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Never Shock a Puppy! ‘Bark’ the Change!

Aug 16th, 2010 by

Big News Be-the-Change Fans!

The “Never Shock a Puppy” (or any dog) campaign officially hit the blog-o-sphere today. I’m truly honored to be a part of it. I’ll give you the details and tell you how you can participate in a moment, but first a little background.

Roxanne Hawn, my buddy over at Champion of My Heart was inspired by the galvanizing experience of the first ever BlogPaws conference last April, as were many of us, to BE THE CHANGE for animals. The energy unleashed at that conference on behalf of the welfare of animals…well, it still brings tears to my eyes when I recall being there.

So Roxanne is spearheading an effort with the support of a cadre of pet bloggers to get shock collars—and choke and pinch collars—off the necks of dogs, and replace them with humane training tools instead. The campaign will officially begin Wednesday, September 1, 2010, and run for 8 weeks. And, I want to make this perfectly clear–It’s because of Roxanne’s untiring persistence that Never Shock a Puppy was born.

Thank you Roxanne and your girls at Champion of My Heart!

Here are the nuts and bolts:

Blogging

Beginning Wednesday, September 1, 2010, and for the following 7 Wednesdays, we will post new content on the Never Shock A Puppy blog site. We’ll be blogging about, among other related topics, the 5 top reasons people turn to shock collars and the training methods we recommend instead.

Giveaways

Five of the 8 Wednesdays there will be giveaways of cool dog stuff. So far we have received donations of the following snazzy schwag:

If you would like to donate cool stuf for the cause contact Roxanne.

No Choke Challenge Fundraising

Just as great minds think alike, big hearts beat together. Never Shock a Puppy is teaming up with the Humane Society of Boulder Valley (no connection to the HSUS) to help them raise money for their No Choke Challenge. Although their campaign kicks off November 1, we are going to help them jump-start it. Never Shock a Puppy is committed to raising $2500 for the No Choke Challenge during our 8 week campaign that begins September 1.

The No Choke Challenge is a huge effort involving lots of education and events to get the word out about humane training methods. Hopefully the funds Never Shock a Puppy raises will go toward purchasing 165 humane collars/harnesses that the BVHS will give to people who turn in their choke, shock, prong, and other inhumane training devices. No questions asked.

Do you want to get involved?

1. Post the Never Shock a Puppy badge on your site linking it to the Never Shock a Puppy blog site. Like I did above. Or, by using a widget. Here’s the code for the Never Shock a Puppy badge widget:

<a href=”http://www.nevershockapuppy.com” target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ alt=”Never Shock a Puppy badge big” src=” http://nevershockapuppy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Never-Shock-a-Puppy-Badge.jpg “></a>

If you need a smaller badge for your side bar, try this code:

<a href=”http://www.nevershockapuppy.com” target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ alt=”Never Shock a Puppy badge big” src=” http://nevershockapuppy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Never-Shock-a-Puppy-Badge-small.jpg”></a>

2. Post the “First Giving” donation widget for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley on your blog. (I have yet to figure out how to do this, but IT CAN BE DONE!) I did it – with lots of help from Roxanne! Here’s the widget code:

<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowScriptAccess=”always” allowNetworking=”all” height=”230″ width=”150″ align=”middle” data=”http://www.firstgiving.com/widgets/fgwidget.swf” flashvars=”EggId=1320619″><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always” /><param name=”allowNetworking” value=”all” /><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.firstgiving.com/widgets/fgwidget.swf” /><param name=”quality” value=”high” /><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent” /><param name=”flashvars” value=”EggId=1320619″ /><param name=”bgcolor” value=”#ffffff” /></object> </a>

FYI-This widget code works when I insert the widget into my right sidebar, not if I insert it into text.

3. Blog about the Never Shock a Puppy campaign and link to the Never Shock a Puppy blog.

4. Share Never Shock a Puppy links on Twitter and Facebook,

5. Join the conversation via comments on Never Shock a Puppy blog posts.

6. Buy stuff in the Never Shock a Puppy department of Cafe Press!

I’m sure there will be even MORE ways to participate. Stay tuned!



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Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Fun and Games When Your Dog Is Hurt

Aug 16th, 2010 by

“Are you r-e-a-dy?” I sing to Sadie. She lowers her haunches into an anticipatory, quivering sit. I fling her yellow tennis ball into the shallow lake. Charging full tilt, Sadie splashes after it. She is focused, confident, and ecstatic. My heart balloons with delight.

Then Sadie stops dead in the chest high water. The yellow ball bobs away. Her ears flatten back. Her eyes grow round and worried. She gingerly wades back to shore avoiding me to take cover under a near-by bush. Her back is hunched and her tail tucked. My stomach turns. My girl is hurt—again. Damn!

Sadie detached or stretched the superficial digital flexor tendon under the third toe on her right hind paw last Sunday (August 8). We won’t know which until she heals completely.

Extended 3rd toe

That’s a mouthful, so here’s a picture. Can you see how when the paw is weight-bearing (she’s standing in the photo) the third toe extends beyond the second toe?

Fifteen months ago exactly same thing happened to the third toe on her left hind paw. That’s the injury that spawned the now famous Peanut Butter Manicure.

The Doggie Paw Gods smiled on us last time.

Healed left paw

Apparently the tendon did not detach. It took about a year, but that flexor tendon tightened right back up, and now her left rear paw is back to normal as you can see. If the tendon had detached, the toe would have stuck out permanently.

Doctors orders: No running, jumping, pivoting, or playing hide and seek around the giant blue spruce tree in Mama Kitty’s garden for 3 weeks. Anti-inflammatory pain medication for 2 weeks. Six laser treatments at least 48 hours apart. Then, gradually return to running, jumping, and rough-housing with her BFF, Romeo.

We have been in official down-shift mode for 1 week with 2 more to go. This is not fun for either of us. Sadie loves to go full tilt and then crash. So I have been busy conjuring ways to tire her out by stimulating her sweet, furry brain without stressing that tendon.

Here’s one. I’ll share more in the next post:

Yummy Frozen Treat-in-a-Sock-in-a-Box

Ever since she’s been a puppy, Sadie has loved taking boxes apart as I described in What Makes Your Dog Really Happy? I’ve added two levels of difficulty for this activity which keeps Ms. S occupied for about 30 minutes, excluding the 10 minutes or so it takes me to assemble the game during which Sadie is intensely focused on my every move. Of course, the more we play this game, the more accomplished she becomes and the less time it takes her!

Ingredients:

Box, Purple satellite stuffed with Evo 95% duck then frozen, Old tube sock, Freeze-dried liver bits

Set-up: Stuff the liver bits into the toe of the sock, then stuff the satellite into the sock. Put the stuffed sock into the box and close the box folding box flaps over each other.

Game on: Then I ask Sadie to sit and wait while I toss the box onto the floor. I release her and the game is on!


Yum!!!

Like I said, I’ll tell you about more games in Wednesday’s post. But, I’m running out of entertainments fast. Please help! How do you engage your dog when physical activity isn’t an option? What ideas do you have? An inquiring poodle wants to know.

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Posted in Clicker, games, Injury, Nail trimming, Peanut butter manicure, Reward-based training, Tennis ball, Touch | 18 Comments »

#FollowFriday Fab Four: August 13, 2010

Aug 13th, 2010 by

This week I’m shouting out to four fab veterinarian tweeps and bloggers.

My girl injured herself–again–while chasing after her beloved ball. Our vets (We consulted both Sadie’s regular vet and an orthopedic specialist.) think she popped, or severely stretched, the superficial digital flexor tendon that attaches to the third toe of her right hind paw. So, first-rate veterinarians, and how much we rely on them for the care and well-being of our dogs, are on my mind.

Nancy Kay, DVM

I first heard Dr. Nancy Kay while listening to NPR. Terry Gross was interviewing her on Fresh Air about her book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Longer Life. I was hooked. I wanted more of this kind, empathic animal doctor. I looked her up on Twitter (@speakingforspot) and recently became a fan on Facebook. And, four paws up for her blog! Of course, Nancy writes informative posts on health issues such as vaccinations, gastric torsion, and nasty foxtails. But, do you know about the smart phone app for calculating whether or not the two ounces of chocolate Fido ate is toxic for her size and weight? No? Go here. How about velcro? Did you know a dog was central to it’s invention? Read this. And, did I tell you she’s an excellent writer? Nancy’s book and her blog were named Award Winners in the Dog Writers Association of American Annual Writing Competition.

Next up is Dr. V. (“Actually, it’s Jessica, followed by a long last name that no one can ever pronounce correctly.”) the author of the blog Pawcurious: Eat. Play. Love. Dr. V. blew me away at BlogPaws last April with her smarts, humor, guts, and passion for animals. She’s a major force behind the Be the Change movement that was spawned at BlogPaws. (You can become a fan of Be the Change here.) Dr. V. famously blogged for 24 hours straight and taste-tested dog food–that’s right, she ate dog food–(kindly donated by Anthony Holloway of K9Cuisine) on YouTube to raise money for animal welfare! Since meeting her I regularly read her dynamic blog, am a fan of Pawcurious, with over 2,000 others, on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter @pawcurious. Dr. V. is candid. It’s one of the many things I admire about her blogging. She doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to difficult topics like puppies that died on a recent American Airlines flight or euthanasia. She also is simultaneously funny and informative as in “Let’s Make a Diagnosis.” And, I thoroughly enjoy her speaking, sometimes exasperatedly and, to my ear humorously, from a veterinarian’s point of view as in “Top 5 Things to Never Say to Your Vet.”

Patty Khuly, DVM

Fully Vetted: A veterinary blog for pet lovers & vet voyeurs is written by Patty Khuly, DVM. Two of the things I enjoy about her blog is the wide range of veterinary-related topics she covers and her writing style. Patty has opinions and she’s not shy about sharing them. Take, for example, “Is Abortion a Sin if You Choose it for Your Cat?” or “Five Things This Veterinarian May Never Understand About Her Clients.” Actually, Patty’s perspective is clear in all of the posts that I’ve read. I particularly appreciated her thoughtfulness and honesty in “The Truth about ‘Titering’ Instead of Vaccination.” Sadie had a reaction to a vaccine (I don’t recall now which one.) when she was a puppy. She developed a lump around the vaccination site. It scared me. So we’ve been using titers to determine whether or not to give her boosters. “The Truth about ‘Titering’…” and the comments following offered an informative overview of a controversial topic. You can follow Patty on Twitter @dolittler and find her on Facebook here.

Lori Huston, DVM

Dr. Lorie Huston’s blog is the Pet Health Care Gazette: Keeping Pets Healthy and Happy from A to Z. Lorie’s writing is personal and engaging. I feel like she’s talking directly to me. In addition to being a reliable resource on pet health issues, Lorie recently invited Jana Rade to write guest posts about Jasmine, “the most beautiful, sweetest, smartest Rottweiler puppy you have ever seen.” Jasmine suffered a host of medical problems from chronic diarrhea to ACL injuries to cancer scares. And, Jana suffered from veterinarians who didn’t listen to her and who refused to consider innovative therapies like injecting stem cells. Finally, Jana found a vet who would work with her and later a veterinarian who practiced TVMC or Traditional Veterinary Chinese Medicine. Jasmine’s is a cautionary tale and Lorie reflects on lessons we can learn from it in “Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?“. For example, “be an advocate for your pet’s health” and “don’t blindly trust your veterinarian.” You can read Jana’s and Jasmine’s story here, here, here, and here. A committed champion for animals Lorie also participates in “Blog the Change for Animals.” Follow Lorie on Twitter @Loriehuston and Facebook.

That’s it for this Friday. I hope you pay a visit to these outstanding veterinarians’ blogs and Facebook pages. Now I have to get back to not taking Sadie for walks and finding ways to tire her out by putting her furry, little brain to work.

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Posted in #FollowFriday Fab Four, Be the Change | 4 Comments »

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