dogdaze

Tiny, my son’s Chihuahua is in the doghouse again. This time, it’s because she keeps running off into the woods near our house. She’s the first one out the door when I let the other dogs out and the very last one to come back inside.

Calling her name doesn’t do any good. Shaking the bag of treats (so she sees or hears it and comes running) doesn’t work either. I literally have to search for her. Too bad I don’t have a bloodhound in the bunch because if I did I would use it to track her down.

Tiny usually comes back after 30 minutes or so. She knows she’s done something bad because she almost always crawls back in the house. I don’t even punish her except to scold her a little.

I’m perplexed at her joy of running off like that. I’m starting to think she is doing this just to annoy me.

Is she playing a game? Hide-and-Seek maybe? I wonder if Dr. Phil can help.

Have you noticed that dogs sleep a lot? They sleep at night when everyone’s asleep. They sleep in the mornings, afternoons and even evenings. They nap after they eat and they nap after they play. Don’t worry if this is the case with your dog because dogs normally sleep between 16 and 18 hours a day.

Sleep is just as important as exercise for a dog. You’ll notice that after your dog has played really hard, he or she will sleep for hours, allowing the body to rest. After a nice, restful sleep, your dog will be energized and ready to go again.

Don’t you wish you could sleep 16-18 hours a day? Those lucky dogs!

If your dog scratches constantly and there’s no visible sign of fleas, he or she could be allergic to something in your house, yard or surrounding area.

I had a dog once that was allergic to everything, or at least it seemed like she was. She would scratch day and night, sometimes leaving her skin red and irritated.

Our veterinarian tested her for everything under the sun. My dog was allergic to cedar, pine, hay, carpet, fleas, certain grass and more. She also had some food allergies.

Although allergies in dogs can’t be cured, they can be successfully managed to provide your pet some comfort.

My little dog had to take allergy shots for years. At first it was hard for me to give the shots to her myself because she hated them and would cry. But after a while, she got used to them and I got comfortable giving them to her. As a reward for being so brave, she received her favorite beef jerky doggie treat.

My dog had a wonderful, full life despite all her allergies.

If you suspect your dog has allergies, educate yourself by reading some informative articles on the pet education web site — it’s a great source for pet information.

My first toy fox terrier, Sweetheart, was the most lovable dog I’ve ever had. She loved nothing more than to sit in my lap and sleep. She also loved having her belly rubbed.

Sweetheart was truly unique. She was born to love and to please. My friends loved to come over and just watch her rollover. They’d call her name and she’d take a few steps and then just rollover submissively and wait for them to rub her belly. After a few belly rubs, she was ready to play.

One day, a friend from church stopped by for a visit. She had never met Sweetheart and was unaware of her “rollover” trick. I was in the kitchen getting some iced tea for us to drink when my friend ran in the kitchen with a scared look on her face. “There’s something wrong with your dog,” she cried. “I was calling her and she just fell over!”

I rushed to the living room to see Sweetheart still on her back waiting for her belly rub. I couldn’t help but laugh at how my sweet little dog had scared the daylights out of my friend. After explaining that this was Sweetheart’s way of getting attention, my friend sighed with relief and obliged by rubbing Sweetie’s round belly.

Shoes of any kind are endangered at my house thanks to my precious pooches. They love to chew up sneakers, flip-flops, boots, you name it, and they chew it.

This is a big problem because I love shoes, almost as much as I love dogs.

Keep in mind that dogs are not trying to be destructive when they chew up your favorite pair of Nike running shoes, they are just trying to figure out what it is. They are exploring the world in your living room, bedroom and even your closet.

As a responsible pet owner and shoe lover, I have learned to leave nothing of value out for my dogs to destroy. I make sure all of my footwear, accessories and other valuables are put up in the closet or out of my dogs’ reach.

My poor husband however, has not been trained to do this. He has lost dozens of shoes over the years. But that’s not all, he’s also lost leather wallets, sports watches, baseball caps and even cold, hard cash.

For those of you who can relate to this problem, take a few minutes and read about dogs’ destructive chewing before it’s too late. The Human Society of the United States has some great information on destructive chewing behavior.

Good luck saving your shoes.

This Memorial Day was hotter than most I can remember. Maybe that’s because at about 2 p.m., the electricity went out at home. I called the electric company and was told it could take up to 3 hours to get the power back on. This is probably OK if you live in the mountains of Colorado, but not in Texas!

After about 45 minutes with no air conditioning, I looked at my two children and my dogs and knew something had to be done.

I grabbed a box of Popsicles from the freezer and headed outside under the shade of a large pine tree. Thankfully, my son’s swimming pool was still intact from last summer. I started filling it up but my impatient son quickly jumped in and started splashing around, as did a couple of my dogs. My 7-month-old daughter watched happily in her baby swing.

Even the bigger dogs joined in the fun as I sprayed them with water from the hose. After the Popsicles ran out I grabbed the ice tray full of ice and watched as the dogs chomped on the ice to stay cool.

It was a sight to see, watching the Labs, Akita and other big dogs running and playing with the little Chihuahuas and other dogs. I don’t think they minded the power outage too much.

I on the other hand was really happy when the power — and air conditioning — came on around 5 p.m.

Have a cool Memorial Day!!

Do you know dogs can sense a person’s mood?

About 13 years ago, our house was destroyed in a tornado. My husband and I, along with my youngest sister who had been living with us at the time, and our three dogs, Sweetheart, Bo and Forest had to live in a motel for months until the insurance company settled with us.

I was depressed, sad and angry over the loss of our home and the shoddy treatment we received from our insurance company at the time.

After a couple of weeks of living in a motel I noticed that our dogs had lost weight and seemed lethargic. We immediately took our babies to the veterinarian to see what was wrong with them. After a thorough checkup, the vet informed us that our dogs were going through their own depression.

Our precious babies not only were depressed at the loss of their home, familiar play areas and favorite toys, they were sad because we were sad.

The veterinarian told us that dogs really can sense their owner’s mood because of their close relationship and everyday contact.

That was all the information we needed to hear. We went back to the motel and started walking our babies in the evenings and paying extra attention to them. Within days, their attitudes and appetites had improved.

It’s almost summertime and do you know what that means? It means that animal shelters across the nation will be filled to capacity with puppies, kittens, dogs, cats and other animals who need good homes.

Who can resist that cute little puppy or furry kitten? You should if you don’t plan to make and keep a longtime commitment to that puppy or kitten.

If you seriously are thinking about adopting a pet from a shelter, don’t overlook the older, adult dogs because they need just as much love and attention as the little ones do. Choose a dog that is right for you. If you are active, look for an active, playful breed of dog. If you prefer more subdued activities, look for a dog that will be a good companion as you putter around the house or watch television.

If you can’t adopt an animal from your local shelter, at least do the smart thing and get those dogs and cats you own spayed or neutered. By doing this, you are being a responsible pet owner and not contributing to the already exploding overpopulation of unwanted dogs and cats.

If you don’t own a dog (or cat), you’re missing out on a lot of love and companionship.

Want a friend? Adopt a dog!

Before I had children, I treated my dogs like my babies. I would buy cute clothes for them, spend lots of money on fancy treats and even throw birthday parties for them.

Bo and Sweetheart, my first toy fox terriers were two of the smartest, sweetest dogs I have ever had. I loved to spoil them rotten! The thing I loved most about them was that they didn’t seem to mind when I dressed them up, which was often.

In the winter, my dogs wore the latest in doggie fashion including sweaters, bomber jackets and even shoes so their paws wouldn’t get cold when they went out.

One year, I was between paychecks and was just down in the dumps. My good friend Becky, who now lives in Arkansas, surprised my two babies and me one night with a big birthday cake for Sweetheart. I was so stunned that she would do this for my dogs. I guess that’s why our friendship has remained strong through the years.

I still talk to Becky often and we talk about the “good ole days” when happiness was a birthday cake, a carton of milk and some very appreciative kisses from Sweetheart and Bo.

Do you ever wonder what your dogs do when you’re not at home? I would love to know what kind of trouble mine get in to (or not) as soon as I walk out the front door.

Lately, I have come home to find that our little ones have jumped on the bed and torn the pillows to shreds. They have destroyed three pillows in the last week alone!

Honestly, how much fun can that be? From the looks of the destruction, it’s lots of fun for our dogs.

They don’t even seem ashamed of tearing things up. In fact, they greet us at the door with a funny “come see what I’ve done” look.

My husband and I have thought about leaving a video camera on just to see what our dogs do when we’re not home. What’s keeping us from doing this? We’re afraid they’ll tear up the video camera!