#Kate and #Gin: Amazing #Dancing Dog

        From Ginny Weissman: An amazing Dancing Dog with my name!  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=-0jNC_w1tSw&feature=player_embedded <http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=-0jNC_w1tSw&feature=player_embedded>

       Ginny refers to the appearance of Kate Nicholas and her Border Collie, Gin, age 6, on Britain’s Got Talent, in 2008.  Dancing to Moby’s remake of the James Bond theme, their freestyle dancing act wowed the judges and the audience.  It was the year before Susan Boyle became an international singing sensation because of her appearance on the same show.

      Because of this act, Kate and Gin went on to fame and fortune, touring England with a best of Britain’s Got Talent troupe, appearing in TV commercials, and publishing a book, “Kate and Gin,” which teaches owners how to create a dancing dog that can “jump about the garden in time to Bon Jovi."  They have appeared on stage in “Peter Pan” and have performed pantomimes in theatres.  

     This YouTube video has been viewed over 1,200,000 times.  This is definitely a must-see video.

“Dogs never bite me. Just humans.”  Marilyn Monroe

Get a #dog, lower #allergy risk

Reuters, 7/25/11: Childhood pets linked to lower allergy risk: Study  A 2010 study from the University of Cincinnati showed than owning a dog may decrease the risk of childhood eczema, a skin condition.

                 Similarly, a 2011 study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that growing up with pets cut kids’ risk of developing pet allergies by half.

How could you possibly be allergic to me?

             A new study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology,            the scientists found having a dog or a cat before age five were each associated with a 15 percent reduction in nasal allergies.

              So having a dog or a cat is a good thing when you’re growing up if you’re concerned about allergies.  It can be a bad thing if you are growing up with George W. Bush, who was a sadistic bully as a child, and he has a B-B gun aimed at you or your pet. 

I will return the seeing-eye dog.                                         
I will return the seeing-eye dog.                                         I will return the seeing-eye dog.
     (Written on the chalkboard by Bart Simpson, as part of his punishment on The Simpsons.) 

The #cage?

You called?  Is something fun going to happen?

       While we are out of the house, Gizmo scratches the door to the garage, the way our Shih Tzu Beowulf did.  He tears off strips of wood, which are strewn on the floor.   Even worse, he also craps in our closet after Grace took him out for as quick walk before we left: it began to thunder and lightning while she was out.  Grace walked stooped over so as to present a smaller target for the lightning – conditions were that bad.

      For whatever reason, Gizmo was reverting to pre-housebroken modes of response.  Something needed to be done.

       The next morning, we go to an estate sale a few miles away on a beautiful ranch and spa, where Kay, a lovely woman put in her heart and good taste and now, because of the economic downturn, is forced to sell as many of her furnishings and paintings as possible.  While we are out, Gizmo is in his cage, led there by a treat.  He also has a fake bone to chew on in case he gets bored.

     Having left without breakfast, we end the visit to the estate sale (thus continuing our furnishing our Santa Fe home with, in our phrase, “tchtchkies of the dead”) and we are starving.  We go to a local diner and return home about 3 ½ hours after leaving.

     Gizmo is in his cage, anxious to get out.  The garage door is no worse.  Our closet has no poop in it.  Have we begun to re-train him or have we used brute force to get our way?  Only time will tell.  

                   "To be happy, (dogs) basically need a good job, and good food, and a pat on the head.  Americans tend to over-do on the affection and under-do on the exercise.” Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer 

#Thunder and #Gizmo needs my #lap

     Thunder.  Lightning.  Rain.  Wind.

     This afternoon I am sitting in my favorite chair reading when I am interrupted by panting.  Gizmo is sitting at my feet, tongue handing way out, eyes pleading.

     I pet him to comfort him and return to the book.  Then I feel his paw on my thigh, touching me getting my attention.

     Gizmo has never wanted to get into my lap before, but now he does.  Both front paws are on my lap.  There is a look that asks, “PLEASE?” 

     I give him the smallest of agreeable shakes of my head and he is in my lap, making himself comfortable.  Sighing.  His heart slowing  down.  Calm, as the storm subsides.

I found his lap during a storm.  All is well. 

      John Mahoney, referring to Enzo the Dog, who starred as Eddy in Frasier:  “I'm a dog person, I've had dogs all my life.   But you see, it's not really a dog.   It's more like a little robot.   It's an actor.   It displays no emotion whatsoever.  I swear that dog doesn't know any of us even though we've done five seasons of Frasier.”  (Note: During an interview, Mahoney told me about the same thing, saying that Enzo wasn’t really a dog, but a little actor who would only perform for his trainer and doggie pay.)

#Ryan #Gosling's #Dog with #Mohawk Cut: I approve.

From Cesar Millan: Meet Ryan Gosling’s Mohawked Dog:

Ryan Gosling recently appeared on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show and brought along his dog, George. George, a terrier mix, was sporting an interesting Mohawk-style haircut and we want to know what you think of it.

http://www.cesarsway.com/news/dognews/Meet-Ryan-Goslings-Mohawked-Dog-George?utm_source=mobilestorm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jul11NL_4

Actually, I think the dog looks comfortable and I don’t mind the Mohawk, as long as it doesn’t bother the dog or Gosling, who is named after a goose, after all.  Any way, it took my mind off the debt ceiling for more than a nanosecond.

“Fox-terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs.  ~Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat




#Dog #Poop in gym shoe in closet. What to do?

Would a nice dog like me do something like that?

Discovered, possibly a few days old, a rather large, dry grouping of poop/crap/defecation in our closet in the heal of Grace’s gym shoe. 

     Our solution: because it was discovered so after the fact:

1.   Grace will not wear the shoe until the poop is out of it.

2.  We called Gizmo into the closet, showed him the shoe with the offending material in the heel, and we both said, “Bad Dog.”  Rather sternly.  This happened just after he began to run into the closet, a big grin on his face, figuring that something wonderful was about to happen.  He put on the brakes, turned 90 degrees and ran away, hiding under our bed.

3.  The cage, which is still in the living room WILL be used the next time we go out.

      "Peace, relaxation, trust, respect; that is my goal." #Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.  And, presumably, no pooping in the gym shoe. 

     "Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas." Italian Proverb

#dog stamps for friends, #cat stamps to pay #bills

Proud to receive letters with Dog Stamps

Almost Gizmo??

FBO: For Bills Only

     The US Post Office has a commemorative stamp titled “Animal Rescue Adopt a Shelter Pet,” which features alternate cute pictures of smiling dogs and cats.  


     I use the cat stamps for letters for entities I do not like, like phone and Internet services bills.

     Dog stamps go to people I like and enjoy.

      “Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices.  This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.”  ~George Gordon, Lord Byron, "Inscription on the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog"