Whew.  Gladys wants you to know that Trick City 2012 has not been easy.  Some really tricky dogs, like Tony

and Gator

have been balancing items on themselves.  Other dogs joined in the balancing act, & they balanced really tasty things. Barney

balanced cookies & Morgan

and Baxter

balanced  impressive stacks of biscuits.

Also balancing deliciousness, was Lemmy, with a tub of butter.

Gladys loves butter, so she tried that trick first.

Then she moved on to the other tasty treats.  Gladys was sorely disappointed to find that we have no biscuits here.  (In fact, she’s asked that I include our mailing address in this post so that you can mail some to her.)  She’s pretty sure that they wouldn’t stay on her face without glue, though.

So what kind of tasty thing could she balance?  She had a few ideas.

I told her that maybe she should just give ‘em the cold shoulder on this one.

She said, yeah, you’re probably right.  But just to make sure, I’ll give ‘em the cold shoulder

And some chicken.

Gladys

c/o Fetching Tags

po box 5557

Atlanta GA 31107

Here’s the challenge announcement – make sure you read the fine print at bottom of page:

If your dog can do it, so can Hazel &/or Gladys &/or Pursey.

If Hazel &/or Gladys &/or Pursey can’t do your trick, you win.

What:  Post a photo of your dog doing a trick on the Fetching Tags Facebook page.  Post must include dog name, title of trick (clever titles are best) & your email address.  Make sure that you include this info, we will need it to respond to your challenge & email your prize!

trick defined:  This can be a photo of your dog doing anything that could be duplicated in a normal household or yard setting.  Tricks can be as basic (sit) or as tricky (backflip) as you can capture in a photo.  No dangerous tricks or tricks like dock diving (tricks involving things – like the ocean or stadiums) we can’t recreate here.

Where:  Like I said, on our Facebook page.

When:  Post your trick by Saturday January 28th at midnight.

Prizes:

1.  Each person who enters the contest by posting a pet trick photo, receives a $5 Fetching Tags gift certificate – enter as many pets/times as you wish, but only one $5 certificate per household.

1a.  Photos entered in any previous Fetching Tags contests may not be entered in giveaway.

2. If Hazel &/or Gladys &/or Pursey can’t do your trick(s), or can’t be captured in a photo doing your trick, you get a $10 Fetching Tags gift certificate (enter as many pets/times as you wish, but only one $5  or $10 certificate per household).

3.  Grand Prize winner,  for best trick that can’t be done by H/G/P, wins a custom Paco Collar with rivet-on Fetching Tags, almost the best trick will get a $60 Fetching Tags gift certificate, and Hazel’s Choice wins $40 certificate – to be determined by an independent judge (& Hazel).

The fine print:  Hazel & Gladys & Pursey reserve the right to cheat, substitute props, &/or call on their cat, Preacher, or any other herd, flock or pack members as trick stunt doubles.

Any necessary clarification of giveaway rules will be made here on this blog post, like this:

While you may use more than one gift certificate on a purchase, any combined certificates must originate from a single person/recipient.

Yes, cats & other animals are welcome to compete.

Your official entry must be in form of photo, but you may send a video as clarification.

One trick per pet.

Let’s Get Tricky!

photo by Maggie Fan

Gladys will eat anything.

Here she sits pining for a homemade bread & butter pickle.

What’s the strangest thing your dog has eaten?  Was it yucky?  Was it even food?

Oh, really?

You’re trying to one-up us, now!  We smell a contest.

Post your dog’s photo & a brief description of the strangest thing he/she has eaten on our Facebook page.   Get your friends to like your post.

The entry with the most likes wins a Fetching Tag.   We will also give tags in Tagmaker’s Choice & Hazel’s Choice* categories.

True stories only, folks.

*hint for Hazel’s Choice:  Hazel loves anything with a flavor – it doesn’t even have to be remotely food-related!

contest expires Tuesday, 8-30-11 @ midnight, winners announced Wednesday, 8-31

that was hung by two toes in the bush:

I heard a little fluttering each time I walked past a certain bush this morning & finally peered inside on the third trip. Good thing I did, as this little thrasher was seriously hung up by some beige thread tightly looped around his toes & two branches.  I cut the branches away & brought him inside to remove the remaining thread.

I thought Gladys would be pleased to meet our fine feathered state representative, as they share being somewhat famous & brownish.

Instead, Gladys was horrified by him & suggested that Georgia should have a State Rabbit instead of a super scary Brown Thrasher bird.

The thrasher was successfully released from the offending thread back into the wilds of the backyard.  Gladys is still upset.

Today the horses were abominable, they sent the brown one in to nab me, while the rest waited, licking their big lips.   I cleverly tucked my tail in so that it could not use it as a handle to grab me.

She drove me over to check the goats, which were fine.  Plenty of green stuff & water.  Waited on vehicle.

This pile of chips is mine.  

Have you seen me spring across the spring?

Thought you’d like that.

Once upon a time (all dragon stories start this way), Molly Monkeypants , Supermodel & Dog Park Diva, sent  a present to Gladys in the mail.

It was a blue dragon.  Gladys had always wanted a dragon of her very own, so she was quite pleased with the gift.

She & the dragon took many pleasant naps together

and they were never far apart.  Then, the one they call ‘X-Dog‘ came for a visit from the wilds of Cali-Fornia.

Ever the Southern hostess, Gladys shared her pillow & her delicious Chicken dinner & Liver treats.

She even showed her little visitor  how to milk a goat.

But then, the one they call ‘X-dog’ took the whole sharing thing a little too far. . .

Watching the X-Dog play with her dragon made Gladys’ eyes blaze with fury,

but the laws of hospitality prevented any retaliatory action.

If Gladys the Polite was the only dog of the house, our story would end here.

But she’s not.

And thankfully the other dog is bound by no laws of hospitality,

(or any other laws for that matter.)

The dragon was recaptured

and peace was restored.

The End.  (for now)

All the celebrities are doing it.

One is actually doing it on a plank.

We made some standard issue “progress” at the farm in the last couple of weeks.  The kind that replaces trees & rich green spaces (& mud) with different shaped spaces covered in gravel (& mud).

We had to use these.

And if you’re thinking, wow, those are not so easy to use,

just try training your dog to do it.

Gladys, who just about has thumbs, caught on pretty quickly, but hated the noise that her digger made.  (She called it the digger – I know that’s not the real name!)

Hazel didn’t mind the noise from her pusher, but did have some trouble with her grading on her blind side.

Of course, we didn’t tell her that!  We just stayed out of her way. . .

Derby weekend has arrived – time to break out the hats & juleps.

It’s time to dress up right!

and win some gift certificates in our latest Trick City Challenge. . .

Here’s how it works:

• We post a photo of a  trick (& a deadline).

Like this:

Trick City Derby:  It’s Time to Dress up Right!

(extended! expiration 5/15/11 midnight)

Entries for this Trick City Challenge must show a dog/pet in some clothing or costume performing any trick – that’s right, your dog does not have to climb  a ladder with a mullet wig – any trick combined with any costume will do.  It’s a competition, so try to go beyond “sit” as a trick (if you can)!

• You post a photo of your dog doing the trick, on our Facebook Page, with your email, by the deadline & you get a $10 Fetching Tags gift certificate (limit 1 certificate, per pet/trick, per household).
• From the successful trick photos, we’ll choose a Trick City Challenge winner, based on added trickiness, creativity, or plain hilarity, who will receive a $20 gift certificate.   We still love clever names, so as long as your trick is some variation of the Challenge (High Five in this case), please feel free to rename it. You may not post photos entered in previous Fetching Tags contests.

This Trick City Challenge was inspired by Grimm’s tagline – congratulations, Shawna!

more about Trick City may be found here.