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Get off on the right foot (or paw) in 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
It's a new year and a new time to get involved in your pet's life. Did you slack off last year and get lazy?Well, guess who suffers?
OK, get off that couch and get busy. The American Kennel Club offers easy tips on how to get off on the right foot in 2009 for you and your pet.
Follow a healthy diet. Cut back on the calories, and the pounds will depart for you and the dog. Set regular meal times, cut back on meal portions and count the calories.
Get more exercise. Use the backyard. Use your neighborhood street. Get a routine that includes walks on different surfaces such as sand or dirt as well as up and down hills to build leg muscles. If you have a breed with a purpose — herding, high-energy, scent hound — make it a point to use that to your advantage. Go out into the woods or start an agility course.
Help others by volunteering. If your dog is friendly, calm and trained, volunteer at a hospital or nursing home. How about letting school children read to your dog? Take an obedience course and get an AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Locally, there is an organization called the Miami Valley Pet Therapy Association that trains dogs and owners.
Devote more time to family. And that includes four-legged members. Get the family involved in a day trip to a dog park. Take a hike in the woods.
Get organized. Make sure the whole family helps with pet chores. Each person can help feed, walk or groom. Rotate the tasks so no one gets stuck on pooper scooper duty every day.
Additional activities you can do with your dog can be found at www.akc.org.
Doggie heroes
If you need inspiration for what your pet could be, check out "Dog Heroes: A Story Poster Book With Tales of Dramatic Rescues, Courageous Journeys and True Blue Friendships" by Karl Meyer. The book has 30 full-page posters of dogs doing everything from jumping out of helicopters rescuing drowning people to just being a friend to a child. The full-color photos are great, and this would be a wonderful book for a young dog lover who has walls that need to be covered. It is published by Storey and sells for $9.95.
The Pet Lovers Choice Award goes to ...
Zootoo.com has compiled its list of Pet Lovers Choice Awards — the best products, petsitters, dog parks, etc. in the country. The winners were determined by 7.6 million votes from pet lovers nationwide. To see if you agree, visit www.zootoo.com/petloverschoiceawards.
The Pet Lovers Choice Awards highlight America's top three service professionals in each of the following categories: animal shelters, day cares, veterinarians, pet clubs, dog parks, breeders, pet-friendly hotels, petsitters, groomers, kennels and dog clubs.
The Zootoo.com community also rated the top three pet products for dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, fish and birds in the following categories: accessories, apparel, food, books, magazines and care.
Pet lovers interested in learning about the best pet-related services in their area can learn more by going to zootoo.com/petservices.
Gem City Dog Club
to begin new session
Gem City Dog Club will offer its first session of 2009 beginning this week and running through Feb. 28. Topics include agility, conformation, Earthdog, freestyle, obedience and rally.
All the classes except for agility are $65 for a one-hour session per week, for eight weeks.
Agility classes are $80 per session.
For more information, visit www.gcdoc.com and download registration forms.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2248 or ldenger@DaytonDaily
News.com.
