Foot-longs won’t be the only dogs at tonight’s Mets game.  It’s Dog Day at Shea Stadium!! 

The game starts at 7:10pm, but dog owners can show up any time after 6:00pm to hang out in the picnic area and participate in a pre-game dog parade around the outfield.

Tasty ballpark concessions and being able to hang out with the dogs would provide more than adequate entertainment for me, but I’m sure the Mets & Brewers will also delight with some excellent baseball (if that’s the kind of thing that you’re into).

The $5 admission for your dog plus a portion of the $30 human admission will go to support the North Shore Animal League.

I think this is the last Dog Day at Shea Stadium (which is being replaced by Citi Field in ‘09), however the promotional schedule on the Mets homepage lists Dog Day on Sept 5.  They don’t have it listed for today, so I’m assuming the promo calendar is just out of day, but maybe we’ll get another Dog Day in September!  Here’s hoping….

Make sure to check out our Dog Calendar for more fun dog/dog-friendly events throughout NYC.

Hey dog lovers - Sport your orange gear tonight at Union Square in support of ASPCA Day!

The stars of Animal Planet’s Animal Precinct will be on hand.  You can also enjoy music, food, pet tips and more with your pup and hang out with other animal fans. 

The ASPCA will also have their mobile adoption unit on hand, so that you can meet some of the wonderful dogs that are just waiting to find their forever homes!

Festivities go from 4:00-8:00pm, hope to see you there!

Make sure to check out our Dog Calendar for more fun dog/dog-friendly events throughout NYC.

In light of some disturbing accounts of the treatment of dogs in war-torn areas of the world by US troops, it’s refreshing to hear some inspiring stories about soldiers rescuing dogs and bringing them back to the US to live with their families.

A friend forwarded me this story about Nubs, a German Shepherd/Border Collie mix, being reunited with the marine who rescued him.  Incredibly, when the Marine’s unit was relocated, Nubs somehow tracked them to their new location 70 miles away!!

The SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) International is one organization that raises money to rescue dogs around the world.   The group says it gets several requests a day to help rescue dogs that soldiers befriend in both Iraq and Afghanistan.   wcbstv.com ran an article a few weeks ago about two of the dogs that have been rescued with the financial support of SPCA International.  Here’s a picture of the rescued pups, K-Pot & Liberty:

We wish these wonderful dogs all the best in their new lives!

Who are these people that don’t pick up their dog’s poop?  Yeah, I said “poop” and I’ll say it again.  Poop. 

Okay, it’s kind of gross, but I have to ask my fellow dog owners…do you find yourselves talking about poop a lot??  Before we had a dog, I can’t remember talking about poop at all.  But now, I don’t think a day goes by that Anya & I don’t have at least a brief exchange regarding Oscar’s poop - frequency, size, consistency.  Is that weird???  I mean we’re just trying to keep tabs on whether he’s sick, going on enough walks and trying to make sure that his diet is agreeing with him.  That’s normal, right?

Anyway, every day there is fresh poop on my block, and on most of the surrounding blocks we walk on.  Anya and I have a long standing joke (since way before we had a dog) about poop we’d see on the sidewalk.  Anya said that she heard somewhere that the owners of guide dogs didn’t have to pick up their dog’s poop.  Now, I’m not sure if this is true, but it makes sense - I certainly wouldn’t expect a blind person to feel around on the groud for it.  So, every time we’d see poop on the sidewalk, we’d just say with a smile, ”Must be a seeing eye dog!” 

However, now that we’re dog owners, we’re taking the poop a little more seriously.  After all, if someone doesn’t pick up their dog’s poop, it’s a reflection on all dog owners. 

I pick up Oscar’s poop for another very simple reason (other than the fact that it’s required by law):  The Golden Rule.  I don’t like to step in poop!  And forensic poop evidence (CSI: Poop Police)  suggests that many of these droppings are definitely too small to be from a guide dog. 

Oh, and while we’re on the stinky subject - there should be a class in poop picking also.  You don’t need to mash the poop into the sidewalk like you’re making some sort of abstract finger painting -  don’t attack the poop - it’s not your enemy.  A delicate cradle & flip movement will usually extract even more stubborn poops from the sidewalk without leaving a trail of sidewalk devastaion in their wake.

Who knew that Brooklyn had it’s own Dog Whisperer???   According to an article in the Daily News, Tyril Frith is the Dog Whisperer of Brooklyn can be found working his magic in Prospect Park and in the homes of Brooklyn residents.

Tyril is compared to the original Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, because he employs training methods that are not reward or treat-based.  However, compared to Millan who emphasizes being the pack-leader and encouraging calm-submissive behavior, Frith’s methods seem to be point blank negative reinforcement.  The article gives examples of shock collars and rattling bottles filled with pennies.

Now, I’m certainly no dog training expert, but I really hope we never get to the point where we would consider using a shock collar on Oscar!!  I would say that we use a combination of reward-based training and pack leader behavior and I think we’ve been pretty successful.  I’m sure proponents of each training method would argue that the methods need to be practiced exclusively to be effective, but I think Oscar would be obese if we only used treat-based training and I don’t think we’d have as strong of a bond if we were the pack leaders all the time.

Interestingly, if you read the comments below the article, you will see testimonials from a number of Tyril’s former clients.  So, to each his own, I guess…as long as no dogs are harmed in the process and it’s creating a happier situation for dogs & their owners.

Any comments on Frith’s training style or training methods that you’ve found particularly effective?

Josh found this article on MSNBC about a Chihuahua who has learned to pray with his owner, who is a Buddhist priest in Japan!

And we thought that we were clever by training Oscar to do the traditional “bow” motion to the command of “Yoga” - get it??? Downward facing dog!!!  Anyway, too cute…