Oscar loves being around my nieces and nephews. While Jessica is wondering what the fuss is about, Mikey runs in for the hug to welcome his cousin. Then Danielle and Mikey watch Oscar show he’s happy to be there by doing the “swissy roll”. For Mikey’s next birthday gift, should I give him a swissy puppy like Oscar?
Oscar says hello to his neighbor Henry, the Toy Poodle. From the pictures you will notice how well Oscar behaves in the elevator, which comes from training. When you get a puppy, the first thing you should do is expose them to every type of surface and environment possible. I read a story about a greater swiss mountain dog who was never exposed to elevators as a puppy, and once it grew up, it was too late to become adjusted. By the time Oscar was 3 months old he was exposed to elevators, grass, nyc concrete sidewalks and traffic, the beach, and baths. Although he never got used to baths (even for treats), Oscar behaves like a typical New Yorker during the rush hour elevator commute in order to do his business.
Happy St. Patrick’s day to all! Here’s Oscar The Grouch meeting new fans during his daily walk. Today is the Bar Crawl on 2nd and 3rd Ave in NYC in which people (and a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) from all over come to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Some people have asked what going to a Dog Show involves. When Oscar goes to a Dog Show, he is rated on how well he conforms to his Breed, the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Jumping over a hurdle, doing tricks, or being in good health is not part of the conformation. However, in the UK for big shows such as Crufts (the European version of Westminster Kennel Club) they recently added a health check at the show to that list.
“The winners of the Bulldog, Pekingese, Clumber Spaniel, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff and Basset Hound classes were not allowed to progress to the Group stages of judging, and were not given their Best of Breed awards.
Vets were asked to look for conditions related to eye disease, lameness, skin disorders and breathing difficulty. These included inflammation related to poor eyelid conformation, signs of chronic damage to the corneal surface of the eye, dermatitis associated with skin folds and long or heavily coated ears, signs of respiratory difficulty or any lameness or hind limb weakness.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “We want to ensure that only healthy dogs are rewarded in the show ring and also use the show ring to help move those breeds forward that are the most inclined to suffer from health conditions that affect their health and welfare.”*
Do you think it’s a good idea for Dog Shows to include health checks at dog shows? If so, should it be one vet or a team of vet that makes the decision?
With amazing weather in NYC, it was either go to happy hour or take Oscar for a walk (yappy hour). Of course, Oscar comes first. But this walk was different. Only two blocks away from home, we ran into another swissy. For Oscar it was a dream come true. After saying hi, he then realized that the swissy was a female, “Snapple”. He then introduced himself by rolling around in the street. Oscar and Snapple stopped street traffic for an hour as everyone was asking if they were best friends and how amazing they looked together. Two girls stopped by that work at Sesame Street and were able to meet the other “Grouch” in town. Of course, someone passing by asked the question, “Are they Bernese Mountain Dogs with a haircut? They were answered by, “they are Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs!”. Oscar could not get enough of Snapple, and looks forward to seeing her again soon. For a short swissy video of Oscar & Snapple: http://youtu.be/sbv2q1V27fk
Oscar and David are very grateful for the support Oscar has received over the past month. The web programmer is working extra long hours for some big surprises over the next few weeks. Be sure to have your best puppy pictures ready to show off. More details coming soon!
Alpen Schatz has featured Oscar The Grouch as a model in their newsletter promoting their Red Swiss Cross Collar and Swiss Carting Harness. The website AlpenSchatz.com features original handcrafted collars, leashes, and other dog products in traditional European Alpine style, especially for the Entlebucher, Bernese, and Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs.
Oscar The Grouch will be on page 73 of this month’s issue of ShowSight Magazine. ShowSight is a full color monthly show dog magazine, that has been awarded the “Most Beautiful Dog Publication In The World.” There hasn’t been a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog in their magazine in a few years.
With great weather came another long walk. This time Oscar passed by Ritzy Canine, the day care Oscar attended from 2 to 6 months of age. At 6 months he was old enough to be left alone, with a dog walker twice a day. Oscar didn’t remember anyone who worked at Ritzy until he saw Jose. As soon as Oscar saw him, he gave him the “swissy hug” (a 120lb puppy jumps up to hug you) followed by cries of pet me. Jose always gave Oscar extra attention when he was a puppy. Jose became so close to Oscar, that if he was working Oscar would go on strike and refuse to move for a block or two. Well after seeing Jose, history repeated itself. Till the next block Oscar didn’t want to move, hoping to play with Jose some more.
Jose also had some video footage of Oscar’s 1st day at day care. http://youtu.be/SFlRNe0zJFM
It’s feel like spring outside! Oscar and dad went for a long walk, every block I visited we’d hear the same questions- “Bernese”? “Greater Swiss Mountain Dog” or “Swissy” I would respond. At the end of the walk we went to the dog park where Oscar caught up with Dakota the Great Dane. Dakota will soon take Oscar’s place as the largest dog in the neighborhood. Just 4 months ago Oscar was 4x his size as they wore the same Halloween costume, Oscar (size 3XL) and Dakota (size XS).
After 10 minutes of being at the dog park, drama happened. There are two doors upon entry to the park so the dogs don’t escape. Someone didn’t care to close the first door while opening the second. If I didn’t say something all the dogs were going to run to the street. No apology or anything, the person looked like he couldn’t care.
Not taking it as a sign it was time to leave, a few minutes later, more drama. Someone new arrived with their dog and their canine immediately ran at Oscar to try to bite him. I kept on pushing their dog away from Oscar, willing to take the bite to protect him as the dog kept on coming back at him. At least the owner apologized, but it was a scary experience. Oscar continued on with his day.. enjoying the slight breeze and mild weather.
Enjoying a Peter Luger’s steak as a reward for his Award of Merit, Oscar The Grouch can be found in this week’s issue of Dog News, on page 151. More importantly, on the page opposite Oscar is a mention of a great charity. Take The Lead provide direct services, support and care for all qualified participants in the sport of dogs who suffer from the devastating realities of life-threatening or terminal illnesses. It’s a great organization and you can check out more at the below link.
Just read the story of the dog who was presumed dead and found after 53 days. Oscar means the world to me, I don’t know what I wouldn’t do if he went missing, search parties being only the start. What would you do?
One of the good things about Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs (most of the time) is they are known as velcro dogs and like to stick by their owners. But dogs can be dogs. The second link below leads to the story of the Bernese Mountain Dog who ran away right before Westminster Kennel Club.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/owner_survives_days_with_nevada_bRtToPs5YDG3ZHc5wNpAuL
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/01/04/dog-slated-for-westminster-goes-missing/
Oscar got an Award of Merit at today’s working group show by the Connecticut River Working Group Association! A working group show is for working dogs only (greater swiss mountain, bernese, boxer, samoyed, etc) and has a huge swissy entry. Last year at these shows Oscar got a 5 point best of winners awards as a class (pre-champion) dog.
If any Oscar The Grouch fan is affected by the tornado/twisters and needs help, please contact us. We would like to help out. Below is an uplifting story of a terrier mix crawling home on broken legs after a tornado in May.
Something was clogging up my e-mail box. Then I saw what it was…Oscar’s pictures from Westminster! Much thanks to Alex for taking great pictures of Oscar during the greater swiss mountain dog breed judging.
It was pouring rain outside and Oscar needed his daily exercise. So he walks across the hallway and knocks on the door of Rocco, the English Bulldog. Well, more like a run across the hallway and a bark. Rocco may be half the size of Oscar but can hold his own at Tug Of War. After ten minutes of playing, both puppies are tired and ready to pass out for the night.
Oscar The Grouch appears in this week’s AKC Weekly Winners Gallery showing off his four day Best of Breed sweep at the Florida Cluster. The AKC emails the Weekly Winners to over 100,000 dog show fanciers globally.
Oscar and David are very grateful for the outpouring of support Oscar has received over the past 2 weeks. To thank their fans, they have hired a web programmer and have some surprises planned over the next few weeks! You’ll want to get your best puppy pictures ready to show off. More details to follow..
Oscar The Grouch will be in this week’s issue of Dog News on page 89. Dog News is the oldest and largest published weekly dog magazine, distributed globally.
With Oscar at dog shows most weekends, a weekend off allowed him to catch up with his friends at the dog park. A dog park in New York City always has a great mix of puppies/dogs and people you get to meet, along with some characters. One woman thought it was normal for her 4 yr old dog to hump everything it saw. A second lady was telling me how her group would be having a huge protest at the Westminster show because they switched sponsors from Pedigree to Purina (for more uplifting ads). I wanted to ask her if she knew the show was last week, but figured it would be better to walk away.
Many fans have asked why a swissy? In 2003 I had just graduated from school. My housemate’s ex-girlfriend got married and decided to start a family. While she was pregnant, as a favor, we took in Oscar. Having grown up with a small female dog, there was something different about taking care of this 5 yr old giant male dog who acted like a puppy. Walking around the University of Delaware campus, everyone would run up to play with Oscar. He loved the attention. From jumping in the car of any girl I would date, being my jogging partner, trying to steal my dates or at least all their attention, taking volleyballs from the courts at the dorm, and swiping food from you, he had his way. Giving Oscar back when I moved to NYC because my mom got sick was one of the saddest things I did. When I got another dog, I knew right then it would be a swissy and named after Oscar. Hence, Oscar The Grouch.
Below is a picture of Barton Manor’s Oscar.
Below is a screen grab of Oscar The Grouch from the opening credits of the Westminster Kennel Club’s TV Show which aired on NBCUniversal USA. Notice Oscar’s doberman like focus on the camera man, a standout trait from a typical swissy.
Another major business publication picks up on Oscar The Grouch at Westminster 2012. The International Business Times profiles Oscar (#3 Swissy for 2012) as the dog that the entire neighborhood knows in NYC. Oscar’s competitor George (#2 Swissy) is profiled as the mascot for the UVA women’s Rugby team. Ava and Gabby, two female swissies are mentioned as well.
The article also has Oscar in a wet down (not a cape) which keeps the dog cool under the hot Madison Square Garden lights.
Fins.com a financial website wrote a blurb about Oscar. (A dachshund is a German dog)
One asset manager at AIG is showing Oscar (full name: Oscar the Grouch), his Greater Swiss Mountain dog, at this week’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show. We hope a representative from Deutsche Bank is showing up with a dachshund.
http://www.fins.com/Finance/
Oscar The Grouch thanks Marriott Hotels for their good luck wish. Road life is tough on a dog. Residence Inns (owned by Marriotts) have refrigerators (perfect for storing raw food) and are like a NYC apartment which makes for easy adjustment. Certain Ritz Cartlons also allow dogs.
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/02/14/westminster-dog-show-an-underdogs-moment-in-the-ring
Below is the link for the original article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577219643566702620.html
As a reward for being so good at the 12 hr benched Westminster dog show and not being grouchy, Oscar gets a giant candy cane bone! He grabbed the bone right inside, but then fell asleep before he could chew his reward!
A benched show is where they require you to be there the whole time; this only happens twice a year, at the Westminster and the National Dog Show.
Below is the link to watch the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog 2012 judging at Westminster Kennel Club including Oscar The Grouch.
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/videos/#/Breed%20Judging/2012/Working/vid:17894161
It was Oscar The Grouch’s first time at Westminster Kennel Club. He was the youngest dog entered for the Greater Swiss Mountain Do Breed and the other dogs on average were 1 and a 1/3 years older. He showed very well, but was a bit nervous looking for his owner. There’s next year and also next show.
If his owner, David could change things, he would of got Oscar to Westminster either earlier (so he could sleep in his crate to calm down) or later (walk right in the ring). We got there as his handler, Ashley was showing her Cane Corso, Ch Castleguard’s Caillou. Madison Square Garden (MSG) was a mess and there was no way to find Oscar’s crate location till she came back. With his owner nervous, and having Oscar for that time in the middle of a mess, probably cast some bad luck. Now if MSG placed dogs by breed and then by handler, things would be much easier for everyone. Lesson learned for next year.
Oscar gives a big thank you to Ben Cohen (WSJ), Vin, Bob, and David Frei.
Oscar the Grouch (Swissy #18) win or lose, thanks all his fans. That includes Synergy Dental Fresh, Snout Soother by the Natural Dog Company, YouthFootballOnline.com, and AlpenSchatz.com (Mountain Dog Collars). A huge thank you to Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal for that great article yesterday. Ben is an amazing writer!
