Hear Me Bark

Point Isabel: My New Favorite Place

After hearing about Point Isabel -- a magical place where dogs and their people frolic along the Richmond Inner Harbor (pretty much a stone's throw from the Golden Gate Bridge) -- for more than a year, we finally went yesterday. But first, my incompetent humans went the wrong way and we ended up in San Francisco.

Point Isabel was glorious. Here I am with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background:

 

 We met my friend, Brillo, and her human for some muddy fun. As you can imagine, after more than a week of non-stop rain, it was a big mess. But I loved it. Check out all the water I splashed up while fetching; that's Brillo looking on:

 

As the humans strolled along the concrete path, I chased my ball through mud and puddles and over hills and valleys. As you can imagine, I was a filthy mess when it was time to go. Mud and grass were intertwined in my leg, chest, and belly curls. All this mud made me think that I could play with the mud puppies mentioned on this sign:

However, this was a very misleading sign. Instead of dirty puppies running around, the building was lined with bathtubs. I whined in horror when I realized what was in store for me. After all, I just had a bath on Friday.

I needn't have been upset though. The human who washed me was very nice -- and handsome. When he returned me to my humans, he said I was such a good girl and that it would be a pleasure to wash me next time. Wowza! The only thing I didn't like about him was that he put a bow in my hair and on my collar. You can bet the humans had a laugh at my expense.

To see more photos from today -- and I promise they're good -- visit Hear Me Bark's page on Facebook.

M.S. Dixie

After leaving Audrey's house on Sunday, we drove down the small, crooked mountain roads until we reached the main highway. Turning right on this highway would have been the shortest, most direct route back to Sacramento. Turning left would have taken us around Lake Tahoe. The humans turned left.

I was annoyed at first because I was tired and didn't want to be stuck in the backseat for hours and hours, but I ended up being glad we turned left. We saw beautiful scenery and cool places along the way. One of these cool places was the home to a boat named after me — M.S. Dixie, or MS. Dixie as I like to think of it. Seeing the sign along the side of the road, we had to stop. I was pretty excited to have my photo taken beside my boat's sign.

We took a walk toward the water, but saw a sign saying dogs weren't allowed. Sigh. I didn't get a chance to see the boat up close, but Short took a photo of what the boat looks like. I think it's beautiful. Oh, it even has a glass bottom!

After our little photo shoot, we got back in the car and headed home. Visiting Audrey is always so much fun!

Two Great Pet-related iPhone Apps

Does your human have an iPhone? If so, you should tell him or her about two really cool, helpful apps, or "applications," related to issues dear to my heart: dog parks and health. Sound interesting? Then keep reading!

Off Leash, an app created by Eukanuba, is a dog park locator. Off Leash can use your iPhone's built-in GPS to find dog parks close to your current location. This is perfect for those times when you and your human are out and the urge to play strikes. You also can enter a zip code to find up dog parks. This feature is convenient when you are planning dog-friendly vacations or travel. Oh, and if you know of a dog park that isn't listed, you can e-mail Eukanuba from within the app to request its addition. The best part is that this app costs nothing — that's more money for your human to spend on toys or treats for you!

Pet First Aid is another app that your humans likely will find useful. If nothing else, their peace of mind will be worth the $3.99 price tag. Pet First Aid is loaded with detailed videos (I'm hoping the one about administering CPR will never be necessary, but it's best to play it safe.), step-by-step illustrations, and articles covering all emergency situations pet owners might encounter. The categories include:

• Emergency Situations
• Heart and Breathing (e.g., compressions, CPR).
• Fundamentals (e.g., restraint, giving medications).
• What's Normal (e.g., pulse, temperature, breathing rate).
• Disaster Preparedness.
• Bites and Stings.
• Bloat and Torsion.
• Burns.
• Eyes, Ears, and Nose.
• Fractures and Sprains.
• Head and Spinal Injuries.
• Heat and Cold Injuries.
• Poisoning.
• Wounds.

In addition to first aid content, the app also allows users to store pet medical profiles for emergency situations. Tall has already set up a medical profile for me that includes my, weight, age, vaccinations, medications, veterinarian contact information, allergies and conditions, and medical notes. I feel so official!

You can learn more about these apps, and many others, by visiting the App Store from your computer or iPhone. Happy apping!

Get Your Own Personal Petcast

Just in time for hot summer days and stormy summer nights, Weather.com has launched a special weather forecast for pets and their humans: Personal Petcast.

When you first visit the site, you are presented with options to personalize your furry pal's forecast. The site lets you choose dog or cat, size, hair length, age, and whether your per is overweight. You can even add your pet's name if you like. This information, combined with your zip code (or city/town and state) takes you to a page that gives you:

• The high and low temperatures for day and night.
  
• Chance of precipitation.
  
• Pet comfort index (ranked by one to five paws).
  
• The best day and evening time to walk your dog.
  
• Mosquito activity.

The site also includes fun stuff like a user-submitted daily dog picture and links to pet videos. There's also a section called "Dog Care Clinic" that gives helpful tips like inside car temperatures (ouch!). Oh, and you can even see a chart that shows flea activity in your area. Here's my personalized petcast for today:

I think this is a really helpful tool for pet owner's. I plan to check the site regularly, paying special attention to the best times for a walk. Then I'll bug my humans when it's safe to go out.

Pack Animal

Yeah, yeah . . . I know that dogs are pack animals by nature, but do all dogs carry packs? Apparently, I do.

A while back, Tall bought me a Ruff Wear Approach Pack II (size small). She read somewhere that having me wear it would tire me out on walks, plus she thought it would be good to have when we go camping. Personally, I'd rather have the humans carry my stuff, but whatever.

So yesterday was the big day, and it was apparently time for me to carry my own stuff to the park. Because it was my first time wearing it outside, Tall didn't load it up completely. On one side, I carried my ball, my Chuckit! Pocket Ball Launcher, and a collapsible water bowl. On the other side, I carried poop bags, my business cards, and Tall's keys, money, and iPhone.

I forgot about it after a while and it didn't bother me. The secret to a happy pack dog is not overloading the pack, distributing the weight evenly, making sure it fits properly, and dispensing lots of treats along the way.

First-class Air Travel for Pets

I was delighted to read about a new airline that caters only to pets. That's right — pets. Beginning in July, PetAirways will be making their inaugural flights to and from several major cities across the United States.

According to the PetAirways Web site, your pet's check-in, boarding, and flight will be painless for you and pleasant for your pet. You drop off your pet two hours before their flight at the Pet Lounge located in the airport. Pets get a finally potty break before boarding and are then escorted to the plane by a pet attendant who secures their travel carrier and makes sure they're comfortable. During the flight, the pet attendant checks on the pets every 15 minutes. Once the plane lands, pets are escorted off the plane, given a potty break, and relocated to the Pet Lounge where their owners can pick them up.

Thanks to PetAirways, dogs that are too big to fit under the seat will no longer be considered cargo. This is fantastic news for dogs involved in competitions or dog shows. It's also a great alternative to leaving fido at home.

If you end up travelling on PetAirways, let me know how it goes. Hopefully they will expand service to Sacramento so I can give flying a shot.

My Wonderful Wag Weekend

The humans travelled to Portland during the weekend and I stayed behind to enjoy myself at Wag. I spent my days playing my little heart out in all-day play and rested at night in my comfortable mini-suite. Life really doesn't get much better than that.

Wag was packed, so I played with several old friends like Sir Percy Ward, a golden retriever, and I made lots of new friends like Jack, a Dalmatian. I'm also pleased to report that I was a good girl and behaved myself. My report cards are proof that I minded my manners! This pleased both of my humans to no end.

In addition to letting me stay at Wag, the humans brought me several gifts from Portland. Although they haven't presented me with anything yet, a sniff of their luggage has confirmed my suspicions. More on the gifts later. It's nap time!

My Trip to the Pacific Ocean

Short Human had a brilliant idea last night — a beach trip. We woke up this morning, packed some supplies, and headed to Limantour Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore. We chose Limantour Beach because the southeast end is dog friendly.

We had a total blast today. This was the first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean for Tall Human and me, and I hadn't been to the ocean since our trip to the Atlantic when I was a young pup. I got a kick out of running up and down the water's edge, leaping every now and then to miss a crashing wave.

I tried not to get too far ahead of the humans but if I did, I waited patiently for them to catch up. During one of my trips ahead of the humans, I bumped into another standard poodle named Drake. (Poodles are drawn to one another, you know.) Drake and I tore around in the sand and had a lot of fun. As you can tell from the photo below, I enjoyed chasing him very much.

 

After running up and down the beach, smelling all the wonderful smells, and a long car ride, I was pretty exhausted. I slept most of the evening and know I'm still going to be tired tomorrow. I'm hoping we can head back to the beach again soon for another fun trip.

I saw the Golden Gate Bridge!

Today on the way home from visiting my new favorite human, Dr. Joanne, I got to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that I'm tall enough to see out the backseat window, car rides are much more interesting.

Obviously, the photo Tall Human took from the front seat of our car doesn't do it justice. In her defense, however, it was very foggy. I hope to go back on a sunny day and walk across this bridge.

Safety First

I've neglected to mention the safety harness I've been wearing in the car for road trips. It's called the Ruff Rider Roadie Elite, and my breeder recommended this brand to the humans before I ever came to live with them.

There are eight sizes in the Roadie Elite series and I started out wearing a size 2, which is for dogs weighing between 14 to 18 pounds with a rib cage circumference between 17.5 and 20 inches. However, for the past few weeks, the humans have been struggling to put it on and take it off. I guess I really don't make it any easier for them when I let my body go limp, but you know I enjoy having some fun at their expense. (Above is an old [and not-so-good quality] photo of me wearing my safety harness.)

Tall Human ordered the size 3 Roadie Elite for me last week and I started wearing it today. It was easier for her to put on and take off, which is good. I hate waiting around. Size 3 is for dogs weighing between 19 to 24 pounds with a rib cage circumference between 20 and 21 inches. As you can tell, I'm getting bigger. (Yessss!)