A couple of weeks ago I read Why Does My Dog Drink Out of the Toilet: Answers and Advice for All Kinds of Dog Dilemmas, a Q&A-formatted book with lots of random questions that raises even more questions like, how were they able to extrapolate all those answers? Did they perform some sort of polygraphs or Rorschach tests on these dogs? And how long did it actually take to compile these random q’s and a’s to publish this book?

The one answer that struck me the most answered this question: What can dogs learn from other dogs’ #1 and #2 “messages” (I’m paraphrasing here)? The answer, surprisingly, was mood detection, frequency of “ownership” at one dog’s turf and whether a dog was in heat. Interestingly enough, this prompted me to create a little picture I’d like to dub “Dogspeak 101,” which translates what a dog probably might discover during a brisk run at the dog park. Enjoy =)

Well, when Shannon and I got a little Westie, Beary White, the frustration with finding basic dog training tips (I really should say “terrier” not “dog,” because terriers are more… um, picky?) online only grew. I wound up doing the next-best thing and called Dustin, another stay-at-home dog daddy whose sound advice helped me the first month of puppyhood, which was relatively agonizing for an impatient person like myself. What followed was a brief discussion of throwing all this dog advice on the web, adding some dog diaries to the mix and topping it off with a few neat pictures, which others like you *might* find entertaining — turns out, you do! =D

Our first rendition of the site looked relatively elementary, in retrospect, but we all thoroughly drove it to the ground like a Toyota Corolla maxed out at the 250K mile mark. And now that we are starting to cater to 1300+ cities worldwide, the photoshoppin’ couldn’t have come at a better time. What followed were layers upon layers of dogs (Pom Pom, Casper, Beary White and a few of our submissions) to create the backdrop you’re looking at…. lots of time spent during the wee hours of the early morning and late night. Then, there was that one god-awful time my Dell froze right in the middle of photoshoppin, when I wished I could’ve demanded poop straight from Beary’s butt, so that I could smash it into the keyboard and ship the stupid laptop back to Dell… but I digress.  At any rate, it’s all just a creative outlet for all of us dog owners, and it’s just really exciting to see that ya’ll care about our *lovely* dog tales. So have an awesome weekend and see ya Munday!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Beary’s Poop. Look at it in all its glistening glory. There it stands like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, resting against the tree bark. Why is this special? For a few weeks now, Beary’s picked up a new habit I’ve dubbed P2P, as in pee-to-poop. He’ll scour the turf for the nearest unmarked area where he can leave his little urine sample and, instead of going for #1, it quickly turns into #2. Allow me to explain in a brief play-by-play of how somebody would narrate this fascinating behavior.

Beary’s goin for number #1.

He’s searching, he’s sniffing faster and faster. His nose is out of control.

He’s pacing around in circles, looking left and right.

He’s moved away from the greenery and now heading toward a tree.

He’s sniffing it… seems to pass the litmus test.

Sniffing some more now…

Whoop, this seems to be it! Here he goes! He’s about to lift his left hind leg… and… AND….

Oh no! He’s done a quick 180! He’s…. he’s…. POOOOPING!

It really is quite funny. I’d post video footage of it if I had any and if it didn’t seem so unglamorous, ha! Anyway, I just think it’s hilarious that this particular fecal matter actually stayed upright, leaning against a tree. It was equally disgusting as it was almost amazing.

So at a certain point — this would probably start at age one — everything becomes pretty routine dog day in and dog day out. Much hasn’t happened over the weekend with Beary, let alone the rest of last week. He pretty much played, ate and pooped. Anyway, Shannon did manage to capture one cool pick over the weekend, and it pretty much sums up Beary’s life in a nutshell — chillaxing. It consists of one part sunbathing and two parts lounging. Feel free to experiment over the week and see where you end up next weekend. Happy Munday.

Ello there. So this is the first video post, which is actually a follow-up post from The Standoff. I’ve finally figured out how to transfer my phone videos to the computer, get them converted, uploaded and played back on this little player =) Beary must’ve been just a few months in this video – he’s one year old now – as it’s evident by the bunny-sized ears and his innate curiosity for checking out a kitty for the first time in his pooch life. Hope you enjoy!

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