had to!OscarBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07202312761235536474noreply@blogger.com10