A friend of mine recently bought a labrador and has had all sorts of trouble ever since.
Part of the problem is that he has never owned a dog before. Like I mentioned in my previous article about what not to do, he did exactly that. He sat in his house, decided he wanted a dog, bought a labrador and THEN bought a book to read up on it.
He did start going to puppy classes, and found that in the first twelve weeks he’d been doing everything wrong. The puppy has chewed his way through furniture, wires, pulled plugs out, all the usual puppy things that dogs do when they’re bored. It doesn’t seem to be a lack of exercise as to be fair, my friend has done all of that, but more due to the long working hours when the puppy is left to his own devices in the home.
Unless there is support available, the only way an owner can keep a large dog breed whilst working long hours is to have the support of close-by friends and family or to pay for a dog sitter or walker to pop in during the day.
Exercise is hard work. Sometimes it isn’t actually taking the exercise that’s difficult but the fitting it in, yet we all have 24 hours a day so how come some people manage to do so much more than others? They have the same troubles, same family issues and work commitments but some do more than others.
Regardless of how we exercise ourselves, if we have a dog then we have to take responsibility for their exercise too. A dog cannot just take itself out for a walk, and although some irresponsible owners do seem to just open the door and let their dog walk the streets, it is against the law and upsets a lot of people.
Make sure you find time to exercise your dog. Hopefully, you’ll have a breed of dog that suits your lifestyle so if you’re a busy person then a small breed that doesn’t require as much exercise will do otherwise you’ll have to change your life quite a bit.
Have you ever thought how a dog can help bring two people together? I met my friend for a coffee in Starbucks at the weekend and she told me of two friends dating and it is all because of their dogs.
These two people were complete strangers who often bumped into each other when walking their dogs along the field close to where the girl lived. The two dogs would stop to greet each other as dogs often do – dogs don’t seem to have the same social limitations that we do! – and over a period of time, the two people started exchanging greetings, talking about the weather, etc.
Eventually, just before Christmas, the man finally plucked up the courage to ask the lady out – and lo and behold, they have now started dating, all thanks to their two dogs!
So if you’ve tried everything else, why not get out and about with your dog and see who you meet? You never know where it might lead. There are all sorts of places to get out and about with your four legged friend, so you could try the park on a weeknight, walking by the river or on the beach if you’re lucky enough to have a beach locally or just take your dog to the beer garden – it’s funny how you don’t feel self conscious going on your own if you have the dog with you and even if you don’t find yourself dating you’re bound to make some new friends!
As I have let my dog have three litters now, and four of them have gone to close friends, we often see my dog’s offspring when they come round for a drink or we go to visit them and this question is one that has been asked time and time again.
Do dogs actually remember and recognise their offspring, and vice versa, do the puppies remember their mother?
It might be a little early I know, but hey-ho, I’ll be in no fit state tomorrow, so happy New Year to everyone!
New Year’s Eve is always a strange event I find. Everybody builds it up into this great big event and then feels let down that it wasn’t as great as they thought it would be. Many people I speak to share this view and it seems a surprising number of people are choosing to either stay in and celebrate or at least go to a house party instead of the pubs and clubs.
Wherever you choose to celebrate, consider what you’re going to do with your dog. People forget that New Year’s Eve can be just as bad for dogs as Bonfire Night with all the fireworks and people passing by, shouting and singing.
Look after your dog tonight the same way you would at Bonfire Night, whether that means giving them some tablets to calm them, turning the TV up and closing the curtains or maybe even taking them to a friends or relatives where the night might be calmer.
Well, the turkey has been eaten, the gifts exchanged and unwrapped, the Queen has done her speech and now everyone’s chilling out, watching the Christmas films and feeling stuffed from eating way too much food.
My dog has happily munched her way through Christmas dinner – she loves a bit of turkey, vegetables and gravy with her dog biscuits – she’s played with the new toy and eaten her fair share of dog treats, no more for her today.
Now, she’s exhausted and is lying happily in amongst the Christmas wrapping paper, which she’s always loved to do every year since she was a puppy.
I figured it about time to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone who has visited this site during its first year and hope to see you again in the New Year. Give your dog a hug from me and count your blessings. Happy Christmas!
This is a question I got to thinking about over the weekend, because I went to the local Pets at Home store and there were several different Christmas outfits for dogs, including reindeers outfits, santa outfits, elf suits or if you didn’t want to go the whole hog then there were little elf boots and reindeer antlers or santa hats.
I guess the answer to the question depends on what breed of dog you have, whether or not your dog minds you dressing him or her up and what the occasion is.
Personally, I’ve never liked the idea of dressing dogs up, no matter what breed they are, but I appreciate it can be a bit of a giggle at Christmas or Halloween.
Boots at least have a practical purpose and can protect your dog’s paws from bits of toys on the floor or picking up bits of twigs in their paws if you take them for a winter walk in the park.
Each to their own I guess. Mind you, I do have a little red cloth Christmas collar with bells on it that I let my dog wear when she visits family at Christmas – but that’s more to wind my brother up than anything else!
Well it’s taken about a week but my dog has finally got the idea of the advent calendar.
For the uninitiated, yes there are actually advent calendars for dogs out there and I buy one every year for my dog.
However, if you aren’t aware, the chocolate inside is made especially for dogs as real human chocolate can be very dangerous, in fact poisonous to dogs.
Every year, I buy my dog an advent calendar and on the 1st December I put it on the floor, try to find the number one as she sniffs around the calendar and generally gets in my way, then we open the number one and I lift out the chocolate onto the calendar and she picks it up.
It generally takes about a week before she gets the idea and starts getting excited when I pick up the advent calendar each night.
I highly recommend getting one for your dog and they’re only a couple of quid. You can get them with biscuits inside instead of chocolate if you want.
I talked last week about what to buy somebody who has everything for Christmas, and this one is certainly suited to those with a dog – or any pet for that matter.
The other day I was talking about finding Christmas presents for people and how difficult it is in comparison with buying Christmas presents for your dog. At the time, I was thinking how many soft dog toys there are, plastic dog toys, Kong toys, dog jackets, collars and leads, as well as the usual treats and stockings. However, it seems I just wasn’t using my imagination as much as I could do.
In this video, some wise person has found a way to exercise their Jack Russell with a rather imaginative present. Jack Russells can be pretty energetic and can walk for miles, so if you have a dog lover friend with an annoyingly energetic dog, why not try a bit of virtual soccer? It looks fab.
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