Category Archives: Dogs

Picture of a woman and brindle French Bulldog heeling to illustrate do something with your dog

Do something with your dog

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January is National Train Your Dog month. To get out there and do something with your dog. The timing sucks because most New Year’s resolutions are things that you really don’t want to do but think you should. January is when all the diet, fitness, and organizing commercials hit you in the face. Dog training isn’t a “really should but don’t want to” thing. Because if it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. Dog training is a joy, not a chore.

So, you ask, what should you do with your dog? The answer is: it depends on your personality and your interests. As well as your dog’s age, personality, and fitness level. If you love running and your dog does, too, maybe try Agility. If you love precision and your dog adores routine, Obedience may be your sport. Or if you’re somewhere in the middle and like a good walk with some “tricks” or fancy footwork, Rally is your game.

There really is an array of dog activities for everyone. If you want to see your dog using their natural abilities, you might want to look into Barn Hunt or Scent Work. If your dog loves running fast and chasing prey, how about Fast CAT? There’s also sports for dogs who love catching flying discs, fetching stuff, and herding stuff. There are even tricks competitions and, for people who love music and dance, there’s Freestyle. 

You don’t even have to go anywhere, if you don’t want to. You can easily train at home and even enter virtual competitions. If you watch the videos of the Trick Dog competitors, you’ll probably think to yourself “That’s so fun! I bet we could do that!” You’d be absolutely right. Your dog can do that.

Attitude is everything

You have a dog because dogs are fun, affectionate, and smart companions. You love them and want them to have the biggest, happiest life. And we’ll tell you a secret – dogs who know “stuff” are more confident, happier, and better family members. They work with you as a teammate, and can take more responsibility for their actions. 

An additional side benefit is that making your dogs think and learn is more tiring for them than running miles or playing fetch. Remember how tired you got taking finals in school? Using their brains is not only fun, it’s also tiring. Your dog will definitely need a nap after a training session.

Picture of a woman and brindle French Bulldog heeling to illustrate do something with your dog

Our own training site, 2-Minute-Trainer.com, is called that because training sessions should be short, really short. Two minutes is extreme, five is more realistic. But for those few minutes, your focus is entirely on your dog. You get to escape from whatever else is going on in life. And your dog will thrive with your exclusive attention.

The first thing to do is change your mindset about the word “training.” Just the sound of it makes people think of sweating, repetitious drills, and other unpleasant things. It’s all about playing fun games with your dog that happens to have the side benefit of teaching them stuff. Don’t think “I have to go train now.” Think “I get to play games with my best friend now!”

Don’t be shy

Another very cool thing about playing training games at home. No one will ever know if you don’t do it “right,” feel awkward, or look stupid. Your dog is never going to tell anyone. And if you do take video (which you should), you never have to show it to anyone. You can watch it and see how darn adorable your team is.

If you go to a class, keep in mind that everyone there is in the same boat you are. If they’re not rank beginners now, it’s only because they started where you are and kept going. They kept at it because they saw what a difference it made in their dog. Everybody starts at the same point. The people who keep going are the ones who are seizing the chance to have a bigger, better life for themselves and their dogs.

You can get started today. Pick a game, any game. Try “Gimme Your Face” to start. You won’t need anything but and some treats. 

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Picture of a brindle French Bulldog to illustrate Be Ready For A Dog Emergency

Be ready for a dog emergency

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We learned the hard way this week that you always have to be ready for a dog emergency. We spent New Year’s Eve in the waiting room at the veterinary ophthalmology clinic. Torque, Hope’s French Bulldog, needed emergency surgery to remove his right eye. We’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say a fairly innocuous corneal ulcer went bad very fast. He’d been seeing his regular vet, who referred us to the specialist when it worsened over four days. And on the sixth day it ruptured. 

Picture of a brindle French Bulldog to illustrate Be Ready For A Dog Emergency

We were at home, relaxing after watching the Rose Bowl Parade. He was just lying on the couch, relaxing too. Then he shrieked in pain and life went into high gear. There were calls to the eye clinic emergency line (leave a message, call back, confirm, call back). One of the details flying by was the hideous expense of the worst possible outcome. Which happened. And had to be paid in full at the time of pick-up.

Don’t be scared. Prepare

We’re not telling you all this so you can feel sorry for Torque, or us. The reason for the post is so that you’re not caught unawares if and when an emergency happens with your dog. When your much-loved dog is in pain, chances are you’re not going to be thinking clearly. If you’ve thought about “what if” ahead of time, you’ll be able to act fast.

The first thing to do is gather the phone numbers and addresses of every place you might need. Call your regular vet if you don’t know their preferred emergency providers and get their list. Enter each and every one as a contact in your phone – including the address and phone number. In a state of panic, you may not remember the exact name of the hospitals, clinics or doctors. So we recommend you start each entry with “Vet – Emergency” or “Vet – Eye” or whatever will mean you can find it. 

Include the address so you can get instant directions as you run out the door. There’s never a time when having a smartphone is more valuable than in an emergency. 

If your not sure what constitutes an animal emergency, check out this list from the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Figure out the funding

If you’ve opted for pet medical insurance, that’s another call you may be required to make. Some require even emergency visits to be authorized prior to treatment. Be very familiar with your policy and provider’s requirements. If you don’t have pet insurance, it might be a good idea to look into it. Compare the options for coverage and pricing while you don’t particularly need it. Most will have a waiting period before coverage begins. Prior conditions may not be covered for a significant amount of time, if at all.

Another choice, if you don’t have pet insurance, is to set aside some amount for an emergency fund of your own. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use it and it will accrue to a nice healthy savings nest egg. Just be sure it’s readily accessible. Emergencies always seem to happen on weekends or holidays. 

If you truly want to be prepared, call the emergency veterinary clinic you might use and ask them what it will cost just to walk in the door. These days just showing up can cost quite a bit. We understand it varies widely by location, but it can be hundreds of dollars, even without surgery or complicated procedures. The bill can easily run into thousands, quickly. 

Knowledge is power

Just taking these steps to be prepared will help. It’s a good thing to be able to concentrate on the important things – getting your dog where they need to be, seeing the professional most qualified to help you in an emergency. We hope you never, ever need to use your emergency preparations. But, as our mother used to say: “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

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Picture of the back half of a small white dog digging to illustrate make dog life easier.

3 ideas to make dog life easier

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There are lots of ways that dogs are inconvenient. They dictate your schedule from the time you wake up to how long you can be away. There’s no such thing as spur-of-the-moment get-aways. But if you’re here, you probably agree with us that dogs are totally worth the time, bother, and effort. Even so, ideas to make dog life easier are always welcome. These are three of the things that we’ve found to reduce the joyful chaos and entertaining mayhem of living with our four hooligans.

Idea #1

Get a scratch board. We never even heard of them until a few months ago, so we’re betting that many people are in the same boat. It’s a way to get your dogs to help out with keeping their nails short. Most have a slanted board with a sandpapery top. Your dog just scratches on the board to keep their nails short and smooth. Some of them even have a compartment to hold treats, giving your dog motivation to scratch at it. 

Picture of the back half of a small white dog digging to illustrate make dog life easier.

If your dog has a tendency to dig and use their paws, you won’t even have to do much training to get them to use a scratch board. We’ve always had to use an emery board after clipping our dogs nails because we didn’t like how sharp they were after trimming. With the scratch board, that step isn’t necessary. 

There are lots of different shapes and sizes of scratch boards, at many different prices. We don’t have a specific recommendation for you, aside from checking them out.

Idea #2

Keep a package of baby wipes by the door your dogs go in and out. From eating dirt (Booker), to scratching in the mud (Simon), to not-quite-finished with business (depends on the day), they’re worth it. We choose a hypo-allergenic, unscented variety, but there are many choices available.

If you have a fuzzy dog, the wet wipes may not be your best choice. A useful hint we learned from a friend with Keeshonden is to keep a shaker can of cornstarch around. And a slicker brush. That way if anything gets stuck to your dog’s fur, you can dry it quickly and brush it out.

Both baby wipes and the cornstarch make it easy to clean up after your dogs go out. It’s certainly made taking the dogs out in the rain a less-dreaded chore.

Idea #3

Attach some hooks near the door for your dog’s collar or harness and leash. They don’t stick out too much if the space is tight, and you can easily grab the right dog’s stuff if you have a separate hook for each dog. 

Our crew doesn’t have the habit of chewing on leashes. Not even leather ones. But if your dog does, either loop the leash so your dog can’t reach it. Or use a shelf instead of a hook, if you have somewhere to put it. 

If you’re not handy, or don’t want to mar your walls, you can get an over-the-door hanger to keep your dog’s harness and leash. You can find them in any closet department. 

We hope you and your dogs have a happy, healthy, and less-hassled 2024. Happy New Year from all of us at Golly Gear. 

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Picture of a black Brussels Griffon dog to illustrate mysterious dog virus

Worrying about the mysterious dog virus

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Every day we see headlines about the “mysterious” dog virus that’s creeping its way around the country. We’ve noticed lower attendance in dog training classes. And a friend who owns a dog daycare and boarding facility tells us that business is half what it should be this time of year.

So how worried should you be? We’ve obviously been paying attention to what’s going on. Anything about dog health and wellness is always on our radar. This virus, so far, seems to have more bark than bite.

Pandemic phobia

Since the world was taken by surprise by the COVID 19 pandemic, there seems to be a “once bitten, twice shy” mentality. The least report of a new, or unfamiliar, respiratory virus gets a lot of attention very quickly. Even when the patients are dogs, not people.

Picture of a black Brussels Griffon dog to illustrate mysterious dog virus

The reports we’ve seen so far indicate that this virus is rather mild unless the affected dog is immune-compromised, either due to age (young or old) or illness. For people with dogs that fall into these categories, it’s probably a good idea to be overly cautious. If you have a vulnerable dog, maybe it’s not a good time to board them. Or take them walking in areas that many unfamiliar dogs use. 

Tango, Fran’s Brussels Griffon, is 14+ years old. Needless to say, after a rather difficult Autumn, he’s not leaving his own fenced yard for the duration. His health issues were stomach, not respiratory, but we’re not taking any chances.

Use common sense

For the rest of us and our dogs, normal common sense should apply. For us, that means bringing our own dog crates to training classes instead of using “public” ones at the facility. We don’t let our dogs drink out of the courtesy water bowls wherever we are. Bringing our own training treats is a must. We pay attention to what our dogs are sniffing on the ground. If someone was rude enough to leave their dog’s excrement, we make sure to keep our dogs clear of it. If we’re carrying extra poop bags, we may even pick it up and toss it in the trash. And wash our hands as soon as we get home.

Another good idea is to keep your dog’s vaccinations updated. If your dog hasn’t had the canine flu vaccine, talk to your vet and consider whether it might be worthwhile. If you do visit the veterinarian, think about keeping your dog in your car until they’re ready for you. The one place you can be sure sick dogs hang out is there.

If you go somewhere and pet unfamiliar dogs, wash your hands before you pet your own. We all had proper hand-washing procedures drummed into us. Use what you know. And your common sense. 

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