Do you have dog show or trial ribbons in drawers, show catalogs, or the glovebox of your car? Why not display them in a decorative clear glass jar? This makes a festive reminder of those show weekends. Keep the ribbons bright by placing it out of direct sun. Cheap, cheerful, easy, fun!

It’s hot. Dash makes very brief trips to the backyard, only when necessary. My plants have stopped growing. My car could double as a sauna. We have little ambition. This is the perfect time to stay in the air conditioning and do a little internet browsing. Why not see what dogs are doing in other parts of the world?

• Kenya the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and her humans live in Canada. Kenya and family been blogging since August 2005. Her blog has short posts but lots of photos and a great sense of humor. It’s one of our favorites.

• Find out what it’s like to raise a Guide Dogs of America puppy raiser with Jenny.

• Jon, of Dogblog, lives in San Francisco and has become famous for photographing dogs “tied to things” around the city. It’s oddly fascinating to look at the expressions and posture of these city dogs as they wait for their people.

• Zippy the Corgi’s blog is approaching it’s fifth year. Zippy’s blog is full of extras; pictures, movies, games, stories. What a busy guy.

How do you find more dog blogs? Two dedicated blog search engines are Google Blog Search or Ice Rocket Blog Search, but truthfully, I have better luck just searching on Google. Search for blogs about your breed, your favorite dog sport, or dogs in a certain locale. Type in blog and your choice of keywords (like beagle, tracking, or California).

Why not set up your own blog? Blogs are a great way for far-away friends and relatives to keep up with you and your dog. Blogger is free and very easy to use. Other blogging services are Wordpress (Good Dog Ideas is powered by Wordpress), Typepad, Live Journal, and Movable Type.

Do you have a favorite dog blog? We’d love to hear about it.

Would you like to keep up on dog news across the globe? Sit back and let Google do the legwork!

For a simple one-time search, go to Google News.

What do you want to read about? Dog news in your town, dog legislation, maybe agility trials?

Type the phrase “agility trials” in parentheses. (Hint: If you do not use parentheses, you will get news articles about agility trials, but also irrelevant articles that happen to use the words agility and trials, but not necessarily together.)

Perhaps you want to read about chihuahuas doing agility, any time, anywhere. Type the words dog agility chihuahua without parentheses and click the search button. (Hint: Typing your search terms in lower case will often give you more results.)

To continually monitor the news for your interest, you can have Google News email you periodically when news stories that would interest you are published. Here’s how:

Go to Google Alerts

• Type the keywords you are interested in, for example, “rhodesian ridgeback” (in parentheses) or basenji in the Search Terms box.
• Select the sources you want Google to search; news, the web, both news & the web, or discussion groups? (I would suggest starting with only news, or news and web.)
• Select how often you’d like email notifications from Google; once a week, daily, or as-it-happens.
• Type in the email address where you want your notifications sent. Click “create alert”.
• Google will send an email to this address, asking you verify that you made the request (an anti-spam measure). Open the email and click to verify.

You can go to Google Alerts at any time and cancel, change, or add new search requests.

Note: The majority of news sites publish articles for anyone to read. Some news sites require you to sign up for a free account to read articles. A few sites require a paid subscription before you can read articles.

If you’ve never seen flyball, it is a lot of fun. Screaming, crazy fun, if Austin’s Dogzrule Flyball group is anything to go by. These well-edited videos will put a big grin on your face and have you moving to the music.

• Dogzrule Flyball Austin – Dogs in Action! (1 min 54 sec)
• Dogzrule Flyball Bloopers (1 min 59 sec)

You want one more, don’t you?

• Dogzrule Summer Survivor (2 min 44 sec)

A note about quality: The videos are sharper when played at the original size. On Google, playback size is selected by the little down arrow at the bottom right of the video. On YouTube, the second button from the right at the bottom toggles between the original size and the slightly larger full preview screen.

See the earlier post on how to find dog videos online.)

Caveat:

As always, be careful what you download to your computer. Use your antivirus software and only dowload from a site you trust.

Dogs and senior citizens are a great match. A dog-loving senior can get so much from the right dog; companionship and unconditional love, a sense of purpose, confidence, and improved health. The lucky dog wins as well. He gains a loving home, a best friend, and an important job.

Do you want to help foster these relationships? Here are some ideas:

• Take your well-socialized, well-mannered, well-groomed, and vaccinated or titered dog for regular visits to nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Contact the director before visiting. Ask if they welcome canine visitors, and what their requirements are. Visit Therapy Dogs International for more information.

• Do you know a senior who would love to have a dog, but cannot easily afford one? Commit to cover all or a portion of a dog’s expenses, on your own or as a group. Be sure you can keep your financial committment. Be prepared to rehome or take the dog if the senior can no longer keep it.

• Help a senior find the right dog. Enlist the help of shelter and rescue workers, or a behaviorist. Often, the less-energetic senior dog is the best choice for a senior citizen. The Senior Dogs Project has a list of groups that specialize in matching senior citizens with senior dogs. Help the new owner and her dog through the adjustment period. Offer to help the senior teach her dog the basics, and maybe a few tricks.

• Walk a dog and clean up the yard for someone who cannot easily do so. This simple act may allow that person to keep their dog. (This is a good volunteer opportunity for responsible, dog-loving kids.)

• Big bags of dog food are economical, but heavy. Offer to get a neighboring senior’s dog food during your errands and deliver it to her.

• Help a senior bathe and groom her dog.

• Volunteer to transport dog and owner to the vet for care.

• Volunteer to dog-sit if a senior has to be away from home.

• Are you a good trainer? Volunteer to teach low-cost or free classes covering the basics of manners, obedience, dog psychology, and health care to group of seniors and their dogs. They may be the best students you’ve ever taught.

Americans spend billions of dollars on their pets every year. Toys are a major player in the pet market. There are some budget buys, though. How about browsing the dollar stores for inexpensive toys for your dog?

In the pet section, I found tennis balls in various sizes, and name brand chew ropes. There are also lightweight latex squeaky toys that would be suitable only for non-chewers. Be mindful of your dog’s habits and decide what would be a suitable toy.

In the children’s toy section, I found a funny-feeling porcupine ball that I selected as a supervised toy. I wanted Dash to experience that funny, tickly feeling of this toy. I bought some water toys…some “water bombs”, a package of foam rubber balls covered in fabric that soak up water. Dash loves these in his wading pool. They also had long, flexible foam “noodles” for the pool which would have many uses for fun games and training.

Petco had a the “Squirt Ball” in their clearance aisle this summer that was a big hit with Dash. It’s a flexible blue ball you fill with water. When the dog bites the filled ball, it squirts water through tiny holes. Fun!

You can make your own tug/chew toy with a length of rope you braid and twist and tie into just the right size for your dog. Cotton rope would be gentler to your dog’s mouth than polypropylene. Alternatively, you could use old, washed tee shirts or blue jeans if you’re not worried about the dog thinking your clothes are chew toys. Your choice.

Do you need some things to do inside when it’s really hot outside? It’s tough to burn mental and physical energy, keep your dog learning, and have fun indoors while staying cool! Here are a few of my favorites:

• Check out Sue Ailsby’s Training Levels. Sue provides many exercises you can train in the comfort of your livingroom. The Training Levels aren’t aligned with any one dogsport. Instead, they help your dog gain confidence, and give her the building blocks she needs to work, engage in dog sports, and be a great companion.

• Play hide and seek (you hide a toy or treat for the dog to find). This fun game encourages nose-work.

• Play hide and seek (you hide). Leave your dog on a sit or downstay, or a wait command, while you leave the room and hide. When you’re ready, release your dog and encourage them to find you (don’t use your formal recall command). This is great for reinforcing stays or waits, self control, and enthusiastic recalls.