Hot Summers

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A Big Splash

In the category “Cool Hot Summer Fun”, we went to see the liquid stuff again. This time at a “Pet Prepared Hurricane Party”. The doggie pool was open for all. Why? Maybe to make sure we can swim away from a hurricane? I would think a boat would be faster though.

New Buddies!
Fun!
Wondering
How it tastes
A somewhat wet Ms. Z. but not from the pool

The liquid was contained in a doughnut-shaped fishbowl. No, there were no edible doughnuts nor fish sticks. That was a bit of a bummer. My Leg-O-Meter showed the fishbowl was less than 0.5 B-legs (lgs) deep. The deeper side got tested by one of my new buddies. It seemed more than 1.5 B-lgs deep;  in my book that means trouble. All smart captains know that it’s wise to steer away from troubled waters. Especially since I didn’t see a bridge and both Simon & Garfunkel were MIA. Besides, even a bridge might mean trouble as you need enough clearance for the mast before attempting to sail underneath it. Well, unless you can put the mast down and that might put you in a whole ‘nother ball game. Since we didn’t have any balls, that wasn’t an option either.

Ms. Zulu accompanied me this time; after all, we both have to be hurricane prepared. She didn’t want to spoil her hairdo and decided to work on her tan while lounging around the pool.

Wishing you smooth sailing in untroubled waters, 

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 9

Remember I told you that I love to play indoor soccer with my stuffed buddies? Well, today I played it to celebrate that my dear friend Octopus finally made it out of the ICU. He went AWOL for a very long time after I had chewed off more than I could handle. When I saw him again he was called Septopus. After a successful surgery and speedy recovery,  Octopus is back in the game, up and running on all his legs.

THE GAME

Prerequisites: First, I had to learn the names of my stuffed animals. This sounds more complicated than it is. Every single time a new fellow joins my herd, I’m taught his/ her name.

Octopus in the ICU
You have to be fast
Got two!

The rules:

  1. My human kicks one of my stuffed friends. This really sounds worse than it is. My friends sometimes squeak but I’m sure this is from delight. Let’s say it is Mr. Crocodile that gets the boot. And yes, boots can hurt us canines so we only play this game barefoot.
  2. As my human kicks Mr. Crocodile, she says “get Crocodile” and then we both run after him.
  3. If my human gets to my friend first, she kicks it again. If I’m first, I grab my friend and we go to step 4. I make sure that I run very fast. I don’t want my friends to be kicked in the butt twice in a row.
  4. Next, my human says the name of another friend and kicks it. We then run as fast as we can after that fellow. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as many times as you like. You can include all your friends in this game or just one or two, it’s up to you and your friends. I can now hold up to three stuffed fellows in my mouth. That’s why we play the game with more than three friends. My favorite friend right now is Mr. Crocodile. He has an ultrasonic squeaker. I hear it but humans cannot! It’s a win-win for all.

Happy days, 

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 8

What to do on one of those lazy Sunny Days? Make new friends! This one was technically speaking not a new one as he had been hiding in our doggie pantry since November 2016. Yes, you read that right. That’s when a V.I.P. stayed with us and we did the coastal tour. Oh, those were the days. Cool temps, excellent company, what else could one want.

I love Mr. Crocodile
He fits in well with my other friends

From l. to r.: Ducky, Crab, Moose, Rabbit, Rhino, Rope, Wallie, and Mr. Crocodile

I’m glad we found Mr. Crocodile. We hope he can stay and play with us for a long time to come. It all depends on his heart a.k.a. squeaker. Sometimes I have to do CPR on my friends. In the past, I have experienced some losses (see R.I.P. Ducky I). I guess I have to practice more. I also hope that Mr. Crocodile is a good soccer player. I love to play that game. More about that later; it’s getting pretty close to dinner time!

Wishing you a happy 4th of July weekend,

please keep your furry and not-so-furry ones safe,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 7

As you know, I love agility training. However, sometimes it’s raining or just too hot to do any agility training outside. That’s when the Ultra-Movable-Agility aka UMA set comes in handy. What you need? One human and one chair. You could even use a table. Really that’s all. How? Here it comes:

1. Under
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Instructions: put the human on a chair, look at one or both leg(s) and think “extend”. Crawl under the leg(s). Done! It’s that easy. The same can be done with a chair and even a table. So you really don’t need the human but I think that it is way more fun with one. They are also good for yummies in the tummy.

2. Over 
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Instructions: put the human on a chair, look at the leg(s) and think “extend”. Jump over the leg(s). Again, the same can be done with a chair or table. Whatever takes your fancy.

3. Up
armsc.jpgInstructions: Put the human in a stand. Make sure you grab a sturdy human and not a wobbly one. Pick an arm. Look at it and think “extend”. Jump up on said arm. This can also be done with a chair or even kitchen counter. Personally, I like the latter the best but I can’t even take a peek before the doggie police starts to bark.

Sorry for the not so clear illustration here. We experienced some technical difficulties. Something to do with not having enough arm to take the photograph. At least you can see how careful I’m about not digging any of my nails in the arm. After all, it’s very important to be gentle with your agility equipment. Sometimes I am “up in arms” too. That’s when I jump up high on my human and she wraps her arms around me. Oh, and before I forget, always get official approval with stamps and an inifinite number of carbon copies for any of these exercises. Especially if you want to be(come) a therapy dog.

Have fun,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 6

I’m so happy; finally, we made it to the dry matter!  No, not the dark matter, that’s a whole other ballgame. Dry matter is more my cup of tea. Although now I come to think of it, I have never had tea in my whole life. It’s probably not good for us canines anyways. Plus it’s wet…

Anyhowls, we are getting off track here. The question is what can you do as a dog besides getting wet on a hot summer day? Well, I love to go to Doggie Dayz. It is a daycare and training facility. I get to play pretty much the whole time when I’m there. It’s inside and that is absolutely pawbulous in a hot climate with lots of rain in the summer. Of course, we go outside for our walks, but other than that we are sheltered from the sun and rain. And I just love, love the staff. I could go there efury day.

December 2015: moi, 12 weeks
December 2015: moi, 12 weeks
October 2016

Photo credits to Doggie Dayz Daycare and Training Facility

I’ve been going to the doggie facility on a regular basis since I was 12 weeks old. These kinds of facilities are nice for humans too. They can shop till they drop or work to get treats on the table without having to worry about us four-legged ones.

Happy Dayz, WOOFFF!

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 5

You thought all the wet stuff was behind us, right? Well, so did I. Apparently, we forgot about the beach. The beach is actually fun as long as you don’t get saturated with the wet stuff. We go to the beach a lot in the winter and fall, but we hardly go in the summer. It’s Florida you know. If we go in the summer, we go at night when the sand is cool and still a bit wet. I love to play in the sand and look at sunsets.

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I have been going to the beach since I was a youngster (12-17-15). Click on the photo to watch my video

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The sand is fun (1-1-16)

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I like to just sit and enjoy the scenery (11-23-16)

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And reminisce about the day (2-5-17)

Phew, I made it through the wet stuff alright; onwards to the dry matter,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 4

I thought it was best to get all the wet stuff behind me, so here is the inevitable POOL note. If you ever do decide to go to the pool and in the sun, you can now take doggie sunscreen with you. Isn’t that something? And yes, we can get a sunburn too. I get one much more easily than Ms. Zulu with her thick undercoat. Be careful of the chlorine too, see Pet MD.

I don’t have a problem ingesting too much of the pool chemicals. As I’ve said before and I do want to reiterate this: I don’t like to swim! There you have it black on white. Let’s hope this will be remembered by those who need to be in the know.

pools4Do you remember this photo from October last year? There was a reason that I was not in the photo. 

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No, still not in the water, even with a tennis ball, just saying

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And nope, a small pool doesn’t change anything

Higher authorities finally gave up and our doggie pool now sits in Adonis’ yard. That’s a much better place, don’t you think?

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Ms. Zulu found a more natural pool; still looks too wet to me

Better be safe than sorry and keep your fur away from the wet stuff, 

Benji 

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 3B

As promised an update on our wet affair. Rule number 1: avoid the wet affair at all cost. Rule number 2: if you can’t, make them pay with lots of yummies. All woofing aside, the wet affair turned out to be a lot cooler than anticipated. I may even like this game. But never tell anyone. The yummies may stop coming. And we don’t want that to happen, ever.

“Wait here”, you said?
“And come”!!!
Yep, that’s wet
My second photo can be in the dry right?

Love and woofs,

Ms. Zulu and Benji  

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 3A

OK, I tried to postpone this watery post as long as possible for reasons that you are probably well aware of by now.  However, higher authorities ruled differently and I was bound to get WET as part of the Cool Hot Summer Fun series. Yes, you read that right. Don’t get me wrong, I do love to DRINK water. However, do not soak me in the stuff. It’s wasteful you know. And it certainly isn’t fun.

There are many ways to get wet and all are bad: in the bathtub (not a good idea for the interior of your bathtub; I do have nails), a pool (are you nuts, I would drown!), on a wet towel (ok this one isn’t too bad), … Anyhowls, you get my drift. The other day headquarters decided that we had to try something else. Ms. Zulu and I both love to drink from a hose, so the thinking was that we would enjoy playing under a lawn sprinkler. Hmmm, in what kind of universe does that not totally soak you?

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This is not gonna work you guys

Of course Ms. Zulu and I are always a good sport so we did try this new game. The first attempt was with a spray nozzle attached to a water hose. The nozzle was quite rude. He was quick to point the finger, or whatever part it was, at us. I’m happy to report that the end score was: Spray Nozzle 00 – Benji 11. I even stayed dry and got all the treats. Ms. Zulu didn’t stay completely dry but she didn’t get wet to the bone either. Nor did she get any treats now I come to think of it. She can have some of my treats. Oh, I guess I inhaled them all. Well, I’m sure there are more wherever they came from. Look in the pantry.

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Ms. Zulu got a bit wet and was still smiling 

Since both Ms. Zulu and I didn’t really seem to cool down from this game, some more serious looking equipment was pulled out of the shed-with-one-hundred-and- thousand-plus-tools and a real sprinkler was attached to the hose. I will give you an update on that later.

In the meantime stay dry,

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 2

Ms. Zulu and I have a doggie door and can go outside to our doggie yard pretty much whenever we want. But, like any canine, we were born ready for our daily exercise walks. As the summer gets into full swing we try to get our morning walk in as early as possible and we try to walk in shaded areas. Here in Florida, we have to watch out for biting bugs and use pet safe products to repel them.

The Water Bottle
And Us

We prefer to walk on cool and soft surfaces such as grass. If we have to walk on hot pavement or sand we check the temperature to make sure that it’s not too hot for our sensitive paws. You can even get dog booties if there is no way around that conundrum. In the evening we prefer to walk as late as possible.

We always bring water with some plain ice cubes wherever we go. And how could I forget?! The treats, we bring those too! OK, ok, it’s mostly dinner-kibble but there are treat-crumbs in there for sure. Above we are showing the water Rover water dispenser. What we like: we don’t waste any water as our assistant can easily pour the unused water back in the bottle. What we don’t like: it’s plastic. So we are looking for a sturdy durable stainless steel version. The H2O4K9-Water-Bottle is close to what we are looking for but doesn’t have the convenient top of the Rover. I heard that there is a curious Rover on Mars maybe we should ask him.

We don’t have a lot of sweat glands and panting is our major cooling method. The sweat glands that we do have are mostly located around the paw pads. That’s why it helps to stand in a pool or on a wet towel when we are too hot. I think I will err on the side of caution; I’m not gonna get wet, period. And that is one h_ll of a big period, period. As a refresher, here are the signs of  heat exhaustion and impending heat stroke in dogs according to Pet MD: “sluggishness, very heavy panting, bright red gums, hypersalivation (which can progress to the opposite: dry tacky gums), vomiting or diarrhea, and collapse. In the later stages, death can occur rapidly if not treated in an ER.”

Even though they haven’t officially arrived yet, we do hope that the Dog Days are over before we know it!

Not sure if running fast will help to stay cool. Well, maybe at Mach 2+ and some cooling liquid for the pawerful machine. And no, I’m not talking about some water with plain ice cubes here.

B Mach 3b

Stay cool my friends and please tell your friends not to leave live animals in a car, hot unshaded area, hot unventilated room,  or hot anything…, 

Benji

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Cool Hot Summer Fun: 1

It’s getting really hot again here in Florida. It can get so hot that we can barely think when we are walking or exercising outside. I know it’s a good excuse to get out of obedience training… Of course, us canines still have to be exercised outdoors so we are always thinking of cool things that we can do without getting a heat stroke. And I’m not kidding here, heat strokes are a potential problem in the summer, see Pet MD.

We will try to think of 10+ things to stay cool this summer. Feel free to add your own ideas. Hey, we could even make a guest post out of it. The first one in the series has to do with???? Yes, you guessed it right, something EDIBLE: a cool snack for whenever the need is high. How cool is that?!

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Testing: Take 1

So what is a cool snack? Frozen veggies are one example. Just cut some carrots or other edible veggies and throw them uncooked in the freezer. Now that summer is in full swing, I will start taking them on my secret missions. Why? Well, for several reasons: 1) It doesn’t leave a mess on floors and human parts like some doggie treats do; 2) especially carrots always seem to be available in the fridge; 3) it’s dirt cheap (this should be listed as number one as this seems important to headquarters, not sure why because my treat account keeps growing); 4) it’s super easy to make, and I know this because I always supervise the cutting process to ensure that nothing gets wasted; 5) it’s literally and figuratively speaking a cool snack; 6) it’s crunchy; and, 7) Ms. Zulu and I love ’em and that should obviously be the most important reason!

Of course, we had to test the frozen treats before I can take them on an actual mission. Both Ms. Zulu and I happily volunteered. I am sad to report that the first take was successful, so no other experiments are to be expected. On another note, I was able to convince M that we should also take some of our fruit filled ice cubes* with us in the field. The cubes can sit in a cooler in the car while I’m busy so that I have a refreshing snack afterward. I’m hoping the ice cubes need more testing.

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Stay cool this summer, don’t forget to bring plenty of fresh water with plain ice cubes wherever you go, and please tell everyone not to leave any pets unattended in the car for any period of time,

Benji

* Fill an icecube tray with some edible stuff such as a bit of peanut butter, banana, or blueberries. Pour water on the goodies, let it freeze, and voila you got doggie ice cream. Again, always make sure you only use fruits and veggies that are safe for your pet to eat.