I started putting paws across the keyboard after I had life-saving back surgery and had to sit-stay to recover. That's when I came to create wine country dog ezine™ — an independent pet-ezine.
I'm mostly recovered now, but don't walk as well as I used to. My veterinary surgeon said that I might have some problems now and then.
It's a good thing I can paw my computer and travel virtually when my legs are tired.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I'm Jack, the Corgi known as pawlitico.™
I hope you'll find my paw-writing informative and even entertaining.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our thanks to our editor, DJ dog-ma, for copyediting, photography, and web dev.
The thought "howl strange and dangerous are fireworks!" keeps swimmin' round my doghead.
Never met a dog or any other four-footed who likes fireworks. Never asked other furriends, but I 'spoze birds and bees and bugs and others dislike noisy explosions too.
Yet all the nation's a stage fur fireworks on a July 4th evening. Howl, what are fireworks: the humans' tribute to freedom, or a cathartic release of pent-up human anger? Imagine if other species lit colored fires and made explosions. Humans would think we're out of touch with Nature, to woof the least.
Consider the iconic pic below.
The little Yorkshire Terrier is being made to ride in a wee wagon, towed behind a huge human on a terrifyingly large tractor. Howl small and vulnerable this dog is! Not just physically small — also small in terms of what's impawtant to many American humans on July 4th....
Just think 'bout howl this Yorkie dog must feel! Could humans make sure all dogs — and cats! — are somewhere safe on the big noisy holiday?
Pawleeze, American humans everywhere, look out fur animals' needs come the next 4th of July. It'd be wonderful if the emergency veterinary clinics and animal shelters didn't fill up every year after the fireworks explosions.
In 2002, Japanese toy company Takara sold their first Bowlingual Voice™ device fur computer-based dog-to-human language translation.
We doggiggled. Cute idea, but what human would buy it?
Fast forward to last week, when twitter pal @hollygomadly sent us the link to the Youtube below, which shows Japanese dogs sendin' Bowlingual messages to their humans.
"Onaka ga sukimashita!"
Nothin' new 'bout that. Ha howl!
That demo of Bowlingual Voice is one of the funniest things we dogs have ever seen. I'm sure that Meowlingual is just as funny.
The Bowlingual device is called a "translator," but it's really an emotion analyzer. It categorizes dog barks into one of six standardized emotional categories and then provides a phrase to represent that emotion.
Bowlingual and Meowlingual are "for entertainment purposes only." Of course our dog and cat communications cannot be translated easily into words, if at all. Howlever, barks and meows can be intuitively translated by discerning humans.
Now, what's needed in the dog world is a device fur humans to wear that analyzes their thoughts and emotions, and then translates them into something that makes some doggone sense consistently.
Suki desu ka?
Paw-note to dog-ma: Jack, Meezer, and I wish you a happy B.D.
I hurried through the vineyard to the Paws for Love event at Foppiano winery on June 6th. The event, called "Painting Paws and Petite Sirah," was a fundraiser benefit for animals in Sonoma County, the North Bay, and beyond.
Below you see the Paws for Love "Vineyard Barrel Dash", a unique canine agility course that was created from wine barrels especially for this fun fundraiser.
We sat-stayed and watched clever dogs go 'round the agility course. I didn't doo the course 'cuz of my back pawblem. And Jack Corgi didn't doo it 'cuz he's shy. But we compawletely enjoyed watching and meeting all the dogs on the sidelines.
What a beautiful setting fur a get-together! This is one of California's oldest family-owned wineries, founded in 1896. Foppiano is well known fur its old vine Russian River Valley Estate Petite Sirah.
In the background you see some of Foppiano winery's beautiful old vineyards. In the distance, you see fluffy clouds hangin' over hills to the northeast, beyond Healdsburg.
Doo you notice, below, that wine barrel hoops were hung fur dogs to jump through? Such a pawfect activity fur a wine country event.
Below we see handsome Java Schnoodle, winner of the agility event, with his human, Heather, and her mom, Audrey. Sitting and talking to Java and family is none other than pioneer California winemaker Louis J. Foppiano!
Truly, Lou Foppiano is a living resource of wine industry history. Howlever, my favorite story is about Lou Foppiano the great dog lover: It's said that he always had Chihuahuas around him while he was working, and that the dogs would crawl up his arm and sit on his shoulders. Howl I love that!
I overheard humans at the event say they enjoyed tastin' the Foppiano wines. (Appawently the Cabernet was especially well received and tasted more than once by the same folks.)
After the agility event, Paws' founder, Ms. Ellyn Boone, did painting with dogs on the winery's front lawn. Well, not directly on the lawn — that'd be silly. The dogs made their paintings on paper, so that their humans could frame their works of art.
Howl can I adequately convey to you what a great time was had by all? I'm not just woofin' this to be nice. I've never been on a more enjoyable, dog-mellow outing. And fur such a great cause!
The Paws for Love Foundation provides resources and funding to shelters, rescue groups, and individuals who impawrove the health, welfare, and adoptability of unwanted and abused animals.
High paw fur Ms. Boone!
Paw-note: Congrats, Java! I hope I see you at the next Paws agility event.
Look at our furriend Emma Corgi herding! She knows how to communicate to give each individual sheep safe directions. It's in her body language and her special Corgi communication ability.
Herding and droving is what we Welsh Corgis do well and have always done well. Like other working dogs who herd, and like cutting horses, we see the world in terms of keeping individual animals and flocks organized and safe.
Emma is a happy Corgi. She gets to do what she loves.
We Corgis are not lap dogs. We are not toy dogs. Not a play thing or a puppet or a toy.
We don't want to be kept in little crates in apartments and brought out just for show and cuddles.
As Emma paw-elegantly stated, "Working/herding/water dog breeds are great, just as long as they can live the lifestyle they were bred for (by humans). Otherwise, they are frustrated, develop behavioral problems, and end up in shelters being destroyed."
There's been so much controversy lately over dog breeding. I feel that I must bark about maintaining the strength and vitality and health of traditional breeds, especially working and herding breeds.
My Corgi feelings are hurt that humans mix up overbreeding with breeding, as if it's bad or elitist to be a working dog.
We want us dogs to be healthy and happy. What we don't want is to reduce the dog population at the expense of breed integrity.
Pawleeze reduce dog overpopulation: Reduce breeding as a source of human income!
And pawleeze help humans understand us better. If they did, very few of us would end up abandoned in shelters!
Paw-note: You can rescue a wonderful Pembroke or Cardigan Welsh Corgi through CorgiAid and Golden Gate PWCF and other organizations.
