This week’s Fab 4 is an eclectic mix of bloggers. One I ‘met’ 
through my recent involvement in the Never Shock a Puppy coalition. The other three have long been among the Blogs We Love and it seems it’s about time that I tell you why.
First up is Susan McCullough. Her blog is titled the Allie Chronicles named after her seven year old Golden Retriever. If you don’t recognize Susan’s name you might know her best-selling book, Housetraining for Dummies. Susan’s tone is conversational and personal, and her posts are informative, spot-on in their advice when she gives it, and down-to-earth. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m painfully aware of what’s happens with animals on
Allie
TV shows and in movies. If you watch Mad Men you might recall the total jerk who relegated poor Polly, the sweet Golden Retriever, to the basement in the new season’s opening episode. I felt alone in my outrage until I read Susan’s Poor Polly post. “See?” I told my oblivious friend. “I’m not the only one.” Susan also writes The Positively Well-Behaved Dog at K9Cuisine and don’t miss her on Facebook.
I had never heard of a Hovawart until I met Kenzo the Hovawart from Copenhagen. As far as I can tell, Kenzo and Viva, the other Hovawart, actually write the blog since I can’t find the name of a
Viva and Kenzo
possible human author. Kenzo is totally into social media. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. He’s also outraged, as well he should be, and so am I, and so are many others, about breed specific legislation in Denmark (and Denver and so many other places). Thirteen breeds are outlawed! The law went into effect earlier this year. Kenzo writes about it in “How BSL Can Bring a Whole Country into Madness.” And, Viva, bless her hova-heart, is progressing nicely with her BAT training. No, she’s not into baseball, she’s learning to manage reactivity to other dogs using Behavior Adjustment Training, a process of desensitization and counterconditioning (actually it’s much more than that) developed by Grisha Stewart of Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle. Here’s a lovely post about Viva’s progress: Viva into BAT. Brava Viva!
Dogloversdigest.com
Dog Lover’s Digest written by Kevin Myers has been listed in Boulder Dog’s Blogs We Love (see the tab at the top of this page) for ages, but silly me, I’ve only recently been checking in on Kevin’s posts regularly. What a treat! Kevin is smart and funny. One of my favorite combinations. Take this post for example: “Doggie Digression: A Barking Mad Article from Dog Lover’s Digest” in which Kevin kvetches:
“One of Gavin’s favorite games is one I like to call “Now I Remember” and illustrates premeditated displays of digression. This game usually initiated by Gavin and is more likely to take place under one of the following conditions…
- I am trying to take a nap.
- I have just been to the gym and I am stiff and incapable of movement without pain.
- I have a work deadline to meet and need peace and quiet.”
Kevin also tackles serious topics with equal aplomb including, for example, behavioral medication in dogs and some of the nuttiness that passes for wisdom about dogs in our hyped-up media in “Cesar Milan and The Principle of Parsimony.” You can follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook.
Do you feed your dog raw meaty bones? Have you considered it but don’t know where to begin? No? Maybe you’re just generally interested in doggie health issues? In any case, pay a visit to Doggy Bytes: Serving Up Byte-Size Info for Dog Lovers. Jim McBean writes 
Doggy Bytes and in addition to RMB’s, he’s passionate about dog rescue and adoption. Doggy Bytes initially caught my attention because I did switch Sadie to a mostly raw diet (“What’s a Dog to Eat?“) when she was about a year old, but I never could bring myself to go whole hog, so to speak, and feed RMB’s. Even so, I have a burning question. Look at these pictures. Where on earth do you buy this stuff? Okay, the poultry, sure, that’s not a problem. And, I even have a source for raw green tripe. But pork stomach and beef kidney and pig’s head? At your local supermarket? Really? Maybe Canadian grocery stores are more adventuresome than those in the US. Regardless, like I said there’s a lot more going on at Doggy Bytes than yummy pig snouts. Consider this critical health note: “Why Not Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth Could Kill Him,” and this bit of sage advice, seriously: “Why It’s Not a Good Idea to Eat Dog Poop–A Salmonella Story: The Series.” You can also find Doggy Bytes on Twitter and Facebook.
That’s it for this week. See you next Friday. It’ll be October already!
Hi Deborah,
Wow this is cool! Thank you so much for recommending us! To us, your blog and your dog skills are all the way up on a pedistal somewhere. Each friday we were looking forward to your recommendations, and then suddenly we are there ourselves. We feel very honored. Thank you my sensei 🙂
Kenzo
P.S: Kenzo and Viva are writing the blog, they just hired somebody named “Leo Scheltinga” as their ghost writer and food provider. I mean, who could even pronounce such a name!
Viva and Kenzo are most welcome, and please do tell them they have fabulous taste in ghost writers. They picked a winner!
Hey! We finally know the human behind the hovawart. :o)
Thanks so much for the shout-out, Deborah!
You are welcome. Love Allie. She’s a sweetheart.
Wow, Deborah, not only did you mention some of my favorite bloggers this week but you managed to get the name of Kenzo’s ghostwriter! I had the fantasy that it was a Danish politician — or celebrity — who didn’t want to get caught blogging about his dogs! Kudos.
Hey, Edie. Thanks. You know, Kenzo’s ghost write could be a famous Dane, but how would I know? Google anyone?
Deborah,
This is absolutely one of my favorite birthday presents ever! I am a fan of all the blogs mentioned (including yours of course), and I am very honored to be mentioned along side of them. Thanks for making an old man smile on his birthday.
Happy birthday!!!
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Now I have three more blogs (I already read Jim’s blog) to try to squeeze into my already full blog reading schedule 😉
Yeah…I know what you mean 😉