- A car can get dangerously hot even on warm days, so leave your dog home when it's warm out.
- Take care not to go on walks mid day when it's very hot. The hot sun and heated pavement can be a dangerous combination and both you and your dog can be at risk for heat exhaustion and dehydration. Walk early in the morning or late at night.
- Make sure that your dog has access into the house on hot days. It is usually cooler inside the house on very hot days.
- Take extra care if you have a brachycephalic (flat faced) breed of dog such as a French Bulldog, Pug, Boxer, Shih Tzu, Bulldog or any combination as these individuals have even less tolerance to heat.
- As always, make sure that your dogs have plenty of fresh water available at all times.
Please book early for Summer!! As you know, Summer is among one of our busiest times. Please call us as early as possible to book your Summer reservations!
Lectures on the Lawn
Once a month we host a Lecture on the Lawn with Vicki Ronchette, CPDT, CAP2. Vicki is our resident dog trainer and offers dog training and behavior insights in these informative, informal monthly talks. Join us on the lawn for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, snacks and great discussions! Check our schedule or call the kennel for topics, days and times!
One Pup at a Time
As you may already know the kennel runs a rescue program to help homeless dogs (and cats) in our community. Our goal was to accept one rescue dog at a time, work with the dog and then find the dog a new home. Of course, there are so many unwanted dogs and cats that we couldn't stop at just one and therefore usually have several dogs looking for new homes. In addition, we typically take in several litters of unwanted kittens a year to find homes for as well. If you or anyone you know is looking to adopt a dog, please check with us, we may have your next companion right here waiting for you!
Easter Egg Hunt
On April 23 we held our first annual Easter Egg Hunt in conjunction with Braveheart Dog Training to raise money for our One Pup at a Time rescue dogs. We were so pleased with the great turnout! Every single one of our dogs found many eggs and won great prizes for themselves and their owners. It was a wonderful time and all the dogs and people had a wonderful time. Perhaps the best part was having Lilith Anne, one of our rescues, get adopted that day and having Jett (formerly Trixie) come and enjoy the fun with her new owner as a former One Pup at a Time dog! See Lilith Anne below, hunting for eggs just after being adopted! See even more pictures of the egg hunt here!
Dog Training Classes Starting Soon at the Kennel
Fun with Agility, Saturday, June 4, 9-9:50am
Beginning Obedience/Manners, June 4, 10-11am
Puppy Preschool, June 4, 11-11:50am
Fun with Scentwork, June 16, 6-7:30pm
Confidence Building for Marshmallows, June 16, 7:30-8:30pm
Uh Oh! My dog looks guilty! By Vicki Ronchette, CPDT, CAP2
The other day my cattle dog Bill ate a cupcake off of the counter. He licked the icing off another one. My husband found the crumbs of the first cupcake and the frosting missing off of the other and said, "Oh man, someone ate a cupcake off the counter. Hey, they licked the frosting off of this one!" There are only two dogs big enough to do this but I was pretty sure which dog it was. I didn't say anything but looked for Bill and found him lying down behind the couch looking very "guilty". He looked the exact same way he looks when my husband raises his voice because his football team is losing, when something he is working on around the house isn't going his way and when he is losing at his video game. Do you see where this is going? Bill didn't feel "guilty" because he ate a cupcake, in fact, he didn't realize Rick was vocalizing about cupcakes, he responds that way anytime Rick is upset about anything. Bill is very close and attached to Rick and freakishly in tune with Rick's emotions. He is so sensitive to Rick's tone of voice in fact, that every time Rick raises his voice he slinks away regardless of what Rick is talking about or who Rick is talking to. In fact, Rick has taken to saying, "It's okay Bill, it's not you" nearly every time he raises his voice to stop Bill from worrying.
People are always saying that their dogs feel "guilty". They say this because this is how they perceive their dog's body language, usually just after they have found something that the dog has done that they don't like. What they don't understand is that the dog is not responding this way because he feels "guilt" or "remorse" over something he has done, in fact, the dog usually has not clue that he did something "wrong". The dog is simply responding to the owner's tone of voice and body language. If a person comes home from work, finds poop in the house, then has an anger meltdown because they have to clean it up, the dog will begin to look worried and afraid when the owner comes home. It isn't because of what he did, it is because of his past experiences of his owner coming home and then getting angry. By the way, a dog can find our reactions punishing regardless of how benign they may seem. To some very sensitive dogs, something has subtle as a heavy sigh or look of disgust can be punishing to the dog. It is so interesting to me how people are can be completely resistant to the fact that dogs have emotions (which they do) or they believe that they have emotions and because they do, they must be exactly like human emotions (which they aren't).
Dogs repeat behaviors that are reinforcing. They also live in the moment. I had a very hard time resisting those cupcakes, even though I had already eaten one! Bill saw them on the counter and wanted one, so he took one. I believe he saw it, wanted it, took it, ate it and then it was over. He probably forgot about the cupcake the moment he was finished eating it (even though there was still frosting on his lip when I found him behind the couch!). When Rick started to complain that a cupcake was eaten, Bill heard his tone and got worried like he always does. There was no cupcake-guilt about it. By the way, we didn't care too much that he ate a cupcake and Bill didn't get in "trouble" for it, we just felt stupid for leaving the cupcake container open on the edge of the counter. STUPID!
There has been a video circulating on the internet of a "guilty dog". The owner comes to the dog with a ripped bag of cat treats and says to the dog "Did you do this? Did you rip open these cat treats?". The dogs starts to do a series of appeasement behaviors including pinning his ears back, yawning, lip licking, squinting his eyes, and finally offering a full, submissive grin with all of his teeth showing. People watch it and laugh and say that the dog is guilty, but the dog is not feeling "guilty" the dog is simply responding to the owner's tone of voice. It's sad to watch actually if you know what is going on. If you tested it (which I don't recommend you do since it's stressful to your dog) you would see that your dog will respond the same way if your tone and body language worries him.
The take away message here is "please don't assume your dog is feeling guilty", he is likely just responding to you. Oh, and remember to put the lid back on the cupcake container before leaving it on the counter!
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