Chew with Your Mouth Closed!

Whoever said that having dogs is like having a toddler around was right. I have to remind members of both species to chew with their mouth closed. No one wants to see your masticated food! Or stick.

Who Will Rescue Me?

I'm lost at sea without a friend,

This journey, will it ever end?

Who will rescue me?
Rescue me?
Rescue me?
Rescue me?
-The Rescuers

You Owe Me a Treat!

I believe you owe me a treat. Pay up or else!

Puppy Play Date or Where Mr. N Meets a Puppy Smaller Than Him

Mr. N rarely encounters dogs smaller than him. It's even more uncommon that he meets a puppy smaller than him. Mr. N's foster mom invited him over to play with her new puppy who is this teeny tiny Maltese who weighs two pounds soaking wet because she thought Mr. N might be a good playmate.


I was uncertain how Mr. N would react because I don't know if he has ever met a puppy smaller than him. Mr. N doesn't like big boisterous puppies (which is the usual kind he meets) so I was curious to see how he would handle the tiny puppy.

As it turns out, Mr. N and the puppy play similarly. They bounce about and wrestle and chase each other around and had a blast running around. He was extremely tolerant of the puppy and didn't correct him at all even when the puppy tried to hump him. None of the other dogs in the house really play with the puppy because they get annoyed by him or they're too big.

But Mr. N and the puppy were a great match.

 Mr. N wants to know if we can borrow him and take him home. But only if I promise that he still gets the lion's share of the attention!

Wreath Making Workshop and Holiday Cheer

A local store held a workshop for people to make holiday door wreaths for an assisted living home. Mr. N accompanied me to supervise crafting activities. He was a bit distraught that the room was full of people not paying attention to him. He was thrilled when two little girls came in and made a fuss over him. 

The instructor set up several different stations and people set to work making bows and cutting boughs and assembling and decorating the wreathes. I mostly helped by cutting boughs but I did some decorating and assembling as well. 

One of the women had worked in retail and was an expert at making bows. 

Mr. N has good company manners but I was a little concerned that all the discarded boughs might tempt him to mark indoors. He doesn't normally but he adores "decorating" fallen branches outdoors. Luckily there were no incidents. He stayed out of the way and didn't bark or try to run outside and was a good little boy. He eventually settled down in his carrier for a nap.  

We left before the end of the workshop but the group successfully made one hundred door wreathes (one for each resident) and will be delivering them on Monday. I hope it brings a little holiday cheer to the people there. 

Some of the wreaths I made.

Canine #ChristmasCreep and Moving Santas

Over the weekend, I took Mr. N to a church Christmas bazaar where we got an early start on Christmas presents and took some lunch to my friend who owns a shop. Mr. N was very suspicious of the moving Santas behind him but he reluctantly agreed to pose for a photo. One of the volunteers told me that the previous day, someone had brought their two Lhasa Apsos and they had a barking fit at the Santas. Mr. N was wary but did not bark. I guess he's staying on the nice list!

How do your dogs feel about Christmas decorations?

I Can't Take Him Seriously

BF: I can't take him seriously like that.
Me: Is it the "waiting for Santa" pajamas or his stuffed animal looks or the tongue sticking out?
BF: Mostly him sticking his tongue out.

Can you take Mr. N seriously?

Bait and Switch

Mr. N would like to file a complaint with the Bureau of Dog Affairs. He was explicitly promised a "walk" but instead was roped into taking Halloween photos. He thinks this is a bait and switch. 

Do you agree? 

Is Your Dog a Rule Follower or a Rebel?

Mr. N is a dog that likes being good. I swear he preens when another dog is being "bad" and he is 

"good." If one of his friends has to go back on leash and he is still off-leash, he prances about expressively and flouts his freedom. 

He very rarely loses his off-leash privileges but I had to leash him one time on the beach because he was obsessed with trying to play with this one dog on a flexi-leash. After he disregarded his second warning, he went on the leash. After a decent amount of distance away from the dog, I un-leashed him. He kept looking back at me and checking to see if it was OK to walk ahead. He does not enjoy being "bad." 

I think part of it is he likes law and order and the other part that he is a total mama's boy and wants to stay in my good graces. This isn't to say he is never naughty but he does try very hard to be good. 

When canine visitors enter our kitchen, he disapproves. He is not allowed in there unless expressly invited.  Even if other dogs are in the kitchen looking for crumbs or sniffing the treat bin, he never joins them. If I drop a treat by mistake, he'll wait to see if I really meant to give it to him. 

He also believes that good behavior should be rewarded and appropriately. Sometimes after reactivity training (which is probably the hardest for him), we'll pass by a dog and I'll dole out a treat for not reacting. And he'll look at me as if to say, that was really, really hard. That dog was talking smack about me and I didn't even say anything back! I think I deserve more treats. Most of the time, I'll agree with him and treat him to his satisfaction. 

Whereas our foster pup could care less about human approval or rules if it conflicted with what he wanted. He was always trying to sneak into the kitchen. And he stole food out of Mr. N's mouth. Literally. Mr. N was aghast at his behavior and would run and tattle. We used to call them Goofus and Gallant. 

Is your dog a rule follower or a rebel? 

Mr. N says he has done his part. Treat now please?

Portland Horse Project and Mr. N

If you look closely, you'll spot metal rings on the sidewalks of Portland. They date back to the early 1900's when people would tie up their horses and carts to the rings. Portland continues the tradition by adding rings when new sidewalks are built. Scott Wayne Indiana came up with the idea of adding toy horses to the rings as a public art project (Portland Horse Project) and it became popular with Portlanders. 

Mr. N says he is not a horse and he finds being tied to the ring  very insulting. 

Watching #Portlandia and #Grimm Being Filmed

We occasionally run into Portlandia and Grimm filming around the city. Mr. N was not perturbed by the fake zombies and he thinks he would make a very scary wesen (fairy tale creatures in Grimm).

We didn't have a chance to watch the most recent filming of Portlandia due to errands in another part of the city. They were packing up as we walked by but Mr. N posed at the pizza place they were shooting.

Which show would your dog like to be an extra in?

Recovering Reactive Dog

We were walking down the street when a car drives by with the window open and a dog barking his head off at Mr. N. Mr. N turns and looks for a long second. He gives a huff and proceeds to turn away from the dog and we cross the street to get some distance.

 The car parks and a woman walks out and apologizes for her dog saying he always gets really excited around other dogs. I tell her that it's OK. That we've been there.

We are still there but he gets better and better every day. Even though it feels like we backslide sometimes.

Mr. N is a recovering reactive dog. These days, his outbursts are much fewer and usually provoked by our neighbors' dogs (with territoriality added to the mix) or unexpected close encounters like when we go around corners. He has been making mostly good choices and will turn away or emit calming signals.

Little Dog is learning some impulse control. He is a good boy.

Conquering a Nemesis

There's a goose that lives a few blocks away from us. Mr. N likes to glare as menacingly as a six-pound dog can through the fence at her and she in turn will flap her wings and hiss at Mr. N. The last couple of times we've seen her, Mr. N has managed to creep up on the goose and startle her. And then she runs away, flapping her wings. Mr. N is very proud of himself.

A pictorial description.

Dog Tag Taglines

Mr. N's new tag from Fetching Tags (that he won in a contest) arrived last week and I think it suits him perfectly.

Props to anyone who can guess the origin of the tagline!

Does your dog's tag have a tagline? If not, what would it be?

No Dog Left Behind

Mr. N fervently believes in no dog left behind and that he should be able to go everywhere I go. Sadly that isn't possible and sometimes he has to stay home. He has very strong opinions about the wrongness of this.

This past weekend, we were at a musical festival so Mr. N went and stayed with his foster family. After the first excited greeting, Mr. N is snubbing me and deliberately ignoring me as punishment. Tomorrow he'll forgive me... How does your dog feel about staying home alone? 

It's the Humidity

It's actually cooler here in Michigan than it is in Portland but both Mr. N and I are struggling with the humidity. Mr. N thinks that little Northwestern dogs are not made for Midwestern humidity. He's been drinking a ton of water and plopping down in the grass for breaks during walks which is his cue for he simply can't walk any further and must be carried home. I frequently tell him he's lucky he's not five pounds heavier. 

One more long walk for him and then it's back to Portland. He has missed all his toys including his beloved bear and his dog friends and he has a lot of mail to catch up on. I think he'll miss having three extra humans to fuss over him though. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We're leaving on a red eye to travel to the Midwest. With any luck, Mr. N will sleep peacefully through the flight. Wish us luck! 

This is the happy face of a dog who hasn't seen the suitcases yet!

Update: We made it in one piece! Mr. N whined a little bit during takeoff but slept for the rest of the ride and was very good on the shuttle and waiting in the airport. Going through security though we ran into a new TSA guy and he wanted me to set Mr. N on the floor and have him follow me through the metal detector (no collar/leash). Crazy! Mr. N totally would but I can see a lot of pets getting lost that way. Another TSA person corrected him pretty quickly.

Have you flown with your dog before? Any tips?

Lure Coursing i.e. Mr. N's Favorite Thing Ever

Mr. N positively adores lure coursing. It is his favorite thing ever. The dogs chase a plastic bag on a line pulled by a series of pulleys. 

The non-sighthounds run the CAT (coursing agility test). Small dogs (under twelve inches) and brachycephalic dogs run 300 yards and the big dogs run 600 yards. The dogs run individually and in order to pass, the dogs must complete the course in under a minute and half (300 yards) or two minutes (600 yards). 

People with their hounds at the starting line. I think they were competing for best of breed. 

The trial we went to had the sight hounds running in the morning and the CAT test in the afternoon. Mr. N is registered as an All-American (the AKC term for mixed breeds) but due to a registration snafu, he was initially listed to run 600 yards. While he probably would have loved it, I switched him to his proper division. He also happened to be the only small dog running that day so he ran first. 

I was just asking someone if she minded taking photos of him while he ran when I was told Mr. N was up. So there are no pictures of him running. It's also incredibly difficult to get a good picture of a tiny tan dog running in dry grass so I doubt the photos would have been good anyway.

About to cross the finishing line. 

Obviously, he's an off-breed for the sport. That's the purpose of the CAT. But I guess due to his small and fluffy stature, he's even more off. He was running the CAT with Belgians, Bouviers, Dobermans, Border Terriers and a Pumi among other dogs. I usually get a couple of quizzical oh.... you're running him? remarks. Which admittedly is much better than being told I was being cruel to make him run so much (which has happened). This is an instinct test and if your dog doesn't want to run, they won't run. 

This Dalmatian was super excited and dragged his owner to the starting line.

But once people see him run, they change their tune. Mr. N gets so excited when he sees lure coursing, he literally quivers. I'm glad that is his preferred reaction rather than screaming at the top of his lungs like some of the other dogs. At his first trial, he was the fastest (and smallest) dog in his division. It's a pass/fail test and there are no rankings but it's still pretty cool to know that he is super fast! He runs with great enthusiasm and he never loses sight of the lure. He completed his run in good time (not sure of the exact time, this club doesn't keep track of time) and won a ribbon. He would like to do it again now please. 

Mr. N posing with his ribbon and the giant Milkbone that he won. Mr. N wants to go back to the field now.

PNW Dog Blogger Meetup and Hike

We're still recovering from our weekend jaunt to Seattle. While we were there, we met up with the Cascadian Nomads and You Did What With Your Wiener? and we went for a hike with the dogs at Camp Long. Mr. N even went home with the Nomads who kindly hosted him for the weekend. That's a story for another post! 

From left to right: Huxley and Brychwyn and Wilhelm from the Cascadian Nomads, Chester and Gretel from You Did What With Your Wiener?, and Mr. N 

Have you met other bloggers? Is there a particular one you'd like to meet?

Food Puzzle Toys (Mini Green Slow Dog Feeder and Nina Ottosson Mix Max Treat Puzzle review)

During therapy dog visits, I explain to the children that Mr. N does puzzles too only instead of the satisfaction of putting it together, he does it for food. He then demonstrates and the kids always enjoy watching him.

We recently added two new food toys to our arsenal, courtesy of Company of Animals. We were sent the Mini Green Slow Dog Feeder and the Nina Ottosson Mix Max Treat Puzzle, Advanced Level. 

Mr. N doesn't/won't eat kibble so I put some jerky pieces in the feeder. After eating the treats around the edges, Mr. N approached the feeder like he does food puzzles and tried to tip it over. He had trouble reaching the ones in the middle. I think his muzzle isn't long enough to nab the treats there effectively.

Overall, I think this would be an excellent tool for most dogs that like to gulp down their food and I like the design. This is also dishwasher-safe. Brachycephalic dogs and some of the toy dogs with short, snippy muzzles may have trouble getting all of the food out.

I specifically asked for an advanced food puzzle because Mr. N does all of the ones at home in less than a minute and it completely ruins the point of having him be occupied for a while. The MixMax comes in three difficulties (easy, medium and advanced) and can be combined with the other levels.

There are four yellow round pieces. The dog needs to slide the yellow piece out of a corner and slide it over to an exit in order to retrieve the treat. The treat needs to be small enough to fit under the circle but big enough so that it can't be retrieved through the hole. Mr. N ate all the small pieces I put in initially through the holes.

It took him a little longer to solve than his other ones and he enjoyed playing with it once he figured out he couldn't "cheat" anymore. This toy is perfectly-sized for Mr. N but for medium to large dogs, I think the pieces are too small to be played without strict supervision.

This is Mr. N's triumphant "I got the food out" face

Does your dog(s) play with food puzzle toys?

This post was sponsored by The Company of Animals. They are not responsible for the contents of this article. All opinions expressed are our own.