I got a puppy!

About ten months ago a friend of mine told me her dogs were pregnant and if I wanted a new dog (mine had died about a year earlier) I was welcome to have the first pick of the litter. She was breeding (intentionally) both Rat Terriers and Boxers and I could choose either one.  I thought about it for a long time, I had always had shelter dogs and in my job I see too many animals at shelters all the time. My shelter dogs were the best dogs ever, true love! I knew there would be a lot of judgment from outside sources if I didn't get a shelter dog again. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to know who the parents were and what they were like as adults, where the dog was coming from and the home environment it would be raised in (three kids under seven!), and most importantly for me, I would get to be there from day one.

I did a little research and decided I would get the little dog I had always wanted, I chose a Rat Terrier. The day came and both sets of puppies were born and I went to meet them all. Good Heavens they were cute, I fell in love with all of them and would have happily been a hoarder with nine new puppies if my landlord and wallet had allowed it. Thankfully they didn't. I couldn't choose right away and the more time I spent with them the more I knew I was making the wrong choice.  Rat Terriers have lots of energy and need to run, while my yard is big, it's not a farm like they would grow up on. I did more research. I started online and when wikipedia had completely scared me away from Rat Terriers AND Boxers I decided to talk to actual people that I knew and trusted.

I'm lucky, in my job I know lots of people who know a lot about pets but the two people I trusted the most were people I was friends with as well. One of them works for a pet insurance company and to be honest he scared me even further away from Boxers, they don't always have a great health record. The other was my vet, with 22 years of experience, he was able to educate me even further and point out that for sure a Rat Terrier wasn't best for me.

Now I knew four things:

1. I wanted a puppy, they were cute and I was in love.
2. Rat Terriers weren't for me.
3. Boxers might be for me.
4. If I got a Boxer I'd better make sure I had pet insurance!

The next time I went to visit I chose the cutest female there was. I instructed my Breeder's kids on how I wanted them to help me train my puppy by gently pulling her tail, ears and feet. This puppy was going to be really used to kids! And then I started gathering all the puppy things you need, most importantly a matching pink collar and leash! Finally, I chose a name for her, don't ask me why but I named her Squish, and because I was there at the beginning she already knew her name by the time I brought her home.

Six months ago I brought home my rambunctious bouncing bundle of puppy. We've spent most days together since then, and I can say firmly I made the right choice for me. More than that I can say absolutely that the education I searched for before I made that choice, set me up to have the best pet experience I possibly could. If there is any one thing I could say to someone looking for a new pet it's "Ask questions!" You need answers, a lot of them before you get a pet. You might not know as many pet industry folks as I do but you have lots of options. Any vet clinic, breeder, pet store, humane society, pet insurance company or anyone else who deals with animals would happily answer your questions. They won't all say the same thing but you will get a good sense of what questions to ask and what's best for you.

Finally when you have your questions answered and you know what you want, go find it...and get ready to fall in love.

Lisa Milton, Squish's Mom, @summitLisa, lisa.miltonwork

Pets Plus Us funds HomeSafe™ Recovery Services for all Canadians

PRESS RELEASE

CALGARY, AB - PetLynx Corporation is pleased to appoint Pets Plus Us as the new Sponsor of the HomeSafe™ Recovery Service.

As sponsor of the HomeSafe™ Recovery Service, Pets Plus Us is funding free recovery services (lost and found) to all Canadians. Now when Canadians lose or find a pet, the HomeSafe™ recovery service provides them with a place to post pictures, automated searches of shelters and pounds, printable posters and the very unique DataSketch™ technology that creates searchable digital profiles of the animals involved. 

Pets Plus Us already has a world-class reputation as the Champion of Pet Owner Happiness. All Pets Plus Us customers will receive a complimentary subscription to the HomeSafe™ Animal Record which stores all pet information online for the benefit of pet owners and authorized service providers.  This is in addition to the PetHub tag customers receive as a part of their Blue Ribbon Benefits. Blue Ribbon benefits are provided to all customers which also include thePetHelpFone, Compassionate Care Line, Pet Poison Helpline and other pet services.  

"We strongly believe pet registration is key to reuniting pets with their owners if they ever become separated," said Randy Valpy, Pets Plus Us Top Dog. "It's why we include the HomeSafe™ Animal Record program as part of our coverage."

Today, the HomeSafe™ portal provides recovery services to more than 350 Canadian communities. Since May of 2006 when HomeSafe™ launched online, the automated recovery service has assisted the Canadian public in more than 295,000 recovery episodes. In many cases lost pets are returned to their owners within hours of being reported lost. The Pets Plus Us sponsorship ensures the Canadian public will continue to be served promptly with the best automated recovery technology in the world. 

"By adding the strength of the Pets Plus Us brand to the HomeSafe™ Automated Recovery Service, we continue our tradition of service and underwrite our vision: Lifetime protection for Pets...  Peace of mind for people," said Larry R. Evans, CEO of PetLynx Corporation.

Pets Plus Us launched in the Canadian market in 2013 with a re-imagined pet health insurance model that includes Canada's first Wellness-only plan. High in their priorities is the support of a dynamic community that can empower pet owners to make the right choices regarding the wellbeing of each pet. This support of the HomeSafe™ recovery service positions Pets Plus Us as a world-class leader in the Urban Animal industry. Pets Plus Us is a founding member of the Alliance for Urban Animals, an industry group creating healthy communities for pets and people. Pets Plus Us is a division of RSA Canada, a leading home, auto, lifestyle and commercial insurer in Canada. 

ABOUT PETLYNX: The HomeSafe™ recovery service and pet owner portal is owned by PetLynx Corporation. The PetLynx Utility is a registry of Urban Animals that offers recovery services, medical records and connectivity to all registered service providers in the Urban Animal industry. PetLynx services are delivered across the Internet to all entities in a community, from pet owners to shelters, pounds, breeders, retailers and veterinarians. The PetLynx Utility is a proven game changer that in 13 years has registered nearly 10% of the total cats and dogs in Canada as well as the active consumers who own them. PetLynx is the largest, fastest growing and most recognizable pet service brand in Canada.

ABOUT PETS PLUS US: Pets Plus Us is on a crusade to create pet owner happiness. We've reimagined pet insurance with vet-designed coverage and Canada's first Wellness-only plan. We're also building a dynamic community that's empowered to make responsible choices for their pets' wellbeing. Pets Plus Us is a division of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada and its products are offered and underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada.

Off-leash dog park skills

Barbara Walmer CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA, KPA CTP, ACDBC
InfoStream Guest Author 

As off-leash parks become a more popular destination for urban dogs it’s essential we keep them enjoyable and safe. Educating the public about dogs is crucial to accomplishing this goal. Most problems do not come ‘out of nowhere’ and people need to understand more about dog body language to avoid these issues. Aggression commonly occurs as a result of not reading the dog’s body signals or as a consequence of inadvertently putting too much social pressure on dogs. Space can be a major factor!

People also have to teach their dogs a recall. This not an easy skill to teach, but it is a very valuable one. We can work on teaching dogs to check-in and come when called by rewarding successive approximations and using management tools, such as a long line. Dogs will do what gets them reinforcement and this poses a problem with social dogs that run all over at a park. Whether their owner calls them on or not the dog wants to play with other dogs, meet new people and smell new things. After all, they get to spend the rest of the day with their owner and often, being around their owner predicts leaving the park.

To teach recall we need to start by working on the behaviour away from the park or distractions enabling the dog to become comfortable and understand that turning away from distractions are what we want. This takes continual practice. In the beginning this skill can be taught with any dog at home and progresses to being on-leash outside. When your dog turns his head away from a distraction, pay him for it. Payment can be made using treats, a game with a toy, special social interaction with praise and touch that your dog enjoys, or access to a new direction he wants to go. We start with just adding reinforcement to the behaviour of turning away and then add a cue to that behaviour; for example, “come” or “here”.  Avoid using the cue until the dog displays this behaviour consistently at a high frequency. Using recall cues by saying them when our dog is distracted and cannot listen only encourages them to ignore it. The more dogs are around low-level distractions in a controlled environment, the more they learn that reinforcement happens for certain behaviour, and they will be able to function in greater distractions. We can help dogs understand that the goal behaviour is for them to come to us, by rewarding them in our general vicinity. 

The biggest problem with teaching a dog recall is that we want to gradually increase the level of distractions while keeping them successful with displaying the ‘turn away’ or ‘look at me behaviour.’ We progressively increase distractions and then add in distance, as the dog is successful with the each approximation.  Always have a management tool, like a leash or long line, to be able to influence your dog as  we want to avoid the dog not getting the opportunity to indulge in the external reinforcement at the wrong time. Allow your dog freedom and reward him lavishly for any contact with you.

What often happens is we use our recall cue in our house a couple times and give our dogs some verbal praise. Then we take Fido to the park, let him off leash and say our cue and Fido continues to run around and ignore us. The changes in criteria between the house and the park are vast, and the behaviour we are wanting looks very different to the dog due to the distance and distraction level. Start training your dog today for this very important skill and you will see improvements in your dog’s recall behaviour and your dog park visits will be safer.

A Happy New Year story!

"My dog Petie was lost on New Years eve, around 3 pm. I registered him on Petlynx as lost at around 10am New Years day. by 1:30, a family had contacted me to tell me Petie had been rescued. Thanks to Petlynx for helping me find the best pet I've ever owned!!"