Allow us to introduce you to a phenomenal dog project, appropriately called Project Dog, that is based in San Fransisco.  Founded by beautiful dog photographer, Kira Stackhouse, Project Dog is at its core a book project, attempting to photograph the AKC’s 170+ dog breeds (a purebred and a rescue dog of each breed) in hopes of becoming a full colour coffee table book.  350 pages of gorgeous pet photography in iconic San Fransisco settings — who doesn’t want that resting on their coffee table?

Project Dog is presently on Kickstarter and needs your help and pledges to make this gorgeous dream a reality. The time to donate pledges will be closed August 27th (tomorrow!) so if you have a moment and an extra penny or two please visit the Project Dog Kickstarter page to learn more about how you can help.  Oh, and be sure to keep an eye out for Kira in our upcoming fall issue to learn some behind-the-scenes secrets of Project Dog! Best of luck Kira!

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During our mini-vacation Rory was also kept busy learning a new trick — the belly crawl! It’s important to give your dog new things to learn as it challenges them, provides them with a sense of  doggy accomplishment and gives them with a beneficial mental workout.  The belly crawl is far more than a party trick, often taught to police dogs to help them in tight situations.  Rory, of course, is no police dog and her crawls are simply for fun and games. But how do you teach a canine who is used to walking on four legs to suddenly start shimmying along the ground? Here’s what we did.

To begin with Rory had a nice long run to exhaust some of her plentiful energy and make her a little more receptive to the training process.  She was then asked to lie down, a trick that she mastered ages ago.  A treat was placed approximately two feet away from Rory on the floor and the words ‘Rory — Crawl — Yes’ were repeated slowly to her. It is important to use your pet’s name when training them so that they know the new command is directed towards them. We added the word ‘yes’ to let Rory know that she was allowed to have the treat, as she has been taught to wait before taking.

Keeping a hand on Rory’s back to encourage the crawling action, Rory was then moved towards the treat and rewarded with it and enthusiastic congratulations. While she moved towards the treat the word, “Crawl” was spoken to her so that the action became associated with the term. The process was then repeated about a dozen times and then not readdressed until the following day. When we attempted the ‘crawl’ again Rory’s clever poodle mind remembered the action and only needed correcting a couple of times, scuttling along the floor in little pounce-like motions. By day three she was a smooth operator and crawled for her treat like a pro! Needless to say she is as pleased as punch with herself and now has a new skill added to her repertoire!

Let us know if you teach your dog to crawl and let us know how they get on!

All photos by AT Photography

Reason number one for loving the country getaway — table manners don’t matter! Rory wasted no time at all hopping up onto a picnic table and settling down for a good session of stick gnashing.

We call this her ‘dump truck move.’ Although very excited to see water, Rory has the hilarious habit of dashing wildly towards it then pausing like a miniature dump truck as she decides whether she actually likes this crazy wet thing called water or not.

…of course, she always comes around to the idea of having her paws wet and soon enough will spend as much time as possible paddling around, chasing splashes or just stopping to take the refreshing lake air.

No outdoor adventure would be complete without a trusty tennis ball (or two in case you lose one). Look at this crazy puppy dashing around with her favourite toy! It all becomes a big game of chase soon enough with intermittent rounds of fetch and frequent pauses to shake herself dry.

However, when it is finally time to leave the water for another day and cozy up inside, we inevitably have to deal with this face — the look that pleads, ‘Aw, come on. Five more minutes?’

It’s only a matter of moments when she’s finally tucked up on the couch indoors beside a soothing fireplace before those lovable chocolate brown eyes start to droop and she drifts off to sleep. Hope you have all had a lovely week so far! We are happy to be back! xo

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We’re taking a few days off this week to get away to the country and recharge our batteries before resuming the final stretch on our fall issue, which will be coming to you soon!  But while we’re away be sure to send us your favourite pet photos for the August Pet of the Month contest — we can’t wait to see your little furballs! See you on Thursday!