The Holidays are fast approaching!

Just about everyone I talk to says the same thing, "Where has this year gone?" I agree, it's been a busy year and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays begin - yikes! - tomorrow!

The holidays can be a dangerous time for your dogs, though, and to have a safe holiday season requires some supervision:
* Keep your dog on his normal food and limit the treats to healthy ones with good ingredients.
* Don't let your guests feed your dog a lot of junk; gastrointestinal upset will be the end result!
* Don't exile your dog; let him be a part of the festivities but at the same time, if he is stressed by all the commotion, put him in his crate or in a back bedroom for some quiet time.

When you begin decorating for the holidays, keep safety in mind here, too.
* Make sure the tree is protected from your dog; the lights and cords are out of reach; and the tree is well anchored.
* Don't use tinsel on the tree; it's deadly to both dogs and cats.
* Keep mistletoe, holly berries and poinsettia out of reach; they can cause gastric distress and are toxic to some animals.
* Don't use glass balls on the tree within your dog's reach; they look like brightly colored tennis balls!

For more on holiday ideas to keep your dog involved in family events and for more safety tips, listen to our podcast.

For now, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Liz

It's not hidden if you guard it!

Bashir is our youngest dog. He's a three year old Australian Shepherd and he's very aware that he's the youngest and at the bottom of the totem pole in our household.

So when he gets a bone or chunk of rawhide he really likes, he likes to hide it. He's hidden bones behind the sofa cushions on the couch and in the corner of the sofa sectional. Much to my husband's chagrin, Bashir has hidden bones under my husband's pillow in the bed. The poor dog goes to great pains to find the right spot; walking around with the bone in his mouth, sniffing and poking with his nose to find just the perfect place. He'll look over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching him and if I am, he'll walk away very casually, "Who me? I wasn't doing anything!"

When he finds the right spot, he pokes around with his nose to make sure the hole is big enough for the bone, then places the bone there and using his nose, he covers the bone. He'll shove blankets over it, sofa cushions, even dog toys! If he's outside, he'll use his nose to shove dirt over the bone.

But after all this work - after finding the right place and burying the bone so carefully - he gives away the spot because he guards it! Not with growls and not aggressively, but with concern. If anyone walks by, he stares at the spot where his bone is and points at it with his nose, "Don't look there! That's my bone! Oh no, don't look!" So of course, everyone in the household - human or canine - knows where Bashir's bone is! Silly boy.

Give your dog a hug from me!

Liz

Purebred, designer, hybrid and mixed breed dogs

If you're reading this blog, you, like myself, share your home with a dog or two or three. Dogs are wonderful companions, and even though we make some adaptations in our lives so that we can live with dogs, we usually make those changes willingly.

As to what kind of dog we share our lives with - purebred or mixed breed - that is a purely personal decision. My husband and I have had both mixed breeds and purebreds. Today, we have three purebred dogs, all Australian Shepherds. My co-hosts for the "It's a Doggy Dog World" show, Petra Burke and Kate Abbott, have also each owned purebreds and mixed breeds.

There are pros and cons to both; but unfortunately there is also a lot of mythology out there. So let's take a look at some reality.

The registries that recognise purebred dogs - in the United States the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club - have very specific requirements for purebred dogs. The parents of each litter must be purebred and registered themselves, they must be of a breed recognised by that registry, and if the dog is to be shown in dog shows, he must compare favorably to the breed's standard (the written description of the perfect dog of that breed).

Some people seem to feel that pure bred dogs are all nervous, high strung, unhealthy, and full of congential defects. Often these same people will stress the importance of hybrid vigor, saying that mixed breed dogs are superior to purebreds.

A dog is the result of his genetics: the genetic material that he inherited from his mother and his father. And this is the same for purebreds and mixed breed dogs. A mixed breed dog can have the same problems that a purebred can if he inherits the potential for those problems from his parents.

All of the breeds of dogs that we have today are the result of selective breeding throughout our history with dogs. German Shepherds were designed and created from several breeds of dogs that were used for herding and farm dog work, for example.

Today, the intentional crossing of two breeds has created a designer dog fad. Cockapoos (crosses of Cocker Spaniels and Poodles) was the first and were created 30 to 40 years ago. Then a Labradoodle (Labrador Retriever and Poodle) was designed first as a guide dog for someone whose spouse was allergic to dogs. The fad took off from there.

These dogs, no matter what their label and their price, are mixed breed dogs. A breed is not considered a breed until six or seven generations and the offspring must breed true (which means the offspring are just like the parents). As long as poodles are crossed with Labs or with Cockers, then Labradoodle and Cockapoos will still be mixed breeds.

Unfortunately, also, the claims made on the behalf of these mixed breeds are amazing. They are supposed to be allergy free, super healthy, nonshedding, and a variety of other claims. Some individual dogs may be this wonderful, but only a few. Petra, Kate and I have seen many supposedly nonshedding Labradoodles in our training classes and the owner covered in dog hair.

Anyone who is looking for a different mixed breed dog should look for one in the local humane society or shelter; many originally high priced dogs have been turned in because the owner was disappointed - the dog didn't live up to the sales pitch. Don't go to a so called breeder and pay way too much money for one of these mixed breeds.

For more on designer dogs, mixed breeds and pure breeds, see my book, "The Howell Book of Dogs" (Wiley & Sons, 2007) and listen to our podcast on the subject.

Until the next time, hug your dog!

Liz Palika

Fall is Here; Riker's on the Bed

Some people can tell the changing of the seasons by looking at the leaves on the trees outside or the changes in the weather. My husband and I can tell when weather's getting colder because Riker comes back up on the bed.

Riker, our eight year old Australian Shepherd, has severe hip dysplasia. He's very stoic most of the time and he still runs and plays, just less than he used to. But when the weather gets cooler, he abandons his comfy dog bed on the floor and moves up to our old fashioned, heated water bed. I'm sure the warm bed feels good on his bad hip joints.

Although my husband and I normally don't encourage the dogs to sleep with us - the cats already do and four cats and three dogs in one bed wouldn't leave any room for us! - we do cut him some slack.

Anyway, at some point during the night last night, Riker moved up onto the bed and snuggled in between my husband and myself. That means fall is here!

Liz

My Dog Was Attacked by a Pumpkin

Each year Kindred Spirits Canine Education Center hosts a Halloween Party. We have costume contests for best dog costume, best dog and owner, best family or group costume, and more. We also have a trick contest. This is our 18th year hosting the party and it's a fund raiser for the local therapy dog group and for our service dog training program. We have great fun, a lot of wonderful dogs and owners, and we get to raise some money for some wonderful dogs.

This year the party was on October 27th so was the week of the horrible wild fires here in San Diego county, but we didn't want to cancel the party - we felt everyone deserved some diversion. As it turned out, the party was wonderful and we had a great time.

Sunday I went to our training yard (where we held the party) to do some clean up. Just pick up paper plates, pick up decorations and all that stuff you need to do after a party. I brought Bashir and Riker, my Australian Shepherds, with me.

As I was cleaning up, I loaded up one of our wagons with pumpkins. We plant a garden every year and this year we grew three dozen large, 30 to 60 pound pumpkins, and they were a part of our Halloween decorations. Our training yard has a slight slope to it and as I was pulling the wagon up the hill, one of the larger pumpkins fell off the back of the wagon. This was a nice round pumpkin with no flat spots so it rolled very nicely.

Bashir, my three year old Aussie, had his back to me and the wagon, and so his back was also turned to the pumpkin. Obviously he was engrossed in an interesting smell in the grass because he didn't hear the pumpkin, eithor. Just as I was going to yell at him, the pumpkin hit him in the back legs.

Poor Bashir leaped five feet in the air with a "Yipe!" and landed a good six feet from his original position. He looked around to see who had attacked him but the only thing there was this big pumpkin! He looked, turned around, sniffed, and finally decided that pumpkin must be the attacker. He leaned forward, sniffed cautiously, with legs poised so he could jump out of the way again should this dangerous orange thing attack again.

Now that I could see he wasn't hurt, I was trying very hard not to laugh. Poor Bashir was shook up; he didn't need me laughing at him! But it was quite funny.

However, I took pity on the poor dog. I went down, grabbed that dangerous pumpkin and broke it up to feed it to the geese. Then Bashir finally relaxed. But he did watch all the pumpkins cautiously for the rest of the day.

Liz