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I’m enjoying walking around the neighborhood

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Well I’ve been taking lots and lots of walks around the neighborhood with our little puppy lately.

I’m enjoying getting out so much even thought it’s getting so much colder! Plus we had a huge snow storm on Thursday so walking on the un-shoveled sidewalks wasn’t all that much fun. Puppy enjoyed it though. She kind of gallops like a horse through the snow jumping from snow mound to snow mound. It’s really quite cute.

I can’t wait until our puppy gets her third set of shots in early January and I guess her rabies vaccines shortly after that too. She’ll be a little older and since she’ll have all her vaccinations we’ll be able walk further and maybe even go to the park. Certainly by February or early March we should be able to do that anyway.

We live in a nice enough neighborhood but there’s some very nice neighborhoods within easy walking distance and I’d love to walk Midnight around that area. She could get her exercise (me too) and I could spend time looking at all of the luxury homes and everyones gardens.

Midnight was 12 weeks old when we got her November 23rd and she’d only had one set of shots, her first, near the beginning of October. She should have had two sets of vaccinations by the time she was 12 weeks old. So she’s behind.

Because she’s behind in her vaccinations we were only going to let her use the front and back yards at first, but then it snowed. Much earlier this year than the last several and the snow is staying on the ground instead of melting away in a few days. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think with all the snow it’s a little safer to take her for walks just around the block. We aren’t going near the park, nor are we going in any areas that other dogs frequent. I suppose there’s always a chance that she can pick up something, but I’m hoping the snow is covering up all the potential bad germs.

I guess that’s the only real good thing about having a young puppy at this time of year. I know I’m going to dread going out with her several times a day when it’s -10 or -15 Celsius, but as far as her chances of catching any of the bugs that live in the soil or that would likely be in higher concentrations spring through fall she’s safer.

What do you think? Is it safe to take short walks just around the block when there’s snow covering the ground or should we stick to our own property until her vaccinations are finished?





List of Dog Swimming pools in North America and the UK

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When I was out walking the puppy this evening we met a man who was walking his 18 month old German Sheppard / Collie mix. Very nice dog – quite, patient with a very excited lab pup who was jumping in his face possibly nipping at him.

The man told us that when he first got his dog he took it out to the park when it was young – perhaps three or four months old, and it got knocked down by a bigger dog. His pup was unlucky enough to have been injured by the fall. It had a damaged cruciate ligament and it looked like the dog would need to have surgery.

The poor man had to keep his dog fairly inactive while the injury was healing and of course going to the park was not an option anymore.

While he was waiting to see if his poor pup was going to need surgery he discovered that there was a dog swimming pool not too far away at Dundas and Broadview. He got his dog swimming and it’s ligament healed! No surgery!

I’m so happy that we ran into this man.

We have a very exuberant Labrador Retriever puppy and as you might already know Labs love water, or well, most of them apparently do! We’d already planned on taking Midnight to the beach here in Toronto in the Spring and onward, but perhaps we can get her in the water earlier!

I just did an Internet search to see if I could find the dog swimming pool and I found a list of dog swimming pools throughout North America and the UK. The page is really slow to load, but be patient, perhaps you’ll find a swimming pool to take your dog to that’s not too far away.

The place that we’re going to check out is called Fit Dogs. Now, this was created mainly for arthritic dogs or ones in need of exercise but here’s the description:

Bring your dog for a swim in a safe, clean, indoor pool in a pooch-positive environment.

The aboveground pool is 8- x 20-ft. around, with a water depth of 3 ½ ft. It’s heated to approx. 87º F to promote circulation and relax muscles. A gentle, chemical-free salt chlorine generator keeps water clean and silky. Wide, rubber-topped ramps allow for safe and gradual entry and exit. The facility is air-conditioned.

Your dog can do laps, fetch, have hands-on support, or be tethered to the poolside to tread water – whatever suits your goals and your dog’s preferences.

All sessions are private – no one else’s dog will be in the pool. If your household has more than one budding or avid swimmer at home, he or she is welcome too.

K9 life jackets are available for new swimmers.

It’s not really expensive, but neither is it cheap. 15 minute sessions cost $18 and 30 minutes costs $25, but it might be nice to do once or twice through the winter to get Midnight used to swimming and water so that she’ll have a ton of fun when we go to the beach with her.

Not that I’m that worried about her not having fun at the beach. I gave her a bath on her second day with us and she did really well in the tub. Of course I made it fun and put toys in the shallow water for her.

Fit Dogs also has other services such as learning – videotapes for dog owners to purchase that will help them with training and training sessions, special foods that are hard to get or impossible to find in pet stores and they also have “play” options:

* Urban outings – 45–60 minutes along hilly trails with suitably grouped doggies and lots of playful, positive interaction with Fit Dogs staff
* “Boarding” in the country – ½-day romps on a 100-acre property near Richmond Hill
* Puppy starts – shorter private visits and introductory socialization to help your pup start off on the right paw
* Visits to older & infirm dogs – these guys melt us; we’ll work with you and your dog’s needs
* Fitness classes – for humans and their dogs to get moving and have even more fun

Midnight will be taking puppy training classes at Pet Smart starting on Friday. We’re doing this more to socialize her with other dogs and people than for the training. I’m sure we’ll all learn something, but I’ve been making some fantastic progress with her here at home.

Treats make good training tools!

She now goes on “good walkies” courtesy of a treat now and then as she walks. She pays more attention to me rather than pulling on her lead as she wants the next treat. Same for doing her business outdoor or inside the house on her training pads. Every time she goes, especially in the right place indoors, she gets a treat and lots of praise.

I am glad to see that Fit Dogs offers some puppy training classes and what sounds like group dog walks. I’ll have to check into that as well.

We got our dog as a companion for me here at home since I’m stuck at home due to my illness and also as incentive to get outdoors more and for me to get some exercise. So the more that I do with Midnight the better for the both of us.

Anyway, the main reason why I wrote this post was to let you know about dog swimming pools. If you have an older dog, perhaps one with arthritis pain, swimming might help the dog a lot. So check out that list of dog swimming pools and if you’re lucky maybe there will be one in your area. Wouldn’t it be nice if your dog was able to get around better?

Every thing is new to our puppy

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We’ve been having a lot of fun with our puppy.

It seems she was raised in a barn so just about everything within our home is new to her.

The poor thing didn’t even know how to climb stairs – even short two step ones, until she got here. I was fine with that though because the stairs inside our house are hardwood and I think they might be quite slippery for her, plus the stairway is open along one side so there’s literally a risk of falling off them.

My husband has been teaching her to climb the stairs outside the house. I didn’t know he was doing that, but she can now climb the front and back stairs!

And now she can climb the stairs within our house too!

Last night when Chris went to bed she headed for the stairs and ran halfway up them before she realized what she was doing. Then she got nervous and stopped. Since I think our stairs are a hazard for her I’m going to have to find a way to block them off. With only one stairway wall though we can’t even put a baby gate at the bottom though, so I’m thinking of putting some boxes on the stairs to block her way.

Now, I was saying that everything is new to her. For example, I don’t think she’d ever heard a radio, seen a television set, or heard a phone ring. It’s been fun to watch her reactions to them. They don’t scare her at all, but she’ll occasionally bark at the TV. I think she thinks the people on it are really in the room. I’m sure it doesn’t help that we have a large screen television set so the people are fairly large.

She’s obviously never been around microwave ovens either. She turns her head from side to side when the microwave is on listening to the hum and trying to figure out what it is. Then when the timer goes off and the microwave dings she barks. I can’t figure that out since she doesn’t bark at the phone when it rings.

I think she’ll have been exposed to just about everything in our home that moves or makes a sound soon and then she won’t have these funny reactions anymore, but it sure is fun to watch her.

My puppy is a chewing maniac!

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Our new puppy has me so exhausted. Did you know that Lab pups are totally orally fixated? Chew chew chew … often on my hands. If anyone knows how to encourage a lab puppy to NOT chew on their owners hands I’d appreciate some tips.

My hands are starting to look pretty raw between the scratches, small punctures and from going outside in the cold so often.

I think Midnight is part parana fish! I distract her with her toys or a towel that I’m allowing her to lie on and chew but she loves my hands just as much as she does her toys.

I know puppies are going through teething from about three months of age until 6 months so the chewing during this period will probably be more frequent than when she’s older, but I’ve got to get her to stop chewing on me.

And I’m so tired! She’s a ball of activity. I’m trying to pace out her activities between being in her crate, going outside and having play time in the living room but it’s exhausting. So exhausting in fact that it seems that I keep forgetting to take my own medications! Skipping meds when you have Crohns is not a good thing so you can imagine how awful I’m starting to feel.

Our pup lived in a barn with her siblings. She was visited by the family and their kids a few times each day, but I think that because she wasn’t actually living inside with the family she’s behind in her training. She should know more words/commands than she does. At least that’s what I think! So we’ve got to work really hard to get her to understand what she can and can’t do and what certain words mean.

I’m so tired.

We have a little puppy!

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I mentioned last week that if all went well we’d be picking up a new Labrador Retriever pup on Friday night. Well … we did and here she is:

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This is Midnight.

She’s three months old and unfortunately we discovered on Saturday, only about 12 hours after we brought her home that she had a bacterial infection in her bowels. Yes, we got her home at about 3 am and by 4 pm on Saturday she was being seen by a vet (after passing diarrhea that had blood streaks in it!). So she saw a vet just 14 hours after arriving here.

Other than the infection which is now being treated with stomach medications and antibiotics she’s doing well and keeping both Chris and I very tired.

She’ll come and sit beside us or we’ll play with her with one of many toys and then she’ll run off into the kitchen to bark at her quickly emptied food bowl or her reflection in the stainless steel water bowl. Of course every time she leaves our sight she finds something to get into as well. Earlier today she brought out our duster which I thought I’d hidden away. Or she’ll tear up her puppy training pad and so on.

So for the past three days I’ll get to sit down for five or ten minutes and then I’ll have to get up to see what she’s up to or to clean up pee or poop. Yes, we’re trying very hard to house train her but her bacterial infection/diarrhea makes it kind of hard. It’s getting better though.

We’ve also been taking her outside into our back or front yards. She’s too young to go for walks in the park as she hasn’t finished her needles and parks are too full of germs for a puppy that hasn’t built up her immune system yet. So far we’ve had a little success getting her to go pee while outside, hopefully we’ll have success with the other main function soon too!

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Wish us luck!

BTW I wrote about bringing her home Friday night on Tricia’s Musings if you’d like to read more about our adventures with Midnight.

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