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What Do You Know About Maltese?

PetSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:00:08 -0700

My new favorite show Greatest American Dog ended this week and while little Andrew didn't take the top spot, the judges said he was the "most incredible Maltese" they have ever witnessed.

Andrew was the highest scoring dog in trial at the annual Town and Country Kennel Club Show and was named the top Maltese in the U.S. Novice Rally Competition so clearly he's a winner of sorts even though he isn't America's greatest. What do you know about his breed? Take this quiz and find out!

Photo courtesy of CBS

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What Do You Know About Pointers?

PetSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:30:49 -0700

If you watched Greatest American Dog you're probably familiar with runner up J.D and his daredevil English Pointer and Border Collie mix, Galaxy (sometimes called “G-Money”). Galaxy is known for being athletic and adventurous, and like many Pointers has great power and agile grace. I have already tested you on Border Collies, but what do you know about Pointers? Take my quiz and find out!
Photo courtesy of CBS

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What Do You Know About Boxers?

PetSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:30:13 -0700

It wasn't a huge surprise when Travis's darling Boxer, Presley, was crowned the Greatest American Dog this week, especially because the two were one of my favorite teams from the get-go. Travis describes Presley as "hyper, intelligent, affectionate, ultrafriendly, and playful," which fits right in line with the Boxer breed. What else do you know about Boxers? Take my quiz and find out!

Photo courtesy of CBS

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Should Presley and Travis Have Won Greatest American Dog?

PetSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:45:54 -0700

Yesterday 56 percent of PetSugar readers predicted Presley and Travis would be crowned the champions of Greatest American Dog and they were spot on! Travis, the lovable 29-year-old bartender, and Presley, his one-and-a-half year old Boxer, took their triumphant victory lap together after beating out the 11 other teams of dogs and owners from across the US. Travis accepted the honor with complete humility, saying:

"The greatest American dog doesn't have to be perfect...It's about the love for your animals."

Photo courtesy of CBS

Greatest American Dog Recap: "And the Winner Is. . ."

PetSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:15:14 -0700

First off, I can't believe this show is over already! It feels like just yesterday we were getting to know these super pooches and their (sometimes dramatic) owners. But last night it was all about the final three. Within the first 30 minutes of the show we were eliminating one of the finalists after a round of interviews, and said goodbye to JD and Galaxy who took their final lap in the show. I thought Galaxy was an amazing dog and only wish North could catch his Frisbees like her!

For the second Best in Show challenge the final two – Travis and Presley, Laurie and Andrew – were sent through a tough K9 course, and caught up with an old pal – Suzy the elephant! Yup, Suzy was back to help out in this challenge again, but this time the finalists would have to get closer to her than ever before. To see my rundown on the challenge, and find out who took the top prize as Greatest American Dog, just read more.

Presley and Andrew had to run the K9 course and fetch their favorite toy from underneath Suzy as the last challenge of the day. The contestants were judged on delivery of commands, proximity to their dog, and progress. With Travis and Presley up first, I knew that he would probably fly through the course – which he did – and get held up on fetching his toy from under Suzy. I was right, but I have to give the guy some credit – I keep forgetting he's only 16-months-old! That elephant would scare any puppy.

Laurie and Andrew were less impressive on the K9 course, with Laurie seeming to hover over Andrew, not letting him show his stuff. The little Maltese totally blew me away when he had to come face to face with Suzy. Andrew ran right underneath the 9,000 pound elephant and got his toy! Fearless, that one.

The final round of judging came in the Best in Show arena where the finalists were welcomed by all the past contestants – it was nice to see all my favorites in one room again! After a round of questioning ("Why is your dog the Greatest American Dog"), the winner was crowned. It was Travis and Presley! The youngster took the crown for his athleticism, enthusiasm, and for his improvement over the course of the show, all the while proving you don't have to be perfect to be a winner. It seems there wasn't a dry eye in the house as they made their way around the ring – not only was Brandy wiping her eyes, but so was Michael, one of my early faves. Although I'm sad to see it go, I can't wait to see if this show gets picked up for another season – it's definitely on my short list of shows I must watch! Now that the show has taken its final lap, what are your thoughts on the show? Will you tune in again?

Who Do You Want to Win Greatest American Dog?

PetSugar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:00:27 -0700

Check out the last three pups standing for the title of Greatest American Dog! The show's finale is tonight and I know I'm tuning in to watch Galaxy (J.D.'s Border Collie/Pointer mix), Presley (Travis' Boxer), and Andrew (Laurie's Maltese) battle it out for a cool $250,000. No doubt there'll be more crazy competitions – before seeing who performs the best, who'd get your vote now?

CBS.com

What Do You Know About the Border Collie?

PetSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:00:07 -0700

I was sad to see the high energy (and noisy) Leroy leave Greatest American Dog last week. This Border Collie was super sharp – some consider the breed to be the most intelligent of all pups – but how smart are you in your knowledge about them? Test yourself in this quiz.

Photo courtesy of CBS

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Reward Good Behavior Instead of Punishing the Bad

PetSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:00:30 -0700

I know January's the beginning of the year, but for many lucky kids (pets are like our children, right?), September kicks off a whole new start. In honor of back to school, I'd like to add even more advice and tips from me – and all of you – to the site!
Do you have problems you want to work on? Submit them to my Pet Peeves group. I'll be tackling them as they come in . . . and even asking the rest of you to chime in as well. Just think of this as your own support group for your furry friends.

To start it off, I wanted to share a simple training trip I learned from Teresa (of Greatest American Dog):

We use positive reinforcement and clicker training a lot. When Leroy does something that I like, I click and treat. It's not necessarily food, I could use a ball or a frisbee as his treat. When he does things that I don't like, I redirect him to something else that he could be doing. So it's not 'no, no, no, no,' it's what else can I give you to do so you can't do the wrong thing . . . so you can get praised which leads to the right thing being repeated. I'm trying to get as many correct things out of him as possible.

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Greatest American Dog Recap: My Chat With Teresa!

PetSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:30:53 -0700

With just one (!) more episode of Greatest American Dog, I got the chance to chat with Teresa, who was eliminated last week with her Border Collie, Leroy. We talked about her water-loving pup, and I got her side of the story on those controversial snarl bands. Learn all about Leroy's barking, his new BFF, and much more in the interview below.

PetSugar: How's Leroy doing with the barking?
Teresa: He only barks in a high-energy performance setting. He's sitting right by me now . . . no barking. Practice time . . . no barking. Performance time . . . barking. He just loves to do it and it's part of his style. It's getting slightly better but it's going to take some time to get it to be perfect. I need to figure out how to keep his brain more stimulated (if I do the same things over and over he gets bored). It may make things harder for me but, if it makes it easier on him and curbs some of the barking, then that's what we'll have to do.

PetSugar: What was your dog's favorite part of this experience?
Teresa: I think it's pretty obvious that he loved the pool and to be able to let loose and not be under tight wraps all the time. He's loved water since he was a puppy. Normally I try to get him to at least look at me because there are times when I don't want a sopping wet dog, but for the most part he did listen and it is a good impulse control exercise for him. I tried to let him swim as much as I could – he probably swam at least 45 minutes every day – and we don't ever get to do that at home.

PetSugar: Did Leroy have any special friends on the show?
Teresa: Laura and I clicked immediately and we've become the best of friends since then. In such a short period of time I feel like I've known her since like kindergarten. We just had little tags made that say "Be" and "Fri" on one side for Preston, and Leroy wears on his tag "st" and "end," so when it comes together it says "Best Friend." Preston looks like a little, white toy breed, but he doesn't behave like that – he's a giant dog wrapped up in a little Pomeranian body. Leroy normally doesn't like other dogs as much as he likes Preston. He has his circle of friends, and Preston really broke through that circle and has become Leroy's friend, East Coast or West Coast.

PetSugar: And favorite toys?
Teresa: Anything that you can throw! If you throw the top of a Tupperware container, he's going to think it's a frisbee. You throw something round, like throw an apple, he's gonna fetch it and think it's a ball. He also really likes any kind of toy with things hanging from it like a Wubba – he'll shake it and shake it and hit himself over the head . . . I think that's what it's for?

Finally, hear her side of the "angry" challenge when you read more.

PetSugar: How do you feel about the use of the word "angry"?
Teresa: Angry was by far the hardest word. I don't necessarily think it was an appropriate word, but we just assumed that everything had been approved. Leroy does bite a lot at things that are out of control, like water or hoses or air, and I thought that we could do it. We used spray bottle and the hose to try to get him to show his teeth, which he did. You don't see that I'm clicking and rewarding and doing all of that as well; they cut that positive part of it out, and I can understand how it looks controversial. But he does bite by the pool, you see him bite at all the water [in last week's episode]. I thought I could teach the snarl first without using anything.

PetSugar: So then you went to the snarl bands . . .
Teresa: Laura had mentioned the snarl bands and that it would help with the stress of having to learn this in such a short time. He didn't love it but little puppies don't love collars, other dogs don't like harnesses or gentle leaders. I took one of the two avenues and I don't feel that it was inhumane; we were just trying to get the snarl and reward as best as we could. We got the shot really quickly and left the photo shoot early . . . he got to play a whole lot in the studio so he didn't leave there with any kind of bad taste in his mouth.

Source

Do You Let Pets Jump Up?

PetSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:30:23 -0700

One of my favorite comments from last night's episode of Greatest American Dog came from Laurie's interaction with the other contestants' dogs. While her Maltese, Andrew, is tiny, he's also super mellow and well-behaved. When Presley (Travis's big Boxer) jumped up on her, she seemed shocked and said that wasn't OK with "Auntie Laurie" . . . ha! How do you feel about your pets jumping up on strangers?

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