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