To celebrate we are accepting donations to help the homeless pets at the Seattle Animal Shelter while they wait for their new homes.  They are in need of…

Please bring all donations to Central Bark – 838 Poplar Place South.  We will be accepting items until May 7th.  Thank you!

When Cooper is not spreading his Irish charm as a Leprechaun, he is a Yellow Labrador Retriever.

Cooper’s favorite things are: food (of course), car rides, going anyplace where he can meet people, Maymoor dog park, street fairs, dressing up, sniffing new smells, and he loves his over-sized comfy crate – with removed door.

His dislikes are: cats, getting shots in his nose, and the blow dryer.

What his people have to say about him: Cooper if a wonderful sweet dog who has a great smile. He is very laid-back and very tolerant of almost everything. Cooper will be your best friend for the smallest piece of food. We also love his goofy personality, he still has a puppy brain in an adult body (he turns 7 tomorrow). He loves all people and other dogs, and they all love him back. We are always amazed when we meet someone who met him a year ago and still remembers him.

Congratulations to Cooper and have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This is a great question and one I love to answer!  Emergency recalls are easy and fun to train and very effective if you follow a few simple rules.

What is an emergency recall?  I use the term “emergency” because I train a recall specifically in case I need to call my dogs out of some dangerous situation.  I need them to turn and fly back to me immediately.  I also need to be able to catch and leash them when they return.

Are there non-emergency recalls?  Absolutely!  I train a formal obedience “Front” for my competition dogs and I use a casual leg pat to let my dogs know that I am changing directions or pace and they need to pay attention.

Here’s how you train it…

Step 1.  Call your dog loudly once “Fido COME!”

Step 2. Reward your dog for atleast 5 seconds.

Step 3.  Repeat once every few days in different places.

The rules to keep your dog coming…

Always reward.  I like to continue rewarding for my emergency recalls to keep the behavior strong.  Use different toys, treats, and games.  Switch it up to keep it interesting.

Never punish.  Always calling your dog for a nail trim, to leave the dog park, or go in the dreaded crate are all great ways to make your dog run away from you when it hears the word “come”.

Rewards should be engaging.  Playing tug, tossing treats up for your dog to catch, or pulling out a spoonful or wet dog food are all ways to get your dog to stay with you, not just check-in and then disappear off again.

Now you’re on your way to an amazing emergency recall.  Good luck and happy training!

The winner gets…

- A free one-hour private training session at Central Bark
- The winning photo posted on our Facebook & Twitter account
- A creative Leprechaun bio blog entry

Send your wee Leprechaun’s photo along with their name and breed to info@central-bark.com before Friday March 15th to enter

May the most festive dog win!

This year the trend is to go even bigger!  Labs, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Bulldogs, & Rottweilers still hold their place in the top ten as expected but quite a few of the up-and-comers are in the “wouldn’t look bad in a saddle” category like Bernese and Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, Bullmastiff, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and the Irish Wolfhound.

Despite the trend toward more dog, the Beagle moved up to number three last year, and the Yorkie and Dachshund still stand at the top so not everyone wants muddy paw prints on their forehead after a dog park trip in this Seattle rain.

As someone who shopped for a car solely based on how easy it would be to load my pack of dirty hiking buddies into the back, I can honestly say power to you devoted dog lovers out there!  As someone who runs a doggie daycare, we all thank you for bringing more “whole lotta dogs” into the world.  We wouldn’t be here without you.

Well here it is…

Polite Greetings & No Jump – Teach your dog to sit or stand politely when greeting people.  Learn and practice techniques for greeting on walks, at home, and for visitors

- Sunday March 4^th: 1 – 2pm  $10

Leash Walking & No Pull– Learn skills to walk anywhere even under distraction

- Sunday March 25^th: 2 – 3pm  $10

Basic Manners – Build a strong training foundation or an obedience
refresher.  This class covers polite greetings and leash walking, attention, and basic obedience cues sit, down, stay, come, leave-it, and more.

- 4 Sundays April 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th, & May 6^th: 4 – 5pm   $80

We will have an intro to sports & games class on the agenda as well.  More details to come.  You can enroll via e-mail at info@central-bark.com or by phone at 206.325.3525  See you there!

Well here is our proof!  The American Journal of Cardiology has declared that in a study of 200 people with chronic diseases, pet owners had healthier hearts and an overall better prognosis than those that opted not to share their lives with a four legged companion.  You can read all about it here.   Good thing to keep in mind while scooping poop in the pouring rain tonight.

The study brought up an interesting chicken-or-the-egg question as to whether pets made their human caretakers healthier or simply if pet ownership attracts healthier people?  Either way it is a thumbs up to dog lovers everywhere.

When: Sunday February 12th
Time: 1pm
Where: Central Bark – 838 Poplar Place S
Who: People and friendly leashed canines.  Valentine’s attire strongly encouraged.
What: Games, goodies, photos, & much more.

See you there!

Now you can make use of Spot’s inner sled dog with the rapidly growing sport of skijoring.  It is a combination of cross-country skiing and dog mushing where your dog uses a harness and tow line to pull you along a winter trail on skis.   Why skijor you ask?  Because…

• Dogs absolutely love it.
• Perfect for dog, ski, and nature lovers alike.
• It requires minimal equipment and expense.
• Any type of dog can do it.
• It is a blast!

With minimal training and equipment you and your dog can feel the exhilaration of mushing across the Arctic tundra like the days of old.

For more information check out www.skijornow.com

Turkey Dinner – for beginning to intermediate chewers

• 2 parts Fromm’s Grain-Free Beef Frittata Veg (dry)
• 1 part Nature’s Variety Homestyle turkey and duck stew (canned).
• 1-3 pieces of Fruitables pumpkin and cranberry treat.
• Mix the dry and canned dog food to form a tasty chunky paste.
• Place 1-3 pumpkin and cranberry dog treats at the bottom of the Kong. Fill the remainder of the Kong with the wet/dry dog food mash. Feed at room temperature or freeze for advanced chewers.

Aunt Jeannie’s Archaeology Kong – for advanced chewers

• LAYER ONE (deepest): roasted, unsalted cashews · freeze dried liver bits
• LAYER TWO: dog kibble, cookies or liver biscotti · Cheerios · sugar-free, salt-free peanut butter · dried banana chips, apples and apricots
• LAYER THREE: carrot sticks · turkey or leftover ravioli or tortellini
• LIGHT VERSION: substitute crumbled rice cakes for cashews, Caesar croutons for freeze-dried liver, fat free cream cheese for peanut butter

Mix and match or substitute!  Just remember to supervise your dog with new chew toys and feed multiple dogs separately to avoid conflicts due to Kong envy.

Happy Holidays!