Wild dogs in the Outer Banks

The Outer Banks (aka OBX) is a long 200 mile long stretch of islands and beaches off of the coast of North Carolina. They are home to wild horses, pirate lore and historical homes. They are also home to wild foxes and small wild dogs. The dogs are possibly feral dogs that have gone wild generations ago since most tourists report seeing wild dogs that they can't quite describe as fitting into the regular descriptions of wolves, coyotes or foxes.

Many of the wildlife habitats in the obx do not allow dogs so if you are visiting the area it is best to find out about the rules regarding dogs before you go. Many obx vacation rentals and hotels do allow dogs but if you can't go anywhere with your dog when you get there, what is the point of taking your dog with you?

Feeding table scraps

I do believe that the current anti feeding your dog anything but commercial dog food is a conspiracy concocted by dog food makers. The look of horror on people's faces when someone mentions they feed their dog leftovers or even cook for their dogs is a tell all of the current opinion regarding what to feed your dog.

Dogs have survived for centuries living off of table scraps. In fact dogs where invited into large homes and castles to act as a clean-up crew for the dinning areas. They "vacuumed" up the food under the dinning tables. So what has changed?

With today's "modern" living comes carpets and less dramatic dinning experiences. We don't toss food on the floor as much as our forefathers did. Our dogs are expected to have manners like we do and we even teach them not to "beg."

Unfortunately, feeding convenient dry and canned dog foods has led to overweight dogs with health problems. We are now forced to either put our dogs on a diet or find weight loss pills for them, yes they make diet pills for dogs. Couple that with questionable ingredients that some dogs are allergic to and now you have health problems from skin rashes and hives to lumps and hair loss.

Feeding tables scraps does not sound that bad after alll, does it?

Do you love your dog but are highly allergic to it?

Allergies are not fun. I am allergic to cats and cleaning. I kid you not, most household chemical cleaners set off an asthma attack in me. Thankfully I am not allergic to dogs but we do have one house cat. I can understand the frustration of having a pet that you love dearly and have to be on guard for allergies.

What I have learned to do is when I touch an animal that I am allergic to (in my case cats) is that I must not touch my face with my hands until after I have washed them. If I touch my face before washing my hands it will start the first allergic reaction - watering eyes. After that comes the sneezing then the asthma attack if I am not careful.

Austin, an acquaintance I know, is highly allergic to his dog. The allergy treatment austin uses is Claritin along with herbal teas.

So how many of you are allergic to your dog? leave a comment, I would love to know.

Dogs that do human sports

Yes that is a scuba diving dog in the photo above. while I wouldn't run out and fit my dog with equipment like that and buy underwater cameras to show off the fact that my dog can do that sport, other people do. That brings up an interesting list of sports that people have taught their dogs to do. Here are just some of the ones that I have seen either as photos or on videos:

• Skate boarding dogs
• Dogs riding on motorcycles or horses
• Skydiving dogs
• High diving dogs (off of diving platforms into a swimming pool)

An online dog store that has everything for the well dressed dog

It's a wet cold afternoon, so what better a way to spend it than looking around the internet for something interesting about dogs. I found a rather interesting site called DoggyVogue.com that has some of the most elaborate dog dresses and collars I have ever seen.

They even have wedding dresses, tuxes and that little item pictured above. Faux pearl necklaces for the female pooch round out the well dressed dog for a wedding.

I snooped around that site and found other interesting stuff like this doggy nail art.

 I don't think that my dog would sit still long enough for me to do that to his nails. Notice how the fur had to be clipped back to show off the nails? Too much work for me to try on my own considering how my dog would get those nails dirty the first time he went outside to pee.

When will technology catch up with dogs?

Why is it that I am constantly running into businesses and dog owners that are just not living in the 21st century. One case in point is a local dog groomer that simply does not use any technology to run her business. No computer, no cash register, no electronic appointment calendar. I can be thankful that she does have a phone and voice mail. I think her son set up the voice mail for her.

Another place was a small dog show that had everything hand written, even the judges results were calculated by hand! When I asked one of the officials when the results would be posted online and when the AKC got the results, I was told "in a few weeks"......WTF......weeks! Someone should tell them to get with the program and move on in to the 21st century.

You might think that I am over reacting but just a few years ago before human nurses wheeled those medical computer carts into a patients room, they wrote everything down and made grammar and spelling errors that resulted in medical mistakes. Now can you imagine dog show accounting errors due to writing errors.

I am now getting off the rant wagon and taking my dog for a walk.

Funny dog videos

I just finished watching America's Funniest Videos (AFV for those of you who also watch it) and the winner tonight was the 3 poodles. Let's face it, some of the funniest videos on that show are about pets and the ones with the dogs are the best. The cat videos are cute but the dog videos are awesome. Where else can you see a dog skateboarding or playing with a garage door opener.

Now if I can only get my dog to do something unusual or uber cute to send it in to AFV. Oh well, I'll get to it when hell freezes over.

A Late Happy New Year

So now that 2011 is a few days old, how is it treating you thus far? I am still getting over the Christmas holiday. My dog got Christmas cards this year!!! Yep, other dog owning friends sent him cards and he even got a gift. I am thinking bout sending those people some personalized note cards with a big thank you from my dog and his paw print on them.

I am hoping that this year is a better one than last year. Way too many friends lost their beloved pets to cancer and other health complications last year. Almost none of them were due to old age.

As I raise my glass of soda to you......here is to a better and healthier 2011 for dogs everywhere.