Before their eyes and ears open, dogs can smell. It’s how they first get to experience the world: through their nose.  This sense, which is so much more developed than our own sense of smell (1000 times more sensitive!), allows them to catch up on the “neighbourhood gossip” when they’re on their walk.  It also allows them to find the lost, whether it be your old sock or your best friend buried in an avalanche. 

Matt and I had an embarrassing moment last Christmas in an airport in Chile, when a trained dog found an apple my mom had lovingly packed in our carry-on luggage.

But back to sniffing rear ends… It is a polite form of greeting in a dog’s world. It’s always entertaining when a new puppy arrives in the class. Without fail, the other dogs come and check out the “new guy” by sniffing his derriere. A polite dog will even lift its leg to let the others get a better sniff. A lot of questions are answered… who are you, where have you been…

If I don’t take Everest to class with me, I get a good “sniffing” when I come home (of my pant leg, just to be clear). Sniff sniff “oh! You saw Shelby! ( sniff ) and Kirby! and (sniff some more) wow, Tuscan was there too?”. 

Want to learn more on the dog’s sense of smell? Check out these links:

http://www.nhm.org/exhibitions/dogs/formfunction/smell.html

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0066/UNP-0066.pdf

International Greyhound Planet Day www.gsncr.ca

Saturday November 1st, from 10am – 4pm at Christ Church Cathedral Hall ( 420 Sparks Street – between Bronson and Lyon) from 10:00am to 4:00pm.  Free parking is available on the east side of the building. 

Hemingway and I will be checking out this event in the morning.

I’m particularly interested in buying raffle tickets -$20 for a dog’s length of tickets (tip of nose to tip of tail)! I’m willing to lend out Hemi to ticket buyers, for a small fee

I’m keen on checking out the vendors, and almost wish I had thought to get my own booth! Darn! 

At 11am, we’ll check out the Canine Contest.  We’ll stop in to the Paw Salon, to get Hemi’s nails clipped, but will skip on the polish… it may be cute on a little Frou Frou dog, but on Big Ole Hemi it would just look ridiculous.  LOL.

A portion of the funds raised at this event will go to Hopeful Hearts.  Come and check it out if you have the time. You can bring your dog (on leash), and support some great causes while you’re at it. And if you see Hemingway, come and say Hi!

Sunday October 26th, Ottawa Dog Blog joined forces with Bark & Fritz to host an online Hallowe’en contest.  All funds collected went to Hopeful Hearts Rescue.

Matt and I got costumes and entered Everest and Hemi!

Here is our goofy boy, Blood thirsty  Count Everest  haa-haa-haaappily showing off his teeth. 

Here he is with his “brother” Hemi.

Vote online for your favourite Dog in Disguise! (Hint Hint… EVEREST!)

I just love teaching Puppy Kindergarten.  The dogs learn so quickly ! It’s rewarding to see them conquer their fears and become confident dogs.

This past Sunday, Matt brought Hemi to class, to help the puppies socialize with a Big Dog.  Here he is with his new buddy Blake.  Hemi had a great time and was gentle with with all the puppies.  It was cute to see him with Huney, the little Chihuahua (too bad I didn’t get a picture).

Thank you to Robert for taking and sending this one along!

Meet Hemingway (Hemi)!  He is a rescue from the recent Puppy Mill bust near Montreal.  Roz, founder of Hopeful Hearts rescue, went all the way to Montreal to pick this guy up (among many others).  Roz knows that I am in LOVE with Great Danes, and Matt and I were the lucky new foster parents of this gorgeous beast.

He arrived very late Tuesday September 30th.  After noticing how terribly skinny he was, the next thing that struck me was his smell.  Boy did he ever stink! We gave him a bath pronto, but it certainly didn’t fix the problem. Thank goodness for Creature Comfort!  Jacki and her team gave him a thorough cleaning, tea tree oil treatment for his lesions and abrasions, much needed nail clipping and of course a lot of TLC, as well as a few treats.  He was spoiled. Jacki also helped find him a new name: Hemingway.

Hemi weighed about 75lbs one week after being rescued. The poor guy was skin and bones.  Here are the first pictures I took of Hemlock.  Heartbreaking.

He is now well on his way to 100lbs!  I’m looking forward to his next weigh-in!

His lesions are all healed, he has started smiling and initiating play… he is out of “survival mode”.

Oh, and he is no longer a foster.  We have decided to adopt him!