New Toys?

If the pups see the same toys all the time, they get bored. This blog will give you the key to making your dogs stay interested in what you have without spending a ton of cash on new toys. I do what we call "seasonal rotation" in our home and this allows me to exchange toys that have been sitting in storage to come out and have a turn being the primary toys in our home or yard. The dogs forget about the older toys with time and once they make a reappearance, they are like new to them! This gives me a chance to repair ripped seams, wash soft slobbery toys, and assess if they are even worth saving.  I do this usually with every season change seeing not each toys is right for every type of weather.

This week we brought out the 8ft rope! I bought this last summer but used it indoors which was a mistake. It was seen as a chew toy (which produced string on the carpet) and now that it's outdoors with the appropriate weather, it's the perfect tug toy! Nanook and Dublin love to play along!

Kodak's silver ball became an outside toy which sparked his interest again. 

Apparently it sparked Dublin's too. "Mom she took my ball!"

A lot of times when dogs see the same toys day in and out and they start becoming destructive in your yard by digging or even tearing up carpet/walls/furniture in your home. Would you want to watch the same old TV shows everyday?

This process keeps you constantly checking your toys for safety hazards and with time you learn what your dog really does love to play with. This can help you to avoid buying toys that go unplayed with.

Even with our chewing antlers, rotating them allows me to soak them in broth and give them a new smell which sparks their interest while they work on chewing on another one. 

Nanook's happy face tells me we have lots to play with and it is all fun in his book!

This has been my view this week, watching the kids enjoy their new summer toys . It's a new mystery around every toy box. 

Peanut Butter Pups

Need a good laugh? Give your dogs that last little bit of peanut butter from the bottom of your jar that you cannot seem to scrape up. The pups LOVE peanut butter and when they get to lick the jar they are in heaven! Even if they can't reach the very bottom, you can let them try!

All 4 try to get in all at once but the most we could fit were three snouts. 

Even after you trade "snouts out" they are licking for minutes at a time cleaning the top of their mouth. Hilarious!

I'll even dab a bit on their nose for some extra entertainment.

Enjoy this video of Kodak trying to lick some PB off his nose/the top of his mouth. lol.

Socializing

It is extremely important to socialize your dogs starting at an early age. It's the same with children. Dogs who meet new friends and learn how to fit in and play with others are well rounded and are generally very happy dogs. I made the mistake of over socializing and causing my dogs to "own" their daycare by bringing them daily. This is a hazard as well. It can such dominance issues and unwanted alpha behavior. We took new steps today in hopes to reopen our pack from it's confinement of 4. I want my dogs to be well rounded again and not stuck with the same four faces everyday. It is important to take each dog as a separate case as their needs may need to be met individually such as August or Kodak. 

Today was a big day for August. We did daycare for the first time in over a year! She did extremely well and with alpha role models in the room and structure she went back to her roots of making new friends. The dominance issues tend to come out when not corrected just like children. Sometimes they require discipline and guidance. She even made a few husky buddies and possibly a new boyfriend. :)

Dublin has many friends and will go into daycare more than her other siblings. Though she doesn't typically enjoy herself  as much as she does being with me up front, it's good to allow that socializing time with "stranger" dogs. 

After daycare she enjoyed spending time with her BEST friend Eva. Eva loves Dublin to pieces and Dubs loves the one on one time!

Nanook did daycare today too! He enjoyed the puppy pool and keeping his paws wet. Having him in their with Dublin at the same time helps to support their insecurities they may have about foreign pack play giving each other a known face. 

Even though Kodak isn't a "daycare" dog as he's gotten older he still enjoys his swim time with Sherry. He screams with excitement just by seeing her at work. What a fish I have! Some dogs are wonderful, gentle kind dogs but not all are meant to be socialize in a large group setting due to their personalities. He does wonderful in small controlled groups. We don't mind letting him swim all day long if he'd like. 

A Dog's Smile.

The kids wanted to share their big smiles with you in hope to brighten up your day! These faces always make me smile the moment I see them regardless of the day I'm having. Each of these wet noses love me and depend on me to provide whatever it is that they need. Why sit and mull on a terrible day when I have 4 wagging tails ready to make my day as exiting as I'm willing to make it? Below I've posted each of their bright smiles and happy mugs. :)

Nanook

His smile will bring puppy-hood back into your heart. It gives you that feeling of playing with a carefree puppy again as he licks your face and rolls over for a lovable belly rub. 

August

Her smile will make you want to get up and put that pep in her step. Throwing her "boo" or just chasing each other around the yard is a blast! She wants to chase you and make you feel younger for 5 more minutes while she licks your ears until you chuckle. 

Kodak

His smile makes you want to give out hugs. He has that big burly bear structure that will have you wrestling on the ground in minutes laughing and forgetting all your cares. 

 Dublin

Her smile makes any and everyone smile right along with her. The lines on her face create this super smiles and when you start laughing at it shes right up in your lap cuddling and making you feel like the most important person on Earth. 

A smile can go a long way and in our home we have 4 bright smiles waiting to make us happy every single day. Who could ask for more?

Organized Chaos

Having four dogs can be complete chaos and anyone with multiple dogs can vouch for this. Travis and I have made it very clear to our pack that they do not run our home, we do. We say when it's time to eat, we make the rules, we tell them what is OK to chew on and we have even gone to extent as to make it noted that we decide when we wake up, they do not. Without structure and organization this house would be mad!  Our landlord LOVES our dogs and didn't charge us a pet deposit, nor do we pay a pet fee monthly. He saw how we raise our dogs and with my job on the side lines he knew his property would be well taken care of. Most landlords would be terrified of chewed up carpet, pet stains, scratched walls and a dug up yard. Our house is still in the same shape as when we started our lease. 

This crew is all too familiar with Mommy's camera. This is the best group photo I've gotten in a long while and they know when to line up and pose. Without instruction they would be jumping all over the camera, licking me, and not staying where I tell them to. What a group of faces!

 This is a snap shot from the trunk of my wagon. All four pups are lined up on the edge of my car staying in the place I told them to sit in. How many dogs do you know that would do this? Only with my signal can they jump out as a pack. The door is wide open for an escape but none will budge. This is a daily routine. 

Like noted before, we've taken up group walks. All the dogs line up in a row and walk down the side walk (off the grass mind you) and walk in proper form. We get so many neighbors stopping us asking if they're all siblings and asking how I got them to be so well trained. We love our walks and with me not being a big burly man I wouldn't be able to control this group 3 miles away from our home with other dogs around, cars passing and neighbors walking up to us if it wasn't for their training. Most tiny woman I see can barely control their mini poodle!

How did we get our pack to be such "good dogs"? Respect. Simple as that. This post is not meant to be a giant pat on our back, it's to show you how with the right tools, knowledge and training you can control you pet to any extent even if it means four big puppies! If the chaos is erupting throughout our house and two dogs are starting to get into a rough scuffle and dogs are jumping all over the bed and all hell breaks loose, it's a matter of giving and taking respect. Discipline, time outs, having toys taken away, all of these are practices parents use with their children and our dogs are our children. If you give a dog respect they give it back and I'll bet you every time after their 10 minute time out, that same dog will be at our side kissing our hands as to say I'm sorry and ill behave. This pack is a pack of organized chaos.

Are Tennis Balls Really Dangerous?

As many of you have already seen and read, Kodak loves his tennis balls! Recently I've discovered through friends and research how tennis balls can be dangerous for a dog. Now if you are throwing the ball with sparky a few times a week there isn't a major concern but a long term ball lover may want to be cautious. A friend of mine told me of a dog she watches who is even more obsessed with the ball than Kodak is! This dog has a ball in his mouth 24/7 rain or shine, inside or out and overtime his teeth's enamel had started to wear down. Think about it, this wet slimy ball picks up dirt, gritty sand particles, mulch and anything else it comes across. The fibers of a tennis ball can hold onto these things and when your dog has the ball against his teeth 24/7 the enamel will in fact slowly subside.  Besides this hazard for any dog, a regular "tennis" ball does have a poisonous material on the inside once dried and crumbled. If the ball never pops or breaks then there is never exposure but once cracked in half and weather wears down the inside material the ball will start to crumble away just like any material. Most dogs tend to want to "pop" their ball anyhow. This is why you seen $4 "dog tennis ball" in your local pet store and think how expensive! It's because those balls are made with non toxic material for dogs even if they break and crumble. 

I have since replaced Kodak's favorite tennis ball with a same size, same shape, same color RUBBER ball. This will wash easily, bounce even higher!, and will not hold harmful debris. A regular tennis ball is OK every now and again but I figured I'd make the change before it was too late. 

Every picture I have of him outside is with a ball. 

A ball near him...

Or a ball in his mouth. 

He's obsessed! All I want in the long haul is health and safety. Hope this helped any ball loving dogs and their owners out there!

Hair Cuts!

With four dogs in our small home it can get pretty stinky. I'm very fortunate to have the job that I do where I can use the grooming room/equipment when I'm off the clock. Having professional equipment make a world of a difference. Think about it, you may bath your dog in your tub or in the hose outside every once and a while but the best you can do is a bottle of store soap, a cup of water (maybe a hose on your shower head) and a blow dryer. Does your dog look the same as if you paid good money to have someone else do it at their shop? Nanook was a tub dog for the first year of his life until I started in this industry and now I have all the goodies to make my dogs look top quality! I've had a lot of training over the years from groomer friends on how to properly groom my own dogs to avoid forking out tons of cash each month so my house won't smell like wet dog and drool. In this blog I'm going to give you a couple tips on how to make sure your dog is properly groomed at home even if you have just the basics. 

First I'd like to Present our Model for today, Kodak! Here is his before and after shot. With his breed I like the longer look but once his hair starts to look "fuzzy" its time for a light trim. I started using human clippers at first and last year with a Petsmart gift card I received for Christmas, I invested in actual quality dog clippers. They make a HUGE difference in how the hair is cut.

Your pets play outside and especially during the warmer seasons, they will be prone to bugs and debris in their fur. Always check around their legs, belly, neck and back to check for anything out of the ordinary. When bathing and drying your dogs it's always easier to see through their thick coats and down to the skin. I will let those of you who like to shave your dogs like I do know that there is a major risk to this. SO many times I hear people say, "Oh I need a summer cut to cool them off" or "The sun beats down on them and they have such a winter coat on, they get so hot!" This is FALSE. Any dog that sheds has a double coat. A double coat regulates their body temperature naturally and keeps them cool. If you shave this double coated natural AC system off, it actually makes your dog hotter and prone to sunburn with shorter hair. I shave 3 of my dogs but I also am outside with them for 20 minutes tops in moderately warm weather, never scorching and I will always make sure they have access to shade and water when needed. A lot of people shave their dogs and leave them out back 24/7 hoping that the "new hairdo" keeps them cooler being outside all day. 

Always check their teeth and not just the front ones, check the back for plaque build up. Bones, chews and even daily brushing may be needed more often. I've seen dogs with teeth hanging on by a literal infection because their owners did not routinely check their teeth making sure they were healthy. Start doing this early to get them used to you touching their gums and mouth in general. Same with doing their nails. If you don't adapt them slowly from a young age, they may be fearful or even bite when doing so. 

Always check their ears for dark wax, excessive hair or even foreign objects. Kodak's ears get nasty sometimes so I'll have to swab them with a dog safe cleaner and cotton balls ever so often. Watch for funky smells. Any odd smell could mean the start of an infection. Always make sure water is out of their ears after swimming, baths or even backyard hose play. 

Now that Kodak's done modeling fore us he's ready to romp with his freshly groomed siblings. Ball time!

Strutting his new do!

August doesn't get any sort of hair cutting (thank goodness, she would look very odd lol) but she sure loves her coat to be blown out! I dry all the dogs with a high performance dryer which allows air to flow through a hose and into a point to push out water and hair from the coat. This is how I remove chunks of hair from August when they poke out from her hind end. 

Dublin gets a close shave when her skin starts to act up. As much I love her long Aussie coat, it's better to make her comfortable and her skin healthy.

 Nanook was the whole reason I wanted to learn how to groom. I saw how his breed was typically cut and I hated the foo foo look. Heck, we paid a groomer only 2 times since owning Nanook and hated the job they did. I prefer to make my dogs look the way I want for free! I loved the Spitz mane and through a year of experimenting with different looks, I like this one. The puppy cut.

And the final result for today.....Hello world! How do we look!?!?!?

(ps. the house smalls GREAT)

The Little Things

Having a relationship with anyone can be wonderful thing. Especially someone you love dearly it's the little things that make your day special and that make you smile that little grin. Travis bringing me flowers home or sneaking a frappuccinoo from Starbucks to me on mothers day morning while I'm stuck at work. Those are the little things that make me love him even more. Our dogs do those things for us as parents too. I wake up every morning to a new day of wonder and excitement with these guys. 

Yesterday I woke up to Nanook snuggled up until my chest snoring away like he was in the most comfortable bed in the world. All because he was in my arms. This is the Nanook that makes me smile at heart. 

Now while driving August loves to sneak up behind me and slip a kiss onto my cheek. It's always a surprise and it always seems to be after I get a fit of road rage or frustrated at another car as if she's saying "it's OK Mom, we love you and there's no need to yell"

Nanook shows his love with attachment like you saw in the picture above. He loves car rides and he loves to be right next to you during the ride. He'll perch himself up on the middle console to lean on your shoulder and enjoy the view. 

Nothing makes you feel more loves than a dogs who wants to play. August will always ask Travis and I to play fetch with her "boo".  She's very protective of her toy but loves for us to throw it for her. This is bonding time for August. 

A smiling dog is a happy dog!

Dubs smiles all the time! Showing her happiness 24/7!

These guys have buckets of bones, toys, and balls, but instead of that they will always want to be at your feet. You could be working on a bills, sewing or even cooking, no matter where you are they want to be right there with you. They may bring said toys to you and play with them there, but you always have to be their site. :)

Snuggles. 

Walks are a special thing in our home these days. We go on them frequently to build stamina and Kodak loves to bring his ball right after for a good game of fetch to unwind. 

It's funny how the little things can come from even your pets. The little things they do make our day and I know make us smile more than most. We are truly blessed. They are the little lightning bugs lighting up the dark night sky.