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Wag Zone Urban Dog Retreat's Monthly "Wagazine"
309 Mansfield Pl. North Vancouver BC V7J 1E4 | 604.982.WAGZ(9249) | www.wagzone.ca
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| Volume 4, Number 2 | February 2011 |
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In the News...
World's Smartest Dog?
Think your baby is smart? This dog is smarter. Chaser the border collie has the largest human vocabulary of any dog, recognizing the names of more than 1,000 objects.
Read the article >>
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01-Feb - Ticker K
01-Feb - Harlow K
01-Feb - Sierra M
01-Feb - Cal H
09-Feb - Daisy M
10-Feb - Meika M
08-Feb - Pullo O
05-Feb - Buzz S
07-Feb - Lulu H
11-Feb - Toodles M
12-Feb - Maisy R
14-Feb - Bandit W
15-Feb - Cali A/B
15-Feb - Steve M
16-Feb - Cooper H
18-Feb - Fergus P
18-Feb - Cody L
18-Feb - Shadow D
19-Feb - Sadie H
23-Feb - Abbey N
23-Feb - Winston S
26-Feb - Linden A
28-Feb - Tigger C
28-Feb - Chrissy T
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Greetings!
So how is everyone faring with this well-trumpeted "worst winter in years"? Um... Well, I don't know if it is snowing on your block, but it's looking pretty clear here. That said, if the monster storms that have been pummeling the rest of the continent do ultimately head our way, just a reminder that our 4-wheel drive WagMobile is ready, willing and able to get your pup here to Wag Zone in the event your car is somewhat less enthused at that prospect.
With the holidays in our rear-view mirror and spring a speck on the too-distant horizon, we nonetheless have something to be quite excited about here at Wag Zone - the addition of pet-sitting to our list of services! Read below to see how Wag Zone might be able to better serve your pets and your home while you are out of town. Also, in our quest to become a full-service facility, we are researching the potential to add grooming to our offerings. If this is something that is of interest to you, please take our survey and let your opinion be known! Finally, for those of you with dogs who chew their way through your house and your patience, take heart! Behaviorist Ian Dunbar is to the rescue! Read on... |
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Wag Zone Goes to the Cats... sorta.
Wag Zone is excited to announce the addition of in-your-home Pet Sitting, serving most of the Lower Mainland!
Until now, we have been unable to serve customers needing care for their cats, hamsters and plants, not to mention dogs that are either not suited for or would not be comfortable in our frolicking cage-free environment.
Our team of fully bonded and insured professional pet sitters will cater to your pet's needs in the comfort of your own home while you away from home. Select from 30-, 45- or 60-minute visits or, if you prefer, you can opt for the sitter to spend the night chez vous, ensuring that your pets and house are cared for overnight.
Want your pup to play a few days at Wag Zone as well? We can tailor a pet-sitting/daycare/WagMobile combo to suit your needs specifically.
Rates Our Pet Sitting rates are priced according to the length of visit. Every visit will include at a minimum a potty break and cuddle/play time. We can also accommodate a variety of other pet- and home-related requests, most at no additional charge, provided that sufficient time is allotted for the visit. Rates cover care for one dog plus up to two cats. Additional pets incur an added charge.
Visit Type Rate 30-Minute $25 45-Minute $30 60-Minute $40 3x30-Minute Visits per Day $65 Overnight $75 per night Extra Dog/Cat $10
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Chew-Chew Training
Anyone who's had a puppy has likely experienced firsthand the frustration and destruction that a chewing dog can dole out. If your dog is a Pac Man wannabe, read on. Renowned dog behaviorist Ian Dunbar has some help for you...
Chewing is essential for maintaining the health of your dog's teeth, jaws, and gums. Puppies especially have a strong need to chew to relieve the irritation and inflammation of teething. Dogs chew to relieve anxiety and boredom, as well as for entertainment. Your dog's jaws are his tools for carrying objects and for investigating his surroundings. Essentially, a dog's approach to all items in his environment is "Can I chew it?"
Chewing is Normal, Natural, and Necessary Dogs generally sleep at night and in the middle of the day. However, chewing is your dog's primary form of entertainment during his morning and late afternoon activity peaks. After all, there are only so many things your dog can do when left at home alone. He can hardly read a novel, telephone friends, or watch the soaps! Indeed, most chewing sprees stem from your dog's relentless quest for some form of occupational therapy to pass the time of day when left at home alone.
Chewing is a perfectly normal, natural, and necessary canine behavior. Prevention and treatment of destructive chewing focus on management and education-to prevent your dog from chewing inappropriate items and to redirect your dog's natural chewing-urge to appropriate, acceptable, and resilient chewtoys.
Prevent Destructive Chewing  When leaving home, confine your puppydog to a long-term confinement area, such as a single room-your puppydog's playroom-with a comfortable bed, a bowl of water, a doggy toilet (if not yet housetrained), and nothing to chew but half a dozen freshly-stuffed chewtoys. Housetrained adult dogs may be confined (with their chewtoys) to a dog crate. When you return, instruct your dog to fetch his chewtoys so you can extricate the freeze-dried liver pieces and give them to your dog. Your dog will happily settle down and entertain himself with his chewtoys as soon as you leave in the morning, and he will be more inclined to search for chewtoys when he wakes up in anticipation of your afternoon return. This is important since most chewing activity occurs right after you leave home and right before you return.
When you are home, confine your puppy to her doggy den (crate) with nothing but a freshly-stuffed chewtoy for entertainment. Every hour on the hour (or at longer intervals with housetrained adult dogs), take your puppydog to her doggy toilet (see Housetraining blueprint), and if she goes, praise her and play some chewtoy games with her before putting her back in her crate with a freshly stuffed chewtoy.
The purpose of confinement is to prevent your dog from chewing inappropriate items around the house and to maximize the likelihood your dog will develop a chewtoy habit.
Redirect Chewing to Chewtoys  The confinement schedule described above optimizes self-training; your dog will train herself to chew chewtoys. In fact your dog will soon become a chewtoyaholic. With a good chewtoy habit, your puppy will no longer want to destroy carpets, curtains, couches, clothes, chair legs, computer disks, children's toys, or electrical cords. Your dog will be less likely to develop into a recreational barker. And also, your dog will happily settle down calmly and quietly and will no longer be bored or anxious when left alone.
You must also actively train your dog to want to chew chewtoys. Offer praise and maybe a freeze-dried liver treat every time you notice your dog chewing chewtoys. Do not take chewtoy chewing for granted. Let your dog know that you strongly approve of her newly acquired, appropriate, and acceptable hobby. Play chewtoy games with your dog, such as fetch, search, and tug-of-war.
Chewtoys should be indestructible and nonconsumable. Consumption of non-food items is decidedly dangerous for your dog's health. Also, destruction of chewtoys necessitates their regular replacement, which can be expensive. However, compared with the cost of reupholstering just one couch, $70 worth of chewtoys seems a pretty wise investment.
Kongs, Biscuit Balls, Squirrel Dudes, Busy Buddy Footballs, and sterilized long-bones are by far the best chewtoys. They are made of natural products, are hollow, and may be stuffed with food to entice your dog to chew them exclusively. To prevent your dog from porking out, ensure that you only stuff chewtoys with part of your dog's daily diet (kibble or raw food). Firmly squish a piece of freeze-dried liver in the small hole in the Kong, fill the rest of the cavity with moistened kibble, and then put the Kongs in the freezer. Voila, Kongsicles! As the kibble thaws, some falls out easily to reinforce your dog as soon as she shows interest. Other bits of kibble come out only after your dog has worried at the Kong for several minutes, thus reinforcing your dog's chewing over time. The liver is the best part. Your dog may smell the liver, see the liver, (and maybe even talk to the liver), but she cannot get it out. And so your dog will continue to gnaw contentedly at the Kong until she falls asleep.
Until your dog is fully chewtoy-trained, do not feed her from a bowl. Instead, feed all kibble, canned food, and raw diets from chewtoys, or handfeed meals as rewards when you notice your dog is chewing a chewtoy.
© 2004 Ian Dunbar |
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Inquiring Minds Want to Know... Grooming & Baths
 Wag Zone is committed to providing the services and products that you need to enhance your relationship with your dog. It can be hard to thrive in a relationship where one of you smells like...well, a dog. To that end, we are exploring the potential for incorporating Professional Grooming into our service selection. We are also revisiting how we can improve our current bath options for our daycare clients. To make sure we get this right, we need your help. |
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Woof!
Robina & the Pack @
Wag Zone Urban Dog Retreat, Ltd.
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FREE
MEATY
BONE!! |
Take a Survey, Get a Bone.
Take our Grooming & Bath Survey by February 28, 2011 and get a meaty bone on us! At the conclusion of the 5-minute survey, you will be directed to a page containing the coupon. Simply print it out and bring it along with you to Wag Zone to get your FREE fresh Wag Bonz Meaty Bone.
| | Offer Expires: February 28, 2011 |
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