Frenchie Tool Time

Hidey Ho!! Brutus here! Mom is letting me do our post #199!

I got to help mom with the teeter she built a few weeks ago - she couldn't have done it without me! I'll show you the most important parts of the project I made possible, kinda like my own little "Tool Time".

First, make sure you have all the supplies you need. Today we are going to paint a teeter. So we need a teeter - check (covered with plastic behind me) - and paint stuff - check.

It's very important to select the right kind of roller for your painting needs! I prefer these nice sheep-skin looking ones:

Next, prepare your tools by play bowing to them:

Now use this wood mixer thingy to stir up your paint. You might want a human around to hold the can so you don't dump it (not that I would know from experience...)

The mixer also makes an excellent chew toy, although make sure you only do this BEFORE stirring the paint with it!

Come to think of it, so does the roller...

Next, grab the mixer thingy and make your human chase you around a little.

OK, lets get back to work! Pick up the paint roller and....

What do you mean I can't use a roller without thumbs???

OK, this next part is really important. Get comfy & take a nice, long nap. Let your human do all the grunt work!

And when you wake up, voila! The paint is already dry!! If I must say so myself, that is one fine looking piece of equipment I created!

The last thing to do is to try out the teeter and make sure it works properly. Here we go:

Remember, things like this should only be attempted by an experienced professional!

Project successfully completed! Now where is my treat???

Have a great weekend everyone! Be sure to tune in Monday, mom's got something special planned for post #200!!

Have a Seat

It's a basic command almost every dog knows: "Sit." Dogs do it naturally, you just have to teach them to do it on command. Simple enough, right? Basic obedience 101! Here is the anatomy of a properly executed sit, first from the side:

And now from behind:

Well, leave it to us to come up with a debate on the topic. Brutus being Brutus, he has managed to come up with his own unique take on the position.

In obedience it is called a "sloppy sit" (Oh, to see a scoresheet without the notation "SS" on it...). Brutus sort of reminds me of an old man when he sits like this, all hunched-over looking. Here's a side view so that you can get the full effect. This is the more complicated "Foot-paw-foot-paw" version, where front & hind feet alternate.

I think they get the idea, mom... Will you knock it off with the camera?

Compare that with the even more casual "on one hip" version shown here. No complicated foot placement to worry about in this sit, just let it all hang out to the side:

Brutus isn't alone, this is a characteristic Frenchie position. If you want to get technical about it (and you know I can't pass up the chance), somewhere I read that all Frenchies have some degree of patellar luxation so this is just how sitting works best for them anatomically. Explain it however you want, it's just one more thing to put on the list of why I love my Frenchie :)

(almost) Wordless Wednesday: Frozen in Time edition

Thanks to the wonders of digital photography, some recent moments "frozen" in time:

Some awkward,

Oh man, I hate it when my lip gets stuck under my teeth!!

... and some amazing!

During a brief thaw

Landscape with bulldog

Dog Hair in Everything I Do

OK. We are all dog people, so let's be honest.

Me might try to downplay it to our non-doggy friends, but dog hair is a constant presence in our existance. Some pups shed more than others, from none at all (you lucky poodle and lhasa owners!) to mountains of furry fun (gotta love the dogs with a double coat!). But whether it's removing hair from the dog or removing it from ourselves, we all have to deal with dog hair one way or another. It not only affects our wardrobe choices, it also shortens the lifespan of our appliances, and makes vacuuming and sweeping a much more regular occurrence than normal!

No, that's not a new toupee that Brutus is sporting - it's actually hair from Mason that I noticed had ended up on his head. Yep, that's right - Mason sheds on Brutus!!

For me, there are three sources of hair, including one posthumous; Duncan's white, needle-like hairs still mysteriously grace many objects in the house:

Just like the terrier they came from, the hairs are tenacious - woven stubbornly into fabrics, even got one stuck in my foot like a splinter! As much as I miss old Duncan (he crossed the rainbow bridge last September), I could do without his hair.

Mason, on the other hand - Sheesh! He is one hairy labradude! Yeah, he looks all brown, soft & cuddly...

... but he has a wiry, white undercoat that never stops shedding. 90% of the hair I deal with comes from him (the other 10% being split between Duncan & Brutus). It quickly fills my vacuum (gotta love the Dyson), the lint filter in the dryer, and accumulutales at an alarming rate around the baseboards of my home. Here is a mature tumblefur, ready for harvesting (aka sweeping), after only one day:

You just touch mason & the fur flies.

The only thing that has any impact on Mason's shed rate (other than shaving him, which we used to do before he was old & lumpy) is a Furminator.

Don't know where I'd be without mine - probably buried under a mountain of brown fur! I have to do it outside, then actually rake the fur off the grass & fill a big trash bag!

Hey, at least we dog people are great consumers - you might say that shedding supports the economy. I'm talking about the hundreds of products you can buy at pet stores that are supposed to stop shedding (supplements, food) or brushes to control it. Or the small fortune spent annually on professional grooming. Just walk down the cleaning product aisle at any grocery or hardware store and count how many products are devoted to pet hair removal! And who would ever be crazy enough to leave home without a lint roller??

Thankfully, Brutus is not much of a shedder. His shiny black coat stays attached to him for the most part! The only grooming required is an occasional rubber curry - even after several minutes of massaging him with one, I'm hard-pressed to have a handful of short, fine, black hair. He also loves to be "rolled" (see prior post). At least ONE thing about Brutus is low-maintenance....

If you biggify, you'll see that is actually Mason's hair on Brutus!!

If the pictures aren't enough, here is a fun song devoted to the topic of dog hair. It was written by a local woman who competes in agility and dock diving. It pretty much sums up how we all have learned to cope with ever-present dog fur! Hope you can watch enjoy it! (If stoopid Blogger won't let you see it, go to YouTube & search "Dog Hair in Everything I Do" by Randi Breese)

Non-Sporting? I think not....

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. Brutus & I were agility trial-ing all day Saturday & Sunday, so it was a fun & tiring weekend for both us! I'll keep our post for today short, so we can get caught up on everyone else's blogs.

Here are some new action shots of Brutus doing his thing. These were taken by a professional photographer during one of our January trials. Although they took FOREVER to arrive, I hope you will agree they were worth the wait! I think they are the best moments that have been captured of Brutus so far. Here are a few of my favorites:

Room to spare over the double. In case you are wondering Brutus jumps at the 12" height.

Weave poles. The expression on his face makes this shot!

Talk about extension! He must have been flying on this one, took of at least 3 feet before the jump...

... and still clears it with plenty of room to spare!!

I love how nicely tucked Brutus is here! He had to make a sharp left after the tire, and you actually can see him looking where he needs to go!!

For a "non-sporting" dog, I'd say those are some pretty athletic poses. Maybe the AKC needs to rethink which group Frenchies belong in...

In his finer moments, Brutus can really rock an agility course. Now we just need to have those kind of moments more often! Not to mention a few less blonde moments from the handler!! We are definitely making progress, and having a blast in the process. Although I have to say, it took me a second to decide how to take it when the judge came up to me after a run this weekend and said "I love your dog! He is so cute & makes me laugh when he jumps!" Maybe not the most lofty praise ever given to an agility dog, but I'll take it as a compliment!

Pearly Whites

OK, you knew it was coming.

I'm a dentist. It's February.

That means it's time for me to devote a post to National Pet Dental Health month!

One of our earliest posts was about Brutus brushing his teeth. Oral hygiene was a habit I never started early enough with my other dogs, consequently they had to be put under local anesthesia every year or two for a professional cleaning. I thought it was the only option, actually. Don't know why it never occurred to me to brush their teeth (especially being a dentist!!). Didn't a vet ever mention it? Can't imagine I would have ignored them...

Ya' coming mom?? I got the brush all ready!

I've seen so many posts where our furiends have had to have toofers extracted! Yes, certain breeds (especially small dogs & brachycephalic dogs like pugs & Frenchies) are more prone to gum disease. But it doesn't mean they are destined to need doggie dentures!

A little preventive maintenance can go a long way!! Nearly all dental disease (decay and periodontal disease) is preventable, so why not do everything you can to make your dog's health better? Add to that all the recent research (both human and canine) that has shown connections between dental disease and cardiovascular disease. I won't bore you with all the details, but here is a good link for more information if you are interested.

If you knew you could avoid costly and/or risky procedures for your pooch (or kitty, but we don't talk about those here BOL!) just by picking up a toothbrush a few times a week, wouldn't you? If you haven't started yet, it will probably take a professional cleaning to get off the buildup of plaque - a toothbrush alone just can't do it if it's been accumulating for months or years. But it's not too late to start better habits!! When introduced properly to the routine (and a little poultry-flavored toothpaste helps a lot), most dogs learn to love having their teeth brushed - Brutus does!!

Mmmm.... Chicken toothpaste!!

If you already brush your pet's teeth regularly, than a big kudos to you! If you'd like to & don't know how to start, your veterinarian is a great resource. Don't wait until the tooth fairy needs to pay an untimely visit to inspire you to get started!

No, not that tooth fairy!! Doggies have their own!! Introducing Lily, the Toof Fairy!!!

Thanks to my friend Arlette for letting me borrow this great photo! She lives in Cologne, Germany and is owned by two fabulous Frenchies, Lily and Rufus. Don't make Lily work too hard, OK everyone??

Good things come in FLAT packages!

Our regular followers have probably seen Flat Brutus. He first appeared last summer when Paul & I took a trip out west without the dogs. I wanted to keep blogging from the road, so I brought along a cut-out of Brutus so that my followers could keep track of where we went (OK, and maybe he made me miss the real Brutus a little less too...). Flat Brutus has already been to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, and Sequoia National Park just to name a few popular destinations (click here to see the first of my Flat Brutus posts). The idea was not only successful, but has even caught on - Mango and several of our other blogging friends also have flat versions that travel much easier than their real counterparts!

I'll bet many of you are scratching your heads wondering how I came up with such a bizarre idea. Truth be told, it is my permutation of a educational project used to help teach grade-school aged children about geography. The original idea came from the book "Flat Stanley" written by Jeff Brown:

Unlike Flat Brutus, who travels in my carry-on, Flat Stanleys make their way around in an envelope via the postal service. Recently we were lucky enough to host a Flat Stanley thanks to our blog buddies Oakley & Swisher.

Seems that Oak & Swish have a human cousin named Jazmine who is a 2nd grader in Fresno, California. Here's what she and teacher Mrs. Cords have to say about the Flat Stanley project their class is doing:

In this story a boy named Stanley is flattened by a bulletin board. He enjoys many adventures while he is flat, including being rolled up, flown like a kite, dropped down a drain to retrieve a ring and being mailed. Flat Stanley is sent in the mail to visit a friend in California like I am being sent to you. Please send a postcard from where you live explaining to my second grade class what I did when I visited you.

Flat Stanley hung out here for a while looking for things to do. He was a little unsure about meeting Brutus (note the nervous smile & wave),

...but was happy to find companionship - and a lot less drool - with Flat Brutus. Notice how much more relaxed Stanley looks here.

As requested, we sent a postcard to Jazmine telling about all the things Stanley saw in nearby Cleveland. As much as we have enjoyed our time with Flat Stanley, it's time for him to continue his travels.

He's safely packed in his envelope, ready for his journey to Texas to visit with our friend Dory. He's really glad that his next stop is in a warmer place!

So look out Dory & Bilbo, here comes Stanley! I can assure you he is an easy keeper, totally housebroken & will NOT try to steal your food or beg from your humans!