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New Study Suggests City Dog Owners Treat Our Dogs As Kids

Friday, August 20th, 2010
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#dogs #dog #pets — There is a new study out of the University of Indiana and it suggests that city dog owners are more apt to treat our dogs as our kids compared to those dog owners who live out in the country.  According to David Blouin, the cultural sociologist behind the research, he said that he found that attitudes about dogs usually fell in one of three distinct categories:

“Humanist, where dogs were highly valued and considered close companions, like pseudo people; protectionists might be vegetarians and they greatly valued animals in general, not just as pets; dominionists saw animals as separate and less important than people, often using the dogs for hunting and pest control and requiring them to live outdoors”

The study results were announced in a special university press release.  Dog owners in rural areas see dogs as animals although I’m sure that there are some country folks who also see their dogs as kids too.  But we just see more of this in the cities.

I would tend to agree with this study as having lived in major cities all my life while being a dog owner and observing other city dog owners as well, many of us certainly do consider our dogs as pseudo-children.

But one thing I really do have to state based on my observations over the years, is that my two dogs as well as the two before them, certainly listen a lot better than most human children do!  Maybe that’s why I have always chosen to be a dog owner rather than a father of human kids.

What do you think of the study results?

black and full of puppy
Creative Commons License photo credit: jeffreyw

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Funny Video Of Bulldog Skateboarding

Friday, August 13th, 2010
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#dogs #dog  – Since I was looking for this funny video of the bulldog skateboarding, I figure that I might as well put it up here on my dog blog as well.  It’s absolutely amazing what potential dogs have and what they can be trained to do.

I probably won’t go to such lengths to train my two lhasa apsos Chester and Roxie to do such tricks as just having them as obedient good dogs will be good enough for me.

But I certainly appreciate seeing the results of the efforts that some dog owners have taken with their dogs in terms of tricks.  So here it is — enjoy!

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Dog Parks Great For Socialization

Sunday, August 8th, 2010
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#dog #dogs –  I usually like to bring my two dogs to one of our local leash-free dog parks here in my home town of Mississauga during weekends.  We have several of different sizes and they are usually quite large enough for dogs to run around at their leisure in a safe fenced environment away from traffic.  Dog parks are great for socialization.

For optimal dog behavious and well being, all dogs should be socialized as early as possible from puppyhood.  My dogs, especially my girl Roxie, are quite socialized with other dogs.  Although they are smaller compared to most common big breeds, my lhasa apsos do well in dog parks.  Roxie is not afraid of dogs of any size.  She will check out any size dog including Great Danes.

My boy Chester on the other hand does have an issue with bigger dogs.  As soon as a bigger dog approaches, he will bark at them to shoo them away.  As long as bigger dogs are at a distance, he doesn’t mind them.  This is much better than being afraid to even go in the park in the presence of bigger dogs.  He is quite okay these days when bigger dogs are in the area as long as they are several yards away.  This is a big improvement from his earlier days when he would be running between my legs if other dogs were around.  Now, he tries to play tough by scaring them off instead!

Both Roxie and Chester will check out dogs of their own size or smaller.  Chester in particular is usually very interested in dogs that are smaller than he is.  This again is an improvement because when he was a puppy, he was not comfortable with even smaller dogs.

Interestingly enough, the bigger dogs usually choose to spend playing time with others their own size and running to greater distances while they play.  Meanwhile, the smaller dogs just tend to find each other and socialize in their own little groups.

So the dog parks exposure certainly did a lot to help in terms of socialization for both of my two dogs and I highly recommending them if you have one in your neighbourhood.

Cooper, Willow, and Unknown
Creative Commons License photo credit: mikeatqazam

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Saw My Dog’s Third Eyelid

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
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#dog #dogs #puppies #puppy #pets  – As I was applying the eye ointment in my dog’s eye last night, I finally got a good look at his third eyelid!  All these years of being a dog owner, I never knew that dogs had a third eyelid.

According to my vet, this third eyelid goes across the eye when the dog’s main two eyelids are shut.  That’s why we hardly ever notice it.  It serves like windshield wipers to clean the eye better.

Last night, as I put my fingers near Chester’s eye, he instinctively closed his eye.  So I used two of my fingers to gently pry them open and as I did that, I saw that his third eyelid was about halfway across his eyeball.  It was sort of opaque in colour.

It quickly retracted back inside towards his nose so it didn’t stay there for long but at least I got a good look at it.  It was really weird.  Almost like what sharks do!  So I was thinking that my Chester boy has shark eyes!

It’s this third eyelid that is connected to this gland responsible for about 1/3 of tear production and when this gland blows out of proportion, we end up with cherry eye.

According to my vet, another time that you might be able to see this third eyelid is when your dog is half asleep and groggy.  You might be able to go in and check it out then.

This third eyelid is really strange but since all dogs and apparently many other animals have it, it must serve its purpose quite well.  Of course, I would much rather see both of my dogs with their beautiful eyes beaming!

Here is a photo of a dog with the normal third eyelid.  It’s pretty gross but all dogs have this.

dog third eyelid lid

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Check If Your Dog Licks Inside Legs

Saturday, July 31st, 2010
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#dog #dogs #pets  –  Yesterday, I took both of my dogs out to the woods for a nice walk which we do on the trails there several times per week.  In the middle of the walk, my boy Chester suddenly stopped and sort of licked the inside of one of his hind legs but only for a moment.  I didn’t think anything of it but I should have checked right away.

He did the same thing at home one or two times as well as this morning.  He spent a bit longer doing that this morning so I decided to check to see what’s going on.  Sure enough, he had one of those spurs from the woods stuck on the inside of his leg right underneath his belly which is why I didn’t notice.  It was pretty hidden.

So I trimmed it off with scissors to make him comfortable again.  This has taught me to check both dogs for those nasty spurs after walks in the woods.  Normally, if Roxie gets a spur, she will stop walking right away and just look at me.  This is good since it alerts me to the spur.

I would usually try to remove it right on the spot if I can.  Chester on the other hand, doesn’t quite do this as his sister does so this is why I missed the spur.  In fact, I even missed the spur during their evening brushing since I don’t normally do their undersides.

But perhaps I should check their undersides from now on especially again, after a romp in the woods where sometimes spurs are a common nuisance.  It’s probably a good idea to give a quick total body check anyway to not only check for spurs but also anything else like tangles and mats that should be removed as soon as possible before they get worse.

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Need A New Pet Sitter For Overnight Stays

Monday, July 12th, 2010
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#dog #dogs #pets  —  Looks like my regular pet sitter Helen got burned out with all the overnight stays she’s been doing and I don’t blame her.  She informed all her clients that she will no longer be taking on anymore overnight stay assignments and will do only day visits.

I’ve got a trip to Cuba in November since I’m a conference keynote speaker down there and will be away for at least a week since I want to do some scuba diving down there as well.  I’m going to have to find another dog sitter who is willing not only to do overnight stays, but also for an entire week.

I don’t know if any will be possible, especially for the long term since this type of assignment, even though great for us dog owners who travel, must be pretty tough for the dog sitters.

So I may just have to go back to boarding my two dogs at a local kennel.  It’s a good thing that I did find a really good kennel not too far from my home and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.  Of course, I would prefer not to board them but I will do so rather than even hiring somebody who might not be qualified to do overnight pet sitting for an entire week.

Although less roomy and comfortably compared to home, at least this kennel is staffed with professionals and they are quite popular with dog owners.  Therefore, there will be lots of dogs for my two lhasa apsos to interact with, even in the small breed section that they allocate.

I did meet another pet sitter before but didn’t use her yet due to scheduling conflicts.  I don’t know if she will be willing to stay overnight for an entire week but I’ll soon find out.

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Dog Litter Training Project Progressing

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
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#dogtraining #dog #dogs #pets  – My dog litter training project is progressing well. I’ve written about seven or eight chapters as a first draft so far. Of course there’s still much more to do but I’m confident that it will be finished by the end of the summer.  It will be a very complete guide to helping people train their dogs to use litter boxes.

The main floor of my house was 31 degrees Celsius last night (87.8 F) and the second floor where the bedrooms are of course was even higher.  But it felt more like 40 degrees Celsius.  I’ve been using open windows and ceiling fans but the dogs were still panting.  I was actually in the borderline of heat tolerance myself so it was time to forget about being green for now.  Thinking about my dogs especially, I decided to shut the windows and gave in to air conditioning.

Usually by late at night, my dogs are already up in the second floor getting ready to go to bed.  But last night, they were both on the ground level where it was dark and cooler.  I’m pretty sure that they would have stayed there all night if I didn’t call them up for bedtime.  But after the AC did kick in, the temperature indoor was much more bearable.  Even I appreciated that.

They were no longer panting as before which was good and I trust that they had a comfortable night’s sleep.

The heatwave is continuing all week here in the Toronto area and I’ll actually be away for most of the day and evening doing talks as a professional speaker in downtown Toronto today.  The temperature will of course be higher during the daytime here at home and since I won’t be here to make the switchover to AC if needed, I think I’ll just leave the AC on and set to an acceptable 26 or 27 degrees C all day.  This will ensure that my dogs will be comfortable all day while I’m gone.

I have two separate events to attend in Toronto today.  One early afternoon and one in the evening.  Instead of commuting back and forth to Mississauga, I’m going to spend the afternoon sheltered in a public library (air conditioned of course) and continue work on my dog litter training project.

This project of course will be a niche topic for people who would like to use litter training or potty train their dog using litter boxes which I’m an expert at since both of my dogs are trained that way.

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Does Your Dog Miss Meals?

Monday, July 5th, 2010
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#dog #dogs #doghealth

My girl Roxie is at it again.  Today when it was meal time for her and her brother Chester, she just casually laid down in front of her bowl while her brother was munching away at his breakfast.  Once again, she refused to eat.  My pet sitter who is also a vet assistant, says it’s okay for dogs to miss an entire day or two without eating but of course, more than that requires vet attention.

Roxie has played this game many times before.  She will refuse to eat for whatever reason.  Sometimes it’s quite legitimate as she has had upset tummies before with a loss of appetite.  But sometimes she seems to be fine otherwise.  Usually what happens is that by the next mealtime, she will be hungry enough to resume eating.

So after about ten minutes, well after her brother has finished his breakfast, I put away her meal back into the dog food container so that she will know that if she doesn’t eat after a certainly period of time, meal time is over.

Roxie will probably eagerly accept the daily fruit snacks during the training drills we do at midday.  She has had a very long history of being a finicky eater ever since she was a puppy.  This is one bad habit I would like to break.

Does your dog ever miss meals?  If so, please share via the comments section below.

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Too Hot To Take Dogs Outside During Midday

Sunday, July 4th, 2010
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It’s just way too hot outside during midday summer to take my two Lhasa Apso dogs outside.  As soon as they go outside after several minutes, they are panting.  So we will stay cool indoors until about late in the day when the sunshine is not as intense.

Just as well since I do want to take them down to the lakefront but during weekend days, it’s just too busy down there.  So going late in the day will be better from a crowds aspect as well.

In the meantime, I’ve begun work on my next book which will be on potty training your dog with a litterbox.  The start on this project was long overdue but my work as a diversity speaker and Canadian motivational speaker in the last few months has been busy.  But the summer months of July and August will be relatively quiet on the speaking front so I will have more time to work on my new book.

I’ve written about half of the new book so far and lots of more work will have to go into it since it will be quite photo intensive as well in order to show the exact steps I use to housetrain my own dogs to use a litterbox.

So stay tuned for updates.  Meanwhile, enjoy the beginning of your summer with your dogs but be careful that they don’t heat up.

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Keep Dogs Indoors If Scared Of Fireworks

Friday, July 2nd, 2010
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#dogs #dog #puppy #puppies  – Last month, we had a national holiday up here in Canada which was Victoria Day where they had fireworks at night.  I wrote in a previous blog post about dogs and fireworks about how scared my two dogs were of the explosions when I took them outside.  We just had Canada Day on July 1 yesterday which was another fireworks evening and this time, I decided to keep the dogs indoors since I knew they would be scared.

As predicted, once the first explosions started outside, they both reacted.  My girl Roxie pretty well spend the entire time on my lap, sometimes panting as I watched a movie on TV.  Sometimes there would be some minor trembling as well.  Of course, this was not nearly as bad as the last episode during Victoria Day when she was much worse.

Her brother was not as nervous but still uncomfortable.  He barked a few times and ‘stood guard’ either at the window or near the front door.  This was interesting since Roxie is usually the more dominant of the two.

I imagine that my American friends will be having festive Independence Day celebrations on July 4 which also involve fireworks.  If your dogs are scared of explosions, if might be a good idea to keep them indoors as well.  If you are taking them out, definitely have a leash on them because you don’t want them taking off because of fear like my Roxie tried to do last time.

Fireworks do not happen often enough to sensitize the dogs to them so if some dogs are known to be afraid, particularly puppies, just try to minimize the fear level by not only keeping them indoors but maybe have the TV or radio on.

On that note, Happy Canada Day and Independence Day to everyone in Canada and the US this weekend.

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