To Bark or Not To Bark

Do you hate when your dog barks?  Well then get a cat because that's what dogs do. They bark!  They bark to let you know someone is here, when they are happy to see you, some even bark when they are hungry.  They can't actually say the words "I want food" or "I have to go to the bathroom" so they do it the one way they can.  By barking.

Now sometimes they can be a bit of a nuisance. I'll admit that.  Certain breeds are more prone to barking, like my Sheltie, Cody, pictured above.  (Isn't he so handsome? He just loves the camera!)  You have your herding group (Shelties, Collies, etc), sporting group (Labs, Retrievers, etc) and your toy groups (Poms, Yorkies, etc.) that are prone to be more barkers. It's genetics people.  That's what they are born to do.  Again, don't like it, stick with cats.  Though I have seen some that do bark but that's an entirely different blog post.

But there is the nuisance barking and you can do a couple of things to correct it. When you get home, if your dog is barking and you make all the cutesty noises that mommy and/or daddy are home and did you miss me, your dog is going to continue to bark because you are paying attention, positive reinforcement.  If you wait until your dog is quiet and then pay attention to them, less chance of them barking at you all the time.  Another method is the good old squirt bottle or water bottle.  Take a water bottle, poke a hole in the top, fill with water and squirt it at your dog when he/she is barking.  Pretty soon, just hearing the crinkling of the water bottle will get them to stop.  Now this doesn't work if your dog likes the water.  Mine do not and they do stop barking when I remember to do it.

Next option, is the Pet Corrector.  Now I haven't used this but other people have.  It emits a hissing sound like a snake and your dog stops barking.  Check out the link and read more about it.

Never hit your dog because it's barking.  It's trying to talk to you.  Keep on Barking!  Feel free to comment at any time.  I'm still waiting for my first comment. ☺

So your dog is a stinker huh?

Ok is there anything worse than a dog fart?  I mean seriously, you are sitting there, petting your cute little guy next to you and all of a sudden you get this horrible whiff that about makes you gag? I mean how can something so cute, be so darn stinky!

Pictured above is Sampson. He's so darn cute but OMG, he stinks.  I have a favorite story I like to tell about him.  I was living in Wheaton and sitting on the couch with my boyfriend, Kyle, at the time and Sampson got up and wandered down the hall to go visit our roommate, Brian.  You hear Brian say "Sampson" all happy and everything and then two seconds later, you hear "SAMPSON!" and here comes Sampson, running back down to the living room.  Brian comes out and goes "He just came in and farted in my room and left!"  Even as I'm typing this, it still brings tears of laughter to my eyes. I am pretty sure we laughed for a good 5 minutes and that was 6 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

But why are dogs so stinky?  Well a lot of it is the food you feed them.  If you aren't feeding them a high quality food, they have to get rid of what they can't use some how and well, farting and pooping are the only ways they can.  You always want to look at your first five ingredients on your food bag.  If it contains by-products, corn meal or corn gluten, sorghum or some type of preservative, your dog can't digest it and it has to come out one way.  So keep an eyeball on what you are feeding your dog.  If they seem awfully gassy, might be time to switch foods.  If you buy a better brand of food, they eat less because they are fuller faster and less waste.  Less goes in, less comes out.  Check out www.frrco.com/122712. It's my Flint River Ranch distributor site and the food is great.  No recalls ever and it gets delivered to you for free.  Or check out www.rockyandbella.com/petlovers for some vitamin supplements to help cut down on the gas too.

One day, in the near future, you can enjoy sitting with your pet without having to worry about a gas mask :o)

Fleas, Fleas and More Fleas

Ok so if you know me, I've been dealing with fleas for the past 4 summers now, ever since I let in a neighborhood dog instead of being tied up in 100 degree heat. I've fought and fought and tried everything under the sun.  Well I think I've become an expert really.  With the weather having been so hot and not having had a winter really at all, the little fleas have not died.  AT ALL!! They are crazy bad and worse this year.  I've tried everything from spraying my dogs with apple cider vinegar, lemon water and lavendar to Frontline, generic stuff.  Everything!  My poor Yorkie, Riley got 3 baths in two days cuz I would lose the little f*cker  in his coat and not be able to find it  They are so very hard to kill and the flea comb just wasn't doing it for me.  So what works you ask?  Two things only really.  Comfortis, which is a pill you get from the vet and Advantix Plus.  Those are the only things that work for me.  The Comfortis is anywhere between $15 to $17 per pill depending on the size of your dog but it kills any fleas on them within 4 hours and then if anything jumps on them within about 30 minutes I think, but don't quote me on that.  Needless to say they DIE!!!

Now Advantix Plus is a topical flea killer and that works the same way.  But it generally seems to keep them away and repels them along with other bugs like ticks and mosquitoes, which carry Lyme disease (ticks) and can cause heartworms (mosquitoes). Also helps to repel flies too. Now you can buy 4 month supply for $45 on Drs. Foster and Smith's website or I found it cheapest at Pet Supplies Plus.  But here was my dilemma. All 3 dogs are different weights. So I was smart and looked up how much was in each of the sizes for my dogs.  My 5 lb Yorkie was .03, Sampson at 15 lbs was .08 and Cody at 26 lbs  was .13.  So I got the one for Cody's weight and then distributed one vial between the other two dogs accordingly. Hey saves me money right?!!?  Now if you have other animals like I do, cats, neither of these will work on cats.  TOXIC!! So please, don't put any of these on your cats.  The Frontline seems to work fine for the cats.  Be very careful of generic brands though.  I put some on my oldest female cat, Delilah, and she ended up having a bald spot there.  It's growing back and you really can't tell but she looked very funny for a while with naked skin back there..lol.  I know, not nice to laugh!

So have you had problems with fleas? What have you used?  Feel free to share!  Thanks and have a purr-fectly pawsome day!

Everyone's always asking advice

Hi, I'm Denise Bockenfeld and I love animals. Anyone that knows me, I'll do anything to help an animal in need. I'm a certified dog trainer from Animal Behavior College and have been for about 4 years now. I'm not an expert in anything but people are always asking me for advice on what to do with their dogs behavior, pet food, medical advice, etc. So I thought "Why not start my own blog?" So this is my first shot and well see what happens. This is a place where I'll offer my personal opinion on products I've tried, my recommendations on all things pets and where ilk offer behavioral advice if you are having problems. You can always ask questions and I'll answer them. You never know, your question could become a blog topic! I love my animals and they are always doing something funny. So keep an eye out for funny posts, pictures and anecdotes. Welcome to Pet Pearls of Wisdom. Thanks for your support and look for an introduction of my furry kids to come in the upcoming posts!