Abigail was one of the most docile dogs I have ever met. She had the kind of personality that got along well with other animals and people. For years, my wife and I have watched our kids play with her (occasionally too rough) and we never had to worry about her biting them. In recent months, we fostered kittens and we’ve watched as the kittens attacked her fluffy tail and she never complained.

A year and a half ago, when we got Shadow we weren’t sure how Abby would react. However, the two of them became great friends and spent many hours play fighting in the backyard.

My son Thomas commented on how we took Shadow and Abby to the dog park together and Abby ran around like she was a young pup. The next day, you could tell she was stiff and a little slower than usual.

Farewell sweet Abigail, we will always love you.

Whenever I open my web browser, I have a list of different blogs on the page. One of them is Zen Habits, which I find prompts me to action in unexpected ways. Its not because of the high quality articles that are being written, but the frequency in which they are written. It seems for every 1 of my post, Leo is writing 4-6. Okay, maybe the ratio is more like 8:1.  The point is, he is inspiring me to write more.

As I’ve attempted to find a path for this site, I’ve found myself gravitating toward dog allergies. To give you a little background, we have 2 dogs in our family. One is a 10 year old Golden Retriever named Abigail who has had her share of allergies, ear infections, and even a dog hot spot. The other is Shadow, a 1 1/2 year old Chocolate Labrador that started showing allergy symptoms at around 11 months.

What I’ve learned is that sometimes we see symptoms of allergies but don’t realize the cause. We take our dogs to the vet and have the effect treated but not the cause.  My goal is to teach people how to recognize the symptoms dog allergies, whether they are scratching and licking or dog ear infections and hot spots. When you find these symptoms, it is important to treat the underlying cause quickly, but don’t forget your job is not done. After the symptoms have been treated, its vital to find the cause of the allergies so they can be stopped. Otherwise you are likely to continue seeing the same allergic reactions happen again and again and none of us wants to put our canine companions through that.

Oh well, I decided to step outside the normal format and speak my mind, now I’m going back to my research. I’m preparing a group of articles on flea allergies, but I want to make sure its comprehensive before I release it.

If you would like to contact us, Shadow is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ShadowAlphaDog, you can also leave a comment.

Take care,

Chris

For instance, I’m willing to bet Shadow doesn’t even know that he has a surgery coming up. That right, he’s gonna get the ole “snip snip”. Boy, will that puppy be surprised.  : )

As Shadow said, I will be blogging about different aspects of dog health. Things like, why it’s important for male dogs to get neutered, and how it can reduce health risks as they age. (I bet he doesn’t know about that part either.) I think I’ll also rewrite some of Chris’ articles on dog pain relievers like aspirin and Rimadyl (let me you honey, that’s some good stuff) to help dogs with arthritis.

My life is simple. I prefer the finer things, like lying in the dirt in the backyard or finding a nice spot in the shade. One of the nice things about living in the south is that you can be outside year round. Unlike Shadow, I’m not fond of water. I’ll take baths, but they aren’t my favorite.

I look forward to sharing comments with each of you and getting to know you better.

Ya’ll stay in the shade,

Abigail the Southern Belle

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Blue

While Shadow and Abby play in the yard, I thought I’d take a minute to tell you a story.

About a month ago, we had a 4 month old lab mix puppy come live with us for a few weeks. Her name was Blue, and she was part of a fostering program set up by Pet Rescue by Judy, a local no-kill shelter. We had never fostered an animal before, but when my wife told me that Blue could either live in a crate for a month until she was old enough to get “fixed”, or come live with us, we decided to give it a chance.

After meeting Blue for the first time, I was amazed at how docile she was. This small 20 pound dog, at first glace, was nothing like Shadow, our large, rambunctious, chocolate lab. She was a nice addition to our family and an excellent playmate for Shadow. Being close to the same age and energy level, they could play on-and-off throughout the day.

Eventually Blue’s vet appointment arrived and she was off to get “fixed”. I think we were all a bit sad to see this day come, because we knew when she arrived back at our home, she would be eligible for adoption.

When my wife brought the puppy home from the vet, she was very tired and needed some rest. Thankfully, within a day or two, she was back on her feet, but couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to wrestle with her new friend, Shadow.

Then it finally happened, roughly a week later, Blue was adopted. This was a time of joy for her finding a permanent home, and sadness because she was leaving us. In the end, I think we were all “attached”, but we knew she had to go.

This adventure taught us a few things. First is that fostering a dog or cat, while they are waiting to be adopted, is a great act of kindness to our furry friends and I highly recommend it. It gave the dog time to become better socialized and adjust to living a life with other dogs, cats, and kids. We were also able to give the shelter valuable information about how she would react in a home with other animals and people that helped her get adopted. Second, this experience helped us better socialize our animals as they adjusted to, and spent time with, their new friend.

As I look out the sliding glass door, I see the eyes of the Shadow staring back at me. Time to go play…

Fore more information on fostering an animal, contact your local animal shelter or visit a pet fostering site like http://www.petfoster.org/.

From Beagles to Golden Retrievers to Labs, my family and I have lived with a variety of dogs over the years. We’ve had a wide range of experiences both good and bad, and would like to encourage everyone to share what they’ve learned. I will be the first to say that I am not an expert when it comes to owning a dog. Each dog is different and comes with it its own love and challenges. I would like to begin this journey by learning how to become a better dog owner and train and live with our canine friends. I hope to share some of the things we’ve learned and well as some of the challenges we are currently facing.

About the pups

Rascal and Abby

Abby

Rascal, a lab and collie mix was a truly wonderful dog. Her favorite place to hang out was on top of her dog house and keep an eye on the neighborhood. Unfortunately, when she was younger, she was also a nuisance barker and it took a lot of training to get her to stop. As part of this blog, I would like to share some of the things we learned.

Later in life, Rascal learned to talk. She could say, “Wi wuv woo” with great clarity. Of course, the fact that we provided her with positive reinforcement every time she did it, helped as well. Unfortunately, Rascal passed away around 5 years ago.

Abby

Abby is a 9 year old Golden Retriever. She is a gentle companion that gets along well with dogs, cats, and kids. She went through the basic obedience class where she learned sit, stay, heal, and down. She, like most goldens I’ve met, has a very passive nature and is always happy to please. This made obedience class a pleasure because once she figured out what to do to make us happy, she wanted to do it over and over.

Shadow

This brings us to Shadow. He is an 8 month old chocolate lab that weighs over 50 pounds. He is the alpha male in the pack and seems to enjoy his position. He recognizes me as the pack leader, but occasionally has to be reminded. This pup LOVES water. One of his favorite activities is to be sprayed by a water hose.