Basketball Dogs are going to be on Animal Planet!

YAY!!  Great news!

Our basketball video is going to be on Animal Planet!!  (Well, parts of it!)



They contacted me about using it for a show they are doing in December.  I emailed all the dog's owners that were a part of this video.  And they said they were willing to let Animal Planet use the footage.  (It's not a paid opportunity- but still fun!)

We used 21 different dogs from all over the world in this video.  (Jasmine is networked in with a lot of trick dogs through her Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter!)  So I'm not sure which dogs they will use.  (They'll probably just use a few.)  But either way, it's fun to be considered!  :)

I'll keep you posted as I learn more about it!  :)  

Dogs Play Basketball

You know how sometimes you get a great idea in your head... but then you don't have time to do anything about it? 

That's what happened to me!

Back in April... I had the idea to make a basketball movie- showcasing the talents of as many dogs as I could find.  Luckily, I'm pretty well plugged in with the trick dog world.  (Through Jasmine's Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.)   And I found 21 dogs from around the world that knew how to play ball!!  :)   They all sent me clips, and then...... I got super busy and didn't do anything with them!

But recently, I got motivated to work on it again!   (Having Labor Day off from work totally helped!)  ;)   I spent the day editing together this video!   And- 4 months after I originally started- Voila!  The video is done!  I'm happy with it.   I love showing the different breeds- large, medium, and small.  As far as I'm aware, this is the 1st ever International Canine All-Star Basketball Team!!  :)   

I listed in the description where each dog was from.  Most are in the USA, but some are from Switzerland, Australia, and England!  I think it's so fun to watch!  :) 

And apparently other people agree.  Because I just uploaded this Monday afternoon, and as of Tuesday night, it already has 3,450 views!!  (That's just one day later!)   What can I say?  They're cute dogs!  
I think we're going to have to start our own Dream Team....  ;)

Free Ticket to #BlogPaws!

As I'm sure you know, Jasmine and I are flying to SLC, Utah later this month to speak at the BlogPaws pet convention.  I'm giving a presentation about YouTube with my friends Lauren and Paige!  (Friday afternoon session)  Afterwards, we'll do a trick dog demo so people can see Jasmine and Paige live!





And fitting enough, Jasmine's blog was nominated for the "Best Video" award at the "Nose-to-Nose" awards at BlogPaws!   http://awards.blogpaws.com/   They are going to announce the winners at a red carpet ceremony on June 23rd.  Pretty fun!

The best part is... by being nominated as a finalist, Jasmine earned a free conference pass that I can give away!   So, if you are considering going to BlogPaws, let me know and I'll submit your name in the raffle!   (I'm going to do the drawing on Monday.)  You can leave your email address in the comments, or write to me on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MyFavoritePupJasmine


Even if you don't win the raffle, you can still get 20% off your conference ticket if you mention us.  (Because we're one of the presenters.)   Just use this code when you register:
BlogPaws2012-Speaker-Jackson-20 


It's coming up quick!!  Lauren and I are super excited about this!!  :)  If you do come, please come say hi to us!   It's going to be so much fun!  

Behind-the-Scenes footage of the "Who Let The Dogs Out" finale!

WOW.  What can I say.  Wonderful people.  Super talented dogs.  What an awesome experience!


Being on the finale of "Who Let The Dogs Out" was SO MUCH FUN!!   Here's the footage my very awesome brother recorded for me!!  :D

Award Time!

 For those of you who were not able to catch the finale of "Who Let The Dogs Out" on Animal Planet... no worries!  I have some behind-the-scenes footage, I just need to finish editing it and upload it to YouTube!

It's nice that I can actually talk about it!!  They flew us to California to perform at Universal Studios in March!  But then I had to keep the results a secret for almost 2 months!!  That was hard!!! We had a blast there!  We met so many cool people, and awesome trick dogs!!   At the finale, they selected 2 finalists to have a show-down.  The final 2 were Jasmine and Daisy.  Then at the very end, Daisy won!   (And I was perfectly happy with 2nd place!)  I was just impressed that Jasmine did all her tricks!  Sometimes when she's in a new place, with new sights/smells, she gets easily distracted!   So I was proud of her for staying focused!  Jasmine won a giant gift basket (pictured above), and 6 months of Natural Balance dog food!  :)

   When the showed the finale on TV, they cut out the show-down between Daisy and Jasmine.  They showed all the semi-finalists, then jumped right to the end, and showed the winner.  But that's okay.   It was just cool to be on the show!!  

 

Jasmine also received another award in the mail this week!  Last fall, one of Jasmine's trick videos (Dog Goes Shopping) was entered in a doggy version of the Academy Awards. (The Anipal Academy Awards).  And she won for Best Comedy! 

Here she is with her cute little trophy! :)  

(And as you can tell from the 2 pictures, Jaz got a haircut!)  :)

If you haven't seen the full-length version of "Dog Goes Shopping"- here it is: 

Behind the Scenes of "Who Let The Dogs Out"

Ever seen "Who Let The Dogs Out" on Animal Planet? (Saturday mornings?) Well, Jasmine was chosen to be one of the finalists!!

Tillman and his friends have traveled all over the country to find America's Most Talented Pet! And Jasmine was chosen to go to California to be one of the finalists performing live at Universal Studios!!

I can't even tell you how much fun it was!!! If you've never seen Jaz's tricks before... click here to see her trick resume. And you'll get a little preview of what we did in California!

Getting there was a little bit of a challenge! I had to fly to Cali with ALL of Jasmine's props! (Minus the mini fridge! I thought it was wise to leave that at home!!) ;) So I had A LOT of luggage!!

5 pieces of luggage! (included a big tub loaded with her stuff!) I'm sure the security guys at the airport were perplexed as to why I would have a full size mailbox in my suitcase!! ;) The truth is... I only packed one outfit, PJ's, hair stuff, and make-up. ALLLLLL the rest of that stuff was Jasmine's!! She's kind of high maintenance when we travel!! ;)

Her shopping cart wheel got a little damaged on the flight over, but I was able to fix it before the next morning. (Quick trip to the store to buy some Gorilla Glue!!) Luckily, it worked!!

We had such a fantastic time! I wasn't viewing it as a competition. I was just going to have fun, meet some awesome dogs, and share some of Jaz's fun tricks!

I was super excited to meet Tillman, the skateboarding dog!! The sun was in their eyes, that's why both dogs are squinting! I have been a fan of Tillman's ever since he was on the show "Greatest American Dog"!

I've been following him ever since! It was SO COOL to actually meet him in person!!

And we met Norman the scooter dog!! He's huge!! (Well, compared to Jaz!) But very nice!! Just a big boy who loves attention!

There was an open set at Universal Studios, so that meant anyone could come and watch the taping

of the show.

So my brother and nephew came to watch!! It was really great having them there to talk to! It made it more casual... so I wasn't as nervous!

I have never filmed a TV show before, but basically it's a lot of standing around... waiting for your turn! So we had fun with it. I talked with the other finalists, and we took pictures with our dogs. There were so many cool people and awesome dogs there!! I wish it didn't have to come to an end!

I didn't know what to expect when I met the cast of "Who Let The Dogs Out"... but they were all SOOOO NICE!!! VERY Friendly.... just regular, down-to-earth people. I like that!! And they all loved dogs... so of course that makes me like them even more!

When it was our turn to perform, Jaz did pretty good! I was very happy with our performance.

There were a few hiccups... but nothing big. The ground was slightly slanted, so all the skateboarding dogs went really fast! But when Jaz was pushing her shopping cart, it got away from her one time! LOL

And during another trick, Jaz was supposed to bring me a Kleenex. She picked it up, but then dropped it, and the wind blew it away! She started to go after it, and I had to call her back so she could just get a new one!

And Jaz has also been having a lot of problems with her allergies. (Spring time brings out the itchiness!)

So when I asked Jaz to "roll up in the blanket", she sat there and itched for about 30 seconds!! Then she did it! (I'm hoping they cut that part out when they edit it!!) LOL.

But other than that... Jaz did all her tricks. I was proud of her. :)

There were a lot of talented dogs there. I can't tell you much about it... other than it's going to be awesome!! I can't wait to see it! Because I was back-stage, I didn't get to see all the other dogs perform. So I'm looking forward to watching it on TV too!!

The season finale of "Who Let The Dogs Out" airs on Sat. April 21st on Animal Planet!! You'll have to keep an eye out for Jasmine!! :D

Who Let The Dogs Out- part 1

I finally got the video uploaded of Jasmine's appearance on "Who Let The Dogs Out" (episode 3).

Jasmine I were invited to go to California to be part of the finale!! I was excited about this!!

I have a ton of pics that I need to upload! We had a blast!! There were a lot of talented dogs there! "Who Let The Dogs Out" is on every Saturday morning on Animal Planet! I think the finale airs on April 21st! Be sure to keep an eye out for Jasmine!! :D

Jaz is squinting because the sun is in her eyes!

Here's some of the tricks we did during the finale!!

#EukanubaPawsInMotion to BarkWorld

Last Oct, Jasmine and I went to Atlanta, GA to attend the BarkWorld Expo. We had so much fun!!

We met Lauren and her trick dog Paige there for the first time!

And together, we gave a presentation on "How To Make Your Dog A YouTube Rockstar"! :D

We shared our unique story. Both of our dogs started off as YouTube trick dogs, and through social media both have now been on TV and commercials!

We each gave tips on how to make popular YouTube videos, how to network, and how to train your dog to do tricks. (We both use positive reinforcement- clicker training.) Then we did a trick dog demo, and answered questions after the presentation.

Lauren and I both had a fantastic time at BarkWorld! What an experience! I had no idea anything like that even existed! I made a lot of connections- some really cool friends and some professional contacts. And I attended classes to help me (CJ) become a little more tech-savvy! :) (which I need!) (Although I now use Twitter, I still can't say I fully understand it!!) LOL

But I'm pretty good with YouTube and Facebook. :) And now we just joined Pinterest, but so far that seems pretty easy to figure out. :)

I absolutely loved this convention! One of the best parts was being able to meet Victoria Stillwell!!! From the Animal Planet TV show "It's Me or The Dog". She's a big advocate of positive reinforcement training, so it was sooooo cool to meet her in person!! We went to her class to hear her presentation. Absolutely LOVED it!!

Here's the little promo video I made of our trip to BarkWorld!



We would love to go back this year too! Eukanuba is sponsoring a sweepstakes to win free airfare/hotel/transportation to Atlanta! It's called "Blog Your Way To BarkWorld".

(This is my entry!) If you would like to enter too, here's the link: http://www.barkworldexpo.com/attend/blog-your-way-to-barkworld-2012/

Maybe I'll see ya there!! :D

What's our best dog trick?

Jasmine and I are going to California to be a part of the finale of "Who Let The Dogs Out"- a new show on Animal Planet!! They are searching for America's most talent pet!

I need suggestions! Jaz can do a ton of tricks... and we won't have time to do them all! We will only have a few minutes in front of the judges! Which tricks should we do??

"Who Let The Dogs Out" airs every Saturday morning on Animal Planet. And the finale is April 21st! Keep an eye out for Jasmine!!

I'm so excited to go and meet all other other cool trick dogs! It's going to be a lot of fun!! :D