Nauset Kennels

It’s that time of year again - time for our 2nd Annual AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day here at the kennel. While we are very excited to spend a weekend with friends, colleagues and lots of dogs, we are also excited to be able to spread the word about responsible dog ownership.

We started spreading the word last weekend with our float for the Windmill Weekend Parade, where our theme promoted cleaning up after your pet. As we walked, we handed out Mutt Mitts and dog biscuits. Being responsible obviously involves more than just cleaning up after your pet, but this is a part of ownership that is commonly overlooked and is a problem that can have ripple effects on many others. If you own a dog, scoop the poop!

Our fabulous pinwheel logo represents the other six important facets of being a good dog owner:

Veterinary care
Regular bathing and grooming
Exercise
Proper Nutrition
Training
Love and attention

All are important and not one trumps the other. And realistically, the cost does not have to be exorbitant and stretch your budget, stressing you out.

Veterinary care can be expensive, but well worth it if you know what you are paying for. Do your research and ask questions. Be attentive to your pet’s dental health at home and you can save quite a bit of money while adding potential years to your dog’s life. Research pet insurance and see if it makes sense for you. Find a vet that is willing to work with you financially, but remember that they have bills too.

Bathe your dog at home. Run that brush over him often (daily is best, but I’m realistic too!!). Either learn how to give a basic dog cut or invest in regular grooming. If you want to save money don’t avoid the groomer - avoidance leads to a much more expensive grooming session and can potentially cause skin problems for your pet.

Exercise. It’s free to walk down the street with your dog or throw the ball for her in the back yard. And just think - you can save money on your own gym membership if you go for long walks with your furry friend!

Shop around for a good food for your dog. Just today a customer bemoaned the fact that the cheaper the dog food, the more her dog loves it! Not all of us can afford to buy premium dog food, nor do we necessarily need to. Again, ask around. Unless your dog has special dietary requirements, you may be just fine feeding a non-premium food.

Borrow some books and DVDs from the library on training. Ask questions of others. Find inexpensive classes and build on the foundation with practice.

Love. Free and easy to give! How can you not shower your pet with love? No matter how busy life gets, make time for your pet. It benefits both of you!

Being a responsible dog owner doesn’t require a lot of money for many of us; however, it would be foolish to assume that pets don’t have expenses. Be responsible BEFORE taking on a pet and consider the what-ifs. What if I have to move - can I bring my pet? What if my pet needs surgery - can I afford it? What if our schedules are hectic - is it fair to have a pet if I don’t have time to spend with it? The list is long and thought-provoking, but an essential first exercise in being a responsible pet owner.

Like many of you, we are concerned with our environmental impact or carbon footprint. We try hard to recycle (Jules tries to recycle everything!). Products are not just haphazardly picked up and put in our cart; instead, we read the label for chemicals and try to find products that share our philosophy. If you asked Kirsten about my preferences, our doggy day care bus and van would be running on solar or veggie oil and the whole kennel would be completely “off the grid.”

And while we did all kinds of research for our new building, for some reason I didn’t think about our carbon footprint in terms of our own personal animals. Oh yeah, Scout, Pecan and Hoot are leaving their own carbon paw prints too.

From the type of food we feed them to the various products we use on them, our personal pets do indeed have an environmental impact.

Hoot’s biggest problem is her poop and what to do with it. Cat poop contains toxoplasma, a parasite that is very harmful. When kitty poop is flushed into the toilet, many water treatment centers cannot destroy this parasite. Kitty litter isn’t really compostable because of the toxoplasma.

Hoot’s other issue, related to the poop, is kitty litter. For cat owners, clumping kitty litter is the next best thing to sliced bread. However, clay based litters have big environmental issues, from the mining to its production. And while the new plant based litters are good and maybe a better environmental choice, the question about the actual poop and what to do with it remains.

Pecan and Scout also have issues. First of all, let’s talk about packaging. Like kids’ toys, dog toys, treats and foods all contribute packaging waste, and lots of it. (Alright, you parents of human kids out there know that human kid toys are actually probably 5,000 times worse than dog toy packaging!). In the kennel, we throw out lots of bags every week, most of which cannot be recycled because they are foil lined and the foil seems permanently glued to the paper.

Speaking of toys, if dogs are color-blind, why do we need such brightly colored dog toys? And why do we need so many of them? Many dogs are thrilled to have a toy or a tennis ball. Or, if you just can’t forgo buying your Scout another toy, then consider buying a “green toy,” one that is made of recycled or natural materials by a local company that isn’t shipping from halfway around the world.

Yet another issue is a familiar one: poop. If you don’t clean up after your pet, you might not realize that pet feces can pollute storm water. If you are a good dog owner, you pick up after your pet. But if you use a plastic bag that isn’t degradable, then poop on you! Hmmm…this poop is really a problem. Maybe a robotic pet is the answer?

So, let’s talk about the food that produces all that poop. Dogs and cats are meat eaters, even if you aren’t. It is in their DNA to be carnivores. Where does all that meat in our pet food come from? Well, like human food, you can either go with the food that uses high-volume farming practices or choose to buy from local farmers practicing sustainable farming. Of course, that comes with a price too: a higher dollar figure.

Unlike the controversial idea posed by the New Zealand sustainable architects Robert and Brenda Vale in their book, Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, I am not proposing anything other than thinking and educating yourself before you buy. Think before you buy that fourth pet. Think before you buy yet another pet toy. Educate yourself on food that are environmentally friendlier, but affordable for you.

According to Maps of World, the US has an estimated 61,080,000 dogs, while Brazil has an estimated 30, 051,000 (http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-dog-population.html) mounds of dog poop, toy trash, and dog food bags! And that’s not including the number of cats in our world.

While we’re all trying to figure this out, Scout, Pecan and I will see you all at the recycling center. Hoot is staying at home enjoying her homemade catnip toy (okay, so that’s a stretch!).

For more information, the following links proved helpful:

Katterns, Tanya. “Save the Planet: Eat a Dog?”. May 23, 2010. <http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/2987821/Save-the-planet-eat-a-dog>

Keith, Christie. “The Environmental Impact of Pets”. May 23, 2010. <http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-11-27/living/17267881_1_recycled-pet-supplies-interactive-toys/2>

Nestle, Marion. “No, My Dog is Not Destroying the Environment”. May 23, 2010. <http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/healthy-food/pets-environmental-impact-47122303>

Postins, Lucy. “Environmental Paw Print” . May 23, 2010. < http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/213/1/Environmental-paw-print.html>

During the holiday season I am often filled with an overwhelming need to do for others. While I love the Santa thing, particularly since I have small children who still believe, for me this time of year always makes me feel grateful for all the good in my life. It also makes me feel the need to do more.

Since I am pretty sure I am not the only one who feels this way, I am gently reminding everyone that the food pantries welcome donations of pet food. We’ve all seen the headlines about the dire state of our food pantries, that numbers are up, food donations are down, and more and more people keep coming through the doors. Many of these people have never had to seek help. And many of these people rely on their pets for comfort in such trying times.

Ironically enough, while our food pantries can’t keep up with supplies, our shelters are struggling with the numbers of pets people have had to give up because of financial reasons. Either they can’t pay the vet bills, they can’t pay the food bill, or they have lost their job, which in turn affects housing.

Please, this holiday season, help those in need keep their pets right where they should be - with their families.

Oprah recently had a show where moms confessed to all sorts of things that, I think, were supposed to shock all of us. I actually had the opportunity to watch thanks to my second case of strep throat in two weeks. While I wasn’t thrilled about the show because I kept thinking, “Yeah, I’ve thought that before,” or “Yeah, I haven’t done that, but something similar certainly,” it did give me inspiration to write a new blog! Today’s entry, in homage to Oprah, is aptly titled, Confessions of a Dog Owner.

1. I like one of my dogs more than the other. Sad, isn’t it? It’s kind of that nasty secret that isn’t talked about. Pecan is just easier. He comes when I call him, he is super at the kennel and loves playing with the other dogs, he snuggles like a pro, the list goes on.

2. Sometimes I forget to feed my dogs. Trust me, my dogs used to start the pre-dinner sit-in around 2 p.m. just to be sure that I remembered. Now that we are down to two dogs, there just doesn’t seem to be that kitchen sit-in. In fact, I usually have to call them for dinner, so perhaps I can have a pass on this one since they aren’t in the kitchen to remind me?

3. I can’t stand sleeping with my dogs. It is always the same thing every night. I go into my room and find one or two of them on my pillows. They look super cute and snuggly so I figure why not? Within a few minutes, Scout is huffing and puffing under the covers because she is so darn hot, but won’t actually move to get air. At that point the bed is shaking from her heavy breathing and it feels like the quarter beds at cheap motels!! I have to give her the boot. Pecan is small, so how much trouble can he really be, right? Well, he snores like a champ and starts right as I am drifting off to sleep. He has positioned himself on my pillow like a human being, and will even nuzzle the back of my head trying to get comfy. (This all sounds sort-of pornographic, doesn’t it?!). And to top it all off, he stays comfortable for about ten minutes and then needs to re-position, tapping at my shoulder to go under the covers and then, ten minutes later, he’s back on my pillow snoring away. Arghhhhh!

4. There are those rare moments that I wish I didn’t have dogs. (Actually, that was on Oprah too, where one mom said something about actually having just a moment or two where she wished she could go back to a simpler life without kids and I was nodding along knowing that I have had that same thought once or twice). So, there it is. I’ve said it. Most of you are gasping in horror, falling to the floor, mouth agape, eyes bulging type of reaction. Some of you are actually nodding your heads, just oh so slightly. Admit it. We love them tremendously, but every rare once in awhile you think how easy it would be…

5. I’m so glad we don’t have any cats anymore. For those of you who actually knew Puck, my little black kitty, you will be totally surprised by this comment. She was one of a kind, true, but with all cats come litter boxes, wet cat food that stinks up the whole house, hair balls, etc. My daughter keeps asking when we can get another cat and my voice tells her, “Someday, honey,” but in my head I am saying, “Never!!” But we all know how persistent children can be.

6. Sometimes I like my pets more than my children. No back talk, no cajoling, no strings attached. Pets are just there to love you back. Period. They don’t need to find their own ways, figure things out, stuff like that.

7. Even after all I’ve said, my last confession is that I really can’t imagine our house without at least one dog. I always wanted a dog as a child, even bringing one home from the mall where someone was giving away free puppies. My mom had other ideas though, so we had more years without dogs than with dogs. Even without the kennel, we are animal people. At one point we had so many animals we called our house “The Zoo.” Two snakes, five dogs, and three cats kept us busy and smiling. Like I said before, we are now down to two dogs. They provide constant joy, they teach my children responsibility and compassion, they provide lots of cuddles, and who can resist a dog who snores right in your ear?