The first installment of the new feature, Dogs Without Blogs, is a bit of a misnomer. Pups the Traveler does have a blog and Pups is, uh, not warm-blooded. But he does seem to have a warm heart, so let’s check out who he is…

What is your name?
Woof, My name is Pups the Traveling Labrador

What breed of dog are you?
Black Labrador Retriever

How old are you?
5

What nicknames do the humans call you?
Pups the Traveling Labrador, Pups the Traveler, Pups

Do you like any of your nicknames?
Yes, all of them, they are pawsome!

What is your favorite walk/hike?
Traveling the Globe!!

What is your go to toy?
Hmm, hard one here, I think it is tennis balls!

What is the most fashionable thing you wear?
I have so many pawsome clothes in my travel suitcase, I love my Dogs for the Deaf vest and My Ireland shirt I got when I went to Ireland!

If you’re a reader, what is your favorite book?
I love all travel and Labrador Retriever Books

What is the treat you will do anything for?
Milkbones, I just love them!

What is your greatest skill?
Traveling the Globe and taking photographs of course, WOOF WOOF

If you could speak only one sentence, what would you say?
That is pawsome!

What is your favorite human food?
Pizza, I just love puperonnis!

If you could be granted 3 wishes, what would they be?
To meet Caesar Milan, Travel to Egypt, Have my own line of Childrens Books which are in the works!

What do you love most about your human?
That she thought of the idea for me to travel the globe and show people the world through my eyes! Stop by my website to see my travels around the Globe!! http://www.pupsthetravelinglabrador.com
WOOF WOOF Love, Pups the Traveling Labrador

Pups is pictured with Devo here and above, an Autism Assistance Dog, he met in Oregon. Pups travels the world and documents it on his blog. He is sent from place to place with his box of memories (and outfits) like a furry Flat Stanley. Kind people host his visits and take him to interesting places in their locale.

You can host Pups by visiting here. Thanks for sharing your puppy self with us!

Keep on coming back as I follow my mission statement:


Woof!

I created a mission statement.

Now, before you roll your eyes… (I’m writing to you, humans, as dogs don’t roll their eyes)

My mission statement is simple:


With a little nod to Salt-n-Pepa, I’m reaching out to my fellow dogs and asking about you. If you’re interested in writing about yourself or if you humans want to write about your dogs, email me: Scout at riverdogprints dot com. I will send you a list of questions and ask for an adorable picture of you. Then, you’ll be featured right here on the old dog blog.

Why am I doing this? Well, I’ve thought a lot about this little blog and I’d like to write more posts. Problem is, how much can you write about yourself? If you’re a complex human, probably quite a bit (and probably more than you should.) Dogs live pretty simply by choice, so interesting posts about my life come sporadically. But I want to keep the blog about dogs, who we are and how we operate.

If you think you’re not interesting enough, you’re wrong! Send me an email, I’ll send you the questions and you’ll see how interesting you can be.

There are some days I just throw my paws up in the air. If I had chosen to write a book, instead of a blog, and had the wear-with-all to finish it, this would be the book I’d have written.


The narrator is Enzo, a smart, funny, TV-educated dog. He tells the story of his life with Denny, an aspiring (human) race car driver. The book is about family and connections and hope. I was able to read it in three days, as the story whips along with Enzo’s wit and wisdom.

When you’re a human, you wonder what your dog is thinking. This book will have you talking to your dog much more and believing she understands you. I don’t want to tell any more of the book’s story here. It’s a great read, so pick one up for yourself, dog or not.

And human, you don’t need to wonder about your dog. Just look in her eyes… she gets you.

From the Dog Blog archives:



Dogs know words. Doesn’t matter what language - we speak the language of our pack, our family. We learn our name and “NO!” first and then from there, it’s up to you to guide us through the rest.

If we take a puppy class with you, we learn commands. We learn them through repetition and reward. You learn how to talk to us and about “Management Skills.” In my puppy class, a “Management Skill” was the sole responsibility of my humans. You left the shoes on the floor, so I ate half of them. A Management Skill would be to pick them up and put them out of reach. See, not my fault. You left the loaf of bread on the counter, so I can place my pretty paws up there, turn my head gracefully and grab that gluten with my happy mouth. Management Skill=Place Bread in Cupboard.

How do dogs learn words? Some say it’s similar to Fast Mapping. That’s a mental process where you can learn one new thing when it’s among familiar things in a group. It’s how little kids learn words. And how often do you think of us dogs as little kids? Almost all the time, right? Anyway, you can read more about fast mapping here with Rico the dog showing those humans how freaking smart we are. Another factor in our learning words is that we don’t talk. We just listen (most of the time.)

I suppose repetition followed by an action is another way we learn. I knew some humans that stopped saying the word “walk” because my friend, Henry the terrier, would just go crazy! The humans started spelling the word W-A-L-K and can you guess what happened? Henry learned to spell. Made me proud :) Not sure where that phrase dumb dog came from - an insecure human?

Some of us dogs do know more words than we let on (i.e. - my blog), but are just as happy to perk up our ears when you expect it. Right now, I have to go ’cause I just heard two of my favorites, “grilled cheese.” Make sure you let me know what your favorite or most unique words are - would love to hear them!

I have a hard time with this one. I’m a “live and let live” kind of dog, but my idea of meditating with humans is sleeping on the bed. I do Downward Dog pose daily, but when my humans do it, it is the time for me to lick their faces until they stop. Same with Upward Dog, Corpse Pose, Child’s Pose… they all require relentless dog kisses until they get a hold of themselves.



Could you imagine my body on top of A-Dog like that? I’m tempted to Photoshop an image for you. Above is Suzi Teitelman, Doga Instructor extraordnaire. In researching this topic, Suzi clearly loves what she does and is committed to her dogs. If you watched the video I posted on Tuesday (see it here), both the dogs and the humans seem to enjoy the practice.

Me? I’ll take a hike any day. Om.

Here’s a video introduction to dog yoga. Come back on Thursday for my thoughts…

That is the only photo I have of my mom, BB, but you see where I get my good looks. It’s unusual for dog offspring to have contact with their mothers after the infant puppy stage. The Dog Mom does her job, does it well and then she bounds on with her human family. I saw my mom only one more time when I was about ten months old. I was all legs and panting and energy. And BB wanted absolutely nothing do to with my shenanigans. She had her family and I had mine.

Most dogs are tough. Chessies are probably one of the toughest. Pain, fatigue and injury all take a back seat to the love for our family, the love of a swim and just the love of life. That’s why, when my mom started limping a few months ago, the vet prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and she was on her way. It was her only symptom. Who knew how much she was hurting? After a few weeks, her humans began to be concerned. Tests began and that’s when they found the cancer.

BB passed away on Tuesday. She had a great life and her family cared and loved her very much. I don’t know if she had been a different breed, if they would have discovered her illness sooner. But that is the heart of a Chessie — strong, stubborn and full of love.

Imagine sitting in the park with your human. A cool dog walks by. You eye each other. Everyone introduces themselves. Y’all get along swimmingly. Next step?
Lay a calling card on your new best friend.

The RiverDog Prints store is offline while we do some renovations, but these will be available when we open back up! We love suggestions, so if you think of something clever, be sure to let us know.

Oh, you humans. I hadn’t had a proper walk in three days because of your To Do lists and fretting over what you haven’t accomplished. Maybe A-Dog realized how silly she was acting, because we finally got to see the sun today. Not just through the window. Outside!

To help you humans out, in your cushy, worrisome lives, here IT is.

The Dog List:

1. Feed me
2. Walk me
3. Give me a place to do my business
4. Give me a place to sleep
5. Repeat

Granted, you have to do these things for us, but that’s how you set it up ages ago. The key is… that little list keeps us happy & satisfied. Can you dig it?

Craig, a friend of A-Dog’s, is the guest contributor today.
He features his dog, Max, from the fun choice of a puppy vs. the reality of a dog.


We’ve owned Max for almost 10 years now. When we bought our first house, things must have seemed bigger. I suppose moving from our apartment to a house made everything look roomy and spacious and we needed to fill that space with more than just furniture. My older daughter had been asking for a puppy, so to kill two birds with one stone, we used a puppy as a Christmas gift for her, and I went out to find the right one. I had some fantasy of getting a big, fun dog that would walk with me and heel on command, play fetch until we were both tired, guard the house and be a companion to the family like all those dogs in the Herriot books. I liked Labs, so I drove 45 minutes to find a breeder and looked over her selections.

She had about 10 Chocolate Labrador puppies in a small pen, and I and several others played with them as we all decided which one would be the perfect dog for our families. They seemed to be going fast, as I heard one or two of the other prospective owners selecting theirs. At least one of the contenders I had in mind had already been taken, so I needed to act fast. In retrospect, these other people were probably shills, friends of the breeder who, like a snake oil salesman in the Old West, had her accomplices make everything look so attractive I would be forced into a hasty decision before my opportunity ran out. One somewhat fat puppy shied away from me, and I didn’t select him. He has since been dubbed “Schmoey” (rhymes with Joey) by my wife, who when she is lamenting my choice of Max (and I have heard several times about my choice) often pines for the serenity Schmoey would have brought. To make a long story short, with Christmas a few weeks away, no other litters in sight and no present for my little girl, I walked away $600 poorer, and one family member richer.

My daughter dubbed him Max Joseph on Christmas morning. He has since chewed through a few baseboards, dozens of rawhide toys, several stuffed animals, and at least two computer mice wires. His nails click clack on our hardwood floors in the most annoying tap dance rhythm you have ever heard. He drinks in threes, and by that I mean when he drinks, he laps three times, waits a beat, laps three times, waits a beat, then repeats 100 more times. It may take a minute to notice, but once you do it gets under your skin and drives you mad.

He’s not always good, and he has run away plenty of times. Before my neighbor blocked off the other side of his backyard, Max would lull you into thinking he was going to sit quietly with you in back, and then quick as lightning jump on the retaining wall, around the neighbor’s house and off he’d go. He never left the neighborhood, but would run up and down the street barking at passers-by. When you would walk to get him, he would stare at you and wait, and as you approached and were almost close enough to grab him, he’d take off down the street. He always came back eventually, head down, knowing you were angry with him. These days when he squeezes under the hole in the back gate to make his getaway, he still runs from you if you walk to go get him. But I have discovered that all I need to do is hop in the car, drive to where he is, throw open the door and he hops right in.

He still barks like mad when someone is at the door, but where he used to take a long time to calm down when guests arrived, now within 5 minutes he is over the distraction. He has mellowed considerably with age. He doesn’t chew anything inappropriately anymore, and in fact raids the girls’ rooms to bring down stuffed animals which he lays by his bed. We say he is looking for companions when we are all out working or at school. He’s pretty calm and quiet these days, and mostly just looking for someone to scratch behind his ears. I wonder if Schmoey turned out as well?