Tag: City Paws

Yes, The Boston Sun Newspaper Is Available Online!

Back in February, The Back Bay Sun expanded to cover more neighborhoods and became The Boston Sun. Readers who follow our work in this paper have asked us how they can find it online when they are traveling.

Bookmark this link The Boston Sun. If you are searching for it, be sure to enter all three words – "The Boston Sun." If you use just two, you'll get a different website.

You'll find our weekly Attention to Detail columns. With the expanded neighborhoods, these rotate with the South End, Fenway, and Back Bay neighbors featured in turn.

Some weeks you'll also find one of the two newspaper columns, City Paws or Fresh & Local that we send to a number of newspapers each week.

If all this is new to you, click over to the The Boston Sun's homepage.

Once a week the "Full Print Edition" should be updated with a new paper. You can click on that thumbnail and download a PDF copy of the paper to read at your leisure. (Or to keep if you, your home, your dog, or cat happen to be featured.)

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: © 2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 8, 2016
What’s Your Sunday Dog’s Hobby?

A recent tale from Karen B. London, PhD, columnist for The Bark and a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, was the basis for one of my recent City Paws newspaper columns.

London was working with Tucker, an eight-month-old German Shepherd puppy, who was totally enthralled with sniffing. Once she found that sniffing made Tucker happy, she designed opportunities for training and bonding that worked with a sniffer.

Remember Dash, Our Dashing South End Sunday Dog! He was a sniffer and was attending classes at the Animal Rescue League to follow his passion.

So, What’s Your Dog’s Bliss?

“For many dogs the fun and happiness is all about treats, and lots of exercise outside,” London wrote. “For others, it’s a tennis ball or nothing. Most love the opportunity to chew on bones and other dog-safe items intended for this purpose. A few simply want lots of loving—petting, massage and the opportunity to be up on the bed at nap time and at night.”

For Our Westie Poppy, bliss is playing with squeaky toys inside or sitting on a bench outside. Our little pup would squeak a toy non-stop for an hour if her human companions could stand it. Outside, if you ever see us swaying from side to side as we walk down Commonwealth Avenue Mall, it’s because Poppy is trying to encourage us to take a break and sit on a bench for a while. She loves bench time.

Diggers, Herders, and Retrievers

My terriers have not had a lot of opportunity to take up digging as a hobby because they’ve never had time alone outside. But, when we conduct pre-adoption home visits for Westies or Cairns, we warn prospective guardians with fenced yards that a terrier left alone out there will find a way under a fence. Digging is in their DNA and is a hobby they would love to explore.

From a harborside deck in Provincetown, I’ve watched people use a ball launcher to fling a target as far as possible for their relentless retrievers. The dogs have a merry chase. They gallop through the shallows and swim for yards to fetch their prize only to beg to do it again and again and again.

Follow Their Bliss!

As you think about fall adventures and holiday gifts for your dog, follow Dr. London’s example and figure out what you can do to really make your dog happy. Then, use that happiness to bond with and train your pal.

We'd love to hear about what your dog does for a hobby and what puts a wag in that tail and a grin on that face!

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

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November 9, 2014
First Aid App for Your Sunday Dog

Penny was writing one of her City Paws newspaper columns on High Tech for pets, when she came across Pet First Aid: for Your Dog, Cat, Puppy, or Kitten – Jive Media LLC. She reviewed the options, compared the offerings, and bought this one because it seems to have exactly what we would want in an emergency.

Here is her review …

While having these instructions in an emergency will be wonderful, it was the time I spent going through the app that will stand me in good stead, if the time comes when I need it.

The app provides instructions for CPR, rescue breathing, and what to do if your pet is choking. It also has sections on safely caring for a sick or wounded animal, what is normal, disaster preparedness, and a host of specific emergency situations.

We do have a complete Doggie First Aid Kit packed into our Poppy's little red travel bag. It has only been used in an emergency situation once. We were staying in Provincetown when we noticed a neighbor trying to deal with a cut paw on the beach in front of the house. I grabbed the bag and offered cleaning solution, gauze, and pet bandages to help with the dog's first aid.

Poppy Tested

As it turned out, Poppy gave the app a trial run a week after we bought it. She was coughing and gagging after eating a piece of a dog treat. Now, we have a lifetime of experience with dogs so we didn't panic. We figured she had a small piece of the biscuit caught in her throat. But it was reassuring to pop up the section on choking and review the situation.

The app takes you through the incident step by step. On the second screen, we had a check list of symptoms that would indicate that a dog is choking. She wasn't drooling, pawing at her mouth, looking anxious, didn't have labored breathing, bluish mucous membranes, and had not collapsed. (When you touch the bluish mucous membranes item on the list, you are taken to illustrations that help you identify normal and abnormal.)

What we had was a simple case of clearing her throat and within a couple of hours she was free of symptoms. But, it was good to have had that checklist right on the phone.

Related Post:

Poppy Says, "Time for Some Emergency Planning"

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: ©2013-2014 Penny Cherubino

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August 31, 2014