Heart Like a Dog

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

What I Learned From K-9 Kamp…Day Three Hundred, Sixteen

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Well today wraps up the 5 week torture known as K-9 Kamp hosted by Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Place. 

We grabbed the badge for our side bar so it was really important to me that I tried to complete the tasks.  For the record I only put myself into the raffles if I had actually completed the challenge (that would be week one.) 

K-9 Kamp wasn’t school; but I thought it would be important to share what we learned and grade ourselves based upon performance. 

WEEK 1 ) The Challenge?  Walk it off.  Walk for one hour; it didn’t have to be all at once but it had to be an hour. 

We’re good at walking.  We walk on average of ½ hour per day four times per week.  Because I felt we had an advantage I upped our walks to 45 and 50 minutes.  

What I learned:  A big ole’ dog like Sampson can walk for 50 minutes, but he needs to cool down in the pool after. 

Grade: A+

 Week 2)  The Challenge?  Fetch it yourself.  Play fetch with your pet for one hour.  Throw the toy, race the dog to the toy, pick it up and do it again. 

What I learned: Just because your dog is a retriever doesn’t mean they fetch.  I spent a good portion of this hour chasing the dummy (and I don’t mean the dog) myself.  How that looked to someone observing from a distance I can only imagine. 

Grade: C- 

Week 3)  The Challenge?  Tug with me.  Play tug with your dog for an hour (broken up into smaller time blocks if needed.) Play regular tug then drop into a squat or lunge and play tug in this position. 

What I learned: A 73 pound lab with all four feet on the ground can easily pull over a 125 pound (+) Mama in a lunge; causing the Mama to laugh hysterically and lose her breath while a 90 pound lab looks on. 

Grade: D (I only attempted this once, it would have been an F if not for at least trying.) 

Week 4)  The Challenge?  Jump around.  One hour of jumping.  Jump up and down, jump rope, jump over things,  just jump.  

What I learned: Sampson and Delilah can jump; but this white girl can’t.  The dogs jump over bushes, logs, leashes etc.  In fact, they even kind of jump a bit when they run. Me, not so much.  I finally had to resort to a little side-ways run, skip, jump.  And I couldn’t complete the entire hour.  But I sure surprised hubby with my little side-ways jumping.

 Grade: D 

Week 5)  The Challenge?  Catch me if you can.  Chase your dog then turn around and let your dogs chase you. 

What I learned: I am far better at chasing the dogs then they are at chasing me.  While Sampson doesn’t like me to get too far ahead of him; Delilah well she could care less; if there was something interesting it wouldn’t matter if I could turn myself into a steak, she wasn’t buying it.   I couldn’t catch the 30 foot leash she was dragging; never mind the dog at the other end of it.  I tried again tonight and I still wasn’t quick enough; causing hubby to say, “The things you see when you don’t have a video camera.”  (I didn’t tell him I had one in my pocket.) 🙂

Grade: B+

All kidding aside, even though we walk a lot; I’m still not in very good shape.  I also need to learn to incorporate other activities with our walks if I’m to put in a decent showing for next year’s kamp.

Be Prepared….Day Three Hundred, Fifteen

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Besides the wonderful organizations I found at the Pet Exposition I also came across a FEMA table.  I stopped (he was kind of cute) picked up a brochure and chatted him up for a bit.

Truthfully I live in an area where I can’t imagine the need to ever evacuate; none-the-less it is far better to be prepared and never have the need than to have the need and not be prepared. 

The three important steps are Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.

PREPARE

  • Food:  Being prepared means you should have a three-day supply of food (in an airtight container) and water.  Since I feed raw it isn’t plausible for me to have food packed.  I do have the food broken up into smaller packets in the freezer; so it is very easy to grab a couple of packs and slip them into a cooler. 
  • Medicines and Medical Records: I have Sampson and Delilah’s medical records in a three-ring binder.  Each binder has a cover page, with their name, our address and phone and their date of birth.  In the lower left corner of the page I have the name, address and telephone number of our vet.  Our vet gives us an invoice for each visit which includes the dog’s weight and the reason for the visit as well as any prescribed medications or treatments.  Each one of these invoices is kept inside the binder in protective sleeves, in date order from oldest to newest.  Delilah’s thyroid medicine and her anti-oxidants are on the counter ready to be packed at a moment’s notice.
  • First aid kit: I don’t have one of these; but 2BrownDawgs had an excellent post about what you should have in your dog’s first aid kit.
  • Collar with ID tag, harness or leash: Sampson and Delilah have an indoor/in the yard and out of the yard collar.  Their outside the yard collar has all their tags on it; while the small inside collar has a tag with their name, my name and cell phone number on it.
  • Crate or other pet carrier.  While I probably wouldn’t bring a crate for Sampson and Delilah I should have a cat carrier for Bob.
  • Sanitation: some poop bags, kitty litter, bleach, newspapers, paper towels.
  • A picture of you and your pet.  This would be perfect in the medical records in one of the protective sleeves.
  • Familiar items: toys, blankets, bedding.

PLAN

  • Assess the situation.  Determine what is the best for you and your pet in an emergency.  It could be that you don’t need to evacuate and staying put is your better option.
  • Create a plan to get away.  Think about how you will gather your pets together, and where you will go.
  • Develop a buddy system.  Make sure you have someone either a friend, relative or neighbor who can care for or take care of your pets in the event that you cannot reach them.
  • Talk to your vet.  Find out what types of supplies they suggest for your emergency kit.  Consider micro-chipping your pet or enrolling them in a reliable recovery database.
  • Find and write down a list of vets in the area where you plan on going.  Also addresses and phone numbers of the local Humane Society or ASPCA.  Get a pet sticker for the doors and windows in your home.  I have a red one on my front door as well as my bedroom window that says “Please save 2 dogs, 1 cat.”  Use a permanent marker to write your cell number or the number of a relative on the sticker.  If you need to evacuate make sure to write “evacuated with pets” on the sticker.

STAY INFORMED

Be aware of situations that might arise in your area that could require evacuation.  

I’m still pretty sure I won’t need to evacuate, BUT at least I am better prepared if the need arises.

A Little Goes A Long Way….Day Three Hundred, Fourteen

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I’m WAAAAAAAYYYY behind on the 31 days to a better blog challenge over at Blog Paws.

My post for today will complete task 7 “Write a Link Post.” I am still working on task 6 while the rest of the crew is up on task 9. Geesh, I wish I could get it together! Do any of you need more time in your day?

Enough rambling;  on to the task at hand. I was lucky enough to go to the Pet Exposition at our local convention center yesterday. I spent about an hour meandering about and what I found was a great deal of opportunities to help our furry friends.

If you want to get involved, here are some great organizations:

Vest-A-Dog – “We are committed in our mission to protect K-9 lives and build a community network that will learn, share, and grow. Whether you need funding for a K-9 vest, are interested in donating a K-9 vest or starting a local program, or are just plain interested, join us and with your support, we can make their protection a reality.”

Vitas (Paw Pals) “Registered Paw Pals bring joy to hospice patients by visiting them at home, in nursing homes and assisted living communities as well as hospitals.” 

I couldn’t find a direct link on their website, but an internet search of Vitas Paw Pals and your state should bring up a list of local chapters.

Kado – “We provide lifetime care for animal companions living with low income seniors and those with serious medical conditions.”  While this foundation appears to be exclusive to CT; they may be able to put you in touch with a similar organization in your area. Or maybe you can start your own local chapter!

I even found an organization supporting animal legislation. When I did an internet search it seems the groups devoted to improving legislation for animals is based at the state levels and doesn’t have a central website. In CT the website is www.CTVotesForAnimals.org; if you are interested in animal legislation; try an internet search with your state and votes for animals. You should some great resources.

If you have a breed passion (mine is labs) they probably have a rescue group. Most of these groups are volunteer based and need help with everything from bringing animals to vet appointments, training, fostering, adoption needs, event organizing; you name it. You can donate as much or as little time as you have. I saw at least four different rescue groups there yesterday; one of the lab groups even had dogs on site.

As you can see, there are many ways to get involved on a local level.  Even if you only have an hour to two to spare each week; a little goes a long way.

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