Daisy Sawtelle
Canine Reporter

What is so hard about understanding dog behavior? All my dog friends have noses that can smell anything from drugs to diseases to body rescues. If you want us dogs to do something and we become stubborn and indifferent… don’t panic and become agitated.

Use our noses to help you to understand dog behavior.

Try some of the following tips:

Medications.

I don’t like the idea of taking drugs that don’t smell natural. Robert, my owner, uses my nose to seduce me to take any meds I wouldn’t ordinarily take in a pill form. He grinds up the meds and mixes them into my chow.

Another trick he uses is to take the pill and stuff it into some cheese, liverwurst, or ham. Yummy.

However, there are big gelatin pills that you can’t crush into our chow. They must be swallowed whole and that I don’t like. Robert tries to stuff them down my throat but I just spit it out. He gets very agitated.

Now, he lets me sniff the pill with some butter on it and I can’t wait to swallow it. Cool.

Discipline

I don’t always come when I am called…I’m like a little kid. However, I have a big advantage over a kid. A kid won’t always come for an oatmeal cookie, but I will. I can smell it from 10 feet away. I can smell it if it’s in your purse or pocket or kitchen table.

I will also roll over, fetch, sit, sing, retrieve, and shake hands because I can smell or know a treat is coming. But don’t tease me and not give me a treat when I perform because your credibility suffers.

BE CONSISTENT and reward me after every command and you will begin to understand dog behavior by using our noses.

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Daisy Sawtelle
Canine Reporter

As you know SPAM has a nasty reputation when it comes to computer email and has spawned an anti SPAM industry devoted to SPAMS destruction. A noble effort indeed.

I just got back from Austin, Texas where I was comparing dog life there with Austin, MN. dog life.

Austin, TX is a big place compared to Austin, MN…500,000 vs. 23,000. So what?

It seems that Austin, TX dogs eat what Austin, MN makes…SPAM. Not a good idea.

Just like computer SPAM, it is not good for dogs either and will consume and create pain for dogs, people, AND computers.

My findings in Austin, TX tells me that 25% of the informed hungry dogs actually eat this stuff because they have to but only 15% actually like it.

Most dogs don’t know where it comes from but accept its safety. However, the really informed dogs from the graduate dog owners of the University of Texas and the LBJ Library disdain this name and product. They said that SPAM contained too much fat and that eating it would lead to Pancreatitis in dogs. True.

I had to deny any connection with Austin, MN and say that I was from Embarrass, MN. where our sled dogs happen to agree with the informed Texas dogs but eat SPAM anyway… for one reason only and that is for body insulation against the cold. It gets 50 degrees below zero there in the winter.

The Austin, MN dogs are kept ignorant of the danger of SPAM because it adds to the nasty reputation SPAM has with computers and Pancreatitis. Besides, it is made in their hometown. What they do there to distract attention from SPAM is to hold a competitive Boomerang Fetch contest.

The dog’s owner throws a boomerang for his dog to fetch to see how close he can come to his sitting fat dog. The dog is timed to go fetch and the quickest dog gets a reward of a Big Mac with fries. Oy.

You have heard of fat cats but now you know about fat dawgs as well. (The fat cats make this stuff…Hormel.)

Conclusion: Stay away from SPAM unless you are from Embarrass, MN.

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