Rocky’s Viewpoint
During the warmer months, my dog Yankee seems to be prone to hot spots. He’ll start chewing on some part of his body and before I know it, he has a hot spot. Hot spots come on very quickly and can be very painful and sensitive to the touch. Any dog can develop hot spots, but they’re much more common in dogs with thick coats.
One of the biggest issues dog owners have is keeping their dogs busy enough so they don’t get into trouble. If you exercise your dog’s mind and body properly, you can usually avoid the destructive behavior that results from boredom.
What are some things you can do to engage your dog’s mind?
Don’t know about you, but I love spending time and doing things with my dog and other people and their dogs. As such, I’m always looking for activities that I can share with my dog. Why does this matter? Why should we look for ways to spend time with our dogs?
ACL tears on dog’s knees seems to be very common these days, we hear about it all the time. Depending on the severity of the tear, it can sometimes heal on its own, other times surgery is warranted. Lulu, a bull mastiff / pit bull mix has been swimming with us for over a year initially to lose weight, then to maintain her weight. Along the way, probably because she was chasing rabbits, she tore her ACL.
What is Effleurage? It’s French, and means “to touch lightly on”. It’s one of the principal strokes in massage, and because it’s so gentle, it can be performed on any part of the dog’s body, even over bony areas like joints, or the head. It’s a very versatile stroke, in fact, an entire massage can be done using just this one stroke. It’s a stroke that’s done with either one or both hands, following in the direction of your dog’s fur. It’s a soothing stroke that warms the body, increases blood flow, helps to remove fluids and toxins, and ultimately relaxes your dog. Plus it’s easy to do!
Beginning May 1, 2014, Rocky’s Retreat will add dog boarding and daycare to our list of services. Why? Because of demand. We get calls all the time for boarding yet it’s something we never planned to offer. So what will this look like? In the short term, we’ll have space for a limited number of dogs, and we plan to take those dogs home with us.
Have you ever had a massage? If so, I bet you felt wonderful afterward! Even if you haven’t had a massage, chances are you know what it is; the manipulation of skin, muscles and joints for the purpose of affecting physical or emotional changes in the body. While massage for humans has been around for millennia, canine massage as a practice is relatively new. The benefits of massage on humans are well documented, so why shouldn’t the same benefits apply to dogs as well?
We’re halfway through Baylor’s boot camp, and he’s looking good. He’s lost 7 pounds and his endurance and muscle tone is really improving. And you can now see his waistline! He still doesn’t care for swimming (imagine that for a lab) but he tolerates it. He’s now running on the treadmill instead of walking, swimming more with less rest, and he doesn’t get as winded when he plays with the other dogs.
On Tuesday, our dear friend Lisa called to say that she had to put down her beloved “Eddie,” an 11 year old boxer that we all just adored. Lisa was our human massage therapist for a while and used to bring Eddie and his “sister” Emma to Rocky’s for play and fun times. As Lisa says, Eddie was a large presence and always concerned about others. It’s a very sad time for all. But it started me thinking, what about Emma, does she know what’s going on?
I have a friend who routinely mentions how she has an agreement with her dog that the dog will live to be at least 20 years old. She doesn’t understand how I could have a preference for bigger dogs which typically have a shortened life span. I told her we never know what’s going to happen in life.
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