Singing Dogs – Cody and Sierra "The Singing Dogs!"

Sleeping Dogs for National Dog Day [PICS + VIDEOS]

In case you didn't know tomorrow, August 26th, is National Dog Day! What are you supposed to do on National Dog Day? Celebrate all things dog of course.

As part of the fun and celebration for dog owners a mattress start-up is encouraging dog owners on social media and various websites to post pictures of their dogs on beds, couches, or furniture sleeping.

Originally we didn't want to allow Cody and Sierra, the singing dogs, on the beds and couches in the house. Since Cody is nice soft fun like a teddy bear and Sierra makes sad faces when she isn't allowed to get on the bed… this rule quickly vanished into thin air.

I guess some members didn't really stick to the rule in the first place (me). It probably also didn't help that we let both Cody and Sierra on the beds when they were puppies. How can you resist sleeping with a puppy?

Since our “No dogs on beds and furniture” rule is no more, we now have instituted what we call a “dog blanket.” This is an attempt to prevent complete anarchy and all the beds and furniture in the house to be completely taken over by dogs. “Dog Blankets” are specific blankets which are all the same color and pattern. We put these on top of the covers on the beds or on the couches and then invite the dogs up to sleep and rest on these. This is where the dogs are allowed to to sleep or cuddle, but nowhere else. It's worked pretty well for us… somewhat. Look at this picture of Cody and Sierra on one of the beds.

As you can see Sierra, the tri-color, is on the designated dog blanket. However for some reason Cody, tan and white, is practically sleeping on the pillow there. Don't worry we are not singling you out Cody since Sierra does it as well. Is it so much to ask that you guys stay on the dog blankets?

Once in awhile both dogs will sleep together NOT on the beds.

This is a rare occurrence since we all know the bed is much better than a rug. Cody also doesn't generally like cuddling next to his sister, he's a guy after all.

Sierra and Cody won't just use the beds. Oh no, they have taken a liking to the chairs we use.

Sierra is ready for a chat with a cup of tea. Her human servants will bring it to her while she relaxes in her chair. Since she is an English Shepherd and we all know how those British love tea. 😀

Sierra also love sleeping in this same chair. As demonstrated by these graceful shots.

If you noticed we had to put a blanket over the ENTIRE chair so that it wouldn't get dog hair all over it. We love Cody and Sierra, the Singing Dogs, but not the shedding. Definitely not their shedding. We even rotate the blankets now. We love our English Shepherds but not the way they smell.

Cody likes the chair as well but he usually curls up like this.

Puppy Singing Lesson

The dogs being on the furniture has even made it into our videos. Remember when Sierra gave Scout, the foster puppy, a singing lesson. Scout was lounging in the chair.

Here Sierra is in a leather chair. For some reason we didn't let our last dog who was a German Shepher mix, Roger, on this chair. Sierra and Cody have managed to breakdown the dog civil rights barrier on leather chairs.

Love Me Tender

Sierra was also in this leather chair for our breakout video “Love Me Tender” a song from the late and great Elvis Presley.

Here Comes the Bride

When my brother got married we decided to shoot this version of “Here Comes the Bride” also known as The Wedding March on the couch. Hey, they get up there anyway.

Dogs have the Blues

Also Cody likes to perch himself on the chair and Sierra on the windowsill. You got to protect the house, except when you have the blues.

Do you allow your dog(s) on the bed, couches, and furniture? If yes, what happened? If no, how are you holding out? We'd like to know. 🙂

We are so dog crazy we even made a makeshift hammock bed in the backseat of our Toyota Camry. That means the dogs have a place to sleep while in motion. The dogs slept quite well on the drive back after our appearance on Anderson with Anderson Cooper.

If you are interested head over to our press page to see our additional TV appearances and Cody and Sierra kissing Anderson Cooper.

What are you dogs sleeping habits? Do they sleep all day or are they active pups? We'd love to hear from our fans for National Dog Day. Share pictures with us as well via Twitter @DogsSing.

Rumble(.)com are Thieves (Uploaded a Video without our Permission)

I often check around the internet to see if there are any duplicate videos that have been uploaded of the Singing Dogs. It's nothing strange to find some duplicates out there online. What's odd is I found that Rumble, a new hopeful Youtube competitor/video licensing company apparently has had one of our videos of Sierra singing the classic New Year's song “Auld Lang Syne” up on their DailyMotion channel for a few years now. Here is the video I'm talking about in case anybody needs a refresher.

This video had been up for about one year before it was re-uploaded to DailyMotion without our knowledge or consent. Here is the description;

Looks like this dog was getting right into the New Year's spirit! He sings along to the classic tune, ‘Auld Lang Syne'. Best wishes in 2013!

This is is very annoying but not what I find most confusing about Rumble doing this though.

A representative from Rumble contacted us a few months ago about our original Auld Lang Syne video that features both Cody and Sierra singing along to “Auld Lang Syne.” Again here is the video just so people know.

This is the video which got us invited on Anderson with Anderson Cooper awhile ago. We still get a lot of requests about this “Auld Lang Syne” video and various companies and people being interested in using it or wanted us to sign the rights over to them so they can license it out.

Rumble wanted us to sign an exclusive contract with them for only this Auld Lang Syne video featuring both dogs. Basically Rumble's main goal is to be a Youtube competitor by paying content creators more money for their videos and by accepting only quality videos. Unlike some of what you see on Youtube which is not “high quality” or “viral worthy” I guess. The other part of their business is video distribution and licensing to TV shows or outlets that want to use this videos. At least this is their business model to my understanding.

What's odd is I specifically asked whether Rumble was interested in other videos of Cody and Sierra, particularly the solo Auld Lang Syne video that is currently uploaded on their Rumble Virals DailyMotion channel with the title “Classy Dog Sings Auld Lang Syne.” This video has been on the site since January, 2013. The video is not on their Youtube channel from what we can tell. I have no idea why.

I should make it clear that at this point in time we have no agreement with Rumble for licensing or distribution of any of our videos. In an exchange I actually asked about the Auld Lang Syne video of Sierra and the reply was they were not even interested in it. The Rumble representative said that they were only interested in the Auld Lang Syne video featuring both dogs, which I think is really pretty whack considering they've had the video of just Sierra up for a few years on the DailyMotion channel. I did notice the video is also on Yahoo, Jokeroo, and a few other places probably because of Rumble.

Checking around the internet I always see duplicate uploads of our videos and content but I've never seen one of these video licensing companies upload and use one of our videos without knowledge or consent. They've probably been distributing the video and getting paid without sending us any checks for awhile. I wonder where it's appeared that I do not know about and who has used it and on what platforms, TV shows, or networks it's currently in?

Kind of an odd and weird experience with Rumble. When I asked about the second video and they said they were they not interested…. why was that? They've already made money from us and were just looking to secure the video licensing rights after the fact? Of course why were they not interested in the other video? Did Rumble assume we wouldn't notice this?

I'll be contacting Rumble to get to the bottom of this and get some answers. In the meantime the Singing Dogs and myself are not to pleased with this situation but there is not much we can do.

UPDATE – I never got a reply from Rumble so I guess my thoughts about them are accurate, they are thieves. If you are contacted by them about licensing do not work with them.

Do you have any other weird experiences with Rumble or another video licensing company or Youtube marketing firm you want to share? If you are a video creator how do you deal with other people re-uploading your content and videos?

The First Noel

I just finished editing and uploading our latest Christmas song, The First Noel. Check out the new video here;

The First Noel – Merry Christmas!

It's a Christmas caroling classic and Sierra really enjoys singing along to it. I only made a few takes of this song but I felt this one came out the best. Sometimes Sierra just stops in the middle of the song and gets distracted. Here she has an itch she feels she has to take care of I guess. There is usually something wrong with each The First Noel takes we did so you just use whichever came out best on video. (We have better audio versions but sometimes the Singing Dogs are not in the frame.)

Unfortunately Cody seems to not like The First Noel so much as it seems he doesn't feel like this is one of his “songs” he can sing along to. Cody tends to like more Rhythm and Blues songs where he can express his deeper baritone-bass voice honestly. At least he enjoyed listening from the other room I was told. He does at least appreciate music, more than other dogs.

Anyway, sorry we haven't been posting as much videos lately but I hope The First Noel satisfies fans of the Singing Dogs. We hope that you will considering donating any money or other items that are needed by animal rescues and shelters this time time of year. We've done rescue work in the past fostering dogs and it can be a rewarding and joyful experience.

Merry Christmas! …or Happy Christmas as they say in the UK. What are doing this holiday season? Do you have any special requests for the singing dogs?

SnapLeash Review

Recently I was contacted by a company called SnapLeash as they were interested in having us do a review of one of their leashes.

SnapLeash Review

Ok, so what makes a dog leash cool? Basically the SnapLeash is pretty simple in its design. It looks like a regular thick nylon dog leash but if you notice there are metal grommets in the middle and on both ends there are two swivel hooks for attaching to leashes or the SnapLeash itself to make a loop. Basically this is one of those inventions you hold in your hands and say to yourself, “How come I didn't think of this?”

The first way to use the SnapLeash is basically as a regular leash with one dog. You can hook the leash to their collar and make the other end into a loop so it's easier to hold the leash and handle your dog. What I like about the SnapLeash is how it feels durable and well constructed when you hold it. I feel comfortable handling our 50+ pound English Shepherds with it. So as a regular leash it works well.

What caught me eye about the SnapLeash initially is that you could walk two dogs at the same time with one leash. This is something I've been trying to figure out for awhile and when I got the email from SnapLeash it was a no-brainer to have them send me a unit.

The SnapLeash makes walking both dogs at the same time easier. Of course walking two dogs on the same leash is more convenient for the owner but not the dogs. Cody and Sierra seem to like the freedom of two leashes and getting them used to one leash would take a bit of time. Both Singing Dogs pull in either direction so that makes the SnapLeash size feel short. This isn't really a flaw in design but maybe more a flaw in our dog training.

Obviously if you see the videos below the crowning achievement of the SnapLeash is the fact you can hook it easily to a pole, post, or something secure while you are at the park or you are at a restaurant. We all know holding dog leashes while eating, drinking, or reading is a pain and no fun at all. To test out the SnapLeash we went to the park and secured one end of the leash around a tree while we walked around to assess the sturdiness. I was impressed with how easy and painless it was to utilize the SnapLeash to secure Sierra. Normally with regular dog leashes this process would have taken me a lot more time and trying to figure out how to do some special knot. (Knots are not my specialty.) I could enjoy the park without my dogs if I wanted… of course they wouldn't like that. 🙂

My biggest complaint about the SnapLeash is the metal grommets on the leash make it uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. Obviously this is what makes the SnapLeash useful, but this might be an issue for some. Maybe it needs a sleeve to improve grip comfort because I imagine other people would have the same complaint. Also I don't like the idea that people are leaving their dogs for long periods of time with the SnapLeash unattended. Where we live dog kidnappings are somewhat common and I'd hate for people to get to comfortable with any device to secure a dog without making sure they are ok. If I go into a store to get food or something with Cody or Sierra attached to pole outside, I always make sure I can see them through the window at all times. It's unlikely but you never know. As long as owners are aware it's dangerous to leave a friendly dog unattended for too long it's a great product.

I thought this dog leash was pretty cool.

Overall I've been impressed with the SnapLeash. It has simple functionality, good construction, and I'm sure a lot of dog owners who have used it really like it.

If you have any questions about the SnapLeash feel free to leave comments below and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

SnapLeash Videos

Editor's Note – SnapLeash sent SingingDogs.net a unit of the company's product to review. While we did receive a complimentary SnapLeash to review we did not get any monetary compensation to write this article about our opinions of the dog leash. This review reflects my honest opinions about the product and using it as a dog owner.

Sierra’s Enjoys Chews on her Back

While this isn't a video of Sierra singing along to any songs I thought I would share it anyway, as I'm glad I caught her with the camcorder. (Usually when I've tried to videotape her doing this I'm too late when I return ready to shoot.) You see, Sierra is quite dexterous with her paws and always enjoys chews. Combine these qualities together and you have a dog her back that carefully holds a chews in her mouth and makes sure it doesn't go anywhere with her paws.

Dog Chewing Upside Down

Does your dog do something funny with chews too? Please let us know with a comment below.

Cody’s 7th Birthday

Thought I'd just give people a quick heads-up that it is Cody's 7th Birthday today. Amazing to think our sweet guy has been around for that long. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Cody's 6th birthday. I also feel like not too long ago he was a little fluff ball, puppy, biting at our pant legs. Here are some videos of Cody as a puppy.

Cody with a Chew as a Puppy

Cody eats his First Apple

He was such a CUTE puppy. He looked like stuffed animal and was really soft.

Cody has grown up to be a smart, sweet, and great dog in all the years we have had him. Sometimes he is a bit brazen but he has always been a loyal dog. (Unless someone else has a chuck it at the park.) In addition he is quite a proud dog and shows it.

I'm unsure what we are planning to do today for Cody's 7th birthday. Likely we will take him to the park and possibly go get Frozen Yogurt with him and Sierra. Both singing dogs love getting frozen yogurt. If people have a suggestions for good dog birthday activities we'd be happy to hear them.

Happy Birthday Cody!