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10 May 2010
Hi Growl & Woof,
As you know Mum was over the moon when my Ice-barker
arrived, especially because we were going hunting that
very next weekend.
I asked Mum to take some photos of my seeing as I am
such a poster boy for hunting dogs and German Wirehaired
Pointers...so that I could send them to you and see just
how much I LOVE my Ice-Barker. First a little bit about
me:
My name is Blade - The Super Sniffer, a deer-stalking,
pheasant-flushing, duck-retrieving German Wirehaired
Pointer. I'm a Scorpio and I'm 4 years old. I like
fetching ducks, going swimming, long walks on the beach,
and sitting in the laz-e-boy arm chair with my
human(s)and taking naps.
German Wirehaired Pointers aren't renowned for being
nutritional over-achievers (we don't get fat easily).
After 3 years hunting with me, making Mum and Dad share
their sleeping bags at night, and finding that I
shivered all my weight off, plus I work hard all day
when we're hunting - I get so focused on the task at
hand I sometimes am not interested in food. With up to 6
hours of walking a day, up hill, down dale, stopping and
sitting and looking at a promising clearing for deer (I
get cold and shiver then) and despite Mum giving me more
food every time we come home Mum and Dad couldn't take
me out in public because I look like an refugee from an
SPCA camp. I'm no light-weight 'sooky' dog though, I
swim 365 days of the year, regardless of the temperature
so my Icebarker is perfect for warming me up and keeping
me toasty warm after all that effort.
When Mum heard about D-Fa she went online and had a
look. After a quick surf through the website, a
measuring session and consult with me about what color
scheme I wanted lo and behold my Ice-Barker was ordered.
Here's some photos of me looking quite 'the Dude' in my
Ice-Barker. I'm looking forward to my next present from
D-fa - I've asked for a Puff Doggy but I haven't made up
my mind what color scheme I want yet.
Yours in woofleness, and fuzzie GWP kisses to everyone
Blade - The Super Sniffer
PS -I'm off hunting again tomorrow for a week, so I'll
spot ya' in a week or so.
"A very impressive testimonial from a very talented
dog – he hunts, he swims, he shivers and he can use a
computer! By the look of these images I am picking that
Blade will look good in either Puff-Doggy colour-way.
Thanks for taking a paws in your busy schedule to write.
Couldn't have put it better myself." AJ
15 March 2010
This year we’re d-fa-delighted to be supporting more
Search and Rescue dogs here in New Zealand and across in
the USA. These dogs are incredible and along with their
mostly civilian handlers (as well as some firefighter
and police department members) contribute a huge amount
to the communities in which they operate. Thanks to the
hard work of some members of the New Zealand SAR group
this year the dogs will all have a set of d-fa gear to
help protect them from the elements when out searching,
and when on long hours during standby.
Our friends at FEMA Search and Rescue in the USA are
also having a busy time of it with winter storms and
other catastrophes. Canine searchers also play a
critical role during structural collapse incidents. The
canines help search teams to locate victims, using their
incredible sense of smell to detect live human scent,
even from a victim buried deep in the rubble.
Handler Bryan and his dog Jack from the Nevada S&R team
are fantastic ambassadors for the canine world and Bryan
believes that Jack is a four legged athlete and deserves
to be afforded all of the same care than a human athlete
or rescuer enjoys. As Bryan pointed out to us, people so
often neglect their dogs, sometimes without even
realizing it. They think their fur makes them invincible
and impervious to cold or other conditions. But this is
simply not true. Bryan is among many ‘hard men’ (we mean
hard in the nicest possible way) who are discovering how
good gear for dogs is anything but sissy and stupid.
Below is a photo of the Nevada team (so
handsome) including Sydney (front right Yellow Lab) who
is now being retired from duty, but taking on another
very important role. Sydney suffers from a thyroid
problem which has affected her stamina. Her new role
will be as a companion to a medically retired Iraqi War
veteran. She will now be based in the warmer climate of
Tuscon. We wish her all the best in her new life.PS. I just love how the Golden in this photo looks a
little like he’s trying to be a lab but just not pulling
it together. It’s like Sampson is trying hard to be a
serious, alert, intelligent lab; but there’s no hiding
his goofy Golden-ness! Ah, bless them all. 8 February 2010
While we bask in New Zealand’s best summer stretch for
years, topping the 30s (Celsius, which for the old world
is into the 90s Farenheit) our four legged friends in
the PA area are putting their Sub-Woofers to the test in
the greatest snowfall there on record.
These images of the beautiful Henry family Retrievers
have been sent to us from the snowy state of PA. Ryser
is handsome at the best of times, but against this
picture postcard backdrop he’s even more gorgeous.
In the great weather irony where DC is recording 2
inches of snow an hour they’re trucking snow into
Vancouver for the start of the Winter Olympics.
Hopefully the rescue dogs we outfit from the USA who are
on duty at the Olympics will get some wear out of their
Sub-Woofers like these dogs are getting. Of course,
Little D, our own version of ‘Flat Stanley’ will also be
at the Olympics wearing his Ice-Barker and trying to get
into the Games action.
Check out these images from Andy and Sally of Plamrya,
Pennsylvania. Their lovely dogs are Ryser (the young
fella) and Tryp (the elder statesman). 11 January 2010
Can a dog with buttons for eyes and no opposable thumbs
Twitter and Tweet his way around the world through the
actions of members of the outdoor community? Will this
one little stuffed dog be able to traverse the great
continents under the power of human connections? Can
little D top his travels of 2009 to Antarctica with a
traverse of the great American continent? Will he make
it to every state? Can he get on TV? Will he be
whispered to by Cesar Milan?
In the spirit of the ‘Small World’ experiments of the
1960s and the slightly less scientific but still
endearing Paddington Bear, we’re sending one little
vinyl and stuffing dog on a very big adventure. Our
point? To prove in the brave new world of Twitter and
Facebook and with a bit of good old-fashioned ‘I know a
guy who’ know-how, that as long as you have good friends
and a great jacket, you don’t need thumbs, a brain, eyes
or even a heartbeat to make your way home.
At OR Winter 2010 we will be launching little D on his
adventure, passing him on to the first of his contacts
in the USA. From there, he is on his own. His mission,
to grow and use a network of human friends who can take
him to as many events, states and adventures as possible
before his return to the OR Summer Market in August.
His new bipedal friends will be asked to:
- Care for Little-D and take him with them to
visit places of interest and events
- Use their opposable thumbs on their
fancy-phones to post pictures and updates of
Little D on his adventure
- Pass him on each 2 - 3 days to someone
who they trust to take him to his next place of
interest
- Not to subject him to postage or couriers,
or to use him as a mule for smuggling bad things
(bad things can happen to good dogs)
- To follow him and use their network to keep
track of him
- To return him to D-fa Dogs Booth at OR
Summer Market 2010.
Of course, we’d not put him out in the cold world
without the best dog jacket of all time on his back.
Little D will be wearing D-fa’s Ice Barker 100% Merino
Jacket, the ultimate in all-condition wear for his
journey. We’ll be mapping his progress on a virtual
passport through Twitter and Facebook where curious
human-folk will be able to follow his progress through
these updates.
10th January 2010
Due
to quarantine regulations and other unfair prejudices
against citizens with 4 legs that mean we can't always
take a real D-fa dog into places of interest, we have
employed a D-fa Stunt Double named Little D. He's pretty
much the perfect travel companion - quiet, will go
anywhere, never complains, doesn't make a mes, is a
people magnet and fits neatly into a suitcase. It's a
glamorous life for Little D, with Antarctica one minute,
Mt Aspiring the next. Most recently, Little D has been
on holiday with us at Glendhu Bay near Lake Wanaka and
he's been enjoying a little wakeboarding, doggy
biscuiting (of course wearing his D-FD) and some new
year celebrations where he led the camp rendition of
Auld Lang Syne at midnight before being showered with
kisses by a former Miss Timaru. Little D's next trip is
to Salt Lake City in late January where he will be
modeling for us at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.
He'll be trading his D-FD for his Puff-Doggy as the
temperature there today is about -12.
Interestingly also here is that they've introduced some
new regulations about wearing life jackets in boats,
with everyone in the boat now having to wear a life
jacket on boats under 6m long. Seems like a good idea to
me. Funnily enough though this doesn't apply to the dogs
in the boats and just yesterday we saw a fox terrier get
bounced out of a jetboat while crossing a rather rough
ski lane. The dog was retrieved from the water quickly
by his owner without incident, but we have since given
this jet boating terrier a D-FD just in case he goes
flying again. Please take care with your dogs on the
water this summer.
Hope the new year is wagging your way.
19thThere's
really nowhere that the D-fa pack won't go to test their
products. Dave (product developer and pictured here in
full Antarctica gear and in budgie smugglers) has just
returned from Antarctica and he took Little Black D
along to test the Puff Doggy and the D-FD at the end of
the earth.
Pleased to report that no D-fa-Dogs, penguins, seals or
sensibilities were harmed in the pursuit of product
testing of these products, although there was one
American woman who was worried that Dave was not wearing
any pants in this photograph.
The D-FD is now on sale in New Zealand and around the
world and the Puff Doggy will follow early in 2010.
Merry Xmas. 3rd December 2009
Welcome to our new website which we are calling D-fa
2.0. You'll find loads of information, fun things
to read and see, new products, and hopefully a cleaner
crisper website experience.
Enjoy!! |
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