Tag Archives: dogs

How does your dog smell?

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“Mmmm! Frito feet!” Isn’t it the best dog smell, ever?

Everyone who loves dogs knows that scent. When your dog is really, deeply sleepy and you get a whiff of that unmistakable, irresistible, uniquely doggy aroma.

Turns out it’s probably caused by a couple different bacteria: pseudomonas, which smells a lot like popcorn; and  proteus bacteria, which smells like corn tortillas.

Before you get all “ewwww, bacteria!” neither one is usually anything to worry about. Our environment is chock-full of harmless microscopic thingies and it turns out that exposure to more of them is probably good for our immune systems. The more “exercise” the immune system gets, the more “fit” it is to cope with the world around us. We think that makes sense.

Delicious dog smells

Years ago a friend had a Border Terrier (MacDuff) who had a very distinct smell. You could only sniff it on the top of his head. His “mom” loved that scent.

Two Boston Terriers, a French Bulldog, and a Brussels Griffon
Simon (left) smells like caramel!

Until Simon, none of our dogs had a particular dog smell. The top of Simon’s head has a pleasant, uniquely “Simon” smell. It’s like caramel. Apparently it’s not rare for dogs to have a uniquely good smell about them – although you have to look around a bit to find information. The most common stories on dog smells are not about pleasant perfumes!

Smell the change

Dogs use their sniffing skills to find all kinds of stuff:

  • Escaped prisoners
  • Illegal drugs
  • Truffles
  • Diseases including diabetes and cancer
  • Rabbit poop in the yard
  • Decaying leftovers the last hotel room tenant left behind
  • Gooey disgusting things you have to grab from them without gloves
  • Other dogs’ recent proximity

But we need to use our own, much inferior, sniffing ability to keep tabs on our dogs. How does your dog smell? Has it changed?

Scent detectives

Healthy dogs really shouldn’t have much in the way of detectable odor. But you know how your dog smells. And if that changes, your pup may have a problem.

Dogs produce oil that keep their skin and coat conditioned. They don’t sweat like we do – just from their paws. If your dog’s normal scent changes, or becomes unpleasant, there are a few things that could be going on.

With the smell is emanating from the ears, chances are there may be an infection that needs to be cleared up and a visit to the veterinarian is in order.

Bad breath? Check with the vet to make sure it’s nothing serious. If everything looks okay, we recommend adding tooth-brushing to your dog’s regular grooming regimen. We’ve had wonderful success with our GG Naturals Toothpaste – our dogs seem to like the taste and texture better than the mass-produced pastes.

Our dogs all have skin folds on their faces and we’ve learned to give them a wash most days. Hope’s Torque is a particularly messy eater – we know what flavor he’s eaten by the evidence all over his face! Fortunately, Torque loves essential oils, so he runs into the bathroom after meals for his Animal Scents Shampoo face wash.

We love it, too

Non-dog people may think we’re all crazy – but we think it’s perfectly normal to bury your nose in your dog’s neck and take a whiff. We love our dogs – playing with them, training with them, cuddling with them, and even the way they smell. If somebody else disapproves – it’s their problem. Dog is our favorite perfume!

Puppy panic! Pay attention!

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Simon is seven months old now. He’s a constant source of fun, laughter, and love, with a healthy dose of puppy panic added! When you have a new dog in the house, every time you turn around there’s something new to think about.

Pure puppy panic – that was a close one

We’ve learned over the last few month with Simon to watch. Everything. Carefully.

Just because no dog did it before, doesn’t mean this one won’t.

Simon “tried” drain cleaner today. No dog’s ever gone anywhere near the bathroom cleaning stuff before. Simon did!

A quick call to the Pet Poison Helpline (and $60) later and now we know that he’ll be fine. But that was a panicked moment we could have lived happily without.

Making us laugh – that was a funny one

boston terrier puppy simon

We prepare our dogs’ food so they eat at the same time we do. We choose to feed them in their crates so our mealtimes are relaxed for everyone. Their food waits on the table while we finish getting our own plates ready. From the kitchen, we hear the sound of a dining room chair moving. Simon was helping himself to dinner! None of our dogs ever did that before.

Simon did!

This one’s just interesting

Simon loves chew toys. His style is unique. Whatever he’s chewing has to be elevated. He stands on the couch with the bone between his front paws, resting against the back of the couch. And then, of course, it falls. Behind the couch, between the cushions, the most inaccessible places possible.

He’s a hoarder

He hoards his bones. For training reasons, the only always-available toys in the house are chew toys. There are at least a dozen and a half lying around at any time. And yet, they disappear. Because Simon has collected as many as he can find and hides them in “his” place.

When we disrupt the stash and put them back in circulation, the other dogs think we’ve just given them all sorts of new toys. It’s been days since they’ve seen so many!

He’s learning

Simon is not only creative on his own – he also learns quickly from the other dogs.

If he’s bored, he justs goes up to Tango to start trouble. Tango doesn’t see terribly well these days and startles pretty easily. Simon comes up behind him and bounces his front feet on Tango. Which makes Tango dash after Simon, barking, cranky, and wagging his tail. Simon does it on purpose.

From Torque, Simon’s learning to play “bitey face.” Some people call it “mouth wars.” It looks and sounds nasty, but it’s not. There’s a lot of noise and wiggling around. The only casualty so far seems to be Torque’s whiskers. We think Simon’s bitten them all off!

And from Booker, Simon’s learning how to be a Boston Terrier. With slightly better weather, we’ve been able to enjoy the yard. And the running of the Bostons has begun.

Remembering why we prefer dogs

We’ve always tried to space out getting dogs so we’re not faced with a bunch of oldsters at once. It hasn’t always worked out as planned, but there’s usually been a few years between puppies. Plenty of time to forget how challenging, stressful, joyful, and fun puppyhood can be.

What are your best and worst puppy experiences? And do you love the pups? Or prefer older dogs?

Winning against winter weight

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Did your dog put on some winter weight?

Ours did – and so did we!

We’ve been having this discussion in the shop this week. As we get the first hints of warmer weather, we’re getting out more. And we’ve had a few people comment on how their dogs have gained some unwanted weight over the last few months.

Ice & snow make it hard

It’s certainly understandable. It was impossible to go for a long walk when everything is covered in ice and salt. But now we’re paying the price – a few pounds heavier and a out of shape.

We know dogs aren’t, technically, people. But they are a lot like us. (Unlike cats, which are aliens. We know – we’ve had cats.) Just like us, they tend to be less active indoors, moving less, sleeping more, and generally burning fewer calories.

Packing on winter pounds

And just like us, they can get out of shape. Fran is a fitness fan – Hope (me), not so much. I’ll go months without exercising. Then I’ll decide it’s time to get going again. So I do a workout from months ago, when I was “into it,” and be in major pain the next day. The price we pay for that inactivity is sore muscles.

French Bulldog and Boston Terrier puppy cuddling
Torque and Simon in “winter mode.”

Dogs are the same. Their little bodies, just like ours, lose strength, stamina, and fitness.

Don’t go for that hour-long walk the first nice day! Your dog will pay in pain tomorrow. Ease back into a regular routine. If you haven’t done anything with your dog in months, a 10-minute walk is probably enough the first day back. Increase the time and distance gradually.

Take it slow

If exercise, or activity, is one side of the winter weight “coin,” the other face is diet. While we don’t necessarily eat more during the winter, the calories have a tendency to stick around. Increasing activity will help with weight loss, as long as no extra treats are involved. If they are, either as rewards or motivation, you can modify what you’re giving.

Swap out some calories

Remember – your dog doesn’t make his/her own food decisions. We know exactly how hard it is to say “no” to those puppy dog eyes, so we’ve developed some tricks we’re happy to share:

  • Replace a portion of your dog’s food with frozen string beans. We know it’s weird, but they’re low-calorie, nutritious, and most dogs love them.
  • Make a “trail mix” of treats for rewards. Include your dog’s regular food, a smaller portion of his/her favorite dry treats (we use Chicken Heart Treats), and circle-oat-cereal. Stir up a big batch, pour it into a plastic bag, and keep it conveniently at hand. The cereal should be about half of the mix. (True confessions: one of our dogs doesn’t like the plain cereal, so we use the honey-nut flavor. Still low calorie for one piece and all the dogs love it.)
  • Some dogs actually love playing with and chewing ice cubes. We’ve talked to many vets and all of them say it doesn’t hurt the dog to chew ice. Action without calories – it’s a win/win!
  • Carrots and/or celery are also good, low-calorie treats many dogs enjoy.
  • If your dog isn’t crazy about chasing balls around the yard – try a small apple! They’ll get all the benefit of a workout and think they’re getting a treat!

We can do it!

It’s hard to win the winter weight battle. For our dogs’ health – we have to keep an eye on their waists. Last year I didn’t notice when Torque gained four pounds and it took us months to make it go away. I’m paying attention better this year – we started walking as soon as the ice melted.

What “steps” are you taking to keep your dog in shape?

Dealing with a naughty puppy!

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All good dogs are good the same. As we’ve recently rediscovered, a naughty puppy is creative and unique.

Good is all the same

When your dog is being good, he/she is listening to you, knows the rules of the house and sticks to them, and when there’s quiet in the house, it doesn’t raise any red flags.

Naughty puppy takes many forms

When you have a puppy (or new dog in the house) who doesn’t yet know the rules, it’s a different story. Silence is very, very suspicious. And the smarter that pup is, the more potential he/she has for incredible, creative naughtiness. As you learn your new dog’s particular brand of evil, you adapt. If you have a garbage picker, you learn to make sure the garbage is either enclosed or untippable. A toilet paper un-roller? You restrict access to the bathroom. Shoe-chewer? You learn to put your shoes away.

It’s been four years since there was a puppy in our house. That doesn’t sound like a long time, but memory is a very subjective, and selective thing. That being said – Torque was a wonderful puppy. Obedient, trainable, housebroken in no time, didn’t chew anything he shouldn’t have. Affectionate, biddable, playful, snuggly, a delight in every way. Please don’t ask us to go back and review our posts from four years ago. We’re positive we’re right about this. Not a naughty puppy at all.

And now there’s Simon.

We’ve got a system

First a bit of background. With all dog training, there are battles you choose to fight and others you choose to manage. One of the things we manage is dinner time. We won’t have dogs begging at the table, and we don’t want to play trainer when we’re relaxing over a meal. So the system we’ve developed is that the whole family eats at the same time and the dogs eat in their crates. It works for us.

To make the system work, one person prepares the dogs’ bowls, the other preps the “people” food. We try to have everything ready simultaneously, give or take a couple of minutes.

Beware the quiet

Of course the dogs all know what we’re doing – they’re ready for supper as soon as they hear the bowls come out. Simon finds this the perfect time to harass the other dogs into playing with him. Tango gets annoyed and yells at him, Booker barks incessantly, and Torque, after doing his best to ignore the puppy, gives in and starts wrestling with him underfoot.

Simon, a five-month old Boston Terrier naughty puppy

The other evening things were progressing as per usual. Or so we thought. Neither one of us paid much attention when the noise level diminished. We were used to quiet during meal prep – the only noise pre-Simon noise was Teddy complaining at us from a kitchen chair to “hurry up!”

Tricks are for puppies

Silly people! It’s ALWAYS suspicious when the noise level changes and there’s a five-month-old puppy in the house. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Simon, it turns out, is an evil genius. He moved the dining room chair, jumped up on it, and was helping himself to dinner – at the dinner table!

Fortunately, it was his own dinner.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera handy at the time.

Fortunately, we were laughing too hard to be angry with him.

And we’ve learned our lesson. Line up the dogs’ bowls where they can’t possibly reach them. And, if silence reigns, check on the naughty puppy!