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What We Have Been Up To

As I mentioned above, a new full time job and a return to the office for a few days of the week meant a whole readjustment! I had been going in to the office when Grace first came home. But Benny boy came the weekend of the first lockdown…so I had not had to think about what it was going to take to leave two full grown (but still very much full of beans at times…) beasts and manage to get my daughter to and from school! (You can read more on what to expect with a Berner HERE).

And figuring it all out, well it was making me tired…so, so tired…I seriously underestimated what life after the pandemic was going to look like! And you forget pretty quickly what waking up at 4:30 and getting out the door to catch your bus by 6am felt like…

Making Arrangements

Figuring out the arrangements took a fair bit of thought and work. After all, wouldn’t anyone want to walk my really large and weirdly energetic/hoppy Berners? And the dogs know how to use the dog door I had installed…but pretty much refuse to use it…Unless a new person or dog happens to come into the yard, then they’re out the door before you can blink!

I tried talking to dog walkers I knew from my trips to the dog park, but no one had any spots open or were willing to take my two on. I was working from home for a bit yet so had some time to figure it out.

My daughter also represented me with a bit of a challenge because logging in by 6:45am meant no leisurely drive to school since she goes in a different part of the city…But I was able to line up a driver for her relatively easily.

You can imagine my relief when one of the walkers at the park agreed to add another walk to accommodate my pair! And to her surprise they weren’t quite as unruly as they would seem! Sure, Benny loves to attack Grace right before you get in the park…Try to take off after a squirrel and jump and wrestle with his leash…

I’m finding as they get older though that they listen much better and it doesn’t take much to get them back into line…And if I am going to be perfectly honest I love that Benson is still so playful and just a big goon at times!

Return To Office

Just when we were settled into a nice routine again…The next shoe dropped…Back to the office for a few days a week! It had already been delayed a few times but this time it was for real…no more stalling…I won’t lie, it caused me a lot of anxiety. Back to figuring it all out again…I had a dog walker for the daytime and one day a week at Wild Dogs in Uxbridge already…

That being said, Grace being Grace, has decided that the backyard is NOT to be used for going to the bathroom unless it is a dire emergency! Read: if you don’t get her out immediately you’re going through a roll of paper towels to clean up the mess…Especially since she has been known to hold it in for more than 24 hours rather than simply GO IN THE BACKYARD.

This meant adjusting my schedule to make sure I was up and ready in time to take them for a half hour walk at the ungodly hour of 5:30am…With a wakeup at 4:30am. But hey, it was nice to see the sunrise for the brief month or two before it started staying dark for longer again!

What It’s Like Outside at 5:30am

Even in a city as big as Toronto…it is eerily quiet outside at 5:30am…But it’s also incredibly peaceful and therapeutic I find. In the summer months when it is light out you get to hear all the birds starting their day (or in our area the Blue Jays letting out their signature screech…

Beautiful birds for sure but have you ever heard them when they get going? Key reason why I quit putting peanuts in my birdfeeder for them in the morning since they’d sit and scream outside my bedroom window at the crack of dawn every day. If you are curious about what that sounds like, check out their song HERE. And turn it up as loud as you can for the full effect!

Now that it is dark at that time of the morning all the night prowlers are still out! So we have to be wary of skunks, raccoons, coyotes and much more. I often see bats circling overhead as well! Grace decided that she doesn’t like that time of the morning, and will spin and startle at every little sound! On a rare occasion we run into another person, but at that time of day it is instant distrust, particularly from Grace…

Then and Now

So we are back to having things figured out and somewhat settled again. The weather is getting cooler (much to my dismay and Grace and Benson’s liking) meaning I have more indoor time on my hands. In the summer I prefer to spend as much of my day in the garden as possible since being in Canada means you only get three months of the good weather!

And over the course of the past year we have had many new experiences so you can bet that I’ll be doing some catchup writing about them!!

Be sure to check back often for new stories and posts, and don’t forget to leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts below!

The post We Are Back and Better Than Ever! Did You Miss Us? first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

Glen Stewart Park

This week, we decided that we would start spending more time heading over to the Glen Stewart Park near us to catch up with some old friends we haven’t seen for a while! We have been walking down to the beach a couple times a day and I decided it was time to switch up the routine a bit. We saw lots of our old friends, and met lots of new ones! After work on weekdays that park turns into a full on dog park, with everyone meeting up with their pups!

Some of our friends from the beach have also started to come and join in on the fun in the park at that time of the day! Benson has developed this really funny habit of running to the top of the hills on either side of the park…hiding in the brush…then running FULL SPEED down through the brush and jumping through it into the clearing! It is a little Jurassic Park-like because all you can see is the trees swaying before he bursts out! He has gotten some of his friends into this habit as well…

Balls are a hot commodity in this park, as your ball becomes a game of keep away with all the other dogs! Benson has his favorite hot pink Hartz duraPlay ball that we take over and he makes sure to keep that ball well within reach! He loves it so much that I actually just ordered more since the squeaker in his lost it’s voice a long time ago…But I find even with his constant chewing on it that it has stood the test of time!

More Puppies!

Benson is always thrilled when he meets new puppies on our walk! We met new puppies on the boardwalk, in the dog park and in the Glen Stewart Park! Benson always has a blast meeting new friends and will lie down and roll over and let them climb all over him with a look of pure bliss on his face! It always amazes me how gentle he is with puppies given his size.

Grace on the other hand has decided that she is too good for puppy attention all of a sudden. If they try to play with her she will let them know with some friendly growling that she isn’t up for that foolishness anymore…Oh Grace if only you remembered that you were one of the worst offenders in this regard when you were a puppy…a mere few months ago…

Wrestle Time!

Every walk has a wrestle. EVERY walk. I thought that they were getting better with their walking and decided to try going with their regular collars again one walk instead of their harnesses. MISTAKE! We had barely made it two houses and I was having a chat with some of our neighbours…when they decided it was time to have a go at it!

Since Grace is a master of escaping her collar when she wants to go somewhere (or doesn’t…), I have hers adjusted so she can’t slip it…Benson’s wasn’t as tight and when they started wrestling he got out of his collar! Being a time of day when there is a lot of traffic going down our street I panicked when I realized the big guy was out of his collar and off his leash since he has no problem bouncing right out into the road without any thought! The neighbours ran down and grabbed Grace’s leash while I wrestled with Benson trying to get him back into his collar!

It took me a few minutes but I finally got the big guy leashed again! And tightened that collar right up…Lesson learned, they aren’t ready yet to go on their regular collars for walks! Back to the harnesses…

SQUIRREL

Kew Gardens is always a really nice walk up from the beach for us on our way back home, but I tend to avoid it because I think about five thousand squirrels live in there! Benson has taken me down more than once in hot pursuit and will stand at the base of trees jumping up in the air at them! So it is a route I don’t tend to take very often…

One day I decided that the cool of the canopy would be better than walking down the full sun in the boardwalk. I have noticed that the squirrel population seems to have dwindled a bit and they aren’t as plentiful in the park this year (perhaps due to the explosion of foxes in the area…) and decided to risk it. We did not see one single squirrel on that walk but Benson was on high alert! His head was whipping all over the place, scanning the ground and the trees for any sign of a squirrel he could chase! But sadly for him, there were none to be found on that day…and Mom held on to her dignity!

We are well on our way now to meet our goal! The weather has been perfect for walking, with temperatures not too hot and the humidity low making for some great days where we can get some extra steps in. Grace, Benson and I are enjoying getting out more often and doing some extra exploring! And I am also very keen to get more kilometers in before we hit the winter walks…Continue to follow along with us on our journey!

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The post Woof Walk Challenge – Week 5 Update! first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

Heatwave

The first real heat wave of the summer hit us over the past week, with many days in the mid 30s Celsius, and some days getting close to 40! It is definitely more of a challenge to get out with my bears when it is that hot since they have a double coat and can heat up really quickly! We were able to find some ways around that though by scheduling our walks for earlier in the morning and later in the evening. We didn’t make it to the dog park at the beach as much either as the sand would have burned their feet (not to mention the pavement). We stuck to shorter walks through the neighbourhood for the most part, sticking to the shadier streets and the grass over in the park by the ravine.

Benson Goes To The Vet

Benson was due for his shots so we made a vet appointment for him. Unlike Whiskers, who will do anything to avoid a trip to the vet, the dogs LOVE it for some crazy reason! As soon as we get there they start jumping up at the door and are always super excited to go in and get some attention! I have never actually been inside the vet with Benson…he came home during the first lockdown but clearly they are doing something right in there! And it turns out that the big guy may be suffering from some seasonal allergies as he has been chewing himself and scratching all over excessively…He’s on some meds for it now and it seems to have subsided a bit which is great because I hate seeing him so uncomfortable and was worried he’d end up with a hot spot! It was also a super hot walk that day, but the south side of the street had some shade so we just took our time and drank LOTS of water!

Berners in the Mist

We had some rain during the hot days of the past week, which made the beach an almost surreal scene to behold! There was STEAM coming of the water, and in the dog park you could barely see more than a few feet out into the water! It was like the city didn’t exist and you were all alone in this little bubble! It was so beautiful to witness!

The Chickens Get a New Sign

Not a great surprise, but with the Leafs out of the hockey playoffs the chickens changed their sign. They are all about love this month with a special shoutout to Pride Month! Apparently the chickens escaped their yard over the past week, and the neighbours had to chase the down through the neighbourhood and bring them back to their coop! I would have LOVED to have seen that! Chickens on the loose in Toronto, who would have guessed???

Best Buddies

A trip to the beach would not be complete without running into some of Grace and Benson’s best buddies along the way! First we met up with Gabby for a little romp, but Benson absolutely adores who we met next…Judge is a beautiful dog and lives next to the beach. It is inevitable that he is sitting out on his balcony and whines and barks as soon as he sees us! He came down for some play, and Benson is just in love with him. I love watching those two boys roll around in the grass together! Grace can be pretty hit and miss these days though, too cool for that apparently.

Puppy Love

On one of our trips over to the park at the start of the ravine, we ran into not only one but TWO adorable little puppies!!! One of them was a three and a half month old Australian Sheppard and the other one was a four month old Golden Lab! How fun is that?!? Of course my daughter and I had to get right in there for some cuddles! Benson LOVES puppies, and it was so sweet to see him lie down on the grass with those two little puppies climbing all over him!! Grace was her usual uppity self and had no time for them…She has taken this attitude lately with puppies that if they get too close or try to play with her she growls at them, scaring not only the owners but the puppies too! But she really doesn’t mean any harm, she is just letting them know her boundaries and she would never harm anyone. It just sounds like a big deal…

The Rock Snake

One of the kids in the neighbourhood had a brilliant idea to start a rock snake to see how much it could grow! I love walking along the boardwalk and seeing all the painted rocks! There are some stunning rocks and cute messages and it has really gained a lot of traction! We painted a few rocks and have added them to the snake, but we are still planning on painting more!! What a great idea and fun way to bring people together!

Overall it was a really great week for us! We had a lot of fun walking around and finding new things to explore! The dogs really missed the dog park and were super excited to see all their friends after a few days! The forecast looks a bit cooler over the next week, so we will be sure to get down there more and continue on new adventures!!!

You can still donate and join us on the challenge HERE! It is for charity and you get the bonus of getting more active and healthier!! Win win!

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The post Woof Walk Challenge – Week 4 Update! first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

Morning Walk Time

Today they started poking their heads up to look at me whenever I moved after 9:00. These dogs love their routine!!

At 9:30 the chaos begins!! Benson will start hopping off the ground and jumping up at me, whining and crying like crazy! Grace just barks at me nonstop! Then I finally drop the “w” word…and that is usually when the wrestling begins…it is pretty much a daily occurrence as anyone who follows us on Instagram knows!

Getting The Dogs Into Their Harnesses

Getting them into their harnesses is also no easy feat! Benson tries jumping at my face while I wrestle it over his big bean! His newest party trick is when I bend over him to fasten the buckle under his chest he sticks his face into my dog walking bag to steal a whole bunch of treats!

Now that Benson is leashed up, time to work on Grace! Her weird habit is as soon as I am leashing Benson she putters over to the food bowl and starts mowing down! I really, really don’t like it that she does this though because bloat is a serious issue with Bernese Mountain dogs and they shouldn’t be eating right before a walk…

Using a treat, I have finally enticed Grace to the door! I can get her leashed up pretty quickly though. Then we are ready to go!

Wild Animals

The morning walk is always the WORST! Grace and Benson turn into full on wild creatures at the end of their leashes and it isn’t unheard of for it to take me twenty minutes or so to get to the end of my block! Benson will start out by trying to grab the leash out of my hand. I still hang onto it though and we end up in a tugging match and he tries dragging me out into the street!!

When he gets enough of that and we get going again we cross over to the other side of the road…and that is when it happens! The first time anyways. That big goofy brain of his tells him it’s WRESTLE time! In the middle of the road!! I’m lucky there isn’t a lot of traffic at that time of the morning…

Making it to Queen Street takes us a lot of work! And I don’t know what it is about Queen Street but it is like they KNOW they have a bigger audience and the shenanigans go on! And always in the MIDDLE of the road!! My dogs have held up traffic and city busses! No one really seems to mind though, everyone finds it pretty amusing when I am begging my dogs to get up off the road and to the sidewalk!

I’m usually already pretty tired of fighting with these two by the time that commotion is all over! But they eventually snap out of it and walk well…for a bit anyways! I know I could get them gentle leaders to curb this behaviour but it really does make people smile and laugh. And when they are walking, they walk really well! They are just really playful and young and I think it might almost make me sad if they outgrow it!

Typically the walk from that point on to the beach goes relatively smooth. Benson must think his name is “Drop it!” and “Leave it!” because he has gotten into the habit of grabbing things off the road! By this time, we’ve made it to the chickens and bunnies and the dogs DRAG me across the road to see them!

Today they were really good on the boardwalk at the beach. A lot of the time they find the boardwalk another great place to have a full on wrestling match! So when we make it along that strip without incident I consider myself lucky! Until we hit the horse poop…that Benson tried to eat…

At The Dogpark

When we got to the dog park today we went in at the smaller side as we usually do and walk over to the big area. This is always when Grace races as far away from me as possible to do her business! Today she did it almost right down at the water! And while I was picking up after her Benson raced along the fence to the opening to the rest of the beach!! Using the touch command to get him back to me, we headed over to the other gate.

Who do I see on the other side of the gate?? None other than Kiera! She is Benson’s best buddy and the two of them will play nonstop! She just laid down on the other side of the gate waiting for us to get through! Then the wrestling begins!

Wondering where the other dogs were and the dog walkers, I walked further into the park. Kiera at my heel of course! This dog is OBSESSED with me! As soon as she hears or sees me she is at my feet on her back for a belly rub! And then she will dutifully follow me around the park the whole time!

This behaviour has started getting a bit much though. She is resource guarding me sometimes! She snapped at two dogs I was paying attention to the other day…Her dog walker had to have a talk with her owner about it! She was a rescue so they don’t know much about her background, but the owner can’t quite believe how protective she has become of me since she isn’t even like that with her!

So my poor girl Kiera got leashed today. They were at the extreme other end of the dog park and Kiera just vanished…Her dog walker was running around the park looking everywhere for her! Out comes the leash for the rest of the walk! I feel really bad about it, and I have suggested maybe I start visiting the park at other times but that is just such a good group of dogs! Kiera pulled and pulled trying to get back to me…but by the end of the walk it looked like she was doing a lot better. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow!

Swim Time

Moving down the beach to Grace’s favorite swimming spot usually comes next. There were a couple other dogs in that part of the park today, but not as many. As soon as we hit that spot Grace makes her typical beeline for the water!

Someone has built a “stick library” box for the dog park which is a really cool idea! Usually sticks are scarce in that park and you have to look high and low to find one! With the addition of the library there are always sticks to be found along the beach now!

Mom Gets Hurt!

Seeing a big stick by the water, I bent down to pick it up. Another smaller black dog came over, super excited that I was going to throw some sticks! I held it up to throw it…Benson decided this was the opportune time to jump up and try to grab it! But he missed…and got my fingers instead…

Usually I can nip this behaviour in the bud (pun intended) before it gets started, but he was BEHIND me! It was a sneak attack! I felt the pain in my fingers though let me tell you! I threw the stick and checked out my hand to see the damage…

Benson managed to puncture my middle finger, and it was already bleeding quite freely. Well, that was it for THAT walk! I started to head towards the exit and we bumped into the dog walker groups again. I love all those dogs and lavish them with attention so they came over for some pets. But I needed to get home and get myself cleaned up!

Home Time

Walking through the park on the way home, I expected my dogs to act up as they usually do but surprisingly there were really good! No wrestles, no pulling, no chasing squirrels! I was almost home and Benson decided he was going to pull a Grace and just lie down in the middle of the sidewalk…and when he did the leash clipped my finger and got it going all over again…

Treats generally work to get Grace and Benson going again but as soon as he had one he just laid right back down! When these dogs make up their mind on something there is about NO way I can budge them! I am terrified that one day one of them will end up getting hurt on a walk and I will have no way to get them to the vet or help…

Finally, we made it back home! I got myself all cleaned up and the dogs went into hard nap mode. As soon as I picked up my laptop to do some work Grace climbed up to try to push it off my lap as is her new habit but otherwise they have been really quiet. But it is now almost 3:00…which is when I take them out for their other big walk of the day…Fingers crossed that this will be an uneventful and pain free walk!!

The post Kiera Gets Leashed – Today’s Walking Adventures first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

He currently weighs in at a HEFTY 120 pounds! And he is still growing…He has a HUGE head…but inside that head is the mentality of a scaredy cat!

Benson was always a lot more timid than Grace when he came home. Grace was outgoing and CRAZY as anyone who has read some of my other posts is well aware.

But my big boy? He came in very shy and timid, about the most laid back little (big) guy I have ever seen. He did not act like a young puppy at all and was so calm and quiet, never even trying to chew anything or bite at your hands. Again, unlike Grace…With Grace you had to have a small bottle of bitter apple spray on hand at ALL times!

I am not entirely sure when I noticed that Benson was a LOT more fearful than Grace was. She LOVED to chase the broom around, loved the vacuum cleaner and blow dryer. I made sure to introduce the same things to the big guy, but with VERY different results!

Brooms? Not so scary right? Tell that to Benson…As soon as he SEES me with that big bad scary broom the head goes down, tail down and ears lowered…and he retreats either into the yard or upstairs!! Same with the mop…Grace will just lie there and make me sweep or mop AROUND her, not caring if I am bumping into her with it!

Fireplace poker set…Not scary?? Right? One little CLANG from that thing has him peeling from the room faster than you would think that big guy could EVER move!

My daughter has a tripod for her social media fanbase…he sees her pick it up and guess what? GONE.

Bumps something unexpectedly with that big bottom of his??? He spins around TERRIFIED to see what it was and will usually come and sit his entire body right on TOP of mine on the couch!

Garden hoses? NOPE. Hard pass!

YOGA MATS OMG!!!! He knocked one over yesterday and we were out in the yard and heard continuous barking coming from the house! But I couldn’t see him at the front door! He must have knocked one over, and it TERRIFIED him! He was standing there barking at it nonstop! And when I went to pick it up he RAN to the couch and burrowed his head until the fearful object was once again put away!

Sometimes he will even scare himself awake! Benson will be fast asleep snoring away, jump up, spin around to see what scared him, come for some reassurance then go back to sleep!

Small dogs are also the preferential play partners at the dog park. He has a few larger buddies that he knows really well that he will tumble with, but for the most part he prefers to knock around with smaller dogs and puppies as I believe that is how big he feels he is.

Although he is scared of many things, he can be a brave protector when he needs to be.

Around Christmas as I was about to fall asleep, I heard him downstairs going absolutely CRAZY barking. I yelled down to get him to cool it, but after a few minutes he still was not settling.

Coming down to see what all the fuss was about, I was surprised to see him in an attack stance and growling and barking at the door with a ferocity I have NEVER seen in him before, nor again since.

Glancing over at the door, I saw a woman trying to force herself into the front door.

All of a sudden I knew what the fuss was about. I went to the door which has a big window in it, and she saw me. She started to laugh and yell at me to let her in. I believe that she was under the influence (I’m not sure of what) but she started laughing and telling me she was my daughter (she was about the same age or a little younger than me).

After telling her to get off my property and her STILL trying to force her way in she finally left when I told her I was phoning the police. Not before taking half her clothes off on my porch first though…in the middle of winter…

That whole time, Benson stood firmly by my side, and I stood with my hand on his back while he protected his family and his home.

So while the big guy can be scared of really silly things, I have no doubt that he will stand up and be a brave protector if the need arises again.

Where was Grace you ask?? Upstairs asleep. She came down when the whole ordeal was over…to get some treats of course!

The post Big Benson the Scaredy Cat first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

I take my dogs to the dog park at the beach almost every day! They LOVE to go there, and usually when we start getting close Benson just simply cannot contain himself any longer and the wrestle is on!! Grace just wants to get there though and can get a bit uppity with the big guy…This usually results in a LOT of comments and laughter on the boardwalk…I think one day it took me about twenty minutes to walk ten feet!

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

The dog park that we go to is HUGE and right on the water. There is a smaller area for smaller dogs and a really large area for everyone. This is where Grace learned to swim!! And in the winter the entire beach south of the snow fence is off leash which makes for a great time!

Vaccinations

Grace went to the beach to be off leash for the first time after she had all her shots. It is VERY important to make sure your puppy has all it’s shots before making the plunge as there is a very real risk of illness. Make sure to keep your pet up to date on vaccines as well as they can encounter many different viruses and parasites at the park. Check out the Blue Cross Animal Hospital’s vaccination schedule for your puppy here.

Recall

I was REALLY nervous about taking Grace off her leash the first time! She was about four and a half months old and her recall was still very much a work in progress! Also, as the snow fences have many openings I was a bit worried that she would run off and through to the great big world beyond. There are no roads close to it though, so I decided to give it a go! And guess what…she did GREAT! She even met another Bernese!

Recall is a very important part of a great off leash experience with your dog! I had taken Grace to puppy classes already and she was very good with the “touch” command and this was a great opportunity to test it out with her. Recall can keep your dog close to you if there are any gaps in fencing. It is also a way to get your dog out of what could potentially be a dangerous situation.

Benson does great at the dog park as well! He had a few run ins though before he was neutered, and he was a bit leery of a certain dog walker and his crew. It made his experience not so great for a while but I still wanted to make sure he was socialized and did not get fearful so we found times to go when there were better behaved dogs in the park.

Aggressive Dogs

Fights can definitely happen, even with the best behaved dogs. Benson was being picked on quite frequently and when he started getting reactive to dogs that took issue with him we quit going. I did not want him hurting a smaller dog or risk having him get injured.

Picking the right time of the day can make a big difference in your experience. Early in the morning and after work are times when you will get dogs with their owners and I find the dogs are generally better behaved. During the day you may run into dog walkers with big groups of dogs that may be less well behaved.

Look and Listen

Before I go into the dog park I generally take a good look ahead of time and also listen for any issues. The day Benson was attacked badly I could hear the dogs coming into the dog park with the dog walker and there was a lot of nervous energy in that group…There can also be owners who are inattentive or dismiss their dog’s behaviour which you want to stay away from.

Also, if there is a fight DO NOT try to get between the dogs. You could get seriously hurt!! Try other things first like throwing water on the dogs or distracting them somehow. When it happened to Benson it was a very scary experience, and the dog walker ended up having to rip the other dog off him. I was running and screaming, and it had only been a mere few seconds but it was like time stood still until I made sure he was ok!

Injuries

Even with play there is the potential for injuries at a dog park. Make sure that you are familiar with vets in the area in case of an emergency. I also carry a small bag with a few things such as bandages in it just in case I need to act quickly before we get to the vet. Grace has also cut her foot at the park and a bandage wrap is a good way to treat the wound initially until you can get further treatment from a vet.

Know Your Dog Park

Make sure you are familiar with the park’s fencing and boundaries. The park I go to has fencing but it does not go all the way down to the water so there are some routes of escape. I have seen more than one owner have to go chase down their dog when they discovered their freedom!! This is also where good recall comes into play!

Know Your Dog

You also know your dog better than anyone else! A shy or nervous dog should not go into a dog park as it can lead to aggression. I find it is a great way to socialize my dogs and let them burn off some energy! Grace also loves to paddle around in the lake…Benson? Not so much, the only time he actually swam was when he fell into the water and had no choice! It was not a pretty dog paddle…

Dogs with guarding issues, whether it be related to either food or toys, should also not go into a dog park. Frequently there are owners throwing toys for their dogs so everyone should be good with sharing. Also, many dog owners carry dog treats with them.

I have also disbelievingly seen people without dogs set up tents and picnics in the dog park…Last summer Grace crashed one such tent and caused a significant amount of destruction…I stood there in disbelief when the people actually got mad at ME…For having a dog off leash…in an OFF LEASH dog park that they would to have gone through not one but TWO gates to get into…Then there was that one time the owners of a food guarding bulldog brought a marrow bone into the park…I am sure you can imagine how well that went…

Dog Park Etiquette

This is a natural lead-in to dog park etiquette! ALWAYS pick up after your dog. A couple weeks ago as I was heading over to pick up a gift from Grace (always as far away from me as possible) I stepped in a pile left behind by another dog. Super annoying.

Make sure your dog is well behaved with other dogs. Disagreements are bound to happen sometimes even yet. But if your dog and the other dogs are properly socialized it should keep them to a minimum.

DON’T bring females in heat to the dog park! Just don’t. It can cause fights between male dogs. Which we just don’t want to happen.

Small Children

I see a lot of parents bring small children into the dog park as well. This is all well and great but you need to be aware that there are dogs of all size and temperament in the dog park. My dogs are rather large and can easily knock over a small child which puts them at risk for injury. They don’t mean to but they are big clumsy oafs at times!

Know When To Leave

If you notice that your dog is not behaving well, you may need to leash them and leave the dog park. I see so many people with dogs that are not in control or aggressive laugh it off and downplay it and allow the behaviour to continue. (Queue up the “they’ve never done that before” response). However, I have also seen just as many owners do the responsible thing. I have had to leash mine more than once and that is typically when we move on.

It is actually almost time for us to head down to the dog park for the second time today!! The exercise and socialization does a great job of tiring my dogs right out! It has also taught them so much about interacting with other dogs and people. Grace loves to play and swim but will also plant her big wet bottom on someone’s feet for a rub! Dog parks can and should be a great experience for everyone!

Time to go rub some puppies…

Thinking about taking your pup to the dog park? Be sure to pick up the supplies you will need:

The post Super Important Safety Tips for the Dog Park first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

You have all the equipment, all the food, toys, crates, dog beds, treats…but somehow that still is not enough to figure out exactly how you are supposed to venture forward from here.

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

At Home – New Introductions

When Grace came home the first thing I did was pick her up from the car and carry her directly to the backyard. I wanted the first place she went potty to be her yard so that she would start associating it with her space.

Anticipating some drama in what was to come next, I picked Grace up and carried her into the house…to meet the three cats…

Whiskers was the first one to come into the kitchen. He’s a BIG cat but really a softie. He also loves all other animals so I was not expecting too much trouble from him.

He got all hunched up and just stood staring at the far end of the kitchen! Poor little Grace just looked back at me, unsure of this whole situation!

Bubbles was the next one to come around. She had Nemo in the house before, so she was used to dogs. But Grace was already the size of Nemo and she had just come home! Bubbles did not seem too scared though, more curious than anything.

Now Miesha…Miesha is a special case…She is the most fearful and skittish cat I have EVER owned! If you move even an inch in her direction she is peeling off upstairs to hide. She came to see what was going on, and it was pure TERROR on her face! We did not see Miesha for about three months after that. During waking hours anyways!

Introduction To Crate and Feeding Area

The next thing I did was introduce Grace to her crate and pen area. I had set up a crate attached to a play pen in the living room area, complete with pee pads on one end and food and water on the other end.

Let The Chewing Begin!

It was pretty chaotic in the house after that initial period of calm. Grace kept to the living room area but wanted to chew EVERYTHING! My hands, feet, legs, hair, furniture, shoes…I spent a good amount of time running around picking things up only for her to turn around and find the next thing! I wish I knew about bitter apple spray at that time…

There were a lot of periods of sleep though, which were GREAT. As hard as she played, she would crash and sleep for a little while. Her naps were anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour during the day, which I used to tidy up or lie down exhausted on the couch. As they say with newborn babies…you rest when they do!

Cleaning Up Accidents

Enzymatic cleaners are something I would not be without during the early puppy days. As much as I ran that dog out to the yard, I would bring her in and she would go to the bathroom again inside as soon as I set her down! I bought a case of paper towels…Puppies have no bladder control at that young age and do not underestimate the amount of time it takes them outside to completely finish up. I think my mistake here was bringing Grace back into the house too quickly.

Nighttime

Nighttime was something I was definitely NOT looking forward to. I knew I would be up all night for at least the first week. And then there was the bedtime crate training. I put Grace into her crate, and she actually settled within the first few minutes and was fast asleep! Yay! I set my alarm for every hour through that first night, stumbling blindly down the stairs with her each time and standing out in the freezing cold January night until she did her business. It was quite pretty at that time of the night out in the yard, dark and quiet. And cold…

Start Basic Training

Grace slowly got better and I learned her habits and routines. We started training on basic commands almost immediately. She figured out “sit” within a matter of minutes. Gracie is a smart gal but with this came a level of stubbornness and attitude! SHE wanted to be the boss, and she did not let me forget it. We got into many heated arguments over the next few months as she had NO problems telling me what she thought of something I was trying to get her to do. I spent hours training her to walk and heel.

Puppy Socialization

Never underestimate the importance of proper socialization either! Puppies go through fear stages at varying levels of development, and fear in dogs can lead to aggression. I would take little Gracie out to Queen Street where she would be absolutely mobbed by people.

She met young to old, and Queen Street is a great place to see a lot of variety. She got used to loud noises and did not flinch at the garbage truck or streetcars. Grace went into as many stores as she was allowed. She is now one of the most social dogs I have ever seen! At the dog park she greets every single person in there, sitting on their feet and staring back up at them. More than one person has commented on how she wanted them to take her home…

A Different Approach To Socialization

With Covid, socialization was a VERY different experience with Benson! He came home on April 1, 2020, and we had just gone into our first lockdown. He learned a lot from Grace, and I did what I could with him but I can definitely tell the difference in how each one reacts to people and different situations.

There are still things you can do with your puppy, even in lockdown mode. I had them go out for walks twice a day with a dog walker. As soon as Benson had all his shots we went down to the dog park almost daily, where he had the opportunity to interact with other people and dogs. I sent him into the groomer even though I prefer to do it myself at home so that he would get another chance for interaction. But Benson is more aloof with people in general, preferring to be at my side. He also gets scared more easily and can require a lot of assurance.

Training was another area I got very lucky with Benson. With Grace, I signed her up for puppy kindergarten as soon as she was able to go. Many will allow you to enroll once they have had their second set of shots. It was a reward based training program, which Grace excelled at. In the classroom setting anyways…

Reward Based Training

A trainer also came out to the house a couple of times, but I found that the method she was using was NOT good for my dogs, who can be very sensitive souls. I did not like intimidating Grace into behaving a certain way, I wanted her to be happy to oblige. There are programs that use clickers as well, although I can say that I have NEVER seen anyone use a clicker out in public or at the dog park…

I recently came across Brain Training for Dogs. It is a rewards based training program done online. This is exactly the type of program that I would use for my dogs! And a great option to use if in-person training programs aren’t available (like here where we are in a never ending lockdown…). And the games make it fun for both you and your dog!!! Grace and Benson really excel with these types of training!

The experience I had with Grace was enough for me to train Benson. He LOVES to comply and is very, very happy to get praise from his Mom. He went through a period of testosterone brain for a few months and seemingly forgot everything I ever taught him, but now that he is neutered he has returned to his old sweet self.

Use YouTube As A Resource

General obedience classes had to be cancelled again due to Covid. I resorted to YouTube for any additional training I needed. I really wish I had known about the Brain Training program at that time! And you will find, as I did, that each puppy excels when trained in a certain way that may not necessarily conform to any one specific training type. With a little patience and experimentation you will find what fits best with your puppy.

Name Training

Name training was something that we worked hard on as well. I started saying their names to them repeatedly as soon as they came home. I would say their name and if they looked they would get a treat. You want them to learn their name as soon as possible.

Recall

Recall is another big one. You should spend a LOT of time working on this. Even if you never plan to have your puppy in an off leash situation there could be a time where they escape the house or yard, or slip their collar.

We started recall with the “touch” command. You sit your puppy next to you and tell them to “touch” while holding your hand in front of their nose. When they touch your hand with their nose, they get a treat. Gradually you can move further and further away from them and get your puppy to come to you this way.

I still use it to this day at the dog park. Benson was attacked by another (smaller) dog, and his hormone brain kicked in and I could see he was about to fight back. This would NOT have ended well for the much smaller dog. I yelled TOUCH and he spun around and came right to my side. They will both come to either “touch” or “come” and I have used it many, many times to get us out of what could have been a dangerous situation. It is never too early to start working on this command.

Make coming to you really fun. Make a game out of it. Outside of regular training, play hide and seek in your house. Get them really excited to come to you and find you. Lots of praise and treats. One thing I will caution is when your pup hits their teenager years and seemingly forgets everything. Continue to be persistent at this time with your training. It is frustrating.

Walking and Leash Training

Leash training also required a LOT of work with my bears. I spent HOURS walking Grace up and down Queen Street as she was a complete disaster in her early days on a leash. I started with regular collars, but switched to no pull harnesses after a rather disastrous walk to the vet. Someone commented “Our for your morning pull?” and that was when I knew I needed a different solution.

The no pull harness worked great for my two. They have a clip in the front and back. When you use the clip in the front, it gently pulls them to the side when they pull too hard which they don’t like the sensation of. My walks improved dramatically.

I still had to work hard with them though. Benson still pulled, and when Grace was recovering from hernia surgery I worked hard with him. Now the only time he really pulls is when he cannot resist the siren call of a nearby squirrel. I usually can tell when he is getting geared up though, and I correct and praise him for walking instead of pulling and chasing. But as with most other things, it is an ongoing process.

Dealing With Separation

The only other thing I really want to touch on here is leaving your puppy home alone. With Grace, I only had one day of downtime before I had to go back into the office so she was home alone for the day. I had a dog walker come to the house twice a day to take her out and play with her. It still was not enough though, and I noticed around 3 months that she was not doing well for the dog walker. She was depressed and didn’t want to eat or walk during the day.

I called my breeder, and decided that she needed a companion. This was how I ended up with two puppies three months apart in age! Yes, it was crazy. I was crazy. Sleep deprived. However, by the time Benson came home we were in our first lockdown. I have been working from home since, so Benson has never known me to be anywhere other than here.

Vaccines are now being administered, and the day will eventually come when we will need to go back to the office. Our pets will miss us terribly when that time comes. I have started leaving the dogs home alone for brief periods, a few hours at a time, so that they start getting used to being home alone.

A New Doggy Door!

A doggy door also went in recently. Just over three weeks to be exact. However, my dogs are VERY stubborn…I still can barely get them to use it even with treats and me holding it open for them fifty times or so a day. Grace has gone through a couple times on her own, and I am hoping that with persistence they will figure it out…After all, it is FREEDOM to go in and out as much as they want!! What dog wouldn’t want that??? Mine apparently…

Puppy stages can definitely be challenging. You have to be persistent in your training and efforts, even to beyond a year. There will be setbacks. But the unconditional love and loyal companionship makes it all worthwhile.

The post Congratulations on Your New Puppy! What Comes Next? first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

On Route

We have a couple of our favorite routes through the neighbourhood, which inevitably end up with some sort of play in the park at the bottom of the ravine a couple blocks over. While I do love our daily trips to the beach, I also really enjoy exploring the area with Grace and Benson.

Benson is always super energetic on our walks. I have just recently managed to train him out of jumping and wrestling Grace at every opportunity while on leash. People walking by tended to laugh and think it was downright hilarious to see two dogs, each bigger than me, down on the ground wrestling and jumping all over each other.

Making Progress

What I really did not find funny were the numerous occasions where they did it right in the middle of busy Queen street holding up traffic or the local bus…

Grace’s recent hernia repair surgery took her out of commission for a while on the longer walks. This left me with ample opportunity to work directly with the big guy! He has made tremendous progress I am happy to say! Leave it and drop it have never really been an issue for Grace and Benson either. They will pretty much walk right past a fast food wrapper without a second glance.

A couple days ago, I was walking home from the park. It had been a picture perfect walk. The dogs were impeccably behaved and everyone was happy to be out in the fresh air and sunshine that we have been so lucky to have at this time of year.

That was when they spotted it.

Benson’s Grisly Find

While they are well behaved dogs for the most part, this was just such a special occasion of a freshly dead squirrel in the road that they absolutely could not hold themselves back. Suddenly being dragged relentlessly towards it, thinking in my head oh no no no no no. Fighting but no match for my dogs’ strength this was a losing battle. Read more on prey drive here.

The fight was on to see which one could grab a hold of it. Standing in the street, leashes flying and tangled, screaming at them to stop. I am usually quite calm, but panic had me in its grip.

Benson was the winner in this gruesome race. Having that squirrel right around the middle, his jaw was set down tight on it. No amount of cajoling was loosening his grip on it causing him to give up his prize catch (he has a high prey drive and is always chasing them out of the yard but has never managed to catch one so completely yet). There was the time he came close when one fell out of a tree high up in our back yard, landing on it’s shoulder on our deck and injuring itself but somehow it managed to still get away.

The Drama Ensues

I could tell it had not been dead for long because it wasn’t stiff, and it’s little hand-like paws were flapping away at either side on Benson’s mouth. Suppressing my gag reflex while watching it bounce around with every little head movement.

I tried bribing him with treats, which works for everything else as he is highly food motivated. All to no avail. Grace lost interest in it at least at that point, or I’m scared to think what the tug of war result would have been like…

I was bracing for the inevitable, thinking I was going to have to pry it out of his mouth. Could you blame me for not wanting to touch it??? The fact that it was in my dog’s mouth was bad enough. Puppy kisses were NOT happening for a long while!

I desperately stood there and thought. I had nothing. Deciding to try to open his mouth from the back so I didn’t have to touch the dead squirrel. I had to pull a dead bird out of Grace’s mouth once which was bad enough.

Victory For Mom!

I actually managed to get him to loosen his jaw without having to touch it! And once I had that he dropped it! Hurray!!!!!!

By the time all this happened a mere few minutes had passed. I was feeling really gross even though I didn’t have to touch anything. Actually it was a little surprising that he gave it up that easily and was content to leave it in the road again after that.

I avoided that little street for the next few walks hoping that it would be gone by the next time we walked by. My stomach couldn’t handle it.

Today was the day that I decided to walk that street again. As we went up the steps that led to it my stomach was already feeling queasy.

A Blissfully Uneventful Walk

I looked down the road at the top of the steps. No squirrel!! Extremely grateful I wouldn’t have to deal with that again on this day, onward we ventured. When Benson got to the spot he found it, he gave the ground a good long sniff and looked around to see if his prize was still close by. Not seeing it, he carried right along.

Every time we go down that road I know he’s going to be looking. But for today, we were able to pass along that stretch of road and end the walk with no consequences. There will be puppy kisses today.

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The post What Happens When Dogs Find Dead Stinky Things first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.

Benson Gets Neutered (Sorry Big Guy)

Benson went to the vet to get neutered on Wednesday. It was amazing how quiet it was in the house without him. Grace took the opportunity to sleep all day. I actually got work done without having to open the door about a million times for my big boy! I would love knowing when exactly that doggy door I ordered is going to be installed…more on that later.

This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you.  By making your purchases through the links on this website HIGP may make a small percentage at no direct cost to you. HIGP only promotes products we use & truly believe in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please refer to my Privacy and Disclosures for further information. HIGP thanks you for your support!

My phone rang about mid-afternoon. It was over. Done. My boy was coming home a little less of a man.

The vet who did the procedure gave me the update. Benson did well and would be ready to come home sooner rather than later! She described him as up and about and walking around, eating treats already. The other words she used in that next breath were “high-strung” and “energetic”. Hooboy.

Benson And Sedatives – Not A Good Combination

Being that Benson is a pretty wild big guy, I asked for some sedatives to be sent home with him so that I could try to keep him calm. I know my boy, and it is crazy to see him jump in the air with all fours off the ground.

When I got to the vet, I called in for him to be escorted out of the building (we are not allowed in right now with Covid rules). I stood and waited for him. As I was waiting I saw a couple bundle a little baby Berner out of their car. Well of course I had to go say hi! She was so sweet little/big Elanor.

Picking Up Benson

Just as I was telling them about my rambunctious boy about to come out, the technician opened the door and called his name. She looked exasperated! I went over, and he pulled her right out the door and jumped right up to give me a big kiss right on the cheek! He was so happy to see me! Just having surgery for a neuter and umbilical hernia repair had not slowed him down one bit!

Elanor’s pet parents had a good laugh at that. The technician happily handed him over to me. He was NUTS! Running amok all over the sidewalk, not caring that he was dragging me around behind him like a ragdoll. After a couple minutes of this he FINALLY slowed down somewhat!

We were on our way home! Benson does NOT do well in a car. It can take me up to fifteen minutes just to get him in there and then he is miserable the whole time, panting, whining, pacing. I decided it was better to walk slowly the few blocks back home.

He was terribly confused, kept turning to look behind him and all around himself and had absolutely no idea what was going on. The drugs were definitely still in his system!

Back Home!

Finally we made it back home. Benson got all excited to see Grace and be back home but was completely disoriented and went to lie down. But Grace was all smiles that her family was back home as it really isn’t very often that she gets left at home all on her own.

That first night all was calm. And Benson slept most of the evening and through to the next morning, except when we was confused and had a bit of an “oops” on the kitchen floor…

Grace has recently undergone hernia repair surgery herself after apparently popping her inside stitches after her spay. I had a good idea what to expect with Benson and had plans to keep everyone inside and quiet for a few days.

Big Groggy Clumsy Boy

Sedatives were sent home as I asked for, and even with them Benson was starting to get a little crazy the day after his surgery! He was up and down and trying to jump on Grace and play even in his groggy and disoriented state.

Painting my one wall that goes up the stairs has been on my to do list for a very long time and I thought with the sedatives I would have some time to do it without crazy dogs all over the place. WRONG!

Caution – Wet Paint!

Benson stumbled up the stairs for some apparent reason as the paint was still very wet. And the sedatives led him to walk reaaaallly slowly up all the while rubbing the side of his face and body against the wall for support. His left side is more white than black! I can’t even give him a bath for almost two more weeks!

Once he got to the top of the stairs, which he was not supposed to be going up and down anyways, lying down he just barked at me! I have no idea what goes on in that big head of his.

Lifting slowly off the floor after apparently tiring of barking away at me for no good reason at all, he stumbled back down the stairs. That was it, I was taking him off the sedatives. With back legs giving out and sliding around and with the stairs in both the front and back that he needs to use to go to the bathroom I was scared of falling. And I did NOT want to end up back at the vet, as it is I’ve paid for their kid’s college tuition already the past couple of months…

My Wild Child Reappears

As soon as the sedatives started wearing off I knew it immediately! He was absolutely WILD. Jumping and hopping and wrestling with Grace, and I was terrified again that stitches were going to get popped! Then he started going in and out more times than I cared to count at that point, and was extremely active.

So today I decided that he was well enough to test a short walk through the neighbourhood to try to burn off some energy. And it was the WORST walk I have had ever with these two knuckleheads.

Then forgetting all of his training he was pulling me all over the place. So I resorted back to early puppy training days and would spin randomly and stop walking completely to stop the antics. This resulted in a very long short walk!

Wrestle Time!

Getting back home, I was exhausted from fighting with them. Benson wrestled Grace constantly as well on the walk as it seems to be that as soon as someone pays a little attention to them it is his cue to wrestle. And it’s always on the busy street! Lots of smiles and laughter while I held the leashes, giving up until they decided they were done.

Now Grace acted up! Since she is an attention hound and will stop at nothing to get someone to stop and pet her when she is so inclined. And she will spin her bottom around so fast and sit on your feet you almost don’t have a chance to realize it has even happened. Another favorite trick is slowing down to the point people behind us catch up and she forces them to stop or trip over her!

Finally getting them on the move again we hit the dreaded part where we have to walk past their favorite pet store. They fight to get in there every time we go by and today was no different. Managing finally to lure them away with the promise of a couple treats after several minutes scratching on the door and begging to go in.

We Made It…Finally!

Happiness and relief were the first two things I felt when we got to the front door. We were home! We made it! However, as soon as they got through that door though the wrestling began again. Then Benson was hopping at Whiskers, my giant Ragdoll cat. Since then, he has had a short nap but is currently sitting beside me while I am writing, whining if I am not petting him. It has taken me a very long time to write this post!

I am tired. I tried to nap earlier after our disastrous walk but the big bear demanded I let him in and out repeatedly making it impossible to actually fall asleep. That doggy door can’t come soon enough…I can only imagine what the next few days will end up bringing.

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The post Why It’s Been A Crazy Time With My Dogs first appeared on Help! I've Got Pets.