Jaz's video on "Who Let The Dogs Out"? :D

WOW!!! What an exciting day for us!!!

I had suspected that Jasmine might be on today's episode of Who Let The Dogs Out... but I wasn't sure!

Then this morning, I started getting a ton of messages from people saying they had seen Jaz on TV!!! On Twitter and Facebook- everyone was writing me. It was kind of unfair, because I hadn't even SEEN the episode at that point! (East coast people definitely have an advantage!)

But it was true!!! I'm SO EXCITED!!! Not only was Jaz on national TV, but they picked Jasmine to go to California to be in the Semi-Finals!!!!! :D :D :D

How cool is that!?? Jaz and I get to meet Tillman!! And Norman!! And a whole bunch of other cool trick dogs!!

(And you know this is like a dream come true for me!) I'm pretty much a trick dog addict! And to have them all in one place?? Where I get to meet them and see them do their tricks live?? How awesome is that?? :D Sweet little Jaz gets to fly to California with me! Should be a blast!! I am soooo excited! I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack, my heart was pounding so hard! And this is from my living room! I can't imagine how it's going to be when we're actually there! I'll probably be so distracted from all the cool dogs that maybe I won't even notice!! ;)

By the way, it's not too late to submit your dog to be on the show! Here's the link:http://www.wholetthedogsout.tv/talentsearch.htm Maybe I'll see ya there!! :D

Jaz is a FINALIST on #WhoLetTheDogsOut! :D

WOW!!! What an exciting day for us!!!

I had suspected that Jasmine might be on today's episode of Who Let The Dogs Out... but I wasn't sure!

Then this morning, I started getting a ton of messages from people saying they had seen Jaz on TV!!! On Twitter and Facebook- everyone was writing me. It was kind of unfair, because I hadn't even SEEN the episode at that point! (East coast people definitely have an advantage!)

But it was true!!! I'm SO EXCITED!!! Not only was Jaz on national TV, but they picked Jasmine to go to California to be in the Semi-Finals!!!!! :D :D :D

This is the video clip they aired:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTcv9e2aMvc&feature=channel_video_title

How cool is that!?? Jaz and I get to meet Tillman!! And Norman!! And a whole bunch of other cool trick dogs!!

(And you know this is like a dream come true for me!) I'm pretty much a trick dog addict! And to have them all in one place?? Where I get to meet them and see them do their tricks live?? How awesome is that?? :D Sweet little Jaz gets to fly to California with me! Should be a blast!! I am soooo excited! I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack, my heart was pounding so hard! And this is from my living room! I can't imagine how it's going to be when we're actually there! I'll probably be so distracted from all the cool dogs that maybe I won't even notice!! ;)

By the way, it's not too late to submit your dog to be on the show! Here's the link: http://www.wholetthedogsout.tv/talentsearch.htm Maybe I'll see ya there!! :D

Dogs Eating Peanut Butter!

I came across this old video of Jaz and Toddy, and it made me smile. So I thought I'd share it! Now you know why I called Jasmine "Lizard Tongue!" ;)

Dogs Eating Peanut Butter- One Bite Lasts All Day!! ;)

Don't forget-, TOMORROW (Saturday) is going to be Jaz's debut on "Who Let The Dogs Out"! (on Animal Planet!) I'm pretty excited!!!

Watch For Jaz on TV THIS Saturday!!

I think this Saturday is our lucky day!! :D

Be sure to watch the next episode of "Who Let The Dogs Out" on Animal Planet! (airing Feb. 25th!) I've been telling all my friends to watch! l know I'll be watching. :) I think this is going to be the one that shows Jasmine's tricks! (as well as some of our other trick dog friends!)

Keep an eye out for Jasmine and all our trick dog friends: Gabe, Ruger, Paige, Hero, and Leroy. They should show up sometime this season too! (Maybe this week!) Can't wait to find out! :D (and if you know another dog who is in it, let me know! I'll add them to my list!) :D

I sent Tillman a message on Twitter (@TillmanSkates) and asked what the name of the "kangaroo dog" was (from Episode 1). He told me that's Rox! A 3 year old Australian Kelpie.

I just love learning about all the different dog breeds. Any dog can do tricks. You just need time, patience, and some good treats!! :) (Or a toy, if they are toy motivated!)

So far, I've seen Rox- an Australian Kelpie- Hop down the Petco aisle, and circle her owner.

Gabe- the Bulldog- bring his owner a tissue. (very helpful!)

Ruger- the Cattle Dog- push the stroller. (With a kitty in it!) (so cute!)

and Paige- the Border Collie- get a waffle out of the fridge, and put it in the toaster! (What if I wanted an omelet?) ;) J/K... I love Paige! :D :D Such a sweetie!

Can't wait to see what the next weeks hold! :)

We Won the #TillmanTV Tues Blog Hop!!!

WHOA!! We just won the Tillman Tuesday Blog Hop!! That's pretty cool!!! (Considering I haven't won a random drawing since the 7th grade!!) ;)

If you don't know who Tillman is... maybe this picture will help you out! Even if you don't know his name, he's pretty well-known as the skate-boarding dog!


We won 30 lbs of Natural Balance dog food (which is AWESOME, because that's actually what I'm feeding Jaz right now anyway!) She has bad allergies, so she's on the Limited Ingredient Diet. (L.I.D.) We also won a case of Tillman treats, AND the best part...

Jaz gets to donate 100 lbs of Natural Balance pet food to a no-kill shelter!!

We picked "Friends for Life". It's a rescue group here in AZ. Last October, we attended an adoption event called "Barktoberfest"! Which was really fun. They had a costume contest, and a trick contest. (Which of course we entered!) :D

Here's a picture I found from the trick contest that day! That shaggy little dog needs a haircut!! :O)

And they had lure-coursing, which Jaz goes crazy for!! So she ran that a few times. She's part greyhound if there's any type of lure-course around!

Anyway, I'm so happy that Natural Balance is helping out all these shelters/ rescue groups. It's pretty cool. (And I really like that you have to pick a no-kill shelter to donate to.) :) Tillman and Natural Balance are going to have more give-aways, so be sure you enter your blog!!

Go to Tillman's blog: http://www.tillmanskates.com/ and add your blog post on Tuesday. That's it. It's so easy! If we can win it, there's hope for anybody!! LOL

Audition for New Talent Agency! :D

Can you find the dog?? On Saturday, Jasmine auditioned for a new talent agency- Arizona Animal Actors. I had SO MANY props in my car, there was hardly any room for Jaz and I! My trunk and backseat were completely full.

I thought the audition went really well!! :D They had a VERY extensive audition process! (It was seriously close to a 20 page packet of behaviors they were testing on.) And on some of them, I had no idea how Jasmine would do. But overall, I think she did great!

The first part of the test was a sit/stay for 10 minutes. With distractions- dogs walking around, people walking around, metal sounds, reflective boards, people hugging her, etc. She did pretty good on that one.

Then she had to do a down/stay for 10 minutes with the same distractions. She broke this a few times. Especially when someone hugged her. She tried to give them loves back! I had to tell her to lie down again. The other times she broke it, I think were my fault. (Moving my hand that I was using to cue it.) So we need to work on that one.

Next was a stand/ stay for 10 minutes! I *knew* this was Jasmine's weak one. When she gets bored or tired, she just sits down. So after about 5 minutes, she sat down. And I had to ask her to stand back up again. She did for a while, then sat down again. LOL. I totally can relate. I think I would have too! ;) So we're going to work on our duration for that one.

Next, Jaz was tested for her sound sensitivity. I had NO IDEA how she would do with these! They played all sorts of sounds on a loud speaker- like a car back-firing, fire-works, thunder, a horror movie scream, etc. Jaz didn't bat an eye. She didn't care. The only one she slightly reacted to was the wolf growling. She would look towards the speakers, then look back at me. I had turkey chunks. In the end, that was more interesting than the wolf growling!

The rest of the stuff she did GREAT on! I had a ton of props (as you can tell from the pic) so we could demo all of her tricks. (and I actually forgot to bring the mailbox!) Not that I had room for it anyway!! I didn't bring the mini-fridge on purpose. I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere!! That thing is heavy!! ;)

During the trick portion of the audition, I was trying to get Jaz to demonstrate the Figure 8 (leg weave) on another girl. (who was there auditioning with her cute dog!) But Jaz wouldn't do it. She kept looking up at this girl. It didn't take me long to realize the problem! I asked the girl if I could take off her treat bag (which was at her waist.) And voila!! Suddenly, Jaz can do this trick perfectly!! LOL. When in doubt, look for the food!!

My friend Stacy accompanied me to this audition. And I'm so very glad she did! She ended up not only being my friend, but my personal assistant, videographer, navigator, and stage manager! (She got me the props I needed, and told me which tricks to do next.) :D She's awesome! :D

So... it was a really fun day. The audition went really long! It took over 2 1/2 hours. (But that was because the other dog was auditioning too.) So after all that, Jaz was pooped!! It was a busy day. But it was fun.

And good news... they are going to list Jasmine! She's now going to be with Arizona Animal Actors. :)

Who Let The Dogs Out

Tomorrow (Sat. Feb. 18th) is a big day!!

Saturday is the first episode of "Who Let The Dogs Out". (A new show on Animal Planet.) Tillman (the skateboarding dog) is trying to find America's Most Talented Pet! http://www.wholetthedogsout.tv/

AND.... Jasmine is going to be on the show!! !! :D And so are a lot of other very cool dogs we know from YouTube and Facebook!! Did you see Paige at the end of the commercial?? We LOVE that dog!! :D

I'm so excited to watch this series!! You know what a big dog-lover/addict I am! So I'm excited to see all the different breeds of dogs. I'm excited to see all the different kind of cool tricks they are going to do. And I'm excited that Jasmine gets to be included as one of them!!

I used to watch the TV show "PetStar" a long time ago... and loved seeing all the dog tricks back then! Watching that made me want to train my new dog (Jasmine) to do tricks! But by the time she got good enough to actually be ON the show, they quit making them!! :/ But.... "Who Let The Dogs Out" is going to be the next best thing!

Natural Balance and Petco held live auditions in California earlier this month, which we were unable to attend. But they let people send in video auditions. I have a lot of friends that attended the live auditions, and I have a lot of trick dog friends who sent in videos.

SO.... this is going to be the best show ever!! :D So many cool, talented dogs!!! I can't wait!! :D

Rachael Hale photography

At my office, we use send out cute animal postcards for appointment reminders. (OK, and I will admit it.... I am the one that does the ordering for the front office!) So maybe that's how we end up with all the animal postcards!! ;)

I think the Rachael Hale ones are really cute. Just for fun, I pulled up their website and wrote to them. I told them how much I enjoyed their product, then I sent them one of Jasmine's trick videos.



I didn't really expect to get much of a response, but I did!!

This is what they wrote back!

"Thanks so much for your kind words, we really appreciate it and are pleased to hear that you are such a fan.

Jasmine is just delightful! What a cutie! It would be a lot of fun to get the opportunity to photograph her. We are based in New Zealand and generally do all the shoots in house. Where in the world do you live?"

Um... I live in the USA! But... Wow!! Not only did I get a personalized response, but they liked Jasmine's video!! And it sounds like they'd be interested in using Jasmine as a model!! Unfortunately, I don't live anywhere near New Zealand! I don't foresee a trip to New Zealand any time soon. But if I DID go, it's good to know Jaz could potentially have a job out there!! LOL. Yay! :)

Happy Valentine's Day! #TillmanTV Tues Blog Hop

I know some of my friends don't like Valentines Day. But I do. To me, Valentines Day remains the same as it was when I was in elementary school. It's not just about romantic love, or whether you have one special someone in your life. It's about celebrating the love and friendship you have with everyone in your life. It's a chance to do something nice for others. (Even if you don't know them that well.)

Here's one of my favorite quotes from Joseph B. Wirthlin-

"Kindness is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes."

I've found that to be true. I still pass out the kiddie valentines (with a mini candy bar) to my friends and co-workers! Life's fun if we make it fun.

Jasmine (like most dogs) loves everyone she meets! Every time the doorbell rings, she thinks that person is there to see her. And she's so excited to see them! It's that enthusiasm that I love. Every time I come home from work, she greets me the same way.

YAY!! You're home!! YAY!!! I have yet to meet a person who is as happy to see me each day as Jasmine is. So I've applied that lesson to my life. If I love someone, I show it. I get excited when they come over to visit. And I fully enjoy the time we have to spend together. Jasmine teaches me a lot of life lessons.

I caught this commercial on TV- and the song caught my attention. (Of course, any doggy commercial will catch my attention!!) ;)

That's my new favorite song now! I had to look it up!

It's by Ingrid Michaelson...called "Everybody". What a great song!

The lyrics are catchy. And keep running through my head.

"Everybody wants to love, everybody wants to be loved." That's absolutely true. Mother Teresa said: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” I think this is why we all love dogs so much. They fully accept and love us- just the way we are.

I've heard this a phrase a few times:

"The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."

Which I can understand. There are some people that are not very nice out there. But it's also true that there are some VERY nice people out there.

Here's the advice I follow:

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”― Mother Teresa

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Another great quote on the virtue of kindness:

"But", you ask, "what if people are rude?"

Love them.

"If they are obnoxious?"

Love them.

"But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?"

...

The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them.

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It works for our dogs. We can do the same. :)

This is a picture of my grandma. <3 She's the one who showed me what it meant to love others. She's actually the first one who got me to start teaching Jaz tricks. :) She lived in another state, and she wanted to know if I could teach my dog to jump through a hoop. And if I did, she would make a trip down here to visit. Little did she know what that would all set in motion!! Yep, Jaz can jump through a hoop now. (amongst many others)

Well, happy Valentine's Day my friends. Jaz and I send our love.

May you always have love to share, health to spare, and friends who care. :)

"Special Talents" #Tillman Tuesday Blog Hop! :D

Tillman (the skateboarding bulldog) is hosting a blog hop. (which we love to participate in because we love to learn about everybody's furry friends!) The topic this week is to write about our dog's special talents!

If they're talking about dog tricks, I don't even know where to start. Most likely, I've you're reading this blog post, you already know Jaz has a ton of tricks up her furry sleeves! ;)

She's clicker trained, and she LOVES to practice and learn new tricks! (Because she gets good treats!)

She's probably the most well known on YouTube for her "Dog Goes Shopping" videos. That's her most popular one... it's been shown all over the world.

But she a lot of other unique tricks too. If you're not familiar with Jasmine, here's another fun video which showcases a lot of her fun tricks: Canine Personal Assistant.

She also had an exciting day this past Sunday. She won a contest, and her trick video was featured on Channel 12 during Half-Time of the SuperBowl! :D (It's a really short video! (I had to describe in 12 seconds "How 12 News Keeps Us Connected".) If you blinked, you missed it! ;) But it was there! Here's the video that won! (Thanks to all my friends who voted for her!!) We couldn't have done it without you!! :)

Although all that stuff is really fun, and pretty exciting, it's not Jasmine's "special talent". Jasmine's special talent is that she loves everyone. She's a total sweetheart. And she can make people smile. I take her to a children's hospital to volunteer, and even before we do any tricks, Jasmine has them smiling. :) She's hard to resist! ;)

I think that's a special talent. I know if I went by myself, I wouldn't have that reaction. But as long as I bring Jasmine, she will bridge the gap between strangers. And suddenly, we're friends. This has happened enough times that I consider it a talent. :)

SUPER BOWL DOG!!! :D JAZ WON!!!

YAY!!!! Jaz won!!!!! :D Her video was aired during Half-Time of the Super Bowl!! (Right before Madonna performed!) It didn't really seem real when I was watching it! LOL But it's true! Here's the video if you didn't get to see it!

The only reason we won is because of the awesome, incredibly supportive friends we have who voted for Jasmine on Facebook!!! I can't thank you enough!! You guys rock!!! Doggy Lovers Unite!!! :D

By the way- even though I knew that video (above) would be the one they aired during Super Bowl, I still re-recorded the middle part (the basketball trick!) Because Jaz can do it so much better now! When I first recorded that, I had only been working with her for a few days! Now I don't have to stand behind the basketball hoop! But oh well- you all got to see my bare feet on TV! LOL

12 Seconds of Fame VS. Therapy Dog

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who voted for Jasmine in the "12 Seconds of Fame" contest!!

It's REALLY hard to be patient to find out who the winner is!! It's going to be a surprise during the Half-Time of the SuperBowl. (So keep an eye out for Jaz!)

She is definitely going to be featured during the pre-game show. (All 3 of the finalists are.)

Unfortunately, it's only going to be aired in Arizona... so all my friends from other states are going to have to wait until I record it and put it on Jasmine's YouTube channel!

Although this is exciting, and it would be cool if Jasmine won.... This is not what brings fulfillment to my life. In fact, sometimes I get tired of it. I'm getting very selective which contests I enter Jaz in. Because after a while, it's all the same.

I think I'm feeling this way because I haven't been able to volunteer with Jaz for a while. Her therapy dog certification expired at the end of December. And there's a few steps/vet visits I need to make to get it renewed. Life has just been kind of busy lately, so I haven't had the opportunity to renew it. But that is what really makes me happy. Being able to bring joy to the lives of others. (Especially kids.) That makes me really happy.

Whenever I'm feeling down, I just watch this video of when Jasmine visited the kids in the elementary school. I love hearing the kids laugh. I love their energy and enthusiasm. It's contagious. I think we all need to be more child-like at times. There is an innocence and fun that you have with kids that some people lose as adults. (Now, I like to tell people that I'm a little kid trapped in a a big kid's body!) It's pretty much true. I love kids. They make me laugh! This 3rd grade class all wrote Jasmine and I thank you cards for coming to visit. They were the cutest thing ever! They each drew a picture of this day, and wrote a little note at the bottom. I wish I had a scanner to share it with you. They are so funny and adorable. Maybe someday I'll get one!

Want to know who some of my heroes are? People who are compassionate. And people who make a difference.

I originally started thinking about getting Jasmine certified as a therapy dog after hearing about our friend Thy's therapy visits with her dog Atka. She takes him to nursing homes. This inspired me to get Jasmine certified:

Atka knows a lot of tricks. But that's not what matters. The best thing these dogs have to offer is their love. And the best thing we can do is share our dogs love with those who need it the most.

Another one of our heroes if our friends Theresa and her dog Winston: This dog has had some big roles as a canine actor. The most recent was a staring role in the Disney movie "Frenemies". I am so impressed by the fact that she didn't let Hollywood get to her. She's still the same kind, compassionate person she was 4 years ago when she first started volunteering with Winston at the hospital. She is such a good example to me! Theresa and Winston are living proof that I can get my dog into show business, and yet not let it define me. It doesn't have to change the kind of person I want to be.

I just love connecting with people like Thy and Therera. (And I have many more friends just like them, these are just two examples.) They know what's really important in this life. And are a wonderful example of using their dogs talents to make a difference in the lives of others. :) These are my heroes! :)

What is Fame? Havanese Breed Magazine Article

Our latest article was just published in the Havanese Breed magazine! If you double click on the pics, I'm hoping you'll be able to read the article. I realized now that there were a few typos when I submitted it. Oops. Oh well!

The hyper link in the article doesn't work when I converted it to a jpeg, so here's the video if you want to see the tricks that were shown on the TV show "Right This Minute":

Super Bowl Dog ?

Well, the contest officially ended yesterday! THANK YOU to everyone who voted for Jasmine!!

This little 12 second video received over 1,000 views!! I don't know how many votes she received, but that looks promising!

If her video received the most votes, it will be aired during Half-Time of the Super Bowl! (But only here in AZ.) And they are going to show clips from all 3 finalist videos during the pre-game show! The aren't going to announce who won it. We have to all watch at Half-Time and be surprised!



(If you aren't able to watch it, don't worry! I'll definitely record it for you!) :)

People have been asking me about the videos those little clips were taken from! The last one is from when Jaz and I went to an elementary school to talk about being a therapy dog. They were so excited to see us! And they sent us the cutest thank you cards!! Here's a video of that fun day!



The other video was from a monsoon storm we had here in Arizona:


Jaz is a sissy and does not like the rain!! (Probably because she rarely sees it!!)

The last one was a practice clip from a new trick I've been working on with Jasmine. She is SOOO much better at it now! I bought her a mini basketball, and she can dunk it without me standing right behind it. So I would like to re-do that clip! But oh well! I ran out of time for the deadline!

So... I can't wait until Sunday! :D For the first time in a long time, I'm actually going to watch the SuperBowl! ;) Well, at least the commercials and Half-Time... LOL.