Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Pet Blogger Showcase

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Thursday I gave you a teaser about something new and exciting that would be happening today.  I think this is going to be super fun. 

It’s called the Pet Blogger Showcase and it’s a…linky party! Have you ever heard of that? I never had until Dawn told me about it.

So it’s similar to a blog hop, but it’s not. You still get to link up your posts, except you don’t have to display a button/badge and you don’t need to add the linky to your blog.

Wondering how THAT works? Check out how Dawn explains it.

Pet Blogger Showcase

Welcome to the Pet Blogger Showcase! This is the place for you to show off your favorite family friendly pet related posts, find other great posts to read, show some love to other bloggers and maybe be featured on one of the host blogs!

Meet the Hosts Behind the Showcase

Pet Faves– Living the pet lover lifestyle

Heart Like A Dog– The good, the bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs

Felines Opines– The world from a feline point of view

Miss Molly Says– Pet product reviews, pet training, pet health, pet nutrition and all things pets!

Ruff Talk– Where dogs go to chat

About the Pet Blogger Showcase

Twice a month, On the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, you have the chance to link up one of your blog posts to the linky party link-up. Then visit 3 other blogs that joined the party and leave a meaningful comment. Feel free to share with your followers. Then each week the hosts will feature their favorite 3 posts from the previous Linky Party on the new party post.

Pet Blogger Showcase Rules

  1. Share a pet related post, past or present, from your blog in the linky below. Family friendly posts only. (We love reading about other topics, but posts that are not pet related will be deleted.
  2. Spread the Love! Leave a quality comment(more than just a few words) on at least 3 other posts from the linky party. Tell them why you love their post, encourage them, share on social media.
  3. Check back for the next linky party to see if you are featured on one of the hosts’ blogs.

That’s it! No need to RSVP. No need to bring a covered dish. No need to add the linky to your post. No need to include a button. Just come join the party and PAWTY ON!

Sounds pretty simple and strait forward no? 

I think it’s going to be fun and a great way to get your blog seen by some new readers. 

The linky code is good until the end of day tomorrow, so make sure you get your links in.

Are you ready?

And GO!



4th of July – Lost Pet Prevention Month

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Did you know that July 5th is the busiest day of the year for animal control officers? It’s true. So many pets are lost on the 4th of July because they were frightened by fireworks and escaped their yards or collars.

Pets and War Vets

Pets, frightened by the noise from fireworks have been known to break out windows, or break down doors in their desperation to escape. Once they are on the run, it can be very difficult to find them again.

Animals, like most of us, work on the 3-F’s system. Fight, Flight or Freeze. Once an animal is in Flight mode, it can take a long time for them to stop running, even when they do, they sometimes don’t immediately recognize their owners.

Those of us with pets frightened by loud noises know the best way to keep your pets safe is to not leave them alone.

My dogs were never afraid of fireworks or thunderstorms until recently. We had an incident two summers ago where the smoke alarm went flooey and ever since then, Sampson shakes and pants with fear with loud noises.

She lays on the floor one time. ONE TIME, and she complains about dust. She should see her housekeeping from my perspective.

She wasn’t here and I got scared.

We live far enough away from the town Fireworks display to not hear the noise, but that doesn’t stop our neighbors and others in the area from putting on their own displays. In particular we have a neighbor two houses up, that always has a 4th of July party and around 9:30, they start with the street fireworks. (Thankfully, the woman across the street from him will call the police if it goes past the 10:00 pm noise cut off.) Still it can make for a very stressful time for Sampson.

Here are some tips for how we help keep Sampson as stress -free as possible during the 4th of July.

  • We stay home. While I realize that isn’t an option for everyone, it just works for us.
  • We keep the windows closed and the air conditioners running, to help buffer the noise from outside.
  • We also turn the TV on and keep it fairly loud.
  • Sampson and I will likely retreat to a bedroom, where I can calm and reassure him if he needs it.
  • I’ve recently added a Calming Chew to Sampson’s supplement routine. It works fairly well with thunderstorms, so I’ve got my fingers crossed it will work just as well with the fireworks.

Here are some general tips that can help keep your pets safe over 4th of July (or anytime there are any types of celebrations.)

  • Keep your cats inside.
  • If at all possible, try and get your dogs outside to potty before the noise begins.
  • If you have to take them outside during the celebration, make sure they have their collar with contact information on it. Even if your yard is fenced in, consider taking them out on leash.
  • Even if your pet is micro-chipped, make sure they have a tag with your name and phone number on it. Remember,  a vet will need to scan your pet in order to get your contact information. Many vets will not be open during 4th of July celebrations.
  • Speaking of scanning, consider using a scannable ID tag, like the ones made by PetHub. This tag can be scanned by anyone with a smart phone (they even say the older phones can do it too), giving someone instant access to your dog’s profile and also your contact information. The tags cost a little bit more than the ones you make yourself at the pet store, and there is a moderate annual fee for the tag, but considering the heartache it can save you, it’s a good value if you ask me. (They have a monthly or annual fee, for whatever fits your budget.)
  • Make sure your dog’s collar is snug and not able to be slipped. Even better, consider using a harness with attached tags vs a collar.
  • Secure any areas in your house (windows, doors) or yard (gates or weak spots) where your pet could escape from.
  • Some pets might be content with a stuffed Kong, (Delilah probably would.)
Did someone say Kong?

Did someone say Kong?

Make a place they feel safe.

  • If your pet is comfortable and feels safe in their crate/kennel, considering securing them in there. You can place a light blanket or sheet around a wire kennel, to help your dog feel safer.
  • Take a small room (bathroom or larger closet) and make it a safe area. Add a blanket, a bowl of water, a radio or fan for noise control.

There are other options, such as Rescue Remedy, plug-ins that emit pheromones, Thundershirts to name a few. If you have a pet that has a sensitivity to noise, try different things to find what works best for them.

Knowing your pet and what bothers and comforts them, can help you plan for stressful events and ultimately make them less stressful for you as well.

Heart Like a Dog is working with PetHub for Lost Pet Prevention month. While we are being compensated for this post, the thoughts and opinions expressed are our own, and are shared here because we believe in keeping pets safe in all situations. That being said, we never share anything that we don’t believe or use ourselves.

 

 

Tidbit Thursday

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Tidbit Thursday…just because I couldn’t think of a better title and because the post has little tidbits of this and that.

First things first, there will be no Follow-Up Friday tomorrow, instead I have a special post planned for Lost Pet Prevention month. When working on tomorrow’s post I realized I had a number of things to share about lost pets, so I will have two or three more posts about lost pets throughout the month.

Then on Saturday, I’ll have a post about something blogging related that I’m really excited to share with you.

Because there will be no follow-up tomorrow, I wanted to give a brief update about Delilah and how she’s doing.

Siriusly, did she just compare me to Cujo?

It’s all good, the Mama just tends to over react sometimes.

Delilah got her first dose of antibiotics and Gabapentin around 12:30 Monday afternoon. The instructions said every 12 hours for both, but I wasn’t going to get up right after midnight to administer her second dose of antibiotics so I checked with the vet’s office and they said I could give them to her around 10:30 with a little bit of food.

The dosage for the Gaba was three every 12 hours and I really felt three were one too many for her. Then around 9:30 that night, she started going to the door every few minutes and squatting with no results. I decided to give her two Gaba’s when I gave her the antibiotic. The good thing about the Gaba was it worked almost instantaneously for her, so she was able to get a good night’s sleep.

My thought was why not reduce the Gaba from three to two, and give them to her every eight hours vs every 12? She’d still be getting the same amount in a 24-hour period, but it wouldn’t knock her out. Besides the Gaba seemed to wear off between the nine and ten hour mark, so why have her be uncomfortable for those in-between hours.

The next morning she got her ‘meatball’ with the Gaba in it around 6:30 am. My original plan was to leave the back door open for her to be able to get outside in case she had to potty, but Tuesday turned out to be super humid, so I turned on the air and took my chances. I figured she made it through the night okay, and I get out of work at 2:00 pm, so why not roll the dice? As it turned out, she did fine.

Meanwhile I’d heard from Jan K at Wag ‘N Woof pets and found out that her Sheba had pretty much the same situation the day before. Jan said, “It looks like we’ll be having similar posts tomorrow.” ‘-)

It’s always great for me to read about someone else’s experience because even though Jan and Sheba’s experience was similar, there was a slight difference because Sheba has a cancer diagnosis and I know how excruciating waiting for that vet appointment was for Jan.

I won’t lie and tell you that the minute I saw the blood in Delilah’s urine that my brain didn’t go there. Because it did. I was terrified that I’d be leaving the vet without her that day, and I can only imagine how terrified Jan felt on Sunday as well.

One of the things I learned from Jan’s post was that her vet CHECKED the urine for cancer cells and thankfully found NONE. I didn’t have a clue that the vet could check for that.

Well you know what happened next…I got right on the phone with my vet’s office and asked them if MY vet had checked for cancer cells. My vet wasn’t scheduled to come in until around 1:00 pm, but the tech took a message and said she’d get back to me. I also shared my thoughts on switching up the dosage of the Gabapentin.

When the vet’s office called back, they said they didn’t see any cancer cells in Delilah’s urine and it was okay to modify the Gabapentin dosage to two every eight hours. Which is what we’ve done and it seems to help immensely.

Delilah is on a 21-day course of antibiotics but I plan on trying to cut her Gabapentin down to one every eight hours beginning on Sunday. A week after that I hope to cut the Gaba out all together.

She is handling everything very well. I’m keeping her walks on the shorter side, partly due to the heat and humidity we’ve been having and partly because of the sedation aspect of the Gabapentin. She still stops to tinkle a lot on our walks, but both the dogs have always done that.

The key is that after Tuesday night, I haven’t seen any more blood in her urine and she seems like her old self again.

Phew, I guess that wasn’t as brief as I thought it was going to be. 😀 Thank you again to everyone who commented, texted and messaged me on Monday, this community is really the best!

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