WebWatch with Charlie the Cocker Spaniel

It has been a while since I took a few minutes to look around the web and see what gadgets, gismos and websites I can find that interest me and in turn you may find interesting.

If you would like to suggest any gadgets, websites or stories for my next WebWatch then get in touch via the Contact Us form at the top of this page.

A quick thought for Valentines Day…
According to a survey conducted by a pet food company, 26 percent of dog owners “say ‘I love you’ once a day to their dogs—the same percentage that says ‘I love you’ once a day to a spouse or significant other.”

Gadgets

Power generating dog lead - A bit of lateral thinking has gone in to this gadget that harnesses the energy stored in our leads to generate light.  As we pull the retractable lead in and out a generator makes electricity. This energy is stored in batteries and used to power a light to guide the way.  Still as a concept but a great idea, investors wanted.

PawTrax - After two years of research, investigation and testing a GPS tracker has been developed for us. It is called The PATmicro.

Air conditioned and heated dog house - Now we are talking sheer luxury here.

The innovative Cool Pet House has been designed to cater for Small Pets up to 12kg and is Air-conditioned & Heated using newly developed state of the art ‘thermo-electric’ technology with temperature ranges from a cool 17°C up to a balmy 30°C (thermostat controlled).

The Cool Pet House also features inbuilt humidifiers to ensure that the living and sleeping environment remains at a constant and very pleasant 50-60% humidity.

There is also an optional WI FI Web Cam and LED interior lighting at the touch of a remote control button.

Websites

Ohmidog.com –  is the web domain of John Woestendiek, a former newspaper reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner who, after blogging about dogs and animals for the Baltimore Sun, decided to unleash himself from the newspaper and go out on his own.

As a stray, he plans to continue blogging and working as a writer on other projects, including a dog-related book.

He is assisted in this endeavor by the ohmidog! staff (listed below) and his dog Ace, who, whether he’s dragging his owner to the dog park or curled up and snoring on the futon, provides constant inspiration.

The other end of the leash.com - This is one for the humans,  as it is an ongoing inquiry about the behavior of people and dogs.

To Quote from the website ” My hope is that it will become a place for an informed and thoughtful consideration of the amazing relationship between people and dogs—my two favorite species.”

The blog is written by Patricia McConnell, a certified applied animal behaviorist and dog trainer who is crazy in love with her dogs.

Oldies Club –  The Oldies Club is a dog rescue, run solely by volunteers, that specialises in rescuing and rehoming older dogs – aged 7 years plus.

The Oldies Club rescue grew from an initial idea on an internet dog chat forum by a group of people who felt great empathy with the plight of elderly dogs that find themselves homeless.

You can help this club with collecting stamps from used envelopes. Please send them to Oldies Club Stamps, 35 Belle Vue Street, Healey, Batley, West Yorks, WF17 8DD. Please ensure Oldies Club is mentioned on the envelope, to ensure money raised is allocated correctly.

The Oldies club is also on the lookout for other items including mobile phones, printer cartridges. full details on their website.

Dog Art Today – Dog Art Today is devoted to daily dog art from around the world.

Features include contemporary dog art, the history of dogs in art, dog art auctions, books, posters, fashion and decor.

Launched in March 2007 this blog is run by Moira McLaughlin (MORE-a Mc-LOCK-lin) who is an artist and a dog lover. She has a Longhaired Dachshund muse called Darby.

Pictures

Here are a few pictures we have taken over the past few weeks and have kept as sort of a blooper part to this post.

A Sleepy Buster

Buster eventually finds somewhere to sleep.

Even if it is on the stairs with his head on some paperwork waiting to be filed….. sweet dreams

Amusing picture

And finally… Whilst we were out in the car the other day we spotted this image in the grounds of Lanercost Priory…. Bishop’s Move in a Priory…. Well we thought it was funny:-)

Until next time

Charlie

A lead spring

You may have notice from the assorted photographs of Charlie recently that he has been trying out a new gadget.

Mum and dad spotted the device online and thought it might be worth a try.

The device consists of a spring within a spring which attaches to the end on the lead between the lead and the collar.

When Charlie pulls at the end of his stretchy string the spring takes up the jolt and mums hands don’t get that judder.

Charlie has been trying it for a few weeks now and it seems to be of great value and works really well.

Mum had lost track of how many times she had dropped the lead when Charlie was at full stretch running around.

It is no solution to a badly trained Charlie, but is is helpful when out for a long walk  or to reduce the tension on the extendable leads when they get to the end of travel.

Two sizes are available depending on the breed of dog.

A simple solution to a problem many dog owners have when out walking their pooches.

This product may not be suitable for long-haired dogs.

We suggest you read any guidelines or advice about the product to see if it is suitable for your application.

Charlie gives it a 7 out of 10.

This product may not be suitable for long-haired dogs.

Hot weather and summer produce …

Gosh it has been hot for the last few days.  So hot we have been staying outside to try and keep cool as the house has been unbearable.  Even the tiled kitchen floor didn’t cool us down.

Mum purchased earlier this year an indoor –  outdoor room for the garden.  This has allowed us to keep cool in what breeze there has been away from the harsh sun outside.

It is a great gadget and with the lights dad put up a few days ago allows mum and dad also to enjoy the outdoors into the late evening.

Today the temperatures have dropped to be a manageable 23 degrees and to celebrate dad is playing music by Dire Straits and other tracks from iTunes.

We can see that his help is going to be limited as the occasional air guitar is played and the pencil drumsticks are used.  It is going to be a long afternoon…

Let us hope he doesn’t start mixing song titles into our blog or we will have to carry out a Private Investigation and remind him who are the Local Hero’s.

A cool river dip

Last night we travelled to Dalston.  We went the long way around as it gave us a chance to cool off in the air conditioning.

First stop was the river where we both got some welcome relief from the heat in the cool water.

Here we met up with another friend who had an interesting twist on the searching for stones game we often play.

She ran into the water and popped her head under the water gathering up a stone from the river bottom and bringing it to the waters edge.  She then ran back into the water and got another and another.

Summer fruits

Mum has started the annual harvest.  First crop has been some of the many gooseberries from the allotment.

The red and green fruits have been topped and tailed and put in bags for the freezer.

We are not allowed them as mum thought they would be bad for us but dad tells us they are great in a crumble during the winter.

Mum thought she was working an a Chain Gang as she worked her way through hundreds of berries.

The many hanging baskets full of strawberry plants are dripping with fruit it being Wimbledon Tennis Season.

The hot sunshine has really ripened the fruit and mum has started going to the garden on a morning, picking some of the fruit which she then slices for her breakfast on top of some yoghurt.

You can not get fruit fresher than that and with no transport costs.

One harvest we have been able to try has been the Sugar Snap Peas mum was processing this week.

Again from the allotment, they were very crunchy and fantastic to throw around before we eventually ate them.

Again another big bag full went into the freezer after a few were lightly steamed for an evening meal.

Finally we just had to share a photograph of the water lilly flower in our pond.  It was lapping up the hot conditions during the daytime only to close in the cooler evenings.  it is quite clever for a plant.

Thats all for now as it is now not Too Hot for Dancing in the Street as gardeners start Singing in The Rain as the heavens open with a welcome Downpour….

Until next time

Buster and Charlie

Charlie gets a haircut …

Mum finally flipped today and after weeks of drying us,  she decided we needed a haircut.

Not just any trim around our feet but the full on No.2 followed by a bath.

Usually we get away with a short trim but mum had purchased a professional fluff trimmer with plastic attachments.

Once we had become used to the noise, it was like a loud bee from the garden, we settled down and started to get cold.

The thick coats we had taken all winter to grow started to be removed, a strip at a time.  Just like a farmer ploughing a field, mum worked the gadget up and down our coats.

Starting on our backs she worked her way down our sides then onto our tummies.

It was here that we got the giggles.  The shears tickled, this is what mum called it, and we started to lark about. 

Now tickling is something new and took a while to work out what the sensation was. Mum kept saying everything was alright but I saw what it was doing to my coat and I was a bit unsure.

After a break for a few minutes, to go to the garden and for mum to tidy up a little , she started on our legs.  We thought the giggles were bad on our tummies well, the buzzing on our legs just made us react like we were jumping on hot coals.

Every time mum put the trimmer near our paws we just had to lift our legs.  It was great fun.

Fluff went everywhere, and the hoover monster was brought out to help clean up.  

Mum had thin hairs all over her top and trousers.  We had our revenge as these itched, and itched, and itched until she eventually went for a shower and got tidied up.

A bath soon followed for us, along with a long lie down in front of the fire to dry off.

Mum says that she is going to use our fluff for the birds.  

We will let you know next time what she actually does with it.

More information