Seeing-Eye Dogs

Dogs have to go through guide dog training to become a guide dog.  Some dogs don't graduate because they don't have the right personality. 

I decided to write about guide dogs because it just came to me.   And because in school, in our social justice class, a blind woman came and brought her guide dog named Emmy; she was a Labrador Retriever.  She liked her dog a lot.   Our social justice teacher said the three best guide dogs are:  Labrador retrievers, Golden retrievers, and German shepherds. 

If I were blind, I would probably have a guide dog instead of a cane because I love dogs and I think a dog would be able to actually see where I am walking and  a cane can't see at all.

Photo courtesy istockphoto

This post was transcribed by my mother, Whitney Johnson

Flyball

Flyball is a sport for dogs.  It's like a race, but for dogs.  The clip you can watch below is about flyball and how it works.  I watched it 4x and I liked the music a lot.

Groups of Dogs

There are seven different groups of dogs:

Herding
A collie is a herding dog.  Herding dogs are dogs that love to be out in the field herding sheep and/or goats.  I would have a herding dog because when I grow up I would like to live on a farm with lots of animals.

Hounds
A beagle is a type of a hound.  Hounds do a lot of sniffing.  Sniffing for people, pets and sometimes bugs, but not usually.  I might get a hound but I would get one that doesn't howl very much.  Because beagles howl like "Howoooo, arrhoooo, arrrhooo".

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Non-sporting
A Boston Terrier is a non-sporting dog.  Even though the group name is non-sporting, you still have to play games with it and such.   

Sporting
Sporting dogs are very active as their name implies.  You can play fetch, catch, chase and race.

Terriers
Terriers are on the small side for dogs.  But there are some that get big.  I would own a terrier, but I like other types of dogs better. 

Toy
An example of a toy dog is a miniature pinscher (aka minpin).  I love saying minpin.  Toy dogs think they are a lot bigger than they are.  So they take on big dogs with a "You want a piece of me!"  

Working
This is an Akita dog.   Working dogs are usually big dogs.  BIG dogs.   Some working dog jobs are:  search and rescue, pulling, and some more.  

My Three Favorite Puppy Place Books

Puppy Place is my favorite book series because in every book it has a different puppy, and in every book the puppy finds a home.  

My three favorite books are:  Buddy, Noodle and Patches.

My favorite book in the series of all the ones I've read is Buddy.  It was my favorite book because it was a story about a mama dog that had three puppies, Cinnamon, Cocoa and Buddy.   At the end of the book, an author adopted Cinnamon and Cocoa.  A bookstore person was going to adopt Buddy, but he came to the house later and said his store was too busy to take care of a puppy, but he would be happy to take the mother Skipper.  So Buddy got to stay with his foster family, the Petersons.

 

Noodle is my second favorite book because it is a story about a puppy that was drowning in an icy lake.  Lizzie takes Buddy out to get some firewood, but while she's getting the firewood she sees a puppy drowning.  She runs as fast as she can to tell her mom and dad.  Her dad calls the fire department where he works.   They say they'll get over there as fast as they can.  When the ice rescue team is out on the ice, the ice starts to break.   One of the rescue workers says she can reach the puppy, but the people on land say they have to haul the rescue workers back in.   She grabs the puppy anyway, and then they pull them back in.  At the end, the owners that accidentally left Noodle at Loon Lake Park take Noodle home.

My third favorite book is Patches.  It's about when Sammy and Charles go to a haunted house.  They hear a howling which they think is a ghost.  But then they see a cute little beagle puppy tangled up in its leash.  They can't take him home because they see someone sitting on the porch so they know he has an owner. At the end, Patches lives with Sammy's cousin who was fixing up the house they thought was haunted.

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up (Part 1)

I drew this picture because there was a contest at my school. They asked me to draw what I want to be when I grow up. When I grow up I want to be a stay-at-home mom dog breeder. I won't start breeding dogs until all my children are five.

In this drawing, I drew lots of pictures of hills in the background. I'm in the field playing ball with a Rottweiler/Husky puppy. The dad Rottweiler is checking on his puppy. One of the other puppies is playing on a ball. In the lower cage, a puppy is sleeping in his bed. Also a puppy is eating from the food bowl. In both cages I drew a pile of balls.






This post was written by Miranda Johnson, transcribed by my Mother.

What kind of dog is right for you?

Below is a quiz that you can take to find out what kind of dog could be right for you.

Where do you live?
a. Rural Suburb
b. Suburb
c. Urban
d. Rural

What's the weather like where you live?
a. Warm
b. Cool
c. Warm/Hot
d. Cool/Cold

What would you like to do with your dog?
a. Sit on the couch
b. Play outdoors
c. Walk in the park
d. Herd

Approximately how old are you, and how old are the people you live with?
a. Grandparent age
b. Older child
c. Live alone, any age
d. Tween

What size of dog do you want?
a. Small/Medium
b. Large
c. Small
d. Medium/Large

What personality of dog would you like?
a. Well-behaved and companionable
b. Intelligent and easy-going
c. Combative, intelligent, tightly wound
d. Intelligent and independent

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Here are photos of the four different types of dogs:

Fox Terrier

Source: istockphoto

Border Collie

Source: istockphoto

Boston Terrier

Source: istockphoto

Collie

Source: istockphoto

Key:
Mostly 'a': Boston Terrier
Mostly 'b': Collie
Mostly 'c': Fox Terrier
Mostly 'd': Border Collie

This post was inspired by: Girls and Their Dogs and Choosing the Dog That's Right for You
Thanks to Whitney Johnson for transcribing this post

My Friends' Boston Terrier Sophie

I am posting about a Boston Terrier because my friends have a cute little puppy named Sophie.
Boston Terriers aren't supposed to be hyper, but my friends' dog Sophie is.

Me and my friends hide from Sophie and she comes squeaking after us to try and find us.

Here are three facts about Boston Terriers:
1. Boston Terriers ears start out bent but then they are cropped.

2. Boston Terriers shouldn't exercise strenuously on hot days because they are prone to heat stroke.

3. The Boston Terrier's nickname is American Gentleman.