GORDY UPDATE: additional halloween gordy photos from district dog!

More photos (of dogs besides ours!) on their site.


www.districtdog.com

new from ella dish!

Ella Dish, one of our favorite favorites, has new items for fall including these super cute bandanna themed collars, harnesses, and leashes - red for cowgirls and blue for cowboys. So cute it hurts!



www.elladish.com
$28 and up

(photos from ella dish)

GORDY UPDATE: a halloween post

On this Halloween morning it seems only fitting to offer an onslaught of photos from the District Dog Halloween Parade and Party that happened this past Sunday. Above, witness the earnest expression of the heart of a champion. Gordy, if you didn't already know, is apparently the World's Strongest Small Dog.



Clockwise from top left: a lobster who deservedly placed in the Cutest Dog contest; a particularly creative costume which was never really translated to us but we love nonetheless; Rocket dressed as "EL POOPO"; a perfect Cat in the Hat. Below, a montage of the French Maid, complete with wig. My obsession with this is endless.




Thanks District Dog for a super day and an even better goody bag!

www.districtdog.com

GORDY UPDATE: virginia is for lovers

We've recently been in Virginia basking in the country life in a small town called Lovettsville where Gordy frolicked with creatures great and small. There were the horses, the frogs, the fish, and the lady friend. We were lucky enough to stumble upon Georges Mill, a beautiful, incredibly animal friendly bed-and-breakfast whose owner had a glorious golden retriver with fur that sparkled and flowed in the afternoon breeze. Gordy, of course, found her irresistable. Lucky for us, he kept it (mostly) G-rated.




Some quiet moments in the solitude of nature's splendor...




I have to say, he was really great in the car (12 hours!), at rest stops, and in the wild. We actually felt pretty bad returning him to city life but he seems fine to settle with the simple satisfaction of trash on the sidewalks of Brooklyn being the highlight of his evenings. Poor Abby.... Gordy just loves em and leaves em.

halloweekend

I am working through the weekend and will sadly not be able to witness the canine costume explosion that The Sixteenth Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade will no doubt provide. But will the weather hold out? According to the NY Parks&Rec there's a rain date scheduled, so check in before you go.

If you're in Greenpoint (or the Brooklyn area) this Sunday, local favorite District Dog has their own Halloween parade and party scheduled for 1pm in McGolrick Park. This is set to include dog agility, best trick, strongest dog, and costume awards all benefiting the dog run. More details on their site.

www.nycgovparks.com

www.districtdog.com

(photos from nymag.com)

NEW EMPIRE OF THE DOG CLASS SCHEDULE!

New classes are starting from Empire of the Dog (of which Gordy is so proudly an alumnist of both Puppy K I and II!) . See below:

PUPPY Kindergarten II [the sequel] [4wks 150.00]
Graduated pup class, eager for more...develop better, faster responses from your pup!
SAT OCTOBER 27th at 9:45 AM [eva's play pups]

PUPPY K [4 wks 150.00]
HURRY! this starts THIS saturday!
SAT October 20th 12:15 ; includes coffee, bagels and an hour of FREE play after class at eva's play pups
MON November 5th 7pm [grand st space]


TRICKS!!!! [5 wks 195.00]
The holidays are almost upon us. Impress your friends this holiday season with DOG TRICKS!
SAT November 3rd 11am @Eva's play pups
No prerequisites needed for tricks class.

Basic Manners/Obedience [ 6 wks 230.00]
Take your puppy's manners to the top!
Monday November 5th 8:30pm [grand st space]

Small Dogs Rock [6 wks 230.00]
Basic manners especially for small toy breeds. Includes off leash playtime and socialization
exercises.
Sunday NOVEMBER 4th 9:45 am @ Kiki's Pet spa on Dekalb ave, [fort greene]

CLICKER TRAINING FREE SHAPING 'circle'
SUNDAY October 28th 2pm @ 415 Grand Street Studio.
Like a knitting circle, but with clicker training and freeshaping.
[this is an informal group I'm setting up for people who want to learn about or do
more clicker free-shaping with their dogs. Especially good for you if you have taken tricks class or worked with
free-shaping previously.
$10. for an hour + of shaping practice and advice in a group setting.

FOR DETAILS on these classes, visit the website classes section
www.empireofthedog.com
or email denise directly at denise at empireofthedog.com !

GORDY UPDATE: a medicinal journey

I haven't really had time to give up to the minute the nitty gritty on this, but ol' Gordo has been going through some mild health issues as of late, resulting in numerous trips to the vet, a few meds, a smattering of herbs, and the what not. But I am happy to report that as of this afternoon he is at least 90% back to his old self (the other 10% lending to the fact he has since recently into a completely high energy spastic psychopath). Hooray!

It started as some varied and sporadic redness then eventually turned into the two of us pathetically scraping off mushy doggy doo from the sidewalk on a daily basis, tears of shame a-flowing. The first recommendation from our vet was to switch up the food (a sad so long, beloved Artemis!) but in spite of the wonderous colorful and textural journey that ensued, we remained shrouded in mystery - no firmness of stool to speak of. Our dinner and telephone conversations turned very graphic during this time.

Tests will be done, they will come back negative. Worms will be sought out, none will appear (for which I am incredibly thankful for, by the way). The food experimentation and itchy redness goes on and on until we had given up and handed Gordy over to our vet once more, in total desperation, to do with what she will. Her professional diagnosis? The ultra scientific and technical sounding Leaky Gut Syndrome, "a diagnostic entity popular in various branches of alternative medicine", according to Wikipedia. What it means, if you believe in this sort of thing, is that the cells lining Gordy's intestinal walls may have holes in them which both disrupt proper digestion (hence our current poo probs) and allow toxins to seep through (hence the ongoing redness). She believe his former bouts with Giardia might be the culprit. Above, a photo of him as he pathetically submitted to all manner of poke, prod, and ear goop on the way to determining this.

The first round of 'biotics and herbs SORT of worked, but not really. Mainly, he stopped scratching his ears to the point of bleeding and we finally put the name "Ol' Red Balls" to rest - ahem! - but still... STILL! Pudding for breakfast. And to add to it, by the following Saturday he'd developed a cold and his energy levels had dropped considerably. Naturally we're a little worried at this point so I take him to the vet once more. Together with my favorite vet (who only works on Mondays, weep!), we decided to switch up the herbs, knock out one of the Western meds, add a mild antibiotic for the cold, add a GI Tract boost, keep on with one of the immune system boosts we already had, AND try to use a more basic food. Sounds like a swell trip to Jamba Juice, no? Actually it was sort of tedious as everything needed to be timed and measured out and given at different intervals and basically blew our minds daily. But we did it.....and Sweet Weeping Jesus, it WORKED!

So there you have it. We are so happy to have a healthy dog back in our lives. And so happy to not have to walk the streets in a state of paranoia, cowering from his messy business and hoping he keeps it curbside. Meanwhile, whatever magic these herbs posess has cranked Gordy up to eleven. He is ON at every waking moment and not just a little regression in training has occurred. But nevertheless, itchiness and gnarly number twos are all but gone so we will bask in the merriment, forever thankful to this strange brew of Eastern meets Western remedies. Amen.

Great Dane Benefit

Another great cause if you are in the Brooklyn area:

GORDY UPDATE: sunday in the park

Gordy and I managed to catch the latter portion of BARC's Halloween festivities in McCarren Park this afternoon. Let me tell you, this was a sight to behold. There were tons of people and tons of dogs... most of which were in costume. For better or for worse, if you know what I mean. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the theme was Super Heroes and the assortment was actually really impressive. I want to give a special shout out to my favorite (otherwise unacknowledged) costume: Amelia Earhart....complete with clouds, people!



The photographic representation of this event is, as you will note, dismal at best (the ol' camera has a way of running out of juice on you just when you want it the most). But take my word for it, it was really a lot of fun, seemingly a great success, and I hope BARC benefited plentifully.

www.barcshelter.org

me llamo carlos

You know how we generally feel about dog-themed clutter, but we cannot help but love this little lamp designed by Kathleen Walsh for Walteria Living. His name is CARLOS (how appropriate) and he measures a whopping 7.5" tall.

I've seen this little charmer popping up around the web but thank you very much Cool Hunting and Denise for the FYI on the specifics.I love the idea of having this on my bedside table or even next to Gordy's little area as a beacon of inappropriateness in the wee hours of the night. And, let's face it, I drool more than Gordy over what most of Walteria has to offer.



www.walterialiving.com
www.coolhunting.com

BARC HALLOWEEN FEST

If you live in the New York/Brooklyn area, head over to BARC this Sunday (October 14th) for their annual Halloween Parade! This year's theme is "SUPER PUP & HIS FRIENDS" and there will be prizes for the best super hero costumes ($500 for first place, $200 for second! Cha-ching!)

The parade kicks off at the BARC Shelter (Wythe and N. 1st) at noon and will proceed down Bedford Avenue. Costumes for both pets and humans are encouraged. This will all lead up to a dog show at 1pm in McCarren Park and will feature adoptable dogs along with "food, music, and friendship". No registration is required and all proceeds benefit the BARC Shelter.

For more information, visit the BARC website.

Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC)
253 Wythe Avenue at North 1st Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.barcshelter.org

i heart tripods

Thank you, Denise for sending us this link to Sonia's blog where she sells adorable "TRIPOD GEAR" for a cause. Sonia began selling these tees and totes in order to raise money for her own tripod Lulu's once overwhelming medical costs. Since then, she's reached her goal and continues raising money for others in need. We hold this cause especially dear as we were once the proud owners of a tripod kitty named Olivia, god rest her soul, and we know how expensive things can get AND the lack of hesitation one feels when it comes to saving a dear pet's life. Basically, we can't say enough good things about this! Keep up the good work, Sonia!



Tripod Charity Gear
$25 and up

(photo from tripod charity gear)

GORDY UPDATE: the gordy you know and love...

Dear readers, we have missed you. Things have been very busy in our lives as of late. There has been a return to office life which results in both Gordy's loneliness during the days (sigh) and an unfortunate lack of time to tediously document all facets of his life. Please bear with us as we try to play a little catch up this week.

But Gordy is doing great, thanks for asking! Needless to say, much has happened in the interim. Most notably, his entrance into manhood. Much to the horror of my once innocent perception of my young pup. It began as a suspicious, shall we say, "thrust movement" when Gordy was visiting Daphne somewhat recently. The state of affairs these days is more along the lines of me locking him behind closed doors in total denial of the spawning he's capable of. But in actuality both time constraints and brief spurts of slight illness have kept us away from the free for all that could ensue. Therefore, it wasn't until Gordy's return to Puppy Kindergarten that I witnessed the extent of young Gordon's pervy ways. Believe me when I tell you that once the feeling strikes him, he is unstoppable. This is quite a sight considering he usually prefers dogs at least double his weight and aims usually for their necks or sides. We're trying to discourage the behavior to spare him some shame.

More updates/reviews coming soon. Thanks to all those who have sent in suggestions!

canine taboos

The topic of foods that can be toxic to dogs has been circulating quite a bit recently. A friend of mine recently forwarded this article to me about a five year old lab mix who died within hours of eating half a canister of raisins. I had actually heard about raisins being really toxic but was truly surprised to hear how quickly such a small amount of raisins in ratio to such a large dog could be so fatal.

Via theBark I came across this story by National Geographic summing up "Canine Taboos". Yeast?! I had no idea! It's definitely worth having a look....


www.nationalgeographic.com

(photo from national geographic )

GORDY UPDATE: a rude awakening

There comes a time in a young man's life when he must face the fact he is a terrible walker, a begger, and an overly dominant punk. For Gordy, this realization has occurred over the course of the last month. And the solution? BACK TO KINDERGARTEN.

Above, witness his miserable tethered approach, an endless work in progress. Below, what would PKII be without a mass of drooling, grunting bulldogs wrestling throughout the perimeter?






That's right, THREE bulldogs: Gordy plus another (massive) french named Sedgewick plus a charming English lass named Beckett. A dream come true, basically.

Meanwhile, Gordy has already (albeit slowly but surely) shown improvements in the walking/waiting/eating/not jumping arenas. When he's in the mood, of course.

(See Empire of the Dog's site for upcoming class schedules. )

October deals at Bark Slope!

For the entire month of October, Bark Slope is offering major discounts to the tune of 75% off! Super cute dog beds, dog coats, dog accessories all for the taking. Quantities are limited so hurry!

www.barkslope.com