Taking a little vacation….

My dog Susie says

My vacation from “barking”

My Big Mommy grew up in Europe where they take every August off for an extended vacation. So, I decided to follow in her footsteps and take a break from barking about my adventures, politics, animal issues, celebrities or anything else that really bugs me for the next month. This is my last blog until after Labor Day, and I really hope everybody has a wonderful and robust rest of the summer!

I’ll leave you with a few tips on feeding your dog healthy foods in addition to their usual “dog food”. Remember that dogs, just like humans are omnivores, which means we like meat and plants.

1. Fresh Fruits are fine if it’s apples, bananas (contrary to rumors), oranges or watermelon. Be sure to remove the seeds for easier digestion.

2. Meats should be lean only and thoroughly cooked leaving the bones suitable for treats.     (But never never chicken bones)

                                3.    Cooked rice is a great food and inexpensive as well. I recommend brown rice only.

                                 4.    Vegetables are great treats including carrot sticks, green beans and cucumber slices.

Because I travel so much with my Big Mommy and Daddy, I thought I’d leave you with some tips on helping your pet survive his stay in a “Doggie Motel” if you don’t take them with you. 

                                             1.    Find a boarding facility that you’re comfortable with and that your friends have recommended.

2. Take your dog there a few times for a few minutes before you actually leave them there. This allows them to acclimate themselves to their new temporary home. Give them a treat.

3. Walk them around the grounds allowing them to smell their new surroundings. Give them a treat!

                                             4.   After returning from your vacation when you pick up your pet from the doggie motel give them a treat, but try not to make a big deal out of reuniting with them. It’s hard I know, but it really helps your dog if it seems normal, and that you just left a few hours ago. Everyone, of course, will be very happy to see each other.

Lastly, for all of you that feel like you might need a little more inspiration in your life watch the video below entitled, “Doggy Dancing.”  I watch this with Big Mommy at least a couple of times every few months when we need a few laughs!  Also, the canine star of the video looks exactly like moi!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=-0jNC_w1tSw&feature=player_embedded

Catch you later in a month or so…

Susie and Sandy

P.S. “Dogs are not our whole lives but they make our lives whole.”

To see previous “My dog Susie says” barks go to: http://sandy-steele.blogspot.com

For information on Sandy Steele’s books, blogs and skin care products go to:  http://sandysteele.com

Dogs Have Olympics Too!

My dog Susie says

13 Hundred Years of Sport?

All the current fuss about America’s “Chinese” uniforms for the upcoming Olympics in London, got me thinking about when, where and what the Olympics are really all about. Did you know that they first started in 776 BC and ran for almost 1200 years before being discontinued? The original games were held in Olympia, Greece during this entire period. The contestants competed in 20 events including track, wrestling, boxing and chariot racing. And a cool fact was that the first Olympic Champion was a cook but he didn’t win for cooking.

One of the most interesting facts about these “Ancient Olympic Games” is that during the two weeks of competition all wars and feuds between cities and nations were discontinued. The winners were so revered that poems were written and statues built to immortalize them. Is this where and when the idolization of modern athletes of today began? Anyway, the Olympic games were discontinued around 400 AD because Rome had supplanted Greece as the premier power nation on Earth. The Greeks really didn’t like Rome or Italians in general, so the games were placed in hibernation for the next 1500 years.

In 1859 the Olympic Games were restored in Greece because of the individual generosity of a wealthy Romanian-Greek philanthropist. In 1896 in Athens, the games brought together 14 nations with 241 athletes competing in 43 events. The next two Olympics were held in Paris (1900) and St. Louis, Missouri (1904). Bet you didn’t know America had its first Olympic Games back then. And, more importantly, women were allowed to compete for the first time, before they even won the right to vote. Now, the London Games are expecting over 10,000 competitors from 204 nations to compete in more than 90 different events. That’s a bunch of uniforms!

Most humans don’t realize that for 20 years or longer there have been “Doggie Olympics” held in May, September and October in numerous states including Indiana, North Carolina and Colorado. Awards are bestowed for twenty different events for “Best-Tricks, High Jump, Limbo, Musical-Sit and Kisses” I know I could win for the limbo because I can crawl lower than any dog I know. And the gold medal will definitely be mine for Kissing cause nobody kisses better or more often than me! Two major reasons I can see for watching dogs over human competitors are: dogs are true amateurs that aren’t paid any money, and they also don’t need any fancy uniforms from China.

Catch you later,

Susie and Sandy

P.S. Since the first Olympic Games were contested exclusively by male athletes who were completely naked, what’s the big deal about the manufactured uniforms they now wear today? Maybe we should go back to the original Olympic “uniforms” not created by any country, individual or company. And since women are now allowed to compete, think of the huge ratings!

For more barks from Susie: http://sandy-steele.blogspot.com

For more information on Sandy Steele:  http://sandysteele.com

Westminster Pedigrees vs. America’s Mutts

My dog Susie says

A rare dog saves a rare dancer

A few days ago my Big Mommy and I were watching the two days of one of our favorite television shows (right behind Dancing With The Stars), the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It’s held every year in Madison Square Garden, which is really round, where over 2,000 dogs with 185 breeds show their stuff. It’s so big it takes two different nights on two different networks to show it all. This year’s contest was both exciting and depressing for reasons I’ll discuss later.

I learned that the dog who is finally chosen champion isn’t necessarily the smartest, cutest, most agile, understands English, takes commands, runs around fastest, jumps highest or does the best tricks. No, the winner is the one that resembles the perfect model of a particular breed the closest. It’s no beauty contest like Ms. America, and there is only one judge who determines the winner. So if there was a “Frankenstein” breed and a dog lumbered around scaring and attacking people the closest to the perfect Frankenstein model, then they are declared the winner! 

This year’s winner was a Pekinese named Malachy and people acted like he was a doggie Frankenstein. Without dwelling on the winner, let’s just say it wasn’t a unanimous decision. But there’s always next year. 

The bad or depressing part of this year’s contest was when my Big Mommy, Sandy, discovered that the Westminster Kennel Club doesn’t support rescue or adoption of animals that are orphans. They’re more concerned with keeping all breeds “perfect” without any “mixing” of the various types of dogs. Now, dogs will be dogs, and sometimes nature takes its course. What would America be without mixing together over centuries different human races and nationalities from different parts of the World? Not as strong I bet. Anyway, Sandy was so outraged that she emailed the Westminster Kennel Club and told them what she thought about their outdated philosophy. Don’t they realize that by not helping ALL animals that need human care, for example, Sandy and I maybe wouldn’t have met each other. Big Mommy and I always say, “we saved each other when we found each other.”

Now for the exciting part of this year’s contest. It turned out that one of the contestants was owned by a former ballerina named Sharon Pederson. My Big Mommy took ballet for years so she really appreciated her situation. Ms. Pederson was stricken with Parkinson’s disease when she was 33. She experienced daily intense burning pain and was watching her previous active fulfilling life slip away. She eventually went to the outskirts of the planet to search for help. Arriving in Norway ten years ago, she was treated for her disease and eventually became much better. While on this life-saving trip, Sharon became interested in a local breed called a “Norwegian Lundehund” which was almost extinct because of a distemper epidemic years ago. The total population of this breed was estimated at only 6 dogs who lived on a remote Norwegian island north of the Arctic Circle. Brrrrrr..that’s really cold.

Because Ms. Pederson had traveled to this most inhospitable region of the world and it saved her life, she felt a kinship to these unusual animals. She adopted one of the few “Lundies” and named it Nils. She also joined a local kennel club which led to her becoming president of her kennel club. This led to her attending Westminster as a judge and then meeting a man there who would become her future husband. So fate led her to the top of the world, which saved her life and maybe her soul. See… adopting a dog can lead someone to places of happiness you can’t imagine. 

As a footnote, Nils the Norwegian Lundehund is so agile he can bend completely backwards and touch his nose to his back. Also, because of his unique skeletal structure along with six toes, he can contort his body into various yoga poses. So, Sharon being a former ballerina, can really appreciate what a special dog Nils really is! 

One last thing: Sharon and Nils competed in this year’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Catch you later,

Susie & Sandy Steele

P.S. The last words spoken on his deathbed by P.T. Barnum, a dog owner, and a famous showman of his time……..       “What were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?”

To see more of Susie’s barks go to:  http://sandy-steele.blogspot.com 

For more information on Sandy Steele go to:  http://sandysteele.com