Urban Tails: Citizen Canine in Ottawa

Dr. Audrey Giles is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa and is the proud human companion to two energetic (previously homeless) canines.

Date:7 May 2011
Time:11:00 AM
Duration:1.5 hr
Language:English

During this walk we will discuss dog/human sub-cultures and relations, the impact dogs have on human physical activity, and the contributions that dogs and their human companions make to community life. Sociable, leashed dogs and the humans they own are welcome!

Route
Route: Start at Brewer Park (across from Carleton University), right on Sunnyside, right on Bank, right on Cameron, finish back at Brewer Park.
Distance: 2.5 km

Last night was scary – we had the closest call with the dogs ever: Corduroy ate her muffin too fast and began choking on it.

Our dogs all have tracheal problems and occasionally their throats temporarily collapse. It freaks them out, but by massaging the sides of their throats gently, they come through it in a few minutes. At first, this is what Thomas and I thought it was. It definitely wasn’t. We began to notice her panicking more than usual and making sounds like she was trying to vomit something up, but nothing would happen.

Then we started to get really worried and I’ll be honest, we began to panic ourselves a little which I am sure didn’t make the whole situation any better.

I had just been explaining to Jane as to what to do if Sonnet ever began choking so fortunitely, I knew immediately what to do. I picked her up, turned her upside down and tried to shake the object out. She got squirmy and I couldn’t do it so Thomas took charge and did it – he said the key was to hold her head.

Thomas saved her life. I am sure of it.

He shook her twice and it dislodged the muffin from her throat and she was able to vomit it up. Thank goodness. She didn’t chew her food and it got stuck.

I wrote an article a few years ago when Corduroy choked on a treat so you can read it here. Another good article is here and I will paraphrase one important bit for how to help dislodge an obstruction from a small and a big dog.

Help your dog to dislodge the obstruction.

Small to medium size dog – Pick up a small or medium dog by his/her hind legs. Hold the dog upside down and try to shake the object out of his/her mouth with the benefit of gravity.

Large dog – Hold the dog upside down but instead of holding the whole dog upside down (next to impossible!), keep his/her front paws still on ground or a bench and lift up his hind legs (in the same manner as holding a wheelbarrow) and tilt him forward.

via WikiHow

This is also a good reminder to make sure to supervise your dogs while they eat food and treats. You can also use dog puzzles and treat balls to slow them down and discourage them from gulping. We know now to make sure to break out dogs’ muffins up into even smaller bits so this doesn’t happen again.

Corduroy was fine after the incident – she just moved on like nothing happened. And she wanted the rest of her muffin that she didn’t get to yet (I made sure to feed it to her in very small crumby bits).

Tonight’s in-store social at Bark & Fitz Westboro is cancelled since no-one registered for this club. Please note that in order for us to host these dog socials, we must have our members register via email. This is the only way that we can group dogs according to their size & needs. For more info write to Stella Social at barkinwestboro@gmail.com

Our Dog Social Registry is growing as quickly as the snow is melting! Stella our Dog Social Clubs president, was and still is in dire need of socialization with other dogs and ‘their people’. Because of her small size, she is not confident around other dogs (especially the bigger ones). She tends to get defensive and snarly which is not good as ‘her people’ own the Bark & Fitz Westboro franchise.

Hence this is why the dog socials were born and why we felt that they needed to be reborn. Stella is now 5 years old and still needs to keep up with her social skills. Whether your dog is a social butterfly or not, belonging to our social club is beneficial for both you and your dog.

Your well behaved dog can gain confidence while modelling appropriate behaviour. Socialization in an indoor setting stimulates their brain in a different way that provides them with another form of exercise. Dogs with ‘issues’ get to deal with understanding dog people who willingly provide patience and tolerance. It’s always amazing to see the end result of an hour spent with calm and assertive people who care about the well being of their dogs and see how it reflects on others. Proceeds from the $5 attendance fee goes to B.A.R.K. rescue, a ‘no-kill’ animal rescue group that is very deserving of our support.

We are still accepting registrations. If no size or breed appropriate club exists, Stella will form one for you. Send Stella your name & email, dog’s name, breed description, month & year of birth, food your feeding & favourite treats to: barkinwestboro@gmail.com

April Socials

Fab Labs & Retrievers: Wednesday April 6th
Danes & Dogs who are Great: Thursday April 7th
Small Breed Pups: Tuesday April 12th
Medium Combo: Wednesday April 13th
Small Fries: Tuesday April 19th
Large Breed Pups: Wednesday April 20th
Smug Pugs: Tuesday April 26th
Stella Social for Doxies: Wednesday April 27th

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

Written by Janine Allen CPDT, Rescue Me Dog’s professional dog trainer. Janine’s passion is working with people and their dogs. She provides demonstrations for those who have adopted shelter dogs, lends email support to adopted dog owners that need information beyond our Training Support Pages, and aids shelter staff and volunteers in understanding dog behavior to increase their adoptability. Copyright 2010 Rescue Me Dog; rescuemedog.org

Read Part 1 of this article here.

A while back I published a post about Canine Life’s new Muffin diet. It was so intriguing to me that Thomas and I decided to see what it was all about. I bought the pre-made muffins with turkey and sweet potato and holy cow the dogs went nuts for them. And that was it, we decided to fully commit to the home cooked diet and kick the kibble forever.

We decided to buy the muffin mix and bake our muffins at home so we could control what went in them.

The Ottawa Dog Blog Home Cooked Diet Recipe and Directions

with TONS of photos! Check out the entire set on flickr.

What You Will Need

All food prices from Loblaws unless otherwise stated

• Canine Life Pre-Mix Adult Trial Pack (20 Muffins) – $8.00 @ Bark & Fitz in Kanata
• Blueberries – $2.50
• Butternut Squash – $2.99
• Apples – $3.28 kg
• Frozen Beans – $2.00
• Eggs (free run large) – $4.19
• Safflower Oil (organic) – $4.79
• Cranberry Juice (organic) – $10.99

We now buy the 6kg bag of muffin mix ($45.00 @ Bark and Fitz) because it lasts much longer. This bag usually lasts us around 3-4 months. We use the regular muffin mix, but Canine Life also offers a gluten free and a cancer mix so you can tailor it to your dog’s specific needs.

This method of feeding is also great because you can control what goes IN the muffins. Our recipe is a lower protein mix for our dogs, but your dogs might prefer or require more protein so you would add a meat in there. The muffin mix comes with a sheet with substitution options. For example, you just need a green vegetable and an orange vegetable.

Orange vegetables are: carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, butternut, acorn or hubbard squash.
Green vegetables include: green beans, zucchini, broccoli (not if your dog has a thyroid problem)
For added protein, you can use: regular ground beef, chicken, turkey, veal, lamb, venison, ostrich, buffalo, salmon, tuna, pollack or mackarel.

The Canine Life website as a huge list of ingredients that are in the muffins to make them awesome. That list is also included in the muffin mix package.
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