The Dog's Business

Ah spring! The ground starts showing, your neighbors come out of hiding, tulips are poking through, birds are singing, it’s a time of new life and growth. But there’s something looming from under the melting snow. It’s POOP!!

How does it happen year after year? We vow to pick up after our dogs every day! But inevitably those bone chilling, freezing rain or stormy days happen when your dog or dogs venture out and you’re inside hiding. Even for those of us who do brave all of the elements to walk our dogs every day still find tons of poops as the snow melts.

Whether you just don’t like scooping, you don’t have the time or you’re physically unable, there are services available to you. The Dog’s Business is a new doggie waste removal company that just opened in the Brantford area. They scoop so you don’t have to!  

The rates are fair and affordable. You can get a onetime spring cleanup or opt for weekly or bi-weekly pick up. The more you use the service, the less you pay. And they proudly offer discounts for seniors, the disabled and for people who have service dogs.

If you live in the area and are avoiding your back yard, why don’t you contact The Dog’s Business!

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Adding to the Pack - Fights

Unfortunately dog fights do happen. And unless you`re a professional, it can be a scary thing to watch.

Even though dogs are social animals and want to get along, they sometimes have conflicts with each other that lead to fights. A few things dogs can fight over are food, toys or territory. When you add to your pack, you are forcing them to share all the above! So it’s essential to manage these things carefully.

Because adding to your pack is essentially playing “match maker” with your dogs, there are bound to be some conflicts in the beginning. And you can influence the dogs in a negative way if you feel nervous and unsure when they are together. Keep in mind what you want, not what you are afraid of.

When should you intervene when dogs are fighting?

There are some people that believe you should always allow the dogs to work things out for themselves.  In my opinion whether you do or don’t intervene depends on different factors such as your comfort level, your knowledge of the dogs fighting and the severity of the fight.

How can you intervene when dogs are fighting?

Most fights can be diffused with a firm “HEY”. If that doesn’t work you can try different things such as getting between them with your body, pulling them apart, or if you have the resources near you can spray water or throw a coat or blanket on them. The goal is to snap them out of it so they can stop and calm down. Whatever you do, it’s important you remain calm. Screaming at dogs fighting will likely heighten their intensity.

Once you have successfully stopped them from fighting, the important thing is to calm them down while they are still together. If you separate them at that high intensity it could resurface when they see each other again, especially if you keep thinking and expecting it to happen. Dogs naturally want peace and structure. This is an opportunity to show them that you are the leader and what is and isn’t acceptable behavior.

Within your pack of dogs there is a hierarchy that exists between them. So when you bring a new dog into the mix, you have to expect and accept that the dogs have to work those things out. Establishing their roles could potentially lead to fights so keep that in mind. Again it’s up to you how you handle it. Obviously you should use your judgement; you don’t want any dog to end up at the vet’s office.
        
Judique and Effie Butt Heads

The first couple of days after we adopted Effie were stressful. Bear, my sweet senior had no issue with Effie whatsoever, just like I expected. But Judique, my young Husky was having a hard time sharing her house and life. I was quite surprised just how pissed off she seemed with our new addition. She growled and snapped at Effie constantly. We managed that very carefully and made sure we were always around to provide a positive environment. We gave Judique space and made sure we didn’t give all our attention to the new dog. I’ll admit when I was alone with Judique and Effie I was nervous they would fight and inevitably they did. They had two pretty bad fights and I stopped both of them, one of them I had to pull them apart and the second one a firm tone and Effie yelping in pain stopped it. As much as I disliked them fighting, it did seem to establish Judique as boss of Effie. I can see the hierarchy in action all the time now.

I’m very happy to say that the two girls have become great buddies and make perfect playmates for each other. That is exactly what we wanted when we adopted Effie. They occasionally butt heads but it doesn’t happen often and we always make sure it ends with everyone being calm and moving on. There are numerous lessons we can learn from our dogs and one of the most important is to let things go. Dogs don’t hold grudges and they most certainly do live in the moment. What beautiful teachers I have.

Stay tuned for “Adding to Your Pack – Feeding”

Adding to the Pack - When you get Home

So you’ve just adopted and brought home a new dog to live and be buddies with the dog or dogs you already have.

Congratulations on your new addition and thank you for giving a dog in need a home and a new chance at a great life.

So now what? Are there things you can do to help the bonding process with your dogs? Yes there is!

 

 

The first few weeks are crucial and can set the tone for the relationship. You want to create positive experiences for the dogs. They didn’t choose each other but that doesn’t mean they can’t become great buddies and playmates.

 

The more positive experiences they have together, the better! You can walk them, take them on outings and treat them together.

 

On the other side, it’s equally important that all dogs are also given individual time as well.

 

When you first get home:

 

• Go for a walk around the neighborhood before going inside to establish a pack mentality
• Introduce the backyard
• Walk into house on leash and introduce each room on leash

The first few weeks:

• Keep toys and bones put away (high value items can trigger a fight while relationships are new)
• Supervise feeding time
• Do not leave your new and resident dogs alone when you aren’t home or cannot supervise
• Have a crate for the new dog if necessary
• Keep the routines of your residents dogs
• Give equal attention to all dogs
• Spend time with all of your dogs individually
• Interrupt squabbles or growls
• Keep play times under control
• Praise good behavior
• Allow down time for less energetic dogs

Rules


The rules are up to you. It’s your house and your dogs. But I’m a firm believer that we have to be our dog’s leaders. We bring dogs into our homes and provide food, water, exercise, play time, training, shelter, health care and love. In return our dogs give us companionship, unconditional love and loyalty. They need and want structure and rules. It’s up to us to provide and enforce them. Remember being a leader doesn't mean being mean and aggressive. The best leaders are calm, fair and assertive.


Effie Arrives Home

 

 

When we arrived home with our new adopted dog Effie and our two resident dogs, we leashed them all up and headed straight out around the neighborhood for a walk. It was pretty crazy as Effie was very excited and had no leash skills. Though challenging, we managed to get around and even ran into a few neighbours who were surprised but eager to meet her.

 

 

After our walk, we brought all three dogs into our back yard to interact and play. Effie did a lot of smelling! Finally it was time to go into the house. We brought Effie on leash and introduced her to each room. We set up a crate in the living room and the bedroom.  It was time for us to eat and for her to rest. We had all had a long day! She whined at first but eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep. We were not far behind her….

 

 

Stay tuned for “Adding to Your Pack - Fights”

 

 

 

 

 

Adding to the Pack - Introductions

Who should you bring with you to meet a potential new family member? In a word, everyone!

It’s very important to bring any dogs you have with you to meet a new dog. That way everyone can meet on neutral territory. And you will get a good idea if things are going to work out or not.

 

 

I don’t expect dogs to be best friends the minute they meet, but I would like to see some potential there. That being said I think it’s a good idea to be prepared to walk away if things just don’t work out. Like us not all dogs get along and they shouldn’t be forced to. In the end you have to trust your instincts.

 

The very first time the dogs meet, it’s a good idea to just start walking them in the same direction instead of having them meet face to face. Doing this provides them with the feeling of belonging to a pack. You can allow them to sniff each other and walk at the same time. 

 

If the shelter permits, let the dogs off leash. Often we hold the leashes with tension and that can influence the dog’s behavior toward each other. You want to encourage the first meeting to go well and the way you feel about it can help or hurt.

 

To recap:

• Bring all your dogs to meet your new potential adoptee
• Walk in the same direction first to create a pack mentality
• Encourage the dogs by using a light happy tone
• Allow the dogs to interact off-leash
• Observe the dogs body language
• Use your knowledge and trust your instincts
• Have a separate area in your car for the new dog

Effie Meets Judique and Bear

 

When we brought our two dogs to meet our new potential dog, we did all of the above. As we walked together, Effie sniffed Bear gently and growled at Judique. Not the start I was hoping for. We continued walking for awhile and then let the dogs sniff each other more. Effie’s butt was presented to each of my dogs and then we walked back towards the outdoor dog run. We had to let them interact off leash. We took our dogs off leash first and then Effie. It was very different for her and Judique off leash. They started playing almost instantly running around at top speeds. Bear interacted a little but sniffed around by himself and the girls let him be and played. That was exactly what we were looking for. We stayed outside for quite awhile watching them. I was very surprised that all the other dogs outside in their runs were not distracting them.  Both feeling good about the meeting, we decided to adopt Effie. We took our dogs back to our car to proceed to the adoption process. We made sure to have a separate area for Effie to sit. We had put a crate in the back of car for her to sit and the other two dogs were in the open space. Judique was not happy to have Effie in the car at first but eventually they all calmed down for the ride home.

 

 

And so our adventure began.

 

 

Stay tuned for “Adding to Your Pack – When you get Home”

 

 

Adding to the Pack - Welcoming Effie

Adding another dog to your pack can be a very delicate process. And while you mean well bringing another dog into your home, your current dog or dogs might not quite see it that way. The good news is that you are in a position to help the transition go a little more smoothly from the start.  I’ve decided to share our experience in hopes of helping anyone planning to add to their pack.

First here are the two very special dogs that made up our pack. There is our sweet senior Bear on the left. He is a 14 year old Belgian Shepherd mix we adopted at the age of 8 years old. And on the right we have our cute little girl Judique. She is a 2 1/2 year old Husky mix we adopted at the age of 6 months old.

  

We had a pretty good idea of what we were looking for in terms of our third dog. Having adopted Judique who was originally a stray from Iqaluit, and seeing her connection at the dog park with other Iqaluit rescues, we were looking for a similar dog. Realistically we know that our senior is in his last stage of life and so it was important for us to find a dog that would be compatible primarily for Judique. And also our senior is a very easy going dog that pretty much gets along with anyone, human or canine.

And Effie Makes Three

This past Valentine's Day was the day my husband and I decided to go to our local shelter to meet one girl we had our eye on for a few weeks that looked like a good fit for us. It wasn’t exactly as romantic as I pictured it. It had been a good two years since I’ve gone through bringing a dog home to other dogs. To say the least it was a very long and stressful day.

The dog we chose to bring home is a sweet and playful 18 month old Husky mix who we named Effie. She was presumably a stray in Iqaluit for her entire young life. In spite of her rough start, she is a very nice dog. She is very cuddly and loving. She has a natural recall which in my opinion is a gold star quality. We most definitely have to work on her leash skills as with most strays seeing as they roam free and typically never see a leash until they are rescued. Effie is young and excitable so getting out of the yard with all three dogs to go for a walk has been pretty crazy so far.

Establishing Rules

When you bring a dog into your home, you have to be flexible as your new addition can’t possibly know what’s expected of him/her. But it’s also important for you to establish rules right away. Don’t feel bad for their past, just concentrate on their future.

We carefully managed everything starting when they first met. How you introduce everyone and what you do when you bring them all home can make a big difference. And even then you can still have challenges but hopefully they will be a lot less.

I will be breaking down each of the following subjects in more detail with tips and then sharing our own personal experience.

Stay tuned for the good, the bad and the ugly!

Articles to follow:

• Introductions
• When you get home
• Fights
• Feeding
• Toys/Bones

What`s in a name?

There are so many dog names to choose from. So what’s in your dog’s name? Is it a serious or silly name? Did you pick the name before your dog came into your life? Or did you take one look at your dog and just know the right name?

Was it easy or challenging to choose your dog’s name?

Shelter dogs come with names but whether or not you keep them is up to you. Over the years I have adopted all three of my dogs from local shelters. And out of the three I kept one of their names the same. Shelter dogs learn to adapt to whole new lives with new families so accepting a new name is a piece of cake for them.

Whatever you name your dog, remember one day you’ll be calling it out loud in the dog park, on the street or in your back yard. I say this because years ago I had two cats named “Sambuca and Tequila”. You get the picture now?

If you need help choosing a name, check out male dog names and meanings or female dog names and meanings. Or look to see what your current dog’s name means.

Happy name choosing!

Keep your dog out of the garbage

Why do dogs love garbage so much? They will literally eat anything! My dogs get to eat good quality dog food and treats. They even get fresh vegetables from time to time. But for some reason a smelly garbage can always gets their attention. It’s unfortunate but all too true. All you dog lovers out there can relate. This is one of the reasons we teach them the “leave it” command so much isn’t it?

Dogs don’t smell the same way as humans. Dogs have super noses! They smell things individually. When we smell a pasta sauce, we just smell the overall aroma. Dogs detect and smell each ingredient separately. Maybe that’s why garbage is so appealing to our furry friends. They don’t just smell a pile of unpleasantness like we do.

So in order to keep their noses and paws out of our garbage, we have to make sure we either keep our garbage cans out of reach, such as under the sink or in the garage. Or we can use dog proof garbage cans. New Dog Owners has done some research and came up with the top three garbage can designs to keep your pooch from indulging when you aren’t home.


You’ll never convince your dog that garbage shouldn’t be explored and eaten, but you can stop him from getting into yours.