A Dog Poker Game

PACMAN: The Dog I Adopted from the Street

It has been past seven months since my father died, and if he still lives today, surely, he'll be very glad and amazed to meet the neglected dog I found in the street. My dad loves my dogs so much because he finds my pets very amusing. Sad to say he missed to see the most submissive and affectionate dog I brought in his home. Surprisingly, this dog who came out of nowhere, skittish, skinny, wounded, and infested with fleas, obviously showing all the signs of neglect, appeared to be a very kind, obedient dog.

I will never forget the morning walk with my two dogs when suddenly this awful looking pooch came to follow us, he was so persistent in spite the many times I tried to drive him away.  The dog was acting like he have known me for years, he's just there trying to get my attention, he continued to follow us till we got back home. I ignored the dog and thought that he would give up and simply go away, but I was wrong. The dog stayed and slept near our gate till the next day, so I thought of asking people from the neighborhood if they knew the owner of the stray dog, unfortunately no one claims. I was saddened to realize that the poor dog has really no home and obviously hungry and begging for food. And so I took and feed him, named him PACMAN and that started the beginning of a loyal and good friendship that was really meant to be. I was thankful that I found him because he can easily be a victim of an unfriendly & cruel environment.

Besides being submissive and loving, Pacman is a smart canine. It didn't took a while for him to learn the basics of obedience training. All he asks is praise and a loving touch to his face every time he follows a command, gestures that he was certainly deprived of.

The most important thing that Pacman does besides being a pet & watchdog is a consoling and affectionate loyal companion to my widowed mother. Every morning Pacman will bunt & sit next to my mom's lap  keeping her company.



I always believe that dogs bring happiness, love and hope to people especially to those in stress and in grief.

5 Amazing Jobs Dogs Do

As we all know now, dogs do perform some jobs that humans usually do. And below are just 5 examples of how dogs can be great workers. These amazing jobs dogs do only proves that with a little training dogs can do some really helpful things. Here are 5 jobs dogs do that help to improve our lives. There are more than just 5 jobs that dogs do, but these are an example of how versitile they can really be.

Therapy WorkImage by Getty Images via @daylife

Cute dogs - you cannot resist their charm. I am talking about dogs doing therapy work here. What they do is to give comfort and provide a very calming presence to those people that are admitted in the hospital, nursing homes, and other stressful situations. They do not really have to have a specific type of breed in order to become a therapy worker as long as they are sociable enough to be around people all the time and they have to be obedient. Usually smaller dogs work well in most of these situations. They are usually very cute and if you are going to toss in some things like accessories that would make them cuter, all the better.

Service And Assistance WorkImage via Wikipedia

Many movies have portrayed it and heck, you can even see it sometimes as you walk down the street. Dogs do service and assistant work especially to disabled individuals. These are guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility assistance, autism dogs, psychiatric service, and mobility assistance. Humans should be really thankful for these dogs as they are making our lives easier to deal with.

Image via WikipediaSled Dogs

Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies are the most common dog breeds that make a good sled dogs. Even until now, dog sleds are being used to travel through terrains that are impossible to pass. Back in the day they were used to go through terrains during the first expeditions to the north and south poles. Now, apart from letting people travel, they also travel to deliver medications and supplies to towns that are very isolated and hard to reach.

Search and Rescue

Dogs that are able to participate in search and rescue operations make the lives of the investigators much easier. Dogs have more powerful scenting abilities and that is why they are more able to detect the scent of missing individuals - either dead or alive. They do this in dangerous weather, through the wilderness and even underwater.

Image via WikipediaHerding

And the last of these 5 amazing jobs dogs do is herding. This is very common to people who are living in the countryside especially in Europe. Dogs help in leading a number of kinds of livestock like sheep, fowls, and cattle among others. The most common herding dogs are Australian Cattle Dogs, Border Collies, and Kelpies.

Dogs have been a companion to people for a very long time and it is easy to see why. They do so much to improve the quality of life for us and they ask for little in return. It is no wonder that we spoil them like we do.

From Alex Fields writing for Bling Bling Puppy the internet dog store for dog collars, beds, and toys for your dog. You can also visit his blog for Terrier dog lovers called My Terrier Dog. Here you can read about different terrier dog breeds, grooming tips, and good sound dog related advise. Alex is a full time dog owner and loves to write about them.

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• AKC-Different Types Of Dog Breeds (mydogbert.com)

Boom Boom The Smart Yorkie

Here's another dog that makes me proud and happy every time I watch his training video.  It is surely overwhelming to see a puppy student of mine performs so well. It was a job well done and his parents or should say loving owners were very satisfied and happy with the results. Boom boom a Yorkshire Terrier and 3 months old at the time is an enthusiastic pupil and obviously a quick learner. 

This video has been long overdue and I should have posted this months ago. But this is something I don't want you to miss.

Tips for Dogs Left Alone

It's really hard to leave our dogs behind especially if it's the kind of dog who loves to find genius and destructive ways to make himself/herself busy. It's a fact that most of us have to live and get along with the busy world spending a lot of time away from home, unfortunately our pets find it difficult to adjust. 

There are dogs that easily get bored, stressed, and suffers from separation anxiety, while others   seem content sleeping the rest of the day while you're away. 
 

But how do you know if your dog is unhappy when left alone? 
 

Here are tips, if you come home and found your furniture or things all chewed up, trash bin ransacked, pillows chewed to shreds, scratches on doors and walls, signs of dog urine and feces all over, and  worst of all got an angry call from your neighbors telling you that your dog howl or barks all day, well, these are just the few annoying things that say your dog is having a bad day being alone.

If your dog becomes destructive because of boredom, anxiety, depression or simply because he is alone and you're away, the best thing you can do is to keep him positively busy by giving your pet dog plethora of fun things to do. Doing so will help your dog to become more relaxed and satisfied .  Here are some tips:

• Hire a Dog walker or Trainer
• Leave your dog in a pet day care
• Leave plenty of exciting and fun toys for your dog (like puzzle toys that you can fill with treats)
• Give him lots of  active play before you go,it will surely exhaust his extra energy.

Justice For Jack

  The story that I will share with you is the recent email that I just received from K9 Magazine. It is one of the most upsetting and heartbreaking news I've read and seen. This is a very cruel and heartless thing for a dog that the owner had done. Honestly, there are a lot of disgusting and bad dog owners around. A person who treats animals this way are just the kind of people who does not respect life and nature, and has no compassion. It's easy to imagine how bad the personality of these humans or should I say monsters.

October 14, 2010 (News from K9-Magazine)

Justice For Jack - Warning VERY Upsetting Story

‘Justice for Jack’ A facebook group entitled 'Justice for Jack' was started by a group of animal lovers in memory of a young dog who was named 'Jack' by staff at Whitehall Dog Rescue in Wakefield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Jack was left outside the gates of Whitehall Rescue sometime between the hours of 12am and 5am on Friday 17th September and it is thought he died during that time, having been left alone wrapped in a blanket, writes Maria Daines. 

Jack's extremely emaciated condition has shocked animal lovers, dog owners and indeed the general public world wide and it is quite obvious from the distressing photographs of the dog, taken after this death, that Jack had not eaten for weeks, maybe months. Now campaigners are demanding justice and in raising awareness of Jack’s story the facebook group has grown to over 20,000 members at time of writing.

Brian Wheelhouse, founder of Whitehall Dog Rescue, shared the heartbreaking story of Jack on his website and he has since been interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds. Media coverage is increasing slowly but of course in cases such as this, the faster bad news travels the sooner questions will be answered and animal advocates are hoping their campaign will help to prevent other animals from being neglected in a similar way.

A petition dedicated to Jack, calling for harsher sentences for animal abusers has risen to almost 5000 signatures. The campaign has been highlighted by a song entitled 'God Bless Jack' written and performed by UK singer/songwriter Maria Daines.

Maria and thousands of others are now wondering if a breakthrough can be made in Jack's memory which could help to protect other animals at risk of cruelty or neglect. To sign the petition or find out more about the 'Justice for Jack' campaign please visit the links below.

Justice for Jack' facebook campaign group

- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=149492061753712

Jack's story, Whitehall Dog Rescue

- http://www.whitehalldogrescue.co.uk/jackbless.htm

Petition

- http://www.petitiononline.com/csjf4/petition.html

Vixen- The Delicate Minpin

A month ago a friend asked me to train his cute and very little puppy, again it was a Micro Miniature Pinscher, her name is Vixen and was 6 months old at that time. This is my second minpin to undergo training, and since I had a good training experience with a Minpin before, I thought it's going to be easy but it seemed I underestimated Vixen, obviously she was far different from Tyson. It's not always true that same breed shares the same temperament or attitude. In some aspects it can be agreeable though it's not always the case and should not be followed as a basis especially in training, since it may require a different approach.

I can't say that training Vixen was difficult but I would truly say it was quite challenging. Although it took more than a while for her to learn the basic sit, still she made it happen and proved to me that she can be as good as any other trained dog.

Now I'm proud to present you Vixen in her very first training video.