Welcome Lovely girl!

This is Sadie, she has recently been adopted into our extended fur family!   If the eyes are the window to the soul, then I see a gentle, trusty little beauty who is very eager to give and receive love!  I love to look at this image, it reminds me  of what hope looks like!  When a dog comes into a new living situation they come with a sense of trepidation, will this new family love me unconditionally, will this be a place where I can curl up and call home and feel safe?   My crystal ball just happens to be in working order today, and I would like to tell those questioning eyes that she has found a marvelous and lovely group of people that she can count on to be her life long friends! 2017 is a New  Year of promise, new bonds to be forged and joyful memories to be made!   Welcome to your new pack Sadie!

Magical Moments…   I was just walking three dogs through the park and I had my Nano with me and was listening to my Purchased list.   As big snow flakes began to fall down through the trees and cover the path, the scene before me feeling quite magical, the song “When Christmas Comes to Town” from the movie Polar Express began playing.  I felt so blessed and grateful to be alive and outside experiencing such a beautiful moment in time.   As I was feeling lost in that instance, Lucas decided to veer to the right to relieve himself and Newton and Diesel discovered a stick and both stopped abruptly…I tripped and just about went ass over tea kettle (love this expression as sometimes it is so fitting).  I was feeling a bit grumpy and my mood darkened, so I hit replay and adjusted my attitude!   “The best time of the year, When everyone comes home, With all this Christmas cheer…”    Imagine my glee when two songs later Michael Buble began crooning,  “This Christmas”….truly, this never happens as I have 438 songs in my purchased list!   Love this time of year when magic is lurking in the air!

Winter Wonderland, that is not always your pooches reaction when out for a walk on a nice snowy day.  With those big flakes comes a whole new list of things to consider when caring for your pets well-being.  One of the biggest threats is the salt used to melt ice on driveways, roads and sidewalks .  One of the areas we frequent for our walks, is a school, they are very conscientious about making sure their sidewalks and driveways in no way, shape or form, are slippery!  As my posse crossed over a busy intersection this morning and reached the other side I instantaneously had three dogs limping, each one with a paw pulled up.  It is amazing how fast salt can irritate an animals feet and prolonged contact can lead to chemical burns that damage their pads.  If your dog is limping on a walk, de-icing products are most likely the culprit.  A few ideas one can try, to minimize the pain and degradation of their pets feet, are booties or paw balm.  There are lot’s of products out on the market that are available and some work better than others.  I found a roll-on product at the Health Food store that helps the boys combat the soreness experienced by salt.  What do you do though when you are already out and an issue arises…if your pooch is small, picking it up and carrying it can be an option, but not all four legged friends are portable!  If your pet starts raising a foot, try to find a pristine patch of snow to walk into and then use a mitt and rub the bottom of their paw pads which should give them immediate relief.  Walking in the woods is usually the best place to go to avoid pesky salt issues, but not everyone has something like that at their disposal.  Try to use a boot or foot balm to protect their feet and avoid major arteries that are heavily salted.  The snow can be a lot of fun for you and your dog, be prepared and mindful where you are walking so that you both can enjoy your daily adventures!

Pardon me while I toot my own horn and  puff out my chest, usually that isn’t my style.  Recently I was asked why people would want to board their dogs with me as opposed to a kennel, where they could be with lot’s of other animals and have more stimulation. I am not going to suggest that kennels aren’t great, there are lot’s of wonderful places that one can board their pets, and I am not pretending for a moment that I am the end all and be all!  Recently I posted a picture on Facebook, of me on a Friday night watching a movie on the couch, underneath of the family cat, with my dog laying on my feet and one of my clients laying on my other shoulder.    When your pet comes to stay in my home while you are away, it is part of the family.  My daughter allows many of our guests to camp out on her bed overnight, my spouse often has a dog or two laying under his desk as he works, while I make dinner I have an audience, twice a day your dog will get a half hour stroll through our neighbourhood and on weekends we tend to go for lovely long walks in St. Jacobs or along the trails in Elora. Whatever we are doing, my furry visitors are part of the every day goings on in our house hold.  My Casa es su casa is the adage we have!  If your dog isn’t allowed on the couch at home, no worries…we don’t allow that, we get down on the floor for cuddles!   If your pet has an allergy, we are overtly careful.  Personally, how my family incorporates the furry guests we have stay with us into our lives is exactly what I want for my boys when I go away!  I want them to feel loved and included, I want them to have fun and have their own vacation.   Why pay me to take care of your pet…WHY NOT!

Sending out love to Charlie and Marbles families whose hearts are aching today at the loss of their dear friends.  I am grateful that Marbles was a wonderful friend and cuddle mate for my niece and nephew and a great companion to her buddy Cheddar!  She was a very regal looking girl with a great sense of whimsy, not many; cats I know that will let their human dress them up and then pose.

Charlie was ever so fortunate to land on the door stop of my Brother-in-law’s family!  He was loved to the moon and back and will be greatly missed.  I remind myself that we are brought together with our furry counter parts so that we can learn from them and they can absorb all the love we have to give for their short stint on the planet with us!

It is a very hard to loose a friend, and this time of year seems to make it even more heart breaking.  As hard it is to hear, focusing on the blessing that they were in your life and the love you shared is the best gift that one can ever receive!  Rest in peace Charlie and Marbles, you were adored and will live on in the hearts of those that loved you.

I am realizing that I am a different breed, unto myself!  No one likes to stoop and scoop, but I am a conscientious dog walker and unless the dogs do their business off into the wooded area of the path we walk on, I pick up their deposits!  Often being responsible, comes with it ups and downs, at this time of year as the temperatures cool off, I am juggling leashes and mittens and poop bags, which as ridiculous as it sounds, can be daunting.  Some days I will have three or more sacks that I am trying to hold onto until I can find a garbage can. The other day I was dropping off a client to their person and I muttered how I must have lost the “deposit” her dog made along the way.  She smiles, steps towards me and pulls a bag out of my pocket…  “Oh, there it is!  Awesome!”  I exclaim, happy that I haven’t littered.  I had her laughing whole heartedly.  I realize this seems gross, but let me add that my clients that are on raw food don’t really poop, they leave little pebbles of sorts that barely amount to anything.  It wasn’t like I had a giant sized Diesel movement stuffed in my coat, that would have been gross.  Anyway, I realize that toting dog excrement in one’s pocket is kind of nasty, but my take away from this is that I truly love what I do!   Even if others may think it is ‘shitty’.    Dog “DO DO” and all….yup, different strokes for different folks, so if you ask to borrow my jacket, maybe don’t thrust your hands into my pockets…you never know what you may find.

“I don’t know what this “Christmas Is?”  but I sure like the new climbing apparatus in the living room that twinkles and has toys strewn all over it!  What fun!”  Cats and dogs can make decorating over the holidays a challenge!  Especially when it is their first time and they are young and full of mischief!  So how does one survive the Yuletide Season with four legged creatures and have one’s house feeling festive?  It can be a challenge, and everyone’s pet isn’t the same, so what works for some, may not work for others.  Basically, the things you want to keep in mind are electrical chords, the type of decorations you plan to use, and making sure your tree it tethered so it doesn’t end up crashing to the floor!  I remember our first Christmas with my cat Samantha, she kept chewing on the extension chord for the lights, not a good thing.  We tried to make sure that we used a tie to keep the chords from being all over the place and covered them with mats or a tree skirt, we spent a lot of time discouraging her with a spray bottle filled with water, which seemed to work the best.  If your pet likes to chew the lights on the tree that is a more challenging issue, while the lights are unplugged, try spraying a deterrent on the plastic like Bitter Apple or a diluted solution of Citronella or Lavender, you can try spritzing the whole tree, which might help save your ornaments as well.  As for those dangling balls of silver and gold, and other such treasures that glint in the light, they are way too appealing for most four legged creatures to ignore!  One suggestion is to make sure there is a void at the base of the tree, placing the decor higher up.  Also, try to ensure there aren’t any launching pads near by so that your feline friend can’t channel it’s inner tree squirrel and soar through the air in an attempt to find the purfect roost.  The one thing, I can’t stress enough, make sure you have the tree secured.  I have had our Christmas tree fall over twice, the first time the only incident was some of my favourite glass ornaments were obliterated.  The second time it happened our rather weighty tree went over and landed on my 17 pound Sheltie Pup, thankfully the coffee table took the brunt of the impact, Piper was pinned, but not injured.  I will say, she never ever went near the Christmas tree again!   The other thing that sometimes gets over looked is food…be mindful of things like putting edible items on your tree or Gingerbread houses that look fabulously festive on the dining room table, but are too good to pass up when no one is looking!  Be  mindful of gifts, like boxes of chocolates, that unbeknownst to you, may be wrapped up and tempting your pet , your dogs nose is very adept at finding the good stuff!   Chocolate is toxic for dogs and many foods we feel are harmless like turkey bones, are not a treat for your pets!  As you Deck the Halls with boughs of Holly, don’t use the real stuff, as it too toxic, as well as other plants we use at this festive time of year to gift or decorate with such as Poinsettias, Mistletoe, Amaryllis, Cyclamen, Jerusalem Cherry and Daffodils!  Holidays, there is so much to celebrate and enjoy, just try and remember to our canine and feline friends,  having to pass some tinsel is not a present that any one will enjoy!  Do your utmost to avoid an emergency trip to the Vet and as you trim the tree and hang the stockings, take in the fruits of your labour with a fresh set of eyes, endeavour to view things as though you were on all fours and spot potential hazards, that way everyone’s holiday will be Merry and Bright!

Has your pup fallen prey to the “Zoomies”?   I was at a gathering recently and I got chatting with a lovely young lady about her Great Dane, she was explaining how her young canine friend would get rather exuberant and race around the apartment crashing into things, she called it the “Zoomies”.  I have never heard anything so apt to explain the frenetic behaviour of a young dog trying to release a flood gate of energy.  I have a few clients who experience the “Zoomies” on a regular occasion!  Take Diesel, for example, if he experiences a change in texture under his feet, like going from gravel to grass, he becomes a down right nutter!  Rustle some leaves or make a sliding sound on some ice and he can’t contain himself!  I think that the term “Zoomies” should be included in the Webster’s dictionary, with the following definition:  to race around with a boundless degree of zest, vigor and effervescence for what seems to some, like the most mundane and an explicable reason.

“How do you mend a broken heart?”  Is it better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all?   Sometimes it seems we have a string of bad luck in relationships, that we invest so much time and energy into a bond we have made with another being, only to have our hearts crushed when it ends.  Especially when the demise of that union is due to illness or an accident.   We are left bereft and feeling like the universe has for lack of a better way to express it, “Shit on us!”  I always try and find the silver lining and sometimes that is down right hard when it seems like the lemonade is just too bitter to swallow.  Charlie is a rescue, and had the great fortune of finding a family who loves him, in fact I would say that he and my brother-in-law have a Bromance.   He is not an old dog, middle aged maybe, and one would expect many more years of walks along the lakeshore and antics of humping the cat.  Charlie has been under the weather as of late, his family was diligent and took him in for a Vet Check only to discover that their pup has Cancer and it is all through him.  A very hard pill to swallow!  This news comes after loosing two cats in a very short time frame.   It is heart wrenching and cruel in the grand scheme of things, but here is my take away.  When I see Charlie and his family, my goodness that dog is loved!  Truly and unabashedly adored!  What a beautiful way to end ones times on this earth, in a home where he is held in such high regard!  Charlie won’t leave this planet feeling let down or unloved, when he goes he will leave feeling blessed for finding such a magnificent family that he was wholeheartedly an integral part of.  For his people who will no longer have his presence, they are left with inconsolable grief, but a fuller heart for having shared their home with him.  It is hard to see now, when one is blinded with tears, that there is a divine plan, that there is reason that that dog found that family!  That when his time comes Charlie will be sad to say Goodbye but will cherish the amazing life he enjoyed!  And he will hope that some other dog who really needs love will be lucky enough to cross the threshold of the place he called home and find a lap to curl up on and know what it’s like to be adored.  It may sound perverse, but he gets a happy ending.   And with time, hopefully a little nudge from above will help his family find the next lucky recipient to share their affection with.  I have been there, and I remember feeling numb and broken after losing a few of my furry loves that it wasn’t possible for me to go through this one more time, and as I look below my desk I see Lucas I know the answer, that a broken heart can be mended and that it is definitely better to love even when loss is the inevitable outcome.