Dogs and Pools
16 August 2008Following on from my last serious post about dogs being left in hot cars in the summer sun Hot Dogs, I’m keeping the serious stuff going with a hard hitting article about another equally fatal danger that lurks in many places especially during this hot summer season.
Swimming pools.
Now especially here in Spain but I gather it is prevalent in many warm countries, many homes and community areas have their own swimming pools. We have one in our community and it is open to all residents in our small array of homes. Being in the centre of our communal gardens each home has easy access to the pool. There are signs everywhere saying NO DOGS and for very good reason.
Our pool, like most private or community pools is not supervised by a dedicated attendant, so supervision of children is left in the capable hands of the parents and here in Spain, the family unit is much stronger than in many other countries. This works well as it should do - naturally parents are the best people to look after their children and there are always adults in the vicinity of the pool during the day.
But at other times there is no one at the pool. Children are not allowed in the pool after dark - a rule imposed by their parents for safety reasons, so there is no need.
But what about dogs?
Well, it is up to the owners of dogs to ensure they don’t get into the communal gardens where they are not allowed but mistakes can be made. A gate can be left open and an inquisitive four legged explorer may take a stroll to see if there is anything interesting. It has happened only recently that a splash was heard in the pool after dark by one resident who went down to look only to find a small dog frantically swimming around the pool looking for a way out.
Now most pools in Spain and other Mediterranean countries have the common ladders for people to get in and out, but these are no use to a dog, who can’t climb a ladder! In this case, had it not been for the diligence of that resident, that dog would have swum around and around until it was exhausted and then drowned. Luckily there was a happy ending as the resident got the dog out of the pool.
But we hear reports of many unhappy endings and it is so sad to hear about. Unfortunately, it is often not economically viable to restructure a communal pool to include steps at the shallow end, so changes cannot be made. It is antisocial to cordon off a pool just so a dog cannot gain access and in any event an access gate just just as easily be left open by an irresponsible person. The best that can be done is what our community actioned a few years ago and that is completely fence in the entire communal gardens with lockable security gates. That keeps out dogs who have gotten out of their homes and are wandering around the streets as well as non-residents.
But still this is not enough as some of the homes are rented through the summer to people who don’t respect our security and carelessly and irresponsibly leave gates open. That is how the stray dog got in on that occasion.
There is no easy solution to this problem, because people are not going to spend money on restructuring their pools or fencing them off, especially now that money is a lot tighter with the recession biting hard. Communities cannot police their gardens 24/7 as it is just too expensive. You may pipe up and say:
“What price a dog’s life?”
To that there is no sensible answer, except to retort “What price some education for ignorant, irresponsible people who don’t care enough about the security measures already in place in the homes they are not living in permanently.”
While pools can ultimately kill dogs, the problem can be looked upon in the same way as the safety of guns. It is said that “guns don’t kill - people using guns kill.” In the same way, and this goes for children as well as dogs - “pools don’t kill, ignorance and irresponsibility kills.”
But then, so many people don’t care. Until it happens to their dog, or their child.
Hot Dogs
31 July 2008Following my last post that covered Other Dog Toys, I want to turn my attention to a serious side to owning a dog. But first a little background.
Here in Spain as in the rest of the northern hemisphere we are in the hottest period of the summer and temperatures during the hottest part of the day, between 2pm and 5pm can soar up to the high 30s centigrade and beyond. But that’s the temperature outside, in the sun. People park their cars in the sun and you can bet it gets a lot hotter inside them than it is outside.
Recently, the news headlines screamed at the tragic incident of a little boy of about 2 years old that was left in a car, parked in the sun, by his father who went off to the bank and thought he’d only be a short time. Well, two hours later he returned to the car and found his son dead from the heat.
This is tragic and so sad because it could so easily have been avoided had the father of that boy had enough brain cells floating around in his empty head to understand the implications of his actions. This incident could and should be discussed and investigated at length so that it doesn’t happen again.
But this is not a site about children, but dogs.
Which leads me on to something that is less well reported but every bit as tragic. These are the incidents when dog owners leave their dogs in their cars parked in the sun. Off the go to do their shopping or visit friends or whatever without the slightest regard for the suffering they inflict on their loyal pets. They lock them in with the windows closed and no water to drink and expect them to be there wagging their happy little tails when they return.
The sad and tragic reality is that these ignorant and stupid owners return to their cars to find their so called best friends dead from heat exhaustion - partially cooked in the back seat of their metal tombs.
This is a wake up call to anyone who thinks it is ok to lock a dog in a car in the heat and go away for more than even a few minutes.
If there is no choice and you must leave your dog in your car, at least leave the windows open enough so that some fresh air can pass through. Leave a sturdy bowl with water in a place the dog will not easily knock it over. If you have any shading devices like the reflective silver sheets you can buy cheaply in auto stores, put them up in the front and rear windscreens and even then, make sure you either make your absence short or return to the car often to make sure your dog is ok and not too hot.
But preferably, if you know that you will not be able to take your dog with you when you leave your car, leave him at home for heaven’s sake and don’t risk his life so foolishly.
Other Dog Toys
21 June 2008After my last post For Dogs Gets Page 1, its time to look once again at some fun dog toys to get your dogs playing and exercising and having fun while their owner can join in too!
A coupel of posts ago I was talking about those amazing Kong toys for dogs and how perfect they are for dogs of all sizes to play with and also to learn how to chase a randomly bouncing and rolling thing taht has a mind of its own!
Well, lets turn our attention to the soft toys that dogs love to play with. Soft dog toys are fine for small dogs as their small jaws don’t have quite the same destructive power of a larger dog so they can’t rip them to bits so fast. That’s not to say small dogs can’t obliterate a soft toy in a matter of moments, just that getting them the right ones will at least prolong the fun long enough for them to eventually get bored and move on to something else!
I notice that there are some very good and also some very poor soft dogs toys available for sale in pet stores and bigger supermarket style retail outlets, but buyer beware. They’re not all as resilient as you’d think. Now, this is not a post that is going to name names, just a timely reminder that when you go to buy your dog a soft toy, check out the overall feel of it first. If it looks flimsy, then it probably is and won’t last five minutes with your dog’s eager energy!
I’ve seen some very good soft or plush dog toys as they’re also known that can be had for reasonable prices and also some rubbish. Likewise, even at the more expensive end of the market there are still some poor quality toys that you’d be better off leaving alone, or saving your money and going to one of the cheap shops and buying hald a dozen small cheap soft toys meant for kids for the same price - you’ll probably get more wear out of them!
Having said that, the middle range as far as price is concerned has some good plush toys for dogs that I’d certainly go for. Hate to sound like I’m harking on one company, but I cannot fault those Kong soft toys for dogs for being hardwearing and long lasting especially with my two little terriers!
Well, that’s where I’ll leave it for now. I’ve got some playing to do with two eager dogs!
For Dogs Gets Page 1!
10 June 2008This is a fast follow on from the last post Kong Toys For Dogs, but I just noticed this and so simply had to post it here. You’ll see from the screen shot below that this blog, For Dogs has actually made it onto Google’s page one for its main search term, “for dogs”.
For a bigger screenshot, just click on the image
That’s really great news for this place as I haven’t really promoted it very hard at all, just kept up with it and let plenty of people know about it. Top top it all, you might notice that we are beating over nine million competing pages for this page one spot and on the main data centre for the US, so I’m quite proud of this achievement.
Well, hopefully that’ll give the strange dog Ronnie and his wild step sister Daisy a lift in their popularity, as well as raise the memory of Chelsea to new heights!
Kong Toys For Dogs
8 June 2008
Kong toys for dogs has suddenly grabbed my attention, espcially as once again I’ve left it a bit long to post in here since my last post Summer Dog Haircuts. That’s because time constraints are really biting now. Nevertheless, there are a multitude of sites that need care, love and attention and this one deserves some too! So I thought I’d change tack a little here and talk about some interesting things that dogs like and get endless amounts of fun from. Kong toys for dogs are really cool doggy entertainment so this post will cover some of the better known and loved dog toys from Kong.
First of all, if you’ve never heard of Kong toys for dogs, you might be wondering what on earth they are.
Well, in the mid 1970s, the new brand of dog toys, Kong was born. Their philosophy was to produce dog toys that were resilient, tough and hard wearing along with features that would be beneficial for dogs to play with plus fun too.
The first Kong toys for dogs were the red, round sort of half rugby ball shaped things with a hole in one end. The idea behind the design was primarily to stop certain hunter-killer behaviour in certain dog breeds, ie when you throw them a ball it goes in a straight line teaching the dog to chase it down and “kill” once caught, by chewing it up into little pieces.
Kong dog toys are different in that when you throw it for your dog, it does not go in a straight line. Rather, it careers all over the place like a rugby ball but worse, never going in a straight line, so that dogs with that chase-down-and-kill instict cannot satisfy that part of their personality. Instead they have to chase the Kong dog toy all over the place constantly changing direction as they chase it. When they finally “catch” their prey, killing it becomes almost impossible because the high density rubber the Kong dog toy is made of is too tough for dogs to chew up.
Also, to add to the entertainment value, the Kong dog toy was made hollow so that you can fill the inside with dog biscuits or some other treat so that when your dog catches the Kong dog toy, it gets a treat!
As time went by, the Kong toys for dogs range expanded with different sized original Kongs plus other similarly resilient, tough and hard wearing toys joining their range of fun dog toys. The range now includes dental chews that are perfect for cleaning your dog’s teeth while it enjoys a good chew. There is a zoom groom toy that doubles as a fur brush but is made of the same tough rubber as the Kong toys for dogs, so if your dog wants to steal it and chew it up, well it can steal it all right but it won’t be able to destroy it by chewing!
The range of Kong toys for dogs also includes a black Kong, which is patented as the world’s strongest rubber dog toy. It is the same shape as the red original, just even tougher! There is also a Kong ball, which in my opinion flys in the face of the whole idea of preventing dogs chasing down their prey, so it is not a good toy for an attacking breed such as a German Shepherd or Rotweiler but its ok for the non-attack oriented dog breeds and is almost indestructible.
So if you want to buy your dog a long lasting, fun and entertaining dog toy, the Kong is perfect for all breeds as it comes in several sizes to suit the size of breed. By the way, this is not an ad for Kong toys, just a review with no links to their sites. I’m writing it because I have had Kong dog toys of various sizes for my dogs in the past and now in the present and they have all been the perfect dog toy. I will be looking at other brands of dog toys in future articles to balance things out, but Kong gets the first bite of teh cherry because in my opinion, Kong toys for dogs are the best and my personal favourite (and that of my current strange dogs, by the way!)
Summer Dog Haircuts
5 May 2008Apologies firstly for not being here for a while, but after my last post Dogs and Health, I got a bit sidetracked with that four letter word: WORK!!! Yes, I do have to earn my crust and as I write online I have to take the freelance jobs when they arrive, they take precedence over anything else.
So what’s been happening with our two little Yorkies since I last wrote in here? Well, for one thing as summer is upon us once again, they have had their summer dog haircuts and here’s a picture of them out and about to prove it:
They all of a sudden don’t look too much like Yorkies any more, do they? In fact, Ronnie looks more like a miniature doberman than what he’s supposed to be!
Daisy just turns her head away every time I point a camera at her, as she’s probably rather embarassed at her new hairdo! Still, it keeps them cool for the hot summer months that we experience here in southern Spain, although what often happens is that by August, they’ve grown a fair proportion of that coat back again and have to suffer the last few weeks of the Spanish heat with overcoats on!
I’ve managed to snap a few more pics of the two of them and will post them in later posts as its always nice to see them in the flesh so to speak!
