Rub-a-Dub

After switching to grain-free food, the pooches coats are so much nicer.  And although Edison needs baths far less often, he's still a boy and gets a...musk.

We love taking him to our favorite place to get fresh where we can bath him without breaking our backs, wrecking our bathroom, and leave the mess.

The best part -- he comes out smelling so, SO fresh!

How do you bathe your pooch? In the tub?  Outside? At a dog wash?

Tremors!

A few weeks ago as we were getting ready for work, we found Edison lying in bed doing this:

A little freaked out, we called the vet as soon as they opened to determine if this was something we should be worried about.  Luckily, it did not warrant an emergency visit, but they did recommend coming in to speak with a doctor.  After a quick visit, bloodwork, and a urinalysis, it was determined that he was otherwise healthy and there was no obvious reason for the tremor.

Our vet found some information on idiopathic seizures common in boxers, which manifest as head tremors.  Most dogs, and also in Ed's case, are totally conscious during the seizure and can respond to commands.  Most dogs (Edison, too), can be brought out of these seizures by focusing their attention on a treat (or in our case, us!)

We've not seen any sign of these seizures since, and as our vet said, may never see it again!  We're just glad our guy is okay!

Have you had any experience with seizures or tremors?

PEDs: 4-Foot Leashes

It's no secret that the Eriesistibull household uses and loves 4-foot leashes.  So much in fact, we implemented it as a rule for our pack walks.

As our group is growing (and man have we seen a ton of new faces the past couple weeks -- welcome!), more dogs and their personalities are joining our group.  We're also reaching more people from our target group, reactive dog owners.

We thankfully have never had an issue, but we also want to make sure that it stays that way.  It's all about setting our dogs (and ourselves!) up for success, and so this summer we implemented a 4-foot leash rule to assist in this.  So far, none of our members have seemed to mind the switch and a few have even permanently switched to 4-footers!

Do you use a 4-foot leash?  What are your thoughts?

Little Victories

We've been walking the dogs a lot lately.  Between the additional exercise, lots of practice, and the opportunity for us humans to notice, Edison has made a ton of progress in walking.

Living with a reactive dog, you learn to embrace the little things (and develop a mantra!) in order to get through some days.

We rejoice in walks where Edison comes across his least favorite dog breed (shelties -- those eyes!) and only pulls -- okay a little lunging! -- but doesn't have a meltdown and comes right back to focus.

Or the walks when a bicycle rides right past us without so much as a glade in its direction.  Or when we chat with a stranger in passing and Edison doesn't jump on them.

What are your dogs' little victories?

3rd Gotcha Day!

Three years ago today, we brought home a monster puppy. A dog that would pull our arms out of our sockets on walks, mouth our arms until they were black and blue, and destrthing in his path.

Over the past three years, we have worked hard to help this crazy puppy learn. We've worked to help him learn to relax and we have been rewarded with a dog who is the best snuggler We've worked to help him understand the pleasure of a leisurely walk and have been rewarded with an awesome walking buddy.  We have worked to help him look to us when he faces something new and have been rewarded with a dog focused on his owners.

The road hasn't been smooth with this guy, but it's all been so, SO worth it.

Happy 3rd Gotcha Day, Edison!