Dog Saves Christmas!

It's Christmas Time!     

This is one of my favorite videos I made of Jasmine helping out Santa Claus!  :)

Senior Citizens Enjoying Dog Tricks by Jasmine!

Good things happen when you FINALLY get around to replacing your laptop battery!!   I found some old footage of Jasmine that I'm making into new trick videos!   Here's one we just uploaded...

We've done tricks shows for practically every age group now.  And they're all pretty fun.  Jasmine gets so excited when I get out ALL of her props, and start cutting up treats.  She knows we're going to do a show! 

This was a fun show to do.  We were asked to perform at a Senior Living Center, in honor of a woman's 96th b-day!!!   We did the trick show, then afterwards I took Jasmine around so that everyone could pet her.  They told me about the dogs they used to have.  It was very sweet.  Jasmine is a therapy dog, and loves people.  

Here's a recap of the show we did.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  (Including us.)

March Madness- Canine Style!

In the animal kingdom, they have their own version of "March Madness!"  :D

Here's a true story.  I don't watch sports.  I know very little about sports.  The first year my office did a March Madness pool, they wanted everyone to contribute $5 and guess who was going to win it.  I got talked into participating.  When I picked my teams, I didn't know the numbers next to the team names meant anything.  So I lost very quickly!

The next year, I still knew nothing about sports.  (Other than that number by the team name was their ranking.)  So this time, I made my selections mostly based on which team was ranked higher.  And when it was close, I guessed based on 1) if I had been to that city, 2) if I liked their team colors, and 3) what their team mascot was. (which animal I liked better.)

And guess what... that was the year I WON!!!  I won the whole office jackpot for March Madness.  Of course, everyone was mad because they knew I didn't even watch sports!!  And they knew how I had made my selections! (Because I had to ask what the team mascot and colors were!!)  LOL.  (They weren't really upset, it was all in good fun.)  They have no one to blame but themselves... they made me enter!  Because I won, they "encouraged" (made me) spend the jackpot by buying lunch for the whole office.  But it's all good.  ;)  We still joke about it... 

That's when I decided to stick to what I know best.  DOG TRICKS.  I decided to create my own Canine Basketball Team!  :)

We are friends with trick dogs from all over the world!  (Mainly because of Facebook and YouTube!)
So I wrote them and asked if they wanted to join our FIRST EVER Canine Basketball Team!  (Of course the answer was yes!)   

So here they are- meet the Canine All-Star Basketball Team:



This video showcases dogs from all over the USA, as well as Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and England!  And even better, all of these dogs were trained using positive reinforcement.  (Just like Jaz!)  I just love watching it.  It always makes me smile.  We are miles apart, but our love of dogs brings us together.

So, this is pretty much the only sports I like to watch!   Hope you enjoyed March Madness- Canine Style!

P.S.  Clips from this video were featured on Animal Planet last December!  (On a show called "A Year in Pup Culture".   :)

Call-backs for a commercial! :D

Wow- what a weekend! 

Last Friday, I got a phone call from a friend (who is a human talent agent) asking if she could submit Jasmine for a Green Giant audition in LA. I said- sure, why not?   Little did I know, later that evening, she would write me saying that Jasmine went straight to call-backs!  (Which means they want to see us in person.) She wanted to know if we wanted to go LA for the call-back, even though it was super last minute.

  

I debated if I should go for a while.  It's a long drive for such a slim chance.  But I still kinda wanted to do it anyway...  just even to take that chance.  (and to have the opportunity to have Jasmine perform in front of casting directors.)   So after consulting with friends and family, I figured why not.  :)   I have family that lives out in California, so I could stop in and see them briefly before going to the audition...

Um... Jasmine?  Where am I supposed to sit??

It was about a 7 hour drive to LA.

Jaz is wondering why I won't play with her?!?

  Maybe because it was past midnight by the time we got to the hotel!

  Jaz- the next morning... wondering why on earth we were getting up so early??

Jasmine looking out the hotel room- checking out LA.

 Our call-back time wasn't until 2:30 pm, so we had some time to kill.  I met up with some family members for lunch in downtown LA!  Then we took some pictures (which was good practice for our audition!)   Jaz was sure being a cutie.  :)

Jasmine can be a little TOO friendly!  I went inside the hotel restroom to wash my hands, and Jaz stuck her head until the stall door to say hi to someone!!  (I came back later to take this pic!) 

Jasmine - waiting for our turn to audition.  She was PERFECT!!!!  We sat in a small room with other people until it was our turn.  They try to get through all the auditions pretty quickly, so I knew we wouldn't have much set-up time.  When it was our turn, some people helped me get our props into the room.  There were about 8 people sitting on an L-shaped couch.  There was a coffee table with snack foods on it.  And there was a man behind a professional video camera. 

A guy named Adam was being a mock reporter, and "interviewed" us.  He said "I hear you have an unusual dog here."  I said, "Yes, this is Jasmine.  She's pretty talented."  Then I showed 4 of her tricks, and he made funny little commentaries about it. She pushed the shopping cart (which was on business-style carpet, so it wasn't super fast, but you got the idea.)  Then we did the mailbox trick. (Bringing me the mail.)  Adam quipped "So does she rip up the junk mail?"  Then the suitcase trick (opening, then hiding in the suitcase until I say okay.)  Adam quipped "I see you've found a way to save on baggage fees!"  Then finally we did the Basketball trick.  (Making a slam dunk with the basketball.)  Adam commented, "Looks like you should start your own NBA team!"  It was nice having him making the small talk, because then I could just focus on the tricks!

For every single trick, Jasmine was SPOT ON.  I was SO PROUD of her.  Sometimes she'll look at me, and the basketball will go to the side of the rim.  Or she'll fumble trying to open the lid of the suitcase.  Or she'll try to bring me the mail, but drop it before I grab it.  But not this time.  She did EVERY SINGLE TRICK PERFECT!!   I finished our routine, and said thank you, and was back out in the hall.  What a whirlwind.  But it was fun!  

It was nice having my family around to distract me before the audition.  And so I really didn't start getting nervous until about 2 hours before the audition.  I texted my friend Lauren (who has the trick dog Paige.)  She told me "Don't be nervous!  Be yourself!  You can do this!  Just do what you do best and remember... WE LIKE DOING THIS!!"   LOL

That was hilarious to me- because that's exactly what I had told her the week before when Lauren had told me that she was nervous about Paige performing on a talk show!  Now here she was telling me the exact same thing I told her.  LOL.  It was what I neeed to hear.  I wasn't too nervous after that.  I really do like performing with Jasmine.  (Jasmine LOVES doing tricks.)  It's me who has to remember not to get nervous.  (Especially for auditions and live TV appearances.)  I love doing commercials and TV spots, because you can always redo anything that doesn't go perfect.  (and in fact, sometimes you redo shots that seem like they were perfect!)  So that's more my comfort zone!!   

After the audition, we headed straight for home.  Jaz was one tired baby on the drive home.  She just slept in my arms almost the whole way...  So we left on Sunday, and came back on Monday.  Yikes.  Crazy whirlwind trip.

But all in all, it couldn't have gone any better.  If they don't end up picking Jaz, that's okay.  It was a good experience overall.  And like I said, Jaz did everything perfect.  So they'll either want to use her or they won't.   But I won't have any regrets.  She was awesome.  :)

Jaz is on @babble! :D

Santa brought Jasmine a present too!  (She was a good doggie this year, so she deserved it.)  :)

 The funny thing I only asked her to hold it in her mouth.  She did the "sit pretty" all by herself.  I guess she knows the routine by now!!  ;)

I found out today that Jasmine's Christmas video (Dog Saves Christmas) is being featured on Babble.com!  :D

That's pretty cool!!

If you want to check it out, here's the link:   http://www.babble.com/pets/santas-furry-little-helper-therapy-dog-saves-christmas/

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas with your loved ones!  

Jaz's New Dog Tricks

Jaz has a new trick video up!  (Well, kind of!)   I made a remix of some of Jasmine's old and new tricks.  (Including the "Blanket Thief" at the end.)   I think I'm going to re-upload it with music.  But until I get time to do that, here's a sneak peak:  :)

GMA Dog vs. Dog contest!

Oh my gosh- this is unreal!!  THANKS to you my friends, Jasmine won her contest on Monday!

She was paired off against a very talented, sweet dog named Arbor.  Arbor was adopted from a shelter only a year ago!!  Pretty impressive!!  Here's Arbor's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/GoVegasDog

Living proof that some of the best pups you will ever find are at your local shelter.  Go find out for yourself!  What a sweet, smart, and talented dog!

It was a CLOSE contest too! 
 If you missed it, here's the link to watch both dogs!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfo0zDto624

  So... now Jasmine moves on to the next round!  They are flying us to New York!!   I can't believe it!  Jasmine will be performing LIVE on Good Morning America THIS Friday, May 4, 2012!

WOW.  This doesn't even seem real!!  I'm so excited! 

So keep an eye out for Jasmine!  After the show,  you can vote for your favorite dog (on Friday) at: www.goodmorningamerica.com

I don't have a smart phone, so I won't be able to remind anyone to vote.  So please tell your friends!!  :)   THANK YOU!!!  :D