Your Dog's Activity Level

Some dog owners find themselves getting frustrated by the level of activity their new dog is exhibiting, especially when it is paired with destructive behavior (like chewing). If you are a parent, then you'll remember when (or be experiencing now!) the activity bursts that a toddler gets as soon as they figure out how to walk, and then, run. All that energy is part of their learning process. Large and small motor skill development. Balance. Muscle building. Teething.

Same holds true for your dog. They need to run, jump, crawl, climb, dig, search, hide and chew. The mistake some owners make is that they try to control this energy rather than help the dog expend the energy. A puppy will do well with two or three 30 minutes walks a day to burn off their excess energy, a mature dog with about two 30 minute walks a day, and an older dog with either two 15 minute walks, or one easy 30 minute walk, depending upon their hip and joint lubrication.

Once that energy is burned off, you'll find your dog will listen better, come back to the house pooped and rest for a few hours, become a better listener on the walks because, as creatures of habit, they recognize it as part of their daily activity. Even if you are time-strapped, as most of us are, find the time to take your dog out and you'll reap the rewards of a well-behaved pet. If you don't have the time, invest in the services of a dog walker, even if only a few times a week and you'll have a much happier home environment, with a dog who is HAPPY to see you come home, rather than ANXIOUS, waiting for your return.

Fashion Week...for the Dogs!

We've all heard of Fashion Week, but did you know that human fashion is crossing the line to doggie fashion? About 4 years ago, Alexa Cach helped co-found Pet Fashion Week, and the response has been astounding. Wall Street Journal's Alexandra Marshall takes an inside look at what Pet Fashion is all about! Worth the read!

Back to School

For many of us, this week has been back-to-school for our kids. If you don't have kids, then you'll still have been affected by the surge in traffic as everyone hits the roads to make the 8 am bells on time.This morning, as my daughter was getting ready, she was very nervous for her first day back at school. Her head was all over the place, and she couldn't eat her breakfast. But a few things were confidence inspiring for her.

1. The alarm had been set the night before, with plenty of leeway time for bathroom, nerves, and any other disasters!
2. She had picked out her outfit last week, and it was washed and ready -- laid out on her bed for the morning.
3. Her backpack was packed and ready.

Nerves aside, she wanted to please me by following the routine to the best of her ability. And she did great. Once she was back in the familiar territory of the school playground and met up with some of her friends, she looked back at me with a smile and a wave and off she went. To start Grade 3.

Why tell this story? Because our dogs are so very similar in their desire to please us. Dogs do not go out of their way to cause problems, be mischevious or not listen. In fact, the opposite is true. Dogs want to please their owners. When they become destructive, it is because they don't understand the ground rules, are bored, unhappy, or need more exciting exercise.

Just like our kids, they need a routine. The need to be fed every day at the same time or they become anxious about their food. They need to go on a good walk at least once a day -- for exercise, to smell their territory and make sure their neighborhood is safe (patrolling their boundaries), they need love, they need praise for a job well done, and they need consistent correction on those things they do not do well.

Because, in addition to providing walking/sitting services for dogs and cats, I also bring dogs into my home for a premium boarding experience, I see so many different behaviors and themes.
The first thing is that your dog (like your child) is a reflection of your care. If you love your dog, that is evident in the way your dog interacts in my home. If you allow them liberties, they'll try to take those same liberties in my home. However, I have house rules. (Doesn't mean they are followed, but dog boarders learn what the rules are.)

Here they are:

1. No eating off a counter or table.
2. No sitting or jumping on my living room sofa or chairs.
3. The den sofa is allowed if the dog is allowed on furniture in your home.
4. No fighting. If you can't agree over a toy it gets taken away.
5. If you feel very energetic and want to run around like a nut, do so outside in the garden, not in the living room.
6. Keep the squirrels away from my fruit trees.
7. Behave well on your walks.

All the dogs who board with me get to understand the rules within a couple of days and the results are remarkable. My dog, Daisy, knows how to train the dogs to use the doggie door, which they all do within a couple of hours. Once they know that, the rest of the rules are easy. Do they follow all the rules? No...not always. But they KNOW what the rules are and they get lots of praise when they control their urge to go against the rules and gentle correction when they break the rules. They also know, solely because of the way I act toward them (like a loving, guiding, strong parent), that I'm the boss of the house and they are very eager to get my praise, love and attention (which I'm also very eager to give!)

When I pick up my daughter from school today, at the end of her first day, she also has a few rules for me:

1. Be cool. Don't say anything like: "Sweet!" "Word." or "Peace Out."
2. Don't hug or kiss her too much until we get to the car.
3. Don't embarrass her in front of her friends (that means basically anything I do will embarrass her -- a losing proposition!)
4. As soon as we get to the car, kiss her, hug her, ask her a million questions about her day and make sure she knows she's still my baby.

Just moving to Los Angeles with your Dog?

Blue skies, sun, warm weather, beaches...and apartments that may or may not allow your dog! Whether you have just moved to Los Angeles and have installed yourself in a high end corporate complex (like the Oakwood) or have found yourself in a hotel or on a distant relative's sofa, chances are that you may experience some stress about how you will care for your pet when you vacation, travel, or, as is often the case in LA, work and drive long hours each day.

That's where Pooch Buddies can really help out. If you can imagine the type of care you want to provide for your dog or cat, we can usually support it. I've got some wonderful, caring, and very responsible staff who absolutely LOVE animals and may border on "dog-crazy"! What that means is that we will, literally, go the extra mile for your pooches and kitties.

If you work long hours, we can help out with an early morning, mid-day, afternoon, or evening visit/walk/playtime. If you travel we can provide overnight care in your home or multiple visits during the day and evening. Alternatively, we board a very limited number of dogs in Encino in a cage-free, home environment. Those spaces fill up quickly, and even with overflow boarding, the earlier you book in your vacation plans, the better. Need to leave your dogs with us and have cats at home? Not a problem, either. We'll arrange for home visits for your cats, bring in the mail, water your plants, change your lights and take out the trash!

Our goal is to take away your stress, and ensure your pets are well-cared for!

Dangers of Summer Heat - Watch your Pets

We experienced an unusually hot week in Los Angeles last week. A couple of afternoons, the temperature hit 118 degrees and then some. Walking dogs was quite a challenge and it was very important to watch for overheating while at the same time giving the animals a break from their day inside their homes.

As a pet owner, you need to treat your animal as you would your small child. That means no leaving them in a car in hot weather -- even with windows open, the temperatures rise quickly. On a usual "hot" day temperatures can get into triple digits...imagine what an oven your car can become on a day in the 90's or low 100's. Dogs can only cool themselves through panting and the pads of their feet. They can easily overheat in the car and in just a few short minutes -- even if you are parked in the shade and even if you have windows cracked open.

If you leave your dogs outside, make sure they can find plenty of cool shade and have access to cool water to drink. Try freezing small buckets of ice and then letting them melt in a water bowl over several hours.

Looking to add to our team of Dog Walkers/Pet Sitters!

If you are a reader who lives in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles and are interested in working for Pooch Buddies, please send me an email along with your resume to info@genplususa.com. We're rapidly expanding and if you love animals, love walking, and like the idea of getting paid while exercising, then Pooch Buddies is for you!

Overweight Dogs...Who is to Blame for That?

That cute little face peeks at you just under the edge of the dining room table, or cuddled up at your feet while you are watching TV...and you think to yourself...how bad could it be to give her a little, teeny bit of my biscotti?

Before you know it, all that TV watching, biscotti eating has resulted in your dog being 10-15% overweight. And that is bad. The more your dog is overweight, the more he/she is at risk for the same diseases we humans suffer from...diabetes, heart problems...and for dogs, there is an additional great risk of osteo-arthritis. In the case of my baby, she has double hip dysplasia, which means moderate, controlled exercise and a highly controlled diet to keep as much weight off her hips as possible.

How many times a day are you taking your dog for a good walk? Your dog needs about 30 - 60 minutes of good walking/running a day to stay in good shape. Just like we do. Dog walking services (like Pooch Buddies) are becoming an increasingly bigger business as our dog's waistlines rise, and our busy lives stop us from exercising our pets on a regular basis. There are dog trainers, dog walkers, pet sitters, dog runners, park hoppers...you name it. And all with one goal in mind. To keep your dogs happy and healthy.

If you can't afford the services of a good dog walker, then just make sure you turn off the TV a little more often, put the biscotti aside (and not in Fido's mouth), and get out for a good, brisk, healthy, weight controlling walk.

Hip Dysplasia

One of the chances that you take when you adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue is that it will develop diseases along the way -- some of them that don't show up until a dog reaches adulthood. My dog, Daisy, was a rescue from the Bill Foundation in Los Angeles. They were thorough in their evaluation of my home as a place for my dog to live, but as my dog was only a year or so old when I got her, her bones and joints would not have been fully formed.

Daisy and I love going to the dog park. She's a runner/chaser and loves to retrieve tennis balls. A short while ago, I started taking her to a different dog park, for a change of pace. This one had hills and inclines, vs. our regular, flat park. I noticed that she was developing a limp and as it worsened, took her to the vet. $500 later, I was poorer, but much better informed. And quite sad. My little Daisy has quite severe hip dysplasia in both hips and a joint problem in her left back knee. For those of you who don't know about hip dysplasia, here's a quick overview. The ball of the hip fits into the socket. The ball is called a ball, because it is supposed to be round. In hip dysplasia, the connective tissue between the ball and the socket grows incorrectly forcing the ball away from the socket. The result can be joint degeneration (such as the ball has straight edges, which causes the hip joint to hit and scrape against the socket as the leg moves) and osteoarthritis.

Eventually, the dog is incapacitated, cannot walk and will suffer pain in the joints. The doctor has started Daisy on Glucosamine/Chontroidtin tablets that will hopefully give her some additional lubrication and encourage new cartilage growth and we are on a doggie diet -- if Daisy can lose 17 pounds (she's solid and a little bit overweight, but not too much) then it will lessen the strain on her much smaller vertebrae over her hips and lower the weight on the joints.

For more info, here is a comprehensive article from Pet Education: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1569&articleid=444

Earth Day -- and poop scoopin'

Like many dog owners, I feel a sense of responsibility to the environment. Being in the business of dog care, it is then doubly important, to me, to leave as little of my carbon footprint as I commune with dogs and nature.

The first challenge is the poop and scooping. How to take care of the poop without the always present plastic bag? I use biodegradable bags! No more guilt about filling the landfills with plastic bags that would survive 50 years or more. And now, when a dog does his/her business, she is helping the environment rather than contributing to more non-decomposable waste.

Second challenge: car emissions. I have to have a van for transportation, but I plan my routes to minimize travel and if possible, I'll take my bicycle. More exercise for me, less carbon emissions.

Third challenge: dog friendly treats. Solution...I bake 'em. Yummy, delicious, delectable dog biscuits that each dog gets at the end of a visit. No chemicals, no preservatives and made with love!

Fourth challenge: paper waste. Most of my marketing is via the web. I do have to use some paper, but whenever possible, I'll use the power of the internet. I'm using electricity, but not wasting forest resources.

What are you doing to help offset your carbon footprint? Happy Earth Day.

Dog walking in the San Fernando Valley

I was a corporate executive for over 15 years. Dealt with multi-million dollar budgets, managed dozens of people and multiple locations, retail outlets...basically worked very hard, drove very far, for a very long time.

Now, I've decided to follow my bliss. I have multiple bliss! Some of you may know my site (Gen Plus and the Gen Plus blog) dedicated to Boomers and 50 plussers looking to reinvent themselves. I love social media and Web 2.0. I love helping Boomers and 50 plussers find new jobs, new directions and new job/career solutions. As a consultant, I take my years of corporate experience to help others redefine their image, their branding, their customer relationships.

And as fulfillment of my heart, I walk dogs. I recently started a dog walking service focusing on the San Fernando Valley, Bel Air, Beverly Hills and will be expanding to the West side of LA and beyond. If you need help with your pet care, please get in touch and I'll do my best to help you out. At the same time, I have the opportunity to be an employer. So stay posted for all the bits and bites that I share as the business evolves (including any great pet products I come across).

If you need dog walking, visit my site at http://www.poochbuddies.com/.

If you are looking for a job, head over to my job site http://www.genplususa.com/ or my 50 plus blog at http://genplus.blogspot.com/.

And if you want me to consider you for a dog walker position, email me your resume and your reasons at info@poochbuddies.com