We Like: The Viewtainer

Do you have a toy motivated dog? Consider yourself lucky.

None of our dogs are what I would call toy motivated, although occasionally I can convince Brego to run for a squeaky ball or rabbit skin. However, for us the excitement of a toy wears off very quickly. Luckily there are several toys and throwable treat containers available. Our favorite is a Viewtainer. Viewtainers are spill-proof containers made to hold nails, screws, nuts, and other bits and pieces of construction hardware. Little did they know that agility people would get hold of their product! Super simple design makes the Viewtainer super simple to use—both ends come off which makes cleaning a snap. One end has a slit that you squeeze to open it and dispense treats. We started out by filling the Viewtainer with treats and letting the dog (Tucker is the only one who uses it) sniff it and get excited about it. Then after getting his excitement up, Emma would roll it a short distance and praise Tucker for chasing it. Little by little we worked with him until he started to pick up the Viewtainer. Once he started retrieving it reliably, it was ready to use for agility training! It is especially handy for getting his speed up on obstacles like tunnels and the weave poles.

--Olivia

Wutt's in that Mutt? : Tucker

Tucker has no idea what's about to happen.

 

For Christmas I had asked for a DNA breed test for Tucker.  However, since we had never used Tod's Canine Heritage XL Breed Test, I got the go-ahead to use it on Tucker.  At the beginning of January, we took Tucker out back and shoved the swab in his mouth as per the instructions.  The instructions also said to wait for at least half and hour to avoid getting food debris on the swab, but it did not say what to do if you've waited for two hours and the swab comes out with a leaf stuck to it. Anyway, I swirled the little plastic bristles around in his mouth for about thirty seconds and I'm pretty sure Tucker thought he was dying.  After the flailing and swabbing was over, Olivia and I ran inside and put the swab and test submission form into an envelope and headed out to mail off Tucker's test. 

So, here are Tucker's stats, let's see what you think he is:

• Color: Black with white patch on chest and white toes
• Coat: Rough and shiny, medium length, dense-ish, double coated, sheds more than any dog I've ever seen, even sheds more than Daisy (our Lab)
• Weight: 25 lbs.
• Height at shoulders: 20 in.
• Eyes: Brown
• Ears: Prick, left one "broken"
• Other: face and build are delicate, bushy-looking tail, completely pink tongue and gums
• Personality: laid back, will work if he has to, or if there's a chance Brego might get the treat instead
• Energy Level: Moderate, he loves to get up and play, tug and zoomies are his favorite, but remains clam indoors and sleeps a lot
• Intelligence Level: Quick learner if you can get him invested in whatever you're trying to teach him, very short attention span
• Other: Can be mouthy if he doesn't like what you're doing, i.e. holding his tail (but, only to people who aren't me), resource guards his food dish and bones from dogs he doesn't live with. LOVES to bark, barks all the time, sometimes just for the sake of barking, does not know how to howl

At Town Lake Animal Center, his kennel card said Border Collie mix.  After getting to know Tucker, I'm not sure any of us agree that he could be a BCx. Our best guesses so far are: Sheltie, Labrador, and maybe Schipperke. 

So, what do you think is in Tucker?

-- Emma

Meet Hank

My aunt got a new dog from the animal shelter during a "Name your Price" event (minimum price $25).  Unfortunately, after having the dog for about a month she decided that her two-year-old daughter "was not good with" the dog because he nips at things he doesn't like.

So meet Hank:  the newest member of the pack.

I speculate that Hank is a Miniture Pinscher/Italian Greyhound mix.  He is about 15.5 inches tall and  weighs 13 pounds.  The vet thinks he is about two years old. 

He nips at things that he thinks are scary or weird.  He spends most of his time up on his hind legs.  He barks and makes high pitched noises when he's excited.  He resource guards bones (only bones--nothing else).  He doesn't seem to know any basic obedience.  And he has the attention span of a gnat.

So, meet Hank.  He needs a lot of work.

--Olivia