K-9 LifeSavers

Happy Responsible Pet Owners Month!

Three cheers for all Responsible Pet Owners! This month celebrates all of us who are responsible pet owners and all who take the care of animals seriously. During the month of February we celebrate our pets with love and kindness, not just for this month but for our whole lives. They love us unconditionally.

During this month you are encouraged to pass on to others the importance of being a responsible pet owner and join in teaching the public how to be responsible for the sake of our pets well-being. So during the month of February, help the world celebrate Responsible Pet Owners Month by support a happy life for all pets by spreading the word on how to be a responsible pet owner.

If you happen to need a party buddy, allow us to introduce Fritz! This gentleman is happy and full of energy, but a perfect example of the need for Responsible Pet Owners Month. He was adopted as a puppy, but returned because his family no longer had time for him. Fritz is house trained, great with kids and would thrive in an active family where he had a running partner. If you're ready to celebrate with Fritz, give us a call, we'll bring the party favors!

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Today is the anniversary of the first guide dog school in America.

The first formal guide dog program was developed in Pottsdam, Germany, using German Shepherds as guides for veterans blinded by the WWI. Though this program did not last, it caught the attention of an American living in Switzerland, Dorothy Harrison Eustis, who thought that it was a noble profession for which to train her own dogs.

Ms. Eustis wrote an article about the Pottsdam School that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post on November 5, 1927 and it was through this article that Tennessean Morris Frank learned of the guide dog program. Frank, who had lost the use of his eyes in two separate accidents, contacted Eustis with a request to train a dog for him that would allow him a measure of independence.  In return he vowed to teach other people who were blind what he had learned.

Frank traveled to Switzerland for his training with Buddy, a female German shepherd and became the first American to use a guide dog. Frank returned to the stated with $10,000 from Ms. Eustis and established The Seeing Eye, first guide dog school in America, incorporated on January 29, 1929.

Meet Darby.  This lovely lady is friendly and playful and would love to be your helper! Though she's never had the training of a guide dog, she'd love to spend some bonding time with you learning new tricks. If Darby sounds like your perfect partner, let us know!

It's always fun to have a dog with a full bag of tricks to impress the neighbors, and one of the classics is shaking hands. If your K-9 doesn't know this trick, here's how to teach him:

Step 1: With your dog siting before you, hide a treat in your hand, low to the ground.  Encourage your dog to paw at it by saying "shake." Reward your dog with the treat the moment his left paw comes off the ground.

Step 2: Gradually raise the height of your hand, until he is lifting his paw to chest height.

Step 3: Transition to using a hand signal.  Stand up and hold the treat in your left hand, behind your back, and extend your right hand while cuing "shake." When your dog paws your extended hand, support his paw in the air while your reward him with the treat from behind your back.

Step 4: Repeat these steps on the opposite site using "paw" in place of "shake." Or really knock people out by teaching your dog the commands with "right" and "left."

Tips: If your dog is nosing at your hand instead of pawing at it, bop his nose a little bit to discourage this.  He may try barking, nuzzling, or doing nothing.  Be patient and keep encouraging him.  If he does not lift his paw on his own, tap it or barely lift it for him and then reward him.

Remember training should be a positive experience for your dog, so have lots of patience and end on a positive note, even if it means going back to an easy command like "sit."  Practice often with rewards and once your dog had the "aha!" moment, start reducing the number of treats he gets for performing tricks to an occasional reward.

The Tervuren is one of four types of Belgian Shepherds from the Herding Group. The American Kennel Club is the only kennel club in the world that recognizes the Belgian Tervuren, Belgian Groenendael, Belgian Malinois and the Belgian Laekenois as four distinct breeds, as they share a common foundation that is generally only distinguished by their coat types.

The Belgian Tervuren was named after the Belgian village of Tervuren, where rural farmers in the late 1800s had a great need for a general purpose herding and guarding dog. This breed’s protective nature provided security for farm and family, and its instinctive herding abilities helped with daily tending of the flocks.

In the early years of its development, the breed primarily was used to guard, protect and herd. The breed almost became extinct during World Wars, although a small group of dedicated breeders continued preserving and protecting the breed. As the breed grew in popularity after the 1950s campaign of champion Willy de la Garde Noire, it became prized not only for herding but also for its stable, affectionate and loyal personality. Today, they are valued as human companions, therapy dogs and service dogs for the disabled and also excel at obedience, conformation, sledding, schutzhund and agility.

Tervurens are highly energetic and intelligent dogs that excel at dog sports. This breed is known to be loyal to their family and somewhat shy to strangers. They require a strong owner that will serve as a pack leader and provide plenty of exercise and stimulation to avoid the hyperactivity that comes with boredom.

If you’ve ever thought of your dog as a sailor, be careful, he just might be drafted! K9C Sinbad served 11 years of active duty with United States Coast Guard, complete with disciplinary action, promotions and medals!

A mixed breed dog with an unknown birth, Sinbad was found by Chief Boatswain’s Mate “Blackie” Rother who intended to take him as a gift for his girlfriend. The girlfriend’s apartment did not allow dogs, and since Sinbad acted like a sailor: drinking beer and whiskey and demonstrated seamanship, he was enlisted into service in 1937. With his paw print on the enlistment papers, Sinbad has his own Red Cross identification number, service record and bunk aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter George W. Campbell.  

Sinbad rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, and when the Campbell was damaged during a tour in the Atlantic, Sinbad was among the "essential crew" left aboard the otherwise evacuated ship to keep it afloat as it was towed to Canada for repair. It was Captain James Hirschfield's belief that nothing could befall the ship if Sinbad remained aboard, which may be why today Sinbad's statue in the mess hall of current "famous class" medium endurance cutter USCGC Campbell.

During his service Sinbad was awarded: American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-MiddleEastern Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal and Navy Occupation Service Medal.

He retiring on September 21, 1948 and lived out his life at Barnegat Light station in New Jersey where he frequented Kubel's bar and gazed out to sea from the station. Sinbad died on December 30, 1951 and was buried beneath a granite monument at the base of the light station's flagpole

Just about every dog will have an "accident" at some point, due to stress, excitement, infection, or puppyhood. Some owners spend their lives on a quest to find a good cleaning solution to avoid the smells and stains that come with accidents. While we want to stress the importance of house training and regular potty breaks, we do also believe in being prepared and saving a few pennies, so here's a home remedy to help you combat the after effects of accidents.

Combine the following in a spray or empty liquid detergent bottle and keep it on hand in case of emergencies:

1 cup of hydrogen peroxide (3%)
1/3 c rubbing alcohol
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. of liquid dish soap

With paper towel, absorb as much of the urine as possible, use a twisting motion to wick up more.
Shake the bottle and spray the solution onto the spot. It will fizz and foam, which means you got the right spot.

On laundry: spray or squirt the entire soiled area. Allow 10-15 minutes, then launder as usual.

On wood floors or tiles: give the solution enough time to stop fizzing, and then wipe it up. Spray and wipe again.

For carpeting, bedding or furniture: allow 24 hours to dry, then vacuum.

If you want to make sure you are getting all the soiled areas in your home, invest in a small black light. You can pick one up at most novelty stores, paraphernalia shops and pet stores or online. Any spots you missed will glow.

If your K-9 has been sitting patiently in the doorway of your kitchen while you whip up batches of holiday treats for the family, it just might be time to show your puppy some love with his very own holiday cookies!

K-9 Candy Canes

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp dry milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 3 tbsp rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Yogurt for icing

Directions:

• If using a bread machine, mix all ingredients together and place everything in machine on the dough cycle.
• If using a mixer or by hand:
   - Dissolve the yeast into water
   - Mix in the vegetable oil
   - Mix in the flours, dry milk, sugar, cornmeal, oats and cinnamon
   - Knead the dough (using hands or dough hook on a mixer) into a ball, cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

When dough is ready divide it into 3 pieces and roll each piece out to 1/4" thickness.

Use a candy cane shaped cookie cutter* to cut out your treats and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake the treats at 275 degrees for about an hour, checking to make sure they don't get to brown.  Turn off the oven and allow them to remain in the oven to dry overnight. When completely dry, the treats should be dry, hard and crisp.

Decorate the treats by painting stripes with the yogurt as icing.

The treats may be stored at room temperature for a month as long as they have been sufficiently dried.

* If you don't have a candy cane cookie cutter, you may roll out small ropes and shape them into candy canes

We think candy canes bring Joy and this little girl would love to find a home filled with homemade goodness! Only weeks old (born Nov 5) Joy and her siblings are a happy bunch that are spending their days playing and nosing around, hoping to discover a forever home!

Though you may never have heard of a Mountain Cur, the Cur dog is consider to be the first true, distinct American purebred. While "cur" is slang for a mixed-breed dog, this dog's earliest strains can be traced to European settlers who brought dogs with them to settle in the mountains of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee to be hunting and guard dogs.

The original dogs were primarily hunting hounds and terriers which were crossed with native dogs, most notably the Indian Cur. The dog was bred for more than 200 years specifically for treeing and trailing small game like squirrels and raccoons, but they were also commonly used for hunting larger game like bear and wild boar.

Mountain Curs were the pioneer dogs of the Kentucky and Tennessee Mountains, so highly regarded by the pioneers that they rarely changed hands. They were a valuable asset to frontier families, guarding them against wild animals, providing meat with the game they caught, as well as pelts for warmth and trade. It has been said that the pioneers would not have been able to settle in the unforgiving mountains without the aid of the Mountain Cur.

The book "Old Yeller" is about a boy growing up in frontier Texas with his dog, a typical Mountain Cur (unlike the movie, which starred a dog of Lab type). In the book, Old Yeller is a short-haired, yellow bobtailed dog that hunts and trees, that isn't afraid to fight a full-grown bear when it is threatened. The author is very explicit in describing this old-fashioned breed and its use to the pioneer.

With the advent on WWII, many of the families that had bred the Mountain Cur left the rural areas and went to work in factories to support the war effort. By the end of the 1940s, the breed had become rare until four men Hugh Stephens, Woody Huntsman, Carl McConnell, and Dewey Ledbetter began working to save the breed. The Mountain Cur Breeder's Association was formed in 1957 and a breed standard was developed, and the breed was registered with the United Kennel Club in 1998.

The modern Cur is still a traditional hunting dog that is seen almost exclusively in the south. These dogs are highly possessive and protective of their family and make excellent protection dogs, but they are not suited to a life of luxury. They were bred as working dogs and are happiest when they have a job to do; thus they are excellent for dog sports or as jogging partners, but would hate being cooped up in an apartment.

Tis the season to be jolly! We love the holidays and all the sparkle it brings - the problem is that many of our K-9s do too. There's no reason not to satisfy your need to turn your house into a Winter Wonderland, but keep in mind these tips to ensure a safe and happy holiday for your pets:

• Holly, mistletoe and poinsettia plants are poisonous to dogs; make sure they are kept in places your dog cannot reach.
• Do not put lights on the lower branches of your tree; they can get very hot and burn your dog.
• Watch out for electrical cords. Pets often try to chew them and get badly shocked or electrocuted so ensure they are placed out of reach.
• Avoid glass ornaments, which break easily and may cut a dog's feet or mouth.
• Do not use edible ornaments, cranberry or popcorn strings. Your dog may knock the tree over in an attempt to reach them.
• Keep ornaments off the lower branches; if your dog chews or eats an ornament, he can be made sick by the materials or paint.
• Both live and artificial tree needles are sharp and indigestible. Keep your tree blocked off (with a playpen or other "fence") or in a room that is not accessible to your dog.
• Tinsel can be dangerous for dogs as it may obstruct circulation and, if swallowed, block the intestines.
• Keep burning candles on high tables or mantels, out of the way of your dog's wagging tail.
• Review canine holiday gifts for safety. Small plastic toys or bones may pose choking hazards.
• Your dog may want to investigate wrapped packages; keep them out of reach.

Did you know that 75% of all dogs in shelters are mutts? And that black dogs are the least likely to be adopted than any other color of dog?

December 2 is National Mutt, originally created by Pet Expert and Animal Welfare Advocate Colleen Paige to embrace, celebrate and save mixed breed dogs. Unfortunately the largest percentage of dogs euthanized every year are unwanted medium to large breed dogs.  The public's desire for "designer dogs" has led to over-breeding and puppy mills that often produce ill and horribly neglected animals. 

National Mutt Day is intended to raise awareness of the plight of mixed breed dogs in shelters around the country.  Interestingly enough, despite the desire for purebreds, mixed breed dogs tend to be healthier, better behaved, live longer, and are just as able to perform the duties of purebred dogs - search and rescue, drug sniffing, guiding the blind and agility work.

K-9 LifeSavers embraces all dogs, but we have a special place in our hearts for the mutts and we'd like to introduce you to a few that are currently looking for their forever families:

Angel

Annabelle