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I’m hoping my new dog will help me get some exercise

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I was just saying in my last post that one of the reasons we just got a puppy was so that I could have some incentive to get more exercise.

I’ve been stuck at home with Crohn’s Disease for two years now. Actually December 4th was the beginning of my third year at home. I hate this. I feel ill all the time and I’m in a lot of pain. This has naturally made me a lot less active than I used to be.

I used to be on my feet for 12 hours a day, constantly moving as I tended to patients in the Emergency Department where I worked. I also walk to and from work. Now that’s not aerobic activity but it certainly did burn calories and kept me busy!

Now my days are spent sitting in front of my desktop computer or using my laptop computer while sitting or lying down on the couch. I don’t eat much food, nor does it stay in me long thanks to the Crohns ( I know TMI), but I’ve gained some weight due to the inactivity. Not a ton, but enough that I’ve recently had to purchase larger clothes sizes much to my dismay. Being on prednisone, a steroid, in the last three months has also caused me to gain a bit more weight.

I must admit that I haven’t been using the elliptical trainer that I got in September either. Also, now that we have the puppy I barely have time to do much else but watch her so I don’t think I’ll be using it anytime soon.

So I need to get active, even if I don’t feel all that up to it. The puppy helps in that department. She’s a ball of energy and I often once I sit down I’ve got to get up two minutes later to see where she’s disappeared to. Labs chew everything so you’ve got to keep a close eye on them … plus she’s not yet fully house trained and still has accidents.

If the doggy diet/ workout doesn’t work maybe I’ll have to try something like Miracle burn, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to work.

Wish me luck!





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?

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.

Pet health insurance?

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Now that we’re getting a puppy I’m happy that I’ll finally have a pet that I can get health insurance for … you see I’ve always had reptiles and I don’t think there’s any companies that offer health insurance for reptiles. I can see them not offering life insurance policies for any pets, but all animals should be able to have health insurance coverage shouldn’t they?

We’ve spent a lot of money at veterinarian offices over the years caring for our pets. Now that we’re getting a dog I think I might seriously look into those pet policies.

Do any of you have health insurance policies for your pets? Are they worth it or do you find that you spend more on them than you would with your normal vet visits?

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