Travel Easier With Your Puppy This Holiday Season!
CLICK HERE for the Gorilla Tough Classic Fold and Carry Cage only at Drs. Foster & Smith
Brrrr! and hi! on this chilly winter morning to you all! I’m sitting in Starbuck’s enjoying a hot Caramel Macchiato (and I don’t even drink coffee!) while I’m waiting for some brake work to be done on my car across the street at Christian Brothers. It’s been a really busy December and I’m trying to get our family ready for a short trip to spend time with family for Christmas – making sure our car is safe is for sure up there on the list!
Since we will be flying for a portion of the trip, our dog Hunter won’t be making the trips with us this year but will be spending a short stay at his favorite “puppy hotel”. I’m really going to miss him – to me it’s like spending time away from one of your children on a very special day. Hunter loves the place where we board him, and they sincerely love him. He’s been tagged as “one of the cool dogs”. He’s an “only dog” at our house and really enjoys being around his fellow four-legged guests. He almost skips on his way back to the boarding area, which makes me feel really good that he’s getting a bit of a pampered vacation too.
If you’ve read some of my other posts about Hunter, you’ll know we were a big fan of crate training him when he was younger. And when we traveled, the crate went with us, too. It offered him a feeling of “his home” and comforted him when he could run in there for some peace and quiet when the unfamiliar noise and activity of a bustling house filled with holiday visitors got too much for him. Hunter is a big dog, about 75 pounds now, and we had a big dog crate so he could grow into it (which he quickly did!). It was a couple of feet wide, about three feet long, and another couple feet tall. Traveling with that was cumbersome to say the least! I wouldn’t trade Hunter for the world, but I can see advantages of having smaller pups if you are a frequent traveler! And those little pet totes I see people carry on the airplane are so cute!
We have a new advertiser on our site, Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc. (they are the ones who wrote the article I posted here on Holiday Safety Tips for Dog Owners – and that was before they became an advertiser with us!), and I was thrilled to see some new crate products they have that will accommodate comfortably large dogs but will still be portable for traveling. They can be set up or stowed away in less than 30 seconds and look like a breeze to carry! I wish I’d had one instead of our big bulky plastic one and I thought you’d like to check them out (videos below) if you are lucky enough to be able to take your dog with you on your trips or just want a very easy, portable dog crate system for your home.
We wish you a very blessed and safe Christmas season!
Suzanne, Pete, Jake and Hunter
“Secrets To Dog Training” Helpful and Informative
I recently received an email from a friend of mine who’d just read all 260 pages of “Secrets To Dog Training”:
“I did find a lot of the information very helpful and informative and even tried a few moves when I went home over lunch. I think it would be a fantastic thing for all brand new dog owners to have. I had already read a lot of what was in this information, but there was new material too. I consider myself a dog whisperer, but didn’t know it had a name. Gave me some clues in terms of the dog’s body language to watch for that I never would have thought of. Also confirmed that I need to go get a sandbox for Zoey…not only because she loves playing in it, but would give her an alternative place to dig than in my grass!”
My friend is now building her sandbox!
12/05/09 Update! Just look at Zoey’s new sandbox!
For more information on learning tips and tricks to encourage your puppy’s good behavior, visit our link to “Secrets To Dog Training” here.
Holiday Safety Tips for Dogs
One of my Facebook friends recently posted she came home from work to find her Shiba Inu had vomited several times and was reluctant to move. After a night at the Emergency Vet and a series of IVs, she was diagnosed with a mild case of pancreatitis. The vet said it was caused either by eating people food or the puppy food that my friend had brought home with her new second Shiba Inu pup.
They chalked it up to the latter and her dog now is just fine and enjoying her new playmate. But hearing her story did make me think of all the changes that happen in my own home over the holidays and how many new and exciting things we add to our tables and use to decorate our houses, sometimes without realizing the dangers they could present to a curious puppy. I found a very good article by Marty Smith, DVM of Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc. and peteducation.com, covering:
- Food
- Poisonous Plants
- Trees and Decorations
- Gifts and Wrapping
- Visitors
- New Pets
Click here to read his article, “Holiday Safety Tips for Dogs”.
Wishing you a blessed season!
Suzanne
My Buddy Champ!
My buddy Champ! He loves to play ball. It doesn’t matter if it is 90 degrees outside or well below freezing, throw a ball and he’ll entertain you (and himself!) for hours!
Puppy Training Tip of the Week!
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