Doggie Spotlight for Jackson

Welcome to this weeks Dogs on Thursday! We've got a lot to talk about.
First off we've got "A Spring Dogs Secret Swap",which will run from March 15th to April 15th. Sign Ups Start Today until March 13th. Since it is Spring and total muddy days for the dogs, we thought it would be fun to have a "Doggie Clean Up Basket"to help keep us sane during the wet and muddy days. So each package should include a basket or container with a dog sized towel or chamois, at least one treat bag, a toy, a card and a treat for the owner's sanity too.
On the card write at least one idea of how you survive the muddy season with dogs. We will post a questionnaire for you to fill out about your puppy and you after the swap gets started. Please email Paula at paulaliden(at)gmail(dot)com or Natalie at gnatchat(at)gmail(dot)com with your information.

Grab a button for the swap!!

For the Snuggle Project: It looks like the voting shows we will be making Snuggles and sending them to our own favorite humane society or charity. In this case Paula is working on Snuggle Project Blog for this activity and Paula will post it next week. The Snuggle Project runs from March 6th through to the end of April to give lots of time to make and send the Snuggles.

Doggie Spotlight for GoldenQuest's Jumpin'Jackson

Jackson is everything you could want in a Golden Retriever. Our common fondness of golden retrievers was one of attractions that drew Steve and me together. Our search for just the right dog lasted nearly 2 years.

Jackson is everything we wanted and more. Not only is he a very handsome fellow, he is a pleasure at work and play. Jackson learns quickly. Steve trains him in competitive obedience and rally where he has earned his CD and RN. His scores were all high but last spring, he scored a perfect 100 to the cheers of everyone including the AKC field representatives. He is quite an athlete. He enjoys his 5-mile walks every day and is sure to remind us when it is time to go. If it weren't for Jackson, I may have never achieved my Weight Watchers Goal and earned my lifetime membership. We walked 2005 miles together in 2005.

Jackson loves to swim and dive at the lake as often as possible. Last summer he learned to kayak. Now he thinks the boat belongs to him. After a hard day at play at the lake, he can often be found napping in the chair on the screened porch.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Gnat

Dog Facts

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.
For me they are the role model for being alive.
~Gilda Radner

Welcome Everyone to Dogs on Thursday!
(Sorry I am running a little late this morning.
We have flu at our house today.)

Here are a couple of reminders and updates:

If you haven't already voted for a charity for the upcoming snuggle project, please do that.

We will announce the results next Thursday and then start working on the snuggles the following Thursday.

Next Thursday we will also announce the info/rules, etc... on the Spring Swap.

And... Don't forget to wear orange on April 10th and support your local ASPCA.

Thank you Nichole for that information.

For today, in place of the "Doggie Spotlight" is a new feature called "Fun Dog Facts".

Here is the first installment:

1: The worlds largest dog..... The worlds heaviest as well as longest dog ever recorded was an Old English Mastiff named Zorba. In 1989, Zorba weighed 343 lbs and was 8 feet 3 inches long from nose to tail!

2: The worlds tallest dog..... The tallest dog on record was named Shamgret Danzas. He was 42 inches tall (at the shoulder!) and weighed 238 lbs.
Worlds smallest dog..... The smallest dog in history was a tiny Yorkie from Blackburn, England. At two years of age and fully grown this little dude was an incredible 2.5 inches tall by 3.75 inches long! He weighed only 4 ounces! HE was approximately the size of a matchbox.

3: The worlds oldest dog..... The oldest dog that has been reliably documented was an Australian cattle-dog named Bluey. He was put to sleep at the age of 29 years and 5 months!

4: The worlds Best Drug Sniffing Dogs.....A US Customs Labrador named "Snag" has made 118 drug seizures worth a canine record $810 million. The greatest number of drug seizures by dogs is 969 in 1988. IN ONE YEAR! The team of "Rocky" and "Barco" patrolled the Texas and Mexico border, alias "Cocaine Alley." They were so good that Mexican drug lords put a price of $30,000 dollars on their heads.

5: Dogs can see color but it is not as vivid a color scheme as we see.
It is much like our vision at twilight.

6: Some authorities estimate that some dogs sense of smell is as high as 1 million times greater than ours. (I would vouch for that at out house with Elise, especially if there is was a squirrel in the back yard!)

7: Canis Major or The Great Dog:- The great dog follows his master, Orion, as he makes his annual journey through the sky.
Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is located on the shoulder of Canis Major.
It is the brightest in the heavens, and its name means sparkling and scorching, as it is nearest to the sun during the height of summer.

8: The hot, summer days - The Dog Days - which Sirius was thought to cause, run from July 3 to August 11th.

9: The three stars of Orion's Belt point at the Dog Star, Sirius, in Canus ajor at Orion's heels.
It is best seen in the northern hemisphere during winter, between December and March.

10: The wild ancestors of all dogs were hunters.
Wolves and other wild relatives of the dog still hunt in packs for their food.
Dogs have retained the urge to be with the pack. This is why they do not like to be left alone for too long.

If you would like to submit a dog fact please email it to me or Natalie and we will post it on the next 'Fun Dog Facts' installment!

A Doggie Spotlight For Mugsy

Welcome to Dogs On Thursday and Happy Valentines Day!

Everyone please wish Natalie get well wishes and I want to thank her for all the hard work she does for our Dogs On Thursday's!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite charity on the side bar and if you have a snuggle pattern you would like to share please email it to me or Natalie and we will add it to the snuggle patterns we are compiling for the upcoming Snuggle Project.

This weeks Doggie Spotlight is about Chan's beloved Mugsy:
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Mugsy Cornelius

"Mugsy remains the best Christmas present my husband has ever given me, and he was the first such present, albeit an early one. I was waiting on a pick of the litter from two Jack Russells I knew, when hubby to be saw an ad in the paper and insisted it wouldn't hurt to go look. Two hours later, Mugsy had never left my arms and we were back home. Our first weeks together were rough. I had mono, and then it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more. It's nearly impossible to housebreak a dog when the snow is deeper than he is tall.

There are literally hundreds of puppy shots, but this is my favorite. Prior to camera phones, I packed that picture with me every time I went away overnight, except when I was working 24-hour shifts at the firehouse. Mugsy and I have been inseparable from that first moment.
He's a perfect dog, I think. At 12+, he still wants to play fetch to the point of exhaustion - his, not the human's. He's been known to snore/choke himself when he falls asleep with a tennis ball in his mouth. He is dependable off-leash, enough so that even co-workers take him out without one.

Accidents have kept him in the vet's often. Let's see... two bee stings (he's allergic), a copperhead bite, a stick through his chest, within 2 cm. of his heart, and that one now has built up enough scar tissue that he can only wear "vest style" harnesses. There's a tear in one ear from a fight with Fred (our recently deceased basset hound), and he had staples in his front leg from a digging accident too. Now, that chest wound also has caused a collapsed trachea, so the old guy coughs a lot and isn't as active as he once was. Still, he keeps up with Sissy and is TRYING to teach her to be a good dog.
Oh - we didn't pick either of his names. My mono-stricken mind couldn't settle on anything, until a fellow firefighter suggested Mugsy. Then, a year or two later, the female junior firefighter called him "Mugsy Cornelius" and it stuck...

Happy Valentines Day to you and your dogs, and a special woof to Paula for all she does for Dogs on Thursday!"

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Thank You Mugsy, you are quite an awesome dog!

A Doggie Spotlight For Ella

Welcome to this weeks Dogs on Thursday!

Welcome to the newest members of the Doggie Blog Roll.
It sure is growing!

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry on this(super bizarre weather for February, in some parts of the nation)wintry day!

Yesterday I emailed out the Doggie Valentines mailing list for those that want to participate.

I know there was a little confusion about this card only swap.
I am sorry. I will get better at this as time goes on. :)
In the Spring we will be doing the ‘one to one secret dog swap’ and so I didn’t want to cause a stress with two big swaps so close together and thought this simple little Valentine card exchange would be great fun!
If there are any questions, corrections or if forgot someone that wanted to participate (I hope I didn't and I am sorry if I did) please email me and I will fix it.

Please notice the side bar voting poll thingy for the upcoming Spring Dog Snuggle Project.
There were soooo many great dog charities suggested by you guys.
I am thinking that we could leave the voting poll thingy on the side bar until February 28th.
As you think of more dog charities please email them to me or Natalie and we will add them to the poll.

Also,
We have been gathering snuggle patterns for this activity for the side bar too and I have one idea for a non-sewing snuggle for those that are not crafters and want to participate in this activity.
If anyone has an idea for a non-sewing/crocheted/knitted snuggle or even a pattern for a knitted, sewn, or crocheted snuggle please email me or Natalie with it.


And...now for this weeks Doggie Spotlight about Cactusneedlles adorable Ella!

Ella’s Story:

"Ella came to us in February of 2006, about two months after we had to put our 12-year old pug Nina down due to old age.
It was a very sad time for us as a family, as Nina had been my kid’s constant companion and mine since before they were born.
Anyway, it was one Saturday afternoon in February that we were going to Home Depot, and my Hubby turned to me and said that we should go to Petsmart (our local animal shelter takes the dogs to the stores to give them more exposure) and see what dogs were there.
So…needless to say, we walked out of Petsmart an hour later with the paperwork for Ella in our hands!
And took her home with us on the following Monday afternoon.

Ever since that day, Ella has ensconced herself in our house and our world.
She gets daily walks, rain or shine, hot or cold.
She loves to run in the desert (we have a big patch of desert between two housing developments) where she gets to be a dog!
She chases the rabbits, and when the little lizards are out and about, hop the bushes like she has springs in her feet!
It’s very difficult to get a picture of her doing that, so you’ll have to picture Ella jumping straight up in the air about 2to 3 feet high and then landing and running and then hopping again.

From some of the pictures, it looks as if she’s a big couch potato.
And she is! She loves to curl up in a ball on the couch and can sleep for hours on end!

Ella has been a great addition to our house these past two years, and I’m so glad we found her (or she found us)."

*(Ella’s Note: Woof, woof, whine, woof, whine.) That goes out to all her doggie friends!