Sacramento Pet Sitter: 02/02/12
February 2, 2012 in L. Bear and Friends, Peanut & Anathema, Roxy & Maggie
You are browsing the Blog for pet sitters.
Sacramento Pet Sitter: Do You Protect Your Pet?
January 30, 2012 in Health and Safety, News
I just found this amazing blog post and it touched on so many great points with regard to the dangers you and your pet face while out in public.
“Picture this – it’s a lovely day, and you are relaxing at a local park, having a picnic with your family. A well-dressed lady you’ve never met before with a large smile on her face exits her car. She automatically lays eyes on your family and begins staring. Slowly, she moves toward you, speaking gibberish and making baby talk, googly eyes, and grabby hands. She begins touching your children, grabbing their cheeks. She grabs one by the face, moves her face to within inches of baby Tommy’s, staring directly into his eyes and smiling. She grabs your husband by the ears, sits on his lap, and firmly plants her lips on his mouth. She gives you a little squeeze on the rump, hugs you tightly, and scratches your 8 year old’s head. Nearby stands your 3 year old nephew, she quickly grabs his shoulders firmly and begins applying downward pressure, while saying, “SIT! SIT! SIT!”
What if she then spied your lovely new Coach purse on the picnic blanket and decided to throw it over her shoulder, cavalierly? “Oh, I really like this purse!” She then removed your keys, approached your car, and drove off with your credit cards.
OK, at what point during these events did you call the police? If anyone did this to you or your family, you would think they were socially defunct and may need to be removed from polite society. Would you, at any point in this interaction, have acted “aggressively” by telling her to go away? Would you have left the park? What would you have done if you asked her to go away and she continued to harass your family?
This story seems absurd, like something out of a hidden camera show. Sadly, this is not science fiction but an every day way-of-life for many dogs.”
How true is this? How many times have you been out and about with your pet and someone has walked up, unannounced, without saying a word, and treated your dog as if they’d been best friends their entire lives? Ideally, yes, if you have a dog out in public, your dog should be well-behaved and tolerant, and eager and happy to meet strangers. However, not every dog is this temperamentally sound.
Another excerpt from the blog post:
“For dogs, the rules seem to be:
Someone steps on your tail? Deal with it.
Stranger steals your favorite toy? Too bad, so sad!
Have arthritis and someone pushes down on your rear, causing intense pain? Deal with it.
Want to have a nice outing with your best friend without being disturbed by strangers? Tough.
Don’t like to be molested by strangers? Too bad, sit there and take it.
I guess the question must be: are dogs ever allowed to have opinions? Do we really expect them to welcome every type of social interaction, all the time, in any circumstance? Do we expect them to tolerate pain, social pressure, and molestation?”
I have to say, that a completely sound dog should tolerate these kinds of human transgressions with little more than a deep sigh and an eye roll or two.
Is this an excuse to allow humans to behave badly? Of course not! But please, bear in mind that there are people out there like this. There are folks who allow their children to run around willy-nilly and never teach them how to safely approach a new dog, and those children always seem to make a beeline for the most nervous dog at the park.
Ultimately, the onus to protect your pet is on you. We know some humans can be very rude and inconsiderate. And we also know that although we cannot control what those humans do, we can control our dogs.
If you know your dog has issues with strangers approaching, work with a qualified trainer and/or behaviorist to resolve the issue and always set your dog up for success. This means not taking your dog places where he is likely to run into a lot of people who may scare or upset him and it also means speaking up when someone is approaching your dog and you know Fido can’t handle it. You are your dog’s first line of defense, and he counts on your to keep him safe.
To read the full blog post from Dogster, click here
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/29/12
January 29, 2012 in CGC Shelter Dog Program, CHAKO, Peanut & Anathema
I took this video of Peanut a few days ago and totally forgot I had it! He wasn’t at the house today, but I did catch up with him a few houses down.
Also worked with our dogs in the CGC Program!
We also a got a little unexpected press from helping Griffin, which was very cool and a nice surprise!
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/28/12
January 28, 2012 in CHAKO, Luli, News
Apologies for the posts being behind, I’ve had quite the week! George was saved from death row, and Griffin, the dog stolen from Safeway has been turned into City shelter. I had the chance to meet him today, and give him lots of hugs and kisses. What an amazing (and exhausting) week it’s been!
I also have video of Dougie!
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/27/12
January 27, 2012 in Daisy & Pluto, Luli, Margo & Fritz, Mr. Bean, Peanut & Anathema
Peanut was out gallivanting, where I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Pluto & Daisy walk too.
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/26/12
January 26, 2012 in Margo & Fritz
Maggie walks, then I got to spring George from the shelter. He’s in foster now and is charming his way into their hearts.
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/25/12
January 25, 2012 in Kiki & Napoleon, Mr. Bean, Peanut & Anathema
No Peanut today, watered front and back plants. A little black tuft of fur in the kitchen told me that Anathema had been in.
Also, it was a GREAT day in my rescue world, click here to get the scoop.
Sacramento Pet Sitting: How to perform CPR on a dog
January 24, 2012 in Health and Safety
I found this article on facebook and thought I’d share it here too.
Even though I am trained in Pet CPR/First Aid by the American Red Cross, it was a nice refresher!
If you are looking to take a Pet CPR/First Aid class in Sacramento, the next one given by the American Red Cross is in March and costs $70. You can sign up for that class by clicking here . Click on “view catalog” then enter your zip code, start date (I used today) and end date of March 31st and then submit to see the class. Unfortunately, I cannot direct link to the course.
The following is from Dog Heirs:
“CPR for dogs (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is the process of breathing life back into an unconscious human. A similar technique can also work effectively on dogs.
The signs that indicate the need for CPR include unconsciousness, lack of arousal, lack of physical movement, or eye blinking. These symptoms can occur from drowning, choking, electrical shock, or a number of other situations.
The key to canine CPR is remembering the ABCs:
Airway,
Breathing, and
Cardiac compression.
To perform the three techniques, follow these steps.
- Lay the dog on a flat surface on its right side and extend the head back to create an airway.
- Open the jaws to check for obstructions, and if any exist and are not easily removed, do one of two things, depending on the size of the dog. For small dogs, hold them upside down by their back end and shake vigorously to try removing the obstruction. For large dogs, lay them on their side and, if necessary, use long-nosed pliers to remove the obstruction.
- Cup your hands around the muzzle of the dog’s mouth so that only the nostrils are clear. Blow air into the nostrils with five or six quick breaths, again, depending on the size of the dog. Small dogs and puppies and require short and shallow breaths. Larger dogs need longer and deeper breaths. Continue the quick breaths at a rate of one breath every three seconds or 20 breaths per minute.
- Check for a heartbeat by using your finger on the inside of the thigh, just above the knee. If you don’t feel a pulse, put your hand over the dog’s chest cavity where the elbow touches the middle of the chest. If you still don’t find a pulse, have one person continue breathing into the nostrils (mouth to snout), while another gives cardiac massage.
- Give the dog a cardiac massage by placing both hands palms down between the third and sixth rib on the chest cavity. For large dogs, place your hands on top of each other. For small dogs or puppies, place one hand or thumb on the chest.
- Use the heel of your hand(s) to push down for 10-15 quick compressions and then check to see if consciousness has been restored. If consciousness has not been restored, continue the compressions in cycles of about 10 every six seconds for 10 cycles a minute.
- After each cycle of compression, the other person should give the dog two breaths of air in the nostrils. If only one person is present, this procedure can still be done successfully.
Once the dog has started breathing, contact a veterinarian immediately.”
I also found this great video on doggie CPR by Pets America
Sacramento Pet Sitting: 01/23/12
January 23, 2012 in Kiki & Napoleon, Peanut & Anathema
I did not see Peanut when I came by but did find him about a block from home, roaming
around some bushes. I stopped and called him but he just meowed, rubbed on a wrought iron
fence and sauntered off to do important cat things.
Pet Sitters, Sacramento, CA
