Tag: Boston dogs

A Puppy Girl Named Joe!

Sunday Dogs come in all sizes and shapes, but never any cuter than Joe. Because of her stunningly white coat, we saw this puppy coming from quite a distance.

And, when she came closer to investigate the three of us, we couldn’t stop staring at her beauty.

At two months old, Joe is already the size of a full-grown Westy. Make friends now, Poppy, because this gorgeous Boxer will soon look a lot different – but, we have to believe she’ll be just as sweet.

Joe was born in France and has just arrived state-side. As she explores Boston and gets to know her new setting, we’re looking forward to seeing her around town. And, I’m sure we’ll be posting more Sunday Dog photos as she develops into a strong, healthy adult.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

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Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

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October 19, 2014
Sunday Dog, Sophie – A Refreshingly Candid Shar Pei

We met a lovely Shar Pei named Sophie recently and no sooner had we exchanged greetings than we all found ourselves talking like old friends. It’s funny how that happens.

Sophie agreed to a quick Sunday Dog photo shoot followed by what turned out to be a very personal Q & A session about her breed. She spoke of her ancestors from southern China and how Shar Pei comes from Cantonese – meaning “sand skin” (the rough feel of her coat).

Then, without hesitation, Sophie went right to the obvious, answering the question everyone wants to ask, but often avoids …

“Yes,” she said proudly, “I have wrinkles.” However, we learned that the Shar Pei tends to unwrinkle a bit as it ages (humans should be so lucky). Sophie boasted, “Wrinkles? You should have seen me as a puppy!”

Besides being very candid, a Shar Pei is also known as independent, loyal, reserved, loving, protective of its family, and sometimes stubborn.

There are many variations of Shar Pei coat colors including Red, Cream, Chocolate, and Blue – like Sophie, who also has the classic Shar Pei blue-black tongue.

At five years old, Sophie is a gorgeous example of her breed who loves pats and getting to know her two and four legged neighbors. We’ll talk again soon, girl. Thanks for being such a spectacular Sunday Dog!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 12, 2014
Dock Dog, Savoring the Sunset

This beautiful, old pup watched me as I took photos of sailboats in the sunset from the Gloucester Street Dock on the Esplanade. Only the dog’s eyes moved. The canine’s body remained cuddled up touching both people with him or her.

But those captivating brown eyes kept track of this person with the big black lens moving around the little pack.

Those eyes remained alert, curious, but content to sit and enjoy basking in the sunset with the family.

Naturally, I could not resist taking a few photos of such a beautiful dog.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Ed Cherubino

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October 5, 2014
Finding Pros for Your Dog in Boston: Walkers, Pet Sitters, and Kennels

Dog Walkers

Dog walkers are a common sight around the city. These professionals fill in for family during the work day, making sure the pups get breaks to relieve themselves and a nice dose of exercise. As when hiring any caregiver for an animal you love, ask friends and neighbors for recommendations and ask questions about those aspects of the job that are important to you and your dog.

What Questions? Here is a post from Dogwalker.com that outlines important ones you might overlook.

Pet Sitters

Those who have cats and other indoor pets, as well as dogs, might need a pet sitter from time to time. Pet sitters will come to your home each day, stay in your home, or keep your pet in their home.

If you use a dog walker, start with him or her. You and your dog already know and trust the person who is in and out of your house each day and responsible for your dog’s safety on the city streets. Many dog walkers do offer pet sitting.

There are also a few people in every neighborhood who make a little extra income by taking care of pets. If you ask neighbors for recommendations, you may find a gem in your area.

Some dog breeders provide boarding services for dogs in their line. In the case of small scale breeders, your pet could have the run of their home except at bedtime.

Boarding Kennel or Dog Hotel?

Boarding kennels vary drastically in the quality of the facilities and the services they offer. You should insist on seeing exactly where your pet will be kept and inspect the entire facility before choosing one.

Here's a great article on choosing a kennel from the Humane Society of the United States.

Dog hotels are one step up from kennels. They offer rooms with walls and furniture rather than wire pens or kennels. The best dog hotels are quieter, calmer, and more like a home environment than kennels.

Special Health Requirements

Boarding facilities will require proof that your animal is up-to-date on immunizations and in good health. If you have a dog or cat with serious health issues who needs careful monitoring of a medical condition or is very frail, consider boarding your pal at a veterinary hospital with 24-hour medical staff on duty. Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain offers this type of service for their clients.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2011-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino witht he traveling dog from iStockphoto.com

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September 28, 2014
Welcome to Boston Dog Lovers: What You Need to Know…

Each year around this time, we welcome a pack of new pups to the city. We have checked the links and updated this post for 2017.

Now that most of the families with dogs have settled into their Boston homes, we want to say hello and help them find out what they need to know about having a dog in Boston.

Miss Maudie was less then 6-months-old when she posed for this photo.

Legal Matters

Massachusetts state law requires that any dog more than 6-months-old must be licensed. In Boston, you can pick up a license at City Hall or download an application online from the Animal Care and Control page on the city website.

Boston's leash law is clearly stated on the city’s site, “When your dog is off your property, it must be on a leash.” City ordinance calls for a leash of 10-feet or less. That makes most retractable leashes technically illegal in Boston.

Felix prefers a leather leash or halter for his walks around the Back Bay.

Legal exceptions to the leash law are the “official off-leash hours” on the Boston Common, and inside the fences at dog parks like Peter’s Park in the South End and Ronan Park in Dorchester.

One more interesting aspect of Boston’s dog rules is that while out with your pup, if asked, you must be able to show that you are carrying something to pick up dog waste. This makes city dog walks a prime reason to attach a roll of pick-up bags to your leash.

Even if you use recycled bags to do the majority of your clean ups, the roll will give you back up supplies if you are stopped after your dog’s business is done, but the walk isn’t.

Emercency Services

The one bit of guidance we do give to any dog family is that Angell Animal Medical Center Emergency Services are available, as they say, “…every day of the year, 24 hours each day.” We keep their number on our cell phones in case of an emergency. And, it can't hurt to take a ride to the location so you will know where you are going in a stressful time.

On upcoming Sundays, we'll fill you in on a few more things you might like to know about taking care of, and having fun with, your dog in Boston. And, if you have a great Sunday Dog you'd like us to feature, let us know in the comments below.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino (Some of this material was previously published in Penny's City Paws newspaper column.)
Photography: © 2013-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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September 14, 2014
Look Who We Just Met, Sunday Dog Monty!

We were sitting on a park bench last Sunday morning soaking up some lazy, August sunshine when along came Monty. This very friendly, curious five-month-old wanted to say hello to everyone and get some pats, which we happily supplied.

This handsome English Springer Spaniel is called Monty in memory of famed WWII British commander Bernard Montgomery. Although it’s hard to imagine our Monty with his own command, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear him occasionally bark out an order or two …

Springers are known for their intelligence along with a willingness to obey. They are confident, curious, like the water, and said to make fine family pets.

The name springer is said to refer to the act of “springing” game into the open. However, Monty is from a “show” line, not a “hunting” line, meaning he was bred to have a slightly different appearance including a longer coat.

Look closely and you’ll see that Monty is already starting to grow his “feathers” (as they’re called) on his legs – a feature that’ll also adorn his tail.

Great to meet you, Monty! You made our summer morning. Thanks for being this week’s Sunday Dog.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 24, 2014
Dogs in Danger from the Xylitol Around Your Home

Do you have a dog who likes to explore and can seem to get into everything? Then you should be on watch for xylitol lurking around your home because it is toxic to dogs.

Start checking labels. Low sugar and artifically sweetened items including peanut butter, gum, candy, baked goods, and toothpaste may contain xylitol among their ingredients. Some cooling clothing is even impregnated with it.

Here, from two sources, is what you need to know about this ingredient that could lead to hypogylcemia or liver failure in dogs. (So far, toxicity in cats has not been proven.)

From Veterinary Medicine, here is a report on the effects of xylitol that the ASPCA is making available via their poison control center.

If at some point that link doesn't work, you can Download: Effects of Xylitol Ingestion in Dogs, here.

A more recent report from the site Pet Poison Hotline reports:

"In addition to finding xylitol in gum, sugar-free candies, mints, and baked goods, we are now seeing it in many healthcare products. There is even a line of clothing with xylitol embedded in it! Some of the places we have seen xylitol include chewable vitamins, gummy vitamins, lozenges/cough drops, sublingual supplements and medications (over the counter and prescription), liquid medications (over the counter and prescription), breath sprays, medication/supplement sprays, toothpastes, nasal sprays, mouth rinses/washes, essential oil products, cosmetics, and many sugar-free foods and baking ingredients."

Download Xylitol – It’s Not Just in Gum Anymore – Pet Poison Helpline

The Many Names of Xylitol

In addition to inclusion in many products besides the sugarless gum we learned about initially, it is not always called xylitol. You may see it listed as sugar alcohol, birch sugar, E967, Meso-Xylitol, Méso-Xylitol, Sucre de Bouleau, Xilitol, Xylit, Xylite, or 1,2,3,4,5-Pentahydroxypentane, XyliteXylo-pentane-1,2,3,4,5-pentol.

Keep it Away

If you have sugarless gum in your bag or backpack, be sure to put it somewhere your dog can't reach. If you have other products in your home, place them out of reach. If you have clothing embedded with xylitol, keep your dog from mouthing it or licking it until we find out if it, too, is dangerous.

In our house, sugarless gum is kept in sealed mason jars and carried in sealed plastic bottles. And, we don't discard gum in any trash can our Poppy can reach.

When outside, we keep a watch for wads of discarded gum. Not only is that dangerous if ingested, but also we recall spending one long session of cutting gum out of the fur and between the pads of a dog's paw. Not fun!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs (and other critters) at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino, edited for BostonZest from her CIty Paws Newspaper Column.
Photography: iStockphoto.com

August 17, 2014
Dogs in Danger from the Xylitol Around Your Home

Do you have a dog who likes to explore and can seem to get into everything? Then you should be on watch for xylitol lurking around your home because it is toxic to dogs.

Start checking labels. Low sugar and artifically sweetened items including peanut butter, gum, candy, baked goods, and toothpaste may contain xylitol among their ingredients. Some cooling clothing is even impregnated with it.

Here, from two sources, is what you need to know about this ingredient that could lead to hypogylcemia or liver failure in dogs. (So far, toxicity in cats has not been proven.)

From Veterinary Medicine, here is a report on the effects of xylitol that the ASPCA is making available via their poison control center.

If at some point that link doesn't work, you can Download: Effects of Xylitol Ingestion in Dogs, here.

A more recent report from the site Pet Poison Hotline reports:

"In addition to finding xylitol in gum, sugar-free candies, mints, and baked goods, we are now seeing it in many healthcare products. There is even a line of clothing with xylitol embedded in it! Some of the places we have seen xylitol include chewable vitamins, gummy vitamins, lozenges/cough drops, sublingual supplements and medications (over the counter and prescription), liquid medications (over the counter and prescription), breath sprays, medication/supplement sprays, toothpastes, nasal sprays, mouth rinses/washes, essential oil products, cosmetics, and many sugar-free foods and baking ingredients."

Download Xylitol – It’s Not Just in Gum Anymore – Pet Poison Helpline

The Many Names of Xylitol

In addition to inclusion in many products besides the sugarless gum we learned about initially, it is not always called xylitol. You may see it listed as sugar alcohol, birch sugar, E967, Meso-Xylitol, Méso-Xylitol, Sucre de Bouleau, Xilitol, Xylit, Xylite, or 1,2,3,4,5-Pentahydroxypentane, XyliteXylo-pentane-1,2,3,4,5-pentol.

Keep it Away

If you have sugarless gum in your bag or backpack, be sure to put it somewhere your dog can't reach. If you have other products in your home, place them out of reach. If you have clothing embedded with xylitol, keep your dog from mouthing it or licking it until we find out if it, too, is dangerous.

In our house, sugarless gum is kept in sealed mason jars and carried in sealed plastic bottles. And, we don't discard gum in any trash can our Poppy can reach.

When outside, we keep a watch for wads of discarded gum. Not only is that dangerous if ingested, but also we recall spending one long session of cutting gum out of the fur and between the pads of a dog's paw. Not fun!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs (and other critters) at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino, edited for BostonZest from her CIty Paws Newspaper Column.
Photography: iStockphoto.com

August 17, 2014
Sunday Dog Wish: Are You Listening Politicians?

A daytrip to most Massachusetts beaches can show families with canine members that we truly are second class citizens to our state. Pay your taxes, but you can't use the facilities you pay for because some people with dogs are nasty.

Poppy is guilty with no opportunity to prove herself innocent. She sits on the seawall and wishes for sand between her toes. We can't walk on the beach because some other people have been irresponsible about cleaning up after or managing their companion animals.

We took a mid-week trip to Nantasket Beach. We looked left and right and saw the wide expanse of beach. And, at every entrance, we saw the signs telling us we were not allowed on the beach from May to October.

Here's the description of Nantasket from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

"Nantasket Beach has been a popular summer destination for city dwellers since the middle of the 19th century. The reservation encompasses 26 acres along one and a third miles of oceanfront."

One and a third miles and 26 acres and they can't set aside a section for a dog beach. I wouldn't mind if they restricted it to dogs who have their Canine Good Citizenship certificates. I wouldn't mind if you had to register yourself as a dog guardian and show a permit that you could lose for bad behavior.

Quincy Shore Reservation and Wollaston Beach is another example. Here's the DCR description.

"Open year round, dawn to dusk. Bathhouse open July to September. Quincy Shore Reservation offers a variety of recreational opportunities. Quincy Shore Drive links Wollaston Beach with Caddy memorial Park and Moswetuset Hummock. The 2.3 mile beach is popular for its jogging/bicycling trail and swimming. Caddy Park on the southern end of the beach has over 15 acres of fields and marsh as well as a play area, lookout tower and picnic tables. Moswetuset Hummock, on the beach's northern end, is a National Historic Site. Once a summer campsite of Native Americans during the 1600's, it is a mixture of woodland trails and open marshland. The site which has a short loop trail, offers views of Quincy Bay and 144-acre Squantum Marsh."

Sounds like a great place to get some exercise with your dog but dogs are forbidden access from May to October. With 2.3 miles of beach, the DCR can't find a less used section to open up to families like ours?

My recommendation is that you register to vote and tell every politician you meet that you want something for your taxes. You want dog parks, shared recreation spaces, and dog beaches at all state facilities.

Bark up the vote!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

And, here's a post about some dogs that aced that "Nosing Class."

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

August 10, 2014
Sunday Dog Wish: Are You Listening Politicians?

A daytrip to most Massachusetts beaches can show families with canine members that we truly are second class citizens to our state. Pay your taxes, but you can't use the facilities you pay for because some people with dogs are nasty.

Poppy is guilty with no opportunity to prove herself innocent. She sits on the seawall and wishes for sand between her toes. We can't walk on the beach because some other people have been irresponsible about cleaning up after or managing their companion animals.

We took a mid-week trip to Nantasket Beach. We looked left and right and saw the wide expanse of beach. And, at every entrance, we saw the signs telling us we were not allowed on the beach from May to October.

Here's the description of Nantasket from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

"Nantasket Beach has been a popular summer destination for city dwellers since the middle of the 19th century. The reservation encompasses 26 acres along one and a third miles of oceanfront."

One and a third miles and 26 acres and they can't set aside a section for a dog beach. I wouldn't mind if they restricted it to dogs who have their Canine Good Citizenship certificates. I wouldn't mind if you had to register yourself as a dog guardian and show a permit that you could lose for bad behavior.

Quincy Shore Reservation and Wollaston Beach is another example. Here's the DCR description.

"Open year round, dawn to dusk. Bathhouse open July to September. Quincy Shore Reservation offers a variety of recreational opportunities. Quincy Shore Drive links Wollaston Beach with Caddy memorial Park and Moswetuset Hummock. The 2.3 mile beach is popular for its jogging/bicycling trail and swimming. Caddy Park on the southern end of the beach has over 15 acres of fields and marsh as well as a play area, lookout tower and picnic tables. Moswetuset Hummock, on the beach's northern end, is a National Historic Site. Once a summer campsite of Native Americans during the 1600's, it is a mixture of woodland trails and open marshland. The site which has a short loop trail, offers views of Quincy Bay and 144-acre Squantum Marsh."

Sounds like a great place to get some exercise with your dog but dogs are forbidden access from May to October. With 2.3 miles of beach, the DCR can't find a less used section to open up to families like ours?

My recommendation is that you register to vote and tell every politician you meet that you want something for your taxes. You want dog parks, shared recreation spaces, and dog beaches at all state facilities.

Bark up the vote!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

And, here's a post about some dogs that aced that "Nosing Class."

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

August 10, 2014