Blogaversary Give-a-way!

Hey, we missed it by a few days but we JUST passed our one year blog-aversary!  It's been a really fun year getting to know some of you out there in the corgi-loving community.  We've had paw-it-forwards, donated to good causes, and made some friends. 

Happy Blogaversary!

To say thanks for your readership we're having a Blogaversary Give-a-way!  Winnie and I would like to send you one of our two favorite books PLUS one of our favorite toys.  You can pick from:

  or  

Both of these are reviewed on the "books" page so you can see what you might like better.  We'll also include one of our favorite toys, although Winnie hasn't picked it out yet.  What do you have to do?  Simply respond in the comments section to this blog post and tell us why your like to cruse the dog-blogs.  Be sure to include what book you would like and your email address so we can contact you!  Have fun!  And Thanks for reading Herding the Corgi!

How Much is Too Much? Kids and Dogs.

Blogs are fun.  They are timely, relevant, and help build a since of community.  What's not to love, right?  Well, they are also very public and most of the time that's what we want!  More readers!  :-)  However, I think it's also safe to say that there are certain things we don't want published for the world to see. 

So here's my issue... family.  How many pictures of people do you post?  Do you use their names?  Will they like what they read?  Naturally, Herding the Corgi is not a controversial blog but nevertheless I think these questions are worth asking. 

Why the sudden boundary of personal space you ask?  Well, much like Corgi Butts, Herding the Corgi will be getting a new addition!  My husband and I are expecting our first child in September.  We're pretty excited and we know that Winnie will love having something wiggly down at her level. (I think a "Get Low" onesy from the Corgi Butts store is definitely in order.)  And you KNOW that babies and dogs make for great entertainment. 

So here's what I need from you guys:

1. Your thoughts on blog privacy
2. Your thoughts on living with kids and dogs

Fire away!

As a side note, we've already instituted a "baby gate" to keep Winnie away from construction we're doing to get ready for Baby.  She doesn't love it.  Poor pup.  :-)

Seriously?  But how will I be sure you're doing it right?

Book Review: The Other End of the Leash

So Winnie and I are going to try something new here at Herding the Corgi and move some of our favorite books and toys from the sidebar and into actual posts.  Then we'll put them on their own page so you can find them again more easily.  

As I was collecting some of the information for the Book Review page I noticed that although I've talked about it a LOT I've never actually written an official review for The Other End of the Leash so here it is! 

In my opinion, if you were only going to read ONE book about dogs it would have to be The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs by Patricia McConnell.  In fact, I've had a few friends that have gotten dogs in the last year or so and I went out and just got the book for them.  I think so highly of it that I've actually purchased the darn thing 4 times.  Now, that's an endorsement, right? 

Patricia McConnell is an animal behaviorist that specializes in dogs.  Besides the usual academic litany you would expect she has a sheep farm and several different herding dogs of her own.  As an added bonus I keep a link of HER blog over in the Dog Blogs section.  Check it out! 

The Other End of the Leash is written from a bit of an academic perspective and can be scientifically minded.  However, this is an angle that I found quite helpful since Winnie was my first real swing at owning a dog.  I mean, we had a dog or two when I was younger but without ever building real relationships with them.  (My mother was scared of them so mostly they stayed outside and like most things... out of sight is out of mind.  I'm not proud of the start but that's what it was.)  I however did like dogs and wanted to correct my own behavior to better communicate with them.  That is exactly what this book talks about.  How to act around animals of another species. 

A short skim of the table of contents looks like this:

1. Monkey See, Monkey Do
2. Translating Primate to Canine
3. Talking to Each Other
4. Planet Smell
5. Fun and Play
6. Pack Mates
7. Patient Dogs and Wise Humans
8. Personalities
9. Love & Loss

So you can see how it's a little sciency but McConnell does a terrific job of speaking plainly.  Here's an excerpt so you can get the feel:

"Greetings, Canine and Primate Style - Imagine walking down the street and seeing someone whom you know and are happy to see.  What do you do?  Most of us call out his name, maybe wave to get his attention, and move directly toward him.  It's especially polite to look directly at his face as you get closer, walking straight toward him, looking right into his eyes and smiling. ... This is just not friendly if you're a dog.  Direct head-on approaches can be threating to dogs, ... The politest of dogs tend to approach from he side, perhaps even at 90 degrees.  They avoid direct eye contact.  On the other hand, two dogs standing face-on staring into each other's eyes are trouble - big trouble... "

I think this is just one of the best dog books out there but if this is a little too basic for you then I would definitely suggest looking into some McConnell's other materials via her blog and website.  Have you read The Other End of the Leash?  Feel free to post some of your own thoughts and experiences! 

Corgi Circles & Photos

Winnie has officially completed all of her Crop Corgi Circles in our back yard.  She's established the parameter as well as built some turn-arounds.  And as she flys down her path it really looks pretty fun!

I snapped some pictures of the flash of corgi butt fluff and DUDE look at that muscle tone.  Way to go Win-bot! (Short for Bionic Winnie, a pet name my friend Cindy gave her when we had her chip installed.)  I wished my rear looked that good.  :-)

Oh the sun feels good!

CHASE ME!

These were however the best shots I could get.  Butt shots.  Winnie makes me work really hard for good photos.  Not because she's uncooperative but for some reason the camera freaks her out.  I read somewhere that dogs can interpret cameras as if it were a "big aggressive eye" starring at them.  They wouldn't be all wrong.  Which then makes since that when I get out the camera she tenses up and MOST of the shots I get look like this...

Crap, that THING is back.

I'm not going to take this crap... either play or don't but enough with the staring!

I'm going to make sure the neighbors know the trouble your making!

Some of you post some really terrific shots on your blogs and I'd be thrilled to hear any tricks you have to get your pooches to just be themselves.  :-)  That's what we want, right?  Okay, I'm all yours... lay it on me.

Winnie & The Daily Corgi

Winnie's on The Daily Corgi!  Boy... a while ago when I first started cruising the dog blogs I submitted a few photos of Winnie to The Daily Corgi and her number came up!  Here's the link... Winnie on The Daily Corgi.  I hope you enjoy it and welcome to all of you who are visiting Herding the Corgi for the first time today!

I can't believe it!  The Daily Corgi!  I'm a star! 
(And a welcome in Boston, too.  Thanks Laurie!)

Mobil Blog - Work in Progress

Well, we're on the road visiting family for Christmas and I've tried to post a blog via email and text.  The texting post (seen below) worked well and happened FAST!  It posted in a flash after I accidentally sent it before writing more than one line.  (The profound words "First post via text!")  No kidding, right?  But I was unable to give it a title or attach a photo... hum. 

The email method failed completely (reasons unknown) so here I am sitting at my computer again. 

The picture I tried to attach was this one:

I love Grandma's!  I love hamburger!

Winnie is smiling because we're at my Grandma's house and one of my uncles keeps giving her bits of hamburger... as if I don't know.  Anyway, we hit the road again this morning for our second city of 3 for the holiday and hopefully I'll figure this business out!  :-)

The Dog Blog Goes Mobil

Yo!  Me, the hubby, and the pooch are mere minutes away from hitting the road for lots of Christmas fun and travel.  Here's the best holiday photo I've taken of Winnie so far...

Trees in the house are so unnatural

She still looks ticked I'm making her do it.  To help remedy this problem I set up Herding the Corgi to accept email and text messages and blog posts!  Maybe now I can be more frequent AND more candid.  :-) 

Have any of you done this already?  Any tips or tricks to share?  At any rate, we're going to give it a try.  If they come out really crappy I'll take them down and start over, ok?  Ok.  Safe Travels!

Monkey See - Dog Do

I was reading Patricia McConnell's blog The Other End of the Leash and her most recent post sports this video asking "Do Dogs Inherently Understand Pointing Gestures?”  My own expericnce has been very close to what this clip shows.  How about you?

PS The "eyes closed" bit cracks me up.  I know Winnie for sure knows that if she wants to do something she shouldn't do... she just needs to wait till I'm not looking.  It's not just my theory anymore!

Paw It Forward

Winnie and I received our Paw It Forward package full of great things from our fellow dog blogger Jenny and her pup Stanley over at Corgi On My Mind.

The package came on Monday but we've been so busy this week that poor Winnie had to wait till today to open it.  I know, how do you deny a dog a package that smells of treats?  I was a mean dog mom.  But it was worth the wait!

Listen Ma, it's addressed to ME!  I'll decide when we open it!

The first thing I saw was a card featuring a very cool illustrated rendering of Stanley on the cover and a wonderful personalized book mark with Winnie's picture! 

Finally, someone that knows what I'm talking about here!

Of course, Winnie went right for the treats. 

This one!  Open this one!

About one second after I took this picture Winnie pushed her nose in the bag and helped herself.  These were some pretty fancy treats.  Real chicken jerky wrapped around a real dried apple slice.  Gourmet! 

I don't know French, but I know delicious.

All in all we received a portable water bowl, two bags of gourmet treats, the Kong stick toy, a Natural Balance food roll, and a festive Halloween bat squeaky toy. 

Wait, is it my birthday?

Here's a close up of some of the other treats.  The squirrel cracks me up.  And the cookie looks like it should have been for me!  Ha!

The smallest bone is what Winnie normally gets... there's some perspective for you. 

Natural Balance is actually what I feed Winnie all the time.  Well, the kibble version not the food roll version but this stuff makes the BEST training food.  You can cut it up small and it's irresistible.  Try it. 

Get some. 

The other hot favorite was the squeaky bat toy.  What fun getting it so close to Halloween!  I think it sort of even looked like Winnie.  (It's the ears)

This doesn't seriously look like me, does it?

Thanks Jenny and Stanley!  We've really enjoyed our Paw it Forward package and we got to try a few things we don't have around here in our own pet stores.  What a treat!

In the Paw It Forward tradition Winnie and I will take our turn assembling a goodie box full of our favorite things to pass along to someone new.  If you haven't been the recipient of a Paw It Forward box yet and have a dog blog be the first to leave a comment on this blog with your email address and you'll be the next in line!  (Tip:  type "at" instead of using the @ symbol to avoid getting spammed.  Like this: name(at)email.com)

Here's a clip of Winnie playing with her Bat Toy.  She's a happy dog. 

Corgi Calendar Contest

My fellow corgi blogger Kelly from Corgi Butts is putting her graphic design skills to good use.  She is assembling a "Dogs with Blogs" corgi calendar full of submissions from corgi bloggers like us.  It's free to submit photos (and you can send her as many as you like) as long (as you have a dog with a blog) but the deadline is coming up soon.  Follow the Corgi Calendar Dogs with Blogs 2011 link for all the details. 

http://www.corgibutts.blogspot.com/

Look at that good looking fellow on the cover.  Way to be a handsome devil, Gibson!