I love it when people make high quality dachshund products like this. It's because they know dachshund fans appreciate it.

"Proud, clever, affectionate, amusing: meet the dachshund. The dachshund is a lively breed with a friendly personality and a keen sense of smell. Known for their long and low bodies, they are one of the most popular dog breeds. The name dachshund is of German origin and literally means badger dog, from 'dachs' badger and 'hund' dog. First bred in the early 1600's in Germany, the breed became popular in the U.S. during the early 1900's. They are loveable, playful companions, and an ideal pet for many homes. Increase your rent by buying toys for your dogs and upgrading them to 'big bones'. Sounds easy enough until you get fleas, have an accident on the carpet, or worse yet, get sent to the kennel. So grab your token and advance to go, dachshunds. Who knows, you may soon be best in show or marching in the dog parade. Whatever happens, keep your wag on. For 2-6 players, ages 8 and up. Includes directions for traditional play and for the one hour version as well."

There can be no doubt Jennifer Arnold knows her stuff when it comes to training dogs. As the founder and CEO of Canine Assistants, Inc. in Milton, Arnold and her staff have taught thousands of pups to become service, companion and seizure response dogs for the handicapped.

Now Arnold, whose nonprofit organization was featured in a PBS documentary, has penned a book about her teaching philosophy and experience. “Through a Dog’s Eyes” (Spiegel & Grau, Random House, $25) details how Arnold rose from her teenage battle with multiple sclerosis to found Canine Assistants in 1991. Along the way in her much-anticipated book, she debunks popular dominance-based training methodologies, details her observations about the bond between man and animal and shares her method of “choice training.” Arnold’s teaching is heavily based in positive reinforcement, a concept that rewards the dogs for good behaviors and gives the dog freedom to make the right decisions.

Jennifer Arnold: Canine Assistants founder pens book, takes dominance training to task

Author

Temple Grandin

Book

Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

I just finished reading this book and I found it to be wonderful. It’s not a book exclusively about dogs, each chapter is about a different animal. It starts off with dogs and moves on to cats, cows, pigs, and eventually even lions, tigers, and monkeys.

I like the chapter on dogs because she spends a good amount of time pondering whether Cesar Millan is right with his ideas on dogs. She ends up basically expressing doubt about his particular ideas, but in some ways finds common ground with him. Cesar Millan says, and Temple Grandin believes that we need to look at an animal’s way of feeling and expressing emotion to figure out how to treat them humanely. The chapter sets up the rest of the book with the idea that we need to try to understand what animals in captivity (including dogs) are feeling to give them a good life full of positive emotions rather than negative emotions.

She strikes out against those who say that animals don’t have emotions by pointing out the obvious: these large mammals totally act and behave according to emotions. People who have something to lose by the way they treat animals are the ones who are pushing for the idea that they don’t have emotions. But all you have to do is watch your dog for a few moments to see the emotions. She goes over the basic animal emotions and how they affect different animals, and if you’re a dog owner, the whole book can be applied to dogs. Some things don’t of course, but by the time you’re done reading, you will really have a better idea of what your dog wants from life.

I should also say, that the book is easy to read, but it’s also heavily footnoted and very academic. Everything she says is backed up by recent studies. She didn’t just make up the animal emotions, she’s taken them from studies done by well known and reputable researchers. She is a college professor herself and a very successful consultant for farms and ranches.

The book spends a lot of time talking about the treatment of livestock, which is actually really interesting. She talks about all the work she does to help businesses understand that treating their animals well not only helps the animals but will help the business make more money and help the environment. For instance, animals who graze maintain the prairies. Without them, the prairies turn into deserts which are very difficult to turn back into prairies.

She also talks about human issues. For instance she tells stories about how she works with some farms and ends up saving them thousands of dollars a week by treating the animals better. But then, after she leaves, for some reason they go back to treating the animals poorly even though they also lose the money by doing so. She even goes so far as to say some people just do not have the sensitivity to work with animals in a humane fashion and those people just need to be removed from the business by good management.

It’s a fascinating book and I highly recommend it.

Buy at Amazon

Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

I thought this lamp was interesting. I’ve never seen this type of lighted Tiffany sculpture before. If you put this in the right place it would be a great accent to a room.

Here are the features Amazon lists:

• A unique collectible Dachshund sculptural lamp inspired by the stained-glass art style of Louis Comfort Tiffany, available only from The Ashton-Drake Galleries
• Louis Comfort Tiffany style table lamp is inspired by the world-famous Art Nouveau stained-glass creations of the notable artist
• Hand-assembled in high-quality translucent vinyl panels to create a perfectly poised lighted art sculpture of a faithful Dachshund
• Rich, lasting colors of amber, orange, and warm sunset yellow highlight the soft illumination from the inside of this Dachshund sculptural lamp
• Dachshund table lamp is posed in a loyal sitting position, and accented with a silvertone, heart-shaped collar tag that says “Faithful Friend”

Buy at Amazon: Dachshund Tiffany Lamp

Featured Story

Children’s books

What

Dog and Bear: Three to Get Ready (Book)

Who

Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Author)

Excerpt

There’s another three-for-the-price-of-one deal in Caldecott Honor Book author-illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Dog and Bear: Three to Get Ready. This third book in the series featuring the spunky dachshund and his low-key teddy bear amigo finds them kicking around at home, getting into mild, preschool-level trouble. Bear gets a bucket stuck on his head; Dog jumps too high on the bed; Bear organizes toys in alphabetically labeled boxes but forgets what letter he filed Dog’s sock monkey under.

Seeger mixes bright, full-page illustrations against a stark white background with occasional pages of comics-style panels that capture a quick sequence of actions, as when Dog frees the bucket from Bear’s head only to have it fall on his own. The variety, as well the irresistible characters and fun story lines, is very appealing.

Comment

Another dachshund book!

Available from Amazon: Dog and Bear: Three to Get Ready

Featured Story

Children’s books

What

I Want a Dog! (Book)

Who

Helga Bansch (Author)

Excerpt

It’s a classic setup: A kid wants a dog, and the parents say no. But in Vienna artist Helga Bansch’s I Want a Dog!, a little girl comes up with a creative way to get her wish – almost.

Lisa lives in an apartment that her parents say is too small for a dog. She promises to be as “good as gold.” “That will be lovely,” says her mother. “But our apartment is still too small for a dog.” Wonderful illustrations show her hopefulness, frustration and anger until she comes up with a plan and posts signs in the park saying “Wanted: Dog to Borrow,” offering walking, petting and playing services. An older man with a dachshund soon knocks on her door to accept he proposal, and both parties win.

Comment

Yay for dachshund books!

Available at Amazon: I Want a Dog!

For two years now, I have been searching for a fun dog treat release toy that my dog would enjoy, hopefully to release his dinner kibble. Kongs have potential, but if I freeze moist kibble it takes a little too long to get out. His tongue can’t reach the last bits and it really frustrates him and he quickly gets bored of it. I’m always trying to think of ways around this, but for now, I’m not using the Kongs. I’ve tried other treat release toys but they seem to either release them all at once or not at all, frustrating the dog.

A while ago, I heard about the Canine Genius toys, and today I bought one. First off, they are great because they come with instructions on how to teach your dog to play with them so they don’t get frustrated. We started off with little bits of treat that would fall out easily and Kody quickly learned to love it. Tonight we used it for Kody’s dinner and he loved that too.

I am sitting with him when we use it at this stage to make sure he doesn’t get stuck. If he starts using an unproductive method for too long, I will roll the toy around or tilt it to make sure some more food falls out. Kody’s picking it up pretty quickly.

While a human could empty it without too much trouble, a dog will always take at least a little while because they get distracted by the treats falling out. Also, they just don’t have the motor skills to empty it all at once, so it’s really fun for them. It’s also fun to sit and help out when needed because you can really see their brain start to work. Kody is learning that rolling or lifting is better than chewing, which is a new concept for him.

For a dachshund, I would recommend the Mini Leo, which comes in Ph.D. Purple, Cracker Jack Blue, Geek Squad Green, Hot Shot Pink, and SoBright Orange, all named to suggest how smart your dog will become!

The larger (actually regular sized) Canine Genius Leo is good for mid-sized and large breed dogs. There is also the “Extra” version of the larger Leo for heavy chewers.

All dog toys have a method of playing with them, and this toy seems to require more intense supervision at first. You start by paying close attention to teach your dog how to use it without getting frustrated or chewing the toy. Then it seems to require minor supervision later, where you will at least notice the toy is empty and take it away so they don’t chew it up. But, having said that, it’s all very easy on the human and fun for both the dog and the human. For me, it’s a great way to feed my dog his dinner kibble.

Buy at Amazon:

• Ph.D. Purple
• Cracker Jack Blue
• Geek Squad Green
• Hot Shot Pink
• SoBright Orange

I got my first order of Amazon Bully Sticks today. The place I usually buy them was always more expensive than Amazon but more convenient because it was just down the street. But the other day, I noticed they had raised the price $3.00 per bully stick to above $8.00! The ones at Amazon are $3.99.

I should tell you, these aren’t just any bully sticks, they are the bully sticks. I have found the perfect bully stick and I’ve talked about them here before, the Free Range Moo! 12″ Supreme Bully Stick. They last a long time and they have no odor. I’m definitely comparing apples to apples, as I don’t use any other bully sticks but these.

Note that Moo! also makes a “select” bully stick. There is a difference, the select ones are thinner. Yes, there are different grades of bully sticks. The “supreme” ones are definitely worth the extra dollar if you a have a strong chewer like I do. They will last at least twice as long as the “select” bully sticks.

I ordered 10 this first time and was happy that they arrived and were properly labelled as the “supreme” bully sticks. So next time I will probably order like 50 to save on shipping charges. These are the cheapest I’ve found and they are even cheaper than if you order directly from the company that ships them, so definitely go through Amazon.

Just for fun I ordered a Moo! Bully Jr. Knotted Bone. It turned out to be too small and thin. I gave it to Kody and planned on keeping an eye on him but got a call from my sister. Next thing you know, it was gone. Yikes! He doesn’t seem sick or anything, so I’m hoping it won’t cause digestive issues. When I realized it was gone he was right under the Amazon box saying, “Give me more!” I have no idea how much he chewed the pieces before swallowing them. I know he had to chew it some because he doesn’t usually swallow larger things he can chew on and it was way to big to swallow when I gave it to him. Anyway, I would say avoid the Bully Jr. Knotted Bone. Even puppies would probably love the full sized bully sticks, and they’d last for days.

Happy Bully Stick Chewing!

Quick Facts

Featured Story

Searching for a Starry Night

What

A book featuring a dachshund

Where

A spooky old house in Wisconsin

When

Summer vacation

Who

Samantha Ann Carlton

Excerpt

Samantha Ann Carlton would rather spend her summer vacation anywhere but a spooky old house in Wisconsin…like Lake Geneva! Somehow Sam knows it s going to take more than a couple days to find a missing painting no bigger than her hand.

Maybe things won’t be so bad, she thinks, since she gets to take a friend’s lovable, nosy, and often mischievous Dachshund, Petey, and her best friend Lita. If they’re lucky, the three of them can find the miniature replica of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and help Sam’s mother get it to the museum, where it belongs.

But it’s not going to be easy, Sam realizes, when she discovers that her own family has some spooky secrets. Then Petey digs up an ancient curse, and Sam fears her friendship with Lita is doomed.

Can she find the miniature masterpiece before it’s too late? Will she and her best friend go home forever friends or enemies?

Comment

Yea for books featuring dachshunds! These authors really know how to get our attention.

What

Great pleasure in going to the dogs
Game review for Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends

Who

Brett Venter

Excerpt

RIGHT about now, some folks may question my gaming credentials. What on earth am I doing playing a game involving puppies and no real violent content whatsoever?

Well, I do tend to play anything that comes my way, and Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS has an incredibly addictive quality, no matter your gaming status. Whether hardcore FPS nut or casual gamer, you may find yourself grudgingly playing this one – even if you won’t admit it to anyone else.

Nintendogs is a DS-only title and it comes in several flavours. These different versions all play host to different main animals, with various unlocks available and wireless interaction possible across all of the versions of the game.

The one that I had for review is Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends. As you may have guessed, the dachshund is the main character, along with about five other breeds.

Comment

This is the type of game you can’t help but love. It’s no surprise that they chose a dachshund to feature in one of the games. People love dachshunds.

Val Mallinson recently updated her books on taking your dogs with you everywhere including The Dog Lover’s Companion to the Pacific Northwest and The Dog Lover’s Companion to Seattle.

These books are available for other parts of the country as well in The Dog Lover’s Companion to California, The Dog Lover’s Companion to New England, The Dog Lover’s Companion to Washington D.C., and The Dog Lover’s Companion to the San Francisco Bay Area just to name a few.

If you’re one of the lucky people whose dog is really well behaved in public then pick up one of these books and start having some fun with your dog!

Redstripe And Other Dachshund Tales is a book of five dachshund related short stories by Jack Magestro.

Excerpt

Sheila had a dachshund. A female dachshund that had just delivered three puppers eight weeks before Cirtron arrived.

Cirtron spent a month and a bit more in New York with Sheila. He became a great friend and buddy of Paris, Sheila’s mom dachshund. Sheila astounded Cirtron by taking him to all the right places in New York and making the rounds of the parties so many of her friends threw because, well, that’s what they did. Cirtron was just as great a hit with Sheila’s friends as he was with Paris. Paris was a bit of a greater hit with Cirtron than Sheila’s friends.

Description

Redstripe and Other Dachshund Tales is a collection of five stories about the antics of the comical little hounds sometimes known (by those who don’t really understand them) as “Weiner Dogs.” [sic] It is based on the travel adventures of the author, a retired educator, and his experiences with this loving and popular breed of dogs.

Anyone around the globe who has ever been “owned” by one or more of thes dogs will identify immediately with the little canines Redstripe, Belle, Bernard, Lampshake, and the rest. They all are true to the dachshund breed and therefore run rings around their human companions while proving what fools people can really be.

Amazon: Redstripe And Other Dachshund Tales

Gianna Rose Atelier makes this very cute Dachshund Soap. It’s packaged perfectly to be given as a gift. Dachshund owners are so lucky. Products for other dogs are certainly cute, but dachshund products are just special. I’m glad I accidentally became a dachshund owner. It’s fun to be a member of this club. I think it might be a life long membership for me.

Gianna Rose Atelier® is the leader in the design and manufacture of fine, triple-milled soap and personal care gift soaps and accessories – products, fragrances, and packaging that have forged a new dimension in the luxury, gift soap category. Gianna Rose soaps are 100% vegetable-based. Triple-milled soaps are longer lasting and creamier.

Amazon: Dachshund Soap

I am a big fan of bully sticks, I tried bones, but soon found them to have too much risk of tooth breakage. But bully sticks have never done me wrong. I’ve been through many brands and have found what I think is the best one. The Free Range “Moo!” 12″ Supreme Bully Sticks.

Here’s what’s so great about them. First of all, they don’t smell. The other brands have quite a strong and unpleasant odor. These really don’t smell at all. Your dog can chew and kiss you and his breath is actually fresher!

Second, Free Range has different grades of bully sticks, and the Supreme grade lasts for ever. They have a Monster grade now too, but I haven’t used those. I can take one bully stick and make it last two days. It would probably last one day if I gave it in the morning and never took it away, but it would he would still be working on it when it was time to go to bed.

These are great for dachshunds. I don’t know if all dogs are like this, but Kody is a massive chewer. It’s hard to find anything that lasts a while, is economical, and safe. But these bully sticks are.

I write about these all the time, but I still want to warn that you need to supervise enough to take the bully stick away with about about 1.5 to 2 inches left. While Kody has swallowed that last piece (probably 0.5 inches) and was fine, I wouldn’t want to take that chance on purpose. You want to take it away at a length where they can’t swallow it, because if it’s small enough to swallow and you come looking for it, unless you have the your dog so well trained they will drop food out of their mouth on command, they are going to swallow it rather than give it to you. They LOVE them. Kody is pretty good about trading for that last bit now, but at first these are like heaven to them.

This Amazon price is great to, it’s at least $2.00 cheaper per bully stick than in a store, probably more. And I go through at least one a week. That’s at least $8.00 saved per month! And one more tip, I made the mistake of getting the 6″ sticks for while. It’s better to get the longer ones and take it away and give it back later. The 6″ ones don’t leave much room to chew before you have to take it away so you end up wasting more.

Amazon: “Moo!” 12″ Supreme Bully Sticks

Yesterday I went to Petco to get some Roll-A-Rounds. These are the treats we use to “trade” and as a reward for going in the crate. They’re big so I break them to get four to eight pieces out of one round.

Petco wanted $6.99 a bag for them! That’s outrageous! They used to be under $4.00! I noticed all of the prices had gone up for Natural Balance products. I’ve already ranted about Petco raising their prices on dog toys. (Their summer toys are out now and I love them so, but must… wait… for… sale…)

So I went to this small totally natural pet store I like, that is generally priced just a little bit higher than Petco, but has products you can’t get elsewhere. They had the same Roll-A-Rounds for under $4.00.

I don’t know if Petco is in desperate financial trouble or what, but I’m guessing something like that is going on. Raising the price of a product that was $3.50 up to $7.00 doesn’t seem too customer friendly.

Amazon: Roll-A-Rounds

When you get the Webkinz Dachshund not only do you get the stuffed animal, you also get membership to an online community. Here you can say whether your dachshund is a boy or a girl and give it a name. You’re given points so you can buy your dachshund things for its house and keep it happy with food and love. You can also play with other pets in the Webkins community, it’s made to be safe for kids.

Amazon: Webkinz Plush Stuffed Animal Dachshund

Jill Ciment has written a new novel called Heroic Measures. A dachshund is one of the three main characters, the other two main characters being its owners. You can tell from this excerpt printed in The Wall Street Journal that the novel really incorporates the dog. Even the dog’s thoughts and feelings are written.

Description

A gasoline tanker truck is “stuck” in the Midtown Tunnel. New Yorkers are panicked . . . . Is this the next big attack?

Alex, an artist, and Ruth, a former schoolteacher with an FBI file as thick as a dictionary, must get their beloved dachshund, whose back legs have suddenly become paralyzed, to the animal hospital sixty blocks north. But the streets of Manhattan are welded with traffic. Their dog, Dorothy, twelve-years-old and gray-faced, is the emotional center of Alex and Ruth’s forty-five-year-long childless marriage. Using a cutting board as a stretcher, they ferry the dog uptown.

This is also the weekend that Alex and Ruth must sell their apartment. While house hunters traipse
through it during their open house, husband and wife wait by the phone to hear from the animal hospital. During the course of forty-eight hours, as the missing truck driver terrorizes the city, the price of their apartment becomes a barometer for collective hope and despair, as the real estate market spikes and troughs with every breaking news story.

In shifting points of view—Alex’s, Ruth’s, and the little dog’s—man, woman, and one small tenacious
beast try to make sense of the cacophony of rumors, opinions, and innuendos coming from news
anchors, cable TV pundits, pollsters, bomb experts, hostages, witnesses, real estate agents, house hunters, bargain seekers, howling dogs, veterinarians, nurses, and cab drivers.

A moving, deftly told novel of ultrahigh-urban anxiety.

Amazon: Heroic Measures

It has been a busy week, and to add insult to injury I found a flea. Just one flea, but that means some other dog or cat or something in the neighborhood with fleas. I just got up from sitting on the couch with Kody and saw it crawling around on my arm, then pop, it jumped and I don’t know where it went. When you’ve had fleas, you know them when you see them.

Guide to Treating Fleas for Beginners

Last time was my first time dealing with fleas, and I freaked out. But it’s no big deal. Here’s what I did this time.

It was almost the polar opposite of last time we had fleas, because now I know what to do and I wasn’t panicked at all. I checked Kody for more fleas and didn’t find any. I checked his crate liner for fleas and didn’t see any. This meant we really caught it at the beginning. So Kody slept in the bed with me last night anyway. Fleas have a strong preference for dogs and cats over you. Did you know royalty used to purposely sleep with dogs in the bed so the fleas would bite the dogs instead of the royalty?

I called the vet this morning to get some Advantage. The person on the phone told me they only carried Frontline and Revolution now because they were more waterproof. It turns out Advantage and Frontline are available over the counter now from Petco anyway, so I just went there to get it.

Why I Prefer Advantage.

I read some statistics that say Advantage actually works better on fleas than the others. It only works on fleas, the others do more. But you’ve only got fleas so why would you start treating your dog for ticks or heart worms? Less medicine is better, right? Advantage only soaks into the body fat under the skin so it can do less harm. Revolution, on the other hand, goes into the bloodstream. That’s why it’s waterproof. My understanding was that Frontline just went into the body fat under the skin also but it must have something in it to be more waterproof.

The thing is, you don’t really want waterproof. Waterproof means that you can’t wash it off your pet if something bad happens. Waterproof means it’s doing something to bind more strongly to your pet. When they test these products, they can’t ask dogs if they feel any different. So you want the product that has the least likelyhood of doing harm. But to be fair, while I haven’t used it, I know people are happy with Frontline too. I don’t see the purpose for Revolution though, unless you have more than just fleas to deal with.

You apply it once a month, so plan to give your dog a bath a week before the next application. It’s supposed to be able to withstand one or two baths a month, you just don’t want to do it right before or right after application because a bath changes their skin and affects the way the medicine gets absorbed.

Applying the Advantage

I came home and applied the Advantage to multiple places on the back of Kody’s head and neck. You sort of pull the hair back so you can apply drops directly to the skin, it’s kind of tricky. It’s good to get your dog in a calm relaxed state before applying it. Do that in multiple places till you’ve used it all. It ends up kind of soaking them as it drips and spreads out, but if you can get it closer to the skin it’s good. That’s what that vet showed me when we first used it.

Flea Cleanup

If you’re new to this and you Google, you will find horror stories about fleas including flea bombs and tents and all sorts of hullabaloo. But here’s the truth. After I applied the Advantage, I vacuumed the living room. It’s sheet changing day so we’ll switch out the sheets before we go to sleep tonight. That’s it. Kody is now a living, breathing, walking flea killing machine. He can do a far better job of getting rid of them than I ever could, and they’re going to be all the places he naturally goes. You don’t have to worry or do much at all. After I freaked out the first time, I confirmed this with many people.

If you find the fleas when there are more of them, you’ll want to wash the dog beds, and any dog blankets just to be nice to your dog, so he doesn’t have to suffer more bites. They are a bit creepy. If they were in Kody’s bed, I’d wash it, but since they aren’t I’ll wait till weekly dog bed washing day.

What’s Next

If your dog has fleas pretty badly before you figure it out, expect the majority of them to be gone within 24 hours. Then you’ll find one or two dead or dying fleas occasionally for the next 3 weeks. This is normal, it’s going to take your dog a while to get them all. If you see fleas it doesn’t mean it’s not working, it’s just natural. The fleas are hiding, it will take some of them a while to be flushed out.

If the fleas are outside or on your walking path expect to find fleas on your dog sometimes after coming in from a walk. Don’t worry about it, that’s where they came from to start with, and he’s protected from them, so they’ll be dead soon enough. If you live in a high traffic dog area like I do, you’ll find your neighbors also had to deal with them at the same time you did, and all of you applying medication will basically get your neighborhood back to normal pretty quickly. I know some people who treat for fleas two months and then stop. I know people who do it once every other month. And I know people who do it once a month until the weather cools below freezing a couple of times and then they stop until spring. It’s your choice.

Amazon: Advantage

While we’re on the subject of mealtime dachshund products this weekend, we can talk about these Dachshund Corn on the Cob Holders. There are so many creative products to make with dachshunds because any thing long can pretty much become a dachshund product.

Finding this product is also a bit of a coincidence because earlier this week I posted a picture of a dachshund dressed up as an ear of corn.

Amazon: Dachshund Corn on the Cob Holders

I have my fair share of dachshund salt and pepper shakers. When you get a dachshund, the dachshund things just start flowing in from friends and family, which I’m happy about. But I don’t have these Dachshund Kissing Salt and Pepper Shakers. Products like this aren’t big on “features” but these do feature magnets in their noses to keep them together.

Amazon: Dachshund Kissing Salt and Pepper Shakers