The DogCast Radio blog

Usually when you're walking your dog, any thoughts of a toilet nature are concerned with what the dog is doing. Sometimes, however, the "call of nature" is speaking to you, and at that point if you're out alone with your dog, just what do you do?

It's Buddy's birthday today. He is six years old, and I can't believe that the tiny black bundle we brought home, it seems like not so long ago, is definitely all grown up. Well, physically anyway, at heart he is still a mischievous puppy, and is still full of energy, and I wouldn’t have him any other way!

In the last year he has tried many things for the first time – agility, heelwork to music, and obedience classes and competitions, and taken them all in his stride. He has also passed his Bronze, Silver, and Gold Kennel Club Good Citizen awards.

I’ve just spotted in the news that John Schneider – remember him as the blond brother in the original Dukes of Hazzard show? – has had his two dogs stolen.

He had bought two puppies as Christmas presents for his children, and he had left them in his car, which was then stolen. Though the car has been recovered the puppies are still missing. The puppies are ten week old Yorkshire Terriers.

How many dogs do you walk? I’m usually accompanied by two, which I can just about manage, except when I have to juggle two leads in one hand, and open and use a poop bag, and at the moment avoid dropping my gloves in the aforementioned poop!

Sometimes blogs should carry warnings. Last Saturday I was catching up with my blog reading, and was working my way through my “favourites”. I was bemoaning the fact that one dog blog I regularly read hasn’t been updated since mid-October, while I opened the next blog, which was Stephen Foster’s. (http://walkingollie.wordpress.com/) I found myself looking at a post titled Leaving Ollie, and immediately alarm bells rang.

Keeping an eye on dog-related news items is part of compiling DogCast Radio, and it seems there have been some unusual mishaps recently.

If you have a dog with a penchant for running away, the Retrieva collar might be of interest to you. I remember interviewing a representative of the company at Crufts 2008 and thinking what a well thought out product it was. Not only does it let you track your dog, it is tamper proof, and will withstand water should your dog take a swim while wearing it.

So not only will it help if your dog simply wanders off, but it should help cut down on the number of dogs stolen. And that can only be a good thing.

Hooray – it’s December! Deck the halls and all that! We’ve put our Christmas tree up, and explained to Buddy and Star that they mustn’t pee on it or try to eat it. They are actually outraged that our local pet store has sold out of dog treat advent calendars, and until more stocks arrive they have to make do with watching the smaller pets in the house receive their advent calendar treats, which isn’t quite the same thing at all!

It’s nearly December and to get you in the Christmas mood early, watch the video attached to this post. That dog is so cute! Neither of ours dogs is set off by singing, although Buddy will howl along if a violin, harmonica or recorder is played for too long in his hearing. I’m never sure if that means he enjoys it and wants to participate, or he’s really saying, “Shut up, this is what you sound like!”

If you enjoy the video you can see many more videos that genuinely feature dogs, and are family friendly at www.alldogvideos.com

On the subject of Christmas, do you give your dog a Christmas present? Ours usually get a new toy, and I think they have as much fun ripping the wrapping paper off as they do playing with the toy. They also usually have a treat advent calendar, from which they are given a treat once a day leading up to the twenty-fifth. It doesn’t take many days for them to realise that the calendar contains treats, and they go and sit below it, eyes flicking up to it, clearly asking for more. Well – it’s only once a year, so why not?

Take care,

Julie x

We have many photos uploaded to the DogCast Radio site, and each one, along with each comment is checked and approved by a one of us to ensure it’s relevant and suitable. The other day I came across one that immediately made my eyes fill with tears. You can see the photo attached to this post. It’s a bog standard shot of a Springer Spaniel, and it’s slightly out of focus, but that’s not what made me cry.