New Trick!

Jasmine learned a new trick!

She now knows how to say hi!! (Or raise her paw to vote)

I used this trick in a new video I made of her. (See below)

Our friend Ashley (and Kaine) hosted a Canine Freestyle Dance Contest on YouTube. And I have NO IDEA how to do Freestyle Dance w/ Jaz! But I thought I'd make a funny video response anyway! So this link shows you what Jasmine's response would be if we ever did decide to enter. ;)

Happy B-day Jaz!

Jasmine is 4 years old now! It's weird how fast time has gone! I feel like I just got her!

Here's a little flashback... When I got Jasmine, she was a jet black pup w/ silver markings. I thought she was the prettiest pup in the litter! I just loved those little eyebrows!

Now she's more of a gray dog w/ white markings. (Well, it's white when she's actually clean!)

But she still has the very expressive eyes, and a sweet temperment. Getting her was the best decision I could have made.

Since I was out of town on her actual birthday, my roommate took her to Petsmart for me to have her pick out a new toy. (Our b-day tradition)

When I came home, I found out Jasmine had 3 new toys! Another squeaky bone (cuz you can never have too many!), a squeaky santa monkey, and a kong ball. I told my roommate she's spoiling her! But hey- you only turn 4 once, right?? ;)

Here's the Mighty Dog Commercial!

Jasmine's Mighty Dog commercial is online! :)


I had to laugh when I saw it for the first time. I'm going to nickname my dog "Blinky"- because that was the scene they picked for the commercial. Sit there and blink! The filming took 7 hours, and the main shot they picked was of her blinking. OK! (I know the rest of the footage will be edited down & used for the "Dogumentary"... but it still makes me laugh). We shot a ton scenes and they picked one of her blinking! (I guess I'll have to add that trick to her resume!) ;)

P.S. THANK YOU HEATHER for teaching me how to embed the video!! You Rock!! :D

Commercial Time!!

This is it!! It's FINALLY here! Jasmine's commerical airs THIS Thursday!! (Can you tell we're excited??) :)

It's going to air on NBC on Thanksgiving Day during the National Dog Show. (Which comes on after the Macy's Day Parade- probably around 12:00 noon.) And sometime during the show, they are going to air the Mighty Dog commerical twice!

So keep an eye out for it! It's a 30 second trailer for "Mighty Dog Nation: The Movie"- which comes out in Spring 2010. You'll see Jasmine, Jesse, and Mater- the 3 dogs that won the contest this past summer. (And they're ALL adorable!!) :) I can't wait!! :)

Agility Fun Run! CynoSport 2009

I finally uploaded the video from our day at CynoSport- doing a Fun Run Agility Course! (Jasmine just started Agility class in September, so we're both new at this.) It's really fun though!

This was our first time at Cynosport, but definitely not our last! We had a blast that day hanging out with our friends Ashley (and her dog Kaine- the German Shepherd) and Heather (and her dog Jesse- the Jack Russell Terrier). Jesse and Kaine tried dock-diving. (into a tank of water). Jasmine would have nothing to do with that! She hates the water!

All the dogs did the Agility Fun Run, the Lure-Coursing, then slept while we watched the real Agility Competition. It was such a fun day!

Lure Coursing- SO MUCH FUN!

Another thing that was new to me (and Jaz) was Lure Coursing! (Their motto is Trust us, they'd rather be Lure Coursing!) And it's TRUE! This event is a combination of racing and agility, where the dog chases a little fox tail on a wire. At first I wasn't sure if Jasmine would go for it... she's never done anything like this. But when it took off, she started chasing it! She got about 2 jumps away, then stopped and looked back- as if to say "Where's my mommy??"

I went out on the course to encourage her. I told her to "go get it!!" and that was all she needed. She took off chasing it again, and had a blast. She was SUPER focused on the fox tail (as you can tell from this picture!) It was so much fun!

Agility practice

This past weekend, our friends Heather and Ashley (along with their dogs Jesse and Caine) introduced Jaz and I to something new- the Cynosport World Games! This was really fun! They had some superfast agility dogs, herding demo's, dock-jumping, musical freestyle, and frisbee competitions. Overall- just LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of dogs!! :) And even more fun, our pups got to participate in some COOL activites. Jasmine got to try out a mock agility course. (We started Agility classes almost 2 months ago, but had never done all the obstacles as a course.) It cracks me up how her eyebrows go straight up and down when she jumps!! Her first A-Frame. No problem. This is just like climbing up onto the back of the couch!

Haha- This is what happens when you mix a Tricks dog with an Agility Course!!

Now she remembers how to do it!
She does a pretty decent pole weave as long as I'm on her left side.

We're still working on doing it when I'm off-side.

Agility courses are so much fun!! :)

Happy Howl-O-Ween 2009

As usual, it was hard to decide which costume to pick for Jasmine to be for Howl-o-ween!

Arrrr Maties!
Aiii Daniel-son. Wax on... Wax off...

The wonderful thing about tiggers... (and Jasmine's)...

is that tiggers (and Jasmine's) are wonderful things. :)

Jaz had a blast greeting each kid that came to the door trick-or-treating. She thought they were all coming to see her! And all the little kids just adored Jaz. It worked out great!

Bad Hair Day

LOL!! This dog cracks me up! This is what Jaz looks like when she's having a bad hair day!!!

Jaz's 1st Celebrity Appearance!

Want to hear an interesting story about what a small world this really is? Last month, Jasmine was on the cover of a magazine. This was a free magazine mailed to a specific demographic in Gilbert.

A few weeks later, I got an email from an old friend named Raelene. (who I haven't seen in a few years). She works as a behavioral therapist for a little boy named Max who has autism. Their family had received this magazine in the mail, and their little boy became obsessed with the dog on the cover. He kept asking her to read the article to him, over and over. After reading the article, she realized she knew me, and emailed me- wanting to know if Max could meet Jasmine. Max gets to put beans in a jar when he has good behaviors (like doing his chores?), and when the jar is full- he gets a reward. So last Tuesday, for his big reward, Max and his sister got to come meet Jaz!

This was Jasmine's 1st requested guest appearance a "celebrity". She did all her tricks for Max and his sister- and they loved it. He giggled and smiled the whole time. It was so cute. He even helped out with the tricks- like by holding the hula hoop. So that was fun. Here is a sample of some of the tricks that Max saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtS7u8iE0_g&NR=1&feature=fvwp

So- it was a fun night. :) This made me want to finish getting Jaz certified as a therapy dog. We started... we just never finished! (Got side-tracked a little bit by the commercial gig!)

Shooting the Commercial!

This was probably the busiest weekend of Jasmine's whole life!! The Mighty Dog producers, directors, film crew, and production crew showed up on my doorstep Saturday morning. (In addition to the Purina and Humane Society reps, and the publicists.) We had a full house!! They came to film Jaz in her role in the upcoming commercial! I had no idea how many people it took just to put this all together! Here's what I saw looking out the front window:

Everyone was SO NICE!! I don't know what I was expecting- probably a more "uptight" director. But everyone was wonderful to work with! Jasmine had a script that we were shooting our scenes from. We didn't have a lot of time to practice the specific behaviors they wanted- because we had changed the script the night before. But she did really good!

This is the shot in the living room- where she wakes up in the "morning". (a fake sunrise made with lights shining through the window.) Then she runs under a chair, up the stairs, into the bedroom to wake me up. She has her paws up on the bed, then barks. (It was a body double for me in the bed- I was up at the head of the bed giving her commands!) Then we did a scene where she straightens the bathmat before I step out of the shower. Then she "helps" me with the laundry (by jumping in and out of the basket) while I'm taking clothes out of the dryer. She straightens the rugs in the living room, then plays with her squeaky toy.

Here she is in the kitchen, pushing the empty food bowl towards me with her nose, and then barking. (more realistically- whining) Then she supervises while I clean the pool.

The very last scene is one we couldn't get. She was supposed to jump on my lap and "shower me with licks and love". Well- first of all- Jaz isn't really a licker. So I didn't know how to do this scene! We tried putting peanut butter on my face. Didn't work. So we gave up after a while!

It took over 7 hours to film her part in the 3-5 minute "dog-umentary" and the 30 second commercial. It was exhausting, but awesome at the same time! This is a picture of Jasmine after the shoot was over: (and I felt the exact same way!)

The only difference was the next morning... she was energetic and ready to go again! I still need another week to recover!

Airline just for pets!

I had heard rumors that there was an airline devoted just to pets.... and here it is! This is pretty cool! I only wish they had a stop in Phoenix!!

http://petairways.com/

Turn off the Lights!

Jaz has a new trick up her sleeve! She can now turn a lamp on and off! Or immerse a whole room in darkness with the flick of a light switch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVccE3hdpFk

As I mentioned at the end of the video, the lamp is touch sensitive. But I think it responds to body heat because having Jaz touch it with her paw won't turn it on! ?? So, after trying to problem-solve a couple of different ways, I eventually just put her treats underneath the base of the lamp. Then her nose touches it long enough to turn it on! ;)

The light switch just takes a lot of practice. (and still will!) Right now she probably hits the right spot about 70% of the time. But that's okay! It's a new trick! It will come with some more practice. (and a lot more treats!) :D

Jaz is on the Sept. cover of Go Gilbert magazine!

YEAH!! It's finally out!! Jaz is on the cover of Go Gilbert magazine!! I was quite impressed with the article they did about her! It's 4 pages all about Jaz and dog training. (starting on page 32) To read it, go to http://www.gogilbert.com/

And I LOVE these pictures they took!! (ESPECIALLY the one above!) That one is my favorite! I laughed when I saw the 2nd photo below (taken outside). Jaz had gotten a drink of water, and the bottom of her right ear is wet! And although I think the red bows are adorable, Jaz has already lost one of them. So now-a-days, she's sporting a hot pink bandanna. :D

All packed and ready to go!

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS?? Ok- I know I'm a little biased... but I just think she's so cute!!

Last night, a photographer named Carl came to take Jasmine's picture for an upcoming article. He was kind enough to send me some of the pictures he took. And I just LOVE this one!!! :) It totally captures her fun, playful personality! This is the look she gives me all the time when she wants to practice tricks.

Carl is an amazing photographer!! You can check out his work at: (check out his work: http://www.schultzdigital.com/) (I think he needs to add a section for pet photos!)

East Valley Tribune Article

Jaz now has an article in the East Valley Tribune! :)
(It's online right now, but won't actually be in the paper until tomorrow (Sunday).

If you want a sneak peak, check out: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/142725

Front Page of azcentral.com! :)

My roommate happened to be browsing the news, and look what she discovered!

Hey! That's Jaz!! I was told they were going to print the follow-up article on Friday, but apparently today seemed like a better day! So she was on the front screen of their website! Here's the article:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/08/05/20090805gr-contestfolo0807.html

WE WON! :)

I'm very pleased to announce that Jasmine was one of the Top 3 Grand Prize winners of the Mighty Dog Contest! YEA!!! I am also super excited about the other 2 winners that were selected- Jesse and Mater!
Based on the video, Mater just seems like a happy-go-lucky, playful dog! And what's not to like about that??
And we met Jesse and his owner Heather while doing TV interviews. Jesse is an amazingly talented dog, and the best part was that his owner Heather was SUPER sweet, kind, and helpful! She's the one that told me to get Jasmine her own blog! She's willing to be our guide as Jaz & I head down this new road together!

So this is new & exciting! Here's all the winning videos if you want to check them out:

http://www.mightydog.com/MightyNation/dogumentary.aspx

So what does this mean? I don't exactly know! I know that all 3 dogs have won a year's worth of free dog food. The people from Mighty Dog are going to come to Arizona to film Jesse and Jasmine for a 3-5 minutes "Dog-umentary" movie that they'll show on the Mighty Dog website. And all 3 dogs get to be on the commercial on Thanksgiving Day! (on NBC- it airs sometime during the National Dog Show.)

That's all the details I know for now! But don't worry- I'll keep you posted! :)

Hollywood Paws

LOOK! It's Jasmine Avenue!! :) (This is in California!)
While on vacation in California, I had the opportunity to visit Hollywood Paws.
I got to watch the audition process, and was really impressed with the trainers there! I got some great ideas on how to work with Jasmine. For example, if you want to teach them to do "work aways"- (where the dog is facing away from you) Place a pile of treats in front of the dog, then give the command. We haven't tried this one yet, but it definitely works! The dog doesn't look back at you for the reward, because it's right there in front of them! (assuming they wait for the clicker before gobbling up the pile of treats!)

More photo shoot pics. :)

Playing in the park. :)

Jaz takes her handshakes very seriously. ;)

Photo Shoot!

Jasmine had her first photo shoot! (Kind of) It was more like playing in the park while someone happened to be snapping some pictures!


Afterwards she got to play on the playground, and we decided to take some shots of that too!

Jasmine's Newspaper Article!

Jaz hasn't learned how to "speak" just yet, so I had to do an interview with a lady from the AZ Republic. Here's the link to the article too that came out Wed, July 21, 2009.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/07/21/20090721gr-contest0722.html

Jaz on Good Morning AZ!

Since Jasmine was selected to be one of the Top 10 Finalists in the Mighty Dog contest, she got to go on the news! (a few times!) Last Thursday, she was on FOX News. And today we got to meet the other Finalist from Arizona... a Jack Russell Terrier named Jesse. He was so awesome!! :) And his owner Heather was so nice! We got to spend the day together because we had 2 interviews... one in the morning with "Good Morning Arizona" on 3TV.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/gmaz-index.html?nvid=380058&shu=1

And the other one was with NBC called "Arizona Midday". (But I haven't been able to find a link for that one!) But both went great! (Considering this was her first time on live TV!) And Jesse and Jasmine were buddies. They were even teaching each other some tricks! Such good doggies! :)

Obama and Jasmine... just chillin'

After the first interview, Jasmine got to meet the President!! :-)
Or at least a statue of the President! ;-)

The Cowboy Trick

This is Jasmine's FAVORITE trick!! We call it the Cowboy Trick. Jasmine LOVES to go for rides on people's backs. She'll do this even when you're not expecting it! (Like in this photo!) Anytime you are lying on the ground or bending over, she'll jump on your back! I think I need to put up a "Beware of Dog" sign on my door! She's caught several people off guard with this!! She'll stay there until you give her a horsey ride over to the treat counter!

Mighty Dog Contest!

Mighty Dog.com was having a contest to see who had a mighty dog. I submitted this one of Jasmine's tricks, and she was picked to be one of the Top 10 Finalists! :D If she wins, she gets to be on a commercial, and gets 1 year of free dog food! :) (The good stuff-in cans!) (not just the dry kibble she normally gets!) ;)

Big Brown Eyed Girl

Jasmine has very expressive features. How can you not love those big brown eyes? :)

SO CUTE. :)

Jasmine can easily jump over this baby gate, but will stay behind it when the baby is there! (To keep him company!)