Pugkin Spice
Tag Archives: Dog
Don’t Forget…
By Karen Smith
1. Don’t be upset when I jump for joy when you come through the door.
2. Give me time to understand what you want from me.
3. Give me your trust.
4. Don’t be angry with me for too long.
5. Take me inside when the weather gets bad.
6. Talk to me.
7. Comfort me when I’m scared.
8. Remember that I’ll never forget how you treat me.
9. Come outside with me.
10. Let me make new friends.
11. Give me a treat ever once in a while.
12. Please don’t hit me.
13. Understand when I need my alone time.
14. Show me your world.
15. Teach me new things.
16. Let me get dirty once in a while.
17. Touch me.
18. Pay attention if I don’t seem like myself.
19. Love me when I’m old just as much as you did when I was young.
HaPpY Easter!
Spring has Sprung
Sláinte!
Good Day Sunshine
Five Ways to Have a Great Morning With Your Dog
A handful of people love the morning, the rest of us manage to stumble our way through breakfast. If you have a dog it’s important to always make time for them, especially if you’re going to be at work all day. Dogs don’t necessarily understand a working day, and so it’s vital that you make them feel special in the brief amount of time you have with them before work. Here are our five top tips for sharing a great morning:
1. Always Say Good Morning
It seems like such a simple thing, but if you’re rushed off your feet with the morning routine, a dog can feel lonely, or even an inconvenience. Make sure your dog feels loved in the morning by speaking to them. A quick ‘good morning’ and some fuss goes a long way if that’s their only contact with you until the evening. If you think that you’re too busy to spend a few minutes with you dog in the morning, then a great tip is to not look at your phone until you leave the house. It’s far too easy to get distracted by Facebook, Instagram, and other social media, and lose 15 minutes of valuable time. You’ll feel much more relaxed if you spend that short amount of time playing with your best friend!
2. Spend Time With Each Other After Breakfast
It can sometimes feel like the mornings follow a set routine: bathroom, breakfast, and then leave the house. Instead, it’s a great idea to subtly rearrange your time and spend 15 minutes with your dog after breakfast. This is additional time in which you can relax, and forget about work, and so you’ll leave the house with a clearer head. There are a few things you can do with this extra time. Maybe just sit on the sofa in your pyjamas and give your dog a quick cuddle, or more practically make a to-do list for the day while playing with your dog – you don’t need to write anything down, just do it in your head!
3. Go For a Morning Run
Going to a run in the morning has numerous health benefits, and will leave you feeling like you can conquer the world. If you go on the run with your dog, then you can combine two tasks, as you’ll also be spending quality time with your dog. Dogs need exercise as much as people do, and so you’ll both be getting so much fitter than if you just went for a quick walk. Getting outside in your running gear is a great way to see your neighbourhood in a totally new perspective, and your dog will appreciate it so much more than just being let out into the garden for a quick wee.
4. Have a Healthy Breakfast
Much like exercise, dogs and humans both need a balanced diet. Breakfast is an essential component of any diet, and so it’s important to make sure that you both start off the day correctly. There are loads of recipes online for healthy dog breakfasts (and for you!), and it can be a great bonding experience if you both eat at the same time.
5. Teach Something New Every Morning
Depending on your breed of dog, teaching tricks can be varying levels of effort. Even if you have the most uncooperative dog in the world, spending five minutes on a trick every morning can be a great way for your dog to learn new things. Not everyone has the time to commit a few hours to teaching a rtrick, but spending just five minutes a day will allow your dog to learn a new trick every couple of weeks!
From Topfido.com
Perfect Bedfellows
Five Great Reasons to Share a Bed With Your Dog
Dogs are the best companions, although it’s probably a good idea to not tell your other half that! They’re also great to share a bed with, as they provide comfort, warmth, and many other benefits. It’s great for your dog to have its own bed for when you don’t want something heavy lay on your feet, but sometimes you just need that extra cuddle. These are our top five reasons for sharing your bed with your dog:
1. Anxiety Relief. Dogs are extensively used to treat severe anxiety disorders, and there’s a reason for that. They’re gentle, and help to relax people, meaning they are as effective as many pharmacological interventions. Being relaxed when you are trying to drift off is essential for good quality sleep, and having a dog to help you forget about the world is a great first step. That is until you’re woken up at 6am because your dog needs to let you know that it still loves you, by licking your face – it’s a small price to pay!
2. Safety. It doesn’t matter how old you get, when it’s dark and you hear a noise in the kitchen you have an internal freak out. Burglar or bogeyman, having a dog in your bed will provide that extra sense of protection. Even if you have a Chihuahua, just knowing something else is there will make you feel safer. The extra sense of security, if nothing else, will help you accept your fate and fall back to sleep. After all, what is someone going to steal from the kitchen, the Breville blender?
3. Happier Dog. Dogs absolutely love spending time with their owners. The only thing that they love more is sleeping. Combining the two, and letting your dog sleep on your bed, will relax them and make them feel unbelievably loved. Dogs are much like people, and need to feel safe and loved. There are few better ways to reassure your dog than with a 7am cuddle before you both have to face the day (although admittedly, your dog probably has it easier as it never has to meet your boss!).
4. Warmth. There’s nothing more comforting on a cold Sunday morning in December than cuddling up to your dog, knowing that you don’t have to get out of bed for another few hours. It only gets better when your other half offers to make breakfast, but most of us have to settle for the dog at the end of the bed! Dogs are built for providing warmth, with their thick coats and love of cuddles, and so really it just makes sense to let them share your bed.
5. Treat Depression. A dog will love its owner no matter what. If you don’t let a dog on your bed, it isn’t going to care too much, but bring surrounded by that lover when you fall asleep can help to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety and depression. If you’re feeling down, and need something to lift you out of a cycle of depression then there are few better things than the unconditional love of a little bundle of fluff. Feeling down, and then fighting off a dog while it insists on licking your face in the morning is a great way put a smile on your face, and give you the strength required to face the day!
From Topfido.com
How do you describe YOUR Pug?
Walks for Love
Came across this and wanted to share. What a nice idea…
Walks for Love
Anne Sardena, founder of “Walks for Love” in San Diego, Calif., understands the power of the walk—and the power of a helping hand. That is why she started the volunteer, non-profit dog walking service for owners who are otherwise unable to walk their dogs.
“As a pet sitter, I realized that there are a lot of dogs that are neglected because their owners are unable to care for them,” said Anne. “It bothered me to think about all of the dogs I could be helping, dogs that just want to go outside for a walk, or spend time with someone, but they are stuck inside with owners that are disabled or ill and can’t physically take care of their pet.”
Still in its initial stages, Walks for Love is currently working solely in the San Diego, Calif. area with hopes to bring the concept to other parts of the US. Recently, however, the group has joined efforts with the local Meals on Wheels program, which provides meals for the elderly and disabled, to help walk the dogs of those who receive their meal service.
Due to his owners disability, Sky was not walked in four years. With the help of Walks for Love, Sky is now getting daily walks. As the organization begins its expansion, Anne remembers how it all started. “The first dog I started walking was referred to me by a company that provides mobility service dogs,” said Anne. “The dog’s owner had a progressive form of a disease that weakens the body’s muscles. After I walked his dog for the first time, he looked at her and said ‘she looks happy.’ I felt so fortunate to help the dog’s owner.”
Arrr!
Pugminded 