The DogCast Radio blog

It's a slogan that is repeated each year, but sadly it needs repeating:

CANINE CHRISTMAS AT DOGS TRUST RODEN
A reminder that “A dog is for Life, Not just for Christmas®”
Thirty one years on from the birth of its famous slogan “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas®” Dogs Trust, which has 18 Rehoming Centres in the UK and Ireland, is bracing itself for another busy Christmas. 

Well I met Otto the world's official oldest dog today at the Dogs Trust centre at Roden today. When I phoned my Mom and mentioned that, she asked what he was like, and it made me think for a moment, because he was a dog, what did she expect? She clarified - "Was he like an ordinary dog?" I laughed, because yes he was just like an ordinary dog!

He wagged his tail and ran up to his "mom" when she came into the room, and he had a fuss from anyone who wanted to fuss him, and he was generally great -

I'm hoping to meet the oldest dog in the world soon, and if you're anywhere near Shropshire you can too - just for the price of a donation! Here's more info:

WORLD’S OLDEST CANINE, OTTO, VISITS DOG RESCUE CENTRE

- Shropshire’s most famous doggy resident (and Guinness World Record Holder) pays a visit to Dogs Trust Roden

Watch this video to see the wonder of what a dog can be.

Amazing!

Take care,

Julie x

You may remember in Episode 91 of DogCast Radio we ran a competition to win Ziggy the painting dog goodies. We announced the winners in episode 94 and you can see Elizabeth and Ziggy's video blog about it and show what the prizes were above. Thanks to them for putting up the goodies, and I hope Ziggy is inspired to paint many more masterpieces. Elizabeth was wonderful to interview, and if you'd like to know how Ziggy started painting and what his working methods are, do give that interview a listen.

In Episode 50 of DogCast Radio there's an interview with Angela Mitchell about her book Your First Great Dane. This book was inspired by her experiences with her own Great Danes, and now she's written another book about the breed she loves. Here's what she says about it:

"'Two Great Danes' is the follow-up to my successful book 'Your First Great Dane', and is once again a humorous 'tell it like it 'is' account of life with, this time, 2 Great Danes in my house. And along with some more handy hints and tips, because of Bob's hugely different character to Hovis, there are many more laugh out loud moments which I hope the readers will enjoy. Although it is very much a 'stand alone' book, it does read better after having enjoyed 'Your First Great Dane'."

So if you are a Great Dane fan, or you know someone who is, check out Two Great Danes at the Parapress site.

I've just read a fascinating article on stray dogs in Moscow entitled Smartest Dogs: Moscow Stray Dogs . Apparently a growing number of dogs who have to fend for themselves are developing impressive and effective new ways of "hunting" down their food, courtesy of unwitting humans!

I have interviewed David Frei (in Episode 76 of DogCast Radio) about The National Dog Show and thought it sounded very interesting. Up till now I couldn't watch it from the UK, but this year I will be able to watch it online. Now all I need to find is where I can watch the Thanksgiving parade online for the full experience. Here's more information about The National Dog Show:

If you think you have trouble stopping your dog escaping, check out this canine escape artist! I love the point when she is halfway out and suddenly seems to realise how long a way it is down to the ground. I also love the two dogs waving her off at the end. Cute, but I bet it's annoying to have to deal with!

Take care,

Julie x

I watched the weather forecast this morning which informed me that the morning would be dry but by the afternoon heavy rain would set in. So I decided to switch my day around and walk the dogs in the morning to avoid getting wet. (Remember me not wanting to get wet later in the story.)

A few weeks ago we added two kittens to our growing menagerie. This was something we did with full commitment, but some trepidation as we obviously already have two dogs, plus Anthony is allergic to some cats. However, having made the decision to take them in, we were determined to make it work. You can hear more details in this weekend's show about how the canines and felines have settled down together, but as shown in the photos they are now perfectly happy and relaxed in each other's company.