Border Collies

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Sniffing & Snuffing

Hi! I know it has been a while but we have been busy with sniffing and snuffing in the New Sea Land. Yesterday we read that as of midnight all of the New Sea Land would turn orange to protect the New Sealanders. To be honest, I haven’t noticed a difference. All I’ve seen today is green. No, no, that’s not green with envy. I’m usually not the jealous type. We didn’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight either. Maybe they didn’t have enough orange to paint the whole country?

I’m not complaining though as I love to roll in the green stuff. That’s what I did today too. There usually is something brown and smelly hiding in it. And no, I’m not talking about the brown easter eggs. I only like the real ones. The others are poison, well at least to us doggies. Anyhowls, I found meself some good brown stuff today. I smell sooo good! The two-legged critters don’t seem to like it but that’s their loss.

Happy Easter,

Hope you find some delicious treasures,

Benji

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A New Seed

Well, apparently new seeds were growing last year.  I would like to introduce my new little brother Luke Skywalker de Louisiana a.k.a. SKY. I gave him the Codename 0012.img_9999b

Ain’t he something else?! His shelter name was Luke, we added Skywalker. SKY was moved from an overcrowded Louisiana shelter that was not suited for puppies to North Florida. Hence his last name. He is roughly 5 months old and our vet said that he was probably a mix between a Border Collie and Springer Spaniel.  SKY has aspirations to become a Jedi Master. When my former agility trainer saw his photo she said, “The Force is strong in this one”. So maybe he’s on his way.

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To be honest, I am hoping he can join me on my super-secret missions sometime in the future. With a name like SKY, he should be able to fly, don’t you think? That should come in handy on our Mission Impossibles.

SKY started his tactical training last Friday at headquarters. He has to wait at least a couple of months before he can start any offsite agility training but for now, he can start with the basics at headquarters. It’s a lot of chewing on a bone and sometimes there is a bone of contention but I’ve shown that it can be done. Anyhowls, in the meantime, SKY can prepare for his S.T.A.R. exam. More on all this prep work at a later time. For now, this puppy needs some rest.

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Signing off,

Dg. B, a.k.a. 0011
Commander in Chief
Headquarters

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National Dog Day!

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We are celebrating all breeds and mixes every day but especially today because it’s  National Dog Day. Ms. Zulu looks a bit like Battlescar Galactica because she had four masses that needed to be removed surgically.  We are happy to report that she is recovering nicely without any problems.

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Happy Sunny Day,

WOOOFFF!

Ms. Zulu & Benji

 

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Practice, Practice, Practice

One of my fans asked me what I’ve been up to lately.  Well, besides going to therapy events I’ve been practicing my agility jumps a lot since practice makes pur-fect. One of these days we’re hoping to be ready for a formal agility event. I’m now up to 23 inches. I’m supposed to jump 24. That’s only one more inch to go!

Ms. Zulu supervises
Jumps require my full attention
Jumping through holes
Jumping 23 inches
The seesaw

Ms. Zulu would like to practice too but the humans are afraid that she hurts herself. Unfortunately, her response time is not what it was. She seems to be happy to supervise so maybe it’s all for the best. Tonight we plan to join our CCI buddies on an outing. Let’s hope the weatherman is wrong again and the outing won’t be canceled due to rain.

Have a fun-tastic week,

Benji and team

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You’ve Got Mail: 4

As a real retriever, I got the mail yesterday.  Ms. Zulu helped me as she herded me to the mailbox like a true herding dog. We forgot to empty the mailbox on Saturday. When we finally got around it on Sunday, we found this beautiful card from Kosmo and his mom in faraway Finland! If we would have known what was in the mailbox, we would have run with Mach 2+ speed.

We got mail!
Let’s see what they write
I wanna dream about faraway Finland

Kosmo and mom wrote that the photo on the postcard is from their area. Isn’t that something? Can you imagine living in such a beautiful place? Kosmo and his mom are very lucky. If you want to read more about life in Finland, follow the blog Photofinland by Rantasalot.  Kosmo’s mom writes it and it’s wagnificent.

P.S. I hope to report tomorrow on what we saw when we admired the postcard. You won’t believe us.

Happy Tails,

Benji

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Dogtors with Borders

As promised, here is the new addition to my uniform. Ms. Zulu assisted me while I posed for the first time with the new scarf. So this time it was Dogtors with Borders. Yes, Ms. Zulu is at least 50% Border Collie as far as we can tell. If you would like to know more about my Dogtors without Borders work then go to my resume page. We updated it recently.
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As you can see Ms. Zulu and I took our job very seriously and we were very focused throughout the photo session. This may or may not have anything to do with the treats in front of us. You be the judge.

OK, gotta run, I have a farewell party to attend to say goodbye to my best buddy Capone and hello to a new CCI friend in training. Yeah, Capone is leaving us in 1.5 weeks to start professional service dog training in South Florida. We will miss him for sure. I (well maybe one of my dedicated assistants) will try to capture some nice photos so you can see Capone one more time and to introduce the new CCI puppy. I’m sure you will get to see more of the newbie because when Capone is traveling to South Florida we get to babysit the new 9-week old pup for four days. That oughta be fun.

And remember, be dedicated and thou shall be rewarded,

Benji

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Prep Mach 2+

As you can see Ms. Zulu is helping me train for the Mach 2+ event in France. I got lots of practice in yesterday. Boy oh boy, it’s loads of fun.

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Go, go, go, Benji!

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First, we’ll do some straight runs

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Then we’ll practice some twists and turns

Happy Sunnyday,
B

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Foggy

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It’s that time of the year again; foggy morning walks! At least we didn’t suffer from brain fog because we still remembered to ask for a treat once we were done posing for the photoshoot. After all, fair’s fair.

Happy tails, Ms. Zulu and Benji.

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Andy & the N-state…

Exciting news: we found a variant on Zuluism. Andy the cat who is served by Doug the human, shows how he gets to the N-state. He is a natural in our book. Benji.

WEGGIEBOY'S BLOG by Doug Thomas

Yesterday, you learned about Ms. Zulu’s prescription for your well being and being in your best form. Today, I’m showing you how Andy prepares to get to that desired state.

Just because the concept came from a doggy doesn’t mean it lacks credibility! At least, that’s what Andy thinks, and, since he’s a cat, I agree with it, too! 

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What does the N-state look like? Here’s an animation of Andy once he hit it.20161127_121938-animation

Andy feels sleepy…112916-andys-sleepy

…it’s written on his face.112916-candys-nearly-asleep

How he plans to sleep in this position is anyone’s guess. Gad!112916-gad-how-does-andy-sleep-in-that-position

Sleep, blissful sleep….112916-andy-in-z-zone

Getting closer to the N-state…!112916-andy-zoning-out

Is he there…?112916-deep-sleep-for-andy

Could be….112916-andy-fully-zoned

Full fetal…. Yep! He’s there! Could call it the ZZZ-state just as well.112916-andy-goes-fetal

Wow! Ms. Zulu is really onto something here! Look at how blissed out our little kitty bud is!  Can’t wait to post this on the Internet!img_20161127_120024

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Zuluism

The other day, I told you that I got very tired during the Thanksgiving Holiday. There was so much to do and so little time. Since we are close to another big holiday, I asked Ms. Zulu how she dealt with that issue. She gave me some valuable advice and I thought you would like to hear it too. I know she shared it with some of you already, way before I was born. Still, I think it is worth reading again.  The approach itself is called Zuluism in my house. Ms. Zulu calls it reaching the Z-state. I will give Ms. Zulu the floor so that she can show you all the different steps: 

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Thanks, Benji. It’s really easy; follow my lead; You don’t have to get there through A-B-, etc., so don’t sweat it.  What is really important though is that you set up a routine. Without this, you get easily lost in the woods, so to speak. My routine looks like this:

1) Start the day with a good stretch, then hug and kiss your loved ones; okay I like to lick, but that is a matter of preference.

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2)  Go for a short walk to get fresh air and enjoy your surroundings. Have a little bite afterward and make sure you rehydrate (no alcohol please).

3) Go back to bed. This step is VERY important as you will NOT get to the Z-state later on in the day if you skip this step. I call this the N-state (you may call this napping). So basically, you made it already from A to N in three short steps; amazing isn’t it?!

4) After a little napping, go for an extended walk. On this walk, you make sure you exercise your whole body. Get a couple of sprints in as well as twist and turns. Benji, you are good at this.

5) You definitely deserve a BIG break after your exercise (step 4) and a little snack (I said a little! Okay if you insist another little bite is fine too for those of us who really need it). Make sure you rehydrate too.

6) Next, you make your way to the Z-state. Go to a comfortable place for this. This should be a place where you are not interrupted. I like to be close to M. You will get to the Z-state by going through the S-state. During the S-state you will most likely snore. This is perfectly normal. Don’t let others tell you otherwise. The S-state can take up to an hour after which you slowly drift into the Zzzz-state.  The Z-state is the most pleasant one as you do not remember any of it. So I can’t tell you more about it. I do know that I feel totally refreshed after I get out of the Z-state.

7) End the Z-state with another break. I like to run with M while she bikes, but you may prefer other activities. Sorry, no photo here as I still go VERY fast.

8) Try to get another snack by making sure you are in the kitchen while others are there as well. It is okay, maybe even better, if they stumble over you. Put on your most adorable face (I believe I have mastered this step) and try to look thin (tuck in that tummy; that is a good exercise too). Rehydrate.

9) Go back to bed. This time you will not get to the Z-state, but drift pleasantly in and out of the Y-state. Why is it called the Y-state you ask? Not sure, maybe because this state will help you get some answers to your questions.  Your legs may jerk and you may barf (or talk when you are a human) some. You don’t get to the Z-state this time as you need to be able to wake up for alerts. This can be squirrels who have ventured out too far from their house,  the mailman, deer etc. It is my job to alert the humans, they are often SO unaware of these things. Benji, I have been teaching you this step since you were a little pup. After all, two pairs of eyes are better than one.

10) Come out of the Y-state before you drift off too far, go outside, play some, go back inside, and eat your dinner. Rehydrate once more.

11) Go back to your comfortable place and drift off to the Z-state again.

12) Get out one more time before you call it a night. This time you get back up to snuff with the world. Sniff out what has transpired outside while you were inside. Follow EVERY trail. Benji, you were born ready for this.

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12) Once back inside, get a little snack and go to bed. Take a friend if you don’t like to be alone. I used to sleep with Ducky. But I gave Ducky to you Benji, so these days I sleep either quietly alone or with another little friend out of our box with stuffed friends.  After such an eventful day, I am sure you will be able to sleep well. You and your friends (stuffed or human) certainly deserve it.

Happy snoring,

Ms. Zulu and Benji

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My Big Sister

This is a photo of my big sister, ain’t she a beauty? The photo was taken in December 2014. Ms. Zulu looks real regal, doesn’t she? She was also adopted from a local animal shelter. That was a long time ago; she is already 10!

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