Dog Stories

After weeks of overdosing on cuteness as we’ve perused the puppy pics you entered in our Cutest Puppy Contest, we’re happy to announce the 2011 DogWatch Cutest Puppy Contest Winners!
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When Ron Pace, the DogWatch Dealer in Washington state and a renowned dog trainer with 35 years of experience, shared his story with Dog Tails, he mentioned how strange it was that the dog that brought him worldwide attention just happened to be named Sugar. You see, at his Canyon Crest K-9 Training Center in Tacoma, WA, Ron currently trains service dogs for people who have diabetes. These dogs use their unique abilities to detect and alert their owners to potentially dangerous blood sugar levels. So it seems appropriate that the boxer who collapsed and was resuscitated by Ron during an obedience training session should be named Sugar! What a sweet coincidence.

In this installment of DogWatch Dealer Chat, we speak with Ron about his years of dog training, his diabetic service animal organization, and of course, Sugar’s dramatic rescue, which was captured on video.

(You may have seen this video of Ron’s heroic efforts on our Facebook page, or on CNN, Fox News, “Today” or any of the many media channels which showed the footage and covered the amazing story.  If not, we’ve embedded the video below. Don’t miss it!)

A Dog-Centric Career

Ron Pace has been a DogWatch dealer for 20 years and a dog trainer for 35 years, but his love for animals goes back even further. His love of dogs began in high school, when he took a neighbors’ Doberman pinscher for a walk and stayed with the dog for hours. Not long after, Ron brought home a dog of his own, a German shepherd puppy he named Jake. To learn more about Jake, read Ron’s tribute to the dog who “changed his life” here. Like all puppies, Jake was a bit “unruly” at first, so Ron took him to obedience classes. There, Ron discovered that he and Jake were quite “good students” and at 19, he won a $1,000 scholarship to pursue dog training as as career.

Ron and Jake proved to be a strong team. The talented dog even helped Ron secure his first bank loan to start his dog training and boarding business, Canyon Crest K-9 Training Center in Tacoma, WA. Jake accompanied Ron to the bank, showed off his obedience training and proved that his dog trainer “meant business.”

At Canyon Crest, Ron offers a variety of training courses, from puppy preschool to advanced training in tracking and personal protection. He works alongside his wife, Patti, and their two dogs, a 16-year old Norwich terrier named Mattie and a 2-and-1/2 year old German shepherd named Jude.

Service Dog Training

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Here at DogWatch Hidden Fences, June makes us think of one thing above all else: PUPPIES! Hence, we’re declaring June to be Puppy Month. This month, we’ll be highlighting all things puppy on both our Dog Tails Blog and our Facebook page. Keep an eye out for informative blog posts on important topics such as how to pick the right puppy for you, what you’ll need before you bring it home, and what to do once you’ve gotten it home, as well as puppy-related updates to our Facebook page!

To properly kick off DogWatch Puppy Month, we’d like to introduce our DogWatch Cutest Puppy Facebook Contest! If you’re anything like us, you LOVE a chance to show off that little ball of fluff that makes your heart melt, so here’s your chance! Read on for details on how to enter, as well as judging and results, and good luck!

DogWatch Cutest Puppy Contest Rules

How to enter:

1)      Post a photo of your puppy OR a puppy photo of your older dog to DogWatch’s wall on Facebook. Do not post your entry on your DogWatch Dealer’s Facebook page; only photos submitted to the main DogWatch Facebook page wall will be eligible to win. You may enter multiple puppies, but please only submit one photo per pet. Please make sure to include the following in the photo’s caption:

–          Puppy’s name, age, and breed (if known)

–          Any amusing anecdotes about your puppy that you’d like to share

2)      Share the link to your puppy’s picture with your friends and family and ask them to VOTE for your puppy (and ask them to share the link with their friends, too!)  To VOTE, they will need visit the DogWatch Facebook page, and then “Like” the picture of your puppy. Also, please encourage your friends to “Like” the DogWatch Facebook page so that they can see the results on the contest.

Judging and Results:

1)      The contest will run from Thursday, June 2^nd to Thursday, June 30^th. The winning puppy will be determined by the picture with the most “Likes” at the end of the contest, and will be announced on the DogWatch Hidden Fences Facebook page and Dog Tails blog on Wednesday, July 6^th.

2)      The winning puppy will be profiled on the DogWatch Facebook Page, as well as our Dog Tails blog and will receive a dog-friendly gift from DogWatch!

3)      Contest is open to all Facebook users. DogWatch dealers and their families ARE eligible.

4)      DogWatch Inc. reserves the right to use entered photos in future online and printed materials.

If you have any questions about the contest, please contact Heidi.fence@dogwatch.com.

Thanks, and Happy Puppy Month!

– DogWatch Hidden Fences

Puppy photo by Heather Ruiz via Flickr

While the world watched with baited breath as Great Britain’s Prince William said his vows to long-time love Catherine Middleton today, we here at DogWatch Hidden Fences find we’re a bit more intrigued by the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel than all the Royal Wedding hoopla. While today will certainly go down in royal history, we’d like to bring the focus to some dog breeds that have made royal history of their own! Introducing . . . the Royal Dogs!

The Saluki: Perhaps the oldest pure dog breed still in existence, the sleek and elegant Saluki has been discovered in carvings in Sumerian tombs dating as far back as 7000 B.C., and Egyptian tombs dating back to 2100 B.C. Thought to be named after the ancient town of Suluk, Libya, the Saluki was considered the royal dog of Egypt. So beloved by the Egyptian royals, they were frequently mummified along with their owners, and several depictions exist of King Tutankhamen with his favorite Salukis. The Saluki is thought to have been brought to Europe during the Crusades in the 12^th Century, and arrived in England in the mid-1800s, and America in the early 1900s.

The Lhasa Apso: One of the most ancient dog breeds, the lion-like, black-lipped Lhasa Apso is thought to have existed as far back as 800 B.C. Lhasas originated in the sacred city of Lhasa in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet, and were bred by holy men called Lamas. Referred to in Tibet as “Apso Seng Kyi,” or “Bearded Lion Dog,” the Lhasa was primarily used as a watchdog in temples and monasteries, as well as in religious ceremonies. It was believed that the souls of deceased Lamas could enter the bodies of Lhasa Apsos, where they remained as they awaited reincarnation. A highly-prized dog, Lhasas could neither be bought nor sold; they could only be given as a gift. Lhasa Apsos made their way to Great Britain and the United States in the early 1900s.

The Pekingese: The royal dog of China, these little dogs with a lion’s mane took their name from the ancient city of Peking (now Beijing) over 2,000 years ago. In ancient China, Pekingese were considered sacred and believed to drive away evil spirits. Bred and guarded in the Imperial Palace, so prized were these little “lion dogs” that only royalty was permitted to own them, and the theft of a Pekingese was punishable by death! In 1860, the British overtook the Imperial Palace of China; during the seizure, five Pekingese were captured and brought back to Great Britain. They were given to British royalty, including Queen Victoria, as spoils of war, and were then interbred, thus beginning the British line of Pekingese. In the early 1900s, the Chinese Dowager Empress Cixi began gifting the dogs to influential Americans, beginning the line of the modern American Pekingese.

The Pug: An old breed of Chinese descent, dating as far back as 400 B.C., the snub-nosed, smush-faced Pug is believed to be a relative of the Pekingese. Imported to Holland by the Dutch East India Company in the 16^th century, the Pug rose to Dutch popularity under William, Prince of Orange, after one saved his life in 1572 by sounding the alarm that the Spanish were approaching, thus allowing him time to successfully flee their assassination attempt. So the intrepid little Pug became the official dog of the House of Orange, and one hundred years later, when William II ascended the throne in England, he brought his beloved Pugs with him, establishing their following in Great Britain. This following grew to include the likes of the ill-fated Queen Marie-Antoinette, as well as another less-than-fortunate Parisian, the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

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