GrouchyPuppy® Blog | Dog Lovers Source

How to care for senior companion animals

A LEADING Australian vet is warning pet owners to be aware of the requirements elderly pets may need as they grow into their golden years.

Mark Perissinotto, head vet at VetShopAustralia.com.au, said knowledge and research had ensured advancements in veterinary care over recent years and our beloved pets were now living longer than ever before, although not all owners actually knew when their pet was to be considered "senior".

"Most owners are unaware of what is to be considered an animal's senior years," Dr Perissinotto said.

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Big Success with Nursing Home Residents: Pet Assisted Therapy

 

Pet Assisted Therapy at The Baird Nursing Home

Dogs and cats and bunnies...oh my!  The Baird Nursing Home played host to a variety of different four-legged guests July 26 as part of a visit from the Pet Assisted Therapy division of Lollypop Farm.
 
"Our residents always react so positively to seeing the animals.  They smile, ask questions, and engage socially with those around them," said Activities Director of The Baird Nursing Home, Pat Moore.  "I think it's the idea of bringing in new energy and new excitement that motivates our residents to perk up and simply enjoy themselves."
 
The recent visit was not the first meeting between Pet Assisted Therapy and The Baird Nursing Home.  According to Moore, the relationshp is years strong and has always been a big success with residents. 

 "It reminds me of being a kid on our family farm!" said resident Peggy Miller of Rochester as she welcomed Woody, a guinea pig, with a pat on the head.  "The animals are such a welcomed surprise each and every time they come!"

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Go Gremlin! Pit bulls head to summer camp to help children with autism

I loved several Dobermans growing up in the 1970's. We fought against the misplaced fear they caused strangers. We knew how smart, loving and wonderful each dog was. Fast forward a few decades, and now it is the Pit Bull who strikes fear. Dogs don't hate, people train them to do hateful acts.

Challenging the darker side are wonderful people like Chris, teaching his dog to share her warmth and affection with children. Gremlin is Pit Bull and was on the cover of Issue 12 of Life+Dog Magazine and her story appeared inside.

via www.newsnet5.com

Registered therapy dogs refute breed's sterotypes

WESTLAKE, Ohio - "The plight of the pit bull is what I call it."

Chris Hughes calls his therapy dogs loving, loyal and great with kids. But when people see them, they're often afraid.

"I tell them she works with children at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, works with children with autism, and it blows their minds what these dogs can do."

Hughes started Thera-Pits when his pit bull, Gremlin, became a registered therapy dog.

"We started working with schools, reading programs and then Gremlin became the first pit bull accepted into University Hospital's Pet Pals program." Since then, many more dogs have been accepted into Thera-Pits, and the organization has supporters from as far away as Australia and South Africa. 

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New Procedure Saves Bay Area Dog Poisoned By Mushrooms

via sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

BERKELEY (KCBS) — Veterinarians in Berkeley teamed up with a Santa Cruz doctor to save a dog who was poisoned by mushrooms. Their procedure may also be used to help save human lives.

Kasey, a two-year-old Mini Australian shepherd, ate death cap mushrooms at an oak grove in Healdsburg two weeks ago. Owner Helen Abel of Richmond was told her dog would die like so many mushroom eating dogs before him.

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Military Working Dogs train at Kandahar Airfield

via www.af.mil

Once the training aids are discovered there is a reward -- Harris hands over a blue rubber toy. It signifies a job well done, but the reward is short lived. It's back to work for Aaron because there is one more to find before the exercise ends. He is one of four MWDs running through a battery of scenarios early in the morning here before the sun's heat becomes unbearable.

What they do is vitally important yet terribly dangerous. While seeking out explosives is deadly serious work for the handlers and dogs, their work is priceless to those they work to protect.

"Soldiers love having dogs out there, and they are an irreplaceable asset," said Turner. "When it's nature over high tech machines -- nature is going to win every time."

Turner, a handler since 2003, works training and evaluating the teams coming through Kandahar Airfield. He relies on his dog's superior smell.

"When we smell a hamburger, we smell the whole thing. The dogs can smell each component of that burger from the meat, the cheese, and the rest," he said.

Since World War II the military has embraced using dogs in a variety of combat roles, and the job of sniffing out explosives is at the heart of what the dogs can do.

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Allowing pets helps draw senior living residents out of their rooms

“I think people need company, whether it’s a person or a pet,” says Todd, who decided to move to Meadows Courtyard after her husband passed away and she broke her hip. “So many people are put into a retirement center or assisted living center and then it’s just like they’re not here anymore. People forget about them.”

 

via www.oregonlive.com

If there’s one way to draw residents at Meadows Courtyard Retirement Community out of their rooms, it’s Charolette Todd’s basket of Pekingese puppies.

Almost on cue, the residents wander into the room to coo at the two-month-old balls of fur that could easily fit into a coffee mug.

“I can’t walk down the hall without somebody saying, ‘How are the babies?’” Todd says.

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Delaware young volunteers fundraise for vets' service dogs

via www.delawareonline.com

Young volunteers at nonprofit Hagley Museum are asking for the public’s help to support veterans who have come home from war with brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and other disabilities.

Specifically, they want to help the dogs that help the vets.

Janet and Bill Austin of Paws and People Assisting Wounded Warriors (www.PpaWWs.org), along with Bill Austin’s service dog JP, will be present to talk about service dogs, their benefits for veterans and the program that trains the dogs and the veterans together..

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Flying Colors: From California Stray to Search Dog Trainee

You may not know this but my dog Cleo was surrendered to a shelter in Northern California. We never would have met if the shelter hadn't contacted the San Francisco SPCA, and told them how great she was.

We never could have had these past seven years together, showing off her talent and cuteness on this website, her if she hadn't passed with flying colors all of the tests the SF-SPCA gave her.

They were her advocate, and gave her a chance at performing the role she was made for -- that of Grouchy Puppy muse.

Meet Lilah, another former shelter dog

In January 2011, the National Search Dog Foundation (SDF) received a call from volunteer Andrea Bergquist (whose husband Chris is a handler with Sacramento Task Force 7), letting them know that she had discovered an excellent Search Dog candidate at the Sacramento SPCA.

Lilah and Marshia Hall

Lilah, a one year-old Black Lab, had been picked up as a stray by the shelter. Suffering from kennel cough and described as “friendly but skinny,” She was evaluated by Andrea for search and rescue work. Lilah passed with flying colors and was transported down south to begin her training.

Prince William County VA program matches senior people with senior pets

The adoption fees are paid for by LUCAS (Let Us Consider Adoption Strays) a not-for-profit fundraising group.

via www2.insidenova.com

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. --

Sitting in Lori Leary's arms, CiCi, a 10-year-old toy poodle, looks perfectly content.

The blind dog squished her face into the bend of Leary's elbow and nearly fell asleep as Leary sat with her in a conference room at the Prince William County animal shelter Wednesday.

"I think she'd be a perfect dog for a senior," said Leary. "She just wants to sit in your lap. This is what she wants to do."

Now, with the help of a program funded through Leary's non-for-profit group it might be easier for CiCi and other dogs like her to meet their match.

Through the new Seniors for Seniors program in place at the Prince William County animal shelter, people over 60 can adopt dogs or cats over 5 for free.

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Maryland Police dog up for national canine excellence award

via m.times-news.com

CUMBERLAND — Blu, the Labrador retriever handled by Officer Curt Dieterle of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, has been nominated for the Canine Excellence Award presented by the American Kennel Club Humane Fund.

Blu’s nomination is in the Law Enforcement category. The other categories are Exemplary Companion, Search and Rescue, Service and Therapy.

The winners will be announced in late August and will receive engraved silver collar medallions and $1,000 at a ceremony in Orlando, Fla., in December.

Dogs earning honorable mention will receive bronze collar medallions.

“Blu is an amazing dog,” Dieterle said of his companion for the past 6 1/2 years. “He has been deployed more than 150 times with a lot of success.”

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Residents give Volunteer Fire Dept specialized pet rescue equipment

via www.newmilfordspectrum.com

The Kent Volunteer Fire Department now has specialized rescue equipment that can help animals.

Susan and Robert Schullery recently purchased and gave KVFD a kit that contains three different sized pet oxygen masks.

Mrs. Schullery read a report about a New Jersey fire department saving 20 dogs using similar masks donated by a local humane society. When she learned KVFD did not have the equipment, she decided to buy them for her local fire department.

"I thought this could be your pet they are saving," she said.

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Massage helps pets relax during heatwave

via metronews.ca

OTTAWA – The strangest animal Sandy Benoit has given a massage to has got to be a colourful macaw parrot that just wouldn’t sit still.

Add to that her work on a bearded dragon, horses, rabbits, cats and dogs (of course) and you’ve got a good idea what it’s like working as an animal massage therapist.

Laden with fur or feathers, our pets are having an even harder time with the heat than we are and Benoit says a soothing massage can help them relax and cool off.

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South Carolina Firefighter saves dog after house fire

A pet oxygen mask saved this South Carolina puppy's life.

via www.wmbfnews.com

JOHNS ISLAND, SC (WCSC) - Firefighters used CPR to save a puppy's life today after its family's home caught on fire.

Captain James Ghi of the St. Johns Fire Department said both his department and the City of Charleston Fire Department responded to a house fire at 1572 Regimental Lane on Wednesday afternoon.

Once on the scene, firefighters say they had to use a special pet CPR mask to save the life of the homeowner's puppy.

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Disabled Chicago Police Officer Gets to Keep Pit Bull Service Dog

via www.kmeg.com

AURELIA, IA - They were told they would have to give up their dog, simply because it was a pitbull mix. But, Snickers is no ordinary dog: not only is he Jim's best friend, he is also a service dog.

Jim Sak, a retired Chicago police officer, can't live without his dog, literally.

Jim became disabled after having a stroke 4 years ago, so they got Snickers trained to be a service dog.  Last November, when they moved to Aurelia, they were told to get rid of him, because the town has a breed ban against pitbulls.

"Just because he looks like a pitbull, doesn't mean he's going to chew anybody up," Jim said.

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"Man's Best Listener" Therapy Dogs in Libraries

via www.milforddailynews.com

Rosie, a chocolate Lab, listens to Sydney Fleming read a book during last nights, Paws To Read program held at the Medway Public Library.

There are no better listeners than dogs, with their kind eyes and friendly behavior.

A dozen children curled up with good books — and even better pooches — for Paws to Read, a program in which children hone their reading skills by practicing them on dogs at Medway Public Library on Wednesday night.

“(The dogs) aren’t judging. That’s the biggest thing. If the kids make a mistake, it isn’t a big deal,” said Pat Gipps of Holliston, owner of Caring Paws Certified Therapy Dogs. “It’s fun, and dogs are just the best listeners, and they’re the best for the soul. They like to be talked to, and they like to please people.”

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