Dear Twinkie | A Dog Advice Column

A dog advice column

PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM

 ‪mayziegal‬ asked...
Thank you for all your very wise advices, Twinkie Doodle. I sure didn't mean to gets Frankie in troubles with his wives. But I kinda feel a deep connection with anybuddy else who has experience bear poop first-paw.



My question is this today. Remember how I went on date night with BOTH Booker Man and Mack? But, well, Mack has kinda disappeared off Blogworld and sweet Booker has been there with me through thick and thin. Do you think it's okay to consider myself exclusive with Booker? What if Mack comes back to Blogworld? Would that be awkward?



Take care of that big brain of yours, Twinkie! I don't know where we'd be without it!



Wiggles & Wags,


Mayzie

TVT: I personally don't get doggie monogamy. I respect those, like Frankie Furter (ex Frankie Flirter), who take the plunge, but I wouldn't ever limit myself to one beau. One of the advantages of being of the non human species is that we get to be polygamous. Now, I'm not talking about promiscuity, I'm only referring to dating and going out for frozen yöghund and movies. Relax, dear furiend and enjoy your time with your sweet Booker. I also recommend checking out our pet photo contest entries (Show Us Your Tongue) as a form of a doggie dating site, where we all meet and greet. I've personally picked out quite a few potential dating material doggies.
When Mack comes back to blogworld, he'll be too busy making excuses (like we all do) for his long and abrupt absence, to notice who you're dating.

I highly recommend you forget about exclusivity and broaden your horizons. Have a ball!

‪Tank‬ asked...
Another fine column Ms. Twinkie. You have a real gift for being able to sort through the gibberish that dogs write and getting right at the problem. Some of these dogs are just hopeless... I notice that they're back week after week after week with one silly question after another. I wonder how you keep your sanity (not a question for your column... unless you want it to be.) I think I'd be cursing and throwing things if I had to wade through letters like this every week. Did they ever legalize medicinal marijuana out there in sunny CA? Is that your secret?

TVT: I'll be glad to respond to you, after you're off your pain meds! You silly furiend. For the record, marijuana is not a stimulant. It is a depressant and a hallucinogen. I doubt I could have seen our last contest through had I been using marijuana. As for the legalization, medicinal marijuana use is indeed legal in Cali, but come November, even recreational marijuana may be legalized (although I  doubt it). Are you planning a move?

Enjoy your legal green grass as you fully recover

‪houndstooth‬ asked...
Well, Twink, Mom likes your advice better than mine, which involved cattle prod. 

We are sitting here in the dark on a stormy night with no electricity. I was wondering, what do you think is the best way to pass the time when you're sitting around in the dark?



Bunny

TVT: A power outage is the ideal time to play hide and seek. It's okay if you can't find because it's too dark. You can also have fun playing tug in the dark, and keep in mind that whatever you break doing that, will not be seen, at least for a few hours. You can also play fetch with glow in the dark dog toys,  or led toys, like the Nite Ize Led K-9 pet ball. You can work on your canine IQ by playing brain teasers. Your parents can line up a few bowls, egg cartons, boxes, hiding a treat under one. Finders, keepers! And if your parents are lazy, you can have a store-bought puzzle, such as the Nina Ottosson's Interactive Dog Toy, handy.  Another couple of fun dog puzzles you can also play in the dark are the Premier Twist and Treat Dog Toy and the Premier busy buddy Tug-a jug If you are not prepared and don't have any of the above mentioned items handy, then my best suggestion is to play the "drive your pawrents nuts" game. It's an easy and fun activity for dogs.

Don't ever consider going back to your Greek roots!

They have constant power outages over there.

‪Sonic‬ asked...
Hi Twink! My Pops enjoys your column so much that he's planning to put something similar in a magazine that he works on. But he doesn't think his client will allow him to let a dog answer questions. 



Humans are short-sighted like that, huh? Any ideas on how he can convince them that a dog is just as smart and can solve problems?



Sonic

TVT: Sure, Sonic. Have your humans sniff for cancer, bombs, or drugs and see how they fare. Then, dump them at a remote location and wait for them to come home. You rest and wait. And if that doesn't cover your question, think of all the times your humans kept staring at you blankly when you were trying to tell them something. Bottom line, who picks up who's poo?

The embodiment of K9 intelligence

Mango asked...
Dear Twinkie,



I have a question for your advice column. Why is it that many doggies seem to have trouble following instructions for exciting happy fun times competitions? Hehehe. Hahaha. Oh hohoho.



Slobbers,
 Mango

TVT: Since I've already established our superiority when our intelligence is compared to that of humans, I believe the problem is that most doggies had their humans enter them in the competition, and we all know how humans are. They don't read all of the instructions, they don't always get that email and blog addresses are  not the same, and fortunately for us, they all think that their pooch is so special that everyone should know his or her name. 

Mango laughing at his own jokes while getting Twinkie in trouble.

Frankie the chiweenie asked...

Mango has a point. Why don't you remind everyone about the Show Us Your Tongue pet photo contest and the deadlines?

TVT: At last! A question that makes sense. Good job, Frankie!

VOTING IN PROGRESS HERE

POLLS CLOSE: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 10:00 A.M (PST)

ONLY FIVE VOTES PER PACK/TRIBE/HERD/FAMILY member

The results and the winners will be announced on

this blog on Tuesday, October 5th

Oskar asked...

Dear Genius Twinkie dog,
My mom person & I have created a new pet blogging site called Pet Blogs United.  www.PetBlogsUnited.com
It's a cool place to meet new friends, find out what's going on in the pet blogosphere, and get to be a Featured Blogger.
How can I spread the word to all of my friends?

Yours,

Oskar 

TVT: Like this!

GO TO PET BLOGS UNITED TO MEET NEW FURIENDS AND BE A FEATURED BLOGGER!

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

* * *

THE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT 

As of today, Twinkie is taking a sabbatical for personal reasons and to do further work with animal rescues. The blog will not change. A blogger friend is going to be the new administrator, but he will NOT be monitoring comments. The pet photo contest results will be posted next Tuesday as scheduled.

I would like to thank you all my kind friends, furiends, and supporters. I will be seeing you in the future. Keep rocking, voting, laughing, and lighting up the animal blog-dom.

Now, go take on the day!

Twinkie Van Twinkerson

Our Next Pet Photo Contest

The Show Us Your Tongue pet photo contest was so much fun for everyone involved that I had an "aha" moment. The way to go is... various body parts. I am now thinking that the theme for my next pet photo contest will be: EARS

As I am currently recovering from Show Us Your Tongue, while I catch up on my work and chores, I'm brainstorming. Ears, bellies, be-hinds? I'm going to test them all, starting with the ears.

I have invited a few furiends to help me with my assessment.

First, we have the love goat demonstrating extreme ear action.

The chiweenie is doing a helicopter ear demonstration

The horse is demoing shaking ears

And, I, the teacup chihuahua, am doing a public demonstration of the boo-boo ear.

I wonder how this will go down in the animal blog-dom. Let's all catch our breaths and decide later as to the potential of such a theme for a pet photo contest.

Have a lovely week!

Twinkie

Pet Photo Contest A Howling Success

Back to reality, after National Dog Week. Today also marks the first day of voting on our pet photo contest: SHOW US YOUR TONGUE.

VOTING POLLS ARE NOW OPEN!

Click on the tab "Show Us Your Tongue" at the top of my blog

POLLS CLOSE: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 10:00 A.M (PST)

ONLY FIVE VOTES PER PACK/TRIBE/HERD/FAMILY etc. 

The results and the winners will be announced on

Dear Twinkie on Tuesday, October 5th

I can't describe what this contest meant to me. Sure, many of you are aware that it was a lot of work, but work is easy when it's fun. Speaking of FUN, that was the general consensus. I have read that word over and over again, and that and some dog caffeine, kept me going with a big smile under my whiskers.  I got several emails stating that getting the Show Us Your Tongue posts together was a lot of fun! That's like paying me in a million dog treats! I thank you all. 

I have a bit of 'splaining I want to do. One of the participants emailed their pet photos and added, "I hope this brings traffic to your site." This made me stop and think for a moment. These past few days, I've been pushing out of my mind a disturbing thought: I am not posting links to your blogs with this event. Of course, I never said I would, since this was a contest for any pet that wanted to participate, regardless of whether on not they had a blog. I do want to bring traffic to my site, don't we all? I would never, in my teacup chihuahua honor though, try to fool anybody. The proof is through GABE (the Global Animal Blogging Event). All the links are still up, and they will stay up for as long as it's within my power. One more thing. I think most of you know by now that Dear Twinkie, my Tuesday dog advice column "gives" links. I hope this answers evereybody's questions. It is all done in good faith in the animal blog-dom, or so I want to believe.

I thank you again for your entries, encouraging comments, and incredible support! I couldn't have done it without you and your tongues!

Now let's see who the lucky Yöghund winners are going to be . . .

Twinkie

Pet Photo Contest Deadline

National Dog Week | Day 7

Sadly, our National Dog Week is coming to an end today, Saturday, September 25th, at midnight. That's also the deadline for your pet photo contest entries. You have 'till midnight to Show Us Your Tongue. The entries are still coming in! For some strange reason, everything around me appears to be PINK. The good news is, now I know all of your names, I can even spell them backwards, if you like. 

I can't tell you how exciting this mini-contest has been. I have visited a multitude of tongue posts and laughed my tail off. This was an unexpected party in the animal blog-dom and for that we have ourselves to thank. We're one enthusiastic chunk of the blog world.

Most of the entries are already posted. You can check them out by clicking on the tab titled "Show Us Your Tongue" at the top of my blog.

Because of the multitude of entries, I did NOT want to be the sole judge. I can't even come up with a criterion to base my judgment on. Therefore, I am going to post a VOTING POLL on my sidebar. Again, because of the sheer volume of entries, I would like to allow more than one vote. I'm going to rely on your honor and set the rules here:

VOTING BEGINS: this Sunday, September 26th at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (West Coast)
VOTING ENDS: next Sunday, October 3rd at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time

The results and the winners will be announced on Dear Twinkie, on October 5th
May the best tongues win...

LIMIT YOURSELVES TO FIVE VOTES!!! Pup Scout's Honor!

Here are some photos from the cat section of my personal Tongue Library:

 Demo Kitten Tongue

 Clean Kitten Tongue

The Mother Tongue

The curly cat tongue

I only posted kitten pictures today because they are  a minority and I always root for the undercat. 

Have a fabulous Saturday! And don't forget to join us on our Saturday Blog Hop!

Twinkie

Pet Photo Contest Preview

National Dog Week | Day 6

Pardon Our Tongues
Pet photo contest in progress

While I'm working on our pet photo contest, you better be making the most out of this week. I hope the shelters are about empty by now (I wish). 

I would like to thank my close furiends for their furry "encouraging" comments, nooot! I hear things like:

... I have devoted my Saturday Post to YOU and your tongue contest. Hope you don't mind... a little more ADVERTISING.
HEHEHE 

...Snikhkering (at me)

...I have been following all the entries for your contest. Hehehe. There are some really wicked awesome photos, but not many of the doggies identified which is their official entry. Ha! ... Welcome to the world of blog contests.

I would like all of you to know  that this teacup chihuahua has no limits! Bring it on! I am on top of the situation and my numerous assistants are too. Thank you all for your lovely entries. Would you like a sneak peek??? Click on the page tab labeled: Show Us Your Tongue. While you're there, please make sure I didn't leave out any furiend. I even included a couple from the rainbow bridge, but I'm not saying which, because I  don't want to influence the voting. I have a few more entries to go, but if you emailed or posted (and sent me your link) as of Thursday evening, you should be able to see your faces, if not, please email me at twinkietinydog (@) aol.com.

One of the contestant's parents sent me a lovely email I'd like to share with you. The names and locations are not included because I didn't have the author's permision:

***Representing The Center for Animal Health and Welfare (a no kill shelter in ***), here’s formerly homeless [dog's name].  Even though [dog's name] ended up at the shelter through no fault of her own (her family was moving and could not take her…BOO!), she retained her sense of humor.  [dog's name] hopped into the driver’s seat and proceeding to toss me a raspberry when I told her she was not driving us back from an off-site meet and greet.

[Dog's name] was a volunteer favorite due to her sweet nature and once we got her out strutting her stuff at a number of off-site events, she ended up with multiple families wanting to take her home…..she’s no longer homeless!

[Dog's name] would love her “still waiting” furiends to benefit from her tongue!***

I was so touched to see this email! As you already know, I am a rescue dog myself and one of my main missions through my blog is to increase awareness.

Have a lovely rest of the National Dog Week!

Twinkie

Pet Photo Contest Going Stronger

National Dog Week | Day 5

I was thinking that this year we should extend National Dog Week and have it last a month, but my petition did not have sufficient grounds. No worries, I'll start working on it for next year. 

Pet Photo Contest

SHOW US YOUR TONGUE

The entries keep coming in. So many beautiful, quirky, twisty, pink, purple, long, short, round . . . tongues in animal blog-land! I'm stunned. Needless to say, my quirky mom is thrilled! She's not complained once for having to stay up with me to go over the entries. We're both grateful for the enthusiasm and support of my good ol' blog furiends and the new ones I meet along the way. I am also extra excited because I'm getting a preview of the next G.A.B.E (Global Animal Blogging Event). It's going to rock the animal blog-dom big time!

I will stop accepting entries for the Pet Photo Contest at midnight, this coming Saturday. I am frantically going over photos and blog posts and emails therefore, I will let you know in the next couple of days when they'll all be up for your viewing and voting pleasure. I'm aiming for this Sunday. Please stay tuned. Like I've said before, I thought this was going to be a mini contest. BOL the joke's on me!

Today, I would like to use some photos to encourage your efforts:

Synchronized SHOW US YOUR TONGUE

by our furiends, the three legged dog duo

If this ain't a tongue shot!

(photo courtesy of my senior dalmatian sister, Linguini)

I can feel the passion.

Markus the horse

He can do this for hours!

He's also a superb athlete. Lucky for you, he will not partake in our pet photo contest.

Last, but, by no means, least . . . I present you

Me!

Twinkie, the tiny teacup chihuahua

The last shot has educational purposes. It's for those parents who were unable to get a tongue shot. I suggested peanut butter, and whipped cream, but there's always an alternative. Use your imagination humans!

Off to enjoy the lovely photo entries and start putting them in order. Have a fabulous rest of our National Dog Week!

Twinkie

Pet Photo Contest Going Strong

National Dog Week - Day 4

This has been the most significant National Dog Week of my life. I am constantly aware of where I came from therefore I feel grateful every minute of the day. I love my forever home, my family, my furiends, my life. Add to all this the pet photo contest "Show Us Your Tongue" and I am one ecstatic teacup chihuahua! 

I want to thank everybody for their contageous excitement. It keeps me wagging my tail as I go over the multitude of entries that keep pouring in. It also keeps me up at night, but that's okay, because I love it!

 

I only have two concerns:

One canine furiend sent me a worrysome note. She said she wouldn't pose her tongue for her human. Whaaa-t? Ever heard of peanut butter? Nope, no mercy, you have to SHOW US YOUR TONGUE. 

My other concern is the bad rep we may be getting as vital members of the animal blog-dom. Ever wondered what impression a new visitor would get visiting animal blogs in the last couple of days? They're going to think we're rude. BOL

Speaking of rude . . .

Boomer, the teacup chihuahua

The Love Goat

Show Us Your Tongue!

Twinkie, the incredibly enraptured rescue chi