For Rocky’s entire life and for a short time in Yankee’s life, I used the same retractable leash to walk them both. It seemed to make sense with Rocky who liked to wander and sniff more into the neighbors’ yards than I was willing to walk. Rocky was very low key, and not fazed by anything so walking on a retractable leash presented no real problems unless another dog approached.

On my recent annual vet visit, I discovered that my 8 year old dog Yankee’s thyroid is on the low side of normal, despite the fact that he doesn’t exhibit any of the typical symptoms.

Not of great concern, but because he doesn’t present known causes, I couldn’t understand why he might this might be happening until I learned about the potential problems with dog collars.

I’ve noticed over the last six months or so that my dog Yankee has developed some anxieties. At Rocky’s, if I put him in the office with his pal Beau, he starts scratching at the door wanting to come out and be with me. He’s never done that before. He’s also started to develop some storm related anxiety, a very new development.

Recently we seem to be getting a lot of questions about dog food and how to choose or improve diet. People want to make sure they are doing the best they can for their dogs. I admire that. We’re the first to admit that we’re not experts, but we do know things you shouldn’t be…

Does your dog have any behavioral issues such as anxieties, noise phobias, obsessive behaviors, or aggression?Is your dog older, or does he carry emotional baggage from earlier in his life?Does he have physical issues such as skin problems, arthritis, allergies, or other conditions?If so, these conditions and more can be helped using Essential Oils.As a certified animal…

Now that summer is here, you may be thinking of fun things to do in the greater Central Florida area with the whole family, including your dog. Without doing a lot of research, what are some activities you can do that involve your dog? Here are a few ideas for active day trips you may…

We’re currently working with two dogs, Georgia and Edison, who are both severely overweight and are advancing in their years. If something isn’t done to take the weight off, they’ll soon begin to experience problems associated with the extra weight. Already, prior to beginning our program, one of them was having trouble breathing after walking only a very short distance.

Leash aggression or leash reactivity as it’s also called is a behavior problem where the dog acts aggressively on leash toward other dogs, other animals, and sometimes people. I am intimately familiar with leash reactivity because Yankee exhibits this behavior (as did Rocky). He is fine off leash with most dogs, but when out walking, if he spots another dog, he initially starts by lying down, but then as the other dog gets close to us, he lunges.

Does your dog become agitated when you prepare to leave for the day? When you come home at night, does your dog seemed stressed out? Is he exhibiting symptoms like excessive barking, salivating, urinating in the house, barking, destroying items, and more while you’re away? If so, your dog may have separation anxiety.

I read an interesting article in the Orlando Sentinel the other day that talked about a new study that shows that your dog is very good at discriminating happy faces from angry ones.

We are the only Orlando dog boarding and Orlando doggie day care center that has an indoor heated pool for dogs. See it for yourself by scheduling a tour!

Rocky's Retreat | 2826 Shader Rd. Orlando FL 32808 | info@rockysretreat.com | (407) 295-3888