This past Monday the wonderful Chocolate Lab Eddie passed very suddenly at the age of 2 to Leukemia.  It came as a shock to all of us both because Eddie was so full of life and really only exhibited mild symptoms of illness in the last week and due to his young age of two.  Obviously he was not with us long enough.

Eddie was the life of the party in our group.  He was loved by all the other dogs and their owners.  Everyone knows a man or woman who is just always so upbeat and fun and it just makes you feel good to be in their presence.  Well this was our Eddy the dog.  Every dog walk that included Eddie was just that much more lively and fun.  Every one was his best friend.

The last few days the Dog Mobile and our walks have just not felt the same with out Eddie’s sparkling presence.  In fact they seem life less and empty.  I am sure it is going to take quite some time to grieve and come to terms with the loss of our special Eddie.

When Eddie was little he used to finish his walks and crawl from the back of the Dog Mobile and squeeze through under the barrier to come in the front seat and sleep beside me.  When he got too big to do this he always lay with his nose sticking through the barrier so I could put my hand down to pet him and get wonderful Eddie kisses in return.

Eddie became my full time assistant dog walker at one point as my dog Dot decided it wasn’t for her anymore.  She just wanted to walk and not work.  If some young dogs had some extra energy to burn Eddie would lead them on what I called run ups or sprint intervals back and forth ahead of us until they were tired.  If two dogs were thinking about not getting along Eddie would just slip his gorgeous little body in between the two dogs to deflect their tension.  If a dog was doing something they weren’t supposed to do Eddie would present a stick to play with or do something else to distract them.  Eddie was a peace maker.

Eddie also loved to share his cookies so many dogs especially Laika, Kali and Dot love to get out of the car at Eddie’s house and go have treats both before and after their walk.  Eddie also always had a bowl of fresh clean water outside on his back step so the dogs could get a drink after walking on a hot day.  On special days like Valentines Day and Halloween and even on his Birthday Eddie would leave special cookies out to share with his friends.

When we were at the Veterinary Hospital on Sunday and learned that he would not have long to live they said it is always hard to lose a dog so young.  That is true but in Eddie’s case he was young and a special, special dog.  I have owned dogs my whole life and I have been walking dogs now for many years and I can tell you he was one of the most special dogs I have ever met in my life.

I have been telling the other dogs the bad news over the last few days.  Today when I told little Jess who was one of Eddie’s favorite gal pals she stood up and put a paw on each of my hips and gave me a hug.  Then part way through our walk when I was overcome with tears and emotion she again gave me a great hip hug.  Jess has never done that before.  When I told Tug who has just lost his companion Cocoa very recently and is a really good friend of Eddie’s he totally understood and gave me some grunts and kisses to comfort me.

Eddie is predeceased by his best Chocolate Lab friend and mentor Rigby and his special Golden Retriever friend Cocoa (Kofax) and his older special girl friend Terra.  I am hoping they are all together now in Heaven and he and Rigby are playing tug of war and Eddie is licking Terra’s ears the way he loves to do.

Eddie is survived by his most amazing owner Lynda who loved and cared for Eddie in the best possible way.  He is also survived by his Aunt Dot who helped raise him and tried to let Rigby’s Chocolate Lab influence always be stronger than her Terrier influence.  Eddie was Dot’s best friend.

Well today was a gorgeous day with snow flakes swirling around us as we walked.  There was the odd drop of rain too but we ignored that.  The first snow fall of the year is always exiting and the dogs not matter what age act like puppies.

So we were wandering through the woods enjoying ourselves when Bonnie and Eddie were off like a shot in pursuit of a red fox.  I called the two of them to come back and worried that they would not be coming back any time soon.  I couldn’t believe it when the other dogs failed to notice or smell the fox and didn’t also join the pursuit.  With in minutes the two were back in our group.  What a shocker.

I text-ed Eddie’s owner to tell her what happened and she said she was just happy that Eddie didn’t eat the fox as he ate a squirrel on Friday and has had diarrhea ever since.  Eddie’s favorite toy is a stuffed squirrel that has been unstuffed for quite some time so is really a shell of a squirrel.  His owner calls it Chelsea Squirrel.  Well on Friday’s walk Eddie did indeed find a dead squirrel.  He really couldn’t believe his luck.  I could just see him thinking ” all these years I have had that fake squirrel and when I play with it I pretend it is real and now here I have a real Squirrel”.

Eddie dragged that dead squirrel around for our whole walk.  He tossed it and played with it just like it was Chelsea Squirrel.  He tried to entice the other dogs to join in but no one was interested.  Finally when we got back to the car and all the other dogs got in to go home he decided it was time to eat his treasure from the top down.  There was no way he would let me near him until he ate the squirrel.  All but the tail.  The good thing was it was a freshly dead squirrel.  I think they are easy to kill right now as they are so fat getting ready for winter that they can barely walk let alone run.

Today’s chase brought back memories of years ago when we encountered a wolf.  Two of the six dogs I was walking chased the wolf and the other four dogs stood glued to my side and we all quivered.  I really didn’t think the 2 dogs chasing the wolf would ever be seen again but after many, many agonizing minutes they returned all intact.  Today’s fox chase was not nearly as scary as that.

A  few months ago I received an email via a friend with a plea to find 9 dogs homes before they were to be euthanized by a shelter in St. Agathe.  It was a very short turn around time until the slated euthanasia.  A group of women from Kingston ended up driving together to St. Agathe and rescuing all 9 dogs.  I believe 2 were adopted immediately both being Bernese Mountain dogs which apparently is a very popular breed right now.

These dogs all went into temporary foster homes in Kingston while they awaited finding forever homes.  I had a few clients who were looking for new doggie companions so I passed on the email.  We decided to drive down to Kingston to meet the dogs.  There were a number of dogs to meet but going into the meeting based on pictures and descriptions there were a few standouts.

First there was a bonded pair who needed to be adopted together which is a hard thing to do when you are an adult dog and large breed.   Most people are looking for one dog not two.  A client who had recently lost her wonderful Chocolate Lab companion felt a tug on her heart strings  when she heard their story.  Unfortunately as her pet sitter I can not take more than 1 large dog at a time and definitely not one with a strong prey instinct (a husky mix) as I have 3 cats so they were ruled out.  Both were amazing dogs though.

The next dog on our list was Bayzle who is a Chocolate Lab/Chesapeake Retriever cross.  He is 16 months old and has a very interesting history.  At the age of 8 weeks he was rescued off an ice flow in the St. Laurence River.  He was taken to a shelter and adopted.  It seems from then on he was not walked and was over fed.  So at the age of 16 months he ended up back in the shelter very over weight (20 pounds) and with not the greatest manners as he probably was never disciplined.

Both clients were interested in Bayzle.  The client who had recently lost her Chocolate Lab was for obvious reasons since she wants another Chocolate Lab.    Ollie’s owner was also interested since Bayzle and Ollie are close to one another in age and breed.  Going in to the meeting Ollie’s owner was giving Rigby’s owner first choice on Bayzle since she was currently dog less.

We arrived in Kingston at a soccer dome where a Dog Agility Competition was underway.  It may not have been the optimal meeting place as we were in a gravel parking lot where all the rescue dogs had to be on leash and we had a lot of well behaved agility competitors passing us on leash as well.

First off there was a cage with a blanket over it and once the blanket was removed a large dog started barking like crazy. When she came out of her cage she was pulling on her leash.  She had GIANT ears and a skinny gangly body.  Her name was Suzie and her breed apparently is Great Dane/Rhodesian Ridge Back cross.  She looked like a giant mouse.  In my mind I wrote that dog off as not desirable.

We then met Bayzle who was a chubby brown lovely dog.  Rigby’s owner and I took him for a little amble to try to get to know him.  He was eager but didn’t seem to be all that interested in his possible new owner.  When Bayzle first came to  Kingston he was in one foster home and then when his foster mother went on holidays he went to a second foster home.  At this meeting both his first and second foster mothers were present and I think Bayzle was eagerly trying to please both his foster mothers and thus wasn’t focused on his potential forever home.

I think had Bayzle  been adopted he would have bonded with his new owner and been a great companion.  Also at play was the fact that Rigby’s owner was really still grieving for Rigby and she  just wasn’t ready for a new dog.  Just like any relationship if there is no connection then  there is not connection and it is best to walk away.

Then there was Ollie and his owner.  They met Bayzle and Ollie just ignored him.  Ollie was however interested in the aforementioned funny looking dog named Suzie.  I was thinking to myself this is not the right dog for Ollie but then I wasn’t around while Ollie and Suzie were bonding.

We had agreed before coming that no one would adopt a dog that day and we would all go home and think about it.  Back to Ottawa we went and of course I was sad that no one wanted to adopt Bayzle.

Ollie and his owner went back to Kingston a short time later to meet Suzie or Satellite Suzie a second time.  This time they went to a grassy park like area where Ollie and Suzie could play off leash.  It was a match and Suzie was adopted on a Saturday and moved here to Chelsea.

On Sunday at 11 pm I received a worried email from Ollie’s owner regarding some of Suzie’s behaviours.  That coming Wednesday was going to be Neko’s (renamed Neko from Satellite Suzie) first group walk so I needed to get to know her so I suggested Ollie, Neko and their owner join us the next day for a group walk.  On that walk I had 2 dogs under the age of 2 and 4 other regulars.  Well it turns out most of Neko’s worrisome behaviour was just a result of Neko’s being a puppy and just being transplanted one more time in her life.  Neko is a big dog but really only 9 months old so just a puppy.  By the end of our 1 hour hike in the woods Neko’s new owner was very releived.

So 2 months have passed  and I have to say Neko is just an awesome dog.  Many days she is better behaved than 2 year old Ollie.  She loves the other dogs, listens to all her commands, loves romping in the woods and swimming in the nasty ponds.  My misgvings about her upon our initial meeting were completly wrong.  Ollie and his owner made a great choice and I am so happy Neko is now a part of our lives.

If you are looking to add a rescue dog to your family please keep Smitty’s Rescue in Kingston in mind.  These ladies rescue perfectly good dogs sometimes from unnecessary euthanizia and house, feed and train them until they find forever homes.

http://www.theagilityconnection.net/

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_199564326730486&ap=1

We are on the cusp of summer with hot humid weather and lots of mosquito’s. It has been a strange spring with lots of rain and cool weather. The good news is that we may have had a 3 day black fly season. They hatched and it got cold and wet and they are gone. That will make up for the fact it was a 2 month black fly season last year. The mosquito’s are out in full regalia but the dragon fly’s have also made an appearance so the mosquito population should soon dwindle.

Yesterday we were marching through the woods trying to out pace the mosquito’s when Timber decided to go over a hill and start barking her little Terrier head off at it. My intital reaction was to keep walking and calling her to come. Most dogs do not want to be left behind and will follow. That didn’t work. It only made her bark harder and harder. I kept calling and even threw the words cookies and treat in there. All the other dogs partook in that little coffee break.

I finally had to go in after Timber. I knew by the sound of her Terrier bark that she had found something alive to confront. I was amazed that my dog Dot wasn’t in there with Timber as usually if there is a strange dog to confront and do the Terrier dance for Dot is right in there. So my quandry was what kind of animal has Timber found and do I really want all 6 of these dogs confronting it all at once. Do I want to come face to face with it? Is it a bear in a tree, a coyote, a porcupine or a ground hog? Or worse?
After many minutes of trying to get Timber to come to me and her refusing to leave her guard position we all climbed the hill to Timber. It turned out to be a very large Snapping Turtle who thank goodness had decided to be passive and had retracted his head and feet.

The minute I arrived Timber ran back to our path and had no more interest in Mr Snapping Turtle. Her need was to show me he was there. She must have a really good nose because he was far from out path. Of course now the other dogs were really interested in checking out the snapping turtle. Even Laika who had to be carried out of the woods a few years ago when she met a not so passive Snapping Turtle on our path. I am glad today’s adventure ended with no injuries.

Last Monday I was walking along with my group of dogs thinking what a great job I have. I was watching Sid the Australian Shepherd do loops around me and all the other dogs with Ollie the Black Lab in hot pursuit. Sid is rather fast and nimble which is a common trait of that breed. Actually as of late I have always enjoyed having the Australian Shepherds and Border Collie’s along on my walks as they do love to run in circles and entertain (wear out) the other dogs.
Well today I learned that labs maybe just as fast but they are not just as nimble. So Sid approached me from behind in a full sprint and jumped out of the way to pass me just on time but that left Ollie in hot pursuit to slam into my legs. So out form under me the legs go and I fly in the air and am now horizontal to the ground. Slam. As I am in the air I am thinking why did you have to slam into me and not a tree? We are walking in a forest after all. As I land I hear all the vertebrae in my neck go snap, crackle and pop. Whether I am hurt or not I have to scramble to my feet and get upright immediately. For some reason every time I fall and hurt myself my dog thinks the best way to protect me from her perceived threat that the other dogs will hurt me is to mall me herself. She really means well. So back on my feet I am and I am thinking that I must have whip lash. I keep walking and it only hurts a tiny bit and the more time that passes the better it feels.
I realize that Ollie gave me a Chiropractic adjustment. The funny thing is that recently I have had a lot of back and neck pain and strain and have been seeing my Chiropractor for it. I let him do upper back adjustments but won’t let him touch my neck. So maybe this was all for the best.
I am thinking though that Ollie and a few other Chocolate and Black labs I know who regularly play with the Australian Shepherds and Border Collie’s might benefit from going to agility classes.

I was thinking about this post yesterday but I received some horrible news this morning that has prompted me to write this. Last evening 2 black dogs were seen struggling on the ice of the Gatineau River North of Adamson Road. They were sighted by a women who called for help. The large dog was seen trying to get on top of the ice but it kept breaking. A group of people searched for them but they had disappeared. Very sad news. I hesitate in writing this so soon as it appears these dogs owners do not know the plight of their dogs yet.

This time of year the ice is melting and breaking both on the River and in the forest. I make it policy during both the freeze and melt seasons not to walk anywhere near the river or the many swamps and ponds in our forests. It is easy enough to make a route where you do not have to go anywhere near these ponds.

I also never walk across the frozen ponds in the winter with the dogs so that they don’t consider it a path or route to follow. When the ponds are melting the water loving dogs such a Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Portuguese Water dogs will walk on to the melting water on the edges and top of the pond just praying to be swimming in there and then they fall through.

Of course in the above scenaro of the 2 dogs on the river it sounds like these dogs were out on an adventure unattended by their human companions. I never agree with allowing your dogs run around unattended. There are many dangers out there with cars, wolves, coyotes, fishers etc.

My heart goes out to these two dogs who unnecessarily lost their lives last night.

It is officially spring but we still have a lot of snow on the ground. I would say it will take about 2 more weeks until the snow is gone. We have had 3 days of above zero temperatures and the snow is indeed melting fast. My dog walking trails are still hard packed and I am only starting to punch through the snow here and there. The dogs who like to run beside the path are indeed punching through.
Ted was the first to do so and I thought he had really hurt himself as it was hard for him to get up. Two of his four legs went through the snow all the way to the top and two did not. I think he was stunned more than anything. He walked away with a limp and a small scrape on his toe but was back to himself by the next day.
One of my favorite things about winter is clean dogs. Yes on the colder days I have to spend a lot of time dressing and undressing the dogs who don’t have the coats for this climate. Some dogs (Tug the Bull Dog and Timber the Terrier) actually require long johns, a jacket and boots. But the amount of time I spend dressing dogs in winter is inconsequential in comparison to cleaning dirty dogs the rest of the year. And it is a clean job. No mud involved. Or smell.
When the snow is gone and the streams run freely, the swamps and ponds are there for swimming or just submerging in and the mud is just eveywhere to roll and run in that is a dirty time of year.
I literally spend hours every day hosing and wiping dogs down before they go back into their homes. Some dogs ie Golden Retreivers, White Standard Poodles and Border Collies who have lots of hair can be hosed and rubbed down with a towel and you would swear they haven’t been cleaned. I sometimes wish there was a mobile grooming service following the Dog Mobile to clean all the dogs before they head back into their homes.
So I will enjoy my last few days or weeks of clean dogs and a relatively clean dog mobile until the mud season is upon us.

Over the years of dealing with a lot of dogs it has become very apparent to me that the quality and kind of food you feed your dog directly affects their behaviour. Today I am going to discuss high protein/grain free dog foods which seems to be very trendy right now.

High protein dog food is meant to be fed to working dogs or dogs who exercize more than 3 hours a day. When it is fed to a dog who does not exercize that much it makes for an extra energetic dog. When it is fed to a breed that is already extra energetic such as a Labrador, Standard Poodle, Golden Retreiver, Border Collie or Australian Shepherd who is not exercizing 3+ hours a day you can end up with a Tasmanian Devil on your hands.

In fact some of these dogs have so much excess energy and they do not know how to channel it. As a result I actually think they feel uncomfortable. So they end up playing rough with other dogs, running away to get that extra exercize their body knows they need on their own and just misbehaving.

I had a lab client who was on a good quality meat/grain mix food and then switched to the high protein no grain food without telling me. It became very apparent that something had changed in this dogs life. He was hyper, unmanageable, agressive in the car with me and the other dogs as we drove to our walks, playing too rough with the other dogs on the walks and when I returned him home acting like he had never been walked. I talked to the owner to see what had changed. Had she stopped exercizing him morning and night or was there a food change. Turns out it was the food. So I requested he go back to his old food. He did and immediately he calmed down and was a lovable young lab again. He still hada lot of energy but he was controlled and happy.

About 2 months later he started exhibiting the same crazy behaviour and sure enough he had been put back on the high protein/no grain food. I had to explain to his owner that his behaviour was so disruptive to me and the group that I would not longer be able to walk him if he continued on that food. So he immediatly changed back to the other good quality lower protein/grain mix food and again he calmed down.

This is one example. I have seen this behaviour pattern frequently. I also realize a lot of breeders are recomending this high protein food when people are purchasing puppies. Exactly this happened when my parents got their Leonburger puppy a year ago. They thought her frenzied behaviour was normal puppy behaviour. When they switched to a lower protein food they still had an energetic puppy but she was no longer out of control.

If you have a dog on this food who is exhibiting some of the above mentioned behaviours I would recomend switching your dog over to a lower protein dog food for a month or two and make note of any behaviour changes. If after 2 months you are not convinced put your dog back on the high protein food and again make note of behaviour and energy changes.

There are plenty of good quality foods out there where the first ingredient is protein (ie fish,lamb,chicken) followed by a good quality grain (that is not just a filler like wheat gluten) that is good for your dog. So please before you put your dog on a high protein food examine his breed tendencies and your daily hours of exercize before choosing his food.

I would also go to a few reputable sellers of dog food ( I am not talking about the Vetrinarian’s office as they usually just push 1-2 brands whose ingredient list usually starts of with a low quality grain filler). Go somewhere where there is a big variety of dog food of good quality where the owners or employees are long term employees and know what they are talking about. Have a good discussion about your dog’s breed, energy level, exercize level etc and what food would best suite your dog.

Some manufacturers of high protein dog food such as Orijen also make a lower protein food such as Acana. Both high quality just different protein levels.

Locally I would recomend both Dog Elegance in Chelsea and Critter Jungle in Ottawa for such expertise. I would not recomend the chain pet food stores that are out there in abundance. Their employee turn over is usually high and true knowledge of dog food is usually quite low.

Some time ago I sent wrote a blog post about the plight of 2 street dogs in downtown Ottawa requesting some small donations to buy them winter coats and boots to help keep them warm.  It seems when a street or homeless person has a dog they are not allowed to take them into the shelters at night to warm up.  So dog and human brave the elements 24 hours a day.  We have had some incredibly cold days this winter and I know my dog can’t handle the cold without the help of winter boots and coat.  Wally’s owner Stephanie is working downtown and met 2 men and their dogs and contacted me about trying to help them out.

Well the response was overwhelmingly good.  Within 24 hours I was able to stop accepting donations because we had raised so much money.  First off I want to thank Vince who owns The Cyclery Bike store on Bank Street.  He immediately emailed me to say he would cover the cost of both jackets.  I did some calling around to pet shops and found that the jackets were rather expensive so we ended up purchasing Shedrow brand dog jackets at  Green Hawk which is an equestrian store that carries good quality and reasonably priced dog jackets.

In regards to the dog boots France who owns the pet shop in Chelsea Dog Elegance offered to give us the boots for less than cost which was incredibly generous.  We purchased the great winter boot made here in Canada called Muttluk.

Our youngest contributor to the fund was Evan at age 9 who is a family member of Terra’s. Bonnie’s owner put together a package for each of the dog’s owners that consisted of warm down vests, chocolates and some wet dog food.  Eddie’s owner also donated 2 big bags of Orijen Dog Kibble to feed the dogs.

Wally’s owner Stephanie delivered the jackets.  The first dog to receive her goods was Gerbil.  Steph said she couldn’t believe how fast the jacket was out of her hands and onto Gerbil’s back.  Gerbil and her owner were just estatic to receive the a warm winter coat.  Steph showed Gerbil’s owner how to put the boots on and on they went.  Steph said when she handed over the care package the man’s eye’s just lit up when he saw the chocolates.

It took a few days to track down the second dog who is named Muff and is a 13 year old Lab Mix.  Muff was a rescue dog who has spent most of his life living on the streets.  His original owner passed away 2 years ago and his best friend is now Muff’s continuous companion.  It was a really cold day when Muff  received his coat and he was really appreciative.  It turns out that Muff would not wear boots so he only took the coat and care package of clothes, food and chocolates.

So we have some surplus money and are on the  hunt for another dog in need of a coat.  We may now wait until next winter to find more dogs.  I have also been given some winter dog coats that other dogs have outgrown that we can pass on to street dogs in need.

When ever you are throwing out a used dog collar, coat, toy etc think about donating those items to either a dog rescue service or a street dog in need.  What we consider used is often something that would be really appreciated and needed by others less fortunate than our dogs.

Once again Thank you all for your generosity. We have made a huge difference in the lives of Gerbil and Muff. Steph gave me an update a few weeks after she delivered the coats and the dogs were still wearing them and warm.

It has come to my attention by way of Wally’s owner Stephanie that there are 2 homeless dogs living on the streets of Ottawa with their owners who are in need of some warm coats and possibly boots.  As we all know it has been terribly cold out there and these 2 dogs are shivering.  Stephanie has confirmed with the dogs owners that gifts of coats would be much appreciated and used by the dogs. Both these dogs are size large so if anyone happens to have  used large dog’s coats and boots that they would like to donate it would be much appreciated.  Otherwise if you can donate a small amount of money so that we can go out and purchase the coats that would be much appreciated.  If you can not  no worries.  We think we can get 2 Shedrow dog jackets for $70.  If we raise enough for winter boots that is just a bonus.  Any help is appreciated.