Katie’s Beer

This morning as I sat reading the news online and listening to my favorite morning radio show, my dog sat nearby on “his” couch licking his paw. He was really going at it to the point where I felt obligated to distract him from his momentary obsession. Oddly enough, the topic on the radio switched to stories of the healing power of dog saliva. I did a quick Google search, dog saliva healing, and found a wealth of links. Who knew?

From It’s a Wonderful Saliva at Dogs in the News:

In a 1990 study done at the University of California, Davis, researchers found that dog saliva killed E. coli and Streptococcus canis, another harmful bacteria.

In another study (1995, Fairbanks, Alaska), students swabbed spit samples from 102 drooling dogs and concluded that the samples inhibited the growth of certain bacteria, especially on nose mucous bacteria. But they also found many types of bacteria in the dog saliva itself. They concluded perhaps dog saliva is not the next wonder drug.

Still, DogsInTheNews.com has found evidence over the years that slobbery dog kisses can cure cancer, deadly bee stings and blindness, among other ailments. Just remember that, the next time your pooch offers you a hearty lick. Read on…

Tags: dogs by TK
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Today my dog farted, thus ending a long family debate of whether this was even possible. We weren’t wondering if gas exists in dogs; we already knew that. We were wondering if there were ever audible evidence. There is. Joy. I’m sure that the massive amounts of table scraps he achieves each day has something to do with that. Or maybe it’s the deer antlers. Yes, deer antlers. My dog’s latest toy is a set of deer antlers.  They provide hours of happiness for Kirby.

Tags: dogs by TK
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Ah, December in Minnesota. It’s dark until you leave the house and dark before you return. Here’s the stats for today:

Last night as I was throwing Kirby his beloved (and well-chewed) plastic pheasant, I wondering what he thought about playing in the dark everyday. Dogs in Alaska must be used to it…and so is Kirby. My son asked me if Kirby had good eyesight, like cats do, in the dark. I don’t know if he does, but I know his nose works pretty well. Two nights ago when we were throwing the bird, Kirby kept refusing a certain path. Yesterday, in the brief moments of daylight between 3 and 4pm, I saw a virtual landmine of dog deposits in the area he had refused to run in. Good nose! Picking up frozen dog deposits was a fun experience…

Tags: dogs, Minnesota by TK
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1. Whining in his cage at 3am because we let him eat or drink too much at 10pm.
2. Whimpering for my husband, whom he worships and adores (I might be a little jealous on that one because I used to be the dog god).
3. Clawing madly at the screen door handle because he desparately needs to be with his master.
4. Angrily throwing himself down in his metal kennel to let us know he doesn’t want to be in there (Ok, maybe I’m projecting with that one).
5. Entertaining himself by mouthing an empty plastic water bottle (the crunching sound is unbelievably annoying, second only to nails on a chalkboard)
6. Worriedly yelping at a very high pitch (for a 90 lb dog) when cornered by our 9 lb orange tabby cat.
7. Barking at a pathetically high pitch while simultaneously drooling like a starving child when we attempt to eat in front of him.
8. Snoring at night, especially as he tries to make himself fall asleep (?!?).
9. The worried barking he makes when he locks himself in the truck on his first fishing outing with Rob (this just happened one hour ago
10. (insert future annoying sound here)

Next: The Top Ten List of the most wonderfully endearing noises my dog makes

Tags: dogs by TK
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I haven’t taken a vacation from blogging, but I have been kept away by several things:

• Researching and preparing for the upcoming edition of the Lutheran Carnival which I am hosting this weekend;
• Organizing the upcoming Confessional Worldview Seminar being hosted by my church (please sign up if you haven’t already done so - enrollment is quite low for an event of this caliber);
• Remaining a useful employee;
• Keeping a reasonably clean, happy and well-fed household;
• Going to daughter’s tennis matches in far-flung regions of the metropolis;
• Dealing with a painful budget decrease mandated by my dear husband who has pointed out to me that I spend money like it is water (not an entirely unfair description);
• Walking, training, feeding and loving up my 62 pound puppy (help!) I now know where the idea for the Clifford, the Big Red Dog books came from.;
• Finding some time to read, discover and listen to good music and read blogs.

It has been frustrating not to be able to blog from work due to Big Brother Websense. Blogging by email works, but at times, but the result are not very pretty or polished. I miss being able to post a thought here and there during the day. It really helps me to focus on my work. I do read more posts these days, thanks to Rojo. It is still surprising, though, how many bloggers have not made sure they have an RSS feed going.

A nice young woman came to my door last night handing out literature for local Democratic candidates. She was much more well-informed than me. I didn’t even know that Ron Abrams had retired…how embarrassing. So, I promised her that I would read the literature. I reminded myself that I need to get back in to political mode very soon.

I’ll try to add more thoughts tomorrow. It is very easy to get out of the habit of keeping a blog.

Tags: Blog-keeping, dogs, politics, Everyday life by TK
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The poetic reunion of Kirby and his brother, Gunnar, this weekend. Yes, a little contest to see who’s tougher, called “humping” by my kids, was involved, but who am I to question another species culture…

Tags: dogs by TK
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Kirby left last Wednesday for 2 1/2 weeks of puppy retriever training at Dokken’s Oak Ridge Kennels. We all miss him, but are excited to for the day he returns. In the meantime, mornings without Kirby are different and quiet. No sounds of him adjusting in his metal crate at night (bang! - I suspect he stands up and flails himself onto the crate floor just to bug us); no tiny little whimpers from him as he waits patiently for his sleeping owners to rise ( we are just not 5am people) and no wagging tail and incessant puppy licks when we do get him out of his crate for the day. I really miss that guy.

Tags: dogs by TK
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As the owner of a nearly 5 month old pup who has several acts of destruction already under his belt, I can look at these photos and understand exactly what happened. No malice of thought on Barney’s part. Just seemed like the thing to do at the moment. Heck, the bear probably gave Barney a funny look.

Tags: dogs by TK
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There are several sad stories in the local news today: a vibrant young grandmother was found dead in Wyoming after apparently getting lost and confused due to early-onset Alzheimer’s and a young man killing 10 puppies by breaking their necks because they were not purebred. Words can’t express sadness. I think that both these stories, while not even remotely comparable to each other in depth of tragedy, are clear illustrations of the flawed condition which grips our world. This condition also extends to animals, I believe and my pastor concurs, which are also affected by disease and bad behavior. I have come to this realization since becoming the owner of Kirby, the great black beast, three months ago.
Consider the actions of Barney, the valiant guard dog of a million dollar collection of teddy bears:

LONDON (AP) Mabel, the teddy bear once cuddled by Elvis, is all chewed up.
A Doberman pinscher named Barney ripped Mabel’s head off at a children’s museum near Wells, England. Barney was supposed to be guarding hundreds of rare bears, but museum’s general manager Daniel Medley says “he just went berserk.'’ Barney chewed up all the bears, worth nearly a $1 million. Medley has spoken to the guy who donated Elvis’ bear to the collection and he says the man is “not very pleased at all.'’

Tags: dogs by TK
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Kirby, the dog, says: “Go vote now for my namesake!

An important reminder from Scottius Maximus:

“…who is the face of your city? Your franchise?

MLB’s Hometown Heroes vote is taking place right now. From the website:
“Cast your vote for the most outstanding player in each club’s history…”

You can also enter to win 2006 World Series Tickets.

Go now and vote for the Puck. Kirby the dog says so!

Tags: Baseball, dogs by TK
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