I am Tilin, a Welsh corgi and wine country dog, aka @winecountrydog.
I started pawin the puter and dooin social media in 2008, after I had life-saving back surgery and had to sit-stay to recover. That is when I came to create wine country dog ezine™ — an independent pet-ezine.
My ancient self does have a few health pawblems, but my ortho surgeon gave me a chance to walk again. Other good vets and Mum have helped too. Myself goin wobbly but strong toward 17th BD in November 2014.
Luv to paw-write and tweet, and travel to meet new furriends and nice humans. Some of them write about wine or craft beer or food and health. Wine country has got nommy fresh whole foods and farmers markets. And wine country means most effurrywhere in world these days eh.
You find that my furbro, Jackie Nippers Corgi, does sometimes join me on adventures and on twitter. Our beloved Ani Meezer rarely does.
All three of us were rescued from diffurrent circumstances. Furbro is a "breeder rescue." We doo encourage adoption of furriends from good animal rescue charities. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Howlo. I am Jackie Nippers Corgi (aka pawlitico™).
You may find me on walkies with furbro Tilin Corgi, and out at wine tastings and regional food adventures up and down Pacific coast. Sometimes on social media with furbro. We like to paw-write tasting notes for wine and food.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our thanks to Mum (aka winecountrydogma™) for editing, web dev, photography, pro fact-checking, and for grrreat homemade whole food meals. Mum is trained in D.A.R.T. and helps us paw out animal rescue info during disasters.
by @winecountrydog Jackie Nippers Corgi Wot did you doo on your summer vacay? ... Did you nom frozen desserts? On mywoofself's barkday, Staff (aka Mum) served Brambleberry Banana Split. Organic blackberry ice cream with organic banana slices and sprinkles of probiotics.
Our Ani Meezer loves blackberry ice cream too. Hermewself does not eat ta banana. Ourwoofselves are not only ones eating ice cream in July -- "National Ice Cream Month." Ta ice cream biz is over $10 billion a year in the States. Mostly industrial farm dairies, not humane dairy farms where cows are treated like special, honored furriends. Blackberries get high rating as antioxidant and have got other health-confurrin' properties as well. Smart wild furriends such as foxes, coyotes, deer, and birds love nomming ripe wild berry fruits in season. Humans like picking berries from wild bramble bushes or buying 'em at markets wot sell local organic berries. If your Staffs like to pick berries, tell 'em to avoid bushes by roadsides. Tis not good to eat berries wot have been sprayed with agrochemicals or berries wot have absorbed pollutants from motor vehicles on roadways. A bowl of homemade real blackberry ice cream is a wonderfur treat. Dependin' on howl much dairy food you are allowed to nom, you could enjoy ta blackberries in ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sherbet. Or if no dairy at all, have ta sorbet or fresh berry ice treat made in blender. Sometimes our Staff serves frozen dessert wot is homemade. Sometimes not. Staff likes wild blackberries on pre-made organic vanilla ice cream. On myself's barkday, Staff got organic blackberry ice cream. Howly berry! No icky synthetic stabilizers or preservatives!
Ta furry idea of ourwoofselves and Meezer eating dairy or sugar does upset some pet owners and vets. Not to worry, pawleeze. Our bodies doo fine with bit of organic dairy foods. Our weights are normal. Our digestive systems are strong 'cuz our daily homemade diet is fresh whole foods. Ourselves doo not have problems with ta allergies or ta insulin or lipid metabolism or hyperlipidemia. Ourwoofselves (not Meezer) doo eat fruits a few times a month -- more often in summertime -- with no ill effects from ta fruit sugars. Ourwoofselves and Meezer get food treats wot have refined cane sugar only a few times a year. You doo know occasional bowl of organic real ice cream with sugar is better 'n most pet snacks. There is nothing healthful 'bout "treats" like pet jerky or many of ta other packaged snacks. Furriends, you be better off eatin' tablespoon of organic ice cream! Our woofly ancestors 'ave been eating ice cream since ta first British ice cream recipe twere published by Mrs. Mary Eales in 1718. Tis fine for healthy, normal-weight dog or cat to have high-calorie, high-dairy-fat treat like organic ice cream once in ta while. Howlever, ourselves not suggesting ice cream for furriends who are overweight or insulin-troubled or who have got skin problems, candidiasis, or ta chronic unidentified digestive problem. Doo ask your Staffs to give you only homemade or organic brands wot contain no synthetic or artificial ingredients. Make double-doggone sure is ice cream sweetened with organic cane sugar, fruit, or honey. And ask Staffs to add some good probiotics such as ta Pet Dophilus. Ta caveats: ~ Doo not serve ice cream to pets with history of dairy intolerance. Non-dairy sorbet and fruit ices would be good alternatives. ... ~ Doo not confuse berry types: Raspberries, red and black, or even blueberries or strawberries would be OK substitutes. But elderberries are toxic to cats. ... ~ Doo not ever feed xylitol-sweetened frozen desserts to pets! Xylitol, an artificial sweetener common in many foods, is extremely toxic to dogs and cats.
Tis helpful for Staffs to talk to vets whose pet feeding experience includes diets that go "beyond can and kibble." Also, Staffs can learn a lot 'bout wot foods agree or doo not agree by observation: Watch a dog's or cat's behavior for a period of time after he eats diffurrent foods. Reactions to foods should not cause lethargy, hyperactiveness, urgency to doo the doo or to pee, and certainly not diarrhea.
- - - - - - - - - - Comments from Mum: Buying pre-made ice cream? Ice cream is a subject that involves much discussion about food politics and food technology. The ice cream learning curve, in terms of how it's made and the range of ingredients that can be used, is rather steep -- an icy, slippery slope, if you will.
When you've got to choose a commercial ice cream, stick with brands containing only the following ingredients:
Organic milk and cream;
Cage-free egg yolks as primary emulsifiers;
Organic cane sugar, honey, or real fruit sweeteners;
"Natural flavors" from extracts or essential oils of fruits, vegetables, or other plants;
"Naturally-derived" emulsifiers and stabilizers (citric acid, guar gum, gum from carob or locust beans, tapioca starch, pectin, soy lecithin, xanthan gum).
Some of the ice cream stabilizing and emulsifying ingredients are added in very small amounts. Does this make them all safe for people or pets? Maybe not. After reading about the emulsifier carrageenan in research cited by Dr. Weil, I decided to avoid ice creams and other foods that contain it.
Generally, the imported gums and other extracts are neither organic nor fair trade. When they're used in a certified USDA “Organic” food product, they cannot make up more than 5% of the total ingredients, and also they must appear as "Allowed" on the USDA-approved “National List" -- as substances that can't be sourced organically but are "needed" in food processing. I like making most of our frozen desserts from scratch. But I'd like to find a commercial ice cream with 100% organic, fair trade stabilizing ingredients. If you know of one, please let us know the brand!
by Tilin Corgi @winecountrydog Mid-July summer 2013 travels -- Hotter 'n a dog on a grrrrill. Just as worryin' for us dogs who gotta watch out for wildland fires ... 'specially in da Siskiyou mountains areas where we doo travel furrequently. Howlever, dogspite da high temps and wildfire worries, ourwoofselves + Ani Meezer dooin' wonderfur back-country vacay. Ourselves + Meezer luv road travel 'cuz Mum does stop along da way for fresh foods -- pastured humane meats and organic veggies and fruits from farmers markets. Meezer knows there is nothin' nommier for a carnivore than farm-to-bowl raw bisons and beefs.
'Ere you doo see mywoofself, right, chillin' with furbro in a roadside garden.
If yourself's chauffurr is thinkin' about driving up Highway 101 north all da way past Crescent City, California, then your chauffurr best stop in Illinois Valley ... 'cuz there be one arfully interestin' winery there. Mum sez "The viticulture of the Rogue Valley region is very interesting. They're producing better and better wines, especially the Viognier, Tempranillo, and Merlot." Soon after wine tastings, there was LOTTA LATTE LUV for chauffurr (aka Mum). BOL
Anywhere not be wine country these daze?? Da wine grapes are growin' effurrywhere. You be ridin' down some mountain valley road far outs in da countryside, and suddenly da ranches and farms turn into vineyards like this one on Humbug Creek.
Yourself likes lavender? Then you will like da annual So OR lavender festival. Mum did 'ave her nose workin' offurrtime smellin' many different cultivars of L. angustifolia and lavandin.
Ourselves rode out to Goodwin Creek Gardens -- a furry famous and knowledgeable lavender grower! Mum so happy to visit their gardens. Mum has done lotta researches and writing about da species and cultivars of Lavandula, and also da medicinal applications.
At Goodwin Creek, da lavenders are furragnant. And da family members of all generations are fun. They are savvy 'bout herbs, farm-fresh foods, craft beers, and so much more!
Yourself likes organic local veggies or meats for supper? Yourself likes craft beer on tap? Then yourself likes da little restos and cafes in da middle 'o nowhere wot got freshest local foods and regional microbrews! Mum enjoyed big dinner + microbrews. Ourwoofselves got wee sippies 'o Walkabout pale ale.
Some 'o da rural fresh-food + brew cafes got da live musics and local-tourney pool tables too. Not your granddogdaddy's dive bars. BOL ...
(Ourwoofselves doo keep some 'o these pawlaces on "the QT" ... meanin' that ourselves doo not woof 'bout ALL da pawlaces where ourselves hang out. Soundin' snobby? Howl no. Jus' like to travel indognito sometimes. BOL)
Wot a crazzzy fun long day. Hotter 'n howl. But ourwoofselves did lotta cool water-soaked bandanas and ... awww ... da coolin' paws in ice waters. End 'o day on da trail. Ride back to camp.
Paw-script: In high-risk wildfire areas in summertime, ourwoofselves doo always travel with emergency evacuation readiness supplies, includin' lotta water and alternate-route maps. Pawleeze, furriends, doo not count on internets or simple road exits in da fire-pawrone back country eh.
Here is my happy woofself ridin round in the WCDmobile on New Year's day. Furbro Jackie Nippers is sitting to my left. Himself is wearing his seatbelt harness too. Apawlogies fur leaving Jack out of picture. Seem our chauffeur could not shoot piccies behind er head while driving.
This is a rare piccie of myself dooing The Wave dance. Simpawly stand on hind legs, wiggle, and wave paws. Easy to keep oneself's balance when wearing seatbelt harness.
When not dooing The Wave or snoozing, myself does like to study the scenery and pawsersby. We were traveling through a small town in some rural pawlace. Myself will remember the interesting smells.
Furry best wishes for a grrreat New Year. May you ave lots of fun quality time with beloved furriends.
Back in his puppyhood, furbro Tilin repawts, he began visiting wineries in Sonoma and Napa, and on the Sonoma Coast and Mendocino County as well. Furbro turns 14 years old during harvest 2011, and is still an active traveler.
Nowadays, furbro is sometimes joined by mywoofself at tastings, where we doo make wine paw-notes while humans have wine sensory adventures.
Over the years, our regional wineries have become furry pawpular. Furbro observes that both the locals who love wine and the happy visitors now enjoy wine tastings all year round. Wine-loving locals, along with visitors from the greater SF Bay Area and around the world, spend many summer days involved in wine touring. Wineries are a grrreat "staycay" destination for locals. And the autumn harvest happenings are becoming wildly pawpular too.
The wine tasting rooms and wine roads have become busy places.
Inside the tasting rooms, furbro and myself, being rawther short in stature, sometimes feel lost amongst the humans, who can move about and wave unpredictably. Above our dogheads, we doo see towering wine bars and shelves full of wine bottles or winery gift shop items. Small items are quickly rearranged by dogs' tails and toddlers' errant hands. BOL! ... But this is not amusing to humans. And tis not amusing to ourwoofselves when things move suddenly toward us -- as when a wine glass or iphone crashes to the floor, or when an unattended human child reaches out a hand.
Ourwoofselves have learned an impawtant truth: We dogs and wine tasting rooms are not always a good pairing. ...
One might woof that "dog-friendly" wine tasting is not always so friendly. Socially, tasting can be a test for us dogs. And tis not always easy for humans, especially when they are trying to focus on serious wine tasting whilst we dogs (and errant youngsters) pull on them.
Add to the furst truth a second impawtant truth: When California wine country weather is hot -- which it can be any day from May through September -- we dogs cannot wait in cars in winery parking lots whilst humans have tastings. ... Dogs left inside motor vehicles on hot days suffer heat stroke and death from suffocation.
Winery visitors should not expect that there will be shady parking spots: Shade will not keep a car interior cool enough. Doo not think that leaving car windows open a few inches is sufficient: It does not keep dogs cool enough on a hot day. ... The ONLY way to get adequate ventilation is through fully open windows. And on the hottest days, not even fully open windows are adequate for us dogs. Still, in any case, humans cannot leave windows open all the way, as cars must be locked up securely.
Tho it does pain us dogs to be left out, we think furhaps winetasting itineraries should be based on seeking quality wines rather than dog-friendly wineries. Twould be a shame not to focus on finding the best wines -- unless humans simply want to enjoy a casual tour or family vacation.
We have heard it through the concierge grapevine that a number of dogs brought to wine country get left alone in rooms of hotels and inns. This abandonment happens more often in hot weather, when visitors learn it is too hot to take dogs out and leave them in parked cars while wine tasting. ...
Howl. Is this abandonment to be blamed on wineries not being universally uber-dog-friendly? Au contraire! It is the dog guardian's respawnsibility to prepare a dog-friendly itinerary and to always think carefully about a best furriend's well-being.
One would tell humans who want to leave dog furriends in strange lodgings instead to leave them at home or with a sitter! Not only is it unkind to leave a dog alone in a hotel room for hours, but also it is an abuse of lodging policies. What happens to the dog who is discovered?
Dog furriends, tis so much simpler for your humans to call wineries and lodgings before visiting and ask staff about the dog policy and dog care.
Visitors must respect the fact that not all lodging and winery owners, nor all winemakers and tasting room folk, are comfurtable with having dogs around the property. Still, pawleeze know that you will find so furry many winery folk who are happy to see us dogs. A lot of wonderfur wineries promote dog-friendliness and pawsitively adore all wine woofers.
One digression ere: Tis not an OK dog policy -- nor is it good public relations -- for a winery (or a hotel or inn) to welcome dogs under 50 pounds while prohibiting larger dogs. We know of a winery in the Russian River Valley (not one of our regular places) with this unfair dog policy. It means that we corgis -- who are not "small" dogs -- can go inside, but none of our big furriends can join us.
While tis any business owner's prerogative whether or not to run a dog-friendly place, we doo believe being "dog-friendly" means that every polite, clean dog is welcome, regardless of size or breed.
How to make dogs and wine tasting a successful pairing:
Dog furriends, tell your humans to
Get wine maps and then call around to tasting rooms to verify dog-friendly policies. Ask for hours on intended visiting dates.
Ask winery folks for recommendations of nice local lodgings and restaurants. Never rely solely on maps and apps for traveling.
Ask winery folks and the lodging concierge for recommendations of doggie daycare places and in-room dog sitters.
Always leave dogs at home on triple-digit temperature days. Doo not think about traveling with ill or elderly dogs on the hottest days.
Never leave your dog alone in a hotel/inn room, or alone in the car for hours. Take turns being the dog's attendant, or hire a dog sitter.
Teach your dog to be a good winery visitor. Offer Fideau the course in Canine Wine Sensory Evaluation or Pawmelier accreditation.
Whenever we can visit grrreat wineries in our region or beyond, we are happy. And whenever we can help our wine country visitors, human or canine, have a grrreat time, we are happy too.
Paw-script: Doo ave a look at this Wine Road listing of wineries round our home dogturf.
The human in the video below is New Yorker Karen Biehl. She is a dog lover who feels that she and her Chihuahua furriend, Eli, are "like soul mates" and that they "have a purpose together."
Call the sense of purpose far-fetched if you want. But we doo see nothin wrong with Karen's devotion to her rescued dog furriend.
If you watch telly, furhaps you can meet Eli and Karen and the other "Doggie Moms," on their reality series. It begins airing in February 2011 exclusively on NYC Media (nyc.gov/media). The series entails five women navigating New York City with their dog furriends. They go to gallery openings, Yappy Hours, costume pup-day parties, red carpet events, and lots of other pawlaces they doo manage to get into.
Wot a grrreat face and pawsonality Eli the Chihuahua has! And wot grrreat commitment the "doggie moms" have to raising money fur local charities and animal groups, and fur raising awareness bout animal rescue, pet adoption, and responsible pet guardianship.
We are arfully grateful to have lovely photos and a true corgi story to share with you. This story was furwarded to us by British Columbia twitter friend and dog lover @So_OK, aka Dorthea. She received this story in an email from an Okanagan B.C. friend who adopted a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.
"Our wonderful old dog Cleo died on September 11, 2009, at 14 years of age. She was the perfect match for farm life in British Columbia, where there are six acres to call her own and protect. We have learned that you are never really alone if you have a dog in your life. We also learned how important a dog is on a farm (especially during the fall when the bears abound and circle the farm in search of last scraps of food before hibernation). We also learned that we will always have a dog in our lives.
"After several weeks of seeing a ghost of Cleo out of the corner of our eyes and missing the greeting at the door when we came home, and finding bear scat around the house, we started doing the dog quizzes on line to determine what our next best dog might be. We were ready for something smaller than Cleo's 80 lbs of pure alpha energy, and Welsh Corgis turned up again and again as the best match for farm, companion, big yet small dog. We also have friends that have had Corgis and always like them.
"So here we are with a rescue Cardigan Corgi (the ones with the tails) from Alberta.
"Haley, whose name is under consideration for a change as my sister-in-law shares this honour, is 18 months old [in these pics]. Likely the runt of a litter as she is full grown and only 20 lbs, which is too small to meet breeders standards.
"She is a total delight. House broken, crate trained and comes on a dime when she is called. She is totally affectionate, sleeping at our feet and next to us on the couch when permitted. We are introducing her around and looks like she may have some alpha qualities as she protects her space around other females.
"She has barked at the sounds of the bears in the night, and I have heard them climbing nearby trees (they remember Cleo and don't yet know that Haley is just a twig of a thing.) We are smitten and very happy to have her in our lives.
"This winter, with its blanket of clouds over Okanagan Lake, will not be quite so depressing."
May all our furriends, near and far, enjoy romping in the autumn leaves! A Happy Howloween to you all! ~ Tilin & Jack Corgi
Getting our paw-point across to humans is one of our biggest challenges. Therefur, we are arfully excited that Google has introduced 'Translate for Animals', an Android application that will allow humans to better understand us animals.
Unfurtunately, we are not able to embed the video here, so we will just have to give you the link: Introducing Translate for Animals.
Many humans know the old rhyme "knick-knack, paddy whack, give a dog a bone."
Dear dog and cat furriends, what too few humans know is that it should be a RAW bone.
We got to thinking about whether humans know not to feed cooked bones the day that dog-ma read a NYT article about a restaurant chef who wanted to donate leftover bones to animal shelters. Cooked bones! Howl.
Pawleeze doo not infurr that we're paw-cultists or mindless devotees of a pawticular food philosophy. We doo not follow any one school of thought, but we've studied the "original Raw Meaty Bones Diet" and the "BARF Diet," etc.
We doo of course subscribe to the logic of the "whole prey diet."
My furriends, consider our digestive systems. You know that we were built to eat raw, whole prey, and that a whole prey diet necessarily includes certain proportions of bones to certain proportions of muscle meat and organ meat.
The compawsition of any raw whole prey diet includes the raw bones of the prey animal. Historically, then, we derived irrepawlacable nutrients — not only calcium, but also other minerals and doglicious nutrients in bone marrow — from frequent consumption of bones.
Therefur, our eating of raw bones is not just fur dental health, which is the most-often cited reason.
Too bad more veterinarians are not actively recommending raw bones. Howl odd, since veterinarians have been warning pet guardians against cooked bones for years. According to one of our vets, who does insist upon raw bones, vets still see many dogs injured or ill from eating cooked bones.
The cooking process makes bones hard and brittle, not to mention indigestible. Eating cooked bones can give us splinters, broken teeth, indigestion, constipation, and even lethal lacerations and impactions of the gastrointestinal tract.
Pawleeze help paw out the word: Cooked bones from any source are a terrible thing for us dogs, and for cats!
The exception to the raw rule is bones that have been boiled long enough to turn soft. Howlever, if the bones are boiled to softness, most of the calcium has been leached out of them and some nutrients destroyed. This defeats most of the reason for eating bones in the first pawlace.
If you're unable to chew a whole raw bone, ask your human to buy ground whole prey, compawlete with bones (not bone meal!). In our area, we have a product called "raw chicken grind." Many meat companies will doo this custom grinding of whole raw chicken or other prey for you. Caveat: To avoid choking on pieces of bone left unground, ask human to consult experienced humans on safe grind specifications. Still, if unsure of the grind, have human run ground meat through sieve to check for unground bone pieces.
Raw bones should always be fresh, even if frozen, and juicy and chewable. Meaty raw bones are lovely. Some of the best are turkey or chicken neck or back bones (without the ribs) that have been skinned. Humans can freeze bones into u-shapes to make us chew them, i.e., to make it hard fur us to swallow them whole.
Paw-notes to humans:
Doo not let worries about getting sick stop you from feeding raw bones. Freezing first will kill off the bacteria.
Choose right size and cut of raw bones. Ideally, talk this over with your progressive veterinarian.
Generally avoid raw pork and sheep bones because of the pawsibility of parasites.
Beware of big raw beef bones that are sometimes hard enough to crack canine teeth.
Beware of long bones like legs or ribs, which are more prone to splintering and/or getting stuck.
Doo not leave us dogs or cats alone to eat raw bones that you've never fed us before.
We're always supervised when eating something new. Only when humans see that we're ok with a big raw marrow bone or turkey neck will they let us be. Even then, humans might keep an eye on us till we're done gnawing.
It was arfully nice hanging out with folks attending Wine Bloggers Conference North America. You know howl much I like taking paw-notes while humans talk 'bout wine and winemaking.
Here I am in the garden of C. Donatiello Winery on 26 July 2009 with @dirtysouthwine and @DrncPno. What an arfully beautiful estate this is, situated in the Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley AVA. Not that far from my doghaus. A fine pawlace to produce great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
We were escorted into the C. Donatiello Guild Room fur a private wine tasting. I'm fortunate enuff to fit under the table, and that's a good pawlace fur me to paw my notes while humans drink.
You know I don't drink wine. As a new media innovator workin' in the world of blogging and social media, I have an impawtant role at wine tastings: I'm a designated note-taker and canine schmoozer.
It's hard to believe howl the wine blogging and tweeting humans doo wine tastings. They have micro-bloggin' devices and cameras and video cams. They concentrate arfully hard. Tastin' is a serious activity. It's not unusual fur them to have a device in one hand and a wine glass in the other. That is why my paws come in handy. I take notes that humans miss.
Doo you recognize @winebratsf? It is pawsible that she blogs and tweets more observations 'bout wine and life than most wine bloggers. Rumor has it that it's 'cuz she's a Gemini... but I can't woof whether it's true. I don't know 'bout astrology.
Doo you recognize other wine bloggers in these photos? Howl 'bout @norcalwine and @sharayray and @thebeerwench and @winequester?
You can't see dog-ma in these photos, but she was there. And she was whisperin' many pawsitive wine comments to me. Appawently she was very taken with the '07 Maddie's Vineyard Pinot Noir and the '07 Floodgate Block 15 Pinot Noir.
There are other wine bloggers in the group we were walkin' to the cellar with. But my being so short, I had a hard time seeing 'em all. And I got distracted by the enticing smells of herbs on the paths along the way. I was in Middle Reach heaven....
We all followed @cdonatiello into the wine cellar....
Then @dirtysouthwine jumped into a big tank. Furhaps he was dooin' a demonstration of wine blogger hazing rituals.
I sat and watched @cdonatiello pour Bradford Mountain wines of Dry Creek Valley fur arfully serious tasters @sonadora and @winebratsf and some others, including dog-ma. She whispered to me that she adored both of the '05 Zinfandels.
It was so nice and cool in the cellar that, in combo with all the herbs I'd inhaled, I could've dozed off blissfully fur the rest of the day. Howlever, I had my duty to doo — not as a true wine blogger, but as the ever-vigilant paw-note taker and wine tastin' companion!
I wonder if I'll get my pawsonal chauffeur to take me and my little Corgi bro to the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington.
It was all over the wine twitterverse that the winner of the Murphy-Goode winery lifestyle compawtition would be announced today (21 July 2009).
Hark and bark! Dog-ma (aka chauffeur) agreed with us two social media corgis that we ought to catch up with the winner in Healdsburg. After all, we had a paw of congratulations to extend!
Our chauffeur parked the doghaus mobile behind Hotel Healdsburg.
Off we ran across the foot bridge, past Bear Republic, takin' the long way 'round via Healdsburg Avenue.
We came to an abrupt halt and stared intensely at the human before us. Oh good grief, that human there is an impawstor. He isn't Mr. Really Goode Guy!
We went 'round the corner and did a sit-stay across from the Murphy-Goode tasting room on Matheson Street. We had to paw over the situation. We knew we could sniff out Mr. Really Goode Guy if we used our dogheads.
Oh boy, that's a fancy new tasting room in an arfully fancy wine country town.
Howl, look! There's somebuddy who magically appaweared in front of the tasting room....
It's him! It's Mr. Really Goode Guy Hardy Wallace — aka @goodetobefirst and @dirtysouthwine. High paw! Congratulations, Really Goode Hardy!
Howl exciting that a really nice guy won. We sure doo like this fine Southern sommelier whom we 'spected would become the really goode job guy.
I hope we'll see a lot of Really Goode Hardy in the future. That is, if we can get close to him. If he carries wine rations like that around with him, he'll have a dogzillion friends. The only way we'll ever find him again is if we doo the lowdown corgi crawl through the crowd's legs.
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.
Have you ever seen Dotty Dalmation riding a bicycle? His viddy is a huge hit!
I admire how easily Dotty mounts his cool yellow and green bike, places his paws correctly on the pedals, and sit-stays comfurtably on the saddle. He then deftly pawsitions his front paws on the handlebars and pedals off nonchalantly.
Here is Dotty pedaling around a city street in Japan. This is actual film footage, not a stunt.
Furriends, pawleeze do not try this at home unless you're wearing a safety helmet.
I always paw-point out the safety angle. You know I'm the kind of dog who wears a seatbelt harness fur car travel.
Paw-note: None of the dog helmets I know of have been tested by human safety engineers. Sometimes some type of protection is better than none, but not always. Poorly made protective gear can create a false sense of security or be the cause of injury.
Standing right in the middle of Kunde's Magnolia Lane Sauvignon Blanc vineyard, sommelier Chris Sawyer explains how humans open screw caps by magic. Winemaker Jeff Kunde looks on knowingly, holding a bottle of same.
Next, twitchhiker does the screw cap bottle-opening trick brilliantly! Anastasia Schuster, aka @AccessInspirati, watches carefully. I bet she can now do the trick too!
Does it make sense fur humans to drink right from the bottle? Below, sommelier Sawyer's obviously in favor of using a glass fur tastin' the next wine. Jeff Kunde pours his '05 Reserve Century Vines Zinfandel.
Humans look so yappy when winetasting. Makes me wish we dogs drank wine.
Twitchhiker apparently enjoys the old vine Zinfandel.
Having finished his Zin, twitchhiker takes a break to twitter.
Howl, just imagine: Paul's the first human to travel the globe by the good graces of twitterers!
Twitchhiker looks cool in his new Kunde vest, below. He's the nicest human, really, and he's raising funds for safe drinking water in schools in developing nations.
Our pawpetual question: Why do dogs and cats get canned and kibbled foodstuffs 'stead of fresh foods? If you live 'ere in wine country or other place where fresh whole foods are plentiful, why not support local markets and make your own pet foods?
