Cleo's Day Blog | Dog Advice, Cute Pics, and Life Lessons from a Rescue Dog in San Francisco

Adorable Puppy Impersonates Me Eating

As an adult dog, my sense of smell is discerning. Yes, I know this is a box, but I'm verifying what was IN the box. As you can see, I am also tall enough to enjoy food at the counter, but there was a day [...]

 

BBC News "..plenty of human actors don't do more than follow directions"

via www.bbc.co.uk

I'm voting for Uggie to win a Pawscar! He was great in The Artist.

Sweating to the Oldies: Senior Dog Exercises

Canine Zen. Yoga dog mat? Have you read about the new Doga movement? It is about achieving harmony with your dog while doing yoga. It is a good idea, but what about us big dogs that like to jump around a little? We need something a little more energetic I think.

So I'm thinking about starting what I like to call Cuddle Exercises or Cuddlcise. Good idea? BOL

Pet Obesity - How I Keep My Trim Figure

Obesity in pets is a real problem. Often when a mom brings home a new baby, the pet gets fat according to this New Baby Means Fat Pet story on Petside.com. This city dog (me!) had a few months there (okay, six) where I was on the heavy side (ten extra LBs), but fortunately I responded quickly to a change in diet and exercise.

How did I do it? 

National Assistance Week Begins!

This is the start of National Assistance Week. Does this mean, PL will assist in my bath? Will he help me dry off? Hmmm, the answer would be...

Influence Positively Interview - Annie Brody

Annie Brody founded Camp Unleashed in 2004 after successful careers in book publishing and environmental education. She has a B.S. from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University where she studied initially with the goal of becoming a veterinarian.

Dogs have been her greatest passion since 1993 when she adopted her first dog from the NYC ASPCA--a lost golden retriever, whom she named Hero--and embarked on her ongoing journey to understand the extraordinary nature of the human-dog relationship.

In 1999 she moved from Manhattan to upstate New York so that Hero could live a more natural life including being able to run free off leash and so that Annie could invite more dogs to live with them. The delight she and Hero experienced inspired her to start Camp Unleashed so that other dogs and people would have a safe natural place to go to be together, without leashes!

What is your idea of perfect happiness? I love an early morning walk through the woods with my dogs, ending up in a pond for them to swim in. Perfection would be having someone else to wash them off afterwards.

Influence Positively Interview - Lisa Spector

Lisa Spector is a concert pianist, Juilliard graduate, and canine music expert. By combining her passion for music with her love of dogs, she co-created Through a Dog’s Ear, the first music clinically demonstrated to relieve anxiety issues in dogs. Lisa is the pianist on the Through a Dog’s Ear music series.

As a lifetime dog-lover, Lisa has served as a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind and is actively involved in agility and musical canine freestyle. A co-founder of BioAcoustic Research & Development, Lisa held a principal role in the groundbreaking music and canine research conducted with 150 dogs in 2004-06. She is a pet blogger for  Care2.com, an online community of over 16 million members making a difference in animal welfare and the lives of pets, and her blogs have been seen on the front page of Digg. She also is an expert guest blogger on Positively.com and DogStarDaily. Expanding on her desire to improve the lives of dogs and their people, she recently took on a position of local director for Camp Unleashed in California. 

As a concert pianist, Lisa has won first prizes in prestigious national piano competitions and has performed in China, Poland, Spain, France, Italy and throughout the U.S. She shares her home and her heart with Sanchez and Gina, both career change Labradors from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Any activity in which I am truly 100% in the present moment, enjoying life. Whether I’m dancing in a Zumba class, playing the piano, hiking with my dogs, in agility practice or a class, or attending a fabulous symphony concert, if I’m present, it is perfect happiness. That’s one of the things I continually learn from my dogs, as they are masters at living in the present moment.

Influence Positively Interview - Janice Wolf

Janice Wolf has been rescuing, rehabbing, studying and advocating for animals for over 50 years. She has been a Veterinary Tech., dog trainer, and kennel manager among her work experiences, and has cared for a large variety of creatures, including wildlife, domestic and exotic species. 20 years ago her dream of a sanctuary slowly began to take shape in the hills of Arkansas. A place where injured and ill animals of many types could heal, and where special needs animals could often find a permanent loving environment. Rocky Ridge Refuge has been home to everything from Antelope, a Zebra, and a Watusi, to the current Capybara , Water Buffalo and baby Emu. Also, plenty of dogs - 26 right now, of which 16 or so are 'keepers' and the rest being readied for adoption.

Janice also has implemented 'Pet Therapy' programs in many locales around the country, and presently heads a group she started called 'Paws for Comfort'. She believes animals have a unique ability to affect the heart and emotions and sharing her furry and feathered friends with others has long been an activity she finds time for. One of her greatest joys is photographing her multi-species family as they interact day to day and sharing those photos on her Facebook Fan page (rocky ridge refuge). She has been urged by many to publish a book of these images and she is exploring that possibility now. She also plans a book of the stories from the Refuge, the individual tales of many of her rescues and the often miraculous recoveries she has played a part in. She uses a combination of conventional and alternative treatments in her healing efforts and always a large dose of love. Animals don't care how much you know, they need to know how much you care.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? A perfect day is one in which I have made some positive impact in another life: person or critter! Whether through acts of healing, comforting, teaching, or sharing joy on any level, any giving I can do is really a gift back to me.

Influence Positively Interview - Zak George

We are coming up on the one year anniversary since I started the Influence Positively interviews. Where has the time gone? They have been a wonderful success. I am still amazed and impressed by the fascinating people highlighted every week.  If you have missed any, check out the interview archives.

I feel like a cross between Barbara Walters and a Pinkerton detective. Sometimes people find me and sometimes I need to dig around before I uncover the next fascinating person in the wide world of pets and animal welfare.

Our goal has been to inspire action in our readers, as well as simply share common motivations and traits we all have inside when it comes to pets.  Read my March post about what the interviews are all about and what prompted me to start them. 

Today we continue the interview series, with our first video interview, submitted [unedited] by Zak George. If you are into teaching your dog tricks, you may know him already from his successful stint on Animal Planet as the host of Super Fetch!

Zak George has always been intrigued by dogs, but his true talents for working with these amazing animals went undiscovered for more than 20 years. Little did he know that playing with his older brother’s German Shepherd, Levi, would change the course of his life and bring these skills to the surface. 

It all began during a hot summer in Georgia when Zak’s brother asked him to throw a Frisbee® to Levi. Years later, after the hours spent playing with Levi had sunk in, Zak had a dream where he saw a dog spring boarding off his back to catch a Frisbee®. This is when it all clicked together for Zak and inspired him to bring Venus, an energetic and intelligent border collie, into his life. With very little formal training, Zak used his instincts to guide him and developed a positive training method in which Venus excelled. Together, they won five extreme dogs competitions in their first five years! 

Who me? Why some dogs bite and my advice

Dog Bite Prevention Week. This week is meant to shine a spotlight on dog bites, and hopefully how to prevent them from ever happening. As a dog, and a big one at that, I understand why this is an important issue.

Would you want this face charging at you? Like so many dogs, my bark is worse than my bite. Sure, if you were to challenge me or my pack, no one really knows how it would turn out.