We live in a flat

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A dog and her bones

On April 5, 2013

The first thing I ever bought for Donna was a nylon bone which frayed within seconds of Donna laying her paws on it. I went, “Oh shoot! There’s goes this expensive bone! I should have bought the Nylabone instead!” I had already read good reviews of the Nylabone online but when I went to the pet store, I somehow picked another bone instead. Yikes!

It wasn’t long that I ended up buying the Nylabone for Donna, but you know what. After a while, it seemed Donna settled in her new environment and she didn’t chew on her toys as much, and spent more time sleeping instead.

As for the first bone I bought for her? It’s still around, its ends frayed more than the hardy Nylabone. I later bought a rawhide milkbone for Donna so that we have a few bones that we can rotate and keep her boredom at bay.

But before we started rationing them, when Donna still had all her bones at her disposal, it almost seemed like Donna prefer the first bone more than her Nylabone. Or maybe its just me convincing myself that she was having more satisfaction ripping bigger bits out of the yellow bone than small slivers out of her Nylabone.

I’m writing about bones today because Mr P’s cousin’s dog Doudou is certainly having fun with her new Nylabone that we got for her. The talented Doudou has to date ripped all her toys, often within minutes, and our cousin out of desperation keeps making trips to the pet store to replenish. Doudou finished her milkbone in minutes, while Donna took weeks to work on her milkbone. So we immediately thought that we needed to get a Nylabone for Doudou.

And Doudou loved the bone. Chewed it for a long time and was so fixated that she went right back to the bone after her dinner and ignored her family the whole time!

Make no bones about it, this is one toy that should last that dog for some time at least.

Note: I did read that rawhide bones are not only harder to digest, they can also be choking risks. The packaging on the nylon bones did advised supervised play. But the whole point of getting these bones are to ensure Donna has things to occupy her time with when we are out of the house. We usually supervise her use of any new toy for a couple of rounds so we can observe and only let her continue when we see that the way she plays with the toy is safe. Then we leave her alone with it once we find it safe for her. In Donna’s case, we observe that she will usually flick her tongue repeatedly to get the chewed bits out and onto the floor before going back to work on the bone. She doesn’t swallow them. We also ensure all bones are larger than her head, and in the case of edible rawhide bones, we remove them from her once they become soft or have been chewed down to a small size that can become a chocking hazard.

Scratching and allergies

By weliveinaflat

On April 5, 2013

In Behaviour

Well, food could be one factor. We heard Doudou’s scratching got noticeably less after my cousin’s boyfriend changed the kibble she was having to a better quality fish-based kibble.

The Animal Recovery Centre does have this interesting section in their article on Nutritional Influences on Illnesses in Small Animals.

Donna’s celebrity look-a-like!

By weliveinaflat

On April 4, 2013

In Dog & You

I had always thought of Donna’s themesong as “Jokerface” (re: Lady Gaga). But some time ago, my friend’s husband thought Donna looked like Batman too. But oops, Donna no Doberman ears. Bummer.

Don’t cry Donna. When I was a teenager, it was trendy to define anything cute as “ugly but adorable”.

Reference celebrity images from digitalspy.co.uk and sideshowcollectors.com. Pictures copyrighted to photographer unless otherwise stated on these websites I guess.

Do you know your dog park etiquette?

By weliveinaflat

On April 3, 2013

In Explore

Another place where Donna gets fearful in is the dog park. The first time we brought her there, she had a little bit of fun inspecting the the grass, sniffing the golden retrievers who were older and not too interested in playing with her. Her terror started when a school-age boy brought in his small dog and the first thing that dog did was to rush towards one of the Golden Retrievers, which in turn ran away from the rushing dog and unfortunately, both headed in the direction of Donna. = =!

Poor Donna tried hiding under the park bench and then jumped onto the bench as the Golden Retriever ran headlong to the park bench and plonked itself by the bench while the small dog played merrily around the two harried dogs. Donna could not be persuaded to leave the bench for a long time afterwards.

At first I felt bad for not having been able to protect Donna from the rushing dogs, but at the same time, I didn’t want to pet and comfort Donna and make her feel she was right for being scared and to reinforce that behaviour. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat with Donna on the park bench and watched the other dogs having fun, hoping that by not being tense myself, Donna will stop being nervous and frightened after a while.

Many people may pooh pooh the problem and blame other, insecure dogs for being scared. However, when you turn the situation around and imagine we were talking about kids at the playground, it would all seem very different

image from – http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/dog-park-etiquette-rules

The next time we visited the dog park, it was empty, but it seemed Donna’s memories have already ingrained a fear of the place for her and the minute she entered the dog park, her tail tucked between her legs and she made a beeline for the park bench.

Thankfully, a lady with a beagle came along and after a suitable period of assuring herself that the beagle was not an alien, that the beagle was harmless, Donna finally got down the bench to inspect the beagle warily. They even had a game of chase-chase. But that fun was short-lived.

A dog walker came along with big dogs – french bulldog, labradoodle, golden retriver, some hound-type of dog – and they all rushed in = = ! So yes, the same flight to the park bench played out.

Inwardly, I wish dog walkers are dog trainers who are good at making sure dogs don’t rush into dog parks, and that parents have good guidance for kids that help the kid to ensure his dog doesn’t rush into dog parks. But then that will be a perfect world, and we know that’s just not going to happen.

So, the help Donna to get rid of her fears at the dog park training continues. And predictable the opening scene has been and will be

Flight to the Park Bench,

followed by These Dogs are Not Aliens,

followed by Perhaps We can Play Chase-Chase,

followed by I am Inspector Grass,

and then the humans will be tired and the grand finale of our soap opera will come along Let Us Go Home.

After the first bad experience at the dog park, I was interested in what we were doing wrong to have resulted in the bad experience for the dog, so I did some research. To be honest, it made me feel better that maybe the problem was not only me, that I was not able to protect the dog, but that it could also a problem with the other owners.

If you are interested to know more about helping dogs play well and safely in the dog park,

Dr Sophia Yin has a great poster on Dog Park Etiquette that can be downloaded for free as well as tips how to train a dog to prevent him from being part of any unhappy situation that may escalate in a dog park in the dog park.

Southslope.org has a nice Dog Park Etiquette Poster with lots of useful tips for adults and for parents with children on how we can help make the dog park an enjoyable place for all humans and dogs and also what to do, if a fight breaks out. Although, I don’t think I can break up a fight, Donna and I at least can stay along the sidelines and er… inspect the grass. :P

Human and dog walking pack

By weliveinaflat

On April 2, 2013

In Shopping

We’ve been blowing the budget every month, what with late night visits to the vet, better food for Donna, toys to keep Donna busy and new cushion covers for Donna’s bed. That’s why wants are not needs and can be fulfilled later, not now.

Nothing to stop me from window shopping though.

What do I want? A dog back pack will be nice. Donna doesn’t really need a dog backpack since she is not very high energy, she doesn’t really need a job to centre her on walks. But there will be days when I am sick or Donna gets over-excited and that backpack could come in handy. In any case, the dog can always do her part for the earth and carry her own empty food cans to the recycling bin. :P

I have my eye on these two from the local blogshops.

The one on the left looks more sturdy but costs 4 times more than the other. The one with the nice tropical leaf design may be cheaper but may not fit was well as the sturdy one. But it doesn’t matter since I’m sitting on the purchase anyway. :D

Meanwhile, I’ll just have to carry our dog walking essentials in my shoulder bag. I carry the minimal unless we are going out for hours – treats, poop bag, zoomgroom brush, keys, wallet and phone. I had been doing well on all these until the other morning, we were walking innocently on the path that winds around the hilltop park near our block when plop! Some bird decided it needs to target its waste on my arm!!

That is when the insight that tissue paper would be handy in the bag, but as it is, good insights always come to late. That’s why the term hindsight.

Luckily, there was a middle aged couple just up ahead whom I can approach to beg for tissue :P

“Auntie, do you have tissue?”

Auntie took a look at Donna, “Your dog pooped?”

I laughed, “No la, not the dog. The bird, plop, shit on me. Look! On my arm!” I pointed as she passed me a tissue paper.

The nice lady turned and asked her husband if he had wet tissue instead. Having cleaned my arm up, I said there was no need for the wet tissue, thanked them again and left.

And now, there is a packet of wet tissue in my dog walking shoulder bag. ; ) Hooray for kind strangers!

Nothing in life is free

By weliveinaflat

On April 1, 2013

In Training

… so why is this line of treats here?

Am I suppose to “leave it”?

She is looking at me, shit, what do I do? Maybe I should pretend I am not interested.

That’s it! I’m not interested.

NOT Interested.

Yah right, by the time I return after leaving the room, the treats are gone!

Donna has a natural suspicion of new things that I want her to use or eat. Probably as a side effect of us trying so hard to get her off the sofa. But it was only fair that if we take the sofa from her, we give her something comfy back in return. This set of photos was from probably a month or more back. I was only trying to get her to like the pillow, honest! : D

Happy April Fool’s!

What do you put on your dog’s pet tag?

By weliveinaflat

On March 31, 2013

In Shopping

A dog’s pet tag is small and has limited space, especially when you don’t utilise both sides of it.

That is the way with Donna’s tag. One side has a paw print design, the other side is where we engraved our contact details.

Donna’s first pet tag was like this but purple:

DIY dog spray – calm, deodorise, repel fleas, mosquitoes!

By weliveinaflat

On March 30, 2013

In Health

With this dog spray, keep fleas and mossie away during outdoor walks, disinfect and deodorise after dog walks! I made this dog spray quite some time ago but didn’t use it that often because for a while Donna was fearful of being sprayed at. But what with the insect bite allergy, scratching and some skin abrasion, I probably should start using it more often. Here’s the instructions for making your own!

Thunder

By weliveinaflat

On March 29, 2013

In Behaviour

She doesn’t usually do this because she understands the meaning of a barrier. But when it starts to thunder loudly and the wind howls, she just wants to be near you, in the same space. She pushes into the kitchen without a thought.

For the first time, she launches herself upwards so that her front paws land on the counter top supporting her upright posture. After she is satisfied, she drops down and moves to the small yard where again she was never allowed. She peers into the gloom of the store room but decides against entering. She peers into the drum of the washing machine. The space is too small for her. There is no safe place to hide.

She finally stops by the side of the kitchen cabinet and stares out to the living room, where the thunder blares right outside. Her tail is tucked between trembling legs. You call her but she does not respond, already immersed in her own world of doggy apocalyptic thoughts.

Physically, you tap her gently on the rump to get her attention, ‘sit’, you say. She does, slowly. Does it give her some measure of comfort?

“Help me,” she seemed to be saying with her eyes perhaps. But my dear girl, no one can keep the thunder away.

You walk in and out living life as normal. There is nothing to be scared of, its just a storm, you tell her. You hold the gate for her, in case she wants to follow you to the living room. But her bottom is rooted to the spot. “Do you want a treat?” you ask, knowing full well her little head of horrors is drowning you out. You left the small piece of jerky by her anyway, and tie the gate open with industrial strength velcro.

After she realises that you are not going back to the kitchen, she makes her way to the living room and stood there in the centre for quite a while. At length, she realises nothing is happening to her. And as the thunder dies, she lies down on her own and relaxes into sleep.