Wednesday, December 30, 2009

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!

click here for step by step` Clicker training
videos of how it is done http://www.clickertrainusa.com/clicker-training-videos.htm
clicker teachers network http://www.clickerteachers.net/






Tuesday, December 22, 2009







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!

GPS for dogs?

Steeler will go with anyone for a car ride!


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 put these tags on cats, possibly because in most states it’s the law for dogs.   Its not a bad idea for cats to be licensed and kept on a 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. This is why it 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 tearfully 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! Does this phrase sound familiar to you parents? “Don’t forget to shut the gate!” And while understandably this statement has to be said to younger kids, I am sorry to say that this statement also has to carry over to your children long past elementary school, it has to be said right through to the college age!


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 in front of John Q public even as he was telling the people mingling nearby that the dog was pretty and  how he thought he’d like to take it!

You can see the article and video on the site below (you’ll have to click on the video separately). 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

 click here for  video


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.

 pet trackers can be found here. http://www.lovemypetsgps.com/

http://www.lovemypetsgps.com/

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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

Monday, December 7, 2009

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.