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Pet Festival 2010 - A Good Time Was Had by All!

This year's Pet Festival, sponsored by the Gastineau Humane Society, was a great event. The star of our booth at the Festival was Bourbon, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, owned and handled by Kelli and Pete Anderson. Bourbon was happen to demonstrate his techniques for working with the Nina Ottoson dog (and cat) puzzles.

Following his lead, and demonstrations, many other visiting canines came by the booth to try their luck at uncovering the treats in the puzzles.

Our thanks to Kelli and Bourbon Anderson, Nicki Penrose and Mary Horton, for helping to make it a wonderful, fun day.

Canines Unlimited donated over $500 in products for the silent auction, all proceeds to go to the Gastineau Humane Society.

Pet Corrector Spray-Stop unwanted behavior!

An easy to use, effective, non-invasive way of stopping/discouraging unwanted behaviors such as barking, chasing cars, housebreaking, jumping up on people, aggression, stealing, and more.

A Missing Link Story--

Olive, a black lab, sheds a lot. She belongs to my niece, in Iowa. While I was visiting my niece, I suggested a number of products she could try with Olive, to try to reduce the shedding. We started Olive on Missing Link, a vitamin-mineral supplement. By the next day her shedding was about 60% less. (I know because I was sleeping on the couch that she would lay on during the day.) After about five days, or shedding was reduced by about 90%.

My niece's concern about accidentally forgetting to put the Missing Link on Olive's food, turned out to become a non-issue. My niece called me a few days after I had left to report on some of Olive's behavior. She told me that Olive, who normally inhaled her food, was acting completely different that evening. Instead of eating her dog food, Olive would go to her bowl, pick up a mouthful of kibble, walk into the living room and drop the mouthful of kibble on the floor. She did this several times. And then she laid down and would not eat.

After about an hour, my niece realized she had forgotten to sprinkle the Missing Link on to Olive's food, so she retrieved it out of the refrigerator and added it on top of Olive's kibble. Olive got up and immediately went over to her dog bowl and ate her food. I don't think my niece will have to worry about forgetting the Missing Link again.

Thundershirts
Thundershirts are our product "pick of the year" for 2009. They are designed to reduce stress and anxiety, in a completely noninvasive, non-drug, easy and simple to use way. Like giving your dog a soft, comforting, gentle "hug", the Thundershirt's unique wrap can bring about remarkable changes in a very short amount of time, often times, immediately.

This dog (left) typically paces, often nonstop. Most dogs get quieter and calmer, slowing or stopping pacing, whining, barking, etc.. This dog, shortly after putting the Thundershirt on her, decided to just take a nap, and totally relaxed in my chair.

The affect is similar to that produced by the body wraps we use in the TTouch work. I would strongly recommend trying one if your dog has issues with stress, anxiety or fear. Issues including panting, shaking, scratching, running, hiding, vocalizing, clinging, and pottying indoors are symptoms that have been successfully reduced with the use of a Thundershirt. They are inexpensive and very simple to put on and take off of your dog. You are welcome to bring your dog in to try on different sizes to see what fits.

Interactive Treat Balls--These new fun balls come in three designs:

Everlasting Treat Ball (blue)
Can be filled with food, Every Flavor Treats or any snack your dog enjoys and then capped with one or two Everlasting Treats. Everlasting Treats can also be inserted upside down or into the center cavity of the ball for more challenging play. Dishwasher safe in the top rack for easy clean up. Completely free of latex, vinyl, and phthalates. Available in three sizes (S/M/L)

Bento/Beanie Ball (Day-glo orange)
Similar to the Everlasting Treat Ball, it has dental dimples on the outside to help keep teeth clean. Slightly softer than the Treat Ball, it has one Everlasting Treat on one side and the treat dispenser opening on the other side.

Everlasting Fun Ball
Starmark's strongest chew toy yet! The Everlasting Fun Ball can be filled with food, Every Flavor Treats, or any snack your dog enjoys. Dishwasher safe in the top rack for easy clean up. Completely free of latex, vinyl, and phthalates. Available in Day-Glo Green in sizes Medium & Large.

While these can provide hours of interesting fun time, we do recommend they be used in a supervised situation, just like any other chew toy, just to be safe.

Fake Grass Dog Relief Area

Do you need a "portable dog relief" area, such as during ferry trips, with car deck relief areas, or on trips where you do not have much time or space to exercise your dog? Sometimes the exercise area is cement or asphalt, and well housebroken dogs will not consider soiling such an area.

Many people do not have the time to train their dog to "potty" on command. Try packing along a section of fake grass. Your dog can walk around on it, and because it feels like grass to their feet, encourages them to relieve themselves on it. Pack along some absorbent material to put underneath (newspaper, paper towels, old towels, disposable diapers, etc.) to soak up any liquid and dispose of it properly. Keep everything in a kitchen size garbage sack, with some extra sacks, and use the plastic sacks under the absorbent material, to protect the floor surface and keep it dry.

And if you really needed to up the anti to encourage your dog to go, you could borrow from the training exercise of taking your dog to the same place for pottying because it smells like the right place. Save some small rocks or pea gravel in a net bag (like you get from bagged fresh vegetables or fruit) from your dog's usual "relief" area, and place in an odor proof container or plastic bag. Put it on or under the grass mat, so that it smells "right" to your dog. Replace it in the odor proof container when done.

The fake grass (from your hardware or building supply store), can be washed and disinfected for reuse. Just wrap it in a plastic bag until you can rinse or wash it off, and allow to dry. Use another plastic bag to pick up and dispose of the used absorbent material.

I have also recently seen advertised similar versions to this (Skymall magazine), only with a "tray" underneath the mat, to catch the liquid. They were about the size of a large doormat. They are supposed to have some sort of scent or odor to attract the pet to that spot. Costs ranged from around $150-$300, plus shipping.

As always, do some practice training runs using the new materials, before you hit the road or get to the place you really need it, so you can work out any little wrinkles in the process ahead of time, and be well prepared. That will also make it "familiar" to your dog, and more likely to be used quickly and easily.

Pros and cons:

I think the fake grass material is more portable and light weight, and easier to clean because it can be tossed in the wash machine, with disinfectants and deodorizers as well as cleaning substances. The absorbent material you put under it can be disposed of easily. You can buy it by the yard or foot, as opposed to a predetermined mat size. This is useful if your dog does not find the door mat size "large enough" to be acceptable. By walking my dog up and down several yards of this material, I am more likely to find he will be able to relax faster and have more choices of area, than a door mat target area. Probably a few yards of the fake grass material and the plastic garbage bags and absorbent material would cost less than the commercial models. It would not look as nice and finished as the tray type. Definitely takes up much less space than the raise "dog yard" type.

The commercial mats with "tray" is nice because you do not need absorbent material underneath. You only need to handle the tray and dump the contents in an appropriate place, and do not have to "pick up" absorbent material. It also looks nice, just like a doormat. The mat itself may be machine washable (I'm not sure) but the tray would not be. You would need to hose it off outside or have a large tub to clean it, or use lots of spray and towels.

Your particular situation and needs would give you an idea of which would be best for you and your circumstances.

TEACH BALANCE, NOT PULLING

TTouch Harness and Super Balance Leash - Teach Loose Leash Walking (not pulling)

Try it for yourself. Attach your leash to your dog's collar, and very gently make a connection, taking up the slack, so your dog will feel a tiny bit of pressure on it's collar. Normally, the first response is to attempt to rebalance, since you have just put your dog out of balance. The rebalancing consists simply of resisting your pressure (pulling on the collar) to get back into balance. Even if your dog starts the pressure first by pulling, they will usually just pull harder as soon as they feel the pressure on their collar.

From the TTouch perspective, we are always teaching about balance (in mind, body and spirit). The TTouch harness works from a dog's center of balance over their shoulder, and does not put added stress on their spinal cord or vertebrae by flexing the back up and down when a leash connection is made. The Super Balance Leash allows for signaling and further balancing, since there is NO pressure on a collar to pull against. When you balance the body, you balance the mind, which further balances the body. How simple. How amazing.

We have TTouch harnesses and leashes available in a variety of sizes and colors. Please contact us if you are intersted in trying this method with your dog. We use this method in our Obedience classes, too.

SHEDDING REDUCTION

Some simple ways of reducing shedding, sometimes dramatically, are from both an internal and external approach. Shedding is directly related to nutrition.

Internal approach--
In The Whole Dog Journal, January 2007, page 20, Dr. Randy Kidd, DVM, PHD, says "Healthy hair relies on the balance of the diet: proteins (and especially the sulfur-rich amino acids such as cystine, as well as tyrosine and methionine), essential fatty acids, copper, and B vitamins. Up to 30 percent of the daily protein requirement of an adult dog can be used for the renewal of the skin and the hair."

What would it be worth to you to reduce shedding by possibly as much as 95%? One of my clients gave a testimonial after their dog had been fed Missing Link for a month, that the shedding was reduced 90%! In fact, they noticed a different in their dog's coat in just 2-3 days! Try a good supplement for 4-8 weeks, and see what kind of difference your pet (and you) may experience. Or feed a better quality dog food. It's easy, can save you a lot of time in vacuuming and cleaning, improve your dog's overall health (not just skin and coat), and you can easily go back to what you were feeding, any time you want. We carry Fundamental Vitality, Missing Link, SeaMeal, and a variety of excellent omega oils and other supplements to help in this area.

External approach--

Use a shampoo which can help nourish the skin and coat. (It's still about nutrition.) Try something like our Shed Control shampoo from HydroSurge, to see what kind of difference it can make. Applying a separate conditioner, after the shampooing, can also help.

There are a variety of specialized tools that can help get rid of the coat being shed. Depending on the type of coat and amount of hair coming out, there are rakes, splitters, rotating tooth tools, blades, and more, that can speed up the removal of the loose hair. Ultimately, you need to try the tool on your dog's coat, to determine just how well it will work. At Canines Unlimited, you are always welcome to bring your dog and actually TRY OUT the tool(s) to see which one works best (fastest, easiest, most comfortable). Good quality tools are sturdy and well balanced, and do not create nearly the hand, wrist or arm fatigue of poor quality tools. They also do a better job of getting out the loose coat, with the least amount of distress on your pet.

A wash (at least two shampoo/rinse combos, or more, until the dog is immaculately clean) and dry (with a high speed blower dryer [see video]) get out the maximum amount of loose hair and dander, leaves the coat free flowing, wonderful to touch and pet, clean and fresh smelling, and much more comfortable to your dog. If you keep up with regular groomings, then the shedding season job is much easier, for both you and your dog.

Note: We offer Professional Grooming, Budget Dog Bath and Juneau (do-it-yourself) Dog Wash services.

Reminder: All obedience students enrolled in our six-week or twelve-week obedience classes automatically get a free basic Juneau Dog Wash appointment.

PupLight

The PupLight gets five paws up from us and are available at Canines Unlimited shop. After testing many, many dog lights over the years, this it the first light that meets all of our criteria for a sturdy, practical, useful light, for almost any size dog and amount of hair. A police officer actually stopped us during a late night walk, asking where I had acquired the light...he was able to see me blocks away, and was really impressed with the visibility. (I told him I had them for sale at my shop.)

This fits dogs as small as a Pom (see photo below) and has an extension band for really large dogs. The band is wide elastic, making it easy to slip on and off the dog. Of particular note is the design that flattens the hair around the light, keeping it from interfering or blocking the beam from the brilliant LED light. It is water resistant (great for rain or snow), runs on three AAA batteries (easy to replace), with a hinge that allows the beam to be directed up or down. You can remove it if you need a bright light, or call your dog over to have them light up the area to help you find the "deposit" to be cleaned up. The beam can be seen from ANY direction, because of the reflection on the ground or snow. The movement of the dog causes the beam to move back and forth a bit, making it even more visible.

The photo on the right, below, is an unretouched, very real image of the beam on the ground in front of the dog. (This dog also has another type of light on its back, giving a comparison of visibility.) So you always know where the dog is, unless he goes behind a large tree or building and is completely blocked from view. The on/off switch does NOT get easily switched off, even when the dog is going through brush and bushes.

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The PupLight got a top rating from Whole Dog Journal (December 2007). The only adjustment you may want to make would happen if you wanted to override the slide adjustment/removeability of the light from the collar band. Some tape covering the slide opening would prevent that from happening. The plastic housing and "hardware" is of heavy duty plastic, but light enough for even a small dog. We think it is a "must have" piece of safety equipment, for any dog out for walks in the dark.