Tag! You're it!

Here's how it works!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

Here are 7 fun facts:

1. I am cursed to forever have things fall on me. No matter what it is, and how far I am away from it, it will make contact with me or the floor just near me. It could be a broom, a cup, a piece of paper, a chair or even bird poop. It will find me.

2. I am a rare breed from Okinawa Japan. Not even all Japanese people know I exist. Sometimes we are found in US pounds identified as something else since we are so few and far between.

3. I don't bark a normal bark. No its not my breed, just me. I go WOO WOO WOO, instead of WOOF!

4. I'm a service dog for my mom. She suffers from panic attacks and I know before she does taht they are coming. With my help mom can take special meds to stop them from being so violent.

5. I am amazing at stays. Put me in one and as long as you are in sight, I will say forever. If you leave sight, I will stay for atleast 20 minutes, then I begin to worry.

6. My eyes are bigger then my stomach. I love to eat and that gets me in trouble... alot. I used to steal stuff from the kitchen before mom put a gate up. Then I got her by learning to open it. Sadly mom has a lock on it now, and I have not figured that out yet.

7. I would make boar hunters in Japan proud. That is what we were bred to do and its still in my brain. I love to stalk other animals and then race at them and leap on their backs. But I promise, I only do it to animals who don't mind.

My 7 victims are...
1. Lola
2. Yoshi
3. Apollo
4. Badger Hunter's Little Smokie
5. Sara
6. Jodi
7. Jordan

Saturday Dog School

Yesterday was Tracker and Natashas classes at Top Dog.
Tracker was so much better in her crate this time waiting for Natashas Advanced Beginners class to end. When it was her turn she was in such good spirits.
I must say we was utterly amazing in the ring. Its funny but she is so much better off leash then on. I guess I send bad vibs and nerves down the leash or something. I was so proud of her. Keep up the great work Tracker!

Picture Day

Ok mom went crazy with the digital camera. BOL I hope you all like my new pictures!
Ok now back to napping.
-Tracker

Just a Dog - So Beautiful

My mother sent this to me and I want to share it with all of you.

"Just a Dog"From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog." Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you! will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise." "Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. Because of "just a dog" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. "Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a man." So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog." just smile, because they "just don't understand."

* I do not know who wrote this. If anyone knows please let me know so we can give them the credit they deserve.

-Tracker's Mom

Innova EVO - My Story

I wanted to share my experience with what I agree is one of the best dog foods out there.

Tracker was started on Innova EVO almost as soon as she came home from the pound. In late October, Tracker broke her leg playing. She rolled over on her back and snapped her femur. She went to an othropedic specialist who told us it was a bad break. She had a pin put in and wires wrapped around the bone. Most of her leg was shaved for the surgery.
One month later she returned for x-ray to see her healing progress. The vet was amazed. He said he had never seen healing like it before. Way more then half of her hair was back, including her bottom coat. He had a heck of a time getting her stitches out. But the biggest shock was her bone. There was so much healing that bone was growing over her wires. He was shocked at how much it had healed. Tracker was healing at an amazing rate.
In January we hit a set back. The pin began pinching her nerve and she started feeling great pain. The pin had to come out. After the pin came out there was damage to her nerve in her foot and she began to knuckle walk.
Her gait was messed up and her leg looked lean. We took her to her normal vet and a vet/chiropractor. Both said her muscles were mostly gone. She would need hydotherapy and it might never fix her foot or gait.
That diagnosis was at the very beginning of this month after having to keep her calm while the bone healed and such.
We waited a few weeks for a sore on her foot to heal before therapy would start. We retured to the vet to have the sore looked at again and her was shocked. He felt her legs again and asked what we had been doing with her. All she had been doing was playing and as of this weekend, running in 2 foot deep snow. He was amazed. Her gait was better, her foot nerve was better, and her muscles were coming back. And all by Tracker and her diet, we did nothing.

Today the big joke at the vets office and the orthopedist is "what are you feeding this dog?!"

Thank you Innova EVO for helping Tracker have a second chance and helping her heal so well so fast. Soon she will be heading back into the obedience ring. Again thank you!

Getting through the tough stuff

It took months but eventually she learned that no one was going to abandon her or take away her food and toys. She learned that biting and lashing out were not the right way to keep what she wanted. Also a degree of loyalty I have never seen in a dog began to develop.

I started her in basic obedience and that is where the magic started. She was so pleased to learn and to listen. She loved to perform and even to out do the other dogs. She was glued to me, trying so hard to do what I wanted. Her only mistakes I can only blame on myself and misdirection. She worked so hard and was so please when she had mastered whatever she was learning. Best of all, she was coming out of her shell. She was loosing her fear of strangers and became very confident in all she did. She was becoming my perfect partner.

In late October 2004 it all got tested. Tracker was playing with the rest of the family dogs when she rolled over onto her back and snapped her leg. She screamed and was in much shock and pain. After a vet visit we learned it was a broken femur and that she would have to have surgery. We took her to a specialist and he set her leg with a pin.

For 2 months she has to be kept calm and let the leg heal. This was a lot to ask of a puppy. The leg healed great and it was right at her birthday that she was able to run around again and play. It was a tough time though. All of the muscle in her leg was mostly gone, she had a very hard time putting weight on it. But she is a tough dog and she worked it out. However this was not the last hurdle her leg would face.

In early January Tracker began to feel pain in her leg again. This time any ressure caused her to scream and she would not put it down. It turned out that her nerve was being pinched by the pin. The pin had to come out.

Now Tracker is rehabing well. Her gait is a little off and she still favors the other leg but she is working on it. We are currently getting her set up with a hydotherapy vet to have then help her walk better.

In the meantime she just was awarded with her CGC and is about to continue her training for competitive obedience. What can I say, she is a tough dog with that special spark.

When Tracker came home

In August 2005 while searching for a companion dog to call my own I came across a little red dog on PetFinder. The dogs name was Snipper which I thought was an odd name, but it was love at first sight. We called immediately and asked if she was still there. She was and next this I know, I'm heading for Philly, a 2+ hour drive from home. We got there and asked about her. Suddenly there was a problem. There was no dog there named Snipper... Eventally they realised the dog I was asking about and explained that they had changed her name. She was now called Layla.

Layla/Snipper it turned out was left at the pound after he owner died of cancer. She was only 6 months old and have been at the pound for over a month.
She was perfect. Perfect attitude, perfect look, perfect age, just perfect. After signing some papers, she was mine and off for a big adventure in her new big world.

A day or two after she came home we had to name her something more her. Well it turns out she is one heck of a tracker. Nose to the ground 24/7. So there was the name... Tracker.

Once she had be home for a few days her "issues" came out. Not really house trained (or forgot it all), food aggressive, toy aggressive, and most of all, a horrible case of seperation anxiety. If we left the house she would break out of her crate and rip appart her bed and toys. She would whine and scream and cry till me got home. Poor little pup. But it didn't matter, I loved her and that was all that mattered. We would get through it one day at a time.