Some Help for Grieving Pet Owners

Old Man Grieving - Vincent van Gogh
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Got an interesting email today from Petcentric about National Pet Memorial Day, which is the second Sunday in September (9-8 this year, so they should have sent the message sooner!).  I suppose that some people, even some pet owners, might think that this is somehow unnecessary, but I think I like the idea (not quite sure yet).  One thing that I have no doubt about is that anytime you lose a family member (and most pets count here, I would imagine), you will go through a grieving process.  When Tony died, I was pretty much devastated -- and I was shocked at that.  I never thought that I would take it that hard, or that there would be so many emotions involved, especially guilt.  He enriched my life so much more than I realized when he was still alive, and I think about him often, even now.

Anyway, the article offers some advice that might help you.  Check it out at http://petcentric.com/Inspiration/Articles/National-Pet-Memorial-Day-Helps-Grieving-Pet-Owners-Find-Closure.aspx?articleid=65672b87-4cc1-49dd-8db1-1cd2e02d9a5c&utm_campaign=always+on&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget_PPEA_092013_02&utm_content=corporate-petcentric-NL_Both

Related articles

• Departed Pets To Be Remembered In Mpls. (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• Pet Memorial Day is September 8, 2013 (laurellagoni.wordpress.com)
• A First for Buster, Max, Princess and Molly: Pet Blessings (offbeatcompassion.wordpress.com)
• On Mourning the Death of a Pet (thereseborchardblog.com)
• Commemorate Your Pet on Pet Memorial Day (arlboston.org)

When to think about changing vets

cool dog (Photo credit: ּα)

There was an interesting article on PawNation yesterday, titled "5 Things your Vet Should Never Say to You."   Although the 5 things are pretty significant negatives, I often wonder why people will stick with vets they simply don't like (or whatever more or less serious feelings they have for their vet).  Would you keep your own doctor if you felt that way?  I think I've written before about this, a long time ago, because this happened to me.  The first vet I took Tony to was recommended by my brother in law, and her office was very close to home.  However, when she came into the examining room, Tony started to shake (he never did this again  -- the vets who saw him later often commented on how calm he was), and she seemed to take an instant dislike to him as well.  Now, it may just have been a bad day for her, but the impression I got was that she just didn't care for small dogs.  She failed my first test, in fact.  Every person I ever saw encounter my pal for the first time smiled right away, and most immediately began to go on about how cute he was.  I'm not saying she was evil or anything, but it just didn't seem . . . well, right.  I started to tense up myself.  And, we didn't go back.
At any rate, it's something to think about.  

Related articles

• Puppy's First Vet Visit? - Know These 5 Topics To Discuss, What to Expect & Bring (wagthedoguk.com)
• My Bear's at the Vet ... (amstcyr.wordpress.com)
• Dog Training Ideas: Easy Vet Visits (smartdog.typepad.com)

Stop the Begging, Already!

Yeah, it's Doc

 

In my last post (the one on vegetables as dog treats), I didn't have space to address the issue of dogs who beg at the table.  Sadly, I live with one of these (Doc, a 130 lb. Great Pyrenees), and his owner is dealing with the situation by taking his own meal away from the table a lot of the time.  Since he feeds Doc AT THE TABLE nightly and gives him anything left over from whatever he had for dinner, Doc is understandably confused when he is yelled at for begging at the table.  After years of trying to change this situation, I've had to give up (one of those times where you have to go along to get along), but for those of you who are in a position of authority when it comes to the dog in question (i.e., it's your dog, not someone else's), WebMD has some help to offer in a cleverly titled article, "How to Stop Your Dog from Begging at the Table." 

Tony didn't beg at the table, but that was probably because I didn't give him table scraps very often (and never during family mealtimes) and because I rarely eat at the table myself, not wanting to deal with Doc trying to get my food.  However, my father was prone to giving him the last bite of his dinner if Tony was around, which he often was, as you can imagine.  Once he was diagnosed with diabetes, I was able to convince Dad of the error of his ways, and that stopped.  Based on my experience with Tony, of the two solutions WebMD suggests -- controlling the dog's access to the table or teaching the dog to do something else -- I think I prefer the latter.  This is probably because I had great success teaching Tony to move off the street onto grass, then sit and stay, whenever a car was approaching during our walks (there are no sidewalks in our subdivision -- you have to walk in the street.  Yikes.).  I think I could have gotten him to lie on his bed at our mealtimes without too much trouble, but if you think that you might have some problems there, there are training tip links with the article, too.

Good luck, and remember, to a dog, a rub on the belly is often just as welcome as a treat in the belly.   

(Barely) Related articles

• Begging For Grades in College (atheistrev.com)
• Spending An Extra Three Minutes At the Dinner Table Can Help Keep Children Thin (medicaldaily.com)
• Britain's Child Beggars (BBC Documentary) (andrewazzopardi.org)