Tippi Hedren at Bodega Bay

I got back to Bodega Bay — the first I've been on the Sonoma Coast since my back surgery. I couldn't jump or run fast. I sniffed. Cool sea air. Other animals. Seafood smells coming from the Tides Wharf restaurants. Pelicans belly-cans. The wharf is a five-star sniffin' dogstination.

I love the ocean. The photo below is of me on a favorite beach just north of Bodega Bay.


I love having my head stroked by Tippi Hedren at Bodega Bay. The photo below is of the actress being nice to Bullseye, the Target mascot dog, at an American Film Institute 40th anniversary event. She was nice to me, too.


Ms. Hedren was at Tides Wharf on July 4th signing photos and talking to humans. She comes often to this famous film location where Alfred Hitchock made the 1963 classic The Birds. Tippi Hedren is the movie's star. She's also Melanie Griffith's mother and "den mother" to many animals.

I sat down on the rug right next to Ms. Hedren at her Tides table. She and her assistant asked dog-ma about my surgery when they saw I'm missing fur on my back. You can't see me in the photo below 'cuz I'm behind the table.


My buddy Jack corgi squeezed in next to me at the table. Usually shy, he didn't want to leave Ms. Hedren's side once she started scratching his ears. He and I know this is the kind of scratching and stroking you get only from a real animal lover.

Years ago, Tippi Hedren started Shambala Preserve and Roar Foundation in southern California — not to make pets out of lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, and other exotic cats, but to protect them, to rescue them from mistreatment and neglect. Elephants too. Shambala is a true sanctuary, a place that doesn't breed, buy, sell, trade, or use animals commercially.

Ms. Hedren talks to the public about the problems of exotic pet ownership and advocates for legislation to protect big cats. She and dog-ma talked about the costs of caring for animals — a million dollars a year to care for the Shambala cats! — and the impawtance of spaying and neutering pets. These humans worry about how animals will fare in a tougher economy.

I'll wade into the political waters anytime with humans who want to limit private exotic animal ownership.

Dog-ma has BIG reasons for supporting Ms. Hedren and others who help with exotic animal rescue and accredited sanctuaries. She says, "Few individuals, no matter how well meaning or rich, succeed in providing a safe haven for wild or exotic animals. Individuals apparently have a hard enough time trying to take care of domestic animals, including farm animals. . . ."

Road scholar 101

It was a clear afternoon on Highway 101 near Healdsburg when the shiny metal giants going 65 MPH all got to the same freeway stretch at the same time. I watched from my backseat as the cars urgently laid rubber. Dog-ma hit the brakes hard. I flew forward for a split-second as my doggie seatbelt engaged the car seatbelt's locking mechanism.

When the metal giants had come to a stop, I was still sitting quietly. I'd been spared. A 30-pound dog like me, traveling unrestrained in a car that decelerates suddenly from 65 mph, is thrown forward violently enough to develop thousands of pounds of g-force in just one foot of movement. Formula One race car drivers experience about 5 g when braking.

Dog restraint is an unpopular topic, but the facts speak: Both dogs and humans are saved by having everybuddy buckled up. Kids and babies riding in a car with "free Fido" are especially at risk of being crushed when Fido goes flying. Passengers and drivers with no dogs are at risk, too. Remember when novelist Stephen King was almost killed in June 1999?

As King walked down a road near his home, a guy driving a van got distracted and crashed into him. King was hospitalized with a broken hip, broken leg, broken ribs, and collapsed lung. The van driver, who lost his license and was given a suspended jail sentence, said that he'd looked away from the road for a few seconds because his dog was getting into a cooler in the van.

How many of this country's 70-some million dogs are buckled-up road scholars?


Dog-ma says people argue that they "can't get Fifi to wear her seatbelt," or "Fido wiggles out of it." This means they haven't found a harness as perfect as my Ruff Rider Roadie. If you ever did get in a car accident — even if you're turned upside down — the Roadie will hold you, and won't strangle you, thanks to its cross-over-chest design.

You can't wiggle out of a good seatbelt like the Roadie, and won't want to. You'll like it 'cuz it means you're going out to have fun. Your person will like it that you won't be able to run away from the car. And you won't get into any trouble inside the car or leaning out a car window.

Unfortunately, most canine restraint systems on the current market are inadequate, even potentially hazardous, because they're poorly designed and untested. Bummer, right? As Joanne Howl, DVM, pointed out to dog-ma, "A big concern is about so-called safety solutions that can be worse than no solution at all. When a product is untested, it puts a dog at greater risk because the owner/guardian assumes the product is adequate and comes to depend on it." Dogs, caveat emptor!

Some people say "crating is the way to go." Crating is not THE solution (though we've known dogs who only felt safe traveling in a crate, or portable kennel). Not all crates are made well enough to withstand impact. Plus, people have to know how to secure a crate in their vehicle.

To bark again like I always do when talking about wine country car travel in the summertime: Forget the dog crate! You'll suffocate inside that thing in the car. If you've absolutely gotta be in a portable kennel — it can come in handy at the inn or motel — tell your humans to get a cooling mat for the floor of the crate. And a nice doggie cooling vest and bandana too.

Oh howl, I'll try not to be up in paws about the risks associated with loose dogs in cars. But to corral a phrase, freedom isn't about being free in the car.

Ozzy dog's life saved

by winecountrydog

Ozzy corgi wasn't quite 9 months old when he broke his leg — playing ball on the stairs, said his Wichita, Kansas, guardian/owners to the vet.

Adorable Ozzy came close to not being in Kansas anymore.

Ozzy's rescue mum tells us: "Ozzy [had been] brought in to a vet clinic with a badly broken front leg. His owners were unable to afford the surgery necessary to help him so opted to euthanize. Thanks to two caring vet techs who were able to convince the owners to sign over custody, Ozzy's life was spared. They contacted me and I agreed to help out. He has now had his surgery which was successful. We are on the long road to recovery of 3 to 6 weeks of cage rest. . . ."

Fast forward several weeks: "X-rays showed that the surgical pins are doing their job and the leg is mending. Ozzy gets to have short, calm walks on leash several times a day. . . . He has also started hydro-therapy and is quite a good swimmer and it wears him out. He feels great and would like to run and play but is still not allowed. He will go in for another set of x-rays in three more weeks and if he continues to progress as he has then he can resume normal activity at that time."

Such an adorable Pembroke Welsh corgi is Ozzy!

Fast forward again: Ozzy's rescue mum says, "Ozzy is thrilled to be able to romp and play with the other corgis and my lab. He is a very busy pup with six weeks of sitting in a cage to make up for. He is a great ball fetcher and brings it right back and drops it for you to throw again. He still enjoys swimming and today had a swim in the creek in the neighborhood. . . . He will be ready for a forever home soon."

Big thanks WOOFS to Ozzy's kind rescue mum and to CorgiAid for helping with expenses! I'm one dog who really understands Ozzy's experiences. I was rescued as a puppy through a Bay Area corgi rescue group. And I too needed emergency surgery. Like so many companion animals . . . .

Please check out these websites:
* ForPaws Corgi and Corgi Mix Rescue ~ www.forpaws.org/ ~ A small rescue organization whose adoptable dogs are located mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area. ForPaws will place Ozzy in his forever home.
* CorgiAid ~ www.corgiaid.org/ ~ A small volunteer-run operation that, through donations, is able to provide financial assistance for rescuers of Pembroke and Cardigan Welsh corgis and corgi mixes.
* CorgiAid Cart Program ~ www.corgiaid.org/cart/ ~ Run by Bobbie Mayer, one of CorgiAid's many wonderful people here in California.
* Welsh Pembroke Corgi Rescue ~ www.pembrokecorgirescue.com/ ~ Run by dedicated CorgiAid person Millie Williams.

Sticky terroir

by winecountrydog

I'm not the Jancis Robinson of the dog world, but I know more about terroir than most dogs. I'm a corgi, a herding dog. Not a hunting dog except when it comes to wine and beer.

I hunt wine with dog-ma and other humans who live here. By "here" I mean Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Napa areas. I spend most of my time in Sonoma AVAs, especially the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Carneros-Sonoma. I wait while others taste. I get to meet nice people.

A funny fact about people in winemaking is that they're often beer aficionados. I understand this 'cuz I like beer. I'm allowed to drink a 1/4-cup of beer for muscle spasms. Dog-ma and I hunt for good microbrew pilseners, porters, and stout, but often end up with ales. We want to hunt for draughts, but few places are dog-friendly. I understand when dog-ma sneaks off to drink Sonoma Farmhouse Saison Style ale on tap without me. In bottles, dog-ma enjoys Blue Paddle, Blue Heron, and Lagunitas and Rogue Brewery ales. Rogue's brewdog says their ales are made with "coastal free range water." Woof?

It doesn't always matter what humans in marketing call things. As long as brewers and winemakers don't mangle terroir — that "sense of place." Fortunately, a lot of today's winegrape growers and winemakers have a fairly holistic understanding of terroir. Winemaker Ed Sbragia summed it up when talking to AppellationAmerica.com:

"My winemaking experience indicates to me that when the French say terroir, they really focus on both soil and climate. But it's way more than that. It's the human involvement — how someone decided to plant the vines and in what row direction, then to nurture them by suckering and other practices. . . ."

You've noticed that you can't discern terroir in many commercial wines? You will find a sense of place only in carefully vinified wines from exceptional vines. Wine humans like to say "great wine is made in the vineyard." I like to add "great wine potential can be lost in the handling."

"That's some nice terroir!"

From my low pawspective, every grape or other crop has an odor and flavor unique to its terroir, even if the crop lacks certain desirable qualities. But the identity of terroir is fragile. Once grapes are harvested, they are sulfured, crushed, put in tanks, doused with commercial yeast and commercial nutrients, pumped over, transferred, sampled, pressed, racked, sulfured again, transferred again, racked again, sampled again, maybe fined, maybe filtered, transferred again, bottled, shipped, stored, shipped again, stored. . . . If I were a grape, my terroir would be exhausted!

I exaggerate to make the point that fermenting grape juice and finished wine are fragile "living liquids" that require extraordinary care in processing and handling.

Longtime winemakers Ed Sbragia and Richard Arrowood (now at Amapola Creek) include the famed Monte Rosso vineyard when they talk about great terroir. At a "Sonoma in the City" seminar, Mr. Arrowood referred to the brick-red soil of Monte Rosso, quipping that, when he walked in the door of his house with the red soil stuck to his shoes, his wife, Alis, said, "You really don’t need to bring any more terroir to my attention."

A corgi dog understands sticky terroir.

The lean years

by winecountrydog

East Idaho pets got a free medical checkup (AP news 6/29/08) at an event held at Bannock Animal Medical Center near Pocatello — an "innovative" cat and dog health center with a big waiting area, fresh-brewed coffee (for humans?), filtered water for pets, a fish tank (for cats?), a play area for children, an exercise area for dogs, and a consultation room with a view into the operating room. Yikes!

The free event was intended to help owners of older pets better support their pets' health needs. Clinic owner Walter Rowntree, DVM, said they saw about 300 dogs and cats. While problems in older pets include dental disease, back pain, and obesity, the rate of obesity reported by Dr. Rowntree was off the charts: Only five of the 200 dogs examined were at a normal weight.

No wonder that about 30 percent of the older dogs seen at the Idaho event suffer from some form of back pain, and that 15 of them have sciatica. And the cats, who made up about 10 percent of the clients, suffer from many of the same problems as the dogs.

Obesity is a big culprit in amplifying spinal and other health problems. Dogs and cats are carrying the weight of the commercial pet food industry on their backs! It's not "normal aging" for Fideau and Fluff to be fatties. People who talk about canine spine degeneration and other problems being the result of a "natural" aging process and poor genetics better check with ol' Mother Hubbard. What's in your doggie cupboard?

I think we ought to be able to describe a dog's older years as "the lean years": the years of our lives when we maintain normal weight through good nutrition!

If I sound strident, it's because being lean and fit helped save my life. Lucky me that I'd started eating differently long before my back went out. I'd lost unnecessary body fat and actually gotten back my puppy waistline and puppy energy. I'm a 10-1/2-year-old corgi, you know, and I'd been slowly gaining weight over the past three years. If I hadn't made radical diet changes, I wouldn't be recovering from spinal cord damage due to disc injuries. . . . Would I even have been a candidate for surgery? Not to brag, but even though my back legs are stiff, I walk with the youthful spring of a deer fawn. I barely touch the floor as I trot along, and my long corgi back is relieved of stress.

Oh howl, I could go on and on. But I'm more interested in asking whether you're taking advantage of healthful new alternatives to fattening old pet foods. Have you tried Primal? What about recipes for homemade meals?

Are you due for your semi-annual veterinary checkup?
Make sure your vet and guardian/owner get cookin' on
nutritious food alternatives.

See the photo. That's me, Tilin corgi, a few days after life-saving surgery. How about that 9-inch surgical incision on my back!

Paws ups for health!