WHO IS JASMINE? BlogPaws Intro Video

Many of you know Jasmine's history, but some of you do not.   Since we're going to be speaking at a pet convention next month called BlogPaws, I thought it would be good to make an introduction video!


Here's a little background on us:





Jasmine is a 6 year old Havanese who LOVES to do tricks!  I've had her since she was a puppy.  She is clicker trained, using positive reinforcement.  She loves to learn, because she enjoys the mental stimulation and she LOVES good treats!!


We've had a lot of wonderful adventures together.  I had no idea when I got this sweet little pup where it would all lead.  But... one thing just keeps leading to another... and here we are.  :)  And now she's been on TV all over the world.  I don't even know where we'll end up next! LOL.

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

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

Prepping for our trip to Cali! :D

Since we were chosen to be a finalist on the show "Who Let The Dogs Out", we get to go to California to be on the finale! :D (It's on Animal Planet on Saturday mornings.)

We're getting ready for our big trip! There's so much to do!! It took me a lot of searching to find a container big enough to ship most of Jasmine's props! I finally found this over-sized bin. But it was like playing Tetris trying to figure out how to get all the stuff to fit in it!!

I was quite proud with the end result!! MOST of it fit... Not the keyboard, the mailbox cover, or a few other little things. But most of it's in there! :D

(I'm obviously not bringing the mini fridge!!) I wouldn't do that to the poor mailman! ;)






As you can see from this picture, Jaz isn't real thrilled that I had to bubble wrap her cart!! She can't figure out what I'm doing with all her stuff!!

One day I'll get a fancy container for all this. In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with our plastic tub! :D (and just tape the lid on super well!!!!) :D

Jaz practiced being in her airline carry-on... so it won't be so foreign when we have to do it again! Last time we flew, it was to go to Atlanta for Barkworld last October. This should be a much easier and shorter trip!

I'm getting excited!! (And a little nervous!!!) But either way, it's going to be a lot of fun. :) I can't wait!! :D

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

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