Brandy and Val

All the dog lovers I know eagerly await watching the Westminster Dog Show each year at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.  I am no exception.  Last year my husband and I went and we had a blast.  The most fun was meeting the dogs in back and watching them get primped and primed before their showings.  Oh the tortures many of those poor things go through!  Blow dryers, flat irons, curlers, sprays, gels, rubber bands galore are just of a few of the necessities that the groomers use to prepare the pup to perfection. It was also really fun to see the breeds’ personalities come to light when the dogs are all gathered in their “best of breed” rings.  For example, those ever-friendly Labs (Labrador Retriever rescue) always seem to have their tails wagging whether they are waiting to be judged or not.  The Mastiffs (Mastiff rescue), known to be rather lazy, are all lying down and falling asleep when they’re not “on” while the Viszlas (Viszla rescue)all seem to be bouncing in place doing their best to contain their energy but rarely sitting still.  The movie, BEST IN SHOW, is probably one of the best-known and funniest movies spoofing the whole dog show process.  For those who have not seen it yet, it’s a must.

Yesterday’s, New York Times had a cover story in their business section by David Segal: “Best P.R. in Show” describing the not-so-wonderful side of making a dog a star.  It was disheartening to read that, much like movies studios and the Oscars, ads are taken out in trade papers and magazines extolling the virtues of a dog to be shown in hopes of garnering a few votes and good-will from the judges.   The article goes on saying how much it costs to make these dogs stars:  easily 6 figures and that many of the dogs are now “owned” by several people to help defray the costs involved for traveling to shows; handling; training; placing ads, etc.  Hard to envision our loveable pets as commodities considering how much our dogs mean to us as integral parts of our families.

Nevertheless, we love to see the pups looking their best and we love to see all the different breeds.   This year, three new ones have been accepted to the competition:  The Norwegian buhund, the Pyrenean shepherd and the Irish red and white setter.   Who will turn out to be this year’s star and capture the “Best in Show” ribbon at the 134th Westminster?  Brandy, Val and I will be watching.

Happy 2010!   Brandy, Val and I are gearing up for our late winter/spring appearances.  Our first several months meeting, greeting, reading and announcing our new books and toys have been a fun adventure so far.    Kids come up with the funny and  interesting questions so I thought I share with you some one that keep coming up or are my favorites (along with the answers!)

1) Is yogurt a healthy treat for dogs? Consult with your vet for the authoritative answer on this.  We do not feed Brandy and Val yogurt on a regular basis but we DO let them lick out the bowls when we’re done with ours and they get to lick out what they can from an empty jar.  We even have a photo of Brandy doing this in my book Brandy and Val’s Favorite Things. Our vet says that’s fine and the live cultures are good for them.

2) What are the names of the friends that are pictured in the books?  In Brandy and Val, the bichon frise’s name is “Petreus.” In Brandy and Val’s Favorite Things, the collie’s name is “Molly” and “Maverick” is the big Bernese Mountain Dog!

3) Who are the cats in the painting on the back cover of BRANDY AND VAL’S  SPECIAL STORY? Before we had Brandy and Val, we had two cats,  Ragmonster and Oscar.  Both were rescues, too!

4)  Zachary, the boy for whom I wrote the book,s asks if I tell everyone that I wrote the books for him. YES!  I do.

5) What kind of dogs are Brandy and Val?  Val is a Labrador Retriever. Brandy is a mix between a Viszla, (a Hungarian hunting dog that look like a red-haired Weimeraner)  and a Lab.

6)  Probably my favorite question came from a little girl who noticed that all the paw prints in the books are black but Brandy and her mini-toy have pink pads.  She then wondered why I only show Val’s footprints in the books.   Truth be told, it never crossed my mind to put pink AND black paw prints in the  books.  Next time!

Before we continue on with the “nitty gritty” of the blog since, like people, our personalities generally result from the cumulative products of our pasts, I’d like to share with you some background on Brandy and Val.  The dogs are very lucky, indeed, and given what I know of their histories, it appears they both overcame incredible obstacles with little psychological ramifications.  Each day, I am thankful for them and am so overwhelmed by how little emotional scarring they seem to display.  Talk about picking yourself up by the bootstraps and moving on!

Brandy was originally discovered in a kill shelter in southern Illinois.  Why Ileana, from Fortunate Pooches and Lab Rescue (FPALR), decided she was a “keeper” I’ll really never know unless she saw the same qualities in Brandy that my husband and I did–boundless energy, a great disposition, interesting looks and smarts.  She was quickly adopted by a family but ultimately, became the casualty of divorce  so back she went to FPALR.  Next up was a couple who caged her with another dog for 10 hours a day while the pair was away at work. Needless to say, with her energy, the cage wasn’t the place for her, let alone one with another dog.  Back again to FPALR, being told she didn’t get along with the other dog and had social issues.  DUH.    At 11 months, Brandy finally found us and we her!

As I write in BRANDY AND VAL’S FAVORITE THINGS, Val’s story is even more amazing……