Dog Blog - Dog Product Reviews

 Have you heard about The Lucky Dog Show?

It’s a new weekly radio show that talks about hot trends and cool products for dogs and the people who love them. If you love shopping and dogs, this show was made for you. Every Saturday morning, you can listen from anywhere in the world as The Lucky Dog Show dishes up the best in dishes … plus toys, treats, beds, apparel, summer and holiday items and much more.

 The Lucky Dog Show is all about the coolest, freshest stuff for dogs. Visit www.luckydogshow.com for details on upcoming shows, how to call in, and when to listen.

Do you have a video of your dog using a product from FunStuffForDogs.com? We’re looking for videos to add to the product pages of our site. Send yours to lisa (at) funstufffordogs.com.

We’re taking a survey of dog owners to find out more about how Americans feel about their pets.  Early results are fascinating.  Did you know that nearly half of us would give up 10% of our pay if we could take our dogs to work with us? And nearly one in five would be more upset at the death of our dog than the death of a spouse.

Haven’t taken the survey yet? It only takes 90 seconds. Go to http://app.intellicontact.com/icp/sub/survey/take.  Meanwhile, here are some early results (678 responses):

Social statements (check all that apply):

Consumer Behavior (check all that apply)

My Age Group

A Bit About Me (check all that apply)

I had a long conversation this week with one of our best repeat customers. She was wondering what soft treats we have that she might put a pill into for her dog. The dog bit into a pill once, and ever since, has been very suspicious of any treat used to camouflage a pill.

He gets the pill out of whatever she uses to hide it, and eats the treat, leaving the pill behind. He does this with cheese, peanut butter, even commercial treats made for this purpose, such as Pill Pockets. She’s trying to use soft treats and mix them up to keep him guessing. I have her a few ideas (I’d been through the daily medication dance with an epileptic  Dachshund I once had) but she’d already tried them all.

So I told her I’d post a question on our Blog. How do you hide your dog’s pills? Does any of you have a particularly talented dog who has thwarted the usual methods for hiding pills? Do you have a better way to feed pills to these dogs? Please share with the rest of us any methods other than those I’ve mentioned which have worked for you. 

Shawn, this one’s for you.

- Lisa Woody, President, www.FunStuffForDogs.com

Here’s a review of the Buddy Biscuits bake-at-home dog biscuit mix.

Just by the name “molasses madness”  I knew my kitchen would soon be filled with all the critters dwelling here, including the human sort.   Reid thought I was baking his grandmothers molasses cookies.The smell is wonderful, filled the entire house.This could not be an easier recipe to follow. Extremely used friendly and very forgiving. Can’t be messed up!The ingredients are all natural consisting of:Unbleached flour, rolled oats, dried unsulphured molasses, lecithin. 

You need only to add warm water and vegetable oil. Mix and knead – roll out – cut with the cute little bone cookie cutter (included with mix)The biscuits clearly retain the shapes of bone, there is no mess at all.Yield is stated to be 48 bones, I got 52 due to the fact mine were not all rolled at an even thickness.I am storing mine in a cookie jar because they are used up quickly.You should consider freezer storage for longer keeping. 

Another added bonus:This company donates part of their profits to animal shelters. 

S.
Regan, Texas

Have you ever been on a hike, or a 5k walk, or at the dog park and your dog begins to pant out of control and act disoriented? Could be heatstroke, and indoor dogs who engage in activity in the summer heat are especially prone to it. 

An excellent article in the July/August issue of Ducks Unlimited talks about heatstroke in dogs and how to prevent it. I thought I’d pass along the main points, giving credit to the source of this excellent information.

Heatstroke is more common when high temperatures meet high humidity levels. Indoor dogs who are not normally active are prone to heatstroke when they engage in activity outdoors in hot weather. Signs of heatstroke include disorientation (a well-trained dog suddenly doesn’t respond to a command); staggering, and later, vomiting and diarrhea.

If your dog becomes overheated, act quickly to bring his or her body temperature under control. If there is water nearby and you can get your dog to swim or even stand in it, that’s ideal. If you have a first-aid kit in the car, pour alcohol over your dog’s feet and the front and back “armpits”, where most of the heat is concentrated. If you don’t  have rubbing alcohol, spray your dog with water and place him or her in front of a fan if possible. If you’re at the dog park, this may mean heading home with the air conditioning on. Allow your dog to drink, but not a lot, as a dog in this condition will lap incessantly, then regurgitate the water in a couple of minutes. To assure that water gets in and stays in, limit intake.

The best way to prevent heatstroke is prevention. Keep your dog at a trim weight. Provide daily exercise. Provide fresh water while you’re outside with your dog in the hot weather to keem him hydrated. Slow down physical activity if your dog’s panting becomes labored, until it’s back under control.

I enjoy hearing about how other people play with their dogs. Dogs, of course, love to spend time with us, and are usually up for any type of game. These games go way beyond the old standby, fetch. Some of them are amusing, others quite inventive.

My husband plays a game with our Lab that's adapted from a game often played with children. He makes a "mouth" out of his hand and holds it at arm's length, about 2.5 feet away from Boudain's face. Slowly opening and closing his hand, he lets it creep closer and closer to the dog. At some point, when his hand is about 18 inches away, he grabs her with the hand, trying to surprise her. She doesn't know which way the hand will go. Will it "bite" her on the chest? The neck? The shoulder? Being a very soft-mouthed dog, she likes to see if she can thwart the attack by stopping it with her open mouth. She can play this game for hours.

Naturally, this game is only appropriate with a dog who understands the pack hierarchy and is submissive. We've played this game for six years with Boudain and she's never "learned to bite" because of it. She knows we're playing. She doesn't exhibit any signs of frustration, never challenges us and always has submissive body language.

Our collie likes to play defense when we're playing fetch with the Lab. She chases the ball and brings it back. He tries to prevent her from coming back. He doesn't want the ball. He just wants to chase her when she's got it. It's a great way to exercise both dogs at once.

I once had a Dachshund who played hide-and-seek with the object of his obsession: the Ball. I could hide it in another room, high up on a closet shelf or behind the television. When I called him into the room, he used his nose to find it. I'm not kidding. He could find that ball no matter where you'd put it. It started as a way to wind down a game of fetch. I'd tuck it somewhere when he wasn't looking, like the pocket of a jacket. But soon, he'd be sitting under the jacket, looking up at the pocket as only a dog who wants a ball can do. Soon, it was a parlor trick. I'd take Shakey upstairs and ask a friend to hide the ball. I'd let Shakey come down and before long, there he'd be, digging up the sofa cushions or standing up with his paws on the oven door, exactly where the ball was. It was kind of creepy, actually. There wasn't a single place in a three-story townhouse where I could hide a ball from this 10-lb dog.

Other people have told me cute stories about games they play with their dogs. They sing together with their dogs. They play "Find the Biscuit" or "The Risky Business Slide" on linoleum or hardwood floors. The Mindy 500 was a trench my uncle dug in the snow during long New Hampshire winters so the dog could get some exercise and do her business outside. It went all the way around the house, and Mindy, a Westhighland Terrier, would rip around the trench at full speed. I'd love to have video of that one.

I'd love to hear what games people are playing with their dogs. If you have one that's a little different, post it here so we can all enjoy it. Who knows? We might start playing your game ourselves!

I was talking to someone today who had me in stitches talking about her dogs, who work in tandem to get food off the kitchen counters. They cooperate. One drags a chair to the counter and jumps onto it, throwing down food for the other one. It was really funny, but it also made me think, how do you stop a dog from surfing the couinters when you're not there?

I haven't had this problem, although I had one Dachshund who I swear would have gotten into the bread if he'd had a chance to get up there. In fact, one day, my cousin and I left the house to go to a movie. Shortly after we got there, I remembered a frosted cake I had left on the counter. I was fretting about that cake the whole time we were at the movie, thinking my two big dogs would get into it. But when we returned, it was intact. What a relief. Still, I don't tempt them any more.

I hear from lots of customers whose dogs climb up onto the counter to get food. There's the Standard Poodle who goes from there onto the refrigerator top to get the Krispy Kreme doughnuts. There's the Australian Shepherd who set the house on fire because she turned on the stove during a potato chip chomp on the counter.

 There are devices out there that you can put on furniture or counter tops that will give your cat or dog a mild shock if they jump on it.  (I've tried it; it feels like the shock you'd get after walking across the carpet and then touching the doorknob.) Also, we could put all the food away (a very good idea). Other than that, what else can be done?

Has anyone come up with a good deterrent to counter surfing? Let us know, because this seems to be a problem that's especially difficult to solve, since we're never home when it happens.

With so much talk these days about Labradoodles and Yorkipoos, I thought the “designer dog” trend might be getting out of hand. What will they think of next? So I’m asking you to tell us the funniest, most outrageous mixes you can think of. Here are a few to get you started:

• Bearded Chin (Bearded Collie & Japanese Chin)
• Boy Toy (Boykin Spaniel & Toy Poodle)
• Bull Shitz (Bull Terrier & Shih Tzu — Thanks, Lisa Robinson!)
• Havapinch (Havanese & Doberman Pinscher)
• Cheese-eating surrender monkey (French Poodle & pretty much anything else)
• Chocolate Malt (Chocolate Lab & Maltese)
• Annoyed (Anatolian Shepherd & Samoyed)
• Great Scott (Great Dane & Scottish Terrier)
• Cold Duck (American Eskimo & Duck Tolling Retriever)
• Brittanytese (Brittany Spaniel & Maltese)
• Nopeeking (Norfolk Terrier & Pekingese)
• Jack in the Box (Jack Russell & Boxer)
• Sushi (Sussex Spaniel & Shih Tzu)
• Pie in the Sky (Pit Bull Terrier & Skye Terrier)
• Hairy Rat (Harrier & Rat Terrier)

Here’s a great site that has dozens of breeds (some of them really obscure). See what you can come up with.

I was at a dinner party last year and we got to talking about our dogs. A couple started talking about the songs they sing to their dogs. They even gave us a tast of the little theme songs they have for when their dogs get a ride in the car or have dinner. I almost fell over, because my husband and I do that, too. I thought we were the only ones (and kudos for that brave couple for bringing it up, because I never would have mentioned it).

Here’s a totally unsolicited sampler of the songs we sing to our dogs:

• (To the tune of “Flipper”) - “They called him Raleigh, Raleigh, Raleigh the collie. No one could be, fluffy as he …. “
• (To the tune of “I Want Candy”) - “I want kibble”
• (At mealtime, to the Christmas carol tune) - “It’s the most wonderful time of the day!”
• (From The Donner Party’s song, adopted by Home Grocer.com) - “Would you like to have something to eat? Would you like to have biscuits and meat?” (Drives ‘em crazy at mealtime.)
• I used to sing to my dachshund, “I’m a little Dachshund, short and stout. Here is my tail and here is my snout.”

I think this is much more prevalent than previously realized. We’re all just (understandably) reluctant to talk about it. But I’m totally intrigued by this. So help me out. What songs do you sing to your dog when you go for a ride, or go to the dog park, or get ready for bed?