Puppies That Nip & How to Fix It

Bear, Chocolate Labrador

I love puppies, but those cuties really do have sharp teeth.  I ran into Bear at the TV station and he was just going to town on his leash.  Then he substituted my hands for teething.  Bear was there with Jake the Vet who does a regular segment on New England Cable News.  Jake says the best way to discourage a puppy from biting is to use your thumb as a tongue depressor.  It works.

Samantha, Naples, FL

The same theory works for taking largemouth bass off hooks.  They don't have teeth, but they have some pretty pokey bristles around their mouths.  When you stick your thumb in their mouths and hold on tightly (see above), they just go limp.

Now I know some smarty pants is probably wondering if the same thing can be applied to the human species.  I'll only say this; if someone tries it on me, they're not getting their thumb back!

Cute Dog Pictures

Bailey, Sarasota, FL

What does the headline of each blog entry have to do with what it's about?  Not much, or everything.  One thing we've discovered since we started the Follow the Dog Home Blog along with the book, is that nothing gets attention quite like cute dog pictures.  I could write a heckuva good entry with thrilling content, but if there's no picture, there are no takers.  I get it, and you know what?  I'm a sucker for a cute dog picture as much as anyone else.  That's Bailey above.  I bumped into him at a birthday party in Sarasota.  More on bumping into strange dogs below.

Beverly, Wellesley, MA

We're wrapping up a nice vacation in Florida; and while I was busy frolicking with the kids and the Mrs. in the pool, and trying to fool every largemouth bass in the Sunshine State with plastic worms, I couldn't help but think about how much I miss my dog, Beverly.  I'm sure she's anxiously looking out the window back home in Massachusetts wondering when we're coming home.

While in Naples, Florida I discovered a dog park around the Lely Resort.  There I met plenty of elderly snowbirds who wondered who shows up at a dog park sans dog?  I do.  They may have found it odd, but their dogs didn't.

Hank, hankering for more catch & fetch

Hank the Goldendoodle wore himself and my arm out with a sloppy game of fetch.  Slipperiest tennis ball I've ever touched.  Awesome dog.

Sheba, Great Dane

Sheba, the four-year-old 170-pound Great Dane above is the biggest female dog I've ever seen.  In true Great Dane fashion, she did everything well... big.  She gave me loving kisses that, because of the drool, stayed longer than the affection.  She was such a sweetie.

And then there was Mays, as in Willie Mays.  Man did he like to play.  He was cruising at full speed along with a Whippet named Ollie when, CRASH!  They slammed into me like two linebackers on a blitz.  It was really something, but none of us was worse for wear, although I was wearing dirt and gobs of more doggy saliva after that too.  But that's the life of a dog park party crasher, and it's a good life, when your best dog is home alone.

Mays, Yellow Lab