Fur Baby Inc

Andrew the Great Maltese Competes in Agility

Remember Andrew the Great Maltese from the Greatest American Dog reality TV show? He's still training hard! You can see him on YouTube and become a fan on Facebook.

Go Andrew go! Harry gets tired just watching.

Hachiko: A Dog's Story debuts at Seattle International Film Festival

We took this photo of bas-relief sculptures of Akitas outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo (click on it to open hi-res)

A new movie has been made based on the story of Hachiko, the faithful Akita.  The real Hachiko lived from 1923 to 1935.  For a year after moving to Tokyo with his owner, Professor Ueno, Hachiko met him at the train station every evening after he returned home from the University of Tokyo.  Then one day Professor Ueno did not return, having passed away at work.  Hachiko was given a new home, but every day for 10 years he returned to Shibuya Station to wait for his friend.

Hachiko became a national legend.  A bronze statue honouring him was erected at the station in 1934 and Hachiko was present at the unveiling.  A memorial ceremony is held at the station every April 8th.

The movie debuted at the Seattle festival last Saturday and will open in Japanese theatres on August 8th.  The North American release date has not been announced.  At least that gives you some time to stock up on Kleenex!

Richard Gere plays the lead role and is one of the producers of the new film.  The screenplay was adapted from on a 1987 Japanese movie.  Richard Gere also starred in Shall We Dance, a 2004 Hollywood remake of a 1996 Japanese movie.

UPDATE: And the Palm Dog goes to...

Dug from Disney-Pixar's 3D animated film Up is this year's winner of the Palm Dog, an unofficial award at the Cannes Film Festival!

Read the New York Times report on the Palm Dog

Who will win the Palm Dog at Cannes?

The Palm Dog is a fun, unofficial award for the best canine actor in a film presented at the annual Cannes festival.  Some of the contenders include a pack of animated dogs from Disney's Up and a fox (there's no separate prize for foxes, so a special allowance was made).  We'll let you know who wins!

More on the Palm Dog award at Cannes

Dogs In Movies

Dogs have been an integral part of Hollywood films for the past eight decades. Below mentioned are some shining instances of movies that feature dogs, which includes Benji, Old Yeller, Lassie and more. 

• LESSIE COME HOME – Considered one amongst the classic dog films, it stars a young Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell. However, the real star in the film is a collie dog named Lassie, who is fully determined to be a part of her loving but impoverished family bound by circumstances to sell it to a rich duke.
• BENJI – How can one forget the shaggy-haired mutt named Benji? Though the town’s beloved fixture, it gains family respect when it rescues two kidnapped children to become a real canine hero. Played by a fifteen year old Higgins (a mix of poodle, cocker spaniel and terrier), he was rescued from L.A’s animal shelter. Though this was Higgins final film, dog lovers can catch him in action in “Petticoat Junction”.
• OLD YELLER – The story revolves around a boy and his reluctance to adopt a Mountain Cur Dog, which wanders into the family ranch. Slowly and steadily, a relationship develops between the boy and the dog, eventually helping the boy to grow into an adult. Though the book version of the film states that Old Yeller was a Mountain Cur breed, the movie dog is actually a yellow hound cross.
• 101 DALMATIANS – Believed to be one amongst the favorite dog films, this movie centers around Perdita and Pongo, who give birth to a puppy litter kidnapped by the memorable villains in animal history – Cruella DeVil. The initial version is narrated from dog’s perspective. The film was the year’s (1961) top grosser. 
• TURNER AND HOOCH – Considered the best cop-and-dog movies, the film stars detective Tom Hanks and Hooch – a French mastiff. The freak detective gets stuck in Hooch – a mischievous pooch. However, the detective finds himself in the midst of a sensational murder case and desperately seeks the pooch’s help to crack it.
• HOMEWARD BOUND – This film elaborates on the adventures of a bulldog named Chance, a golden retriever named Shadow and Sassy – a Himalayan Cat. The movie follows the journey of the trio wherein each hopes to get reunited with family.
• LADY AND THE TRAMP - This classic from Walt Disney is delightful for the entire family. Featuring the romance between male mutt and a purebred female cocker spaniel, the movie has some of the most memorable scenes. Worthwhile performances in the movie include that of the male mutt.

Below mentioned are some other prominent Hollywood movies which had dogs in lead roles:

TITLE	BREED	CHARACTER NAME	DOG NAME	COMMENTS
The Prince Albert Coat	--	--	Butch	Once in a lifetime performance. Must see film
The Dog Who Knew Superman	--	--	Corky	Splendid acting, Good movie to watch
The Adventures of Rusty	German Shepherd	Rusty	Flame	This movie was a knock off of Rin Tin Tin’s popularity
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin	German Shepherd	Rin Tin Tin	Hey and J.R.	Son of Flame,  J.R. was trained by Bob Blair and Neil Gazely
The Accidental Tourist	Cardigan Welsh Corgi	Edward	Bud	Geena received an Oscar for her performance of a dog trainer.
The Absent Minded Professor	Bearded Collie Mix	Charlie	Skippy	Also performed in the Mary Poppins as a suit wearing dog.
The Accountant	Mutt (Husky/Lab Mix)	--	Blue	Jill Barto rescued and trained Blue.

My new favorite movie dog is Bolt, a different kind of super-dog movie !  :-)  What's yours?

Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan

Having worked for several years with dogs, Cesar Millan has now become one of the world’s most sought-after dog trainers. Cesar currently hosts the popular dog show titled “The Dog Whisperer” on National Geographic Channel. A very entertaining and charismatic host, Cesar has made the show a huge favorite amongst dog owners. Owing to this, he has several fans who implement such techniques on house pets. Still, there are some who have a feeling that the methodology adopted by Cesar is inappropriate and extremely harsh for most pet owners (novice trainers). I therefore discuss Cesar’s approach to dog training with brief elaboration on its pros and cons.

Pros of Cesar Millan's Dog Training:

• Cesar educates people on the ways and means to become good pack leaders. He stresses on the importance of setting boundaries and rules for the dog and emphasizes on maintenance of calm and assertive energy.
• Cesar gives overt importance on understanding the needs of the dog and transforming it into a healthy and well-trained pet through proper discipline and regular exercise.
• Besides, Cesar also shows people the methodologies to improve the behavior of their dogs irrespective of their background and breed. Few dog breeds such as the Pit Bull Terrier have developed a horrible reputation. Cesar tells people that dogs could be easily rehabilitated irrespective of their background and breed.
• Cesar uses his pack of dogs to improve the behavior of other dogs and teach them. He believes in the fact that the best teacher for any dog could be another dog. Though one can try to learn the body language of a canine, it would take years before one can become adept in it.

Cons of Cesar’s Dog Training:

• Cesar limits exploring other dog training techniques. He has an extremely charismatic, confident and alpha personality which makes him successful. People can try to be like that but not everyone is like that.  Some can’t even fake it.
• Though Cesar sometimes believes in the fact that altering of dog’s behavior may take time, his dog behavior program has shown exactly the opposite. The Dog Whisperer’s show format is such that Cesar needs to quickly show the results so that the program becomes engaging and interesting. On most occasions, there is a timer that displays how Cesar solves the problem within minutes (5-15 minutes), which, most owners had found it difficult to solve. These help in encouraging a fix-it-now-or-give-up mentality amongst dog owners, which leads to more dogs getting surrendered.
• Cesar has kept the discussion on the proper use of equipment which needed to be used and the correct usage of particular equipment to the minimum. Cesar advises clients to put the dog collar high up on the neck, close to ears and the head. Sometimes, Cesar also uses the Illusion collar to prevent it from sliding down the neck and on some occasions, goes with the owner’s choice. Cesar is also known to implement choke chains for a long time period. Recent studies have indicated that choke chain is harmful for the dog.
• Cesar downplays the effects and dangers of implementing aversive techniques. Some of Cesar’s aversive techniques include leash jerks, finger pokes and alpha rolls. Cesar believes that such techniques are only meant to receive dog’s attention.

If you are interested, you can check out some of his videos.

A Video Clip of a BIG furbaby - Christian the Lion

This is an amazing true story!

If you are interested in the whole story, check out the documentary, filmed around 1970 - "Christian the Lion (1976)".