Marie Finnegan

There is a new movie coming out soon with Richard Gere that is a remake of the story of Hachi Ko. For those that are unfamiliar, Hachi-Ko was an akita in Japan that faithfully went to the train station every morning to see his master off, and every afternoon was there to meet the train when he came home. Unfortunantly his master passed away while at work one day and never came home again. For the next 10 years Hachi Ko went to the station looking for his master until he passed away there himself. They have even erected a statue at the station to memorialize his faithfulness. The photo I have included is of the dog star in the movie, an akita named Forrest, giving pawprint autographs to raise money for akita rescue at an event.

The other night for supper my husband cooked us some french toast and bacon. (MMmm it was good.) We noticed part way through his cooking that Jenny, our pug, was acting weird. Her tail was down and she was in the hallway sitting, looking towards the stove. She would not be called back into the living room area that is next to the kitchen. Then we remembered, she always acts scared when we cook bacon on the stove. Since we don't cook it that frequently it isn't something we automaticly think of as a trigger for her. She doesn't seem to have the same reaction to the kind we microwave, just when it's cooked on the stovetop. I'm thinking it is about the sound possibly coupled with the smell. She sure has no problem eating some of it if offered. (she is a huge chow hound, a typical pug trait)

The other day I was with a client with two 4 month old golden retriever puppies that needed some training attention. I was asking my routine questions of the owners when the puppies broke out in a play session. Suddenly one puppy was screaming while on top of the other. We rushed over and saw the top puppy had gotten his bottom jaw caught in the other dogs collar. Fortunatly we seperated them without incident and no one had any serious injuries. Had we not been there however it could have had a much different outcome.

We in the dog world have all heard the stories warning of this common danger yet few of us have actually witnessed it. I can assure you however, once you do it will change the way you look at those collars.

I seem to be getting more "seasoned" clients these days. There is no age limit on the love for dogs. My current veteran client is 92 years young. She has a lovely Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that she wants to be able to walk without him pulling. I admit that when I got her call I did an inner cringe at her age. However upon meeting her and the dog we had a wonderful session. She had everything in place to make life with her dog as easy and comfortable as possible for both of them. A large fenced in yard, family nearby to help when needed, crate training established, a lovely well tempered dog from a reputable breeder, and a willingness to try new things. She had owned many dogs through the years as well so it wasn't her first rodeo.