heatherwitt.com blog

I get a DogFriendly.com newsletter from time to time and they always have a few great tips for traveling with your pet and suggestions for pet-friendly destinations. In this week’s edition there were links for a North Fork Wine Tour and off-leash beach run on October 4th and October 17th and then a 6-mile hike on October 10th and October 14th.  There were also links from a readers about a great dog-friendly Kennebunkport vacation  and one in Bar Harbor that they took. If you want to get the DogFriendly.com newsletter you can sign up for it HERE.

WordPress blogging software was corrupt and it took them a long time to finally upgrade to a new edition. Hopefully everything is working now and you’ll see more posts from me.

In the meantime, here is an interesting article Time Magazine just published about how a dog’s “social intelligence”  is learned…

Not sure how many of you attended the first annual Lyme Walk fundraiser at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport on Sunday, but we were there with our kids along with several thousand other runners and walkers. As our son has battled with Lyme Disease for a few years now it was great to see so many people turnout and donate money to fund research and education for this often misdiagnosed disease.

One important thing I learned is Connecticut Bill HB-6200 has just been proposed and will probably be voted on in the next week by the Public Health Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly. This bill concerns the use of long-term antibiotics to treat Lyme Disease. Any of you who know someone who has batteld Lyme and its many co-infections knows that long-term antibiotics, a highly contentious topic, is the most effective means for treating Lyme Disease. This bill enables doctors to treat patients with long-term antibiotics and be safe from IDSA, CDC, and insurance company legal harassment.

I feel strongly about this and sent a letter to my state rep and senator urging them to sponsor this bill. The link above has the emails of all our state contacts in case any of you wish to do the same.

It seems all too common these days to hear stories about dog-on-dog (sometimes dogs-on-dog) attacks leaving someone’s beloved pet perminantly injured, handicapped, oftentimes dead. The Town of Trumbull unanimously passed “Gracie’s Law” in October 2005 in response to a deadly pitbull attack on the Jositas family collie while she was walking her dog down the street. The law strengthens the town’s codes on animals, adding specific language regarding “vicious dogs.”

Now a Shelton resident is pushing for similar legislation in response to his pug being attacked and killed by two pitbulls. Gracie’s Law does not specificially target pitbulls even though Gracie and Buster were both killed by pitbulls. The law makes owners more responsible than what’s currently on the books–a $60 leash law infraction and sometimes euthanization of the dog.

Dog fights are anguishing to witness, often-times with owners stepping in and also being attacked and injured. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to helplessly watch your dog be killed like that. Maybe stronger legislation like Gracie’s Law, or even a state-wide law, is what’s necessary to make owners more accountable for their pets. 

To ease the transition of a puppy into its new home, try these little tricks:
1. Take a shirt or towel out of the laundry hamper and send it to your new baby before you bring her home. This will make your scent familiar to her when she comes home to you.
2. Bring a clean towel, stuffed toy, or blanket, and rub it on the littermates when you go for the big day. Use this in the crate and it will help ease the transition.
3. Give your new pup a little time to get adjusted after returning home, and then head out without her. Go for just a few minutes, and return calmly. Act as if coming and going is a natural occurance, nothing to be stressed about.
4. Don’t forget that puppy vet appointment.

If your new friend is a rescue, older dog, try these tips:
1. Give the dog a quiet, safe place away from the activity to which he may not be familiar. Let him join you if he would like, but at his pace.
2. Consider using a flower essence to ease him through this transition. Try http://www.anaflora.com or http://www.bachflower.com and find a stress reducing remedy in the dog’s water as the dog adjusts.
3. Give regular exercise, as this helps to relieve stress.

Enjoy your furry friends, new and old, every day.

If you don’t like the excitement level of your dog then STOP. If you open that door, or clip on that leash, put down that dinner dish, or throw that ball, then you have reinforced the behavior you are seeing at the moment of reward.

Some dogs jump around when you prepare for the walk, and then drag you out the door and down the street. If you attach the leash only when the dog is calm, stopping as needed during the process, you will be rewarding a calmer dog. Just mark the inappropriate moment with a calm, quick “oops” and withdraw attention. Resume when dog is calm, and “oops” when they start to err. With patience on your part, you will be creating a more relaxed companion. Better for everybody!

Maple, and every dog before her, loves ice cream. What dog doesn’t? But chew bones are expensive and Frosty Paws, while more readily available, are getting more expensive too and barely last long enough for you to close the freezer door. So I decided to experiment came up with my own yummy recipe:

Put in a blender:
1 banana
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup water

Blend thoroughly and then pour into paper bowls and freeze. Makes about 6 servings. If your dog is likely to eat the bowl too, then consider using edible rice paper as the liner for your container. Pull out paper and treat and let ‘em at it.

It was mentioned here on a February 15th post that the rights for beach access for dogs to Fairfield Beach were at risk. Now there is a petition to charge a $400 to $800 permit fee as well as shortening of the season by two months.

There is a petition to oppose these new rule changes being considered by the Fairfield Parks and Rec. which I’ve linked on this site (right under my logo on the left side nav. bar). If you don’t want to lose your beach priviledges you need to print it out, sign it, and mail it to the address on the bottom of the form, because if this goes through it will just be a matter of time before the rest of the Fairfield County beach towns adopt similar legislation….