Here's another blank page to talk about whatever you like. Who will be first to post? The suspense is killing me...

Dog Blog note: This was posted on the akdogshow Yahoo group with permission to repost. Looks like an interesting class, so I thought I'd share it here:

Alyeska Canine Trainers is pleased to announce Terry Ryan, CPDT is presenting a two day seminar, April 19th & 20th, 2008 at our
facility in Anchorage, AK. Terry is the president of Legacy Canine
Behavior and Training, Inc. located in Sequim, WA. Amongst her many
achievements Terry has been a community dog training class
instructor since 1968, specializing in pet dog classes using
motivational exercises presented as games. Terry writes books,

Jim: Click on this cute pooch, a husky mix, to read about our current adoption dog of the week.

Last week, I asked dog bloggers to submit photos of their dogs with the Target logo drawn in like the store's mascot, and I was delighted to get 18 entries.

Here's a poll to allow you to vote for your favorite. Voting will stay up for one week, and I'll announce the winner next Monday.

Vote for your favorite Bullseye

Click here to see pictures of the Bullseye nominees

If I had know it would be such a success, I would have looked into getting a prize for the winner. As it is, I'm afraid all that is in it for the chosen one is peer adulation. Now that I know this idea is popular, next time I'll look into a real prize.

Bullseye: Her handler calls her "bulletproof" for her inflappability.

In a hotel suite three floors above the howling and barking and controlled chaos on Fourth Avenue for the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the most famous dog in Alaska on Saturday could care less.

Bullseye, the Target store chain mascot, had just finished calmly working the crowd on the streets and in the lobby of the Historic Anchorage Hotel. She was still wearing her red sweater, matching booties, posh leather collar and trademark bull’s-eye painted over her left eye.

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Use this topic to discuss whatever you'd like. I was getting tired of all the "anything-goes" topics, and cgoff won the name-change contest by suggesting a line by Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live. Remember "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman?"

I like to put up a new blank slate about the time the previous one spills over to a second page.

Bullseye: The famous Target mascot.
(Dog Blog note: Deadline for entries was midnight Saturday. A poll will be posted on Monday).

This just in: Bullseye, the Target mascot and a gorgeous bull terrier, is coming to Anchorage. A late flight prevented her from attending the mushers banquet, but she's scheduled to be here today to take an abbreviated ride in a musher's basket as a sort of celebrity IditaRider.

So what, you say? Just another dog downtown when we have more than 1,000 on the streets?

You couldn't be more wrong. When was the last time a national canine celebrity of this stature visited Anchorage? Did Lassie ever make an appearance? I doubt it, and there were like nine of her. Benji? Nope. Not even the Taco Bell chihuahua.

One of my biggest peeves about the gallery/blog up until now has been the inability to link from the blog to a specific picture in the gallery. Every time a new picture flowed into the gallery, the URL to all the other pictures changed.

That problem appears to be over. Can I get a hallelujah?

Now, if you post a picture to the gallery and want to call our attention to it on the blog, or even comment on someone else's picture, you copy the link from the gallery and paste it to your blog comment. For that matter, you could include a link to your dog's photo in a signature below all your posts.

Once again, the last anything-goes topic has spilled over to a second page, so here's a new page for your dog-talking pleasure.

Bonus points go to anyone who can come up with a better description for this than "anything goes." I'm getting very tired of putting that in the headline, but I want it to be clear to newcomers that this topic is to discuss whatever you like.

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This week's question is more for multiple dog owners, but it could certainly apply to one dog as well: Are your dogs on your schedule or are you on their schedule?

I recently heard the tale of a woman who owns 4-5 dogs that absolutely run her life. One needs to be let out every day at 3 a.m. Another is wide awake at 6. A third sleeps in till 8. She loves her dogs and can't stand the idea of them having to "hold it," so she dutifully gets up at each dog's whim. And she's turning into an insomniac because of it.

Once again, our dog blabbers ... uh, bloggers, have spilled over into a second page on the last anything-goes topic.

Here's another to begin new discussions. Let the barking begin.

Darn, I'd meant to try to do something special for the one-year anniversary of the Dog Blog, but I got busy and forgot. Bad Dog Blog.

This blog was born on Feb. 17, 2007. We had kicked off the photo gallery several weeks earlier and got a tremendous response and hundreds of photos in the first few weeks, but the blog itself made a much smaller ripple in the dog-loving community.

There were days, even weeks, when I would dread calling up the site in fear that there would be no comments. In fact, one of the first posters was an Internet troll who was immediately banned from the site. I was torn. It was a horribly offensive post, but, hey, it WAS a post!

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A vet once told me that tooth brushing is overrated. He said dental health for dogs is more about genetics, and he didn't think the benefits of brushing justified the effort.

I disagree and use a finger brush every day and some of that petrodex poultry flavor toothpaste. What do you guys do?

Ha! My first blog post from an iPhone!

The last anything-goes topic has almost spilled over to its second page. Besides, people were getting testy! Here's another blank slate to discuss the topics of your choice. And be nice. Or I sick the Yorkies on you.

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The last one hasn't spilled over into a second page yet, but it's getting pushed farther and farther down the screen. Here's a new one to discuss anything you'd like.

Dog Blog note: I'm not sure if this will result in a story or not, but here's a letter that was sent to the paper today. The writer sounds pretty sure about what she and her boyfriend saw around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. I know I would want to be alerted if I lived in the area. Thanks for the tip, Holly.

To whom it may concern:

I just thought I would let you all know that this Sunday the 10th my boyfriend and I had just passed under the O'Malley overpass going North on C Street and we saw two wolves to our left along side the road. They were in a field where there was a break in the trees.

You gotta love 'em. Some amazing dogs here.

Westminster Dog Show pictures

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Go to any obedience school in the city and look around. How many men do you see? How many women? My experience has been it's almost exclusively a women's club: the owners, the managers, the volunteers, the instructors and definitely the students.

And it's not just obedience. I've been to agility, flyball and lure-coursing events. Same thing. Of the 15 owners in Saturday's Pet Idol finals, there were two men, and the other one was pinch-hitting for a woman who couldn't make it. I'm not as familiar with conformation trials, but the people I know who show their dogs are women.

What's up this week, dog bloggers? Use this space to discuss anything you'd like.

Tanner: 2008 Alaska Pet Idol winner doing his Extreme Leave It trick.
1. Tanner -- owner Terry Yeomans
2. Eddie -- owners Mike and Kelly Lewis
3. Dexter Manly -- owners Nick and Rachel Miyasato
Alaska Mill & Feed's 2008 Alaska Pet Idol contest was a hit, raising $3,957 for Friends of Pets and giving a bunch of animal-loving owners an opportunity to show off their pets in front of an audience. Check out the performances of the top three by clicking on the links above.