Shows to Watch!

As part of my never ending quest to stay on top of the news in Canine land, I like to watch dog-oriented shows on Animal Planet. Here are two shows that have fast become favorites here at the Casa Guillermo.

It's Me or the Dog!

Click here for scheduled times.

Host Victoria Stilwell is engaging, funny and down to earth in her approach to canine behavior problems. People contact her when their pups' bad acts threaten to undo their relationship. She has a straightforward personality and pulls no punches when advising her clients on the best way to preserve order in the home.

Last night I watched her use time tested methods to keep a Great Dane from ruining one couple's home and marriage. It all came down to the most basic premise in the world of training: Who is the boss? This big galoot of a dog was sleeping on their bed and growling at them when they tried to move him. He bothered them constantly while they cooked, read the paper or worked around the house. After just a few visits and some basic role reversal, the Dane got the message. The look of relief on those people's faces is one I am familiar with. All it took was a calm, knowledgeable approach and an objective observer to put things back on the right track.

I recommend watching this show to anyone with a dog, problem child or not, and anyone even thinking of getting a dog. Starting out right keeps the whole family out of that downward behavior spiral.


Dogs 101


This program is like having the AKC Breeder's Guide presented right in the comfort of your own home. Each show features three or four breeds and covers every aspect important to potential owners and trainers. The profile starts with a discussion the breed's ancestry and discusses its place in human history. Then every important detail is laid out: Grooming, temperament, health and nutrition. A panel of canine experts offers their advice and opinions of each breed as well. These are groomers, trainers and veterinarians.

All this advice gives the potential dog owner the information needed to make the right decision. If you are considering purchasing a purebred dog, please consider contacting a breed specific rescue organization first. Even "mutts" with recognizable breed conformation can be evaluated using the information on Animal Planet's Dogs 101. Enjoy!

Secret Trails: Buckeye Ranch

Here in the Bay Area we are blessed with hundreds of miles of hiking trails, many of them open to dogs. In the course of my explorations I came across one trail that is ideal for hikers and their pups in many ways. This is the Buckeye Ranch Trail, on the East side of Briones Regional Park in Lafayette. There are many ways to enter this vast park, but the entrance from Springhill Road is one of the best.

On really hot days, most regional hiking trails are far too hot and dusty to hike for long without getting worn out. If you come to the Buckeye Ranch Trail, you will find an oasis of cool forest hiking that will soothe you and your dog. The parking area is fairly small, but it is rare to see more than one or two cars parked there at any time of the day. I usually go there in the middle of the day on weekdays and have had the place all to myself!

Most of the trails in Briones eventually start rising sharply as you enter the main park area. Not so with Buckeye Ranch. You'll walk under shady trees at a gentle rise, then it will elevate slightly when you take the left fork at the second cattle gate. At the top of that rise you'll find yourself in a cathedral of trees, with only the sounds of birds and critters scuttling around in the undergrowth. Go through the next gate and down the wide trail all the way to the end. That's the Sunrise Trail. You'll have to double back to get to the gate at Buckeye Ranch Trail, making the whole hike a little over two miles.

Dogs are allowed off leash in Briones, but be careful of cows! Notices are posted on most cattle gates warning hikers to stay away from grazing cattle, especially young cows. Females are very protective of their young and can charge you or your dog if you get between mothers and their young or come too close.

I have seen a lot of bird life in this area of the park, and I once saw a king snake as well. Rattlesnakes are native to the area but extremely rare this far from Mount Diablo. To get to this entrance, take Highway 24 to the Pleasant Hill Road exit. Go northwest on Pleasant Hill Road and turn left at the first traffic light, Springhill Road. Then just follow Springhill to the end. Enjoy your hike!

The Pet Sitter is Coming!

As the Holidays approach, you might be thinking about your travel plans. Airline reservations, places to stay, points of interest all take up your extra time. Suddenly it occurs to you: What will we do about the pets? You may have had bad experiences in the past with asking neighbors, friends, and relatives to "stop by" when they weren't doing something more important. Now you're ready to hire a professional who can be relied upon to care for your pets. There are a lot of options out there that can fit your needs and those of your animal companions. Let's take a look at a few.

Drop In Pet Sitting

With this option, a person you hire comes to your home at an agreed-to time once or twice a day to care for the basic needs of your pets. They can also be asked to do other tasks, such as mail and newspaper pickup, watering plants, and rotating lights in your home to fool potential burglars. Dogs are typically taken out for a neighborhood walk and kitty litter boxes are cleaned. All this is covered in the initial visit, typically a free "setup" visit to get the pet sitter up to speed on the location of your pets' food, the alarm code, house key pickup, special instructions and any health problems.

Things to remember before the sitter gets there:

• Vet Information - Your vet's name, phone number and office location. You should also know the closest emergency vet clinic, as many emergencies happen outside regular office hours.
• If you have dogs, don't try to "step in" too much when the sitter gets there. This relationship starts now, and you won't be there next time they see him/her.
  
• Ask the potential sitter a lot of questions about their experience with your type of pet. Any classes in pet first aid? Behavior? How long has the sitter been in business? Make sure the sitter has a business license and carries current liability insurance. That protects the both of you in case of mishap.
• Trust your instinct. If the potential sitter leaves you feeling less than confident, let them know you'll be in touch and leave it at that. There are a lot of people out there vying for your business and you need to feel safe with your choice.
• If the first visit is going to be in the evening, leave the porch light on! Sure, the prepared pet sitter will have a flashlight, but what if a neighbor looks out the window to see a strange person fiddling with your door by flashlight? That's what I'm talking about.
• If you have cats and you need your pet sitter to clean the litter box, be sure to leave waste bags and extra litter. It's also nice to have hand washing supplies available so the sitter can clean up and not spread disease to other cats.
  

House Sitters

These folks come to your home and live at your house while you're away. You may have an invalid pet or you just feel more secure knowing that somebody is there most of the time to watch over things. The vetting process is the same for these types of sitters as well.

Boarding Kennels/Homes

There are many fine establishments in the Bay Area that will take in your pets and give them lots of care while you travel. A kennel will typically take in many animals and your pet will spend some time in a crate, run, or cage. Exercise will be taken care of at certain times of the day. If you are considering this option, visit the facility with your pet and again, ask a lot of questions. How much time will the pet be confined? What is the ratio of caregivers to pets? Are the pets monitored 24 hours a day? You deserve to know these things!

Some vet offices and hospitals provide boarding facilities, but the drawback is that the pet may spend more time confined than you are comfortable with. That should be your first concern.

There are private homes that take in a limited quantity of pets for boarding as well. This is an attractive option because most of these facilities allow the pets to run free much of the time and there is usually much more supervision of their interactions. Be sure to check the bona fides of these places and get references! That will tell you if time spent at this home will be quality time.

No matter which option you choose, the real proof will be your pet's behavior afterward. Is he fearful and nervous? Happy and tail-waggin'? Is his appetite normal? You'll know how well your contracted pet sitter did in short order and you can stick with the good ones for the life of your pet. Let the law of the "survival of the fittest" rule your choice when it comes to the care of your beloved animal companions. Here's a helpful link to get you started:

Pet Sitters International

Click on the "Locate a Pet Sitter" link, choose your service and enter your zip code. It's as easy as that!

Walkin' the Dog at the Lafayette Reservoir

Two or three times a week I take my buddy Baxter up to the Lafayette Reservoir just off Highway 24 near the Lafayette BART station. No matter what the weather, there are plenty of great sights to see as you walk on the lakeside or high country trails. While you're strolling around with Spot you'll see a wide variety of wildlife as well. I've seen turkeys, deer and even a bobcat! The bird life is incredible as well, with blue herons, a bald eagle in winter and once a year the rare sight of white pelicans.

The 2.7 mile paved trail is well maintained and the EBMUD rangers are always friendly and helpful. The trail starts in the parking lot and winds around the reservoir, with dips and hills that get the blood flowing. Bicycles are only allowed on Sunday, so traffic jams aren't problem while walking your dog.

If you're the adventurous type with a passion for cardio hiking, the Upper Rim Trail is just right for you. Plenty of steep climbs and breathtaking vistas await you, including a panoramic view of Mount Diablo from the West Ridge Trail. The total distance on this journey is 4.7 miles. Winter hiking can be tough, as the dirt trails turn to muck.

The best thing about the "Rez" is its ever-changing face. As the seasons shift, the landscape goes from green to gold. There are some deciduous trees that show brilliant color changes. The water can be calm and mirror-smooth or choppy, with whitecaps rolling across the surface. In the Fall and Winter the early morning mist makes you think you're walking through a Tolkien novel.

While the entire park is dog-friendly, it's important to remember it's all on-leash. There's a hefty fine for letting your pup run unleashed, and it's just bad manners as well. The next thing to bear in mind: Bring a pooper scooper bag! Even if you forget them in the car, there are three separate dispensers where bags are available free of charge. These bags cost the EBMUD eight cents apiece, but it's a small price overall to keep from tap-dancing around the piles. And yet people still leave poop along the trail!

To get to the Rez, take Highway 24 West from Walnut Creek and get off at the Central Lafayette exit. Turn left on Deer Hill Road and follow it to Upper Happy Valley. Left there and then right on Mt. Diablo Blvd. The entrance is less than a mile on the left. Turn left at the top of the driveway to park at the metered spaces. Metered parking costs a dollar per hour with a two hour maximum. If you find the Rez to be your kind of place like I did, you can buy a yearly parking pass for $120. That entitles you to unlimited parking time in the main lot. Hours are seasonal, so click here to check them out.

Doggie Etiquette

Manners, Please!

Imagine this: You're at the Mall, looking in shop windows and thinking about heading for the food court. Out of nowhere, somebody you've never met veers across the walkway and stands right next to you. They start asking you questions, looking in your bags, sniffing your hair and not letting you move forward. Second scenario: Same place, same unknown person. They stop you with an "Excuse me", and ask where the nearest Orange Julius stand is. You give your answer, they thank you and move on. Which person do you want to meet?

Believe it or not, your dog most wants to meet that second type as well. Not only that, you want your dog to be that second type.

I walk dogs in all sorts of social situations, from crowded city streets to open parkland, and the best way for our pooches to interact is by invitation. You'd be amazed at how quickly a "friendly" looking dog can suddenly become a snapping, snarling menace when you drop your guard, under the impression that all dogs want to run right up and meet each other. I have a couple of leash-aggressive pups that I walk regularly and it's not uncommon for another dog owner, their charge straining at the leash, to allow their dog to basically confront my dog. They get very miffed when I say "Excuse me, this is not a friendly dog." "Well, why are you walking him in public?"

Huh?

Here's the best bit of advice for any dog to dog situation: Ask first. As you approach another dog, get to a comfortable distance, say 15 feet or so, and ask: "Can my dog meet your dog?" If the answer is "Yes", both owners should stand on the outside, opposite each other so that the leashes don't cross. This allows either one to break contact for any reason without getting tangled up.

Dogs usually greet each other by a quick face to face and then go right for the butt. There are anal scent glands there that are the dog's "signature". If you notice that the other dog is pricking up its ears, getting stiff-legged, growling (of course), tail sticking straight up, or not allowing your dog to sniff his butt, simply say "OK, Fido, let's go" pleasantly and walk on. When it comes right down to it, your number one priority is having fun and keeping your dog safe. The snide remarks of uneducated dog owners should slide right off in the face of those considerations.

Dog Parks

Such a cauldron of doggie hormones and human anxiety! I frequently take my client dogs to the Hap Magee Ranch Dog Park in Danville for exercise and sociability training. There are a lot of experienced dog owners there who know the Rules. Number One being: Let Dogs Be Dogs! These guys love to run, bark, tumble, growl (playfully) and even hump each other. If a particular dog is acting out too aggressively, as in pinning another dog or starting a true fight, most of the folks there know to give that pooch a time out.

If it's your first time at a dog park, do all you can not to transfer your anxieties to the dog. Holding the leash, being overprotective or shouting at other dogs will make you persona non grata among the "regulars". Check the link I provided above for more dog park tips.

We can all get along just fine if we remember that the rules of socialization among our furry friends are not all that different than between ourselves.

Our Greatest Responsibility

I am a frequent visitor to the Hoffman's Reptiles here in Concord, CA. At first, Dan Hoffman might not strike you as a typical "pet store" owner. Good thing, because he's far from it. Posted right on the cashier's counter is this framed statement:

"When you purchase a living thing you hold its life in your hands. This is a awesome responsibility that must be taken seriously. If you cannot care for this precious life, do not take it home."

Can't argue with that. When I was a kid my concept of owning a pet was to go out to the store and buy some furry little critter, take him home and promptly ignore him. I had hamsters and gerbils because Mom and Dad didn't want to get a dog. All well and good, but when I tried to teach the little guys to fetch they just ran away under the bed. Not much fun. And that's really the problem with any new pet. Too often pets are purchased to fill some perceived need for companionship, a desire to teach responsibility or even as an exotic form of decor, without giving thought to the fact that we have now accepted a new life into our own and must cherish and nurture it.
I have volunteered at Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation and graduated from the Marin Humane Society's Consultant Instructor Training Academy and I have seen many pets who were simply abandoned because they were too much trouble to care for. These poor creatures had no control over who bought them and took them home. Too often the problem is bad planning on the part of the owners. Let me make some suggestions here:

1. Before you ever leave the house to get a pet, sit down and list all the pro's and con's of ownership. Where will it sleep? Who will feed it? Where will we get medical care for it? How much will it cost to keep this pet to old age? Whose pet is this?
2. Get somebody with an objective point of view to help you with your decision. When a good friend of mine was thinking about getting a dog, he asked me to come over and talk to the whole family about the process. I asked the kind of questions you see above, then I went with them to ARF to keep them from taking every dog home!
3. If you're getting an exotic pet like a snake or turtle, get all the information you can about their special needs. The East Bay Vivarium and Hoffman's Reptiles will talk to you about just what these guys need to survive and thrive.
4. If yours is a busy lifestyle, make sure the pet you choose can either come along or doesn't require copious amounts of your time. There's nothing more pitiful than seeing a dog chained to a tree in a yard, barking at passersby while its owners go on about their lives. If you can't spend time with it, don't get it!

Pets are a wonderful addition to our lives. My family zoo includes a dog, two cats, a rabbit, a lizard, a frog and a tarantula. They all have their places in our lives and we have made a commitment to help each one live to the full measure of their life expectancies. That can only be done through diligent, informed care.