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Get Out of the House for Some Furry Fun Times

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Does your dog love adventure as much as you do? Do you want to bring your furry friend with you when you hit the open road? Depending on the dog’s size and temperament, you may be able to do just that with a little bit of preparation and the right gear. Motorcycle rides, hiking, camping, and other fun vacation and day trips are more fun and relaxing when you bring your dog along.

Hiking Trips

Take your dog with you when you go hiking and you’ll both get the benefits of physical exercise in the great outdoors. Erica May, outdoor enthusiast and REI contributor, regularly takes her dog Kiwi with her on hiking and backpacking trips. She’s advises to always plan ahead and check dog regulations for the trails and areas you want to explore, because some don’t allow dogs. She suggests being prepared for emergencies, possibly taking a first aid class, to be able to take care of your pet in case of injury while out on a trail. May finds a sturdy, short leash works best to keep good control of Kiwi, which is especially important around other people with dogs. She advises dog owners to be mindful of their dog’s physical condition before going on long trips.

Let’s Go Camping

The CampTrip Team says it’s important to prepare a dog camping checklist when you want to take your dog camping with you. She advises bringing the dog’s dog license ID and rabies tags, leash and collar, and a 20 foot lead and stake to hold it. Also bring a dog carrier, crate, or harness and hand wipes, paper towels, and air fresheners for unexpected accidents in the car, as well as poop bags to clean up after your dog wherever you go. Camping dog owners should bring a first aid kit, especially for the dog, that includes things like rubbing alcohol, gauze, vet wrap that sticks without pulling out hair, tick release and tick tweezers, styptic powder to stop bleeding, an extra sock to put over a paw if injured, and first aid gel for pets. She advises making sure the campgrounds are pet friendly and bringing your pet’s dog bed with for something familiar.

Motorcycle Trips with Fido

How can both you and your dog stay safe while on a motorcycle/dirt bike? The right gear from places like Bike Bandit comes in handy when you need gloves, helmet, or tie-downs. Wes Siler of Indefinitely Wild says that bigger dogs require a sidecar for motorcycle trips, but that there are still safety considerations to be taken seriously. He says riding on the open road is more stressful and risky than car rides for dogs, and they need safe restraints for sidecar rides. He uses a harness clipped securely inside the sidecar, but not with the collar, to avoid transferring any traveling forces from braking or stopping to the dog’s neck. He advises motorcycling dog owners to take care to condition their dogs to the new experience of riding with them with short slow trips near home before going out on longer trips.

September 24, 2014 | DogGeek

Is It OK for My Pets to Eat Pests?

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As most dog owners know quite well, pooches of all shapes and sizes seem to have a natural affinity for anything in the yard with six or eight legs. While watching a young pup happily hopping around trying to catch a fly provides us some entertainment, we might wonder if eating said fly is a problem for our beloved four-legged friend.

While an occasional fly is probably not harmful, the following bugs and arachnids should not be considered as safe snack foods for dogs:

Cockroaches

Dogs seem to love crunching—yuck—on big insects like cockroaches, Dogcare notes. While these insects might not be poisonous on their own, their bodies may contain traces of bug poison. For example, if the roach has recently visited a bait station, its body might contain poison that could be harmful for your pet. Even if you don’t use this type of product, your neighbors might—and their toxic roaches might end up in your yard.

In addition, these insects have very hard exoskeletons that can get stuck in your dog’s throat or irritate its gastrointestinal tract. To prevent cockroaches from making themselves at home, Waltham Services suggests keeping your home as clean and free of food debris as possible and sealing up cracks near and around the sinks and light fixtures.

June Bugs

Also known as May beetles or June beetles, these brownish insects are a favorite snack of many dogs. While June bugs are not inherently toxic, pooches who eat too many of them will probably get an upset stomach, and then vomit or have diarrhea, states Pawnation.

Like cockroaches, June bugs can be contaminated with poisons like DDT and Lindane. To prevent your dog from getting ahold of these flying insects, keep a sharp eye out when you are outside on summer evenings, and try to keep your pooch away from lights where June bugs love to hang out.

Bees

Dogs who think they are chasing a fly only to chomp down on an angry bee often learn the hard way that these yellow and black flying insects should be left alone. As Bulldogs World notes, bee stings can be very painful for dogs. If your dog is stung, carefully remove the stinger from his or her mouth or snout. Instead of using tweezers, which can push more venom into the skin, try to quickly scrape it off with a credit card. Once the stinger is out, soothe the area by wiping it down with water mixed with a little baking soda.

If the snout or nose starts to swell up, apply an ice pack for five minutes. While many dogs endure painful bee stings with no lasting effects, keep a close eye on your pooch, and give your vet a call right away if he or she has any trouble breathing or seems to be in a lot of pain.

Moths

Like flies and bees, moths can be a lot of fun for dogs to chase and catch. Some moths naturally contain awful-tasting compounds that discourage animals from eating anything that resembles them, explains Tend Life. However, these noxious substances are probably not enough to get a dog sick. In the case of smaller dogs, it’s probably best to discourage them from eating moths because the wings might get stuck in their throat.

September 4, 2014 | DogGeek

How to Pet Proof Your Home

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We all love the furry additions to our family, but sometimes they can be a real pain. Between fur on the rugs, scratch marks on the new upholstery and cushions that smell like pee, decorating your home can be a challenge. Below are a few tips to keep your furniture and household accents pet-proof so you can enjoy your furry friends.

Section Off the House

If you don’t want a pet in a room at all, use a pet or baby gate, closed door or latch to prevent them from entering. This will not only keep your pets from ruining furniture in a specific room, but could prevent accidental injury from falling off beds, sofas or other high furniture. Establish boundaries early so that you can have an obedient and well-trained furry pal for life!

Create Their Own Space

Want to know why your pets want to get on the furniture? It’s so darn comfortable! Consider purchasing a spray repellent to deter dogs and cats from jumping on the couch or a Sofa ScramTM Sonic Mat, which is a pad with a noisy alarm that trains your pet to stay off. If you want a homemade solution, cats and dogs are reported to hate the sound of a can filled with coins, so you can easily make your own homemade noise maker. You also can leave it sitting on the furniture as a reminder when you’re not home.

Then, entice your pet with some furniture of their own. Create a little sanctuary that’s comfy, safe and cozy with a nice bed, blanket and some of their toys.

Prevent Spraying

Perhaps your cat or dog has started spraying or marking their territory on the legs of your couch or drapes. Not a habit that you want them to continually repeat, right? First, ensure that they feel safe so they don’t feel the need to mark their territory, especially if strange people or other pets are around. If that does not work, make sure the litter box is clean, but not too clean. Use a cat-friendly disinfectant so they feel comfortable and avoid disinfectants that contain phenols, which are toxic to cats, explains Blue Cross for Pets.

The best way to break that habit once it has occurred is to keep the animal away from the area for as long as possible while you remove any residual smell. Consider replacing long drapes at places like The Shade Store that can customize shorter, more pet-friendly options. Also, placing dry food in the same area can prevent your pet from using it again for that purpose.

Replace Damaged Goods

If you’ve read this article too late, it might be time to part with that beloved armchair or rug due to soiling or scratches. Invest in pet-friendly options and train your pets on how to behave around the new items.

For pieces that don’t smell, sell them at a yard sale or take it to your favorite charity or local Goodwill. Other options to consider are shelters, refugee centers and furniture banks. If you plan to claim a donation, first check the IRS database of qualified charitable organizations and Goodwill’s valuation guide.

August 22, 2014 | DogGeek

How to Tell If Your Dog Is Having a Heat Stroke (Infographic)

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Heat stroke is a very serious and deadly condition. When you first think of heat strokes in dogs you think of dogs left in a hot car, but that’s not where most happen. Ensure your dog has adequate shade and water to cool of with in these hot summer days!

Thanks to Pets Best for having this great educational infographic to show how to detect heat strokes in dogs.

August 22, 2014 | DogGeek

Five Fun Outdoor Activities You Can Do with Your Dog (Other than Walking)

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Getting outside with your beloved pooch means grabbing his or her leash and going out for a nice walk around the neighborhood. In addition to giving your four-legged friend some exercise and a chance to check “p-mail,” daily walks are a great way to make sure your dog stays happy and healthy.

But for dogs and their humans who love to get outside as much as possible, there are a wide variety of other fun activities that don’t involve grabbing a leash and a plastic bag to clean up any business transactions that might occur along the way. Consider the following:

Agility

Dogs of all sizes seem to enjoy learning agility courses. As Best Friends notes, agility involves owners guiding their dogs through obstacle courses that include Fido-friendly things like tunnels, slides, balance beams, hoops and much more. Depending on your schedule and the temperament of your dog, you can either join a local agility club and do it for fun, or you can even enter various competitions. While televised agility competitions are generally chock-full of border collies, pretty much any type of dog can get involved in the fun sport. In order to find an agility class in your area, just Google “dog agility” plus the name of your city or town.

Swimming

Most dogs have a natural inclination to swim. While some dogs would rather lie in the sun at the edge of the pool and relax, the vast majority of them will happily dive right in and start dog paddling around. As Nylabone notes, swimming is also a terrific outdoor exercise for dogs because it is low impact; in many cases, even older pooches who have arthritis or hip dysplasia can get some much-needed exercise in a pool. If you have your own pool, invite your dog to join you for some lap swimming—just be sure to wash his or her fur off afterwards to remove as much of the chlorine as possible.

ATV Riding

If you love going out on your ATV but hesitate leaving your dog home alone, it’s very possible that your four-legged friend will enjoy an ATV ride as much as you do. In order to make the ride as comfy as possible for your pooch, visit a gear store like MotoSport to purchase some aftermarket ATV accessories like a rack; this will allow you to modify your ATV so that your dog can ride with you as safely as possible. In many cases, dogs will readily hop up on a rear rack and happily cruise around with you on your property or a local dirt trail.

Exploring a beach

Dogs seem to have a natural affinity for sand and water. As Active notes, if you live near a sandy beach, by all means take Fido along as often as you can and let him or her run, sniff and explore. If you are on vacation and fortunate enough to have your dog with you, you can also enjoy some beach time activity during your time away from home.

Hiking

While many national parks do not allow dogs on the trails, there are plenty of state parks that welcome hiking pooches. The Hike With Your Dog website will help you to find dog-friendly hiking trails that are close to home. To be on the safe side, bring along a K9 first aid kit, plastic poo bags and plenty of water for both of you.

August 18, 2014 | DogGeek

What to Leave for the Dog Sitter When Traveling

No one wants to leave their dog at home when traveling, it’s like going without your best friend! Sometimes you have to though and when you do we like to our’s to be able to stay at home so we get a dog sitter. Dog sitters are great! Not only do your pets get to stay at home, you also get a house sitter and sometimes, with multiple dogs, it ends up being cheaper than boarding. When leaving though, always check the list below to make sure you left everything the dog sitter will need.

Food – Always leave more food than the amount needed for the days you are away, you never know if you may be extended due to other circumstances.
Food bowls – Make sure the food bowls, scoops and anything else needed is out for them to find.
Medications – Leave out all the meds your dogs need along with exact instructions on how to give them and how often.
Emergency Contact – You may not be available if an emergency happens. Always have a backup plan in place and let them know they are the backup plan.
Toys – Make sure all your pup’s favorite toys are out. The dog sitter may not know where to get them.
Crates – If your dogs are crate trained and that is their safe place, ensure that it is open and accessible.
Treats – Ensure these are out but also ensure that you leave instructions about how and when you give them. Last thing you want is to come home to a dog that has been getting 10 treats an hour.
Old towels – In case of accident, you don’t want your good towels used ;-)
Poop bags – You know you want them to clean up!
Your contact information and itenerary – This way your dog sitter knows where you at and when they can get in touch with you.
Collar – Make sure your dog’s collar is on and that the contact information is readable just in case they get out.

Find a dog sitter for your next trip >>

July 21, 2014 | DogGeek