dogdaze

Spending quality time with your dog is very important especially if you have multiple pets or even children.

I’ve found that since our children came along, our dogs have become more demanding of our attention. It’s not as though we don’t pay attention to them because we do. They love my children and get lots of attention from them too.

But like children, I think my dogs compete for attention. I have been working long hours lately due to staff shortages at work and feel bad about coming home late, feeding the kids and my four-legged babies. Thankfully my husband does help around the house and with the kids.

Sometimes tough, I think we could spend more time with our dogs. For this reason, I am planning a vacation next month and plan to stay home with all of my kids, watch television, play and swim all day. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Some friends of mine just had a baby girl, their first child. Of course, before this bundle of joy arrived, my friends treated Oskar, their Schnauzer, as their child. They also have Matilda and Heidi, but they usually stay outdoors most of the time. Oskar, however, sleeps next to their bed but in his own little dog bed.

I was trying to give my friends advice on how to prepare Oskar for the human baby. Because of his sweet nature, I think Oskar will adjust to his “little sister” just fine.

The way I prepared my dogs for my son’s arrival was by letting them listen to nursery rhymes and watch cartoons on television just to get used to kids’ voices and sounds. I also would rub a little Johnson’s Baby Lotion on my wrist and let the dogs familiarize themselves with the smell. I did the same with baby powder.

The main thing I did was continue to show my dogs the same level of love and attention they had been getting before my son’s arrival. When we brought our son home, the dogs gathered around us to catch a glimpse of him. As I cradled my son, the dogs got closer and sniffed a little as if to memorize his smell. For us, it was an easy process and to this day, my son is crazy about our dogs. I’m pretty sure they love him too.

If your family is about to welcome a new baby, take the time and prepare everyone for the joyous arrival.

Forest, my sister’s toy fox terrier is a prime example of a dog that’s never lost his puppy attitude. He still runs, jumps and acts like a young puppy even though he’s 13 years old.

Forest has laundry baskets full of stuffed toys that at one time would squeak. You see he has this habit of “killing” all his stuffed toys. He grabs them in his mouth, throws them around and chews them up until they no longer squeak. Once they’re “dead” he loses interest in them. I bet my sister has spent hundreds of dollars on fancy chew toys for her Baby Forest to “kill.”

It’s funny that Forest is so rough on his toys because in reality, he is such a sweetheart. He loves to curl up next to you and take a good nap. He is so well mannered, too. He’s always a gentleman and waits patiently for his treats, not like my dogs that jump around trying to score the first treat out of the bag.

I love that Forest is so spry, that’s a common characteristic in toy fox terriers. If you want a small dog that’s smart, loves action and is totally cool, get a fox terrier.

I just heard a horrible story about a woman who left her two beloved dogs in the car with the windows partially rolled down while she went sightseeing. Because it was an overcast day, she assumed they would be okay. When she returned, both of her dogs were dead after succumbing to the high humidity and heat.

What was this woman thinking? It’s obvious to me that she wasn’t thinking at all. If she truly loved her dogs, in my opinion, she never would have left them inside her car for even a short time.

I’m sick of hearing stories like this. Will people ever learn NOT to leave their dogs in a vehicle for any period of time during warm, even cloudy days? Tragically, the poor dogs are the ones that suffer. The woman will probably get some new dogs to replace her old ones.

Folks, if you’ve never heard this before, please NEVER leave your pets inside a vehicle, even for 15 minutes. The extreme heat can kill your dog in this short time period. And don’t think it’s okay if you leave the air condition running in your car because even a vehicle can overheat and die in warm/hot weather.

Several years ago, I read a story about a police dog that was left in the patrol car with the air condition running while the officer went in the station for a short time. While the police officer was inside the station the patrol car died and the police dog suffered the consequences.

If these tragic stories save just one dog, than it’s worth retelling. Feel free to pass this advice along to everyone, not just dog lovers.

Keep your four-legged friends safe.

Some of my friends occasionally give me a hard time about my many pets, especially my dogs. They think I’m crazy for having more than one dog. The truth is, I never really sat down one day and decided to have multiple pets.

Most of our dogs adopted my family and me. Many were dumped out and left to fend for themselves. Others were rescued from certain death after their time was up at the local animal shelter. My biggest problem I guess is having a soft spot for dogs.

I cannot stand to see any animal abused, neglected, starved or worse. I would rather give them a chance by taking them home and either finding them a permanent home or letting them live out their years with us on the farm.

Have you ever just stared into a dog’s eyes? It’s like they have a story to tell if only they could talk. I believe that dogs are man’s best friend for a reason and that reason is because they truly understand us, sometimes even better than we understand ourselves.

One of my best friends use to say that when she died, she wanted to come back as one of my dogs because I treated them so well. Unfortunately, my friend died unexpectedly in February 2002. I don’t believe in reincarnation or that my human friend can come back as a dog or any other animal. The only thing I do believe in my heart is that every dog deserves a warm and loving home with people who will treasure it for the special creature that it is.

When people ask me what my dog food bill is, I usually just laugh it off. When I’m not in a very good mood or I’ve heard the same thing from them before, I’ll be bluntly honest: “It’s none of your business since you’re not paying it!”

I’m not interested in wearing the latest fashions or driving an expensive car, my priorities are straight… Feed, care for and love those who bring me joy every day of their lives.

Don’t hold anything back when you take your dog to the veterinarian. Always ask questions, especially if you don’t understand the diagnosis, prognosis or treatment your dog needs.

Most veterinarians welcome questions from pet owners. It lets them know that you genuinely care about your dog.

Several years ago, when one of my dogs started coughing until he passed out, we took him to our veterinarian who ran a series of tests. After determining that our dog had irregular heartbeats that led to fainting spells, our vet referred our dog to the Texas A&M University Small Animal Hospital in College Station, Texas.

After spending a day at the A&M hospital, doctors there were able to diagnose my dog’s illness and prescribed a treatment that prolonged his life. Thanks to their research, care and medicine, my sweet dog got three extra years of quality life.

One of my babies, Chiquita, loves to smile. She is the happiest little dog I’ve ever seen. What is so cute about this mutt of mine is that she is solid black and when she smiles, her little white teeth really stand out.

Chiquita came to live with us about nine years ago. My sister actually found her walking in the middle of a busy road a couple of miles from our house. Being a dog lover, my sister quickly stopped and scooped up the tiny puppy. We placed ads in the paper but never found out who she belonged to. As is a habit with us, we fell in love with her and decided to make her part of our family.

Chiquita has brought us many years of fun and laughter with her lively personality and beautiful smile. She’s even given us a litter of three puppies that have grown up in our home.

Chiquita sleeps snuggled next to me every night. Sometimes, if she’s on top of the bed covers and I roll over and pull the covers close to me, I accidentally push sweet Chiquita off the bed. She doesn’t get mad or pout. She just jumps right back into bed and gets under the covers.

At least she’s learning that it’s safer to sleep under the covers than on top of them.

One of my first toy fox terrier babies, Bo, was one unique dog. He never acted like a dog. I guess he thought he was our little human baby. We treated him like our baby.

When he was a young pup, I loved to dress him in cool hats, jackets or T-shirts and then take him to work with me. Everyone at my job loved Bo. Whenever he walked in, it was like a movie star was gracing the place. Bo loved all the attention too.

When I worked late at night, I always had my little protector with me. He was 8 pounds of cuteness!

I would pack his lunch too, and he always made sure he got it on time. I would pack his lunch in a brown paper sack and he would lie on his blanket and watch it until it was time to eat. Of course, other people at work would save some of their food for Bo, so he never really got hungry. He just got spoiled.

As the years went by and my Little Bo Man got older, he still loved going to the office with me. He would follow me around just like a little kid. He was my hero, my shadow.

During football season he would wear hoodies in the colors of the local teams. He also had a lot of Dallas Cowboys T-shirts, jerseys, etc.

Bo caught a lot of grief one Sunday night when the Dallas Cowboys were playing on television because he wore a Denver Broncos colored hoodie to work with me. I was hoping no one would notice it, but they did. When a coworker asked my why “Bo” wasn’t rooting for the Boys, I replied, “Bo always roots for the Cowboys, but his mom hasn’t done laundry this week.”

It’s been five years since my Bo died and I still miss him very much. I’ve had many dogs through the years, but none as unique and cool as him.

Pit bulls have a bad reputation for being unpredictable and aggressive. In most dog attack stories you read, the dog doing the attacking is a pit bull. But not all pit bulls are bad.

When my husband brought our pit bull, Lady Bird, home several years ago I was very leery. We had other much smaller dogs and I was afraid she would turn on them.

In her time with us, Lady has been the sweetest, most obedient dog we’ve had. She loves nothing more than to play with the other dogs. She acts like a puppy even though she’s now about 8 years old. Her best friend is Itty, a beautiful 7-year-old dachshund mix. They even share the same bed!

My husband found Lady almost starved to death and brought her home to get her back to health. We estimated that she was about a year old. She had had a litter of puppies and appeared to still be nursing them. We ran an ad in the paper to see if she belonged to anyone and after no one responded, we decided to get her healthy and then find her a good home. Because of her sweet disposition and gentle nature, we fell in love with her and made her part of our family.

I believe that dogs react to the way they are treated. If a dog is mistreated or abused then it will have a tendency to act out aggressively. I think that’s why some breeds, especially pit bulls, get a bad reputation. Once that reputation is in place, it’s hard to overcome.

I’m not advocating that you run out and get a pit bull because this breed is not for everyone. If you have children, you should be extra watchful of them when they are around any dog, not just pit bulls. Never leave your child unattended with any dog, even a family pet.

I have many dogs, some are registered, and some are not. The most common dog at my house is the All American Mutt. By mutt, I mean the dogs that came from the local animal shelter or that somehow found their way to my house and into my heart.

I love dogs that are mutts because you never know what a jewel they are until you’ve lived with them for a while and have experienced their personality.

About nine years ago I accompanied a friend to the local animal shelter because she was looking for a dog. I was not looking to adopt, but I did have fun petting all the dogs at the shelter.

A few of the dogs at the shelter were full breeds but most of them were mutts, a mix of breeds. My friend was looking for a mutt and settled on a cute black and white collie mix.

Just as we were leaving the shelter that day, one of the volunteers walked in with three tiny little puppies, a brown and white one, a black and white one, and a vanilla colored one. They were so adorable I just had to pick them up and love on them.

The shelter volunteer described the puppies as “Alaskan Chihuahuas.” I had never heard of this breed and was a bit skeptical.

On the way home, I kept thinking about those three puppies and how they played with each other. I prayed they’d all go to a good home, preferably together.

As soon as I got home, I told my husband about those cute little puppies. He knew what my heart was telling me. We got in the car and drove to the shelter. The volunteer brought those “Alaskan Chihuahuas” out for us to play with.

In a matter of minutes, I was filling out the paperwork to take my three babies home. I just could not pick one over the other so we decided to keep the little family of puppies together.

They have brought us much joy and love through the years.