Dalmatian PR

Tom Demma took this shot of Nena
 

How to use my time more effectively. . .  

Since I haven't been blogging in the mornings recently, I've gotten into the habit of spending more time on Facebook, or playing with the dogs.  Need to change my morning routine to include time for blogging, or better yet do my blog posts the night before.  I could have done that last night instead of watching reruns of "Law & Order" on ION!

I was so proud of the dogs the past two weekends as they attended Fire Station Open Houses in Columbia Heights and Fridley, Mn.  We took Max & Josie, Stephanie brought Nena & Tate (Josie son), Tom brought Sam, plus we had Abby & Willow.  Max, Nena & Sam are all Argus kids, so even though he had to stay home this year he was well represented.  The dogs were wonderful with all the kids, noise and activity.  I considered bringing Argus too, but decided that I wanted to concentrate on Max this year.  I have lots of plans for Max and this was a good time to work on the basics.

Watson has always been the Go To Guy for doggy events, as he particularly likes kids.  He's done a variety of events including Toddler Tuesday at Mall of America and always did the Fire Station events.  Because Watson has "aged out", I need a new dog for such things.  Argus is OK with kids, but doesn't enjoy them the way Watson did and much prefers interacting with adults, as does Josie.  Max on the other hand loves everyone, and is particularly fond of kids.

I've always felt that early socialization makes a lot of difference in this area.  Argus had minimal exposure to children, and Josie was raised in a kennel situation and unfortunately never saw a child before I bought her, but the litter Max is from had a great deal of exposure to children of all ages.  It shows!

Because Dals have gotten so much bad press over the years, especially during the fallout from over-popularity after the Disney movies, it's important that Dal owners get their dogs out to mingle with the public and offset some of the bad publicity.  No, they are not all hyper.  Yes, they are smart and trainable.  Yes, they are good family dogs.  Yes, they are good with kids.