Happy Canada Day!

also from Paddington and Corduroy

Photos by elizabeth&jane photography.
Cupcake by Amanda.

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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.

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I’ve mentioned here before at how much energy Paddington has. She is a Morkie, which means she is half Yorkie so she has more energy than you ever thought a dog her size could have. We were searching for ways to decrease her energy level and once we tried out the dog backpack – we were hooked!

Paddington wears her backpack like it’s her job. We put in some small rocks into each side to weigh her down and make her work more and it’s also a great way not to have to carry the poo bags around – Paddington carries the bag in her backpack!

When we first got the pack, I was worried that Paddington wouldn’t be able to move too well in it and we were proved VERY wrong. She runs like crazy and it doesn’t hinder her movement at all.

I made a quick video at Bruce Pit to demonstrate how much Paddy loves her pack. Please forgive the wobblyness and the orientation of the video as I shot it with my phone.

Paddington LOVES her backpack. We only use it when we go walking so she knows as soon as we get it out, we are going somewhere fun.

When you first start using the pack with your dog, just get him or her to wear the pack empty, and after a while you can add things to weigh it down. If you have a larger dog, instead of rocks you can try filling a water bottle a little bit and placing it on each side to add some extra weight. Make sure to increase the weight gradually and not to get the load too heavy!

The backpack Paddington has is by Ruff Wear and is available at Bark & Fitz Kanata and Westboro. It is available in the awesome green that Paddington wears so fabulously, or a really nice ice blue.

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Courses teach dog owners about therapeutic touch.

When Alexis, a six-year-old husky-lab mix, suffered a stroke that left her back legs paralysed, her owner turned to an unconventional form of therapy to help her recover.

“I massaged her back legs every night, and it seemed to do wonders,” says Alexis’ owner, Barb Vincent, who works in Finance and Administration Services at Ottawa’s Algonquin College.

She was therefore interested when the college’s School of Health and Community Studies offered a one-day workshop called Massage for Pets. There she learned how massage could benefit any dog by improving blood circulation and muscle tone, as well as minimizing discomfort caused by joint ailments such as arthritis. She was also taught the basic techniques of providing this kind of massage.

Her teacher was a certified canine masseuse, Sandy Benoit, who has embraced a personal mission to help dogs and cats by integrating massage into their lives and the lives of their owners.

“I can’t get enough of it,” says Benoit, who did not let a daytime job stop her from offering pet massage to clients on evenings and weekends. The work has since become her full time occupation, under the company name Canine Touch and Tell. Over the years, her passion for this healing practice has continued to grow.

“Dogs have unseen stresses and they carry them quietly,” she explains. “Only through massage can you find out what ails the dog, because the dog can’t tell you.”

Benoit learned this lesson first hand more than a decade ago. That was when Carleton, a yellow lab she required as a guide dog, developed some physical problems that were highlighted by stiffness in his legs. While researching the best way to help him, she discovered massage, which significantly improved his quality of life.

Although even veteran dog owners might regard pet massage as something of a novelty, it keeps Benoit busy. Depending on the individual case, she may treat clients as often as once a week, while others come once a month.

“We send them home with homework,” she says. “The more they can do between sessions, the more they get out of it.”

Barb Vincent enjoyed her formal introduction to the subject. “It’s a good workshop because they are doing not only theory but also hands-on,” she notes.

She adds that while Alexis will never be in the same shape she was before the stroke, the dog is now walking, running, and doing much better than Vincent had expected. Meanwhile, Benoit’s dog Carleton has fared just as well, eventually retiring from his guide dog duties to lead a happy life in her home.

Benoit’s current guide dog, Jet, enjoys daily massage and is the picture of perfect health.

Note from Liz: Paddington has been going to Sandy Benoit of Canine Touch and Tell for almost a year now to work on her knee that still has the luxating patella. Canine Massage has done wonders for her and she is more mobile than ever. We make sure to work on the muscles so she won’t have to have the other leg operated on. She is very vocal and loves her massages!

If you are interested in having Canine Massage on your dog, call Sandy at 613-762-8869

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I am sure that most of you followed along in September as the Ottawa Dog Blogs got skunked and I went through an array of products and many MANY baths to try to rid them of the smell. I will freely admit that the Drypet towel was my SAVIOUR during this time.

A while back, a reader sent in a comment about how amazing Drypet towels were so I contacted Drypet about doing a review earlier that month and they wonderfully agreed and sent me a towel to test out right away. And test we did. In that week alone, the dogs probably had close to 5 or 6 baths. They stunk…oh man it was bad. They don’t like baths to begin with so they were not thrilled at my many attempts to rid them of their stench. My dogs have longer hair and they are tiny therefore they get cold quickly so after the bath, there is usually quite a bit of toweling off…usually not very successfully.

The Drypet towel quickly absorbs the water out of my dog’s hair leaving them, although not fully dry (did I mention my dogs have a lot of hair??), but significantly drier than any other towel I’ve ever used. It will allow me to bathe them in the winter months without having to blow dry them for quite some time afterwards! Now I towel off, use the dryer a teensy bit and they are good to go.

The best part about the Drypet towels is that although we Ottawa folk have to purchase online, the company is based in Toronto and therefore we get the towels through the mail extremely fast and don’t have to worry about any import fees. I love supporting Canadian companies and it’s wonderful to find one with such a standout product.

The towel is very well priced at 19.95 per 24″x36″ towel. They are available in Grey and the best part is you can have is customized for 24.95!!! What a great deal!

Just for Ottawa Dog Blog readers, Drypet has agreed to give us a special discount – $10 off!!! The Ottawa Dog Blog special code is cdp10 and will work from Nov 18-25. EDIT: please not the date of the sale has changed – 1 WEEK ONLY!!

These towels would make a great gift for any pet lover this holiday season.

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As some of you may already know, I got married in August and I would like to officially let you know that I will be changing my name.

From now on, I will be known as:

Liz Bradley

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