Mindy's Dog Blog

Puppy Pens, Gates and Room Dividers

2010-01-12T02:59:00.000-08:00

It is wonderful to have your puppy near you most of the time, but there are times when this can be dangerous especially when you are cooking using hot trays or boiling hot pans. If your puppy runs into the kitchen the hot liquid could scald your puppy.

Puppy Gates
Prevention is always better than cure so the saying goes and how true this is! If you picture the same scenario, but this time have a puppy gate placed on the kitchen door, then you and your puppy would be safe and secure - together.

Puppy gates are extremely good especially in an open plan living area. Your puppy can see you and visa versa. These gates can be used in most areas of your home including the stairs. External gates can even be used to keep your pet safe if you want to keep the door open but your pet in if your working in the garden.

Puppy Pens
If a puppy gate isn’t suited to you or your home, you could try a puppy pen. These are very versatile and can be moved anywhere. Although they are a box shape in which to place your puppy with it's favourite toy, the advantage is it can be moved into any room of the house or garden. You can even change it so you are just using a L shape to cordon off your puppy into one room so it’s not just within the pen itself.

Whichever option you choose always remember the saying - Prevention is better than cure - it can make your puppy safe and happy as it can still see you and can ease the worry of injury and expensive vet bills!

Dog Skin Conditions & Coats

2009-09-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

Dog Skin Conditions and Coats

10% of dogs suffer from skin conditions at some point during their lifetime and this in turn affects their coat which can result in loss of shine, malting and conditions such as eczema and atopy. Atopy is a skin condition caused by your dog’s allergic reaction to something.

This can be quite irritating for your dog if left untreated and also lead to very expensive vet bills adding to your heartache and purse pocket!

Many vets today like to try alternative medicine rather than drugs which can reduce the stressful visits to the vet that you and your dog would otherwise have to make. Of course this cannot help those conditions that have become more serious so they would need the application of stronger medicine like antibiotics etc.

Try looking for ingredients on the net for pet care that include minerals, vitamins and herbs including the essentially cod liver oil in an alternative remedy as this can really help your pet help to maintain it’s healthy skin and coat hair.

About Automatic Pet Feeders and Their Uses

2009-09-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

Automatic pet feeders are an ideal solution if your dog has to be left alone for any length of time. The pet feeder is operated by batteries so there are no wires or leads for your dog to chew.

There are usually four sections to place your dog’s food in and it doesn’t matter if you use dry or moist food because underneath the food section, the unit houses ice blocks to keep the moist food fresh and cool. All you need to do is pop the ice blocks into the freezer the night before and then place them into the pet feeder unit before puting the food into the compartments above.

The timer is run via a battery mechanism enabling the lid to turn round after so many hours. There are different settings for you to adjust if you wanted to expose the food, say every four hours, four times a day - or just twice a day, the choice is up to you.

Always make sure you leave fresh water down beside the automated pet feeder so that your dog does not go thirsty. Also, make sure they’ve had some exercise and a toilet break before you leave the house.

The automated pet feeder is not just restricted to dogs because cats find it beneficial too. If you have a cat sitter or dog sitter they will find the automated pet feeder very simple and easy to use. It is made of durable plastic so it is quite strong and the whole unit can be taken apart to wash and clean.

You can be safe in the knowledge that your dog or cat can have fresh water and regular food if you are away from home for any length of time.

Automatic Pet Feeders

2009-08-27T01:56:00.000-07:00

In today’s busy world it is hard to juggle family life with work life, let alone thinking about the needs of your dog too! Automatic feeders are a fun and great way to feed your dog if you are out for more than a few hours.

Automatic pet feeders have up to four compartments, some ice blocks within the main base and a clock. Some even have a recorded voice message for your dog!

In each compartment you place the desired measured food you would like your dog to each at certain times of the day, this is usually at four hour intervals. Depending on the season you may want to use the ice blocks housed within the main unit by freezing them the night before in your freezer before placing the ice blocks on the day into the unit. This will keep the food cold for your dog.

Now set the clock, some clocks are a twist and turn variety like security timer switches for lights, other dog feeders may have an LED clock display, all will be running from battery power. If your model has a voice recorder, then you would record your message to your dog too. This will enable your dog to be familiar with your voice while you are away and to be called to eat it’s food at the set designated time.

All the automated pet feeders are wipe clean and come boxed with a twelve month guarantee. Owning one of these dog feeders could change the quality of yours and your dogs life. Isn’t it what you’ve been waiting for?

Just remember while your out, you can’t walk your dog on a lead, but your dog will certainly remember to feed!

Mindy's Kidney Diet

2009-03-25T01:45:00.000-07:00

Our dog-child Mindy has been with us for almost fifteen years and has led a happy healthy life. However, recently she became unwell with symptoms of tiredness, wanting to pass water more frequently and developed a sensitive stomach.
A visit to the vet revealed that Mindy had a low blood count and also her kidneys were not functioning hardly at all.

The vet recommended that she spend some time on a drip which would help remove some of the toxins from her system that her kidneys were unable to remove, so that was the next step.

Of course her diet would have to change to a low salt, low phosphorus and low protein food so we gave her Hill’s prescription k/d kidney diet food. This comes in both tinned and dry so she was able to have a choice. Furthermore, vegetables were allowed, so we were able to mix cooked carrots that were warm with her food which made it more appetising for her.

It seems that kidney problems are common in mature dogs and it is good to know that there are diets and food specially made by a number of dog food companies for this problem … a kidney diet dog food certainly helped Mindy.

Summer Holidays

2008-09-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I last wrote in Mindy’s dog blog, in fact it’s been two months! During that time we have been on one of our dog friendly holidays. We went to Northumberland which was new for all of us including Mindy. We visited many lovely places including Edinburgh in Scotland! Unfortunately we had torrential rain for most of the week.

Illness - Signs to look out for.

Mindy became rather sluggish just before we went away, we just thought she was slowing down in her elderly age as she is fourteen. Her poo had been a bit soft, not the usual firm ones but we didn’t think there was any serious problem at the time.

While we were on holiday we all got soaked on more than one occasion. Sometimes Mindy was in her special dog bag which helped her a lot not to get so wet as she’s quite small. One of our last trips out while we were in Northumberland was to Edinburgh in Scotland, that was when the heavens opened when we arrived and the day we didn’t bring Mindy’s dog bag! Well she got absolutely drenched as we all did.

When we eventually returned to our car back to our cottage, Mindy couldn’t stop shivering. What we didn’t realise at the time was before we left for our holidays she had a tummy bug, so by the time she got soaked from the heavy rain she caught a chill which lead to an infection. The result was constant diarrhea with blood in it.

Should you call a vet?

This happened on our last night at our holiday cottage, so we had a dilemma… should we call a vet? If we do, she might be kept in a veterinary practice in Northumberland and the next day we were travelling back home to Birmingham! Northumberland is a good distance away for a visit! Or should we try and help Mindy to prepare for the return journey but keeping the vets number and an essential emergency? We decided to go with the later.

How to help your pet.

We refreshed Mindy’s water bowl immediately with cool boiled water. We didn’t give her anything to eat for the next twenty four hours. This helped the diarrhea to be not as regular as she had nothing in her stomach for the infection to feed off.

As she got more drowsy we force fed her in the night every hour with a tiny bit of salt and sugar solution in cool boiled water a bit like a saline drip so she wouldn’t be as dehydrated. We used a teaspoon and gently pulled open one of her face cheeks to drop the water into her mouth. By morning she seemed better ready for the long journey home though still weak.

When we finally got home to Birmingham she was very hungry and had no diarrhea so we gave her scrambled egg (using half an egg) with a few pieces of her dry Eukanuba dog food to bind her poo. This seemed to work for a while, still on cooled boiled water which she was now drinking herself and nothing else to eat… over eight hours later she started her constant blood diarrhea again and vomiting! We knew things were serious so after all our best intentions, even with signs of improvement before illness again we rang the vet who saw her shortly after.

How to help the medicine go down!

The vet gave Mindy a thorough examination, she had an anal exam, had her anal glands emptied, and had an anti sickness injection. The vet said we would have to give her two tablets (in quarters), one in the morning and one in the evening, these were antibiotics. We also would have to administer five milligrams of white thick fluid by mouth injection to help her GI (Gastric Intestines).

Mindy was diagnosed with enteritis which is a tummy bug, but hers went into a nasty infection. We had to starve her for another twenty four hours then give her scrambled egg with rice (small portions), then introduce her food in small quantities and very slowly.

The result - how is Mindy one week on?

Mindy has gone from being a very sick dog and has returned to her old self and in fact seems even perkier than before we went on holiday!

It just goes to show with the right attention and always watching for signs of anything out of sorts, all being well you can soon have your dog as good as new again!

See also: puppy dog friendly holidays.

Dogs on Holiday - How to Travel in Style

2008-08-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has a dog and brings them on holiday will know the restrictions to many places where your not welcome with a well behaved clean small dog, but your are allowed in if you have screaming children with ice creams! More about dog friendly holidays ...

Dog Bags

2008-08-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Recently we purchased a dog bag from the Boutique range from Pets At Home for her birthday. We hardly ever leave Mindy alone at home so when we go cycling we wanted to bring her too. We realised as she was small she tends to get under your feet a lot so walking or running beside a bicycle would be too dangerous, so that’s why we bought the dog bag ... more about dog bags

How to Keep Your Dog Fit and Healthy

2008-07-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Although Mindy is now fourteen, she is relatively fit and healthy. Her eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be but when you consider the age chart we saw at the vets, for every five and a half years of a Yorkshire Terrier is one year for a human! So that makes her approximately seventy seven years old if she was a human!

Staying Healthy

Firstly, I’ve always been strict on what Mindy eats. Every day her dog food gets measured out which is separated into mini meals and treats throughout the day. Mindy has always been a dog who puts on weight very easily while other dogs can eat anything and they don’t seem to put the weight on.

As extras to Mindy’s 40-50 grams of dog food she does like cooked carrot chopped into tiny pieces (served cold and given separately). Occasionally two or three slices of banana, this is good for her heart. She has her “Special Moment” game with sultanas (see previous blogs).

Mindy is a dog who is constant a foodaholic, as soon as she eats her main meal, she’s looking for more to eat! Mindy goes for regular walks which she enjoys very much, it tires her out so she’s more relaxed to.

She also enjoys playing with her toys even though she is a mature dog, this is always a pleasure to watch as nowadays she gets quite vocal while she‘s playing by shouting a repetitive bark!

See also: pet insurance or self insurance which may be helpful for the older dog.

Accessories for Small Dogs

2008-07-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

Accessories for small dogs - what essentials you need to buy for your small dog or puppy.

Small dogs and puppies need some basic accessories as necessity to start with rather than luxury items. They need their own bed and feeding and drinking bowls with a place mat. A collar, lead and identity tag along with a brush and comb. A pooper scooper, some toys, chews, food and water.

Depending on the size of breed you may want to buy a harness as well so the lead won’t place too much strain around the puppy’s neck collar. You also might want to think about some dog toothpaste and toothbrush or finger brush.

Bedding
Make sure the chosen bed has enough room for the puppy to grow but not too large as a small dog or puppy feels more secure if it can fit in snugly. Put some extra blankets in the bed so the puppy can ruffle and snuggle into the blanket. You should check the blankets and bedding each morning in case the puppy soils them in which case you just renew the blankets. The bedding and blankets will need occasional washing and disinfecting as it can house fleas, mites etc.

Your puppy may want to have a piece of clothing of yours in their bed so they feel safe when they smell it. A soft toy could be put in or outside the bed especially if your puppy is on its own. It is best to place the bed away from drafts, in a safe quiet area and also away from its toilet area and food. A bowl of water should be available at all times for your puppy even during the night so it doesn’t dehydrate.

More accessories for small dogs include:

Nylabones
Some puppies tend to chew their bedding or blankets, so try to discourage this by providing some chews during the day or late evening. Nylabones are excellent as they are a pacifier for gnawing. Other chews available are dental hides that helps clean the teeth and contain fluoride, these can be bought at pet shops and even supermarkets now.

A hat for Christmas may be slightly over-the-top but good fun!

Feeding and Drinking Bowls
The two bowls are best placed on a wipe clean mat. It’s natural that the puppy might splash some water when having a drink or spill some food when eating, the mat can be wiped when necessary and it will protect your floor. Always try and keep the puppy’s feeding station in the same place so they remember where it is. The feeding station is better placed in or near the kitchen.

The Crate - a more expensive accessory for your small dog.
The crate can be very useful for transporting your puppy or small dog in the car when you’re travelling solo as there’s no one beside you to hold your puppy. More about dog crates ...

Toys
The best toys to buy are the ones especially for dogs. If you do want to give your dog a soft teddy that a child would have, then check for anything the puppy could bite or chew off as it could choke. Take any ribbons off, check the eyes and nose are not loose and check there’s no extra fine long fluffy hair that could also be chewed by your puppy. Rubber toys are especially good if you buy the soft latex ones as these are almost indestructible to chewing and are very flexible.

Toys are among the cheapest accessories for small dogs and they may prefer to play with an old tennis ball rather than a more expensive toy ... as long as they have fun!

Overfeeding (Part 2)

2008-07-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

My parents had been secretly feeding her while I was working as they used to baby-sit her. This included toast and jam, crisps, biscuits, left over meals!!! Well to cut along story short I was able to let the vet know so Mindy went on a diet using dried diet food.

Trust me when I say Mindy put on a pound a week but could only loose a pound a month. It just goes to show, like humans the weight can easily go on but it takes ages for the weight to come off! The innocent thing is, with a human it’s usually their own fault, with a dog it’s still the human who’s at fault!

Mindy’s fourteen now and the correct weight for her breed and height. She has most of her own teeth and a very strong heart, many people mistake her for a puppy! The vets are very pleased with her when they see her annually for her booster so I must be doing something right!

Overfeeding (Part 1)

2008-07-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Mindy gained a lot of weight when she was seven and I couldn’t understand it… I have always been quite strict in measuring her food for the day and the type of food she has.

It got to the point that the vets said she was carrying too much weight around her heart and wouldn’t last into old age, they said I was killing her with kindness by feeding her to much, even though I denied it as I thought I knew what Mindy was eating. I eventually found where the problem lies…. My parents!

"Special Moments!" - My Game For Mindy

2008-07-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

My game of “special moments” is getting Mindy to stay in one room while I plant seven “moments” (usually sultanas), on or in her toys, on cushions and chairs too in another room next door. Then in a bright happy voice call out “special moments”!

Mindy comes bounding in full of excitement and eagerness to find the treats! We play this came everyday once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening! If you watch closely, you’ll see they use their eyes looking only, if they can’t find it, only then will they use their sense of smell.

I truly believe this type of game helps them later in life when they eventually loose their eyesight (due to an elderly age), to use their sense of smell a lot more, a bit like Sniffer dogs. It keeps their minds mentally active as well! Why not try the “special moments” game for yourself with your puppy and see how it works for you?

"Special Moments!" - How We Play The Game

2008-07-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

I’ve always played a game I call “special moments” with Mindy and have done since she was a puppy. It’s a game which tests her patience, memory, eyesight and sense of smell. Even to this present day I still play this game with her.

Firstly I give the command for her to sit and stay. Nowadays she will have the patience to stay but not when she was a puppy. Don’t forget a puppy needs to learn the rules and boundaries that you create for them.

How I trained Mindy to have patience was by giving her the command to sit and stay, even forcible making her stay by placing a hand gently on her. Next to show her a small piece of food, in this case a sultana! I let her sniff it then eat it. This reinforces in her mind that to “sit and stay” was good as she had her reward.

Now I would still give the “sit and stay” command but each time putting the treat further and further away from her. Mindy learnt patience by fetching the treat by twelve inches away, twenty four inches away etc until I have to place the treat outside the room on the floor for her to get it. I always rewarded her each time with hugs and praise.

Now the game increases in mental ability!

Restrict the game to one room only but include your puppy‘s toys. Give the command to sit and stay, even include a pointed index finger directly at your puppy still uttering the words “stay”. then while your puppy watches you, plant a small piece of food on the top one of it’s toys, then ask your puppy to find it! Your puppy will enjoy this game as the puppy gets mental stimulation trying to find the treat.

The Dog's Holiday Toilet

2008-06-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

If you do bring a toilet tray on holiday with you, make sure it’s one of the first things you unload from your car as your dog may have had many hours of traveling and will be in need of a toilet! Remember to put the tray in an area where no one will trip up on it and maybe where it’s a bit discreet too.

Keep your puppy on a lead when you enter the holiday accommodation until the tray (pre-laden with papers) is down in the chosen designated area, then still keeping your puppy attached to the lead, place them onto the tray to let them circle and do their toilet after their long journey!

You and your puppy will then be able to relax, happy in the knowledge that where you placed the tray is where their toilet is so there shouldn’t be any mishaps! Another thing is if you have an old dog mat, or old towels, just place it under the entrance to the poo tray as I found that sometimes Mindy will have all four paws on the tray but her behind is sticking outside the tray!

I don’t chastise her for that as she did her best and in her mind, all four paws were on the tray!

See also: puppy toilet training.

Mindy's New Home

2008-06-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

When Mindy came home she met the family members, namely my mum and dad. I was surprised how Mindy could be inquisitive one minute then collapse into a lovely sleep for up to two hours!

At my parent’s house we had a conservatory and as it was July (1994) we agreed she would sleep six months of the summer in there and in the kitchen during the six months of the winter. I placed newspaper all over the floor and only had a cardboard box for her bed lined with blankets and her Teddy.

Strictly speaking, where toilet training is concerned, training books advise you to eventually reduce the newspapers so they get nearer the door so your pet will eventually do their toilet outside and not inside.

As I taught private music lessons in the conservatory and we lived on a main road, it seemed unwise for me to train Mindy to do her toilet outside as all my pupils came round the side of the house and I didn’t want Mindy getting onto the main road, so I trained her to go on a ‘poo tray’ in a specially designated area. In my next blog I’ll let you know how I successfully trained her to do this.

Until next time, keep smiling!

Years Of Enjoyment

2008-06-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Firstly I spent a lot of time researching about dog psychology prior to getting a dog. This was very valuable experience to help me learn not just about the physical needs but psychological needs of a dog, namely to read their body language and to really get into the mind of a dog to understand what they want at any given time and to listen to their different vocal sounds.

Mindy has just celebrated her fourteenth birthday and I can honestly say I’ve learnt a lot more that a lot of books don’t teach you or mention. I’ve found new and trusted methods which I continue to use to this day which I believe has made Mindy’s life fulfilling, rewarding and overall adds to her happiness and well-being.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading my dog blog regularly to enable you too to have a rewarding lifetime experience with your dog. You’ll have a healthy dog with a mentally alert mind which will give both of you years of enjoyment.

Puppy to Dog Meals

2008-06-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Eventually Mindy’s food was reduced to three, then two, then one meal a day but I found she coughed up acid every few months or so, this was because her tummy was empty even though I was measuring and giving her the correct amount of food, so ever since then I feed her one meal spread out into tiny measurements throughout the day, this works very well for her.

Feeding Requirements for your Puppy

2008-05-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

When we brought Mindy home she was exactly eleven weeks old so she was on four small meals a day. Her first meal was Farley’s rusk in a little skimmed milk as she was used to that from the breeder.

Well I didn’t have any Farley’s rusk to give her the first morning so I tried her on Weetabix or Cornflakes but she refused them. I later read that puppies need to keep on the same food that the breeder was feeding them and if you want to change their diet then introduce the new food gradually by mixing it with their own food until the new food entirely replaces the old make of food.

That morning I had to rush out early to buy Mindy her Farley’s rusk and to make it the same way as the breeder had done, Mindy willingly ate it all!

Mindy's regular food became Eukanuba dry puppy food which she loved.

Feeding Packaged or Cooked Food

2008-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve always kept Mindy on dry dog food as it was what she was brought up on.

If we’re out visiting at someone’s house or on holiday, I will pack some of her tiny measurements of food into small plastic money bags labelled with the time, she enjoys having these and no one seems to mind, in fact it raises a smile on most people’s faces!

One of the advantages of dry puppy food is that you can give it to your puppy when away from home more easily and you can also give it as treats.

Food after an Operation

2008-05-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

There have been times when Mindy has eaten moist food especially when she’s home recovering after an operation. Her vets recommended some dogs will want to eat something light as soon as you get them home from the vets since they had nil by mouth the previous night.

A little scrambled egg or fish or ham separately or together is good but too much food could make them sick especially after the anaesthetic, if the food is too hard they could bite their tongue. Other dogs prefer to sleep and don’t want any food.

Tail Docking

2008-05-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

When Mindy and I went to the vets for the first time that was an experience, she behaved very well and everyone loved her as she was a puppy with a “teddy bear” look! The breeders had her tail docked when she was three days old thinking they would put her in the show ring like Mindy’s father and grandfather, but Mindy never had the personality to go in a show ring, she’s timid and kept sitting under tables and chairs shaking…

Thankfully docking became illegal just after I bought Mindy. The vet thought I had her docked but I only knew her and collected her at eleven weeks old!

Docking was usually done for cosmetic reasons when dogs are a few days old, it involves twisting and cutting the tail off using no anaesthetic.

Inoculation

2008-05-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

When I collected Mindy for the first time she had just turned eleven weeks old and her breeders had not even had her inoculated!

Most puppies would have had their first two injections by now to protect them against all sorts of diseases to immune them so you can take them outside and let them mix with others. This became my first priority. I already knew the vet I was going to use on recommendation.

Mindy’s experience of the vet was a good one, although she was nervous, she wanted to be everyone’s friend! We returned a week or so later for her second injection as they are given in two parts.

Welcome to my new dog blog!

2008-04-28T23:56:00.000-07:00

I bought my first dog, a Yorkshire Terrier in 1994 when she was only two months old, her name is Mindy.

As I Hadn't owned a pet before, except the usual birds and goldfish restricted of course by a cage or bowl, it was a new adventure and a new part of my life.

My parents weren't keen for me to have a dog even though I was still living at home and in my twenties! To prove to them I could be a responsible owner I had to agree to two things. One was that she wouldn't have puppies and the second being I had to take full responsibility for the dog.

Over the years, fourteen to be exact so far, I have fulfilled both requirements.