The documentary And Man Created Dog from National Geographic covers the history of dogs as man’s companion, focusing on the strengths of some common, and uncommon, dog breeds. How wonderful to see the image of three Great Pyrenees dogs surveying their flock of goats on a green pasture. The farmer interviewed mentions how he has had no predation of his goats since using his dogs.

The documentary has moving moments of dogs helping humans, and humans helping dogs. It includes our responsibility towards our loyal friends - mentioning consequences of breeding  and some tools to prevent genetic diseases, and the plight of homeless dogs. One thing is for sure, we love our dogs, and our dogs love us!

Fun facts from the show:

The Saluki is one of the fastest dogs. Unlike most dogs, all four feet are off of the ground twice during each stride, allowing him to run faster and further. As a sight hound, the inside of their eyes has a special band that allows them to see movement better than most dogs.

Retrieving dogs, like the Golden, Labrador, and Standard Poodle, have soft mouths so they don’t damage retrieved birds.

Mixed breeds are now being used for sled dogs and often win the Iditarod.

“A good herding dog has the right balance of boldness, excitability, and a desire to herd” – the reason dogs need jobs like dog agility!

Italy’s Coast Guard gets help with water rescue from a team of highly trained dogs – and their owners!

Thanks to dogs, damage to Air Force aircraft in Israel has been reduced from $10.5 million to $8.

Dogs can move one nostril at a time and devote 40 times more brainpower to scent than we do. Scent discrimination is used in Competition Obedience.

Puppies are deaf until they are about two weeks old. If your adult is deaf, you can still teach and train your deaf dog.

Dogs are one of the few animals willing to look us in the eye and understand where we point. Read more about this phenomenon in my review of “The Secrets Inside Your Dog’s Mind” from Time magazine.

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One of the most common complaints of dog owner’s is that taking a walk is no fun because their dog pulls the entire time.  Teach your dog to heel with the Online Dog Coach heel on the left video lesson.  This is a great lesson for everyone in the family to watch and learn.   With daily practice and consistency, your dog will be heeling in no time and you will be once again enjoying your evening walks with the family.   If you aspire to compete in obedience, free style dance, rally obedience, or agility, this is a fundamental skill that will go the distance as you learn your new sport.

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Summer is here – we all want to get out there and play!  When packing up the family for a summer road trip or even just to buzz around town remember that summer temperatures can result in dangerous conditions within vehicles.   For example, your vehicle temperature could be well over 100F even with an outdoor temperature as low as 82F.

There is a super cool website called mydogiscool.com that has great tips on keeping your dog happy, healthy and cool during the summer months.  It has a weather reporter that tells you based on your zip code whether it is safe to keep your dog in the car.   The website also has temperature comparisons for a car with closed windows, 2 windows cracked and 4 windows cracked.   While cracking a window or two helps to keep the temperature down somewhat, you might be surprised at how hot the car will remain.

Be an advocate for dogs… remember that we are all human and that we may not realize how dangerous it can be to leave a dog in a hot car.  So, if you see a fellow pet owner leaving their car with fido still inside on a hot day, you will want to gently remind them of the danger.  I must admit that early in this summer season I walked away from the car, with my dog still inside, for a quick errand not thinking to crack the windows.   A nice gentleman saw me enter the store and asked if I would go back and crack the windows.    I was a little embarrassed, as I should know better, but very grateful for the reminder.

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This weekend Diane, Steve, Judy, Dave and Donna along with Yazzie, Ryder, Hunter, and Eli hosted a dog agility demonstration at the 3rd Annual Intermountain Humane SocietyDog Walk at the historic Meyer Ranch in Conifer, Colorado.  We had a blast sharing the sport of dog agility with fellow dog lovers.    Needless to say the dogs were a little tired from a day of demoing so this evening we took it easy practicing start line stays while the sun started to set in the Colorado mountains.  Update from the injured reserve list … Rankine gets his stitches out tomorrow and will be as good as new!

Speaking of Colorado our dinner theme tonight was Colorado grub.  Our menu included buffalo corn bread casserole, anasazi bean and squash harvest medley, western BBQ chicken, quinoa poppy seed muffins, and Donna’s famous peach cobbler.   The dishes were all delicious, but the award for best new recipe goes to Aaron for the buffalo corn bread casserole.  On a personal note, Aaron is quite the chef preparing dinner at our house almost every night.

Western BBQ Chicken – This recipe is a Judy creation from the Western BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe from Colorado Collage and the Norelco Microwave Ove Cookbook.

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic.  Let marinate in the fridge several hours.  Mix together remaining ingredients except the onions and green peppers to make the BBQ sauce.  Place chicken in microwave dish layering & coating with liquid BBQ sauce.   Place onion and green pepper on top.  Cover and cook in microwave on high 20 minutes stopping halfway to turn over the chicken.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

• 3-4 Chicken breast cut in to serving size pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup catsup
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Anasazi Bean and Squash Harvest Medley – This recipe is from American Food – A Celebration Collins Publishers 1993.

• 1/4 cup dried Anasazi or pinto beans
• 1 piece Hubbard squash (about 1 1/4 lb)
• 1 cup long-grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6 green onions, chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Quick-soak the Anasazi beans by placing them in 1 cup water in a saucepan and slowly bringing to a boil.  Boil for 4 minutes.  Turn off the heat, cover and let stand for about 2 hours.  Drain.  Place beans in water to cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are tender but still firm. Drain.

Either microwave the squash for 6 to 7 minutes, until soft when pierced with a fork, or cut into several pieces and steam fro 15 to 20 minutes until soft.  Remove rind. Dice squash.

In a saucepan, bring rice and 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Mix together the vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper to make the dressing.  Toss beans, squash, rice, and green onions with dressing to coat. 

 

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This evening the Aussies (Hunter, Ryder, and Yazzie) enjoyed running a jumpers course from the FRAT agility trial a few weeks ago.  Before dinner we decorated the agility field pavilion with Judy’s handmade paw print tiles and one kid print tile.  Mr. Rankine is on injured reserve due to a paw injury from metal landscape edging. As a reminder be sure to inspect your yards for sharp objects.

Tonight’s dinner theme was California Hippie. The more life seasoned dog coach trainers shared their 60’s memorabilia including hippie jeans; a tee-shirt signed by Crosby, Stills and Nash; and lots of photos capturing the era.

Our menu included:

• Tortellini Salad with fresh carrots, celery, olives, yellow peppers, and a vinaigrette dressing
• Quinoa Black Bean Salad (recipe below)
• Sliders with a variety of toppings including BBQ, coleslaw, blue cheese, bacon, onions, lettuce, and tomato.
• Avacado, mango, chicken skewers (recipe below)
• Ambrosia salad
• Fresh baked rolls from Donna’s bakery – our favorite

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