Thanks to my sister for sending along this entirely sexist tidbit!
All posts by The Dog Lady
Emergency Medical Care for your Dog
This is CPR awareness week – do you have a plan for how to manage your dog’s emergency care? I have a couple of recommendations.
Take the Red Cross’ first aid class for pets. It’s been awhile since I took it, so I can’t remember if it includes CPR or not, but it did include a lot of valuable information on treating life’s everyday boo-boos.
Learn the location of the nearest emergency vet clinic and plot the quickest route to it. If you have the luxury of more than one clinic in your area, find out about any policies they have that might impact your choice of which one to use. Does one or the other have “forgiving” payment terms so you can get your dog treated even if you can’t pay right away? Is one or the other endorsed by your vet? Does one or the other offer follow-up care if you need it? What about hours of operation?
Ask your vet if there are certain treatments you can provide at home. Your dog is bound to be more comfortable with you touching him than the vet. (OK, that sounded bad, but you know what I mean!) If you are capable of taking care of some of his needs, whether on an emergency basis or for long-term medical issues, why not make him more comfortable by treating him in a very familiar environment.
Keep basic medical supplies on hand so you are prepared for emergencies when they arise. You don’t want to have your dog bleeding all over the floor when you find out you are out of bandages or antiseptic.
Keep an emergency kit stocked for any natural disasters that might occur in your area. Make sure you have enough food, water, and medicines for 3 – 5 days until basic services are restored.
Hoping you never need these suggestions!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Protecting Your Dog Under Stormy Conditions
Received an interesting press release from InterVet yesterday. This may be something some of you are interested in purchasing, but even if not, they make many helpful points about keeping your dog safe.
Continue reading Protecting Your Dog Under Stormy Conditions
DockDogs Competition
We spent some of the weekend getting sunburned at the Dock Diving competition at Clay’s Park, in Canal Fulton, Ohio.� Sponsored by Cabela’s, Stihl, Time Warner Cable, and DockDogs , it was so much fun! We had a jam-packed weekend, so we didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked, but we did catch some of the Big Air competition, where the dogs jump for distance.� If you’re not familiar with Dock Diving, check out the article in our Dog Den. Some of these dogs were absolutely amazing!
We saw a Norfolk Terrier, the first one who had ever competed in Dock Diving, jump a proud 5 feet! He was so cute in his little life vest – the handler held him off the ground while she was setting up, and his little feet would just go, go, go – he was so anxious to get started.
We met Misty and Stormer, from Westerville, Ohio, who inspired their humans to get involved in dock diving by jumping off the docks near their home. Unfortunately, on their first sanctioned jumps, they only went about 1 foot, but now they are up to well over 20 feet.
We also got to see a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog / Pit Bull mix – tell me that’s not a mouthful!
(To those of you who I interviewed, I have to apologize – somewhere between there and here, I lost my notes, so I know I didn’t include all of you here. Please rescue me by writing a comment & telling us your story!)
The longest jump we actually saw was 24’9″ from a Dalmation, but just as we were leaving, we heard the announcer call one at over 25 feet!
If you haven’t seen one of these competitions, it is well worth the trip. I’ll try to keep you updated on future competitions so you can find one in your area. This particular competition was part of the “Bark in the Park”, which featured displays from different vendors of dog toys, accessories, T-shirts, etc. The Dock Diving competition was the centerpiece, but there was lots of other stuff to do and see, as well. My middle son nearly cried when we had to leave!
The competitors come from all over – this event had dogs from Ontario, Canada, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Nevada, and Indiana. (After that, I lost track.) My son definitely wants to start our beagle in training, and I think we may take the Vizsla as well. I’ll have to find out how we get started, and I’ll let you know.
Here’s a nice article from our local paper about the competition with a great picture of the Dalmation.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Considering buying a potty patch for your dog? Read this first!
We’ve been getting a lot of hits on our potty patch posts, so I wanted to make sure everyone had access to the most recent news from them. According to the manufacturer, they are now ready to fulfill all of the orders they previously took. My question to you, readers: is this true? Have you gotten what you ordered?
They said they had test-marketed advertisements before they actually had the product in stock, so they were unable to send out the product when you ordered it. However, they expected this to be a short-term problem and thought they’d have everything taken care of by now. What say you?
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Saturday Survey: Dog Contests
After posting this week about the poodle grooming finalists, it got me to thinking about the different types of contests available for dogs. I’m not talking about conformance shows, obedience trials, or other sporting events, but about the type of thing you might see at a family picnic or county fair. Have you been involved in any of these types of contests with your dog?
Meet Chesley Sullen-barker
I took my kids out for ice cream after their baseball game tonight, and we ran into the nicest dog at the ice cream shop. His human said he had lost his front leg in a car accident and then went to the Humane Society, where they met. The man was looking for a hero’s name for the dog, and had just about settled on Chesley Sullenberger III (after the pilot who successfully ditched his plane in the Hudson), when his daughter suggested a slight change: Chesley Sullen-barker!
What a great dog!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Congratulations to the dog graduates!
My local paper had a nice piece today about service dogs. There is an organization here in Canton named Canines Helping Independent People (CHIP) that trains assistance dogs, and they just graduated a new class of dogs yesterday.
Sometimes its better not to put a dog to sleep
From Grand Rapids, Michigan comes this report: a man took his dog to the vet 2 weeks ago and found out she had several cancerous tumors. Surgery was not an option, and the man didn’t want to put his dog through chemo, so he chose to let her live out the time she had left with some help from painkillers. Early Saturday morning, his house caught on fire, and the dog awakened him to the danger! Scott Seymour credits Brittney, a 9-year old bulldog, with saving his life. Incredible! It’s nice to hear good news every once in awhile.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Extreme Grooming for Poodles
Thanks to friend-of-the-blogger Wendy for sending me the finalists from the Extreme Grooming Contest. Don’t forget to look at the people in the background, as well as the dogs. No doubt, there are those of you who will think this is cruel and demeaning to the dogs. Feel free to let me know. My personal feeling is that they are works of art, and assuming that the paint comes off fairly easily and does not harm the dogs, why not?