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Look at me…. look at me!!

Gillian Ridgeway | Wed, 06/11/2008 - 07:34

It has been a long drive home from the office and you are looking forward to a relaxing evening, with your feet up and finally getting stuck into that new novel you bought over a month ago. You can anticipate the welcome you will receive long before you arrive, after all, you now share your life with a dog. Dogs have a great way of making us feel welcome and we often overlook their jumping, leaping and whining simply because it makes us feel good. Problem is, it only makes us feel good for a very short time. It soon turns into a habit that we find annoying and even uncomfortable.

Attention seeking behaviors are high on the list of problems that dog owners seek help for. These behaviors are often disguised as cute and puppyish but make no mistake, those behaviors will repeat again and again if your dog feels there is a payoff. And payoff there is! The biggest jackpot of all…you.

Buttons’ Disgrace

Dr. Jon Klingborg | Tue, 06/10/2008 - 11:37

“Buttons” is the sort of dog whose feet never hit the ground. Being of fine breeding, she is the queen of all dogs-- Buttons is a lap dog. Buttons views her world from a throne exactly four feet above the ground, nestled snuggly in her owner’s adoring arms. She has the good life: a human companion who usually manages to feed her on time, a bed by the fireplace, and a profound misunderstanding of the word “no.”

One fine spring day, our canine heroine began to itch. It was a deep, insatiable itchiness, one that wouldn’t go away no matter how much she scratched, nibbled, or chewed. Buttons was 5 years old (though she claimed to be under 30 in people years), and this incurable, mind-numbing itchiness had never happened before!

Under New Management

Rachel Friedman | Tue, 06/10/2008 - 08:25

I’m having one of those 1 am moments where I’m trying to sleep, deftly placed inbetween the trajectories of a ceiling fan, window fan and one of those big floor based cyber fans to be cool enough to sleep and the cacophony of wind makes me feel like I’m sleeping on an oceanside beach without the discomfort of sand in the wrong places but alas, I can’t sleep. All three dogs, splayed yet again like pancakes on the floor, are snoring away.

I’m lying here thinking about my current home improvement project—the back hall. It’s a small space off the kitchen, with a small landing, a curving wooden set of steps against 2 brick walls leading to another door (with a doggie doorway cut out of it) into the driveway, garage and large enclosed backyard.

Summer Puppy Preventatives

Cindy Bruckart | Mon, 06/09/2008 - 08:38

My puppy classes are filling up this time of year. Everyone is excited about getting their pups out into the world and teaching them what they need to know to be good canine citizens. I wonder if they think I'm nutty when they come to class to find Halloween and Christmas paraphernalia?

I celebrate summer puppies by introducing them to things they otherwise aren't going to see until well after their early socialization window has closed. These pups will be well into the more cautious or reactive adolescent mindset when they see their first jack-o-latern, Halloween mask, bulky winter coat, Christmas tree, or truly scary dancing Santa table decoration.

This is also the time to start playing movies with gun shots (war movies?) or a CD with fireworks noises. By playing these at a low volume and slowly increasing the volume, your puppy will get used to the noise and it will be no big deal.

Beating The Heat

Rachel Friedman | Sun, 06/08/2008 - 13:03

It’s an early heat wave in late spring in NE Ohio and the heat humidity and sunshine are putting the scramble on me to access the full cross ventilation benefits of living in a nearly 100 year old house with creatively placed windows that if only I could pry open those that have been painted shut for what are probably dozens of years by now could help really satisfy my need to be content that I do not possess the modern convention of air conditioning.
The dogs press themselves into pancakes on the wood floor and pry one lazy eye open watching me as I use a hammer and a screwdriver as a chisel to do the dirty deed. Even Grace the Cat is stretched out flat and inert to maximize the cool somehow obtained by them low down and on the cooler surface of wood.
This must be what they mean about the dog days of summer. Too bad it’s not even summer yet!

Making Lemonade

Kelly Gorman Dunbar | Fri, 06/06/2008 - 17:47

Every day the headlines shout about our terrible economy. Gas prices launch out of control, and subsequently food prices are on the rise. Everyone I know is tightening up their budgets and buckling down their expenditures. The economy is not so great right now and sometimes it does make me anxious.

I don’t fret too much though, because everyday when I stop reading The Huffington Post and pause to look down at my feet my spirits are buoyed. My three dogs sit near me while I work at my desk. Dune and Hugo on one side, curled up on a way-too-small leopard-print bed, and on the other side lays Claude on his big square mat. (Also leopard-print, have you tried it? Leopard-print is the perfect camouflage for a dog bed.)

Pushing Boundaries

Jeff Silverman | Mon, 06/02/2008 - 10:38

I’m not a big fan of electronic containment systems where a collar delivers a shock to a dog when he approaches an invisible boundary. My general concerns include the frequency with which dogs escape these “fences,” their inability to keep unwanted people or animals out of the yard, and the fearful behaviors that some dogs develop after being shocked. Many of my clients decide to take these risks in spite of my advice, and I usually don’t push too hard to change their minds. I do have one opinion about these systems, however, that I persistently and adamantly repeat: do not use them in the front yard or anywhere near regular foot traffic.

The (Un)Welcome Matte

Dr. Jon Klingborg | Sat, 05/31/2008 - 23:01

As it warms up, pets go through the spring and summer ritual of shedding their winter hair and leaving it all over the furniture! Though shedding is a natural process, if your pet is starting to look really “clumpy,” his matted hair can either lead to or be a sign of serious health problems.

Clumps of hair don’t “breathe” very well, and they trap a lot of moisture against the skin. Over time, the skin will become inflamed. As your pet accumulates more mattes, he may actually become sick from skin infections. At the very least, mattes are uncomfortable. Would you like to have your hair pulled all the time and every day? Of course not!

Confidence 101

Gillian Ridgeway | Thu, 05/22/2008 - 06:30

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and I was off to Wal-Mart to buy a new eavestrough for the front of the house when it happened…. I saw one of my clients carrying her dog around the hardware department!

Now, to most people, the sight of a small Yorkshire terrier in the arms of a well-groomed woman is delightful. People stop and admire, ever have a chat and by the end of the visit staff and customers alike are well aware of the little dogs name, likes and dislikes and favorite hobbies. But to me…well, it made me let out a sigh of frustration.

Adoption recession?

Cindy Bruckart | Wed, 05/21/2008 - 08:25

Those of you who read me regularly know that I volunteer at Project POOCH, a program that pairs incarcerated youth with homeless dogs who are trained and hopefully adopted to loving homes.

During my last visit to MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility where Project POOCH is located, there was a bit of heaviness in the air. I thought perhaps it had to do with unusual delay in warmer weather, as it's rained and remained cold here in Oregon longer than it should have. I soon found that like everything else at POOCH, the feeling of sadness had nothing to do with the weather, but everything to do with the dogs.

Apparently, visits by potential adopters and actual adoptions have come to a screeching halt. No one is calling, no one is coming to see the dogs and no one is happily taking their new companion to a forever home.