Adventure Dog Blog

When I was a child, I had a chronic cough and none of the doctors could figure out why. I was subjected to just about every allergy test imagineable, blood tests, needles, pricks, probes, and breathing tests. Nothing ever came up positive and most doctors just shook their heads. It wasn’t until much later in my life that doctors began to realize that a chronic cough could be a symptom of asthma just as much as hindered breathing was. It appears I had mild asthma.

Regardless, throughout my whole childhood, my mother insisted that I must have allergies, and there were various things I was not allowed to have or do. Owning pets was out of the question and the possibility of allergies was always mentioned, although I’m certain it was more because my parents didn’t want to have pets.

As soon as I moved into my own home and had a backyard, I got a dog for the first time in my life. Anna. She’s fantastic, and guess what? I’m not allergic.

I was reading an article on ScienceDaily.com that explained how many people who believe they have allergies in fact don’t. It made me wonder how many people believe they have allergies to dogs when they really don’t. (Read the article here)

If you are thinking about getting a dog, allergies don’t have to stop you. First, you might want to visit your doctor and find out for certain that you are indeed allergic. Second, you can ask them about the latest treatment options that may afford you opportunity to live with a dog.

Failing that, there are several breeds of dog that are considered “hypoallergenic”. Now this doesn’t mean they are guarenteed not to set off your allergies, it just means that they give off less allergens. Most people that are allergic to dogs are allergic to their dander, the flakes of skin that come off and float around in the air. Dogs that have specific types of fur and those that have very little fur tend to give off less dander.

You can find a list of “hypoallergenic” dog breeds on Wikipedia here.

Here are some tips that can lower your allergic response to dogs:

• Keep dogs out of your bedroom and close the door. This will help keep dander levels to a minimum.
• Keep dogs off of the furniture. Dander collects in the upholstery.
• Wash your dog often. Bathe your dog once per week to lower the amount of dander, but do not wash more often as drying their skin can cause even more dander production.
• Brush your dog often, but do it outdoors. Brushing your dog will help remove dead hair and dander. Doing it outdoors means the dander that’s released is not released into your home.
• Get a HEPA air filter. The right air filter can remove allergens and drastically reduce the amount of dander present in the air.
• Clean clean clean! Launder your dog’s blankets and pillows often. Dust all surfaces with a wet cloth often. Vacuum with a hepa filtered vacuum often. Don’t allow dust and dander to build up.

If you are still too symptomatic to own a dog, it may be possible to find other ways to spend time with dogs. Perhaps you can volunteer time at an animal shelter or rescue foundation. You could work part time in a pet store or grooming parlour. You can visit friends that have dogs or take someone’s dogs out for a walk. Allergies do not have to be the end of your love of dogs!

This entry has been a long time coming. I had never truly experienced the loss of a pet until Mr. Meaty died in April of this year. He was two years old and had been a part of our family since he was three months old. I had left the house, forgetting something and rushing back into the house for only a moment. Mr. Meaty was wiggling like crazy, so excited to see me, and I remember a fleeting thought of what on earth I would do without him.

I received a worried phone call from my daughter saying she had let the dogs outside for a pee, and only Anna had run to the door when she called them back. Our backyard was fenced, but she said that someone had left the gate open. Our landlord had been doing renovations and later we learned that he had left the gate open for a period of time to move a lot of heavy items out of the house.

It was heart breaking to discover that Mr. Meaty had been hit and killed by a car. I still cry when I think of first learning that he was dead.

It’s been quite a few months since that day and there is still a lot of grief in my heart. However, I can look back and see how we worked through our grief, and that it is a healthy process for letting go.

I thought I would write down some of the things that helped me along the way so that anyone else going through grief over a death may get some benefit.

It helped to have someone else take care of the body. I found that I wanted nothing more than to see my baby boy. I wanted to touch him, to pet him, and see him for myself, but my boyfriend knew that this probably wasn’t a healthy idea.

We made funeral arrangements. Some people bury their pets and have a little funeral in their backyard (this is illegal in most places). Others will take their pets to the vet for cremation. We found a little pet cemetary outside the city provided on a chunk of land that was officially deemed a cemetary so that it will never be dug up in the future. They offered both cremation and burial, and we chose to have Mr. Meaty buried. They even offered a funeral service where you can have an open or closed casket and spend time with your pet before they are buried. Mr. Meaty even has a little headstone. Having a funeral really helped me accept that my boy was actually dead.

Seeing the body. I mentioned earlier that I had someone else take care of the body for me immediately after the accident. Later, at the funeral, I decided to look at Mr. Meaty. Some part of me had looked forward to the funeral and seemed to believe it would be like seeing my little boy again. It’s as if I thought he’d be happy and licking me like he used to. I was quite horrified when I did see him, and realized there was nothing left of the Meaty I had known. He was very dead. This is NOT an experience I would recommend for children and I did not let my daughter see him. I don’t even recommend it for myself, as I spent the next hour having a massive panic attack as a result. It was horrifying. However, it was that moment that really slammed home the reality of Meaty’s death. I no longer imagined him running around alone at night in my neighborhood, lonely and looking for home. It helped.

Burying Things With Meaty. We put a little ball curled in Meaty’s paw, a blanket over his back, and a tiny pillow under his head when he was buried. I actually sewed the little pillow myself and embroidered it with his name. It felt good to give him gifts and to have the feeling that he would be comfortable and cared for.

Having Keepsakes. At first, I collected all of Meaty’s things and put them away. Seeing them only served to remind me of him and make me cry. However, I love knowing that I have a little drawer full of his things, and I can look at them whenever I want. It makes me feel that I haven’t forgotten, and that’s important to me. I also have a frame with some photos of Meaty in it hanging on the wall, and I like to look at him there. Remembering him how he used to be, knowing what a silly happy life he had, it helps.

Letting it All Out. During the immediate week after Meaty’s death, I seemed to alternate between endless uncontrollable sobbing, and an empty blank state where I felt almost nothing. Sometimes I would watch television and forget all about what had happened for a few blissful moments. And all of these things are okay. It’s okay to forget for awhile, to have fun again, even to laugh. And it helped a lot to have times when I would just break down and lose control. All of these were part of feeling better and moving forward.

Getting a New Dog. There were times after Meaty’s death when I wanted a new puppy and everyone would tell me that it was too soon. I felt angry, but knew deep down that they were right. Getting a dog too soon would have been upsetting. I would have been trying to replace what I’d lost, and upset when the new puppy didn’t conform. I needed to wait until I was ready to get a brand new dog, with it’s own unique personality and traits. We waited four months for our new puppy. Once he was here, our hearts healed even faster. He was funny, clumsy, and cute. He was our little baby and we loved taking care of him. Some things about him reminded us of our Meaty, and other things were brand new, and that was just fine.

Remembering. Thinking back on Meaty and remembering the good times we had is essential. However, I’ve found that it’s also just as important to remember his death and feel sad. Something about spending a little time sad here and there is just another part of grieving and moving through the process. It doesn’t just stop instantly, or I guess it wouldn’t be called a process would it?

I’m not sure if any of these things are helpful, but this has been my experience with the death of a very beloved pet. I still think about Meaty often and am sad to say that many of my memories have begun to fade. Losing Mr. Meaty is the closest I’ve come to losing a family member and it’s been a terrible part of our lives. I miss Mr. Meaty very much.

Much to my dogs’ dismay, I found this dog toothbrush set at PetSmart when I was shopping and decided it was time to start brushing their teeth.

What made me think of it was seeing all the dogs that were virtually un-adoptable at the local animal shelter because they were old and had very bad teeth. Getting a dog’s teeth done can be quite an expensive procedure, and anaesthesia is risky business so it’s always better to avoid it when you can.

I got a kit like the one pictured above that came with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a little finger toothbrush that’s really just a rubber thingie with some nubs on it.

I started by introducing both dogs to a little bit of toothpaste on my finger and letting them lick it. The second week, I let them lick toothpaste off of the little rubber finger brush. After using the finger brush for a couple weeks and getting it in their mouth a bit, I started with the real toothbrush. I’m still not able to brush a lot of their teeth, but they do quite enjoy trying to lick all the toothpaste, and I am managing to scrub a bit. It’s better than nothing.

So here are my Tips for Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth:

1. Start Slowly. The last thing you want to do is rush, and end up turning the situation into a negative experience for your dog. Dogs don’t easily forget!

2. Try Your Finger. Even if you don’t have a special rubber brush that fits on your finger, you can put dog toothpaste on your finger and rub it on your dog’s gums and teeth.

3. Use a Schedule. I brush my dogs’ teeth once per week. This way, it has become a routine. They know what to expect when the toothbrush comes out, including the treats they will get when everything is done. It has become an event they look forward to.

4. Use a Dog Toothpaste! This is important! There are chemicals in human toothpaste that you shouldn’t give to your dog.

5. Reward Your Dog AFTER. After your dog has sat and allowed you to fudge around in their mouth, be sure to give them lots of love and attention. They will remember this next time they see the toothbrush come out.

Hopefully in a few weeks, I’ll be able to report even more progress with my dogs and their teeth!

While running free in Mexico, my dogs drank from all kinds of water sources, including dirty rivers. It was important that they have all of their vaccinations, including one for Giardia, a parasite that can cause diarrhea and other symptoms.

However, it’s important to note that dogs can also pick up Giardia from any contaminated food or water source, even rivers running through your city. According to The Pet Center, “Giardia is transmitted from one dog to another through the ingestion of cysts in contaminated feed or drinking water. Cysts may also be found in streams or other water sources.”

Reading at GoLetAVet.com, I learned that Giardia “can be found anywhere from puddles and ponds to swimming pools and streams. Your pet can contract the disease by drinking contaminated water, or even by licking his paws after walking in an infected area!”

The Government of Alberta has a page that answers the basic questions you might have about Giardia, and your vet should be able to tell you about vaccinations and help you determine whether your dog needs them.

When we were in Mexico, we lived in the jungle along the coast. Our house had no screens on the windows, and we didn’t even have all four walls on our house. The dogs could come and go as they pleased, and they delighted in disappearing into the bush now and again to chase chickens.

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of ticks in the jungle, just like a lot of other places on Earth. If you live, or go adventuring, in an area that has ticks, you’re probably going to have to remove one from your dog sooner or later.

If your dog has been wandering around outdoors in tick country, it’s a good idea to check your dog for ticks everyday. You can do this by rubbing your fingers through their hair and along their skin. You want to feel their skin for any little lumps or bumps. Sometimes this is just dirt or a scratch, but other times it’s a tick. You’ll need to part the hair and get a good look.

Ticks tend to be brown in color, and are fairly small, with little legs sticking out from their sides. They are very flat before feeding, and quite swollen and fat after sucking blood. They excrete a substance from their mouth parts that acts like a glue to hold them tight to the skin, so they can be difficult to remove. Making it worse, they can bury their mouth parts under the skin and removal of the tick sometimes leaves these bits behind, leaving the body prone to infection.

When you are removing a tick, it is wisest to use a pair of tweezers if at all possible. If you squeeze the tick when it’s full of blood, it will just explode, leaving all kinds of bits behind under your dog’s skin. Gross but true. You need to gently grab the tick with the tweezers and PULL.

Now when I was in Mexico, I didn’t have any tweezers, and I removed any ticks we encountered with my fingers. However, it’s important to realize that ticks carry all kinds of diseases, some of which can be transferred to humans. Using tweezers really is the safest technique.

After you’ve removed the tick, don’t just dispose of it outdoors. Ticks can survive for months and months without feeding, and I’ve been told you can’t crush them to death even with a hammer! Now I’m not sure if that’s true, but your best course of action is to flush the tick down the toilet. That way, you can be sure the pest will never again attach itself to your dog’s skin.

If you live or adventure in places that are heavily populated by ticks, you might want to consider getting your dogs vaccinations against common tick diseases if available, and use a product like Revolution to repel ticks.

Active dogs spend time running through the bush, sniffing in the undergrowth, and exploring the wilderness. When you take your dog hiking, camping, walking, or trekking, your dog is at risk for catching heartworm, fleas, ticks, and various parasites.

As I was bringing my dogs down to live with me in the Mexican jungle, I knew ticks and fleas were going to be a big problem. I talked to my vet and he recommended using Revolution.

Revolution is an FDA approved, topically applied medication that prevents fleas, ticks, heartworm, mange, and ear mites. Once a month, you simply apply a small amount of Revolution to the skin of your pet’s neck. The body absorbs the medication and your pet is protected for one month.

In Mexico we lived in a home that didn’t have four walls and the dogs were offleash almost all the time. They liked to run off in the bush to sniff around, chase chickens and other animals into the trees, and generally ran amuck. Without a prevention plan, the dogs would have been infested with ticks and fleas. We were living in the jungle where it wasn’t unusual to find tick balls in the bush, huge piles of ticks just waiting for a creature to brush past!

With treatment once per month with Revolution, the dogs still came home with a few ticks now and again, and I did discover one flea, but overall it’s been a very effective method of protection against pests and parasites.

Get more information on Revolution!