May 18, 2009

The life of a telecommuting dog owner


I bet you wished that your job was at home, no commute and you take long walks with your dog when it pleased you. Other than working for yourself there are not many careers that will allow that. Of course with the internet comes a whole different set of careers. Someone has to maintain the internet and websites.

Can you imagine just waking up in the morning and taking the time to enjoy your life with your dog on a nice long walk before you started work? If you took a few online college study courses you could do that. There is a demand for people with internet security experience and or training. You could start a whole new career. You could get a MS in Information Security online.

Your dog would no longer be alone during the day and since they have such a short lifespan compared to ours, wouldn't you rather spend more time with your dog than in the car commuting?

May 15, 2009

Bald dogs


Yes there are times when a dog might drop their fur in patches or all over. One of the main reasons in nutrition, the lack of the proper type. A dog needs the right food to keep all of it's body functions to work and that includes having a shinny coat. Other items that will make a dog drop fur in patches is food allergies, fleas, fungus infections and rubbing from unknown skin irritations.

I have dealt with food allergies, fleas (had one dog allergic to them) and malnutrition (stray dog). The food allergies was one of the hardest to figure out but skin irritations were easy. After bathing a dog I would put on them Straight Arrow's Mane and Tail conditioner (for horses). I would use the leave-in conditioner and found it was great for skin and if there was a bald spot would grow the fur within a week. I found it to be one of the best hair loss treatments I have ever found for dogs.

May 8, 2009

Humans love dogs so much that.....


In Japan they love dogs so much that they have invented robot dogs for people that are not allowed to have dogs in their homes. They can never create the affection that a person gets from the companionship of a dog but the robots go through the motions of dog behavior.

Is it something that we can expect more of in the future? Just go down to your local wholesale electronics store and pick out your new puppy? I would say no but considering the fact that many a teenager now likes to text message their friends rather than talk it might be in our futures.

May 2, 2009

Be careful what you leave out


Dogs can get into the craziest of things. They learn how to open doors and even watch you operate little things like door bell buttons. They are also very smart about getting something they want, like food. They can either beg until you give in to them or they will chew open a container to get what they want.

That brings us to keeping an eye on your medications, weight loss supplements and foods that are harmless to us but toxic to dogs. For example did you know that chocolate is toxic to dogs? Two to three whole candy bars can cause seizures and possible death in a 10lb dog. Small amounts of chocolate seem to have little affect but why take the chance. The toxin is a type of caffeine called theobromine which causes the release of hormones in the dog that in turn causes irregular heart beats.

What should you do if your dog just ate a whole bag of chocolate? If you can't get the dog to the vet right away then induce vomiting. That is what the vets suggest. I have never had to INDUCE my dog to vomit, he just seems to do it especially right after eating grass. Be warned that the dog might not bring up all the chocolate and your dog will need medical attention within the next few hours.