Every year, in October, is a special time to help a charity in NZ called Canteen which supports young teenage humans with the scary sickness called cancer. You can do this in lots of ways but the easiest and most fun is to buy one of their bandanas!
So every year, my humans get me lovely new bandanas from Canteen…
Look, this is one of my new ones this year – Hsin-Yi loves the blue colour on my fawn coat. She says the spotty things make me look very “stylish” – what do you think?
Well, I’ve now got quite a bandana collection! 
Although I have to tell you, I have lost a few bandanas from my collection -
they either got torn when I was in the park playing with my friends (my friend Hugo especially likes to pull off my bandana!) or got so dirty (especially when I rolled in some stinky stuff!) that my humans could not wash them anymore and had to throw them away…
But here are the rest of them. Aren’t they pretty? (Can you tell what Hsin-Yi’s favourite colours are? Hee! Hee! 
) There is a beautiful blue one which was designed by a famous NZ singer human, called Boh Runga - that is one of my favourites. You can also see the big white bandana with black paw prints that I got from Wag ‘n’ Walk…and there is also my white Outreach Therapy Pets bandana which I have to wear whenever we are going for therapy visits or representing Therapy Pets at events.
My human is really happy to find these bandanas coz all the doggie ones that they sell in the pet stores are too small for me – they either aren’t big/long enough to tie around my neck or even if they are, it all bunches up and you can’t see much of the bandana. But these are the perfect size! 
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Now, some of you may remember that a few months ago, I did a post about “impossible to train” breeds…I’m supposed to be one of them! Hee! Hee! My human really believes that any breed can be trained if you put in enough time, effort and patience and use the right methods. All those breed stereotypes are just an excuse! 
There are Huskies that do Obedience, Beagles that do amazing tricks and dance Freestyle, Mastiffs that do Agility and Dachshunds that do Tracking…
When she got me as a puppy, everyone told Hsin-Yi that Great Danes can’t do much but she decided never to let my breed be a handicap – she would just believe that I can do anything other breeds can and it was up to her to find ways to teach me! Hsin-Yi always thinks that anything is possible if you believe in it and you work hard enough… And, of course, she loves a challenge!
Well, you know Hsin-Yi is a pet writer and so she wrote an article about “difficult breeds” for one of her dog magazines in the UK called Dogs Today and lots of my blog friends were very kind and helped her with the article.
We were very excited this week because we finally got a copy – it is in the November issue.
Unfortunately, the magazine cut out some of the interviews that Hsin-Yi wrote about so not all my friends who helped got featured but 3 of them did!
Chow Chow in Singapore, Nala the Ridgeback and the Dugallmore Beagles!
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to ALL my friends who helped Hsin-Yi with the article and were very patient with her questions! If you are interested in getting a copy, you can contact Dogs Today to order a back issue (http://www.dogstodaymagazine.co.uk/back_issues.html)
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Now, I know all my American and Canadian doggie friends are celebrating this thing called Hallowe’en and doing funny things with pumpkins. We don’t really celebrate this here in NZ, although sometimes human pups do come knocking on our door asking for sweeties (they usually run away screaming when they hear me barking! 
) – but I have entered Daisy the Pit Bull‘s costume contest! Here are some pictures of me in my costume – I am entered in the “Most Original” category…what do you think?
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Taking part in the parade...(lots of human pups thought I was a REAL lion! )
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I think my friend, Max in South Africa, would especially appreciate my costume!!
(in case anyone is wondering, Hsin-Yi found 2 “Tina Turner” wigs in a party shop which she stitched together for me…she says it was an easy and cheap costume but looks quite good, doesn’t it?)
OK, before I go, I want to show you some beautiful flowers that we saw when we were in Newmarket Park the other day for one of my “daily walks” – Hsin-Yi got me to go and stand in the middle of them to pose for photos…
…does anyone know what these flowers are called? Hsin-Yi loves them and would love to have some in our garden in the future!
Hi Honey, I’ve missed so many of your posts lately. LS couldn’t find the time to help me blog. How sad is that?
Happy belated birthday. Sorry to have missed your big day!
Ooh you sure have a nice collection of bandanas there!
wow honey honey… u sure look like a king lion in that awesome mane! hsin-yi looks so pretty in her pocahontas costume too.
i once had a ‘white mane’ too (pix taken by mom’s friend) hehe! http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd172/sora2003/?action=view¤t=DSC00338.jpg
Well, I cannot comment on your photo what with me being a judge and all, but your Hsin-Yi looks pretty cute for a human.
So you helped write a big expose on different types of doggies. Good for you. We all are smart and clever in our own way, right? Just need to find the right activities that we enjoy. I, myself, am most in love with dancing.
Slobbers,
Mango
Well blow me down we have the Canteen bandanas but with different designs… Ill post em shortly…
must say the mane looks better on you than tina, honey….
I think the flowers may be friesias or crocus
Congrats on your article!!! And Honey is downright adorable in that costume
Wow I love the pictures of you in the flowers. Very pretty! I have no idea what they are. Hope someone can help you.
I also thought the mane looked very good too. The mane matched your coat perfectly! I might have even been a little intimidated.
Jackal
Honey, you are so beautiful! Love the costume, darling.
My mom and I both love human bandannas too! I don’t wear them as much now since Mom says I wear enough with my SD gear.
Your costume is great! Mom’s uploader cord was lost so we didn’t get our entries in.
Hugs and Tail Wags,
Dixie
PS Mom says she wishes you lived closer so you could adopt one of the kittens! thankfully my Aunt Jenn is probably going to adopt them
Hehe, I had to take a second glance at your lion shots, was slightyly confused! But you make a very good lion
You very pretty in the flowers – sorry neither me or my perosn have any idea what they are! :p
I’ll definately try get hold of a copy of Hsin-Yi’s article
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Flappy Ears,
Lexi
Honey, we just did a post about Darwin’s first bandana! We’re not sure exactly how she’s supposed to wear them…. maybe we’ll follow your lead!
Your lion costume is so cute! Love that your human was creative enough to make it out of two other wigs!
The pictures of you in the flowers (are they a type of lily?) are beautiful!
We furry mucho yike you’s bandanna collection. We have a whole stack of those fur every holiday and season thought about by mankind. When we were babies we didn’t get to wear them much because we would tear them off each other but now momma puts them on us alla’ the time so we look stylish – especially when we are out in public.
Hey there Honey
Please tell Hsin-Yi that my mom is really impressed with that lion outfit! Your ears are a bit droopy though and I don’t think you have CLAWS like them, but otherwise it is an amazing effort. Did your mom go as “JANE” i that parade?
Here in SA, Halloween is also not a big deal and we don’t really dress out dogs up (it’s not really regarded as ‘cool’ here!). The stupid humans however go crazy with the fireworks again, so mom has to be sure to be here at home with us during all their crazy anctics!
Those flowers look very much like our “Day Lilies” here, but mom is not a flower expert, so don’t take her word for it.
Anyway, congratulations on the article…what a thing it is to be a ‘widely published’ dog. Your mom must be thrilled.
Take care and lotsalicks and enjoy Halloween.
MAXDOG IN SA
That is a lovely collection of bandanas Honey! You do look good in all the blue shades. And it is nice that it supports a good cause.
I’m glad Hsin-Yi wrote an article on all the different things we “impossible” breeds can do. Whenever I go to any kind of competition I am the only Gordon Setter there so I know what you mean. You go girl.
I don’t know what those flowers are but you do look very pretty posed there.
Your friend,
Niamh
Wow, we love the lion costume…gonna steal that idea from you!…(but I will let everybody know I got the idea from my friends in new Zealand
Honey, I think the flowers are day lilies. Do you know whether they only bloom for a day?
I’ll look for a copy of the article, as it looks interesting and I agree that all dogs can learn to some extent (just as all human children can, if given the opportunity).
Thanks for the comment on my blog about the super cute baby raven.
The lion costume was wonderful! You actually did look like a lion.
Congratulations on the magazine article! It’s great that you get the word out that no dogs are untrainable!
Love the lion mane – Honey, you really do look like a great big lion!
Your photos with the flowers are beautiful! Mom thinks they are day lillies too. We have some and they are easy to grow.
i. love. your. lion. look !!! so grrrrreat! and your human is an absolutely adorable Pocahontas !! Love the flower pics too
) Such great times 
) Those bandanas must be handy to keep the drool in place 
)
we love that costume!
Hi Honey & Hsin-Yi,
I love your collection of bandanas. I don’t have any of them but I’ve started collecting Coach scarves so I look stylin’ when I go into the Coach store…It’s too funny, complete strangers will come up to me and want to take my picture (mostly it’s the tourists but it’s fun).
I love your Lion mane…great idea to put the 2 wigs together…you are so clever Hsin-Yi. We are not dressing up for Halloween which is tomorrow since I don’t think we will be home anyway for all the trick or treaters anyway.
The flowers you were sitting in were definitely a type of Lily…maybe Asiatic Lilies but I’m not positive. Either way it just looks beautiful over there this time of year unlike here where’s it’s very drab and raining.
Have a great day.
AARF Kasha the great dane
Hello, Big Honey Dawg-
My mummy thinks that yer lion kostume is awsum. She sez that yoo should hav been waring yer lion kostume wen yer human posed yoo in the pretty flowers. Then yoo would have looked like a frendly lion on patrol in the rainforest.
Yer pal,
Luda
What a wonderful collection of bandanas you have Honey! We like all of them! Some of our feline friends wear bandanas, but we don’t. We purrfur to be (puts paw up to mouth, eyes dart left, then right, and whispers) nekkid. Meowm sometimes wear bandanas though.
You look so lovely in those flowers! They kinda look like a lily to Meowm, but she isn’t certain that is what they are. Do you have a greenhouse/plant store there you could take one too and inquire about it?
That looks like a wonderful article that Hsin-Yi wrote! If only more humans felt like she did about “untrainable” breeds. It is a shame that humans give up on them.
We love your costume!!!!! You make a great lion!!!!! And Hisn-Yi looks lovely as well!
Hi Honey!
What a fantastic bandana´s collection you have! I love bandanas! Congrats Hsin-Yi for the article! You look lovely in your lion costume! Hsin-Yi as Jane too! Very creative =)
xoxo
Thor
bwah haha! I love your costume, Honey. You look FIERCE!
xoxo,
brownie
Love the costume and your banana’s Honey!Loooking good! Clever Canteen that’s a great way to raise awareness.
I’m sending Mom out to get the Dog magazine tomorrow! I’m meant to be a really difficult breed to train too. Our trainer (who has Welshies) told us AFTER I passed my Good Citizen Silver Award her Wesh Terrier Breeder used to breed wires but stopped as the breed was impossible to train and people weren’t prepared to put the time and effort in …that’s why you never see them here any more (very true I only met another one when I was two) Boy we were very proud and so was she!!! Paws up to your Mom – look forward to reading her article!!
Wiry wags n kisses Eric xxx
OM Dawgs! that costume MUST win! it’s frickin’ PAWSOME!
and great job on the article. i wish i’d known you earlier. I have a “difficult” breed (siberian) and they are “perfectly trainable”… (well, perfectly obedient in the “ring” that is…)
We have the opposite problem with bandanas – they are always too big!
Honey you are super beautiful and so is your mum!
Hi, Honey!
You have lots of nice bandanas!
The article must be very interesting!
You look great with your Lion costume!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Well done Hsin Yi and Honey! You’ve shown them that breeds don’t matter. Yeap, beagles are lumped in that category too, so we’re grateful to you for defending us!
Woo! You DO look like a real lion! Very creative using the Tina Turner wigs!
Congrats on the article and WELL DONE!!!
Luv,
Dave
PS: It is my professional opinion, as a Guide Dog for the Color Blind, that you look stunning in that blue. STUNNING. I’d love to see you in that purple, too… but the blue is really great on you. Woo.
http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-photography/Peruvian+Lily
Might be it – also known as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstroemeria
Furry khool khostumes fur both of woo!
As fur diffikhult breeds, GRIN!
Great post again!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Hi Honey,
Wow, you have so many bandanas! All we have are the ones we got when we joined dog events.
We wish we could read the whole article in Dogs Today!
Honey, you look elegant even with the wig. You are very elegant lion!
Great post Honey!
Your bandanas are so cute!
We loved your lion pics! You rock!!!
Kisses,
Rufus and Indie
Love all the pics!!! Awesome bandanas, and your costume was tooo cool!! Yay on the great article!!!
Honey, it’s so good to see you. Your bandana collection is quite impressive and your Halloween costume is genius!! Hsin-Ye is quite genius and beautiful!
Thos flowers are some variation of Day Lilies. There are tons of them here in all colors and sizes. They are very easy to take care of, once you plant them, they just keep coming back every year!
You and Hsin-Yi both look gorgeous in your outfits – what fun!
And I love the bandanna collection. My husband is also a fan of the bandanna, especially the canteen ones. Instant style, and you get to help out a charity too!