Week Adventures: Dog Sitting

This past week Drew and I have been house sitting for his parents, which includes taking care of their Pomeranian Teddy (and their cat Lucy). Poor poor Lucy. When ever we come over she hides for the entire night because she's afraid of Luna. This entire week I've only seen Lucy once— the first night we stayed over. When I went to bed the first night, I took the dogs with me (Teddy in his crate and Luna in the bed, snuggling up with me). I fell asleep and so did the dogs. Drew came into the room a few hours later and turned the lights on in the room, which woke everyone up including Lucy who happened to sneak in while everyone was sleeping. Once the dogs and the cat really came to consciousness, Lucy bailed as fast as a cat can go. She was a blur. And you can bet Luna chased right after her full throttle... and that's the last I saw of Lucy.

Haha, okay, I left that sounding pretty bad. Lucy is alive, Luna did not kill her. I think Lucy has just retreated into the darkest spots in the house and has been very very cautious when she comes out. She's a very sneaky cat. I only know she is still in the house because her food is getting eaten and her litter box has fun presents in it. 

Luna and Teddy play hard and crash hard. It is amazing. I think Luna really enjoyed the backyard to frolic around in and chase Teddy. It has been especially nice to have the backyard for her since the time change has made it harder to get her to the dog park after work, since its dark by the time I get home (and none of the dog parks have lights...LAME). 

We did bring both Teddy and Luna to the dog park this week, which was a very interesting experience. Teddy doesn't go to dog parks very often because he doesn't need to get out as much energy as Luna does. The backyard is enough play-ground for Tedster. The first time we brought him to the park, we kept his leash on and just had him take in what was going on. There were 3 other large dogs there, which I think confused poor Ted. Luna is the only big dog that Teddy plays with, and Luna knows how to play with him. These other dogs might not/and probably won't play with him the same way Luna does. So we were pretty cautious. Teddy cowards at first when another big dog gives him attention. He yelps and freaks out like the dog was hurting him (though the dog wasn't even touching him). But once he realized that Drew and I weren't going to save him from a playful friendly dog, he grew some balls and got a little more feisty, like his normal Pom self. After Teddy got used to the other dogs at the park he got some more confidence and wanted to roam and do his own thing. For one of his first times at a dog park he did very well. 

Everyone taking naps :)

This week Luna and Teddy have had a fabulous time hanging out and tiring each other out, which has made it lovely for Drew and I. Playing house this week has been so much fun. I can't wait for next time :)

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Video of the Day: Canine CPR

I was a lifeguard for 5 years, so CPR, AED, and first aid comes naturally to me. Well, for humans that is. I couldn't tell you where to even find a pulse on a dog. This kind of scares me. What if, God forbid, something happens to Luna or another dog while I am out and about? I am NOT the type of person to just stand and watch. I like to take action! 

When I was a lifeguard at the city pool, I saved 4 children in one summer (they were actively drowning, not at the bottom of the pool or anything). My last summer lifeguarding, I had to backboard a child who dove too deep in the shallow end and ended up with a golf ball size lump on her head. A common accessory for pools are bees and nosebleeds, so you can bet I have mastered the technique of flinging out stingers and pinching nose canals. 

Needless to say, I know nothing about Canine first aid.

I found this video, to help guide me about canine CPR. It's very helpful and informative.

Other things to know about animal first aid:

• Seizures: keep animals away from furniture or things that can potentially hurt them. Time the seizure, DO NOT RESTRAIN THE ANIMAL. Call vet after the seizure stops.
• Fracture: Muzzle your pet, keep on flat surface for support and transfer animal to car on flat surface (board or something) or keep injured limb in a sling while bringing pet to vet.
• Bleeding (external): apply pressure for about 3 minutes to clot the blood. Wrap gauze around injury, apply Neosporin. Call vet, or go to the vet (especially if extreme bleeding)
• Bleeding internally: (bloody nose, bloody stool, coughing blood, etc) bring to vet ASAP, keep animal warm and quiet.
• Burns: apply water to burned area quickly. Call vet.
• Heatstroke: Bring to vet immediately. If unavailable, keep pet in shaded, cool area. Apply wet towel around neck and face (not blocking eyes, nose or mouth)—ring towel out and repeat with new cool water. Pour cool water on dog (not ice water), especially between hind legs and abdomen. Go to Vet ASAP!
• In Shock: keep animal restrained, warm and quiet (for people you often wrap a blanket around them). Call/go to vet

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Hump Day: Why Should I Spay/Neuter My Dog?

Easy answer: it is the most socially responsible thing to do as a pet owner. I could end my post here, because the answer is that simple. I really don't know the answer to why you wouldn't spay/neuter your animal. Besides of course, if you want them to reproduce and you can be a backyard breeder. And even then, honestly, I don't think it's a very good reason to keep your dog's lady parts (or man parts). 

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The US has a huge problem with Pet Overpopulation. And do you know why we have this problem?  1. Animals are not spayed/neutered. (Only 10% of animals that are brought into shelters are spayed/neutered)--that means that 90% of animals are able to reproduce and so they DO reproduce causing more and more animals to be born, causing this overpopulation. 2. Animals are left and abandoned by owners to become strays. If these owners did NOT neuter/spay their animals then there we go again, more strays. If they were neutered/spayed (again only 10% are) then woohoo, cutting down the amount of strays ever so slightly. 

Do you know how many strays there are in the US? No, you don't. No one does. THE NUMBER IS TOO HIGH AND TOO QUICKLY CHANGING! According to ASPCA, "It is impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States; estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million." Homeless animals OUTNUMBER homeless people 5 to 1, says DoSomething. So why is it a big deal that there are so many stray animals? Well, where do you think these strays go? They go to shelters, and if they aren't adopted, then they (approximately 2.7 MILLION animals per year) are euthanized.

I can not believe these statistics (or lack of one because of the rapid constant increase). It truly makes me sad that most of the problem is us as owners, not being responsible enough to either spay/neuter our animals or just surrendering them because of what ever reason we can think it's okay to do so. (Clearly owner surrendering boggles my mind and that's a whole other tangent that I can go off on).

If you are still unsure about spaying or neutering here are some Pros and Cons that I found:

Benefits to Spay/Neuter:

• Unable to get pregnant or get others pregnant (this IS a pro, because of the many statistics of OVERPOPULATION of animals in America)
• Reduce the amount of animals that are euthanized each year.
• Healthier pets. You reduce a lot of reproductive cancers out there and even (especially) mammary tumors. Even this writer who is completely against spay/neuter says so himself. Other health related reasons to spay/neuter you can find here.
• Save money. You can save money if you spay/neuter your animal. This may seem a little backwards since you have to pay to get them the surgery, but in the long run you are cutting down many cancers and other health issues they might run into. Also you can save a little on their license (spayed/neutered pets are cheaper to license).
• "Less Aggressive." I hesitate to put this on here because I think aggression doesn't always have to do with sexualization (which is the only aggression that spaying and neutering would stop). There are many types and reasons dogs become aggressive, and it's up to the owner to stop it and train the dog appropriately.
• "Improves Behavior." Another one that I hesitate to put on this list, yet so many vets say that it will help. Again, I think your dogs behavior has a lot to do with the owner and how you are training he or she. If you are really having serious problems bring them to a dog trainer.

Disadvantage to Spay/Neuter:

• If your dog is too young, and you get them spayed/neutered it can result in many different problems, which can get controversial. Here are more reasons "pediatric spay/neuter" can cause problems.
• Your animal may gain weight (not become obese), but gain weight.
• Your dog will not be able to reproduce (this can be a disadvantage if you are trying to breed your dog, but again is that really socially responsible? Remember the stats)
• Can affect bone growth. When your dog has it's surgery, hormone production is interrupted and can cause bone growth to be affected.

Know of other Pros/Cons that I should be aware of and add to my list? Comment below!

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