on a roll

1) Honor roll: just spoke to my good friend, Dan, out in Boulder and found out that their border collie, Charlotte, just earned her FDCh-S. For the ignorant like me that stands for Flyball Dog Champion-Silver... which even with my poor mental arithmetic means that Charlotte has done a fair amount of running in her four-and-a-half years. Which is probably why she looks knackered in this picture Dan sent me. For those looking for something fun to engage their bionic vizsla, flyball might just be it.

I've been catching up with my bloggery while I try to wrestle my body-clock back into alignment with my impending return to work. As ever, the Janeen + Mark at SmartDogs have made a number of useful observations in the past week or so.

2) Your canine medicine cabinet: for those of us who know just enough to know that we're probably not looking at a canine emergency (but who have the confidence to know when we're over our heads), here is the Smartdogs list of suggested items to keep in your dog's medicine cabinet. Based on their own experience, this list adds to one started by Patty Khully, DVM, at Dolittler.com... "a veterinary blog for pet lovers, vet voyeurs and the medically curious..." In an older post, Pat the Terrierman also has some suggestions for canine antibiotics. Thank you all for your help in encouraging self-sufficiency.

As ever, though, check with your vet about dosage limits, possible side-effects, and any likely necessary follow-up care.

This list supplements the Smartdogs' suggestions for a canine first-aid kit. You can of course also buy a prepackaged kit from GunDogSupply.com and just customize from there.

Kim (especially): if you have any other suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or two.

3) Are we afraid of nature? Again, Janeen + Mark make a prescient observation about the state of the Euramerican world. While I have blogged that the human interaction we had with the Tsaatan struck me as somewhat banal, the highlight of the trip was interacting with the reindeer -- who were just friendly enough to tolerate you rubbing their necks, sinking your fingers into their deep, deep shaggy coats. It does concern me that as folks become increasingly urbanized, they become increasingly distant not just from 'wild' nature but also from their food sources -- even if they choose not to eat meat.

4) My vizsla is smarter than your honor student: if this isn't already available as a bumpersticker, someone needs to make one. Seriously, though, National Geographic has a nice feature on animal intelligence including the fabulous Betsy, the border collie. Sadly, no vizslas made the article because they were too busy sitting on their owners.

5) It could only happen in California: at least that's probably what a lot of us thought. Sadly, though, it seems as though there is a study afoot to explore a mandatory spay-neuter program in Connecticut. It would certainly appear that $$$, bankrupt ideology, and a lack of imagination are fueling the study. My question for Fred Acker of the CSPCA would be this: if there aren't enough dogs and cats for Connecticutians to adopt, then why don't you pat yourself on the back (even if it is undeserved), resign, and ask your board of directors to give your salary to a state that doesn't have your good fortune?

I don't know John Yates personally, so I can't vouch for him one way or the other. But I am doing my research to find out more about the American Sporting Dog Alliance to see if I will get on board -- happily I recognize one name on their board of directors.

6) More crazed vizslas: congratulations to Seeker, Jozsi's older cousin, aka Widdershins Thrill Seeker JH CC OC, who whelped 8 new puppies (4m + 4f) on February 21st. Pretty sure all these pups have homes to go to... with a sire like Duke, aka FC AFC Pointe Blanc's Rusty Miracle, those should be firecracker field dogs. Congratulations, too, to Chris + Wendy!