Time for Wedding Stress

Lately it has been tough finding time to write. The wedding stress has been mounting and lack of sleep isn't helping either. Still, in this time of stress, I needed to drop in at the doggie daycare. It's my place to relax and be happy. It's my time to just be happy with dogs, and not to have anyone tell me to do anything!

So I went to the doggie daycare after full time work. Usually we have the same dogs come in but yesterday, to my surprise, we had two new dogs arrive. Both dog breeds I had never had the chance to interact with. One was a Samoyed and the other a Rottie. I instantly fell in love with the Rottie. His personality was amazing and loved playing with the others. We walked a bit and his focus was right on me, checking in to see where we were going to walk next. It was a pleasure to be with him.

The Samoyed on the other hand was scared of the new place. Whining and pacing around most of the time. The Samoyed was left in a separate area away from the other dogs since the owners did not want their dog to interact with the others. "Why the heck would you not want your dog to interact with the others?" They must have been scared the others would bully her around. Either that or they were afraid her nice brilliant white coat would get dirty. Anyway, she was great despite being a bit stressed. The Samoyed actually did all right sniffing at the other dogs as they were being picked up.

So with 4 more days to go, and 4 more days of wedding stress, the two new dogs helped me get through the night. The wedding stress has brought out the best in Neilynne and I, since it really gives us insight on how we will handle future problems. So far, the wedding stress has been containable. Of course, with every new stress I won't be relying on doggie daycare to save me....but hey ...it sure helps.

Recall command for your dog

When I first started assisting in dog training classes, the first thing we taught our clients is the recall command. It really can't be emphasized enough. The recall command for your dog like I have said before you can save the life of your dog.

We let our dog loose in the school yard as me and Neilynne played a recall game with Shy. She was great for the first couple times and then she started to wander off towards the soccer field. Me and Neilynne were both inexperienced at the time and Shy's recall was weak especially with distractions. Our dog started to walk towards the sidewalk, oblivious to our calls. Perhaps it was a game now as we started to slowly pick up pace. With tension in our voices, our recalls became stressful yelling. "Shy! Get back her now! Stop!!!" Before we knew it Shy was on the street! Recall, what recall? We sure weren't doing a good job of that one. Shy ended up in the intersection, our hearts racing as the thought of a car hitting her was evident. Luckily the cars could see what was going on and they slowed down and Shy crossed the road and stopped. We were so angry with Shy. Really we should have been angry with ourselves.

Looking back now, I can say a strong recall is necessary for any dog. We were really naive to let her off leash at that young age too in such an open area. It was a really bad mistake that could have cost us. Here's a video of Neilynne training the recall command with some distractions. Shy's finish around to the side of the body needs a lot of work but if we just look at the recall, she has improved a lot. Bottom line, the recall command for your dog is one of great importance in the house or outdoors.
Publish Post

Dog freestyling for the first time

Dog freestyling is a popular sport. It's a great way to build the human to canine bond. It's basically choreographed dance with your dog and it's a lot of fun. This video isn't anything special and not even close to what dog freestyling is all about. Getting our dog to do that is just a miracle in itself. Before she wouldn't even go through my legs with a treat and now it's more natural. Way to go Shy.

If you really want to see freestyling at it's best look up Carolyn Scott, freestyling champion, and her dog Rookie. Unfortunately on a sad note, Rookie passed away last week. I cannot imagine what that would be like. One day I will have to experience it too. Carolyn has been on several shows dancing away with Rookie. It's really amazing how Rookie and Carolyn move in sync. Rookie can go backwards, forwards, spin away, shuffle, high step with his front paws...it's amazing. I don't know how popular dog freestyling is in Canada but it sure looks like fun!

Enjoy the video as there will be more to come!

Better Food for Dogs

Neilynne picked up an interesting book for me over the weekend about dog nutrition. As you can see from the picture on the left it's called, "Better Food for Dogs." The authors are David Bastin, Jennifer Ashton and Dr. GRant Nixon, DVM.

Better Food for Dogs talks about commercial dog foods vs home made meals for dogs. It also includes recipes for our canine friends and they will love you for it. I found it very interesting since I always watch Shy, eat the same premium dry food day in day out. Doesn't she get bored of it? It's like me eating pizza everyday, and I love pizza, but I'd get bored of it no doubt. No wonder she sits with those puppy dog eyes looking for scraps from us. I would definitely recommend this book since it really opens your eyes to the nutritional needs of our dogs, how commercial dog foods may lack essential nutrients for the sake of lowered production costs, and how home made meals for dogs may improve the health of your dog.


Dog nutrition is still a very new subject. How many of us actually make home cooked meals for your dogs? I know I don't. I always thought the traditional dry kibble is good enough. It should have everything the dog needs. One important topic Better Food for Dog discusses is what dogs should not eat. Although dogs can eat many of the foods we do, there are several that will be toxic for our dogs. Here is a list of toxic foods your dog should never ingest taken from the book.

1. Anythings onions including onion powder.
2. Chocolate. Dogs cannot metabolize the chemical theobromine very well.
3. Tea
4. Alcohol. They are not to be your drinking buddy.
5. Macadamia nuts. Mmmmm...so good for us but no good for dogs.
6. Grapes and raisins which includes juices and wines with them.
7. Leaves and stems from tomatoes.
8. Rhubarb leaves.
9. Avocados.
10. Pits and seeds from fruits. Includes: apricot, apple, plum, peach and some cherries.
11. Bitter almonds.
12. Moldy or spoiled food. This is common sense.

Of course there are other harmful ingredients that may be toxic for your dogs. I would visit the National Animal Poison Control Center www.aspca.org/apcc to be sure.

So Better Food for Dogs was an interesting book and at the back there are recipes included to try out. If you are really thinking of changing your dog's diet to a home prepared one, have a look at the book and see what it says. Consult your veterinarian or a professional dog nutritionist as well use common sense and do your research.

Dog reality show?

I haven't been updating as often 'cause my darn computer crapped out on me.  It could have crapped out maybe after the wedding but Murphy's law says  "Jay isn't feeling enough stress.  Let's take out his computer along with his wedding files."  

Anyway this week I caught a glimpse of what looked to be a dog reality show.  It wasn't "groomer has it."  I need your help to find out what this dog reality show is.  One of the challenges I saw involve the host of the show asking the dog owners to put their dog in a sit.  The owners put their dogs in a sit within a certain amount of time.   Owners who do not complete this within the allotted time are out.  The host also asked the owners to put their dogs in a down stay, walk around them, asked for a recall and so forth.  Basic stuff I thought in my head.  I guess the entertainment value of this show is to see the frustrations of the owners and owners losing control of their dog.

What's the name of this dog reality show?  Not that I want to watch it again but I do want to find out what's the point of this show.  Is it to see who has the most obedient dog?  The dogs on the show from what I saw included a bulldog, yorkie, border collie, shih tzu  possibly a lab and more.  I would say the border collie would have more of an advantage based on the trainability of the breed.  More importantly, how are people getting entertainment value from a dog reality show like this?  If people are going to watch this I could probably make my own dog reality show.  "Canada's next top dog trainer".   

Anyway if someone knows the name of the dog reality show, let me know so I can find out more on it.  Thanks.