German Shepherd Tote Bag

German Shepherd Tote
William Elliott at Zazzle
 

I recently created this Tote bag design on zazzle.com.

Available in a range of bag sizes priced from under $10 for the economy design these bags are hard wearing and versatile. Use them for carrying your groceries, baby supplies or books from the library. The bags are of rugged design and will last for a long time.

Even use the tote to carry your dog supplies on that car journey to the dog park.

See the German Shepherd Tote here

Can I Mourn theLoss of My Dog

In my thirty something years of working with both German Shepherds and their owners, one abiding question I have found is,

"After he dies. A I silly for mouring his death?"

The simple answer to this question is that you are ok to mourn the loss of your dog.

Many people, most often men in my experience are for some reason ashamed for expressing feelings for their dog. I don't know why. It just seems to be that way and the experience crosses national boundaries, as it was in Britain it is here in the Unoted States.

It can be that the memory of your dog can come back at the most simple of triggers, you may walk past a spot where you walked together, thesound of a scratch at the door, a glimpse of an old toy. These bring back all the emotions that you once felt. Anger, fear, sadness, happiness all in a muddle and often overwhelming.

Let the emotions come and go on their own. If a tear comes let it. Recognizing that you have these feelings rather than supressing them is the key. As you recognize and acknowledge them they actually lessen in intensity.

It is all part of the natural mourning process. Time and acceptance help, you do not forget with time you just don't suffer the deep pain anymore.

Kong Toys

Your German Shepherd dog is a very intelligent dog.

They can quickly become bored and this boredom can lead to destructive behavior in even the best behaved dog.

All of my German Shepherds have loved Kong toys to keep them mentally active and free of boredom.

Kongs are made of heavy duty rubber and are virtually indestructable even for the heaviest chewer.

You can fill many kong toys with treats such as peanut butter which encourages the dog to lick inside the toy to extract the treat and occupy its mind with a real puzzle.

For a selection take a look at our Kong Toy Store

Dog Friendly Dining at Dockside Too, Morro Bay CA

The Dockside Too  Restaurant in Morro Bay, CA is  a great place to go if you are taking your pet to the beach in Central California.

The restaurant lies on the dock at Morro Bay, only a few minutes walk from the wide expansive beach which stretches over five miles from Morro Bay to Cayucos.

 

Morro Bay is a small city a few miles north of San Luis Obispo and about thirty minutes drive south of Hearst Castle, San Simeon . If you are travelling on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, in either direction you will not faile to see either the three massive chimneys of Morro Bay Power Plant or the great granite mass of Morro Rock, an ancient volcanic plug rising from the ocean.

Morro Rock



The Dockside Too, is across the street from the Morro Bay Power Plant, if you keep driving downhill and towards the chimneys and the rock you will see a string of fish restaurants along the dockside. Dockside Too is closest to the rock footpath behind the Harbor Office.

Food at the Dockside Too is served fast food style, you order in the fish market portion where you can also buy fresh caught fish to take away. Your name is then called as your meal comes ready and you return to collect the food yourself. The food is very good and reasonably priced.

Dogs are very welcome to sit at your table outside and you can also get bowls of water and a basket of dog treats is close at hand for you to share a meal with your companion.

 

After you havve eaten you may want to walk down the path towards the rock, this path will eventually lead you around the car parking lot to the beach.

The walk snakes along the inlet and you will almost certainly see several Sea Otters along the walk as they dive for clams among the seaweed.

 

      You may be able to see the family of Sea Otters near to the Boat on Morro Bay inlet


For More Dog Friendly Places visit our Bookshop
 

Not Alone

There are days when I sit here typing and suddenly I here a shuffle or rustle down to my right.

I know I here the noise it is solid and I suddenly feel Polly is there again.

I took Polly's bed out of my office shortly after she died. It is cleaned and in the next room. Maybe my next dog will like it to lay on as much as Polly did. But it seems that even that dog bed is still here beside me.

Polly would sometimes shift on her bed and it would make a particular rustling sound, together with her very vocal sigh.

I don't believe that I imagine this sound. I wear headphones as I type in order to hear what I am typing from my screen reader and this sound comes across as solid as the voice of my screen reader.

It is rtue in my opinion that our furkids never really leave us. We carry them with us all our lives. But maybe, just maybe our furkids never do leave us. They spend some of their time just coming back to tell us everything is just fine.

 

I Hope For a New Dog

My hopes for the New Year are many. I hope to get back to work after my recent stroke, I hope that the Chicago Bears might win the Superbowl again soon, and I hope for a new dog.

The dog I am hoping for is not to replace Polly, non of our dogs is ever replaceable in anyway. They are individual and special.

No this new dog is going to be a working dog. He or she will be my guide dog.

I have been blind now for almost 3 years. I get about on my own with a white cane, but I would love a dog again. At the moment there is something missing in this house and it is a dog.

Sadly however the Guide Dog for the Blind charity here in the United States no longer use the German Shepherd as a guide dog. They use only Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers or a mix breed of those two.

My one regret in order to have a dog is to give up my German Shepherds.  Oh Well we can't always have exactly what we want.

At present I am waiting on my doctors and Guide Dogs for the Blind to contact each other. The long Christmas break is a bad time to start something, Isn't it?

Then a home check can be arranged and if that is successful I will be placed on a waiting list for training sometime in the summer or maybe Fall of 2013.

But that will fly

This one Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes

Have you ever left your shepherd for any length of time?

I did several times. But this video will bring all those feelings back.

A Shepherd goes after his ball in a game, comes back and his master is home from deployment.

Wonderful sloppy Shepherd growls ensue, but he won't give up the ball.

To any military reading this, thank you.