We're SOAR-ing!

Wanna help rescued Airedales? Wish you could donate some $ but a little short this month? YOU CAN STILL HELP! 

Airedale enthusiasts have banded together to benefit SOAR (Starting Over Airedale Rescue) in the Shelter Challenge. 

You can vote every day on every browser and on every computer using the links below. Click on each link, type "Airedale" in the Shelter name, "Michigan" (MI) in the State and hit Search. SOAR will come up. Click “Vote”, type in the Captcha code and that's it! Click on the purple button at the end to give food and care to shelter animals in need (The Animal Rescue Site gives away a lot of money to animal charities! Support 'em!), and they have cool stuff for critters with paws and critters without paws. 

Love,

Bogart 

1 http://tinyurl.com/2b5na43 

2 http://tinyurl.com/2c9vee8 

3 http://tinyurl.com/24qlmxf 

4 http://tinyurl.com/2a25t55 

5 http://tinyurl.com/399lrqr 

6 http://tinyurl.com/325mohh 

7 http://tinyurl.com/3amdtlo 

8 http://tinyurl.com/2vtjqa5 

9 http://tinyurl.com/362m6e5 

10 http://tinyurl.com/dlwdh5 

11 http://tinyurl.com/27t9lt7

12 http://tinyurl.com/2dfskxq 

13 http://tinyurl.com/25nxbfg 

14 http://tinyurl.com/2fvryuu 

15 http://tinyurl.com/2cncuyo 

16 http://tinyurl.com/3q8r2lb 

17 http://tinyurl.com/4yhgaa8 

18 http://tinyurl.com/3s494tl 

19 http://tinyurl.com/3dbhocz 

20 http://tinyurl.com/3mhc8me 

21 http://tinyurl.com/3v6uthu 

22 http://tinyurl.com/43l95s7 

23 http://tinyurl.com/3hyasqo

Hot Weathaire Tip

Find yourself out on a walkie on a stupidly-hot day like today?  I've got a great tip for you:

Whenever you get just too damn warm, hit the ATM.  Pretty much any ATM will do.  In my experience, they're all super-aire-conditioned, and most of 'em have tile floor.

Maybe your mama is like mine - not much reason to visit the ATM.  Something about me earning some cash so that we can visit the ATM more often (blah blah blah).

Friends, I GIVE YOU A REASON.  It's hot.  It's humid.  Hell, it might even be dangerous.  HIT THE ATM

Remind your dad or mama to bring that ATM card with you on your hot-weather-walkie.  They don't have to take any out (it's just to gain entry to this oasis of cool, breezy happiness). 

YOU'RE WELCOME

Love,

Bogart

Sunny Seat As Seen on Kafka

Around Chez Bogart, you know that we test out a lot of doggie products - I always give my honest opinion, and I just LOVE to get packages - but despite sharing my home with 4 kitties I don't often get them involved in the testing.  Today that will change as we've received a Sunny Seat to try.

Now.  We don't normally do the "as seen on TV" stuff no matter how intriguing they may be.  Firstly because Kafka (the short-haired orange tabby) won't let us get the remote, but also because we don't have cable, damnit.  And our antenna is one step above rabbit ears, so basically we never really see the stuff.  And at first look, we didn't have much hope that this would be all that great.

Sure, mama thought, there is no way this can hold even one cat, much less 50 pounds worth.  The pieces looked uninspiring.

But it was indeed really easy to assemble - taking the 5 minutes that the box said it would.  Whew!

After assembly, we attached it to our window with the big suction cups.  Hm.  It's staying.  We were pretty sure this was the moment it would fail, that the suction cups wouldn't do their job, and that it would fall off of the window sadly in a heap of plastic.  But we were wrong.

How best to test?  With our un-shy-est cat, Kafka.

Kafka is a sound 15-pounder.  He's not afraid of much, and once promised some chicken liver treats in exchange for posing for photos, was completely on board with our testing.

This holds!  It does what it says it does!  Thumbs up (is this the part where the chicken liver treats come out?)

Kafka - still waiting for those treats.  But damn, this window seat HOLDS.

A little lovin' for our fine, feline product tester.  Your butt for science, Kafka!

After the initial testing phase, Kafka took over the seat as his own.  We even caught him napping in it.  No sign of it coming off of the window.  As we said earlier, we thought that this wasn't going to work but this window seat really performed!  No tools needed, nothing that has to be screwed into walls, this just sticks on a window.  For us, it's big enough for one kitty, so we can't speak as to the holds-50-pounds-of-kitty claim, but it really does hold and Kafka seems quite content in it.  AWESOME!

Love,

Bogart

Hail Cesar!

Whoa, Nelly!  Lookie what arrived for me!

Ok, stop looking at it - MAMA OPEN THE DAMN BAG OR I SHALL BE FORCED TO OPEN IT MYSELF

Goodies!  Goodies!  Goodies!

The kind folks at Cesar dog foods sent over a care package chock full 'o goodness for me to sample.  Dog food, dog treats, and yeah some silly t-shirt for the humans.  GIMME THAT!

Yeah, yeah t-shirt, yada yada yada.  These smell awfully darned good...

Anything with the word Treats on it is fine in my book.  These are really cute, a sweet mixture of shapes and flavors.  Semi-soft for those times when crunchy just won't do.

Not just one bag was inside but two - making me believe that a dog was responsible for sending out this package.  A human might put in one little bag of treats, but a fellow dog KNOWS that ONE IS NEVER ENOUGH.

But this is what I've set my sights - uh, paws - on.  I could smell these through the box.  And I generally don't care for cans of dog food - mama makes my dinner in the crockpot each night (when she's not breaking them, that is) - but this is INTOXICATING.

All different flavors - this one is filet mignon - yeah JUST OPEN THE DAMN THING MAMA!

Hm.  I don't think that even when I was a puppy I was a particularly small dog.  Maybe compared to now.  But it's a cute t-shirt.  Kinda looks Westie-ish to me (woo-hoo fellow terriers!).

I have to say that mama wasn't expecting this - I generally turn up my substantial nose at store-bought dog food.  I suppose I'm a bit of a foodie (i.e. snob) about what I eat - a boy does get spoiled when he has a home-cooked meal every night after all.  But I went NUTSO for these and while one may be a satisfying meal for a little dog, 5 might be more like it for a mighty Dale of my impressive stature.

And a side benefit?  Guess who cleaned out the containers for easy recycling?  Thanks Behemoth!

This Cesar dog food gets a mighty 8 paws up (4 canine, 4 feline).  Every single flavor was gobbled.  I took the majority while my feline friend did the back-up work.  HAIL CESAR!

The kind folks at Cesar sent us two of these lovely bags-of-goodness and I'd love to share one with one of my blog readers!  The kit had a whole bunch 'o Cesar wet foods, two - count 'em, two! - bags of semi-soft treats, and a purple Small Dog, Big Love t-shirt.  Mama also wants to pass along the hot pink Small Dog, Big Love t-shirt as well, I'm not a small dog.  So rather than make this difficult, how about two folks who leave a comment on this blog including the words "ET TU, BRUTE?", add something amusing of their own, and provide their email address get one?  Before next Wednesday (August 10)?

Thanks again, Cesar!  DEE-LISH!

Love,

Bogart

Feeling Clean + Green

The nice folks at Clean + Green sent us a can of their carpet and upholstery cleaner, made especially for pet stains. As you can imagine, we have our share of those. Oddly, we received the can a few weeks back and there has been no VOMIT, POOP, or PEE in the meantime (well, not in any inappropriate places, that is - otherwise we'd explode).

Luckily, just as mama was about to give up, this appeared courtesy of Kafka (yes, it's cat puke):

And he was kind enough to "produce" on the off-white carpeting that covers our place. Purrfect. So we first cleaned up the "extra" bits per the instructions, and then soaked the new stain:

After waiting for about 15 minutes, most of the stain was gone, with no scrubbing:

After another round:

The stain was almost completely gone. And mama can confirm that the smell was gone as well.

At the get-go, we weren't expecting much. Mama has tried almost every product out there that claims to get rid of pet-related stains. We were really pleasantly surprised.

This product worked really well on fresh stains - it was a bit more challenged by older ones (yes, we have a few of those around as well). It definitely faded them (even one that wasn't pet-related) and didn't do any damage to the rug itself which was great. The can itself is large but empties rather quickly (after soaking the one new stain 2x and trying out 5 smaller older stains), but maybe mama soaked them more than necessary - if you have a lot of stains to remove, definitely get more than one can. I'd say that this was a really tough test for this product, as our carpet is both lightly colored and fuzzy and therefore difficult to clean (I can hear mama whining about it now), and it performed well and as advertised.

The bottom line is that Clean + Green is a definite Buy Me product, super to have around for "accidents" - especially ones that you find quickly. It's completely safe and non-toxic for pets (a BIG plus), and I saw some at my local pet store the last time I was there. Take a look for yourself at their website, you can buy online too!

Love,

Bogart

The Animal Rescue Site

While you're waiting for your daily dose of Dale dog-gone goodness, I thought I'd tell you about something I make mama do each morning. Every day an email pops up in her mailbox (because she would forget her head if it wasn't attached) reminding her to click and support The Animal Rescue Site. There is no catch - you just click and their sponsors pay for food and care for animals. You can shop there too and find unique dog and cat items whenever you need a gift for a fellow pet lover.

We are not affiliated with these folks - we are just ardent click-ers for the last few years - and thought it was time to spread the word. Especially since there are still no new Airedale photos because the memory card is on a plane somewhere, waiting to be united with mama's camera in an unholy union meant to spread the overwhelming cuteness that is my fuzzy butt throughout the world.

So check out The Animal Rescue Site
Or become a fan on Facebook

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programme.

Love,
Bogart

The Loved Dog

Lookie lookie here... a PACKAGE FOR ME

Yesss! The nice folks over at Fresh Pet sent me some of their newest treats to try... these are, like their Deli Fresh rolls of dog food, meant to be refrigerated. They're called The Loved Dog, and I got some beef and some chicken to try out!

First the sniff... I'd like to try the beef first please...

The last thing a beef treat sees...

That was good... now how about some of that chicken?

Lets start out being delicate...

Oh the heck with that, GIMME THAT TREAT

As always, in return for free booty I promise my true, unadulterated review. These were FANTASTIC! Mama was surprised - she says that the soft treats aren't usually my faves, and she wasn't sure if I was going to like theses - but wow are these tasty. Both the beef and the chicken. I assume you can get these in the same places that the Fresh Pet rolls of food are sold (I've bought them in PetCo in Los Angeles, and I just saw some at a Fred Meyer here in Portland), and based on my very scientific testing I must recommend that you cajole your humans into trying a bag. It's up to you whether you go for the chicken or the beef, I just couldn't decide.

Please continue to send me goodies. Honest review guaranteed!

Love,

Bogart

To Aire is Divine

Cuckoo for Cocoa Mulch - Warning

This is forwarded from a good Airedale friend - and unlike many product stories that I see or hear about, this one seems to be worth some further inspection and awareness, especially as summer is almost upon us and we dogs get curious about new stuff in the garden...

Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog, Calypso, decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats. Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.'

Information about the mulch can be found here - Snopes.com: Cocoa Mulch

Theobromine (in Cocoa Mulch) is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

Feel free to pass this along to other gardening dog owners...

Love,
Bogart
To Aire is Divine

DogPause - A Review

Well, looky here...

When a package arrives for me, mama lets me open it myself. This was on the front stoop, clearly addressed to Bogart Handsome Devil. I just had to figure out the best way to get it open...

Come on mom, WHAT IS IT???

Enquiring minds need to know...

Fine. If you won't tell me, then I'll read the letter myself.

Hand me that letter, foul woman!

Oh cooool. It's a dog bowl!

But it's not just any bowl... it's got these compartments in it, not like anything I've seen before.

The nice folks at Long Tail Pet Products sent this especially for me to give a whirl! The bowl is called the DogPause bowl, and it's meant to slow eager eaters down, preventing bloat and other problems. And I got two of 'em!!!

Ok mom, now exactly how am I supposed to test these fine bowls if there is NO FOOD???

Hehehe. Since we moved I've learned to eat the canned chow instead of my usual homemade goodies. I know that dad will get back on the stick sometime and make me my yummies, but for now this is awfully tasty...

I should say from the beginning that I'm not usually a voracious eater. But I can easily see how a bowl like this would slow ya down...

You've gotta be really good, work that tongue around, twist the head, to get at all of the meaty goodness.

I've gotta say that this is a really great product! I think I might have to try it out on some more of my hardcore Airedale buddies to do a really true test, but mom was really impressed. And of course, it has this cute doggie in the center of each bowl:

So my friends, if you have issues with eating too fast and your humans are worried about you, stop by the website and pick up your own DogPause bowl. And remember... I only recommend stuff that I personally try out, and I give you my true review!!!

This one is a 4-paws up!

Love,

Bogart

To Aire is Divine