Yankee Doodle Doggie!

Yup..it's a fact. This bulldog is an all-American boy (even if my heritage is Olde English Bulldogge)

I was not only born in the USA, but my birthday is even on the 4th of July! So that there fact makes me a bonified Yankee Doodle Doggie FER SURE!

And there's nothin' better on the 4th of July than celebratin with spirit. Here I am posing (yup it's true..I do luv the camera!) at the Viet Nam Veteran Memorial in Angel Fire. Makes you want to kiss the ground of the memorial that celebrates our good soldiers who risk their lives for our freedom...and that wonderful freedom takes us dogs into account too! Where else can a dog wander the world in style and visit all these great places?

No better place to start than in New Mexico....and I will have more to report on pet friendly Angel Fire soon...but for now, won't you sing along with me.....

"I'm a Yankee Doodle Doggie...Yankee Doodle do or die........."

Headin' North for the 4th!

Chama NM....Here I come! I can't wait to celebrate the 4th of July in the mountains at my 2nd home, the Elkhorn Lodge. There's hot dogs on the menu......definitely one for me, I dog-arantee....maybe some of that tasty watermelon, lots of folks and friends to visit with, a hike with my dog-sister Roxie....and even my very favorite Aunt Patricia and Dr. Jim are comin' to visit ME! Well, maybe they're gonna visit Chama, Jill, Jim and the Elkhorn gang as well....but we all know who is really boss around here.

But before we arrive, there's sure to be a nice stop for a hike at one of my fab fav places....Ghost Ranch. A hike on the Chimney Rock Trail is on my schedule of activities. Then off to the cool, crisp mountain air of Chama!

so...here's to a fun and safe 4th of July everyone! AND....one doggie note here! Me and my canine cousins do NOT like the noisy flashy fireworks...so make sure to keep us inside and safe from all these crazy happenings. No runaway dogs this holiday PULEEZE!

Shop till ya Drop at the Lavender Festival!

Okay...first there were dogs...LOTS of dogs at the Pet Parade...then there were all sorts of great booths to sniff and snoop around...and this canine reporter doesn't let ANYTHING get past him! No sirree doggies..... I made some fab finds at the Lavender Festival.

Did you think they JUST have lavender at this fest? Well...guess again..they EVEN have Doggie Goodies...both the edible kind and the fun duds.....bags with paws and prints and cats and dogs....so many daggone fab choices...

So what's a pooch to do? Just shop, shop and shop some more till ya drop! That's my motto and I'm stickin to it! I got a brand new overnight doggie bag at the
Paws-A-Bilities booth....here's the Queen of Paws-A-Bilities, Ms. JoAnne showin' off her goods...and they are doggone grand!

And then I got hungry. Well they had all these great lavender goodies for people....like lavender ice cream, cookies and more! But wait....YAH there was a tasty spot for doggies too....with all the gourmet pet goodies a doggaroo could want. With a name like Tailwaggin Temptations how's a dog to go wrong, eh? All I can say is YUM with a capital YUM! Some tasty findins' fer sure!

And once my tummy was full, I moseyed on over to the New Mexico Book Booth....never can have enough books in my dog-pinion....and wow what a find there! Why I even ran across a famous writer...none other than Nasario Garcia....who's penned many a fine New Mexico book!

Made me think a lot....hmmmm...it's about time this dog got to penning...er pawing my first book. ...and now I am dog-spired to do just that! Think I'll call it "Jack's Story...from Shelter to Star" Yep, that's it...that's the title...now I just gotta get down to dog-business and start workin' on it.

Yep, next year at the Lavender In the Village Fest...you'll find your canine bud paw-digraphing his very own book...I dog-promise!

Lavender Festival Pet Parade

Whooo.....doggies! This was one GRAND day! First of all, I got to meet lots of great dogs in the Pet Parade at Lavender Fest! There was Lady Gaga dog.....Fiona, the Lavender Farm Dog (think I'm in love with her!), There was Sargent K-9 in his cammies, there was a Bride and Groom couple, a family of patriotic dogs..with their persons, there were several dogs ready to take off for a Hawaiian vacation....and most of all there was fun all around!

Since I was workin'....you know checkin' out the dog-friendly festivals and things to do in New Mexico...I was sportin' my travelin' back pack. Little did I expect to win. I was happy just bein' part of these grand doggie festivities!

Well, first we gathered.....got our favorite color bandanna, compliments of Canine Country Club who were one of the main sponsors, they had water buckets around for all us thirsty pups, then we lined up and marched pup-style through the Grounds and into the Stage area. There we had a doggy blessing and then the Judges did their job...whew, and a tough one it was. With all that competition.

First they named winner of "Right off the Farm Doggie"...and little lavender farmer Fiona took the prize...then they had best family...and the whole kit...er dog and caboodle Patriotic Family took that prize....Lady Gaga snagged the Owner/Dog look alike...and she was one dolled up doggie....let me tell you. Finally, they got to BEST IN SHOW....

.....and lo and behold.....who did they name out but yours truly Travelin' Jack...aka Jack la Lane! WoW! Was I surprised....and Jill too I think! Well, we marched right up to the stage to accept our huge basket of goodies...straight from Canine Country Club!

Talk about a Big Day! One banner day for this doggaroo! I'm still flyin' high from the win! And enjoyin' my goodies too! Thanks Lavender Festival and Thanks Judges and Thanks Canine Country Club! This is just the BEST day ever!

Lavender Festival......Celebrity dog-Schmoozing

Wow......here's one heck of a find! The Lavender Festival in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Jill and I made the rounds at this VERY pet friendly festival....cool events, great things for sale of every sort imaginable, Lavender in a dog-zillion forms, some even edible...AND dogs everywhere...even a Pet Parade (which I will cover in the next blog). But as you know...this canine reporter is always on the job....and in addition to fun finds for the four footed traveler, I am always lookin' to do a bit of celebrity snoop-dogging as well.

And who did I discover at the Lavender Fest you ask? Well, just in case you don't recognize this handsome dude (the other guy...not me!), it might be because he is not behind the wheel of his super duper racing machine....it is none other than AL UNSER, racing king of the Indy 500! Wow...talk about this doggaroo bein' on the fast track!

And best of all, Mr. Al is one grand dog lover as you can see from this photo...thinkin' maybe I better check out his pet friendly events that he holds at his very own Unser Racing Museum. Anyway, can't wait for more action at the Festival. It's all doggone grand in my travel explorations!

TV time for Jack

Did you see me on TV on Monday? Yep..that was me....highlighted on the Enchantment Photo contest. There are a gazillion fab photos of New Mexico and yours truly was the one picked to be spotlighted on tv on Monday. They pick one a day out of those gazillion photos in the contest. This is THE photo.....shot by none other than my fab photog...Lu...she is the best in my dog-iary. This shot was taken at Ghost Ranch when we were hiking the Chimney Rock Trail. Pretty cool surroundings, eh? And if you really want to make my day...go ahead and vote for me on the contest page.

And my other recommendation......make tracks (get it---it's a bulldog joke) to check out the trails, the museums and all the doggone grand stuff at Ghost Ranch. After all...if it was good enough for Georgia Okeeffe...it's good enough for Travelin' Jack too!

doggie hugs and slurpy kisses!

Look at Me...I'm A Model Now!

This is the life.....what bulldog wouldn't want to be me? I wander all over New Mexico exploring pet friendly places...I have a TV spot (called Jack's Tracks in case you forgot)...I get awards from the Governor's Conference on Tourism, I'm writin' my own magazine articles....and now I get to be a MODEL too!

Yup...my grand friends at the Doggie Door Company decided they needed a spokesdog for their fancy schmancy pet travel articles...so yours truly will be modeling some dandy doggie articles that NO POOCH should be without!

Today I am modeling the really special "Wacky Walker"....gotta luv the name to start with...and then....woah...what a treat to walk on this leash. It stretches with me! So instead of stopping me tight (and pulling Jill's arm out of her socket), it just gives a bit more room for roamin'....and everyone is happy! You can check it out at the store...OR you can check it out online! Just click on the doggie icon on this page! You'll find all sorts of snazzy dog stuff, I dog-uarantee!

PS Tell em Jack sent ya!

Oh and I almost forgot...we're havin' a party at their store on July 24th.....to celebrate Dogs in addition to ME! And YOU are invited! I'll be modeling some cool doggie stuff...and you can get a paw-digraphed photo of me!
doggie hugs and slurpy kisses