Hot Diggity Dog! Get ready for Spring!

Before I continue with today’s blog article I would like to say thank you to those who have shown just how much they appreciate Steeler’s work as a Therapy dog by putting him on a billboard. This is one of many firsts for him! When Steeler came back to me years ago he was a handful. He kept my body in black and blue marks for months with his outrageous behavior. I am proud of how far he has come through much work, love, and guidance. It is the public he greets on a weekly basis I believe, that keeps him in check and makes him the happy go lucky guy he is. I also thank the family that probably made the hardest decision in their life when they returned him to me.
Toward the right of the blog you will see Steeler sitting proudly under his billboard, drool and all, and we look forward to attending yet another children’s fair. This year we’ll take movies!

Hot Diggity Dog! Get ready for Spring!

So, you’ve decided to do some gardening in the North forty and you’re struggling with that old rusted wheelbarrow that you inherited from your father’s father, which is now piled high with a heavy load of dirt. All of a sudden it starts to lean a little to the left, then a little to the right, and your struggle is not due to the heavy load, no, you are strong enough to handle that, but it is due to the rusted bolts on the original tire which is now flat, however it is the glue that holds the wheelbarrow together!

Just fifty more yards to your destination, and you are there, home free! Your eyes narrow and hold their gaze upon the spot where you intend to dump the load of dirt, when all of a sudden, plop! You struggle to keep the wheelbarrow upright, but you can just see it deep inside your soul like a slow motion movie. Going, going, gone! You have inadvertently hit one of the holes to China in which that damn dog of yours dug! Of course, on any other day, Fido is the love of your life, your cuddle bug, your big oaf. Today though, he is that damn dog!

So let the analyzing begin! Dogs dig for many reasons but the number one cause is boredom and here I go again speaking from a trainer’s perspective. Proper time and energy spent with your dog can help, really! Providing your dog with brain stimulating toys such as stuffed Kongs, treat dispensing balls, talking balls, or giggle balls can also help when you are not around to keep a close eye on him. When you are home to watch him check out
Nina Ottosson's interactive Dog toys , these are pricy but if you are handy you can make them yourself. Most of these toys can be found in major pet stores or pet catalogs. In fact, interactive toys are gaining in popularity which is a good thing.

Working daily on obedience training can help as well. This keeps the dog’s mind active and makes it think, and the dog that has to think, is a tired dog. Tired dogs of course, are good dogs!

Yeah, yeah, I know, sit, down, stay, heel, over and over again is sometimes boring when the dog already knows all of those commands. Well, if it’s boring for you I wonder how boring it is for the dog. Don’t be afraid to spice it up a bit, teach some hide and seek games, high fives, or take anything a dog does well, even if it’s an annoying habit, and put a command to it! This makes training a bit more fun for the both of you.


If there is a certain area of the yard that seems to be problematic when it comes to digging you may find success in either a noise or water activated sensor alarm. If it is a smaller area such as a garden, try using underground fencing and place it around the border of the garden. If laying wire is not for you then look into the wireless fencing, it keeps the dog contained to a certain area and it’s portable so when you visit Aunt Betsy you can take the fence with you. Of course if you are to use any type of electronic fencing please teach the dog the boundaries first. I am reminded of my brother who carefully laid the wire for his garden boundary, but did not take the time to teach the dog where that boundary was. Hence the dog bounced back and fourth getting little zaps to the neck until if found safety on the deck. When you do it this way, you may find yourself with a dog who never wants to leave the house!

The second most common reason for digging is to get to the cool or warm earth underneath, so provide your dog with adequate shelter to get out of the elements. In the winter months use a heated dog bed and for summer months use the cool mats which stay cool for hours. Raised pet cots also do well in keeping a dog cooler in the summer months.

Another idea that works well is actually building or buying a child’s sandbox and redirecting the dog to dig in there. As humans, we are great at telling a dog ‘No’, but we are not great at showing them what they are allowed to do! When they are not redirected, you end up with the same frustrating problem all over again.

Fill the sandbox with similar dirt you would find in your yard and hide some toys and treats just underneath the soil, then teach the dog to find them. This will eventually have the dog return to the box to see if there are other goodies awaiting him. When you catch him digging in the yard tell him no, redirect him to the sandbox, then praise and reward him for digging in the right spot.

Dog pens are another option, this gives the dog limited access to the yard when he can’t be watched and keeps the digging contained to the pen area. Building a pen that suits your taste rather than buying a standard chain link pen from the store will work just as well. Of course you’ll want to get that wheelbarrow fixed before trying to haul the cement that will steady the fencing posts!

Also, keep in mind the breed you chose to be your companion. Some dogs are bred to hunt vermin and digging comes with the territory, you can’t, and shouldn’t, take the breed out of the dog! This is where doing your homework before selecting a dog will help.

So until next time, if you are up North, enjoy the snow that covers the holes!

“Our Hero” Enhanced dog water! . WHAT?

Okay, so Peter and I are out shopping with the big guys in tow (Chance & Steeler of course) and while in Ollie’s Peter came upon the dog aisle as I meandered around the rest of the store looking for more crap to spend my hard earned cash on. Suddenly I neared the dog (okay a bit prejudiced); pet aisle and I heard his voice.

“Hey, sally, look at this.” Pete said holding up a bottle of what appeared to be water with a picture of a dog on it.
“What the heck is that?” I asked.
“Bottled water for dogs! With flavoring!” He said with such enthusiasm like we really had to have it.
‘Tsss.” I said with a wave of my hand as only I can do. (well, me and every other wife in the world) “We don’t need that, put it back.”

Flavored water for a dog, what will they think of next? I mumbled. After all, my hard earned money needed to go to good crap, crap for me! Crap that may or may not last more than a week!

But as I wandered through the aisles I came across cases and cases of bottled water for dogs and then I could not resist. Temptation grabbed my hand and made me pick up a bottle of this flavored water and read the label. Hmm, amino acids, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals listed right on the front of the bottle! It was the electrolytes that sold me. So for 99 cents I bought a bottle. Let’s not go crazy now; to buy a case would be wasteful if they didn’t like it! The bottle said, “It could be served as a treat or water replacement in conjunction with a healthy diet.” Having gotten only one 32 oz bottle I decided to serve it as a treat. After all, for a water replacement I‘d have to buy five gallons to cover a days water intake by all my Newfs!

Mom Abby and daughter Emma are my picky eaters and there are occasions where they may turn their noses up and not eat the full meal given, which can lead to guarding if I don’t pick up the bowls right away, and trust me, with my mind, well let’s just say sometimes I forget to pick up a dish or two after feeding. So I started to add the flavored water into their food to see if they would;
(A) Leave any morsels behind,
(B) Continue their pattern of, maybe I’ll eat it, maybe I won’t, or
(C) Eat the whole kit and caboodle at one sitting.

As stated earlier, it was the electrolytes that sucked me in because I give a lot of advice daily on dogs which have been vomiting and having diarrhea. I find myself endlessly telling owners to pinch the skin above the shoulder to see if the dog is dehydrated and then I suggest they give their dog children’s Pedialyte to keep up the electrolytes and help with any dehydration. So, my mind definitely pondered as I read the bottle of this enhanced dog water.

Could there be something tastier and as easily accessible out there for consumers other than children’s Pedialyte to help with this?


The bottle I purchased was called ‘Water Exercise Recovery’ and I found out later that there are three different types of water the company makes. I chose this bottle not because I was an informed consumer, no, that would be too easy, but because I did not fully see the label before buying the item so I thought they were all just flavored water!
This is a great reason to always have your reading glasses with you when shopping! I should have learned that lesson when I recently picked out and used my latest hair dye!

My general consensus is that the water did seem to have the dogs eat their full meal at once, no leftovers, and the ingredients are there for dehydration. I would however, still like to check out the ‘Hip and Joint’ or the ‘Healthy Aging’ since my guys are getting up in age.

On another note, I noticed when I mixed just a little of this bottled water in with the regular water that my males drink, they hardly touched the water at all. In a way this is good because it makes my job of filling up the bowl ten times a day much easier, but not real healthy over all for them. We drink to live and live to drink!

So I would suggest to you, my compadre’s, giving it a try both ways. If you have a picky eater it may help that situation.

But like ‘Everything Dog’, regulations of food, treat products, and toys are poor, so I suspect that it will just be a matter of time before something goes wrong when more manufacturers produce this for dogs and cut corners to make that extra buck.

'Our Hero enhanced flavored water" by century foods has three different varieties ,
1) Water for healthy aging,
2) Water hip and joint
3) Water exercise recovery.

(I am personally waiting to see if they come out with "water for menapausal and cranky bitches")

Well, until next time dawgs, have a drink on me or for me! Your choice!

(Brief on Electrolytes)
Electrolytes exist as solutions of acids, bases, or salts. These solutions are normally formed when a type of salt is placed into a liquid such as water, and it dissolves into its component elements. Primary ions of electrolytes: sodium, potassium, calcium, hydrogen phosphate and hydrogen carbonate. Of course electrolytes as we all know are important for hydration and are critical for nerve and muscle function. (Probably why we get muscle cramping when we are dehydrated.)

Below you’ll find some of the ingredients in Our Hero Dog water.

Ingredients: water, whey protein concentrate, phosphoric acid, Potassium citrate, calcium lactate gluconate, potassium sorbate , natural and artificial flavors, magnesium gluconate, nacinamid, thiamine mononitrite, pyridoxide, hydrochloride.

crude protein,(min) 1.0% moisture (99.5%)I soleucine min 0.05% leucine min 0.09% calcium min 0.01% phosphorus min 0.09% potassium min. 0.001% thiamine min. 0.3 mg/kg chloride min 0.010% magnesium 0.001% niacin 22 mg/kg ,pyridoxine min 0.2 mg kg

Do shed, or not do shed, that is the question.

I am often asked what can be done for a dog that sheds a lot and the first thing that comes to my mind is, what breed of dog are we talking about, because some breeds are prone to seborrhea, red mange, or hypothyroidism. So top of the list would be a health check. Second guess, barring any medical problem, would be plain old dry skin and dull coat from not enough omega fatty acids. I always try to supplement my dog’s food with 3-6-9 fish oil gel caps from Puritans pride. I don’t go nuts over special shampoos that claim to help shedding because if you really think about it, the simple act of washing, then brushing, and drying your dog is going to rid it of the dead hair for about a week anyway. You can probably remove just as much hair with a slicker brush and it takes less time. If you have a short haired dog, get a large spray bottle, fill it with water and a bit of some doggie cush, cush cologne, spray the dog and wipe it down with a dish towel. You’ll be amazed at the amount of dirt and hair that comes off the dog, and again, less time consuming than a full bath. Don’t get me wrong, if the dog has dry or itchy skin a good oatmeal bath can do wonders, so bathe away my friend, but don’t buy into non shedding shampoos, unless of course you have money to burn.


A dog’s skin and coat are conditioned just as much from the nutrients it gets on the inside as it does with daily brushing on the outside, so giving omega fatty acids daily can make a difference in a dog’s coat within two weeks. For those interested, Puritans pride usually has a sale going on, and I have not yet found a better deal in a drug store as I have found online with Puritans pride. (Click on the title of this article and it will take you to their site) I also found that fish oil pills help greatly with… well… dog and people stinkers! Please don’t even ask how I discovered that, just know that it works! ( and I say this with a little dignity, very little!)


My last group of six dogs was very different from the six I have now. They consisted of, 1 Belgian Sheepdog, 1 Chow/Lab mix, 1 Sheltie/St Bernard mix,(I know) 1 Bearded Collie, 1 St. Bernard and 1 Cocker Spaniel. All very different breeds with very different coats, all ate the same food, and all had equal inside and outside time, so which do you think caused most of the problem with shedding? Most would think it a tie between the Belgian Sheepdog and the Bearded Collie because of the long hair, coming in second may be the Sheltie mix, and St Bernard, then the Cocker, and lastly the Chow/lab mix with its very short hair.

Of course we must factor in the seasonal changes, colder weather brings in more of a coat than warmer weather and with the winter thaw comes more shedding to get ready for the spring/summer seasons. If there’s a female heat cycle happening you can also expect some extra hair loss at that time. Well guess what, all six of my dogs seemed to shed the same amount of hair! Hmm, why? They were different breeds, different sizes, and different coat lengths.

Dogs actually shed all year long, there is no real start point, and what I mean by that is that new hair does not push out old hair, it is continual and although it does have something to do with the cold and hot weather, it also has to do with the amount of time the dog spends in natural light (sunlight) as opposed to spending time in artificial light (inside lamps). Why? Enter photoperiod (The duration of an organism's daily exposure to light), which triggers the amount of shedding you will see in your dog. Dogs which spend a lot of time in natural light will shed more at one time in the spring/summer than a dog that spends more time in artificial light. The dog in artificial light will continue to shed all year long as well but it will be consistent so it may seem like lesser amounts at once than a dog that spends most of its time outside in natural light.

By the same token, some breeds have slower hair growth then others and the hair may stay in the “resting/transitioning phase” longer which can contribute to less shedding, thus leading some breeder’s to play on the words "This breed doesn't shed." . in order to sell their dogs. All dogs shed, all year round, so really what they should be saying is that breed X has a slower hair growth rate so you won’t see as much shedding as you might see from breed Y.

Of course genetics, health, and feeding have a lot to do with it as well. A cheaper grain filled food may yield dryer skin leading to a poor coat condition by causing hair breakage and loss. Illness such as hypothyroidism will cause poor appearance of the skin and coat, as well, stress in a dog can also cause hair loss.

So, getting back to my dogs, in the end it seemed like my short haired Chow /Lab mix Maxie was the worst shedder out of all 6 dogs, but actually, I think it had more to do with her hair length because it seemed to stick like tiny needles into every nook and cranny of every piece of furniture I owned, whereas the longer haired breeds lost their hair in a clump which was much easier to clean up. What did they all have in common aside from the food? All spent the same amount of time in artificial light.

I would have to say that if you want your dog to have a nice thick coat some of the things that can help are natural light over artificial light, a dog food that is well balanced (always with a meat listed first, not grains) and good overall health. Supplements that contain omega fatty acids such as the fish oil or Derm Caps are a nice added bonus as well but check with your vet before using any over the counter meds even if they are just vitamins. Vitamins are the most poorly regulated meds on our store shelves. You want to get the right amount into your dog and some of the omegas do come in your dog's food.

Here are the different growth phases that your dog’s hair goes through.
1 Anagen: is the phase of new hair growth
2 Catagen: is a transition phase where the hair stops growing and the outer root sheath attaches to the hair.
3 Telogen: is the resting phase where the hair doesn't grow or shed.
4 Exogen: is when the hair falls out and the hair follicles move back into the anagen stage

A good article on omega fatty acids: what they do for the body and what to use as omega fatty acids. I use fish oil but you may choose to use another source.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1662&aid=666

For a list of breeds that shed hair at a slower rate making them more allergy friendly copy and paste the below link. When you see a dog of interest click on it and a separate page will open on that breed. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/lightshedders.htm

Christmas Puppies? Good or bad idea?

Pics: Forrest gump and Casey and Litter of six week old pups waiting patiently, the hats were added later just for the holidays.

Surely this posting is too late for this season, but any breeder, pound, or rescue in their right mind will tell you do not give a puppy for a Christmas gift. The only ones that will talk you into getting a puppy for a gift is a pet store. But here we are, Christmas has come and gone and we have a new puppy, figuratively speaking. The new puppy is causing havoc with the old dog that does not have the patience to deal with puppy antics. What do you do?

Step one: Ring the neck of the person who gave you the pup.
Step two: If the idea was yours, roll up the newspaper and smack yourself!

Okay so here we are, the old dog is growling and snarling at the pup, mouthing the pup’s neck trying to let the pup know what is acceptable and what is not and you’re scolding the old dog for bad behavior which makes any friendship between the two even more stressful. Soon, you will end up hating both dogs and wish you had gerbils instead!

How to handle the situation is a question I hear often. First, if the old dog is not getting vicious with the pup allow it to let the pup know the boundaries that will be tolerated. This is the fastest way for a pup to learn. If your older dog is a bit possessive of items, pick up all toys, bones, bowls, beds etc. that belong to the old one and put them away for now, this will give the older dog no reason to feel like it must protect or possess. Keep water dishes located in more than one room of the home so all animals feel safe enough to drink.

The next step is to start getting your puppy under control through obedience training, the sooner you get the young one under your control the more at ease the older one will feel. Its hell to be a parent and no older dog wants that thrown upon them and then asked to be gracious about it.

So now you not only have house breaking to do, but obedience training as well. Pups can start learning what you expect of them at four to six weeks old, as soon as their little legs are sturdy enough to carry them places. The trick? Consistency! Too many of us fall from grace when we begin to change the rules and confuse the pup. If you don’t want the pup eating human food from the kitchen table, don’t ever give him food from the table! Let one person in the family give in and it can lead to an annoying dog that no one wants around them. I’m not saying you can’t give leftovers as a treat, I’m just saying to put them in the pup’s dish after you have left the table. Also, be mindful of the human foods that can be toxic to dogs and know what to do should you find yourself in that situation.

Teach your pup manners so you can stop him from annoying the older dog before things get out of hand. Too many of us make the mistake of trying to stop a dog from a situation we don’t like when the situation is actually happening. I suppose this is because it is frightening or upsetting to us in some way and so we react. Here we are, the older dog has the little pup’s cute little neck in its mouth and it looks like things are about to get ugly and what does the human do? We act inappropriate. We start yelling at the top of our lungs, slam books or pots to try and prevent the inevitable from happening. Okay so if not screaming and slamming things what should we do? Well, as much as I hate to say it, we should have prepared ourselves for this beforehand.

In other words, we see the older dog getting antsy with the pup, we see by a body language change it is not going to be pretty if the pup is not soon stopped. Now, if you had taught your older dog a firm ‘leave it’ command before hand you could have given that command calmly to the dog while you removed the pup from the situation and averted any escalation between the two.

Teaching the pup the ‘leave it’ command should be right up there at the top of the heap with mom’s sweet apple pie. The leave it command means, “Leave anything and everything alone that you are even thinking about getting and bring your attention back to me so I can tell you what I want you to do next.” If you can teach your rambunctious little pup just that one command, you can avert a lot of trouble and keep the pup fairly safe from harm, not only from another animal, but from car chasing, eating something toxic, or running off down the road after a squirrel.

So if you have found yourself with a new pup this Christmas season, enjoy, they can be pretty neat to hang with. At the same time, make them a dog that you always want to hang out with, not a dog that grows up to be bothersome to others, the dogs with bad manners often end up back in the place they originally came from and that’s just not fair.

To learn how to get your pup off on the right paw, check out the below site for clicker training. Clicker training is easy, rewarding and not expensive. Plus it makes a pup think, and when a pup has to think, it gets tired and a tired pup is a good pup! Just remember to keep training sessions short for young pup, as soon as they show boredom stop the training and start again later in the day. They really are like human toddlers; they can only focus for so long and steps have to be repeated to them throughout the day before they get it!

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

` Clicker training
http://www.clickerlessons.com/
video http://www.clickertrainusa.com/clicker-training-videos.htm
clicker teachers network http://www.clickerteachers.net/

Chance, Steeler, Bentley, Emma, Abby, Casey and I wish you all a safe and healthy holiday. Treasure this time with family and friends as these moments pass much to quickly. We'll see you in the new year!

What's in a Chip?

With Steeler’s recent escape in which he headed down a dark highway on his own, Peter suggested we get him microchipped.

“He is!” I stated, “I had it done when he was neutered the second day we got him back.”

But microchipping does have its problems. For one thing, they are as small as a grain of rice and have been known to fall out of the dog, so it is important to have the sensor run over the dog every now and then during a vet visit to make sure it is still there. Also, if you have a change of address or phone number or if you transferred the dog to a new owner be sure to update that as well. Outdated information will surely find the dog in a pound and all that effort and money would be down the tubes!

The good news is that a study has been done and since microchipping started the rate of returned cats increased to 20 times higher and the return of dogs via the microchip was 2 ½ times higher. So this lower rate of return in dogs could just mean that people are more likely to put some sort of ID tags on dogs whereas they may not on cats, possibly because in most states it’s the law for dogs. To me it seems for some reason that cats may be deemed as disposable. If they held more importance in a family, they would be licensed and kept on leash like dogs are. Sad really, because when you think about it, there are harnesses and leashes for pet rabbits and ferrets, so why not walk your cat? After all, cats are very smart and can be easily trained. I like to think I had the smartest cat ever. Cookie, who was with me until the age of 16 or 17 years old never crossed the street. He (yes, Cookie was a he, long story) would walk with you to the end of the driveway then sit down and watch you cross the street. Which was what made it so unbelievable to me that while my parents were walking up to the grocery store they found Cookie dead in the road and brought him home to bury him. Once buried, they went back to the store to get their groceries and upon their return home, they saw Cookie sitting on the porch. Whose cat they buried I don’t know!

Ah, but I digress, Peter was not talking about the normal microchip that we know of, he was talking about having Steeler outfitted with a GPS system so we could find him when he got loose. Yes this really does exist! Now, if you watch this video from the Walmart site below you’ll see that the parents famous last words to the children are, “Don’t forget to shut the gate!” and while understandably this statement has to be said to grade school kids, I am sorry to say that this statement also has to carry over long past the elementary school aged kids and right through to the college aged kids!
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9906412


The dog GPS is not a bad idea, but like anything else electronic, it’s only as good as the battery that’s in it, but after seeing a special clip on Good Morning America on how the AKC is reporting an increase in dogs that are being stolen, it does make sense to somehow GPS our pets. GMA did a demonstration to show how easy it was to steal a dog. They of course set up a person to play a thief and one to play the part of the dog owner. It was incredible how easy it was for the thief to open a car door and take the dog out right in front of John Q public even as he was telling them that the dog was pretty and he thought he’d like to take it!
You can see the article and video below (you’ll have to click on the video). I had a hard time believing people were that stupid, but, well you’ll see, anything is plausible! http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Pets/dognapping-rise-pets-safe/story?id=9398273


I would like to see some type of GPS that is implanted in the dog just as the microchip is, or a chip so small that can be imbedded into a collar or harness so a thief would not realize it was there. Once word gets out that people are putting a GPS system on their dog’s collar I suspect the thief would rather steal and resell the GPS collar which is much easier and more profitable than caring for a dog the rest of its life!
I guess we have a ways to go on something like that to be sure that there are no ill effects on the dog’s health. The thought is good and we’re heading down the right path and I would be all for it as long as the well being of the dog was preserved.

Other pet trackers can be found here.

http://www.dogtracs.com/product.asp

http://www.lovemypetsgps.com/

You light up my life: Lighted collar cover, is it worth it?

So recently my beloved Steeler jumped out yet another window into the freedom of the front yard., The front yard, where only Chance and Casey are allowed access because they are not likely to look for broken fence pickets and push their bodies through to get to the street, and if by chance either were smart enough to do so, they would just run down the driveway and head to my mother’s for some tea and crumpets. Steeler, who if were female, I would have to name Elsa because he thrives on being ‘Born Free’ and is a dog with a different story. If you have read my past posts you surely would have heard all the stories of his attempts to seek greener grasses. My thanks go out to my many thoughtful neighbors, who when once they spot him in their yard and realize he is not a black bear passing through the neighborhood, gladly grab him and walk him home or wait patiently, sometimes clad in pajamas, on their front lawns grasping his collar until they see the familiar blue van driving slowly down the street calling his name.

I have to say he is good at his game. I thought I had secured every window he would possibly try to get out of but I certainly did not anticipate that he would actually resort to moving large pieces of furniture in an attempt to break out. He has become a bit more thoughtful though as he stopped busting through the screens and is now considerate enough to push the screens up as he does the windows. This is why when you pass my house you will either see no screen or a screen that has been pushed up half way.
His latest romp took him walking in the middle of a fairly busy road not far from home. A neighbor, which I had never met until that night, happened to be traveling that dark busy road with his children and when he stopped and opened his van door for Steeler, Steeler gladly jumped in, at which point the family took him home.

In the mean time, I am traveling down many neighborhood roads with a wee flashlight trying to find a black dog in the black of the night with my heart slowly moving up toward my throat. I always seem to start panicking right around the 15 minute mark when one of my dogs has gone missing as I am gripped with fear that I am going to find them hurt, or worse, on the side of the road.

While driving I suddenly I heard my cell phone ring and it was my neighbor Deb.
“Sally, there’s a guy and his kids walking Steeler to your house, they just passed here so they should be there shortly.”

Thank God! I thought. “Okay, thanks Deb.” I said as I quickly headed for home. That Deb, she knows everything!

Upon pulling up in front of my house I saw a gentleman and his two young boys braving the first frigid winds of the winter trying to manipulate the crotchety old gate lock attached to the crotchety old fence that lines my front yard. A feat that is hard enough to do in the daytime let alone in the dark of night.

I pulled the van up as close to them as I could and jumped out.
“Thank you!” I said with a big sigh of relief as Steeler practically pulled the man’s arm off trying to get to my van. “Where did you find him?” I asked.

“Hi.” the gentleman said. “He was walking in the middle of Sunbury Road. We stopped, opened the car door and he jumped in. We got home and I saw his tags and called our neighbor Lynn and she told me where he lived.”

The wind was whipping now as the three of them stood amongst the cold poorly shoveled walkway to my home. The little boys had their heads tucked deeply into their hoods, but it offered little comfort. I put Steeler in the back of the van and closed the door. The wind whipped a bit more as the three started for home.

“Where do you live?” I asked. “I have no back seats in my van for obvious reasons, but you could pile into the front seat.”
“No, that’s okay, we’re just around the corner.” The man said as they disappeared from sight.

Could it have been Santa and his little Elves doing a good deed? Surely for me it was.


It is I believe, Steeler’s Therapy Dog tags that are his saving grace, because surely he would go with anyone who opened their car door to him and probably would happily spend the rest of his life with whomever!

Why is this whole story pertinent to begin with? Well it was the first time Steeler had gotten out of the yard during the dark of night and I just then realized how hard he was to find in such darkness, and if I could not see him, what chance did a moving vehicle stand of spotting him on a darkened highway?

Hence the next day I went in search of a reflective collar. A normal collar would not do because of Steeler’s long hair and tri fold neck. Nope, we had to find something that would stand out so he could be seen from a distance and something that would not be pulled off during play like one of the flashing collar tags you hook to the loop near the license. Someone suggested reflective tape from a hardware store and that may work for some dogs but my guys can get pretty rough and tumble and I thought that would peal too easily.

Enter the Lighted Collar Cover by Top Paw. It is about seven inches long; it has three Velcro attachments (top, middle, & bottom) and can fit on any large collar. But again my dilemma was the long hair and skin folds around Steelers neck making his collar not so visible. Solution? Attach it to his harness!

The lighted collar has three settings, fast flashing, slower flashing or no flashing, just light. The switch to change settings is a push button inside the cover, but you don’t have to open the cover to do so. The cost was $7.99 at PetSmart and well worth the money. Even when the collar cover is turned off there is still a reflective look to it so I feel it would still be picked up by car headlights. It runs on a lithium watch battery which is easy enough to replace when needed. All I have to do is remember to turn it on at night! Oh and lock all windows!

If you are a late night/early morning walker, jogger or fresh air freak and you enjoy outside time with your dog I would highly suggest this item.

This gets all paws up, way up, from this dog mama! To see this product work go to my you tube site here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV8tqJ_qNqk

U Groom self cleaning slicker brush

A Pin Brush by any other name is still a pin brush!

Over the summer Peter and I attended a dog show at the Bloomsburg fairgrounds, the same dog show in fact where I bought my lawn carpet that I used for the dogs during fair week. I also bought a retractable pin brush for ten dollars. The gentleman who sold it to me did not have one available made for giant breed dogs which probably means it would just be a little bigger than the one I ended up getting and cost about five dollars more. Now for those of you who use a pin or slicker brush you know how much it hurts when you go to clean the brush and one of the pins gets stuck under your fingernail. I liken it to the annoying but still very sore for days, paper cut which I am sure everyone has had. Sometimes the pins are bent the wrong way from over use and sometimes they just fall out of the brush totally sticking under you nail or in your skin when you try to break the dog’s hair free of it. Eventually once it is that worn you need to throw it out before the dog gets hurt as well.

The retractable pin brush was made to alleviate the sore fingers and hands buy the press of a button which pulls the pins into a plastic compartment and the hair falls freely into the trash as there is nothing holding it to the brush. Is it worth the ten dollars? Well, as stated, I got the brush made for a medium to large dog, not one made for gargantuan dogs with two and three layers of very thick fur, however no matter the size in width of a pin brush, a good one will still get through layers of hair. I first tried it on my Newfoundland Chance, and a hairy fellow he is! While it got the hair on the outer coat alright, it did very little for the undercoat, certainly it did not get deeper than my regular slicker brush which cost half the price and which will probably last just as long, providing that that no one uses the handle for a chew toy! .

Next I tried it on my Golden Retriever Casey. Casey’s hair is quite a bit thinner than Chance’s is but there were a couple of spots where the hair was long and had begun to knot a bit. While it did fine on Casey’s shorter hair, there was still a problem when it came to the feathers along his legs. The brush did not seem to get deep enough into the fur without me separating it with my fingers.

I also found some problems with the push button that made the brush retract and release. I had to make sure it was locked in place. When I extended the pins even though I was sure i had locked it in place I had to have to fiddle with the button a little to get it to stay. I can see having trouble in the future with the button feature.

Again worth ten dollars? Well I suppose if your dog’s hair is short with a slight undercoat, and your fingers are full of pinholes then yes, you may want to pay the ten dollars. Me? I’ll invest in a sturdier slicker brush and a roll of gauze to wrap my fingers in! So it’s a two paws down from this big dog's view.

When are six dogs too many? An Erma Bombeck moment for Sally

When are six dogs too much?
Six dogs are too much when they all become ill at the same time, six dogs are too much when they all want to ride in the car together, six dogs are too much when you want to go on vacation, six dogs are too much when others bring their dogs over for a visit, six dogs are too much during mud season, six dogs are too much when your house is up for sale, and six dogs are too much when their main caretaker is down and out due to illness.

Having had at least six or more dogs most of my married life I have been hit with illness before usually lasting a day or two and while at the time it would seem the dogs were a pain in the neck I was still able to keep up with their needs, because really, who else would know what to do? Should I trust that the rest of the family knows which dog gets only brand A dog food and which gets only brand B or diarrhea will occur? Can I trust that each dog on medication will get the right medication or get their medication at all? Do I trust that all the water bowls will be filled both inside and outside? Can I trust them to put the dogs out in the correct pens? Can I trust they will even be let out at all if not reminded? Can I trust that the dog hair will be vacuumed up and cleaned off the counter tops and stove before a meal is made? Can I trust that sweeping, vacuuming, and floor washing will be done before they leave for the day?

I often wondered why my family rolled their eyes at me when I took the time to type out a 4 page letter on how to care for the dogs in my absence.

After recently taking a knock out punch from the Swine flu my questions were answered. Before I go on let me just say that one household acquiring six dogs was not the decision of one person. Puppies were brought home by just about all who lived here and many pups were even born here. So I wonder why one person is generally designated the dog’s constant caretaker. We all work, sure the hours are different, the places are different, the jobs themselves are different, but we are all still expected to keep up with a household regardless of what that entails. We all rake leaves, we shovel snow, we all mow the lawn, we fix fences, and clean for company, yet the poop scooping, the feeding, the brushing, the washing, and the medicine giving for the family dog or dogs seems to fall upon one person.

So if you are reading this and you are not the primary caretaker of the dogs, please know that the caretaker who writes those 4 pages of notes does so to make it easier on those that must take over the job. On the other hand, if you are the designated primary caretaker, don’t assume that all who live in the home automatically know what to do just because they live there. It’s one of those 50/50 things, ya know?

Swine Flu Day one: I am awakened from 14 hours of sleep as Bentley barks to go out. I get up, put on shoes, grab a leash and walk him to the pen. Come back, get the other dogs and walk them to the pen. Drink, eat, and ask hubby to fill water jugs because the dog’s free flowing water dishes have been put away for the winter and replaced by old tin buckets and bowls. Hubby fills up the jugs, I go back to bed, then wake to bring them back in, feed them, and check water bowls. For some reason are all extremely thirsty.

Sunday: day two: Awakened to dogs pacing back and forth around the bed, Bentley gives a light bark which says, “Wake up, wake up, I want to go out.” Hubby has gone grocery shopping as usual. Get up, put on shoes, put leash on Bentley and take to pen. Walk to kitchen; see water jugs filled from previous day on the counter, which explains why everyone was so thirsty the day before! Take the girls out to pen so hubby can get through back gate with grocery bags, and then bring out the jugs of water for dogs. Eat, drink, take meds and go back to bed. Wake, bring in dogs, feed dogs, give meds, fill water bowls, get ready for bed.

Monday: day three
First day of the work week, dogs pacing around bed, dogs barking, “Take me out!” I get up, put on shoes, get leash, take Bentley to pen, grab water jugs and bring girls to prospective pen. Let out remaining three dogs, drink, eat, sweep, vacuum, wash floors. Rest. Get up, get dog food ready, feed three dogs, bring in remaining dogs, give meds, and feed them. Ah, bed for the night.

Tuesday: day four.
Carry out water jugs, Put dogs in perspective pens, sweep, vacuum, wash floors. Drink, eat, take meds, and rest. Feeling a little better so get up and bread some pork chops for dinner, hardly believable I know. Rest, get dog’s food ready, bring in four dogs, feed, fill water bowls, and eat dinner. Bring in the girls, feed, give meds and try to relax.

An hour later, bang, bang ,bang, bang, Abby is smashing her paw against the kitchen gate.
“Abby, knock it off!” says hubby.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
“ABBY! STOP!” says hubby as he walks to the kitchen. “You’ve eaten and you got water, now knock it off!”
Hubby walks away.
Bang, bang, bang, bang! Slams Abby’s foot.
“ABBY!” boasts a voice with a slight annoyance from another room.
“I think she needs to go out.” I yell from my sick bed.
“No she doesn’t! She’s fine. Abby go lay down.” Hubby yells
“She hasn’t been out since she ate over an hour ago.” I suggest again.
Bang, bang, bang. Abby paws the gate again and I am now gripping my head between my hands!
Hubby gets up and lets her out.

Now, all of that aggravation could have been avoided had he only known her routine and remembered that she has a urinary incontinence problem to deal with!

Wednesday morning: Day five
I hear heavy thudded pacing up and down the hallway. I know it is Steeler, nothing about him is subtle. Ruff, ruff, says Bentley on the side of the bed. More heavy thudded pacing, and more ruff, ruff, ruff by Bentley. Then plop, bounce, bounce! On the bed jumps Casey with a shoe in his mouth, prancing all around my cold yet fever filled body that is hidden deep beneath my blankets. I know Casey very well, he does not have to go out, he is nervous that something between the dogs is about to happen and he carries this object in his mouth to tell the others he means no harm to anyone.

I get up, grab my shoe from Casey’s mouth, put the leash on Bentley, take him to the pen, get the girls and jugs of water, put them in their pen, and then call Casey to go out, just because I can! Then, Bam! What do my wandering eyes a see? A soft, dark brown, melted into the rug, lump of dog shit from a dog who was obviously not feeling well. I break out the paper towels and the Little Green rug cleaner, a more disgusting smelly scene I did not want to encounter while having Swine flu! ‘

Go to the bathroom, empty and clean the Little Green rug cleaner, go to the kitchen, pick up the dog mats and bam! Urine soaked kitchen floor. Throw the mats outside with the bag of shit and break out the bleach and start swabbing. Eat, drink, and rest. Get up feed dogs, give meds, fill water bowls, tell hubby how frustrating it was to wake up ill and have to clean such a mess , then off to bed for the night.

Thursday morning: day 6:

HOLY CRAP! I’ve slept until 10 AM and there is no noise! No barking, no pacing, no whining, no thudding, no bang, bang on the gate, just the faint tap, tap, tap, on a plastic mat of a dog trying to get comfortable! I slowly stick my head out from the covers fearful of wakening a whole brood of dogs and opening the floodgates which will make me have to jump up and take care of everyone at once and quickly! But no, the only one in the room is Casey and he lay comfortable on his plastic mat. I poke my head out of the bedroom door and glance down the hallway. Empty! Kitchen? Empty! SWEET! I stroll to the kitchen and grab some coffee, look out the kitchen window and see all the dogs in their appropriate places. Start up my computer and upon opening my email box I see, RE: “Good Morning” and it is from hubby. “Hope you are feeling better, all dogs out (except Casey) let the barking begin! Have a nice day.”

This past week has made me feel like I have been stuck in the movie Ground Hog Day. These little “inconveniences” are things I do on a daily basis but don’t give much forethought to until one day when I awake stricken with Swine flu. And this my friends, is definitely the answer to, “When are six dogs too many?” Oink, oink. Stick an apple in my mouth, I’m Done!

Obviously the moral here isn’t just that dogs are a pain in the ass when you’re ill, but it is about communication among the family and sharing responsibilities.

I do so hope that none of my loyal friends and readers get stuck with this dreaded illness, but if you do, hire someone to care for your dogs!

pig in a blanket

Canine capers is down for the moment due to the author having swine flu. However if anyone would like to post an article feel free to send it to my email. Funny stories are always welcome, dog product reviews or more serious topics. Everything will be copied and pasted just the way it was written.