Flu Shots for Dogs

Today Mom took me to the vet to get my nails clipped. My blood doesn't clot easily so Mom is nervous about clipping my nails. We arrived at the vets and we get the word that the vet recommends I get a shot for Canine Influenza. (Haven't heard of Canine Influenza? You can learn more at CBS about this illness.) And by the way, the vet has a cancellation and give me the shot right then! Oh, joy. I think I felt the shot but the whole affair happened so quickly I didn't have time to get upset. And I did get an all natural cookie for my trouble. Not a bad deal. I go back in 3 weeks for a booster shot and then I'm protected for a year.

I am around a lot of dogs. Every week I go to obedience class and Control Unleashed class (where Mom is trying to get me to not get so excited when I see other dogs. Doesn't she understand how much fun it is to meet and play with new breeds?) And then there is the weekly play group. Of course it is dominated by yellow labs and golden retrievers but there is one Doberman that I see sometimes. We dogs share a lot of things like toys and water dishes, so if one of us gets the virus, chances are it will spread.

Have a dog in your life? Check out the canine influeza shot if you haven't already talked to your vet about the dog flu.

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!)