January 2010
Dog Products of the Year 2010!
Subscribers Only Whole Dog Journal frequently brings you reviews of products we have tested on real dogs and with real dog lovers. We’re always looking for new and particularly useful products to recommend to our readers (and to use for our own dogs!). We limit our attention to products that provide an actual service, that help owners keep their dogs healthy, happy, safe, and well-trained. As 2010 begins, here's looking forward to some of the year’s best bets.
Agility Sports That are Perfect for the Action Junkie in Your Canine
Subscribers Only Agility is probably the most popular and best known of all the sports for canine athletes. It’s easy to see why. Your dog gets to do what dogs like to do: move around, jump, run, climb on things, and play! Agility is a high-speed sport in which the handler directs her dog through an obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, weave poles, teeter-totter, and other obstacles. The goal is for the dog to complete the course without exceeding the “standard course time” and without incurring any “faults.” Faults include knocking jump bars, not completing an obstacle, going around a jump instead of over it, and failing to touch “contact zones” – places that the dog must touch as she navigates certain obstacles, to prevent excessive speed and dangerous leaps from the obstacle.
Best Options for Boarding Your Dog
You may never find a boarding facility that will make your dog feel this comfortable when you have to leave him behind for a vacation or business trip. But it would be nice if the staff members tried!
There are many things to consider when choosing to share your life with a dog. Knowing who will care for your dog or dogs when you have to be away from home is just as important as knowing how you’ll provide for their everyday needs. Even if overnight travel isn’t part of your regular routine, it’s wise to think ahead and have a plan for overnight care – just in case it’s ever needed. You never know when a family or local emergency may force you and your pets to spend a night or two apart. Fortunately, today’s dog owners have several choices for pet care, ranging from in-home care provided by visiting pet sitters, to a wide range of commercial kenneling options. Each comes with its own unique list of pros and cons and no one choice is right for every dog. It’s important to do your homework when considering boarding. After all, you are literally putting your dog’s life in the hands of another.
Problems Associated With Adopting Two Puppies at the Same Time
Unbearably cute? Yes. A good idea? No. Just because you have two kids and they both want their own puppy doesn’t mean you should get two pups. You stand the best chance of raising well-trained and -socialized puppies one at a time.
There’s no denying it: a new puppy is one of the world’s most wonderful things. It’s a cold, hard heart that doesn’t get all mushy over puppy breath, soft pink puppy pads, and the fun of helping a baby dog discover his new world. So, if one puppy is wonderful, two puppies must be twice as wonderful, right? Well, not usually. Most training professionals strongly recommend against adopting two pups at the same time. The biggest challenge of adopting puppy pairs is their tendency to bond very closely with each other, often to the exclusion of a meaningful relationship with their humans. They can become inseparable. Also, owners often underestimate the time commitment required to properly care for and train two puppies; as a result the pups often end up untrained and undersocialized.
Caring for an Elderly Dog - Age is Often Mistaken as a Symptom of a Treatable Illness
Graying of the muzzle (or entire face!) is one of the common signs of aging. Age itself is not a disease – but some of the other changes we see in our senior dogs are signs of disease.
Aaron Epstein’s 14-year-old Australian Shepherd-mix, Sam, was losing weight and his appetite wasn’t the same. “I just thought he was getting old because in addition to not eating with the same vigor, he was slowing down a bit, wasn’t able to walk as far, and sleeping a little too much,” Epstein recalls. The once 45-pound dog had shed close to 15 pounds -30 percent of his body weight -before concerned friends could convince a reluctant Epstein to get Sam to the veterinarian for an exam and blood work, both long overdue. At the clinic, Sam was found to have an enormous mass growing on his spleen. The pressure from the mass made eating physically uncomfortable for Sam. Epstein followed the veterinarian’s recommendation and opted to have Sam’s spleen removed, as well as a number of other small tumors around his pancreas. Sadly, the veterinarian also discovered that the cancer was malignant. Although the prognosis for Sam was limited, he was home a few days later, eating like a horse and acting more like his formerly happy-go-lucky self.
Potty Training a Puppy in Cold Weather
Subscribers Only Nasty, cold, blowing, snowing, sleeting, rainy day out and your dog won’t go out to potty? I can relate; I don’t much like to go out in bad weather either – even if I don’t have to poop and pee out there. Help is on the way. Here are five things you can do to help improve your dog’s winter “eliminate outside” outlook... Go out with her. She may be much more willing to brave the elements if her beloved human is with her. If you go with her you can keep her mind on her business, use her potty cue, get her to eliminate more quickly, and you will know if she’s empty or not. Don’t whine; if she has to go out, you can go out too!
Fostering Again
You may have seen it coming. As I shipped last month’s issue to the printer, I was contemplating the fate of the many, many great dogs currently waiting for homes at my local shelter. I didn’t mention that I was especially tempted by one particular little dog – one of many, true, but one who stood out to me for some reason as an especially bright diamond in the rough. I’m not sure the shelter staff saw what I saw; every time they saw me take the dog out for a walk they’d sort of shake their heads. “She’s a handful,” was the most they’d commit to.
