Grey Whiskers at the End of the Bed

Our Poster Boy

You get a puppy, they win you over and all the time you know they are going to break your heart. But still we do it, again and again. Despite the certainty of the broken heart on 'that day' I would not give up one day of my dog's life with me simply because we know they will leave us before we are ready.

Our old dog Jack, the original inspiration for pretty much all that is D-fa Dogs now has very greying whiskers and a runny nose and he smells a bit funky sometimes. But not surprisingly given our life together, I love him more today that I did the day he flopped into our lives all ears, paws and very sharp baby teeth! Sometimes when things get a little frayed around the edges Jack looks at me as if to say 'you know, it is what it is ... what time's dinner?'. Perspective.

I, like most of us with first world worries, do all kinds of things to stay centred and grounded and at peace - I've contorted myself into yoga poses that have me resembling half assembled pieces of Ikea furniture; I've taken deep breathing classes; I've listened to whale song and silver meditations. I've drunk tea that takes like dirt and eaten foods that even Jack wouldn't touch (and that's saying something given he's a Rhodesian Ridgeback). But the one thing that never fails, never feels futile, doesn't involve a change of outfit or the consumption of something inedible is a stroll with Jack and The Dutchess. You can't hurry (too wobbly and too much to sniff), you just have to take it all in at the pace set for you by the grey whiskered one. And there is nothing quite as grounding as picking up after your dog ... it comes out, you just gotta deal with it ... it's a metaphor for life.

Grey Whiskers

Jack (and The Dutchess) both sleep at the end of the bed. At night now we alternate between 'oh my god, I can't hear him breathing' and 'oh god, stop licking!' as Jack goes through his nightly rituals of snooze, snore, lick, turn-over, wake us up to go out for a pee, exhale loudly and repeat at least 2 times. I wouldn't change it for the world. I wouldn't trade a day. I love those grey whiskers more than the puppy smell I first fell for 13 years ago. Cheers Jacko!

Magnificent Orion

We take a bit of pride in some of the gorgeous images that we have for D-fa and that we use in our fancy, expensive and convincingly glossy marketing material designed specifically to give the impression that we're fabulous and that life in D-fa land is beautiful. Which of course we are and it is.

Fredrik Larsson of New Zealand (well, actually he's originally from Sweden, but now he calls here home) takes most of our images. He got the shot of Millie and Brendan skiing here when he was moving backwards down a black run on the summit of Treble Cone (did I mention that Fred also used to ski for Sweden and I understand specialised in blowing things up during his mandatory army training ... needless to say we always pay his bills on time!). He usually takes pictures of brides, but thankfully he laughs in the face of those who say never to work with children or animals. Love your work Fredrik.

Occasionally though a D-fa jacket ends up in the paws of a lucky dog owned by another brilliant photographer. This is the case for these shots which are from David Collier, a US based photographer, of his Dalmatian Orion looking very sporty in his Sub-Woofer. Thanks for the images David, we will face you and Fredrik off in a talent quest later in the year when you visit NZ.

Fun in the D-fa Sun

The Southern Hemisphere spring is upon us and it now is beginning to feel like summer will in fact happen. It's been a great winter, but everyone at camp D-fa is looking forward to summer. We got an early dose of it at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City in July this year. After a disastrous start to our journey (fog, delays, missed connections, misdirected luggage and transit through LA rather than San Francisco) we had a fantastic show. A highlight was the outdoor demo day where we showed our D-fd (doggy floatation device) to the USA for the first time.

Many people question whether their dog actually needs a floatation device because they're a good swimmer, but as we all know even the best swimmers can get into trouble. We agree some dogs are brilliant swimmers. They’re in and out of the water all day long, doggy paddling to their hearts content like big furry fishes. Others lack doggy-paddling style but still love the water. Their natural swimming style is to moving in and out of the water, not to swim continuously.

However, even the most confident swimmers can flounder if they tire, become cold, or are trying to swim in moving water. Unlike you, your dog doesn’t have opposable thumbs to allow it to hold paddles and can’t float on their back if they get a bit tired. Your dog, no matter how good of a swimmer is not indestructible and cannot swim indefinitely.

Fitting your hairy water buddy with a D-FD can help them swim more confidently and comfortably, for longer, and retain their body heat when on water adventures with you. The handle of the jacket also makes it easier to retrieve your dog from the water if it gets into trouble.

Our D-FD™ has been created in New Zealand by designers with expertise in buoyancy and with the help of the D-fa-Development Dogs to help us find the most ergonomic fit for buoyancy on a doggy frame. We've got the legal eagles onto it and they've filed for some patents on the design so we'll see what happens there. Our D-fd will be in the USA shortly. They're on a boat, which we hope doesn't sink (although by rights the jackets would float) and will be available for sale within weeks.

Here's some shots of Annie and Mollie the labradors from Standup Paddlesports in Santa Barbara showing us how they work. I have to laugh each time I look at these as these two buxom labrador ladies jostle for position on the board, it was only going to end one way.

Chobe of Canada

Dog lovers share a common connection - all of us with plastic bags in the pocket of every jacket, most of us with a fine layer of dog hair on our black trousers, and all with nose marks on the windows of our cars. We can spot one of our own a mile off.

Two winters ago, whilst strolling the streets of Wanaka (there's not many, it's not a big town, but still we stroll) we happened across Chobe and her people. As is often the case, it was Chobee the RR that we noticed first. She is gorgeous and reminded us so much of our first RR Simba. We stopped for a pat and a chat and as it turns out that chance meeting has become a piece of D-fa's history.

Having lived in the UK, Singapore, NZ and now Canada, Chobee is an international Rhodesian Ridgeback of mystery. Upon meeting them they were all set to depart the end of the NZ winter to enjoy another cold spell in BC, Canada.

Ridgebacks are natural heat seekers and will follow warmth wherever it takes them. I am sure Chobee was facing a thermal dilemma over what's better - wandering about under the natural warmth (thanks to the Ozone layer) of NZ sun or another few months snoozing in front of a roaring fire during a frigid Canadian winter. It's hard to take pity on a RR who is as loved and adored by her people as Chobee is, but we couldn't help but think of how much less of a dilemma she would face if she had a nice merino jacket to wear on her travels.

At this time D-fa was really only a twinkle in our eyes, and we had only a couple of a test jackets that had been made pretty much from scraps of fabric as we tried to see how they might work. But our RR Jack was happy to part with his original Ice-Barker merino so it was packed up in all its scrappy glory with Chobe and shipped to Canada.

We have often thought of Chobe over the last few years, wondering what far flung land she's snoozing in now, but we didn't expect another chance meeting to bring us news of her adventures. Whilst at the Wanaka A&P show (social highlight of the year in Wanaka) we got a visit from Chobe's people who were visiting NZ. We couldn't believe our eyes. Even better they have pictures of their beloved wearing her very very old Ice-Barker in Canada. The jacket has apparently been worn all winter, both years and is Chobe's favourite possession (after her bed, dinner bowls, the fire etc) ... so we're top ten anyway. Annie (our RR) gave them some big ridgeback love to keep them going until they returned to Canada, this time with a proper D-fa with proper clips and logos and most definitely not made of scraps!

Thanks for making D-fa history.

Book Review - Read It And Weep (In a Good Way)

We are quite a well read bunch here at D-fa and long haul travel gives excellent opportunities to read lots of books. In fact we judge most holidays by the number of books we read whilst away. 

We all know the ideal characteristics of an airplane read - not too heavy to carry, not to heavy to read, big print, fast pace. Of course it's also important that these books don't make you laugh or cry too much in such a close and public space lest you end up looking like a bit of an eejit. 

So, given that I want to wholeheartedly recommend the book The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stern. However, I will warn you that it will make you cry in all sorts of ways - happy, sad, touched, reflective, angry, you name it. So, get it. Read it, but either do it in private or wear large sunglasses and ensure the person next to you is wearing headphones and an eye mask. 

This is one of the most beautiful stories (all the elements), gorgeously written and will leave you even more in love with your dog than you are now.  

I read this book on a flight from Salt Lake to Denver and then to Boston. I'm not sure how recently you have flown on an American internal flight, but they're dismal (tea takes like styrofoam, no in flight entertainment (other than the person next to you and we all know what a lottery that is), and seats that leave you begging for some Chinese water torture to take the edge off the pain in your tailbone). Well, even the cabin crew on this flight (who are trained I believe to have no engagement with passengers lest we ask for some sort of service) were embarrassed for the poor man next to me as I laughed, snorted and sniffed my way across America. 

Get it and read it and buy one for your best friend who loves dogs.  

Jack The Bionic Dog

It's not often that the D-fa team is in by 7pm to watch the tele (we try to be in by 7.30 though for Coro St) and I know that tele is chewing gum for the mind, but sometimes you pick up interesting or useful little gems of information ... like how to dance a Paso, what a heel lead is (totally different to dog obedience), how to become a supermodel, and a successful restauranteur. Useful things. 

Anyway anyway, one night on Campbell live (if you're an international reader John Campbell is a funny, ernest and particularly opinionated journalist/tv presenter (lines blurred)) whose claim to fame is that he nearly made Helen Clark cry, hosts a nightly current affairs (everything from uncovering political scandal to stories of fluffy the wonder-cat qualifies as CA)show. 

This particular night featured a story of Jack, the Search and Rescue dog who has suffered terrible injuries after being hit by a car. He has basically been rebuilt from the hip joints back and despite conservative estimations from vets about the likelihood of a full recovery, is now back on active duty. 

Using the miraculous powers of the interweb, we managed to track down Jack and his handler Malcolm who are now based in a wee town in the west coast of the south island called Greymouth. Turns out, that's only a chihuahua yap (sorry small dog owners, I love them all, really I do, all creatures great and small and all that) from our spiritual home, the shed in Hokitika. Given that Jack's continued good health was kind of dependent upon him keeping fit, warm and dry as much as possible we thought some D-fa gear would do just nicely. 

So without further a-doo we packed up a few little Jack sized items and headed up the road. As if Jack wasn't enough of a furry miracle he was also electrocuted as a puppy and was pronounced dead a the vets. Fortunately everyone took a moment (15 seconds actually) to reflect on a life taken too soon, during which time Jack decided his work was not done on this earth and that he was not ready to hit the road. After the smoke cleared (he was apparently smoking a little) Jack stood up, shook himself and proceeded to recover completely. You have to hand it to those Aussies, they make em tough. 

Malcolm and Jack are pictured above modeling the new gears. Jack is the shorter one in the red jacket, Malcolm is taller and wearing the blue uniform. Mal also has opposing thumbs but you can't see them in this picture. Low and behold a few weeks after we dropped off the gear we got this email from Mal. 

Hi AJ, we have had a heap of searches recently and a couple have been in really crap weather. 

One in particular was really bad. Jack and I had been searching all day in the worst country I had searched in, and then we were hit by a really cold rain and wind storm. Jack was tired and had gone a bit flat and then I remembered the little red sack in my pack. With 'Sub-Woofer' on it was time for a break and a brew, it was freezing. When it was time to go again, Jack seemed well rested and not long after setting off up went the wind hoover and he was off. With me stumbling along behind it was not long before I heard a distant bark and a short time later I was looking at some dirty, tired but happy to see us faces. Thanks D-fa, you rock! Jack and Mal. 

Well, isn't that grand. Everyone loves a happy ending. 

Thanks to all the SAR peeps and their dogs. They do an amazing job here in the rather difficult terrain of NZ. Rocking back at you. 

D-fa Goes Snowmobiling with Spike

While at the Outdoor Retail Winter Market we met a mad Canadian called Doug who likes to take his 13 year old Jack Russell terrier out snowmobiling in frigid Canadian temperatures.

Spike, an agility wonderdog in his younger years, has many great qualities, but his fur has never been one of them. His coat runs a little thin, a little frizzy and not that good in the wind. I can only imagine what he looks like when he's wet!

Doug, claiming that it was his wife doing the buying but we know he was really behind it all but didn't want to look soft, hooked Spike up with a full D-fa kit (Ice-Barker, Sub-Woofer and Snoodle) and here he is! Deb's email with these pictures suggested that Spike actually smiles when he sees his coats coming out.