Blind Collie Has a Guide Dog

This is a fantastic story from BBC News. For the full story, click here.

Lombardi Street Visits Villalobos Rescue Center

My dear friend Kevin Jackson is writing and directing a web series called Lombardi Street. As a part of the show's promotion, he and Shaun Gerardo visited Villalobos Rescue Center. Villalobos is a Pit Bull sanctuary and many of the Michael Vick dogs ended up here.

Brandon Bond directed a documentary about many of these dogs called "Vicktory To The Underdog" and all profits go to Villalobos. If you'd like to buy the documentary go here. I think I am going to get myself a copy, unless there's going to be an NYC screening soon (hint, hint, Kevin).

Check out KJ's video aabout Lombardi Street, Brandon Bond & Villalobos.


Find more videos like this on Lombardi Street

Sunset Park Seminars

Yesterday was perfect weather for our weekly Sunset Park training seminars.

I'd like to especially congratulate Alice because all of her hard work is clearly paying off. After an unfortunate bounce, Boots's tennis ball sailed out of the park and into the street. It was a tense situation as Boots ran after the ball, but Alice was able to call Boots off of the retrieve and back to safety! Way to go Alice & Boots!

If you'd like to have that kind of reliability on your dog's recall, join us in Sunset Park during morning off leash hours. Shoot me an e-mail me to info@doggieacademy.com and I'll fill you in on the details.

Why Would I Want My Dog To Talk?

There are so many things that are wrong about this:

Now, a device that ''translates a dog's barks into words''

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London: Your dog will soon start talking to you, all thanks to Japanese inventors who have come up with a device that can detect a dog's emotion from its bark and translate it into human words.

The talking gadget called Bowlingual Voice is developed by Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy.

It detects six emotions in total- including sadness, joy and frustration – with a recorded repertoire of spoken phrases such as "play with me".

The revolutionary gadget comprises of a microphone placed around the dog's neck and a hand-held unit-operating device for pet owners to carry.

When the dog barks, the microphone records the sound and transmits the data to the owner's hand-held device, which then "translates" it into what the dog is apparently suggesting.

A speech synthesizer audibly makes the owner aware of the dog's intentions, which also appears on the screen of the wireless hand-held unit.

An answering machine function can also record the dog's expressions of desire when owners are absent.

The technologically modified version of a basic model introduced seven years ago will be available for 129 pounds in Japan from next month.

The original Bowlingual translated emotions onto a screen without sound.

Sunset Park Seminars

Recently I was contacted by a group of dog owners in Sunset Park to do a series of group lessons based on the dogs' behavior in the park. At the top of their list of concerns was working on recalls since the dogs would not come when called once the leash came off.

Of course, being in the park is very distracting for all dogs so we have our work cut out for us, but the seminars have been a lot of fun and the dogs and owners in attendance are terrific. A special shout out goes to Su Su this week for being such a super star when it comes to eye contact!

We meet in Sunset Park one a week during morning off-leash hours. If you would like to join us, e-mail me directly and I will invite you to our Yahoo Group.

Movie Dogs

Vinny sent me a link to a post aboutBest Movie Dogs From 90s and the list includes an awful lot of dogs from movies I've never seen. Air Bud, Ritchie Rich, A Goofy Movie? It took me a bit to realize that I wasn't a kid in the 90's and therefore would not have cared to see Ernest:Scared Stupid.

So, I googled "Best Movie Dogs From 80's and found this: Hot Dogs of the '80s. Not all of the dogs are from films, but they are mostly dogs that I do remember fondly. Here are my favorite selections from the list.

10. HOSE HEAD: The beer-gulping dog is owned by Bob and Doug McKenzie in 1983's Strange Brew. Later he dons a cape and saves Octoberfest.

Who could forget a dog named Hose Head?

9. UBU: Technically, his full name is Ubu Roi, and he was the mascot for UBU Productions, which produced classics like Family Ties in the '80s.

Sit Ubu, Sit. Good dog.

8. WONDER MUTT: Mark Harmon's best friend in 1987's Summer School isn't happy until he finds "Bob" at the end of the flick.

By far, one of the coolest dogs ever.

4. HOOCH: Tom Hanks' canine counterpart in 1989's Turner & Hooch was ugly and slobbery. Alas, he didn't make it 'til the credits rolled.

I think I cried at the end of the movie.

2. EINSTEIN: Doc Brown's hairy pooch in Back to the Future becomes the world's first DeLorean/time-traveling pooch.

How Spuds Macenzie beat out Einstein for the No. 1 slot, I don't know. I guess becuase he had all the babes and all Einstein did was travel through time.

Who's your favorite famous dog?

Hank vs. Vacation Update 2

Before we left Mystic for the weekend, we did want to try to give Hank the opportunity to play in the water. If you live in an urban area, you probably know that it's tough to find a place to let a dog swim. A waitress at the Somewhere in Time Cafe (if you go, have the Topper egg sandwich... so good!) turned us on to a boat launch where, though not specifically allowed, it was not illegal to bring your dog to swim.

Hank had a great time splashing and running around, but it took a couple of local kids to get him to actually do the doggie paddle. The girl went out into the water, just beyond where Hank could stand and just calmly stared at him, blew bubbles in the water and bobbed up and down. Eventually he realized he just HAD to get to her and figured out he could swim.

Then, we gave her little brother a tennis ball and he threw it in the water so that Hank had to swim to get it. Thanks for the help, guys!


After all of that, he actually slept almost the whole way home in the car. He curled up into the smallest ball you've ever seen a 75 lb dog curl into.

Hank vs. Vacation Update

We made it through virtually unscathed! Hank required more attention than I am used to when traveling with a dog... I guess he is just high maintenance. However, he was not the most naughty dog in the hotel this weekend. That honor goes to the pooch that barked incessantly all night and day. It didn't bother me, though, I was just glad it wasn't my dog that people complained about.

Hank did bark occasionally when we left the room, but I'm told by housekeeping that he settled quickly. Ah, the power of a stuffed Kong! We did get creative about keeping him busy and one night even set up a little agility course in the room. He had to jump over or crawl under tables while Vinny and I played keep-away with his Cuz ball.

Vinny took it upon himself to exercise Hank the most, and this is what he came up with:




If you have any question as to whether or not Hank enjoyed skating with Vinny, take a look at this photo I snapped.

Hank had more fun times this weekend that I will try to post about soon.

Fatal Leptospirosis Case in Williamsburg

As reported in AMNY, a 6 year old rat terrier named Parker died after contracting Leptospirosis, likely from McCarren Park in Williamsburg.

Please check out the AMNY article as well as the FIDO in Prospect Park fact sheet on the disease so that you know how to protect your dog.