Car Safety for Dogs

In order to socialize me, Mom takes me around town with her. She never leaves me alone in the car - one of the leading causes of death among young dogs is being left in a car on a hot day. If Mom can't take me out of the car with her I stay home in the air-conditioned house. Not a bad deal for me with my fur coat! But even on the coldest day of the year I wasn't safe in the car until Mom figured out how to protect me in case of an accident.

At first I used to ride around in the car sitting on someone's lap. Every stop they held on tight so I wouldn't fall. But then I grew much bigger than a lap. At 75 pounds if I get thrown through the car I endanger not only myself, but everyone else too! So Mom put me in a crate in the rear of our station wagon, but that wasn't safe for me either.

The problem with a crate in the rear of the car is that is the area most likely to be hit if you are rear ended. If my crate is there I'm liable to get crushed, so the safest area for me is the middle seat, but that puts me back where I was before, so what is the answer?

Mom got me a Comfort Ride Traveling dog Car Harness:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755199&lmdn=Dog

She was afraid I would resist having the harness put on me but I didn't mind at all. I can move around enough to see out the window or lay down but I can't be thrown around the car. That makes both me and mom happy.

We've had the harness for a couple of months now and it is Doberman safe. Mainly because I can't get to it to chew it when the harness is on me and if it isn't on me I'm not in the car!

Alma

Puppy Pinata

Mom bought a Puppy Pinata for me to test. According to what Mom read it is more fun to hide the pinata first. She made me sit and stay while she dragged the toy around the floor and hid it.

Some hiding. With my Doberman nose I found the toy in about 2 minutes. The beef jerky smelled really good and the scent was so strong no way I could miss the trail.

The pinata cloth was fun to chew. I mouthed it a bit before really going after the treat. It was great entertainment for about twenty minutes before I tore the cloth to shreds and ate all the treats.

Apparently the idea is I'm supposed to open up the velcro and get the treat out. I found it much more fun to tear open the cloth to get the treat. That velcro sticks way too much. I didn't damage the velcro at all! After getting the treat, I shreded the material to pieces and pulled out the stuffing inside the pinata head. At $14.99 plus tax a pop, Mom says no more puppy pinatas for me.

Headphones are not Doberman Safe

Dad's scream pierced the early morning bird singing. I suppose it was a shock for him to find the headphones and microphone shredded into bits of copper and black wire wrapping. He groaned. He shouted. I don't know what he was saying but I could tell he wasn't happy.

When Dad really isn't happy he goes and wakes up Mom. I ran into my kennel to listen from a safe vantage point. It turns out that the headphone and microphone didn't belong to Dad. They belonged to his college. Mom had borrowed them from him for a webinar she was giving on how to use a blog and twitter. She left it in her leather briefcase, which I found when Dad left the mudroom door ajar.

I could hear them having a long discussion about giving me more exercise followed by a longer discussion about where to put the briefcase. Then they both came downstairs, had their coffee and talked about locking the mudroom door so I couldn't open it. (The great thing about our house is my mom designed it and put these European door handles on the doors which any enterprising Dobe can learn to open by slapping with a paw and running forward.)

There was some more talk about another obedience class, but I grew tired and went to sleep wondering if more exercise meant agility class (not my favorite) or walks in the park (my favorite) or trips to the outlet stores (the very best!)

Warmer weather, longer days: Life is Good

One year old! I turned one on April 4 and that's not the only reason I like April.

The days are getting longer. Mom comes home has dinner, feeds me (I don't mind waiting, I usually get a small bit of meat and vegetables added to my Blue food) then its outside for as much frisbee as I can stand until I drop down for a rest. Then we come inside, get the leash and its out for our walk and obedience. 

The walking next to Mom thing - I'm getting used to it, but really, I wish she would let me lead. I try at the start of the walk now even though I know she is going to insist she is the Alpha dog but hey I have to keep her on her toes and test her everyday otherwise she might get complacent. You never want your alpha dog to get complacent so as number 2 (okay number 5 but the kids are out of the house and dad doesn't come on the walks so I can pretend) its my job to keep mom on her toes.

I'm not a big fan of the April rain, but the warmer days and the extra sunshine is wonderful. Mom says that if I like April wait until July and August. 

I had to remind her I'm a Dobe and Dobes take life one day at a time.

I think she's starting to get the idea.