Dogged Blog

The love of a good dog breeder

I've written a hundred different columns and posts on how to find, or identify, a good dog breeder. I suspect most of my fellow bloggers here have, too.



Gina pegged one of the characteristics of that breed, the provision of a lifetime safety net for every dog that breeder produces. And that's long been my "ten second acid test" as well.



Now I have another.



When Rawley's breeder put him on the plane in Detroit to send him across the country to me, she phoned me. She was crying.



Her name is Paula Pascoe, and lest you think she's some neophyte who has had so few litters that she can still indulge in loving them, you should know that she's one of, if not the, top conformation breeders in Scottish Deerhounds today, with multiple Best in Show and Best in Specialty Show winning hounds bearing her kennel name, Lehigh. I don't know what year she produced her first litter, but she is in at least her third decade of breeding now.



When she was crying on the phone, she apologized, not wanting to harsh my new puppy squee. "I'm so sorry," she started to say. "But..."



"Don't," I said, cutting her off. "I'm sorry you're unhappy, but I have to tell you, I wouldn't want to get my puppy from someone who didn't cry when she saw him go."



Sadly, I can't tell you how to look into a breeder's heart and see if she or he loves their puppies. Like art and pornography, I guess "love" is something we just know when we see it, but can't really explain.



But if I could, I'd tell you: Never get a dog from a breeder whose heart doesn't break with every puppy she places.



Photo: Rawley, stealing my chair along with my heart.

How the pet food recall gave birth to the LOLCats empire

Anyone who was around here during the 2007 pet food recall is familiar with Itchmo, one of the other blogs that investigated and reported on the story when the traditional media was ignoring it (and its implications).



Itchmo went silent shortly after the recall ended, although its forums continue to provide an important resource for pet owners interested in the safety of the food they buy for their cats and dogs.



Itchmo was the project of Ben and Emily Huh, and what they did after they put their blog on hiatus is the subject of my current column for SFGate.com:

Even if you're not a cat lover, if you know which button to push to turn on your computer you're probably familiar with ICanHasCheezburger.com.



It's the wildly popular Internet meme factory that takes quirky, user-submitted kitty photos, lets other users add equally quirky captions in a special language known as LOLspeak, and uploads them for the amusement of millions of users each month.



Ben Huh is the guy behind LOLcats and the vast network of sites that grew out of it, including its canine cousin I Has a Hot Dog and the ultimate archive of communications disasters, FAILblog.



[....]



"My background is in journalism, and I still think there's a need for a really good animal news aggregation blog," he said. "But what Emily and I found when the recall was over is that most of the pet news out there is sad and upsetting. It didn't jive with the world I knew from living with a dog, which is that it's happy. Getting a dog was one of the happiest things I'd ever done in my life."



When ICanHasCheezburger came along, the two philosophies just matched, he said. "This is about pets and it's about happiness. I can do this long term. This makes sense to me."

You can read the whole story here. 



Photo of Ben Huh taken at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin by Clint Gilders.

Puppy nirvana

So I'm totally in delirious, insane, head-over-heels  love with my new puppy.



Rawley arrived last Thursday night from Michigan, and promptly turned my life upside down.



Dr. Marty's always talking about how people with dogs get more exercise -- and enjoy it more -- than people who go to the gym. I love my gym and I go faithfully, but my effort to take off the weight I gained during and right after my mom's illness and death just took a quantum leap forward with Rawley's arrival.



Saturday morning, I walked him for four miles before I'd even had a single cup of a coffee. Those who know me will recognize that as a sign of true love indeed.



On Sunday, my three nephews came over and we took him to the dog park. I made this little video -- you can almost smell the puppy breath!







Photo: My nephew Harrison, who has the makings of a real dog person, and Rawley after wearing each other out at the park.

He stole my chair...

Sent from my iPhone

Rawley's first visit to the dog park

Sent from my iPhone

Puppy has landed!

We'll pretend this is a normal day and I'll be doing my normal things and, you know, working.



Yes, I know the whole team is in Orlando. I know I should be blogging. Good luck with that.



Rawley came out of his crate at the cargo bay like he'd been flying all his life. He was calm and happy and curious. I called Paula Pascoe, his breeder, the instant I got him out of the crate, although I had my brother, McKenzie, talk to her because Ronan and I were just way too busy loving up the new pupper.



He slept through the night, amazingly, although he woke up at 4:30 AM -- not too bad for an Eastern Time puppy. I took him out, and he finally peed; first time since he arrived in California.



Kyrie is handling it better than I expected, although to say she's happy about this would be a wild over-statement.



I posted more photos on my Facebook page. I'm pretty sure they're set to public, but if not, let me know!



Me and Rawley are heading for the park!



Photos: Top, Rawley's first morning, by me. Bottom: Me, my nephew Ronan, and Rawley at the Delta cargo bay. Yes, it's a terrible photo, but Gina threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't post a photo that included me! Blame her! Don't blame my brother, McKenzie, who took the photo. He was blinded by the cute.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Splish, splash

Today was day 21 of the 90 workout challenge, and I got in two! I went swimming this afternoon, mostly with my four year old nephew so maybe not the most strenuous workout ever, and then this evening Kyrie and I went for a long hike.

My new puppy is coming Thursday, at which point I suspect I'll be getting about four times as many walks as I'm currently getting. I can't wait!

It ' s bunny day!

I wish dog and cat advocates were as driven, smart and organized -- and had as much common sense -- as rabbit people.



Gina used the fact that she's at the American Animal Hospital Association conference this weekend to "assign" coverage of the House Rabbit Society's daylong session on rabbit health to me. Unlike Gina, I've never owned a rabbit, but I assured here I'd do my best with the furry little nose-twitchers.



We're on a lunch break right now, and so far, I can report is that the speakers are knowledgeable, the audience engaged and the bunnies, of course, adorable.



I also noticed that these rabbit owners, educators and rescuers are very straightforward and full of practical wisdom and tips. In fact, this is the most impressive example of good old-fashioned animal sense I've seen since I watched Joan Miller do her ninja cat handling moves at the No-Kill Conference last year.

Countdown to puppy breath

This time next week, I'll have just woken up to my first morning with my new puppy!



Lehigh Farallon of Caber Feidh, call name "Rawley," is due to arrive at 6:30 PM on Thursday, March 25. My four-year-old nephew, Ronan, will be accompanying me to the airport to pick him up -- oh, and his parents will be tagging along, too. But mainly it's me and Ronan.



It's kind of a sentimental journey for Ronan's father, my brother, McKenzie (and why yes, Gina did name her dog after my brother). He rode with me and my mother when we picked up our first show deerhounds, Lillie and Duffy, a couple of decades ago.



Now my mom is gone, and we'll be taking her beloved grandson to bring home my first deerhound since losing my mom, the person who got me into deerhounds in the first place.



Whenever Ronan talks about Rawley, he says, "The new puppy is coming. His real name is Farallon, but his nickname is Rawley. But I call him Farallon." Ronan still says, every time he comes to my house, where I lived with my mom and with my dog Rebel, who died just before my mom did, "I still miss Rebel and Grandma."



So do I, little guy, but hopefully between you and Rawley, it won't hurt quite so much anymore.



Here's to the next generation, four-footed and two.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Does anyone know what day this is?

I need to go back and figure out what day this is, but I'm current through yesterday on my 90 workouts in 90 days challenge.

I didn't really get much out of the workouts while I was in Austin. The gym at the hotel was nice in terms of polished hardwood floors and view of the pool, but lacked the weights and equipment I'm used to at my regular gym. So a few of those workouts, well... they were technically workouts, but I don't think they did my body too much good.

I actually have a lot of stuff to say about SXSW and my new puppy, who is coming a week from today, but the deadlines are piling up.