Identify these Poodles and Win, Win, Win!!!

A wonderful surprise came in the mail this week--an entire CD of Poodle photos taken at a recent Poodle party up at Poodle Mountain in New Hampshire. I call this one "the real reason lots of folks call them "french Poodles"!

But I desperately need your help, as i don't know the names of the Poodles or the people in most of the photos. So let's have a contest!

OK, OK, I know...you're thinking....not fair, because perhaps you were not fortunate enough to be up at the Poodle party because maybe, like me, you are down south and cannot travel all the way to New Hampshire at the drop of a hat. So if you want to enter and don't know the dog's name, then just submit a cute caption instead.

To make things a bit more fair, I'll throw in a photo every now and then that you should be able to identify just from reading this blog, Poodles who are "regulars" here (but were not at the poodle party, such as the Poodle actors from Canine Horizons, or one of those featured in photographer Chris L'Abbe's work which she often shares on the Poodle blog, or photos shared by my Poodle friends Jeanne Haight and Donna Trebert).

Remember these guys pictured above? If you don't know their names, remember you can enter just by submitting a caption!

So expect some very cute Poodle photos coming through soon....we'll post about 25 and see which reader has correctly guessed names or added an adorable caption the most often. Future photos will come through with a quick link to this post, so we won't have to repeat the "rules" every time. All entries must be as comments on the blog, so encourage your dog friends to become blog followers and commenters! The winner will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon, where you can find just about anything, from Poodle toys to people toys!

Many thanks to our blog photo contributors--Rick Miles, Chris L'Abbe, Jeanne Haight,Donna Trebert, Charlene Dunlap of Canine Horizons and more!

Contest ends on or about the end of August, or whenever at least 25 adorable photos full of Poodle fun have been posted! So have all your friends start following the Poodle Blogger and entering today by identifying the models, or giving them a great caption! Remember the prize is something anyone can use, you can always pass it along to your favorite dog rescue group if you are not an Amazon shopper yourself. Enjoy!

Bistro Bites Are Truly the Perfect Treat!

Although of course i enjoy getting sample products, I am so picky that few of them actually are written about on my blogs. For example, some nice folks sent samples of "Poodle shampoo" recently. But since it did not lather well and did not make the dogs' coats shine, you won't be reading about it here!

But...this week the peanut butter/applesauce variety of the all-natural, healthy Bistro Bites treats arrived and I am thrilled to tell you all about them!

Your Poodle will LOVE these treats, and you will love the company which makes them in such a healthy fashion that they are perfect for small dogs, or larger dogs which need tiny treats to keep their weight down. "So many dogs are suffering from severe obesity because the treats they're eating are simply too big" said Valerie Perlowitz, CEO and founder of Bistro Bites. "I wanted a product that was designed to meet the nutritional needs of small dogs, not just a broken up treat created for a larger dog. By making sure the treats are all-natural and made from wholessome ingredients, we've created right sized treats owners can give their dogs without feeling guilty."

Bistro Bites are gluten-free and do not have any added sugars or salt, reducing the number of potential allergens (which is great news for Poodles!) Free of preservatives and fillers, each treat is high in both protein and fiber in order to create a healthy indulgence for dogs.

As a dog trainer, I am constantly searching for very small treats to use for training. These treats are specifically designed to be perfect for training because in addition to being very small, they are also not crumbly, perfect for your pocket.

Bistro Bites come in two sizes: small, for dogs less than ten pounds, and medium, for dogs between 11 and 20 pounds. However, the medium size is a perfect "tiny bite" training treat for my Standard Poodle and even my sister's Lab that is currently visiting with us. Our elderly Dachie is thrilled that she can have several of the small size treats at a time, instead of just half a cookie like she usually gets (since due to her age and breed, we have to watch her weight closely).

Bistro Bites are currently available for purchase online at www.bistro-bites.com
and at Uptown Pet Bistro and Boutique in Fairfax, Virginia. They are made in the United States and crafted on a made-to-order basis with ingredients sourced from local farms whenever possible. What more could you ask for in a healthy small dog treat?

Bistro Bites come in 5 flavors chicken livers, berries & almonds, peanut butter & carob and sweet potato and vegetable. My vegetarian friends will love knowing that some of the varieties are meat-free--for example, the Bistro Bites samples my dogs are enjoying are the Peanut Butter & Applesauce variety. The ingredients listed are simply applesauce, peanut butter and buckwheat flour. All varieties are grain, oil and gluten-free! They also offer several seasonal flavors, including pumpkin treats in the fall.

If you give them a try, leave a comment or send us a photo of your dog and let us know what they think about Bisto Bites. They smell so good, I am tempted to try them myself!

by guest blogger Melanie Schlaginhaufen, photo of Melanie's miniature Poodle "Nini" is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission.

Zoey the Fun Loving Multi-Purpose Poodle

When photographer Rick Miles sent me the above oh-so-appealing photo of "Zoey", taken recently at a New Hampshire Poodle Party, I asked him if I could write to her owners to find out more about Zoey. Not only were Conde & Geoff kind enough to tell me a little about Zoey but also they sent a few more pictures, so Poodle Blog readers could catch a glimpse of Zoey in action!

Conde writes:

Miss Zoey is our first poodle.

If I could sum her up it is that she loves life, loves people and loves food although not necessarily in that order.

I think part of the reason she loves life is that she thinks everyone was placed on the planet to take care of her needs!
She almost always has a smile, an effervescent, irrepressible personality.

Zoey loves kids, loves to retrieve and play frisbee. She has competed in Dock Dogs, competes as part of my skijor team, and has modeled regularly for Fetchdog, including being the cover girl August 2009.

Thank you Conde, for sending photos that help us understand Zoey's amazing zest for life. You are very fortunate to have such a special Poodle, and Zoey is very fortunate to have owners who allow her to participate in so many fun activites! Since I own both Siberians and Poodles, I especially loved the skijor team photo. In Siberians, we call dogs who are able to participate in various dog sports, "multi-purpose" and they are greatly admired.

It is certainly easy to see how Zoey became a "cover girl", as these photos of her are incredibly entertaining! What an athletic, amazing Standard Poodle, you must be very proud.

Thanks Rick, Conde and Geoff, for sharing Zoey with my readers!

Poodle Joy After Pond Swimming!

I love to receive emails like this one I received tonight from my friend and Poodle photographer Rick Miles, who said:

Sadie was very very happy after her swim. Jeanne commented on the e-mail list that this was a great poodle joy picture and I just had to send it on to you.

Thank you soooo much Rick for sharing this photo (and a note to Jeanne Haight--you know me so well Jeanne, I do indeed love this joyful photo!)

Lake Days Are Here Again!

I love this picture of the L'Abbe boys going over the driftwood jump! I bet they are so glad that warm weather has arrived and Chris will be taking them to the lake for swimming and playing.

As always, thank you Chris for sharing photos of your boys.

Wysong Versus Popular Industry Publication

Some time ago I obtained permission from Wysong to post their series about dog food myths and truths. I found today's post particularly interesting, because of the links provided to the Whole Food Journal, a publication that I unsubscribed to years ago, due to the biased nonsense I read in the pages. It seems Dr. Wysong recommended this publication for many years, but his company has been a recent victim of their unscientific "evaluations". Wysong is a company whose reputation is above reproach, which is very unusual for any dog company in this day and age. I hope my readers will take time to read this short article by Dr. Wysong and follow the links at the end. Wysong is the only dog food company I know of that also advocates feeding your dog fresh, natural foods as the healthiest alternative. My favorite product of Wysong's is their dehydrated meat and no, I do not sell Wysong or any other dog food, but I do often recommend their products because my experience with Wysong through the years has been wonderful. Excellent service and excellent products. I wish they were a little less expensive but if I owned only one dog, Wysong is probably the only commercial dog food I would ever feed, simply because all the other options I have tried have had various negative that I never encountered with Wysong.

Also, I have recommended their products to various clients through the years and have heard only good reports. As my readers know, I am open minded about dog food, having fed everything from raw diets to dry food, primarily due to the number of dogs I feed. Here is today's "truth" from Wysong.

TRUTH 87: BOGUS PET FOOD EVALUATIONS - by Dr. Randy Wysong

The Internet has exciting potential for erasing barriers of ignorance and prejudice and bringing the world together. A universe of information is available with the click of a mouse and people around the globe can communicate instantaneously. This technology has kind of crept up on us and we now even take it for granted, but it is truly mind staggering.

It is becoming harder and harder for the media, politicians, and businesses to pull the wool over the public's eyes. Not that they do not continue to try.

Although the Internet opens a world of knowledge and facts to the public, it also is a platform for every sort of half truth, lie, mythology, yarn, and quackery. Anyone can come out of the woodwork, claim special knowledge, and put themselves forth as an authority. Surfers must be wary and discerning. The best way to do that is to be skeptical of any claim, check the credentials of the source, and do your research on the facts.

I bring this to your attention in the context of these Truths because the pet food arena is chocked full of self proclaimed experts. A favorite format is to dream up a list of good and bad pet food features and then rank products accordingly in a chart.

Such bogus criteria for evaluating pet foods are not only wrong, they are misleading and miss the point of how to feed healthily. They assume that people are feeding a particular product exclusively and therefore need someone to tell them the merits or demerits of every ingredient. This also serves the interests of brands that put themselves forth as saviors because they do or do not have this or that ingredient. Usually the people creating the comparison charts are either in the hip pocket of such companies, or have been brainwashed by them.

You can escape all this nonsense with the sense of the Optimal Health Program™, which has as its central unassailable truth, feeding in rotation, supplementing, and offering fresh whole foods.

Visit the following links to see a couple little wars our company had with some self-proclaimed pet food ranking experts:

Wysong vs. Popular Industry Publication
Wysong vs. "Dog Food Analysis" expert

by Dr. Randy Wysong, reprinted with permission.

Twasn't Me!

No Mom...really, it was not ME who destuffed the tiger! (Kate, you certainly do look guilty!)