After a lot of thought, I've made the difficult decision I can no longer keep this site going. It's been a pretty trying year with a lot happening & I need to devote my time & money to other things. Smudge was diagnosed with bilateral HD & osteo arthritis about a year ago. As a result, I've been spending a small fortune on vets & meds to keep him pain free & help maintain quality of life. This of course will be ongoing for the rest of his life. The good news is Charlie is now 10 & still behaves more like a 10 month old pup. At least I've got 1 healthy dog! I got the bi ..read more

How do dogs communicate with us?  Other than a tail wag when happy, jumping up and down when they want, and staring to show they want something;  do they use facial expressions and do they study our faces? Tony has a way of communicating with me:  After his morning nap, I said "Shall we go swimming?"  His eyes grew big, his mouth opened to show top teeth and his upper lip curled up on one side, Elvis-style.  I wish I had a camera ready for that. He is almost 11 years old, overweight, arthritis in back legs.  Often when he gets on his feet from a lying down positio ..read more

If you have a Lab, there's a good chance that you know how they follow you from room to room.  Tony and Louise follow me too closely.  One of them often steps on the back of the slipper I'm wearing as I walk.  This causes me to almost fall forward.  It's just a matter of time before it happens. What's the following about?  Do they think I will slip away without them ..read more

Every Spring I plant impatiens in two window boxes.  Every year some animal pulls out a few newly-planted flowers, probably looking for something he thought he buried there last year, or maybe just because the dirt has been loosened up for digging.  He always left the pulled-out plant right there so I replant it. Little wire border fences around the plants, until roots were established, seemed to help keep them away.  This year even with the fences guarding the plants, something pulls a  flower out, but the plant is gone.  I looked all around the boxes and can't find i ..read more

This morning Louise was sleeping on my lap and Tony was on the floor in his dog bed when Tony probably got a noseful of some irritant that made him sneeze a series of loud sneezes and Louise woke up and was ready to pounce on him.  I could not hold her back.  She was in attack mode, thinking he was going into a seizure.  She ran up to him, sniffed him, then calmly walked away.  I suppose that they give off an odor when in a seizure and he passed the sniff test.   It has been over a year and a half since he had a seizure and she still remembers.  His personali ..read more

I have often posted new about my niece who directs theater productions in New York. Years ago I remember going up to see her first play which was staged the the basement of a church. Last July she finally made it to Broadway to direct a revival of the musical Into the Woods which opened to rave reviews. I got to see it last August. It was just announced that she has been nominated for a Tony Award for directing that musical. The awards show will be televised on June 11th ..read more

I read in the Wall Street Journal that inflation has caused pet food prices to outpace groceries. The estimate was 15% increase in pet foods. Yesterday I pain $80 for a thirtu pound bag of  Nutro lamb and brown rice. That’s $2.67 a pound. If it wouldn’t kill Max I might switch to the $5.00 for a 50 pound sack of flavored corn dog chow.  ..read more

I have had a lot of dog beds, and most of them are long gone.    When Mitzi and Judy were older, I thought they deserved a good, comfortable bed and bought each of them a Serta bolster bed.    All the dogs seem to prefer that type.  After many years of use and abuse, the Serta beds hold up and still look brand new.  Tony and Louise both prefer that bed so I got a new one for Tony. They cost more than other brands but are worth it ..read more

手机号码营销也称为 SMS 营销或短信营销，是与客户联系和促进业务的有效方式。 随着移动设备的兴起，越来越多的消费者使用手机搜索产品和服务，这使得手机号码营销成为任何成功营销策略的重要组成部分。 在本文中，我们将探讨一些关键策略，以释放手机号码营销的力量并推动您的业务取得成果。 个性化 个性化是手机号码营销的主要优势之一。 通过根据位置、兴趣和购买历史等因素对您的手机号码列表进行细分，您可以创建个性化的消息来引起受众的共鸣并提高参与率。 个性化可以采用多种形式，从在消息中使用客户的姓名到根据他们的兴趣和偏好定制消息。 例如，如果您要推广新产品系列，您可以向以前购买过类似产品的客户发送有针对性的消息，为他们提供特别折扣或独家优惠。 时机 就手机号码营销而言，时机就是一切。 在正确的时间发送消息可以显着提高其有效性并提高参与率。  ..read more

After only three training demonstrations Max can now go out and bring in the newspaper. I should have thought of this six years ago.? http://dukesimage.com/Max/Newspaper.mov ..read more