A month or so into our new family set up and we receive the urgent e-mail desparately calling for Foster Parents at the Camp.  Before you know it we have a foster dog named Petunia, a 5 year old Boxer/Lab mix. Sue thought she would do well with HoneyBear who could teach her to play and work through her shyness.  Miss Petunia has turned out to be the most lovable lady.  As Sue put it, most definitely an observer of others.  She likes to watch Honey play with her friend Tundra and will join in occasionally but would prefer to play one on one.  She is a kisser and loves to cuddle on the floor or in a chair or on the bed, but, will get down when asked.  She loves to walk and will go anywhere you go.  Well behaved and house broken she will go into her crate with a little nudge and a cookie when I go out.  She has an expressive face with big watery eyes that will melt your heart.  She loves to play with her rope knot over her kong but will also chase a ball with some encouragement.  I just know that Petunia would be a best companion for anyone single, married or family with older children (above 7 or 8yrs old).  Miss Petunia is just so happy to be around people you can’t help but love her.  She has opened up over the last 3 weeks socializing with other dogs, and people.  She has more than the basics down pat.  Sit, Stay, Wait, Corner, Down (all the way), Owww!, No Touch, and loves to hear “What a good dog”.  The right “forever home” is out there just waiting for her, we know it!

A huge thank you to Sue (Steiner) for always being there on the other end of the phone, her honesty and integrity when dealing with canine care and welfare.

Liz & Ray and Crew!

What can you do to help raise awareness on International Homeless Pets Day? Here are just a few ideas:

• Adopt a homeless pet
• Visit your local shelter or rescue and volunteer to walk or play (socialize) with the animals
• Find out what your local shelter or rescue needs and supply (some of) it. For instance, the THS is currently in need of towels, blankets, children’s pools and biodegradable bags for “poop ‘n’ scoop”
• Next time you’re at the grocery store, pick up some extra puppy or kitten food and drop it off at the animal shelter
• If you Tweet or Facebook, post a message and photo about a homeless pet to help it find a home (you can repost the daily Pet of the Day on the THS Facebook site)
• Blog about the situation.
• Spay or neuter your pets and encourage others to do the same

Read the full article

The raw diet is not just a hot topic for humans, but dogs as well. Although quite controversial in the veterinarian community, it was recently endorsed by Oprah’s vet, Dr. Marty Goldstein. We spoke with Susan Steiner, a purveyor of the raw food diet. Susan is the owner of Camp Lotsa Dogs, an overnight facility where dogs can vacation or be treated holistically for various health conditions. She feeds all of the dogs a raw food diet, with tremendous results, and her products are now available for sale.

1 ) Can you briefly explain the concept of raw food for dogs?

Biologically Appropriate Raw Food isn’t a new concept. It’s what dogs ate before  commercial food and convenience came along. Dogs were bred for jobs and most ate with their ‘masters’ out in the wild or whatever we ate at home, sometimes even cooked food. A dog’s digestive system hasn’t changed in over 3,000 years in spite of approximately 60 years of commercial processed food. They are meant to eat their meat, fruit, veggies, fish, raw. They can’t cook, can’t make a fire. They’re scavengers and always have been, so they eat and can digest whatever is available.

A dog’s immune system is compromised by poor nutrition, same as ours is. It is improved with good nutrition. It’s not that commercial food is ‘bad’ per se, the companies certainly add vitamins and supplements to it, but that’s the problem. The food has to have these things added because the nutrients are killed in the processing.

2 ) What general benefits would one see in their dog?

What they should see is a beautiful, shinier, softer coat within four days. They should see skin, ear, eye problems disappear completely. They should see hair growth where bald spots are within three days. People should see an increase in energy levels and a decrease in hyperactivity and anxiety.

3 ) What types of health conditions would the diet be good for?

All of them, from ear, skin to alopecia (we grew a full coat of hair on a Pomeranian with an “untreatable condition”), anxiety, digestive problems, immune problems, and allergies. I believe 100% that many dogs are reacting to the fillers, preservatives and additives in their food and frankly so are humans.

4 ) Any contra-indications for certain breeds, or other health issues?

No really, no. The diet can be tailored to any dog, any breed. Homeopathic supplements may be needed to kick start the immune and digestive systems again.

With the controversy over Menu foods and the sudden interest in a raw diet, what scares me is that a little knowledge IS a dangerous thing. Research is the key to do it yourself and yes, there is more conflicting information available out there, so much so that it kept me from doing it for years. Once you accumulate the information you need, ask people already doing it. Remember, you know your dog better than anyone.

5 ) Are you concerned about the possibility of salmonella or anti-biotic resistance?

How to put this delicately? Dogs lick their butts, eat garbage and drink from puddles. Seems to me they have a pretty good built in system for killing bacteria. WE have to wash our hands and wipe the counter. I use human grade and I honestly don’t believe our food is so antibiotic packed anymore so why would they become antibiotic resistant? My dogs haven’t been on any antibiotics for two years now, they don’t get infections that require them because their immune systems are working. I give them probiotics (the good bacteria from yogurt) in the food. Rotten anything, spoiled dairy – that can kill them and us.

6 ) What is involved in preparing raw dog food at home?

First and foremost – Research. It isn’t slap some meat in a bowl. There’s a balance of meat to fruit/veggie/fish, there’s nutrients dogs need which I cover with Udo’s Pet Essentials or Dogs & Udo’s 3,6,9 oil. I use these products because we can easily miss things in the variety of foods we make for them.

Second, buy your meat in bulk, fresh then bag it into portions you can use up in 4-5 days. Stay away from ‘trim’, that’s just generally fat, muscle, stuff you’d never eat in a million years. If it’s labeled ‘dog food’ it’s likely swept up off the floor. Fruit/veggie/fish/supplements – all can be done in a food processor, bagged in proportion to your meat and frozen. Defrost, scoop & serve – like dry commercial only wet. It isn’t rock science and it isn’t hard.

7 ) What food should be avoided?

Grapes of any colour and onions. Don’t mix meat with melon or citrus – it rots in their stomachs and causes gas and diarrhea. Melon they can have as a snack when you do. Other than that, any thing in season, canned with no sugar, is fine.

8 ) What are your own dogs’ favourite foods?

I have 2 labs and 2 papillons. They eat anything I eat pretty much and people are shocked to see them eating Caesar salad or apples, peaches, whatever I eat. What’s important to note is that there are people and books that can tell you about raw diets, assess the various problems, and a tailor a recipe for your dog. If your dog has a problem then you can be  certain there are at least 1,000 other dogs with the same problem. They shouldn’t have to suffer and we have to start questioning everything.

Download full article (PDF)

Your Heart Worm testing policy is especially notable as a scam of the greatest magnitute netting vets with 1000 clients in excess of $30,000 in May of each year alone.

Everyone thinks they are alone in being taken advantage of in your policies and practices but it is my intention in this new year to make everyone aware that they do not have to take this crap from you.

This is the email regarding Dr Chapin and Harwood pet hospital specifically but i have well over 1000 people in readership on my blog and i will do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure people know that your policies may apply to your members but they DO NOT APPLY TO US:

One of our adoptors went in to bring their new dog for an exam, poop test and get the 2 boxes of revolution the dog needed to complete heart worm treatement (main treatment had been started by a licenced, competent vet and all paperwork provided from them with address and tel# too) Simple right? WRONG!

The client met with Dr Chapin who looked over the paper work and said ‘OH MY GOD!! IT’S ILLEGAL TO BRING A DOG ACROSS THE BOARDER WITHOUT A PARVO SHOT! (parvo shot was given and listed and all a dog needs technically is a rabies shot anyway). and ‘OMG HE’S NOT NEUTERED!!” (never felt the empty place btewn his legs? AND it was listed on the paperwork) and ‘OMG HE HAS HEARTWORM” (no shit dear glad you suddenly learned to read) and a few other ‘OMG!!”s as well too numberous and TOO STUPID to mention.

ANYWAY, the ‘Dr’ called me and i told her he’s BEEN TREATED and WHERE in the paperwork she could find it and all they needed was Revolution and she said (i kid you not) ‘OMG!! I HAVE TO TEST FIRST” and i said “OMG!! NO YOU DON’T! HE’S BEEN TESTED ALREADY! HOW DO YOU THINK THEY FOUND OUT HE WAS HW POSITIVE ???”
She said the OVMA requires her to test b4 giving out the Revolution and i said ‘ I seriously doubt the OVMA made you the only one able to test in the world’ and he was tested so give them the stuff cuz the test right now will be positive as it will be for the next 8 mos so you are ripping this woman off.

She said she needed to know the serverity of the HW and i said no you don’t cuz no one is asking for your opinion on treatment options thanks anyway,..
She then said she needed to LOOK UP TREATMENT options and i reminded her that AN EXPERIENCED VET TREATED HIM ALREADY and you can’t find out the SERVERITY IF HE’S ALREADY BEEN TREATED!!

When we’d hung up she gave the dog  a HW TEST ANYWAY AND ANOTHER PARVO SHOT FOR NO REASON!!, essentially double dosing a dog recovering from HW and it’s treatment, then tells the client that she will get salmonella if her dog eats raw food and he WILL GET NO VITAMINS OR NUTRITION from it DESPITE THE DOG HAVING GAINED WEIGHT ON IT, LOOKING AMAZING, having great teeth etc… (that’s my next campaign – fear mongering and zero knowledge on a topic but spouting propoganda like gospel)
She did the bloodwork inspite of being told not to by HER PAYING CLIENT and shot the dog with another vaccine DESPITE BEING TOLD NOT TO BY HER PAYING CLIENT and THEN PRESENTS HER WITH A BILL FOR OVER $200!! IS SHE NUTS???

You Just don’t DO THAT HARWOOD PET HOSPITAL OR ANY PLACE FOR THAT MATTER. WE ARE THE CLIENTS! You ASK US WHAT WE WANT DONE AND YOU DO IT! We are NOT CHILDREN OR MORONS WHO’S WALLETS YOU CAN JUST DIP IN TO AT WILL!

After i called her back and reamed her out she called the client the next day and refunded $207. But that’s not the point.

I am really tired of having this experience myself with vets other than my three current ones and of hearing this from all my friends & clients having these experiences.
With the current ‘policy’ of HW testing each May at an avewrage of $30 per dog per test if the clinic has 1000 clients THAT’S $30,000 DOLLARS TO THE CLINIC FOR NOTHING!! And b4 you tell me that you catch HW+ dogs i say PROVE THERE ARE ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY BLANKET TESTING WHEN ONTARIANS USE HW PREVENTION and why not wait til SIGNS of illness are there? I HAVE SEEN THE SIGNS AND SO HAVE YOUR MEMBERS many times more than i have so this is absolute nonesense that there could be justification for your POLICY.

How many of of us have done the test year after year to be told (thankfully) that your dog tested negative??  There is LITTLE HW in Ontario BECAUSE WE USE PREVENTION and if you use prevention regularly on the 1st of eah month for 6 months your dog won’t get HW and IF HE DOES GET HW THEN REVOLUTION WITH PAY FOR TREATMENT and IF HE DOES GET HW THE SIGNS ARE THERE!!   You’ll go to your vet cuz he’s acting sick AND GET A BLOOD TEST!

So where do the vets and OMVA get the idea that they can make policies involving our dogs and our money??

If you’re fed up please stop being quiet about it – YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN BEING TREATED THIS WAY – THEY DO IT TO EVERYONE!

Write to

Doug Raven    
Chief Executive Officer   
draven@ovma.org

or any other executives http://www.ovma.org/about_ovma/staff.html or write to them all – I DID.

The originating story can from a client and volunteer here who also uses one of the same vets i use so i know it’s verified.

I imagine most of you don’t use Hartz but as vets and products become more expensive and we see 1-800- petmeds with cheaper products we can’t get we turn to cheaper products in our petstores and petstores DO CARRY THIS SHIT altho the ones i talked to say they ‘don’t recommend it to anyone’ – well if you’re actively ‘not recommending it’ how about you DON’T CARRY IT EITHER??

People – YOU REALLY DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR so please be careful – if it’s ‘cheap’ it’s likely cheap quality too

From Stephanie:

Hartz Flea and Tick Drops.  Almost killed our pets.

We usually use Advantage Plus for our 3 dogs throughout the summer months to avoid fleas and ticks and we don’t need anything for our cats as they stay indoors and with the dogs treated our cats can’t get anything. We have never had a flea in the house. We have always been advised by the vet that once the colder weather arrives we no longer need to treat the dogs.

This year by mid September we were having frost at night, but we had a vey hot and humid summer that I didn’t take into consideration. I didn’t bother going to the Vet and getting another box of Advantage, once the frost hits fleas die outside so our flea season is over.

Monday night watching t.v with a cat on one side and a dog on another I felt a mosquito like bite on my ankle. I looked and it was a FLEA. I flipped out and went to the only place open at that time at night, 10:30pm to get something to address the issue. Well Wal-Mart it was, sine it was the only place that was open that late.

I have never used over the counter flea or tick prevention before as I thought that it was not as effective as the Vet products. I have always seen Hartz products in the pet stores so thought I would give it a shot since if you can buy it, it must be safe as long as you use it correctly. We also have 6 cats that needed to be treated now and the cost of Advantage is high so I picked up the flea and tick shampoo for cats and dogs and then the Ultra Plus flea and tick drops for both cats and dogs. I totally thought that I got a deal, so much cheaper then the Vet stuff and problem solved. We got home bathed all the pets, when they dried off we applied the Ultra Plus Flea and Tick drops to all the cats and dogs. I thought that all was ok and went off to bed. We followed the instrctions on te box to a tee.

The next morning my boyfriend is screaming for me to come see the cats. I was horrified to see that 3 of our cats look like they are having a seizure. Poor things are curled up twitching and shaking uncontrollably. I put them all in the carriers and rushed to the vet. When I arrived and told the Vet Tec that we had used Hartz products on them, they rushed me in to see a Vet ASAP.  The Vet took one look at my 3 little ones and told me they were all suffering from TOXICITY. I was stunned. He told me that Hartz products are terrible for pets and can cause DEATH to both cats and dogs. Cats and small dogs are especially sensitive to these cheep products. I was in a state of shock.

I had to leave all three cats at the Vet for 3+ nights for them to do blood work and put them on IV fluids to get the toxins out of their system. That was $585 per cat. the Vet instructed me to go home right away and wash all the pets with anything but Hartz soap even if I didn’t see any troublesome signs, as we might see signs within 24hrs.

As I was filling out the paper work, the Vet Tec told me that a woman was in the week before with 2 cats that had the same issue, she used the Hartz flea drops on her cats. Unfortunately she waited too long to bring them in and they died as they were trying to set the IV drips.  The vet tec also had told me that this year they have seen the most cats and dogs with serious side effects with Hartz flea and tick products.

We have not had an issue with our dogs or other cats and our cats at the vet are ok NOW….Thank God!!! We do have a $1755 + tax bill that I have to pay tomorrow when I pick up may cats. Plus another $250.50 for Advantage Flea Prevention for all of the pets.

If I had any idea that these products were not safe, I would have not even considered using them.  After this terrible ordeal we went through, I had found so much info about Hartz products.

I hope this story will help all pet owners when purchasing over the counter flea and tick remedies.  Just because they are there on the shelves of our trusted pet retailers doesn’t mean they are safe.

-Stephanie Jackson

Hartz pet products are sold over the counter everywhere from grocery stores, Wal-Mart and our well trusted pet retail stores.  Hartz products are NOT vet approved and have been causing terrible side effects and/or death to cats and dogs.

Side Effects of Hartz products

Always carefully read the instructions before using. Make sure the product is for a cat, kitten, dog or puppy this is determined by age and weight. Do not use dog products on cats. Keep the receipt for the product. Also, keep the packaging and container. These are important to keep for a few reasons: Proof of purchase, the batch designation code and contact information.

Known Adverse Reactions -
Crying or howling
Excessive drooling
Depression
Vomiting
Dizziness or symptoms related to balance
Convulsions or seizures
Tremors of the extremities, twitching,
Hypo or Hyperthermia Disorientation
Difficulties breathing
Paralysis In extreme cases
Death may result from prolonged seizure activity or respiratory failure.

Recommended Actions For Owners-
Always monitor your pets when you have applied any flea product closely for the first few hours and then check at 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours

If you notice you’re pet starting to act differently after applying any flea and tick product you must try to get as much of the product off as possible. Bathe the pet with a mild dish soap such as Dawn. Make sure to get all the soap out of the coat and dry the pet to prevent chilling. Avoid extremes in temperature of water. Hot increases absorption and cold increases toxicity.

Have someone call your Vet while you are bathing your pet.
Get you’re pet to a Vet as soon as possible. Take the packaging from the product with you.

Possible Emergency Vet Treatment
Seizures are controlled with anticonvulsants/muscle relaxants. If necessary, the patient’s airway is secured and is ventilated. Intravenous fluids are administered to maintain hydration and blood pressure. Treat hyperthermia.
LENGTH OF HOSPITAL STAY:
Most animals recover within 24-48 hour or longer depending on the animal
Vet Costs
Usually from $100.00 to $1000.00 per pet and may be more depending on the required treatments

CURRENT INFORMATION FOR FILING COMPLAINTS- Hartz and Over the Counter Flea Treatments

The owners of Hartz Mountain-
Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA)
President and CEO Michihisa Shinagawa
EVP and CFO Masato Sugimori
Media Relations Masao Miyamoto
There Amerciacn offices- New York (Headquarters)
Sumitomo Corporation of America
600 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10016-2001
Tel: 212.207.0700 Fax: 212.207.0456
Web site /http://www.sumitomocorp.com/
Email contact atlhttp://www.sumitomocorp.com/contact.html

Hartz Mountain Corp-
Call Hartz at 1-800-275-1414 and make a complaint.
Follow that with a written complain.
Consumer Relations Department
The Hartz Mountain Corporation
400 Plaza Drive
Secaucus , NJ 07094 USA
Email http://www.hartz.com/Contact%20Us/index.asp
Web site http://www.hartz.com/

Hartz Canada INC.
1125 Talbot Street, ST Thomas,
Ontario N5P 3W7
Tel: (519)631-7660
Toll free number is 1-800-275-1414
Rosemary Tini is their Consumers Relations Department.

EPA-
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs (Mail Code 7509C) Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20460
E-mail: opp-web-comments@epa.gov
When contacting the EPA directly (provide them with the EPA Reg. # of the product, which is printed on the packaging)

EPA National Pesticide Information Center
(NPIC): 1-800-858-7378, seven days a week excluding holidays,
from 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Time – or fax them on (514) 737-0761 –
Email at npic@ace.orst.edu
They maintain a database of pesticide-related illnesses for the EPA. The EPA uses this database to determine if dangerous pesticide products need to be removed from the market.

FDA
Have your Vet or Vets Assistant file a complaint.They may submit an adverse reaction report by contacting the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration at the web address: www.fda.gov/cvm/contactcvm/contactCVM.html

Center for Veterinary Medicine -
“Report a Drug Reaction”. You can also submit an adverse drug reaction to the by telephoning 1-888-332-8387.

HSUS-
The HSUS would also like to keep track of these cases.* Please send your contact information, the product name, a brief description of the health problem, and a brief summary of your veterinarian’s findings to The HSUS at the following address:
The Humane Society of the United States
Companion Animals Department: Flea Products
2100 L St. NW Washington, D.C. 20037

Our second annual Christmas in September fundraiser was a huge success and fun was had by all!

What REALLY makes me proud and happy at something like this fundraiser is seeing all the rescues who were adopted and they look HAPPY, FATTER, WELL LOVED compared to how i had to see them on a kill shelters website to pick them and then to see them when they arrive here and they are emaciated, wormy, sick, frightened…. LOOK AT THEM NOW!! )

If you didn’t make the fair and WISH you had pics like these please contact Sarah to see where she is doing other fundraisers or book her privately as well. www.sarahjbarger.com You can also see the slide show on her site under client viewings.

I love to see the green grass and blue skies in Xmas pics – unique and with all the green & red & white Decorations… definitely unique – also a lot easier to book Sarah well b4 December) And LOOK AT THE BLACK DOGS !! YOU CAN SEE THEM!!

We raised about $1800 dollars at this event and i hope more people will attend next year at the THIRD annual… The weather was great, not too hot for the dogs or the people, the leash free area and the pool were well used and it’s nice to have a safe place to leave your dog while you look around or have AMAZING burgers courtesy of Buckingham Meats BBQ’d perfectly by our own Ed.

Silent Auction table and flea market were manned by Sandra & AJ and Laura and Steph did parking direction b4 helping there too.

REMEMBER 3rd SATURDAY OF EVERY SEPTEMBER!! COME! SIT! STAY!

This is for the rescues – www.petfinder.com/shelters/ON258.html as always.

Join us please for a relaxing, fun night to talk about dogs, learn about behavour training and meet some nice dog people! Those of you who’ve adopted in the last couple months can come and meet others who’ve adopted or are dog owners too and you can learn from each other, avoid a lot of ‘common’ dog problems too.

We still have Briar Tuck since Feb and a better dog you can’t imagine! Emily is ‘Cell Dog Trained’ and perfect and we love her to pieces! Apollo is still with us 11mos now.  Sophie and Paulina, here a long time and both great dogs. Clyde or Lugnut as we call him, and Huey are HUGE at 115 & 125lb respectively.

Big dogs like these are LESS energy and time consuming than smaller or ‘regular’ breeds, they usually don’t want to sleep on your bed cuz you make it too crowded and hot and they can only sleep in one place at a time and you’d be surprised at how LITTLE SPACE THEY TAKE UP.

They are loving, good conversation stoppers or starters, Chick and Guy magnets and all around great dogs. both are 2 yrs old and Clyde is a little more energetic than Huey but nothing like a lab puppy.

What’re we funding this time? More Heart worm meds for July, August and Sept (til the next fundraiser – Xmas In Sept – 2nd annual) and I have 6 dogs here from a lady who is in a woman’s shelter with her kids but slept in her car for three months rather than give up her dogs! Shelters don’t take them and obviously not a lot of places can take that many dogs – nor would they want to when even costs aren’t covered but with your help she can still have her dogs when her life is in order.

The dogs are 14 yr old Mike, 10 yr old Cherry, 13 yr old Buddy and Tucker, Jersey and Baily who are three Jack russells all young and having fun. She ended up with her dad’s 3 dogs when he died and her life went to crap. Her dogs are here having fun and away from the stress and margaret can focus on getting well, getting a place to live and a job without worrying about her dogs.

I need to feed them, Hw med them and two are pretty old and can use some homeopathics too.

Also we have new dogs arriving on june 28th so they all need deworming, antibiotics and god knows some one will end up sick with pneumonia from kennel koff b4 the week is over!

So please come help us and have some fun too!

Unfortunately the pub is not set up to have our dogs there so we can’t bring them.

Next event – we are looking to do a full day with John Wade this time instead of a 1/2  day www.johnwade.ca only this time you’ll have booked time with him for one on one after the group session to work on something you need fixed.
It’ll cost apprx $175 for families and $90/per person but again dogs can come. We’re looking at mid july and we will start early for coolness altho we have the outbuildings for shade and the dog’s pools are open for them too.

NOTE: we will only do the seminar by RSVP AND PMT BY CREDIT CARD. we had a few too many people not show up and these seminars are to help YOU, not cost ME money please.

We also will be carrying John Wade’s Collars he designed along with our Good Dog Collars. They work well, are great for people who want to work with their dogs and train them and also easier for people with arthrits especially to use which is really great! We have all sizes. and will have his utube instructional video on our www.SuSteiner.ca website in a couple days.

Our Good Dog Collar is for us lazy dog owners, older people, busy people who have kids in tow or strollers and tired ones who don’t feel like being pulled or pulling or jerking and are always available too.

Whatever makes walking a pleasure is GREAT FOR YOUR DOG! the BEST BREED OF DOG IS AN EXHAUSTED DOG!

Hopefully we’ll see many of you on the 30th and hear from those who want to help with the 50/50 draw.

We are STILL waiting for charity status and will keep you posted.

Bestest
Su & Dave & Crew

Let me preface this with all is beautiful…we are in the honeymoon – but did I ever F/U big time yesterday:

Rockie is glued to me with this umbilicalling – to the point where (cause the house is so small) I trip over him. His has little separation issues I think…I’m definately his person. Anyway – Off I go to do two massages in the treatment room – and put him in his crate…where his is generally well behaved with only a little whine
here n’ there. I show him to my last client who will sometimes come over to take him out in the future and we go to the back yard for a little stretch n’ pee. All’s well. Then I have to rush off to a meeting and thinking “oh, poor Rockie has been in his crate so long and he’s sooo good…I’ll just leave him in the mud room where his crate
is…and crack the window an inch or two (it’s over a stairway so rather awkward to get to)…and what can go wrong. I’m sure you know.

I got back to my neighbour saying ….my “what a little escape artiste you have!”…I thought I’d poop myself on the spot!!! (Visions of $100/hr dog behaviourist searches dancing in my head….OMG WHERE CAN HE BE???) and Katie says – “oh, no…I figured you were with a clientsto I
just put the window back down and put him back in the house.” So – with his opposable thumbs (that’d be his nose) – he nudged up the window and leaped through the screen and then had a little visit with the neighbour
and promptly sat down on the front porch at the door to wait for me.

Funnier…my tax guy came to drop off the quote for the yearly damages…and Rockie just let him in n’ out….then the neighbour called out to him and he followed her right back into our house. So there he was. All happy. EGAD! Anyway – lesson has been profoundly driven home for someone who needs “repetition for the reluctant mind”. I get it….give him a rope and he’ll hang me! (Or drive the car into a post).

Anyway – from there on…with a little thought about behaviour guiding us at all times…he’s been a dream. Great walks. Beginning to listen far more to commands. Snoozing happily while I type away here. He’s
off to the crate while I work. I did do the bang pots/throw one yesterday…and sleep was dreamy last night.

We found a fenced double tennis court and took him out for ball throwing this a.m. It’s wonderful…

But I get it. Lessons come …. but slowly and I won’t give in to the heart…rather use the head. What is it….”exercise/discipline then love”. In that order for safety.

So off again. Maybe I can get through the next week without having sins to confess and just happy learning time.

Cheers
Have a good one
Elaine