Elaine really hates litterbugs. She gets so mad when she sees trash on the ground or worse yet, sees someone toss something out of a car window. As a dog, my perspective isn’t quite so cut and dried. Yes, I have a deep appreciation for the outdoors. Some of my favorite places are national parks or wilderness areas. Check out the photo below of Echo Lake, my all-time favorite destination. Or Fort Funston, another primo doggie spot. Paws down, the best off-leash dog walking spot in the area.

But the issue of trash is a complicated one. In my mind, there’s good trash and bad trash. Bad trash? Cigarette butts and plastic water bottles are the worst. Hate that stuff. The butts smell bad and those bottles are the scourge of the Earth. But then there’s the good trash . . . like bones. Or French fries. I could go on and on. My favorite local walk is by the neighborhood ball park early Monday morning. After a weekend of baseball games and family pizza parties, the trash is positively delightful! Elaine has to drag me away, muttering words I don’t really understand. But I can tell she’s mad. And she saves her real venom for the people who toss away chicken bones. I know they’re bad for me, downright dangerous, in fact, but I just can’t resist a juicy chicken bone.

I know who butters my biscuit, though, so in the interest of family peace, I’m begging you people, PICK UP YOUR TRASH! Well, maybe just a pizza crust or a small little bone will be okay.

blog action day, Socially Responsible Dogs

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The latest version of WordPress, released Tuesday, is aptly named Dexter. The new version is actually named after saxophone legend Dexter Gordon, but I’d like to think I was also a source of inspiration.

dexter gordon, Dogs that blog, version 2.3, wordpress

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I refrained from writing about Michael Vick earlier because the whole topic sickened me, and frankly, I didn’t want to give it anymore airtime. But after Tuesday’s developments, I can’t resist sharing a couple of thoughts about just rewards. After failing a drug test, Vick has been confined to his home and has to wear a tracking device. How perfect is that? Talk about living like a dog! No unsupervised trips outside the house and he has to sport a collar. I wonder if he sees the irony in this situation? I doubt it. This guy is definitely one pup short of a litter so I suspect these things are lost on him.

Speaking of losing it, I happened to catch Whoopi Goldberg on The View, rationalizing Vick’s behavior as part of Southern Culture. (I’m a dog, so I spend a lot of time lounging around the house during the day. Sometimes the TV is on and I tune in between naps.) I’ve always liked Whoopi in the past and she’s seems like a pretty sharp biscuit but now I’m not so sure. I’m hoping that new gal Sherri Shephard will put Whoopi in her place

Finally, I’d like to tip my collar to the Oregon teen who put a football autographed by Michael Vick to good use. He gave it to his dog for a chew toy. Perfect.

autographed football, Canine Ethics, chew toy, Michael Vick, sherri shephard, whoopi goldberg

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It might have been said of the late Leona Helmsley that she treated people like dogs, but were it only so. In what was probably the only kind act of her life, Helmsley, who died August 20, left her white Maltese “Trouble” $12 million, while completely omitting two of her grandchildren from her will.

Not so “fetching”

I’m sure in her own way Helmsley loved her little pooch, but I don’t think that I would have wanted to be her dog, even for $12 million. Elaine keeps me well-fed and well-loved, and that’s all I need here on earth. After that, I’ll take my chances in the happy hunting ground.

$12 million, Dogs I Dont Want to Trade Places With, grandchildren, Leona Helmsley, Millionaire Dogs, Trouble, will

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Interesting story last week about Fleishman Hillard and the launch of their Animal Care Practice (Thanks to my friend Amanda Chapel for the pointer. Get it? Pointer? Never mind.)

According to the FH release, ”Animals and humans share many of the same health care issues, from obesity to joint health to social anxiety.” I understand the new practice will focus on policy and issues management. Note to FH clients: I haven’t been in too many focus groups lately, but my big issues are oppressive and unnecessary leash laws that are a throwback to an earlier and shameful time in our history; making chew toys affordable for every dog regardless of socio-economic standing; and a restoration of respect for constitutionally guaranteed belly scratchings, a right afforded every American dog, but largely ignored by the current administration.

With that said, I wish FH all the best getting a leg up in this multi-billion dollar market.

Animal Care Practice, Canine PR, Fleishman Hillard

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You can tell a lot about a dog by what kind of person they have. They also say as dogs age, they start to look like their people. With these quaint homespun homilies in mind I read yesterday’s AP story about the presidential candidates and their dogs. Take a look at John McCain, for example, and the Springer Spaniel on the right.

OK, maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but there’s definitely something going on there.

The story was about pets in general, but I’m not impressed by someone who counts a ferret and a tank full of fish among their most loyal companions. And it’s very telling indeed that the article mentioned specific breeds of dogs, whereas cats were referred to simply as “a cat,” or “two white cats,” because really, aren’t cats pretty generic and uninteresting?

I did a little research on what breeds were reliable predictors of presidential ascendancy. Our current president has had a couple of Scottish Terriers and a mutt. I’m not putting my money on Terriers this time around, but that’s another story. Bill Clinton had a Springer Spaniel and the Reagans had a Bouvier des Flandres and a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. Who said we never had royalty in the White House!

Going back to the AP list, I think Dennis Kucinich deserves an extra Milkbone for rescuing not one but three dogs from the shelter. That’s social responsiblity. Thank goodness I don’t live in one of these canine gulags!

Dogs that vote, john mccain, presidential candidates, springer spaniel

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I’m all about taking care of my health, and my people take me to the vet regularly, and feed me the good stuff, but I heard something a couple of days ago that was a little disturbing. Elaine said something about having me fixed. At first I was a little hurt by the idea that I needed to be fixed, particularly since I had no idea I was broken. Unfortunately, after a quick web search, (I use Dogpile, obviously. Google doesn’t get me the results I want), I found out “getting fixed” means something entirely unrelated to being broken, and I’m not sure I like it. Come on, Elaine! We’re professional communicators! Enough with the euphemisms. Tell it to me straight.
 
Like anyone, I have my trusted network, so I button-holed Quentin, the only other male dog at the agency, and asked him to sit down for a little dog-to-dog. Quentin just barked nervously, said something cryptic about needing “to go see a dog about a man,” and ran off.
 
Working in an agency that is staffed by ruffly 90% women can be emasculating at times, but I mean that only in a figurative sense. And there’s something nice about having dozens of women fawning over you and doling out treats. I think it’s going to be particularly welcome after this fixing thing.

Happy May Day

Dexter

dogpile, getting fixed, The Big Fix

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I’m as confused as the next guy about the organic vs. local debate. First struck me when I saw the Time magazine cover story a couple of weeks ago. I can definitely tell the difference between one kind of dog food and another, although I’m not sure I would describe any of it as having a “delicate leguminous flavor.”  

Since then, I’ve been trying to figure this out. I see the bag my food comes from and from what I can tell, it’s not organic or local. And I’m not sure about those Trader Joe’s dog treats they give me. Thank goodness they never give me that brand of dog food that contains potassium chloride and tricalcium phosphate. I don’t even know what those are but I can tell you I have never had a craving for either one of them.

I’m hoping my people saw the article in the SJ Merc yesterday about making your own pet food. I admit it. I read the Merc. And even the Chronicle. If there’s one thing that’s overyhyped it’s that print journalism is going away. I mean who ever heard of doing your business on a flat panel?

But I digress. Making your own pet food is not the same thing as “eating your own dog food,” an expression I hear all the time in the Valley, and which has always puzzled me. Any way, the cottage cheese and brown rice sounds nasty but the gingerbread dog treats sound yummy.

For my money, though, it’s hard to beat a good lamb bone, but I’m trying to keep an open mind.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Dexter

Dog food, local, organic, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, time magazine, Trader Joes

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Well, here it is, my first post. Everyone at Eastwick is blogging and I was starting to feel left out. Basically, I got the idea from my friend Giovanni, who wondered, whimsically I am sure, “will the pooches (at Eastwick) get their own blogs?”

Eastwick is all about inclusion and diversity, so I had no hesitation about raising my paw when the agency called for new bloggers.

I’m not sure what I’m going to blog about. Being a dog is fairly straightforward. Marissa’s blogging on agency life from the perspective of someone who’s new to PR. I’ll tell you about perspective, Marissa. Try being less than a foot off the ground! That’s perspective! Hey, throw me a bone! (That’s a dog joke.)

Everybody at the agency told me it’s tough to click the “publish” button on your first post. Once it’s out there, there’s no taking it back. So here it goes.

Seriously, though, we had some concerns about launching my blog. We knew there were risks here, and bigger agencies than ours have failed the authenticity test. But there’s no turning back now.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Peace out,

Dexter

dexter, Dogs that blog, Dogs that work at PR agencies, pr agency dog

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