The first meetup is a SMALL DOG PLAYDATE on August 6th, with drop in between 6:30 and 8:30. All Fun Friday events include coffee, treats, cold drinks. Playdates are a flat $10 fee.

The next Fun Friday event is Intro to Agility on August 13th from 6:30-8pm. Intro to Agility is $20 – spaces will be limited! Reserve ahead of time by email. This is a fantastic way to try out agility to see if it’s right for you and your dog.

Ottawa K9 School is launching these events in conjunction with opening their BRAND NEW LOCATION. They are now located at 425 St-Laurent Blvd., right beside Full Cycle.

Since we switched Paddington and Corduroy over to a home cooked diet (more on that later), they drink less water because the water content in their food is a lot higher. I still worry on hot and muggy days like the ones we’ve been having, that they aren’t getting hydrated enough.

You can give your dog tiny pieces of seedless watermelon as a cool refreshing snack which is packed full of water so you can get fluids into your dog in a yummy way. Pop the cubes in the freezer for a while to make it an extra cool snack.

For healthy snacking, make sure you stay away from some fruits and veggies that are TOXIC to dogs which include:

• Grapefruit (toxic to dogs and cats)
• Peaches (toxic to dogs)
• Lemons (toxic to dogs and cats)
• Cherries (particularly toxic in the process of wilting to dogs and cats)
• Apple stems, seeds and leaves (toxic to dogs)
• Oranges (toxic to dogs and cats because of their essential oils and psoralens)
• Apricots (like many other pitted fruits, apricots contain cyanide in stems, leaves and seeds)
• Limes (toxic to dogs and cats)
• Avocado (The entire avocado – fruit, pit and plant – is toxic to dogs)
• Onions (toxic to dogs)
• Grapes (toxic to dogs)
• Raisins (toxic to dogs)
• Tomatoes (dangerous as they include dangerous tomatine and atropine)
• Green Potatoes ( The toxin, solanine, is poorly absorbed and is only found in green sprouts (these occur in tubers exposed to sunlight) and green potato skins)
• Nutmeg (not a veggie or fruit, but toxic none the less)
• Caffeine (not a veggie or fruit, but toxic none the less)
• Chocolate (not a veggie or fruit, but toxic none the less – the darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is)

Fruits and Veggies that are SAFE for dogs include:

• Bananas (safe for dogs and cats)
• Plums (seeds, leaves and stems contain toxic cyanide)
• Apples (carefully cut and peeled)
• Cucumbers (safe for dogs and cats)
• Honeydew Melons (safe for dogs and cats)
• Strawberries (safe for dogs and cats)
• Broccoli (safe in reasonable amounts – 20 calories per half cup)
• Green Beans (Green beans are safe – 23 calories per half cup)
• Zucchini (safe for dogs)
• Garlic (safe in SMALL amounts)
• Sweet Potatoes (Sweet potatoes and yams are not only safe, but a yummy rawhide alternative, too!)
• Cantaloupe slices (safe and only 20 calories per half cup)
• Cooked peeled potatoes (safe for dogs)
• Watermelon (safe for dogs and cats)

For a more detailed list of what is toxic to dogs, read this article and here.

The Ottawa Humane Society has already had to rescue two dogs from sweltering cars during the heat wave this week.

A German shepherd was found in a van in the parking lot at the Ottawa Hospital’s General campus Wednesday; the temperature was 44 degrees in the vehicle. Humane Society agents responded to the same campus on Tuesday to rescue a Maltese mix that had to be rushed to the shelter for care.

Since the beginning of June, they’ve responded to more than 75 calls about dogs left in hot vehicles.

Please DO NOT leave your dogs, or any animals, in your car in this heat. Even with the window open, it is too hot. Dogs can suffer from the heat just as we do so please take caution about this.

If you see a dog left in a car, please call the Ottawa Humane Society at 613-725-1532 immediately. This is the emergency distress line.

Thank you very much to Jenni at the Morning Hot Tub on the New Hot 89.9 for reporting about this in the Morning Hot Flash this morning.

Dogs at Camp has a brand spanking new website and it looks great! Check it out here.

By now everyone has heard, and most likely felt, the earthquake yesterday. It was my, and both of our dogs, first earthquake and it was definitely rumbly.

There have always been many stories about pets sensing earthquakes before they happen. Thomas works from home and said that Corduroy came upstairs to be with him, and Paddington stayed in the safety of her crate. Neither of them were shook up by the quake, before, during or after really.

But I have heard other stories of cats going crazy before the quake as well as dogs at Doggy Day Care all going to the same spot by the fence.

Did your dog sense the quake? How were your dogs after the quake yesterday afternoon and evening?

Last night the GCA voted unanimously to drop the proposal for the playstructure in Central Park. While they will still do a feasibility study to look for an alternate placement in the community, the immediate problem is gone and we have time to follow their review and ensure the process is done in an equitable way.

I want to thank you and the members [and readers] of Ottawa Dog Blog for supporting this – we were overwhelmingly heard at the meeting tonight, and I am thrilled to say that a community coming together can indeed make a difference!

My warmest wishes to all,
Sandy

Sugar was returned home! She was reported to the police and they brought her home late Wednesday afternoon unharmed.

Great news!!

This is just horrible and completely despicable.
A puppy was grabbed right out of the arms of his owner.

Read the full story here and watch the news story here.

This is a guest post by Ottawa Dog Blog reader, Sandy

A downtown dog park needs your help! Off-leash parks in Ottawa are a hard-fought right which have typically been handled through public consultation. In a surprising move, the Glebe Community Association is fast-tracking the construction of a preschool children’s play structure in Central Park between Bank and O’Connor as a result of leftover funds offered by the City which required a quick decision.

In a flyer sent around the week of June 7th (with a decision to be made in mid-June), the Association promoted that there are no pre-school structures close by (in fact there is at First Avenue School one block away) and that they wish to proceed “while respecting the complementary needs of the unofficial dog run and many other park users.”

The park is a City-designated off-leash (with minimal summer restrictions) dog friendly park and has been for many years. Once the play structure is established, the goodwill of the Glebe Community Association will have no bearing on the fact that under City of Ottawa by-laws dogs are prohibited from being within 5 metres of all children’s play areas. Effectively, the freedom dog-owners enjoy in this park will be forever lost because someone wanted to take quick advantage of available City funds.

The Glebe Community Association will hold a meeting this Tuesday, June 22nd at 8:00 pm in the pre-school room of the Community Centre at 175 Third Avenue (at Lyon). Sorry for the short notice, but this was only made known at almost 8 pm Saturday night. Please come to the meeting if you can, or if you can’t, send an email to gca@glebeca.ca under the subject New Pilot Play Structure at Central Park – help us give our dogs a voice in this matter!

I am so excited to tell you about something I’ve been working hard at this month: the Pampered Puppy Product Reviews! I was approached by Pampered Puppy a few months ago about doing the product reviews for June and July and I jumped at the chance. It was such fun and Paddington and Corduroy loved trying out the products and posing for the pictures.

We reviewed four products this month and you can head on over to the Pampered Puppy website to see them.

The Ottawa Dog Park Finder is finally here!!

The Ottawa Dog Park Finder is an online application that utilizes Google Maps to locate dog parks in Ottawa. Searchable by location as well as user ratings, it will be a great resource for every Ottawa Dog lover. Rate YOUR favourite dog park!

COMING SOON: Mobile App for Ottawa Dog Park Finder. You’ll be able to access this resource through any mobile phone*.

Many MANY special thanks to Thomas J Bradley for doing this project with me. Also special thanks go out to Open Data Ottawa for beginning a movement in accessible and public data that inspired Thomas J Bradley to team up with me for this project.

*mobile phone must have an internet plan to access the mobile site.